Crimson Peak
by Redqueen78
Summary: A night of passion brings unexpected consequences for Bonnie and Klaus. Takes place after 4x19.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I had this idea for a while now and I finally decided to write it. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: These characters are the property of LJ Smith and the CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

 **Crimson Peak**

Waking up naked in a strange bed with a warm body behind her was the last thing Bonnie Bennett expected when she opened her eyes.

 _What the hell?_

A strong possessive arm was thrown over her petite frame while a hard chest cradled her back. She blinked a few times uncertain if this was reality or a dream. But the ghost of a breath on her neck told her that this was not in fact a dream.

She squirmed, trying to get away from the stranger's body, feeling an unfamiliar ache between her legs.

 _What had she done last night?_

Bits and pieces came back to her.

Prom, she had gone to prom last night with Matt and they had been crowned Prom King and Queen. Yes, she remembered that and dancing with Jeremy. No, not Jeremy but Silas and then- fangs piercing her neck-

Elena

Her best friend had tried to kill her but Bonnie stopped her.

Expression

Her fingers tingled remembering the rush of power and the satisfaction she felt upon seeing Elena in pain, a pain she had caused.

 _But what happened afterwards_?

She had been high on magic feeling like she could conquer the world. And she had ended up with-?

Klaus

 _Oh my god!_

Her heart went to her throat as the vivid memories of the night before came back full force. She had sex with Klaus. She lost her virginity to her worst enemy.

Bonnie jumped out of bed, naked, heart beating wildly and eyes wide in panic. Her throat felt like sandpaper and she was sore. She wobbled trying to locate her clothes, but she didn't care, she needed to get away before _he_ woke up.

Frantically searching for her clothes Bonnie didn't notice the amused expression on the hybrid's face. He had been awake the whole time, counting the heartbeats of the green eyed witch. He knew the moment she woke of course, but chose to remain silent, waiting to see what she would do.

"Are your mornings always so entertaining love?"

Bonnie froze. She pulled her dress in front of her chest in an attempt to cover her nakedness.

Klaus smirked. It was foolish he knew every inch of her body by now.

Her cheeks where flushed when she finally plucked the courage to look at him, "I…I…"

She was a deer caught in the headlights and Klaus was extremely pleased. His eyes traveled over her pretty face, even with tussled hair and smudged make up she was exquisite. The blood rushing to her face and neck and the erratic beating of her heart made his eyes flash golden for a moment as he thought of the taste of her blood.

Klaus licked his lips, remembering the rush of power he felt when he sunk his fangs into her neck the night before. A witch's blood was an elixir to vampires. The more powerful the witch, the more potent the blood. And Bonnie Bennett was the most powerful witch he had ever had the privileged of drinking from. She had awakened something inside of him, a lust that had yet to be quenched and not just for her blood, no.

Last night had not been enough; Klaus realized. He stood up suddenly, unashamed of his nakedness and made his way toward the nervous witch.

Upon seeing him approaching, Bonnie's panic increased tenth fold, "What are you doing?"

Unconsciously she took a step back, shivering when her naked back made contact with the wall. She eyed the door and debated making a run for it but Klaus was faster. He used his vampire speed to trap her between the wall and his naked body, "What's the matter love?"

Bonnie swallowed, hands holding tightly to the silk of her dress, still trying to cover her body from his view. The fact that she could easily use her magic and push him away was all but forgotten. In her panic she didn't even think of using her witchy powers to her advantage, something that Klaus used to his _own_ advantage.

His fingers traced her cheek and Bonnie trembled, not in fear, no. she knew now what it felt like to have his hands on her skin, she was familiar with his touch. She couldn't help but lean into it. Her lips parted unconsciously and Klaus took that as an invitation.

When his lips touched hers Bonnie welcomed them. The silk fell to the floor as her hands moved to his broad shoulders on their own accord. His lips were soft and gentle. He was kissing her as if he had all the time in the world, as if they had done this a thousand times before. He knew she would not leave now.

It was that gentleness that undid her. _When was the last time someone had kissed her like this?_

When Klaus broke away from her lips, he moved to kiss her cheek and down her neck, lips nipping at her pulse point. Bonnie moaned. She should push him away. She should run away. But instead, she found herself pressing against him, hard nipples rubbing against his chest, sending electric shocks over both of them.

She wanted more. She needed more. She pulled his head back until his lips found hers again, kissing him hard and he responded with equal passion.

When Klaus brought his arms around her body lifting her up, Bonnie didn't think twice about wrapping her legs around his waist.

She was doomed.

* * *

 ** _Three days later…_**

Bonnie stared at her textbook trying and failing to concentrate, finals were just around the corner and she had a lot of studying to do. But the only thing on her mind was Klaus. Or more specifically the night and morning she had spent with him.

Bonnie shivered remembering the things Klaus had done to her. The things she had allowed him to do. The first thing she did when she arrived home that day was to take a long hot shower, put on her favorite pajamas and cried herself to sleep. She had been exhausted physically and emotionally.

 _What in the world had possessed her to have sex with Klaus_?

He was her enemy, the person who terrorized her friends and tried to kill her. She still couldn't believe that she had given her virginity to him. Bonnie had always imagined that her first time was going to be with Jeremy, something sweet, something special, not a one night stand and with a vampire no less. She felt guilty and ashamed. But the worst part was that the guilt and shame came not because of what she had done but because she had _enjoyed_ it. And that terrified her.

She had enjoyed kissing Klaus, she had enjoyed touching him, being with him. Her cheeks burned with the memory of it. Klaus had made her feel beautiful and sexy. She had felt wanted, desirable, powerful.

Bonnie had never been the beautiful or the desirable one. That had always been Elena and Caroline. They were the ones guys went after not little old Bonnie Bennett. The guys that talked to her did it because they wanted to get close to her friends or worst because they wanted something from her.

Bonnie had no illusions about Klaus. She knew that she was probably another name on his long list of witch conquests but she couldn't stop thinking about him. She was going crazy remembering his eyes, his lips, and the feel of his hands on her skin. No matter how many showers she had taken since then-scrubbing her skin raw-the vivid memories assaulted her mind. Sometimes she wondered if he was doing one of those vampire mind tricks and was purposely sending those images to her.

Bonnie jumped out of her skin when her cell phone rang. It was Caroline. She had been avoiding her friends since prom night.

"Bonnie! Where have you been, I left you like a million messages?"

"Studying French," Bonnie told her, "We still have final exams you know."

"Don't remind me," Caroline sighed. "Look, I know Elena is not your favorite person right now, but I could really use you over here."

Bonnie closed her eyes, remembering Damon and Stefan's plan to help Elena get her emotions back. "Do you need me for moral support or so that you can check on me."

"Both," Caroline answered. "I could use the moral support and I want to make sure Silas isn't playing any more mind games with you."

"I'm fine." And it was surprisingly true. Bonnie hadn't seen or heard from Silas since prom Night. She should be worried about that but in the past three days the last thing on Bonnie's mind was Silas. A certain blue eyes hybrid had been consuming all her thoughts. "Silas doesn't control me anymore and I think I'll pass on the invite. Elena tried to kill me Caroline. I'm not ready to forgive and forget. I'm sorry but I don't think I want to see her yet. I'll call you later ok." Bonnie hung up before Caroline could give her a reply.

Bonnie knew that Elena was not herself, she didn't have her emotions but it still hurt. After everything she had done to keep Elena safe, her best friend had viciously attacked her and would've killed her, had Bonnie not defended herself. While Damon and Stefan were convinced that they could force Elena to turn her emotions back on, Bonnie wasn't so sure and she didn't want to get involved either.

She stayed at the library for another two hours, trying to get ready for finals before finally making her way home.

The night was dark and windy as Bonnie walked home lost in thought. There was a prickling in the back of her neck and she felt a presence behind her. Bonnie turned around having an idea of who it was. She was more than ready to confront him but there was nothing. There was no one behind her.

The lamppost nearby flickered on and off and the wind picked up. Bonnie stood in the sidewalk eyes searching for any sign of someone but there was no one. The street was empty, no cars coming by and no one walking around either-except for her.

There was an eerie silence that made her heart speed up. _Something was wrong._

Picking up her pace Bonnie hurried down the street. She was close to her home, all she needed was to get inside. The prickling in her neck intensified and the hairs on her arms and neck stood up. Her hands were shaking as she pulled her keys out-

 _Almost there…she was so close…_

Bonnie opened her front door feeling a false sense of relief before it was smashed away when someone grabbed her by the back of her neck.

Fear

Panic

Bonnie was flung down from her porch and into the front yard with such a force that the air was knocked out of her lungs when her back hit the wet grass. She blinked up, feeling dizzy and confused as a tall figure loomed over her. She couldn't see his face.

Bonnie lifted her hand. She was shaking as she murmured the spell that should've sent the man to his knees in pain but _nothing_ happen. There was a strange jewel around his neck that glowed red.

"Your magic doesn't work on me witch." He chuckled and grabbed her by the neck with both of his hands.

Bonnie struggled to breathe as she was lifted up in the air. He was strong, really strong. His face was covered by a black mask and his hands were gloved. She felt her magic, it lashed out angrily at her attacker, again and again but every time the jewel would glow and whatever power was released from her did not affect him at all.

His hands squeezed her neck so tight that Bonnie heard a snapping sound. It hurt. It hurt so much. Tears streamed down her face. She gasped struggling to get air into her lungs but it was useless. She knew she was going to die.

Just as Bonnie had accepted her death, there was a ripping sound and the hands around her neck loosen. Bonnie fell on her hands and knees, her whole body shaking. The pain on her neck was unbearable as she struggled, gasping as air finally came back into her lungs.

The man fell to his knees clutching his stomach and choking on his own blood before his head was swiftly removed from his body. Bonnie's eyes went wide as the masked head fell in front of her, blood splattering all over her face and shirt.

Klaus Mikaelson stood proudly over the decapitated corpse. "Hello lover."

Bonnie had never been more relived and happy to see the infamous hybrid. Klaus looked her over before kneeling in front of her.

Bonnie opened her mouth but only a strange choking sound came out of her. Her throat was burning and she was still struggling to breathe. Klaus wasted no time biting into his wrist and bringing it to her mouth. Bonnie nearly choked on the blood and Klaus had to gently rub her neck (Bonnie silently crying from the pain) in order to help her swallow.

"It's alright love, you're alright." Putting his arms around the shaking witch, Klaus picked her up and carried her towards her house. "You're going to have to invite me in."

Bonnie burrowed her face into his neck and shoulder. "…Co…come in…" she managed to say. It hurt still, but she could feel his blood already healing and repairing her neck. She closed her eyes as Klaus carried her inside.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Her long black dress flowed as she made her way into the Seer's chamber.

"Forgive me my lady," she said keeling.

The Seer had her back to her. Her eyes were closed and she was crouching down, hands over a small marble pool filled with murky water. "Is it done?" her raspy voice asked.

"I'm sorry my lady, but the hunter failed."

The Seer's eyes snapped opened. "You only sent one hunter, how foolish of you Iris."

Iris swallowed nervously. "He was not an average hunter, my Lady. He was-"

"I told you-"The Seer interrupted. "This witch is not like the others, you need to be careful and plan this accordingly."

"Forgive me I-"

"Silence!" the Seer stood up and turned to the young witch. "Contact the Order and tell them I have a job for them."

"The Order," Iris's eyes went wide. "Surely is not necessary…" the Order had not been invoked in nearly five hundred years. "She's just a witch."

"She's much more than that, young Iris," The Seer told her. "We cannot allow one such as her to live. Bonnie Bennett must die."

Iris bit her lip, not knowing whether it was wise to question her mentor, but finally deciding to do so, "Why?" it came out in a whisper. "We have never persecuted a Bennett witch before. What has she done to deserve such a fate?"

The Seer's eyes turned red as she remembered her vision of three days past. "It is not what she has done but what she will bring into this world." She shivered as the images flashed through her eyes, "for the fruit of her womb shall be our undoing."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank-you so much for all your kind words and support. It means a lot to me that you have taken the time to read and review this story. Thank-you!_

 _Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it._

* * *

Bonnie was in a state of shock when Klaus placed her on her living room sofa. It was so dark she could barely make out his face.

The lights in the entire house suddenly turned on.

Klaus raised an eyebrow. He took his leather jacket off and wrapped it around Bonnie's shoulders, "I'll be right back," he promised. He needed to take care of the body. The last thing they needed was for the neighbors to see a headless corpse on the Bennett's front yard.

Bonnie nodded and tried to regain her composure. She had been attacked. Someone had nearly killed her. She could still feel the phantom fingers squeezing her neck tightly.

 _Don't think about, don't think about, block it all out…_

The image of the man's head falling over and rolling towards her would be forever engraved in her mind.

Bonnie closed her eyes shaking.

 _Who was he? Why had he come for her? Was he one of the five?_

When Klaus came back a few minutes later, Bonnie couldn't help but stare at his hands covered in blood and mud. The same hands that had easily tore a man's head from his body just minutes before, the hands that had touched her so intimately three nights ago.

"What did you do?" Bonnie asked, thankful to be able to speak again. There was a dull pain on her neck but it was quickly fading.

"I ripped him apart and buried him in your backyard." Klaus informed her nonchalantly. "How's the neck?"

Bonnie stared at him in shock, "you…what?"

Klaus kneeled in front of her and inspected her neck. Bonnie's heart skipped a beat at his closeness. "What did you expect love? For me to call the police and inform them I just murdered someone?"

Bonnie opened her mouth and promptly closed it again. He had a point.

"I think the better question is why did he come for you?" Klaus studied her face carefully. _Did she have any idea the trouble she was in?_

"I don't know. I've never seen him before today." The only person who could want her dead had been the one that saved her and- Bonnie's eyes went wide, "Silas do you think-?"

"That he sent a hunter after you, I wouldn't put it pass him."

Silas was a problem that they needed to deal with. Klaus hadn't forgotten the way that bastard had made him believed he had been stabbed with the white oak stake. Anyone who could manipulate an Original's mind was dangerous and needed to be destroyed. But this attack was different. Silas couldn't command such hunter.

"I don't think he's behind this attack." Klaus reached into his pocket and pulled the gold chain that had been around the hunter's neck, "Do you recognize this?"

Bonnie stared at the jewel and took it from his hand. It was a rather small tear shaped stone but its deep red color was mesmerizing. "It glowed, when I used my magic. I think it protected him somehow by blocking my magic."

"He was a witch hunter." Klaus informed her.

Bonnie's brow furrowed, "witch hunters exist?"

Klaus chuckled, "Witches maybe the servants of nature but they have been persecuted for centuries." _How young,_ Klaus thought. There was still so much she didn't know. So much she had yet to learn about her kind.

"This is a charm, it's used to protect the hunter from magic," Klaus explained, "were the hunter alive you wouldn't be able to touch it. It is unique to this specific hunter. It wouldn't work on anyone else but him."

"Like daylight rings." It was uniquely spelled for the hunter, rendering it useless now. Bonnie didn't even feel any magic present in the stone.

Klaus nodded, "exactly." He was about to say something else but then he stopped. A car was pulling up into the driveway, "You're father is coming."

Bonnie's eyes went wide. In a blink of an eye Klaus grabbed her and carried her upstairs. Bonnie was dizzy by the sudden movement. She closed her eyes and tried not to throw up when Klaus deposited her on her bed.

And then she blushed furiously with the realization that Klaus was in her room.

"We need to talk." The seriousness in his voice had Bonnie opening her eyes. "Not now of course, you need to rest and-"

"Bonnie, are you home?" her father's voice called from the hallway.

Bonnie looked at Klaus in panic. How was she going to explain to her dad that there was a man in her room? Not a boy, but a man and one who was really old to boot-not that Klaus looked old of course-he looked good, really good, handsome in fact-

 _Oh my god_. She needed to stop thinking about that!

"Come to the mansion tomorrow." And with that he was gone. Bonnie blinked for a few moments amazed by the speed at which he moved and disappeared out of her room.

When her father knocked on her door Bonnie jumped into her bed pulling the covers up to her chin. Thankful that her back was to the door she pretended to be asleep. Her father stood by the door silently watching her 'sleeping' form before turning the lights off and shutting the door.

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Elena Gilbert had had enough of this forsaken town. She was done with Mystic Falls and its people. After the stunt her ex lovers had pulled on her, she was out for blood. She wanted revenge on Damon and Stefan but she was also smart enough to realize that going after them would only get her in trouble again.

 _Couldn't they see that it was better this way?_ That she _was_ better.

Elena was free. There was no pain, there was no fear, there was no anguish. She was free to do as she pleased, she was free from everything and more importantly she was free from _them._

If she stayed in Mystic Falls she was certain they would shove the cure down her throat and why would she want to be human anyway? She was immortal, forever young, forever beautiful, and forever powerful.

Getting the hell away from this town was the best thing any sane person could do.

Elena smiled throwing her duffel bag in the passenger seat of the red corvette she had just taken from her unsuspecting dinner. He was now dead at her feet, a little parting gift for Damon and Stefan.

This was only the beginning…the beginning to a beautiful new life and a free Salvatore existence.

* * *

Bonnie woke up startled.

Sunlight streamed through the open window as she sat up in her bed. _Had it all been a dream?_

No, there were some splatters of dried blood on her neck and chest. And she was still wearing Klaus's leather jacket.

Someone had tried to kill her last night. She reached up to her neck, gently prodding but there was no pain. She felt fine, perfect even.

Bonnie stood up and went to the bathroom, shocked to see her reflection in the mirror. Other than a few spots of dried blood, she looked good, really good, she was practically glowing and even her hair looked shiny.

It was _his_ blood. She had Original Hybrid blood running through her system. This was not Bonnie's first time drinking from Klaus. The night she had given her virginity to him, Klaus had not only drunk from her but he had also fed her some of his blood. There was something in the back of her mind when she thought of that, something important but Bonnie couldn't put her finger on it.

The one important thing she did know was that Klaus had saved her.

Bonnie didn't know what to make of that. She had been avoiding Klaus for the past three days, choosing to spend her time at home or at the library. She hadn't seen or heard from him until last night when he had rescued her from the hunter.

 _Why had he saved her?_ Klaus didn't do anything out of the goodness of his heart and yet, he had killed the hunter and given Bonnie his blood to heal her neck. _Why?_

Bonnie closed her eyes. She didn't know what to make of Klaus. It was easier before, when she could put him under the enemy box but since Prom…since the night they spent together, her feelings towards the Original were a mess.

 _It was just sex._ She told herself, _it didn't mean anything_.

 _Then why can't you stop thinking about it?_

Bonnie took her bloodied clothes off and stepped into the shower. The hot water felt good on her skin. There was a lot she needed to do today. But the first thing on her list was the one she was dreading the most.

She needed to talk to Klaus.

* * *

"Did you find her?" A frantic Caroline asked Stefan as they met up at the Boarding house.

Stefan shook his head, "I searched everywhere but there is no sign of her." They had spent the whole night searching all over town for Elena.

"I can't believe Katherine let her go." Caroline huffed. Her hair was a mess, her boots were covered in mud and she hadn't had any sleep. "What are we going to do?"

"Get Bonnie to do a locator spell and find her." Damon told them pulling out his cell phone as he and Matt walked towards them.

"Where do you think she is?" Matt asked concerned. An emotionless Elena running free over Mystic Falls was not a good idea.

"I'll go to school." Caroline volunteered. "Finals are around the corner and I could really use some studying time. Maybe she's there."

It was a long shot. Elena was not going to risk getting caught again but it was worth a try.

"Bon-Bon is not answering." Damon turned to Matt, "You should go with Caroline, Stefan and I will go to Bonnie's house and get her to do the spell. And don't do anything stupid if you find Elena got it."

Matt rolled his eyes, following Caroline to her car.

"Are you sure Bonnie will want to help us after Elena tried to kill her?" Stefan asked Damon as they made their way to Damon's car.

"Bonnie is Elena's best friend. She'll do anything for her." Damon said dismissively. Stefan wasn't as confident as his brother, but chose to remain silent.

* * *

Elijah Mikaelson read the letter Katherine had left for his brother.

Klaus sat on the couch sketchbook in hand, "Anything you wish to say brother?" he asked without looking up.

Elijah folded the letter and handed it back, "I'm surprised you're still here and not in New Orleans searching for this…Jane Deveroux."

"If I went in search of everyone who wished me harm I would have no time for anything else." There were many people plotting against him, witches, ancient vampires, werewolves. Klaus had accumulated countless of enemies in the centuries he walked the earth and the numbers had probably doubled since he broke his curse. "Besides…" Klaus continued, "Why should I trust Katerina's word?"

"Witches are dangerous…" Elijah murmured.

"Witches young, dead, or alive are a pain in the ass." Klaus ripped a page from his sketchbook and handed over to his brother, "Take a look at this."

Elijah looked over the sketch his brother had been working on. The face of a man, middle aged, covered in thin scars and a strange bird tattoo on the left side of his face, going from the side of his forehead all the way down to chin. "This tattoo…" he had seen it before, he was certain.

"Seems familiar doesn't it," Klaus said studying his sketch. "I know I've seen it before, the problem is I can't seem to remember where."

Elijah nodded, "I know I've seen it too…but…" he couldn't remember either, how strange. "Do you know who this is?" he asked Klaus.

"A witch hunter, he tried to kill Bonnie Bennett last night." Klaus sounded angry and it made Elijah curious. _Why was his brother upset that someone had tried to kill the Bennett witch?_

"And you know this because…" Elijah looked at him expectantly.

"I killed him," Klaus boasted.

"Ah." There was something there Elijah was sure of it. Something his brother was not telling. He was about to ask when one of the servants interrupted-

"Miss Bennett is here to see you master."

Klaus didn't seem surprised. He was expecting her then, "If you'll excuse me." Elijah watched his brother go, lost in thought.

 _Since when were Niklaus and Bonnie Bennett on speaking terms?_

* * *

Bonnie was nervous as she waited for Klaus remembering the last time she had been in this room. When he had practically kidnapped her from her house and forced her to do the unlinking spell.

She felt his presence long before he strolled into the room. "Hi…" she didn't know why she felt so nervous.

Klaus slid his gaze over her body, she was modestly dressed but he had no problem undressing her with his eyes, remembering the soft curves hidden beneath her clothes. "Hello love."

Bonnie's breath caught in her throat, aware of the way his eyes moved over her body. "Here," she handed him his leather jacket, "you forgot this last night."

Klaus's fingers brushed over hers when he took the jacket, his thumb lightly tracing her knuckles. It was an electric shock to her system and Bonnie quickly moved her hand away embarrassed.

"Why are you so nervous?" he knew why, but the devil enjoyed torturing innocents it seemed.

"I'm not," Bonnie was quick to lie. "I wanted to thank-you for what you did last night."

"You got yourself in quite the predicament. I was merely being a good Samaritan." Klaus told her while throwing his jacket on a nearby chair. Bonnie couldn't believe he said that with a straight face.

 _Yeah right,_ Bonnie thought _and you also have fluffy bunnies as pets_. "You're not funny."

"So I've been told." Klaus turned to the liquor cabinet, "do you want anything?"

"No, thank-you." The last time she had accepted a drink from him, Bonnie had ended up in his bed.

When Klaus turned back to her, Bonnie looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. _Would the memories of that night ever fade?_

"First we need to discuss the attack on you last night." Klaus said as he sat on one of the leather chairs. He motioned for Bonnie to do the same, "Then we shall talk about our annoying friend Silas."

Bonnie decided to sit as far away from him as possible.

Klaus only smirked as she took a seat across from him; an ancient mahogany table serving as a barrier between them.

* * *

 ** _Lafayette Cemetery, New Orleans_**

Iris was sweating as she concentrated on the spell. Her coppery hair shined brightly under the radiant morning sun. She had to be quick or she risked exposure to the vampires that were patrolling the city.

Candles lit up around the circle of salt, Iris was in the middle, her eyes closed as she repeated the ancient spell, which had previously been bathed with the Seer's blood. For blood was the price required by the order.

A gust of wind and the sun disappeared behind a dark cloud.

A flash of lighting and the day became night.

Iris shivered as a dreadful cold penetrated her skin.

A shadowy figure materialized in front of her.

The smell of death and decay invaded all her senses. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to get away, to run, but Iris knew better. She was safe as long as she remained inside the circle. For within the circle nothing could harm her.

"So young…so ambitious…" the sinister voice sent chills down Iris's back. There was no face only the eerie shape of a hooded robe.

"You do not want to see my face girl…" the shadow moved from side to side, floating a few inches from the ground. No face, no hands, no feet. "Tell me, what is it that your mistress want from us and remember the price that must be paid."

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"Let me get this straight. You want to help me destroy Silas?" Bonnie asked incredulous.

"Yes." Klaus leaned back in the chair. "Don't look so surprised witch. Silas is a threat to all us and the sooner we get rid of him the better."

She couldn't argue with him on that. "And what makes you think I can destroy him?"

"You should have a little more faith in yourself Bonnie." He had said that to her before, in this very room. And like that day, his words gave her a bit more confidence not that she would ever admitted to his face.

"You are the key. Without you, Silas is nothing," Klaus continued.

"But…how?" Bonnie wondered, "He can manipulate me…I don't know if-"

"Has he been able to get inside your head since prom?" Klaus asked. By the way he stared at her, it was obvious that he expected some type of answer but Bonnie didn't know what it was.

"No. I haven't seen him since then." Bonnie admitted. "I know I should be worried. Who knows what he's planning but I honestly haven't had time to think about him…" she trailed off, heart pounding.

"What could possibly be keeping you up at night little witch?" Klaus's voice was pure sin. And Bonnie swallowed nervously.

 _You,_ was at the tip of her tongue.

Klaus gave her a knowing smile. "Have you been thinking about me?"

Bonnie blushed under his gaze and squirmed in her chair. _Had someone turned the heat on?_

The painting on the opposite wall had suddenly become really interesting.

Bonnie felt a butterfly touch on her skin and she jumped back when she realized Klaus had moved in front of her.

"You blush so easily." Klaus traced his index finger down her cheek and along her jaw, feeling the heat on her soft caramel skin. She was such a shy little thing, _his_ witch. He found her innocence endearing. "I like it."

His touch was soft but it ignited a fire inside of her. Bonnie's eyes were fixed on those puffy red lips. He was so close. If he leaned in just a little bit more… and then he did.

 _Oh my god! He was going to kiss her._

But just as Klaus's lips seemed to get closer, Bonnie's cell phone went off, Damon's name flashed across the screen.

Klaus scowled and moved away from her. Bonnie took a deep breath before she answered the call.

"Where the hell have you been?" Damon demanded, "I've been looking for you like crazy."

"What do you want Damon?" Bonnie's green eyes followed Klaus as he moved back to the liquor cabinet.

"Elena is missing. Katherine helped her escape and we're pretty sure she skipped town." Damon informed her, "I need you to do a locator spell."

 _Of course, why else would Damon be calling her if not for a favor?_

Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated on the spell. "Okay."

"I can get something that belongs to her and bring it to you so-"

"She's in New York." Bonnie interrupted. Blue eyes stared at her in wonder from across the room.

There was silence on the other end. "How did you-?" a perplexed Damon began.

"Does it matter?" Bonnie snapped. "Just make sure Elena doesn't do anything she'll regret once she gets her emotions back, OK."

"You can be really scary sometimes." Damon mumbled. "Thanks witchy."

"Yeah, I know." And with that Bonnie hung up.

She and Klaus stared at each other in silence until he finally said, "That was quite impressive little witch."

Bonnie felt a flutter in her chest at the look he gave her.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Iris let out a deep breath as she got out of the cemetery. She was a bit lightheaded, the spell had taken a toll on her and all she wanted was a nap. But first she needed to talk to the Seer and inform her of the Order's demands.

"Look what we got here."

Iris cursed under her breath, just what she needed.

"Get out of my way Diego." Iris tried to side step him but Diego was faster blocking her way, his two companions close behind him.

"You think you're so great cause you got that old hag protecting you huh," Diego smiled viciously. "Witches are not allowed to practice magic in the Quarter baby. You should know better."

"Go to hell," Iris snapped. She was in no mood to deal with him.

"The king has forbidden-" one of the vampires began but Iris broke his neck with a snap of her fingers. Diego wasted no time pinning her to the wall. The air was knocked out of her lungs by the force he used to slam her against the hard concrete.

"You're going to pay for that little bitch." His fangs descended on her neck but before he could bite her, Diego fell to the ground in pain, clutching his head with both hands, the other vampire followed suit.

"I'm not one of those mediocre witches of the Quarter that live in fear of Marcel Gerard," Iris told them. "You don't want to mess with Me." with a flick of her wrist Diego and the other vampire fell to the ground, both of their necks broken.

Iris walked away a wicked grin on her face.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Bonnie got home late in the afternoon. She hoped that Damon and Stefan could knock some sense into Elena's emotionless mind. She had texted Caroline earlier and informed her of the Salvatore's trip to New York and promised to meet with her the next day. Final exams were around the corner and Graduation was coming soon too. Everything was changing.

Bonnie stared out of her living room window, wondering if there was another hunter out there waiting for her to come out or worst waiting to come inside and finish the job. Klaus had warned her that hunters had different methods of working. Witch hunters in particular were tricky to deal with. He also promised that he was going to look into the hunter's tattoo.

Bonnie shivered remembering the sketch Klaus had shown her. She hadn't seen the hunter's face the previous night-it had been covered with a mask, but even just staring at the drawing had made Bonnie unconsciously touch her neck and remembered what it felt like to have his hands squeezing the life out of her.

She closed the curtain and decided to look through her grandmother's Grimoire, maybe she could find something useful in there. She was about to go up the stairs and get the Grimoire from her bedroom before she thought of something better.

Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt the rush of power tingle inside of her. When she opened her eyes the Grimoire was floating in front of her. Bonnie smiled.

"Incredible isn't it?"

Bonnie froze. The Grimoire fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Silas was standing in front of her. "How easy everything is when you have so much power."

"Are you spying on me?" Bonnie asked unconsciously taking a step back.

"All you had to do was think of Elena," Silas continued, "And you knew where she was, just like that." he snapped his fingers smiling, "You summoned the Grimoire and it came to you. There are truly no limits to Expression."

Bonnie stared at the face of her dead boyfriend. A few days ago, the face, the voice, the thought that Jeremy was in front of her would've been too hard to resist. That was the thing about Silas, he knew how to seduce, how to manipulate and cloud one's mind.

Silas tilted his head to the side, a deep frown on his face, "something is different about you." He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he could feel a change in her and he didn't like it.

"My mind is clear," Bonnie told him. "You have no power over me anymore." She hadn't realized it until now, standing before him. The pull, the allure Silas seemed to have over her was _gone._ She could finally see him for what he was, a liar and a manipulator.

"How ungrateful of you," Silas spat. "After everything I've done for _you_."

"You mean manipulate me and use me for your _own_ advantage." Bonnie scoffed.

"You need me." Silas took a step closer, "Without me Expression will consume you. It will destroy you like it did the witches before you." He tried to get inside her head like he had done countless of times before but he found himself blocked. His eyes darkened.

"No," Bonnie told him angrily. "You _need_ me."

" _You are the key," Klaus had told her. "Without you, Silas is nothing."_

And he was right. Bonnie as Qetsiyah's descendant was the only one who could drop the veil, without her Silas couldn't do anything.

" _Bonnie…"_

Bonnie's head snapped to her right where her grandmother materialized near the stairs. A lump formed in her throat as blood began pouring out of her Grams's nose and ears.

" _Help me…please Bonnie…"_

Silas stood behind her, whispering in her ear, "They are hurting her, torturing her on the other side. And it's all because of you." His lips found the spot right below her ear. His hands grabbed her hips in a painful grip. "We can save her Bonnie. We can save all of them."

She remembered different hands grabbing her hips in a possessive grip and the finger shaped marks on her skin the day after. An echo of something resonated in her blood at the thought of Klaus.

Bonnie pushed Silas away, turning her back to the ghost of her grandmother. "Grams is dead. She's not here." It hurt still, but Bonnie knew that wasn't her Grams. The ghost disappeared. "Your tricks don't work on me anymore."

"Bonnie you-"

But Bonnie interrupted him, "I'm tired of being _used_. You had your fun getting inside my head, controlling me but not anymore. I'm done."

"I made you." Silas hissed, "The power that is inside of you is because of me, and without my help it will kill you. You need-"

"No." Bonnie smiled, "For the first time in months I can see the truth. You don't control me, Expression doesn't control me. I may have this power because of your scheming but I decide when and how to use it. Not you."

"You are not in control. Expression is not like the magic of the spirits Bonnie," Silas was frustrated and it was starting to show, "it will poison you, it will take a life of its own and _control you_."

"You're wrong."

"Bonnie-"

"Get out!" Bonnie squeezed her hands into tight fists. "Get away from me. I don't want to see you again."

Silas took a menacing step closer and then he felt _it_.

Blood…ancient…powerful…different from Bonnie's magical blood, with horror he realized the reason he couldn't get inside Bonnie's head anymore.

"GET OUT!" this time it was an order and Silas felt it. His eyes went wide as the power of Expression was unleashed against him. No natural magic could ever harm him or touch him in his current state but there was nothing natural about the power Bonnie wielded.

Bonnie watch in satisfaction as Silas disappeared from her home. She was triumphant with the knowledge that she could hurt him.

* * *

He landed in the forest, choking on darkness.

Minutes…hours…

Silas wasn't sure how long he stayed on his hands and knees trembling like a scared child. It had been two thousand years since magic was used against him. He had forgotten what it was like to be on the receiving end of a witch's scorn.

 _You will regret this_. Silas vowed, _and so will he._

Klaus Mikaelson was going to pay dearly for what he had done. By _bonding_ himself to Bonnie, Klaus had severed Silas's connection to her. Bonnie was no longer under his control. Bonnie was free.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank-you so much for your continued support. Klonnie has taken me hostage and I can't seem to stop writing ;)_

 _I'm a little nervous about this chapter as we get inside Klaus's head. Let me know what you think!_

* * *

Long after Bonnie had left the mansion, Klaus sat by the fire place, lost in thought.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. For the past few days all he could think about was Bonnie, the feel of her skin against him, the look in her eyes as he moved inside her and the taste of her blood. Her blood was intoxicating. Never, in his one thousand years on this earth had he tasted something so _divine._

It was driving him mad. He had bedded countless of witches before but none had affected him the way Bonnie had. He was consumed by thoughts of her, the feel of her, the taste of her. The memories that assaulted him were so vivid, he closed his eyes.

The shy look she gave him as he undressed her. The tentative way in which she kissed him back and the way her hands trembled as they helped him get his shirt off. She had been shy and uncertain at first but responsive and eager as she gained confidence.

It had been decades since he bedded a virgin. And Bonnie had been as pure as snow when she came to his bed. Her innocence had surprised and endeared him. _What had that bloody boy been doing while he dated her?_

Jeremy Gilbert was a fool and undeserving of her, and Klaus was glad that pathetic excuse of a hunter was dead.

Bonnie had looked beautiful underneath him, wide eyed and trembling on the brink of a new experience. Perhaps he was being sentimental about it but he found himself treasuring the memory of that night.

Bonnie had awakened something inside of him. She had touched him in a way he had not anticipated.

Bonnie had reminded Klaus why he had always been fascinated by witches.

Her beauty was undeniable, her power unrivaled and Klaus realized that one night (and morning) had not been enough. He needed more. He wanted more.

There was no question that he wanted Bonnie in his bed again. He was no stranger to lust and he never denied himself the pleasures of the flesh, particularly when it came to witches. There had been many vampires, werewolves, and human lovers that distracted him and kept his bed warm throughout the centuries, but he always found his way back to a witch. Even as a human he had always been drawn to witches.

But he had crossed a line with Bonnie; he had done something he had never allowed himself to do before with any of his lovers.

 _How could he have been so careless?_

To bed a witch was one thing but to form a bond, to bind himself to another. It was something Klaus had never experienced before. He had never been bound to anyone-unless he counted the time his mother bound him and his siblings.

Blood was powerful, it could create, it could destroy, even the most powerful spells required blood. And the exchange of blood between two supernatural creatures was something that even the most dedicated of vampire lovers didn't dare do.

Klaus was angry with himself. He had been so consumed, so lost in Bonnie that he hadn't thought of the consequences. He had simply followed his instincts and fed her his blood. He felt the bond as it came to life but he was far too consumed by pleasure to care.

It had been reckless. It had been foolish. And he was terrified of what consequences it could bring.

When Klaus had felt Bonnie's fear the night before, it had been a shock to his system. He felt her pain and her fear as cleared as if it were his own. He was not used to having someone else's emotions echo in his blood. And the idea that she could feel _his_ emotions in turn or worst use the bond against him was something that disturbed him greatly.

He had been relieved when he realized that Bonnie had no idea of the bond between them. Of the power she now had over him. And Klaus preferred it that way, for _now_ at least it was best if she didn't know. Not until he could understand it better himself.

His senses alerted him to Elijah's presence in the room. Klaus looked up when Elijah handed him a glass of bourbon, "You look like you need it."

Klaus took the glass, a small smile on his face. Elijah took a seat next to him and placed the bottle in the table between them. The two drank in silence, staring at the burning fire, each lost in their own thoughts.

"I'm going to New Orleans." Elijah informed him after a while.

Klaus raised an eyebrow, "you believe Katerina's warning to be true?"

"I think it's best if we investigate it, don't you?" Elijah was still surprised that Niklaus had decided to stay in Mystic Falls rather than search for the witch plotting against him. It was not like him "There is nothing keeping us here."

Bonnie's face came to his mind and Klaus drained the glass in one go, forcing the image away. "Silas is a threat that must be dealt with before we can focus on New Orleans." He said instead.

"Is that why you've decided to befriend Miss Bennett?" Elijah studied his brother's face, looking for any sign that might give him a clue into his brother's plans with the young witch. It was clear that something had transpired between them and Elijah was curious to know what.

"She's the key to destroy Silas." Klaus told him, not liking Elijah's interest in his relationship with Bonnie. "I offered my help to do so and she agreed."

"I must admit I'm surprised." Elijah peered at him over the rim of his glass.

Klaus scowled, "That two former enemies can join forces to destroy a common foe." He couldn't see what was surprising about that.

"That it took you this long to notice Miss Bennett." Elijah told him with a knowing smile. Klaus opened his mouth to reply but Elijah beat him to it, "You obsession with witches is not a secret, brother."

"She's different Elijah. I've never met a witch like her." Klaus admitted. He wouldn't have dared to admit such a thing to anyone else but Elijah was his brother. And Klaus found that he wanted to confide in someone, he needed to talk to someone, "She fascinates me."

"She's a Bennett." But Elijah had a feeling that it was not just Bonnie's power that fascinated Klaus. "Something else troubles you." Elijah could tell. He knew his brother well.

Klaus turned to study his brother. Elijah knew him the best out all his siblings and Klaus wanted to talk to him, but he was too conflicted.

Bonnie Bennett had pulled the rug from under his feet and had completely taken him by surprise. Klaus wanted her, there was no point in denying the obvious but the bond forged between them troubled him.

One of the few people who could tell him about being bonded was sitting right next to him. If Klaus remembered correctly Elijah had been bonded to two witches before. There was a part of Klaus that wanted to ask, that was curious to know, he had never bothered before. Klaus had even used Elijah's bond to his witches to his own advantage but this time it was different.

Klaus knew that if he asked, Elijah would not lie to him, but he restrained himself. Now was not the time. "When do you leave?" he asked instead.

"Tomorrow," it had been around one hundred years since the last time he'd been to the French Quarter and Elijah was quite looking forward to it. New Orleans had been the place he and his siblings had lived the longest in, the place that had become their home, and where their family had finally lived in peace and thrived, until Mikael had ruined everything.

"Why are you going?" Klaus asked suddenly, "Why do you care if there is a witch plotting against me?"

Elijah looked him directly in the eyes, "Because a threat to you is a threat to our family." He placed his empty glass next to the bottle and stood up. "Despite our differences we are still a family Niklaus." he placed his hand on Klaus's right shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 _And we remain together…always and forever_

The vow, the promise they made to each other so long ago. There were only three of them left now. But that promise stood as strong as the day it was made. They had lost Finn and while they had never been particularly close, he was still their brother. They had lost Kol, and even thought they never spoke of it, the pain was there still. Elijah was not going to lose any more family if he could help it.

"Thank-you…" Klaus murmured. A human wouldn't have been able to hear his words. But Elijah heard him clearly. He smiled before leaving Klaus alone once more with his conflicted thoughts.

* * *

The morning after her encounter with Silas, Bonnie was back at the Mikaelson mansion. She hadn't been able to sleep the night before, her mind reeling with possibilities.

"I hurt him." She told Klaus. "He tried to get inside my head, but he couldn't."

Klaus's eyes followed her every movement as she paced around his living room. She looked radiant; she was practically beaming with happiness. And he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked when she smiled.

"He's been like a ghost, popping here and there, creating illusions, manipulating me. I haven't been able to touch him before. Well there was that one time when I thought he was Jeremy," Bonnie frowned. "But last night was different. I was in control, of my mind and my magic." Bonnie's green eyes shined with excitement. "I used Expression against him and the look on his face…Klaus, if you could have seen the look on his face. He was afraid."

"He has every reason to be." Klaus told her. He couldn't help but remember the night she tried to stop him from breaking his Hybrid curse. She had been so fierce and determined, channeling the power of a hundred witches. Expression made her a thousand times stronger. "It's a pity I wasn't there to see it," he lamented.

Bonnie laughed, "You would've enjoyed seeing the fear in his eyes." A thoughtful look crossed her face.

"Something troubles you." Klaus was quick to note.

"I feel different." Bonnie admitted. "Since prom, I feel in control, grounded." She turned and looked out of the window as she tried to gather her thoughts. Prom night had been a defining moment, _in more ways than one_ Bonnie thought, heat rising to her face. "I can't explain it but something has changed. I can feel it. There is something different about me."

Klaus studied her face, knowing that she was thinking about that night-her heart beat and the blush on her face always gave her away. But he wondered, why she hand't felt their bond yet.

"I feel at peace." Turning her gaze towards him she added. "It's like I found an anchor."

Something flashed across his face, an emotion Bonnie couldn't pinpoint.

"Perhaps you have." He whispered. For one wild moment, he opened his mouth ready to tell her the truth but then he stopped. It wasn't the time, not yet.

Bonnie nodded not understanding his _true_ meaning. She checked the time on her phone and realized she needed to be in school. "I have to go." She told Klaus. "I have my English final today."

Klaus nodded, "Come back to the mansion after you're done with school. There is something I wish to show you."

"Okay." Bonnie was just about to exit the living room when she turned back to look at him, remembering something, "How did you know?"

"Know what?" Klaus gave her a confused look.

"When you saved me from the hunter," Bonnie clarified, "You came out of nowhere. We don't exactly live in the same neighborhood." It was something that she hadn't thought of until the night before, when she hadn't been able to sleep and thoughts of Klaus had eventually surfaced. "Were you following me?"

"No." _I felt your fear as if were my own_ , Klaus thought. But he didn't dared say it to her face. "Luckily for you, I was in the neighborhood."

It was a lie and they both knew it.

He expected Bonnie to call him on it, but she only stared at him, "If you say so." And with that she left. His eyes glued to her back until she disappeared from his view.

* * *

"So what, you expect me to pack my things and move to New Orleans?" Rebekah asked crossing her arms over her chest. She had been surprised when Elijah invited her to breakfast, and even more shocked to find that her brother was going to New Orleans, on a quest to find the threat brewing against Niklaus.

"I'm going to investigate whatever this threat to our brother is. But yes, should Katerina's warning be true, I expect you to come to New Orleans with Niklaus and me." Elijah told her in a stern voice.

"You expect me to leave my life here, my pursue of the cure?" Rebekah asked incredulous. _Did her brothers ever cared for her what she wanted?_

"The cure was a fool's errand darling." Elijah told her dismissively, "It would've stripped you of everything you are and for what?" he questioned, "more high schools proms."

"I wanted to be human!" Rebekah's voice grew louder. "I wanted children and a family."

"You have a family." Elijah reminded her. "And your family needs you. Our brother needs you."

"I owe him nothing." Rebekah hissed, "I wish him no joy, no love. I will stay here and live my life the way I want to. And if you were smart you would do the same." She stood up, filled with anger and turned to leave.

"He is our brother Rebekah." Elijah's voice grew softer, stopping her from leaving, "We lost Finn and Kol. All we have is each other."

Rebekah's eyes watered at the thought of Kol. She had never been close to Finn, she had been sad when he was killed certainly but the pain was not nearly as much as the pain she felt when they lost Kol.

"We made a promise to each other a thousand years ago." Elijah continued. Rebekah still had her back to him.

"Why?" she questioned as she turned back to face him. "Why do you insist on trying to be a family, can't you see? We're broken Elijah." She forced herself not to cry in front of her brother. "You insist on standing by Nik's side and what happens when we displease him, he'll dagger us!" Rebekah shook her head, "The loyalty, the trust you have in our bother will never be returned. He doesn't care about us! All he cares about is his power and his scheming."

"I refuse to believe that." brother and sister stared at each other neither was willing to back down.

"You're a fool." Rebekah stormed off.

Elijah watched her go with sadness.

* * *

"So you're just going to tag along?" Bonnie asked Caroline as they got out of school later that afternoon. She was confident that she was going to get a good grade in English class.

"I don't trust her. Besides Matt is our friend. It should be our duty to help him study, not hers." Caroline replied angrily. "I mean, is Rebekah Mikaelson. She's evil."

"They're just friends Caroline." Bonnie wondered what Caroline would think about her 'secret meetings' with the Original Hybrid. She wanted to talk to Caroline about Klaus, she wanted to confide in her best friend about what had occurred with Klaus on prom night but she found herself tongue tied.

She feared Caroline's reaction, her judgment, her disappointment. But above all she wondered about Caroline and Klaus. It was no secret that Klaus had been pursing Caroline for months now, he had a soft spot for her, so where did that leave Bonnie?

 _And why did she feel a pang on her chest when she thought of Klaus with Caroline?_

It was silly to feel jealous, she had no claim over Klaus, and she didn't expect anything from him just because they had sex. She was feeling so many conflicted emotions and she wanted more than anything to talk to someone, to talk to her friends, but she couldn't.

"Earth to Bonnie… Hello." Caroline waved her hand in front of her face, the whole day Bonnie had been distracted, lost in her own thoughts.

"Sorry." Bonnie mumbled.

"Are you ok?" Caroline asked with concern. "You seem…different, I don't know." They hadn't seen each other since prom and Caroline knew Bonnie well enough to know that something was troubling her.

Caroline wasn't entirely sure but she could sense something different about Bonnie. The blonde wrinkled her nose, even her scent was different. Caroline had come to associate Bonnie with lavender and she smelled like that today like she usually did. But there was another scent clinging to her friend's skin.

"Oh my god! Are you sniffing me?" Bonnie moved a few steps away from Caroline.

"Sorry." Caroline apologized, clearly embarrassed. "You smell different." There was an earthly scent, almost hidden underneath Bonnie's natural scent and perfume, but it was definitely there. A human wouldn't know the difference and although Caroline had been able to pick it up, she was a still a young vampire and couldn't completely identify the scent.

"I took a shower this morning!" Bonnie defended herself.

"Is not bad," Caroline laughed, "You don't stink. It's just different. That's all."

"That's creepy." Bonnie made a face.

"Vampire, remember?" Caroline playfully stuck her tongue out.

The two friends shared a laugh.

"You should come and study with us." Caroline pleaded, "That way if Rebekah tries anything…"

"I highly doubt she's going to eat Matt." Bonnie told her. Besides she had to meet Klaus. "I have some stuff to do…"

"Witch stuff?" her friend asked.

"Yeah." With a blue eyed Hybrid that was driving her crazy. "Have you heard from Stefan or Damon?" Bonnie changed the subject.

"Stefan texted me yesterday when they arrived in New York. But I haven't heard from him today. Do you think they might have found Elena by now?" Elena wasn't exactly their favorite person at the moment but she was still their friend.

"The problem is not finding her but convincing her to turn back her emotions." Bonnie didn't know how Damon and Stefan planned to accomplish that. Elena needed something to snap her back to reality before she was completely gone.

"If only we could bring Jeremy back to live…"Caroline's eyes went wide when she realized what she'd said. She turned to Bonnie with a regretful look on her face, "I didn't mean that I just..."

There was a way to bring Jeremy back, a crazy way that involved bringing all supernatural creatures back to life. "It's fine." Bonnie offered her a small smile. Thinking of Jeremy always hurt. But Caroline had a point. If Jeremy came back to life he could be the catalyst Elena needed to get her emotions back.

"We're about to graduate and Elena might not be here." there was a sad look on Caroline's face, "or Tyler…this is not how I expected senior year to be like."

"I know." Bonnie hadn't expected her senior year to be like this either.

* * *

Rebekah was angry as she made her way home. Her talk with her brother in the morning, Caroline's constant distrust and snide remarks at school and the stupid prep she needed to do for finals. Rebekah liked going to High School, she never had before-she'd been daggered, but like most teenager she hated final exams.

"Matt!" the Original was surprised when she saw Matt waiting at her doorstep. She had just seen him at school, and they had agreed to meet at four for their study session. It was barely three. "What are you doing here?"

"I guess I couldn't wait." He told her with a shy smile on his handsome face.

Rebekah was pleased. She felt a warm flutter in her chest. "Well, I guess we can get started before your bratty ex-girlfriend shows up."

She moved to open the door but stopped when Matt placed his hand on her arm. "Thank-you," his face was so close to hers, "for helping me."

Rebekah's breath caught in her throat. She bit her lip contemplating what to do and then decided to throw caution to the wind. She grabbed Matt by his face and planted a scorching kiss on his lips. Matt smiled against her lips, before placing his hands tenderly on her neck. "What a foolish girl."

Rebekah looked up in confusion, it sounded like Matt, but the twisted smile on his face and the sudden tight grip of his hands on her neck told her otherwise. She tried to use all her strength to push him way but it was in vain.

Matt squeezed her neck with unnatural strength. Her vision clouded.

* * *

Bonnie returned to the Mikaelson mansion after school. Klaus was outside waiting for her. Her heart skipped a beat like it always did whenever she caught sight of him. _Would there be a day when Klaus Mikaelson did not affect her at all?_ She wondered.

"So what do you want to show me?" Bonnie asked as they stepped inside the mansion.

"Something I thought would be of your interest." Klaus placed his hand on the small of her back as he lead her to his study. She always got so nervous whenever he got close to her. As they walked he caught a well known scent coming from her. Nearly a week later and his scent lingered still on her skin. It pleased him greatly.

When they entered the study, Bonnie noted the row of bookshelves all filled, many of the books looked like first editions and a lot were in different languages. Klaus walked to the rectangular mahogany desk where a red cloth in the shape of a large book laid. He picked it up carefully and peeled off the cloth revealing a leather bound journal which he handed over to Bonnie. It was heavy. While the leather was soft and looked rather new the thick parchment pages inside were yellowed, clearly old.

The moment Bonnie touched the pages she felt a humming in her blood. It was the same feeling she got whenever she touched her grandmother's or Emily's Grimoire, a sense of belonging, of ownership. She looked at Klaus with curiosity and studied the pages before her. She didn't understand the language and some of the writing was faded, worn out with time.

"This Grimoire belonged to the most powerful witch I've ever met." Klaus told her with pride.

"Your mother," Bonnie assumed.

Klaus chuckled, "While my mother was indeed powerful, everything she knew, everything she ever learned as a witch was thanks to the owner of this Grimoire."

That piqued Bonnie's interest, "Who was she?"

"She was my mother's friend and mentor, a second mother to me and my siblings." It was clear by the fondness in his voice just how much that witch had meant to him, "her name was Ayana and she was also your ancestor."

Bonnie's breath hitched. "I'm related to her?"

"Indeed you are." Klaus confirmed. Bonnie was perhaps the only Bennett witch that could rival and dared he say it, had the potential to surpassed Ayana's power. "This Grimoire along with my mother's own Grimoire are the holy grail of my witch collection."

Bonnie felt honored that he was showing her something so precious to him. A warm feeling spread throughout her body. "Tell me more."

"What do you wish to know?"

"Everything," Bonnie had so many questions, so much curiosity. She had heard of her ancestors from Damon, from Shane, Silas, little bits here and there but neither of them had spoken with the warmth and reverence she heard in Klaus's voice.

* * *

Caroline hurried to put all of her stuff in her bag. She couldn't believe she was about to have a study session with Matt and Rebekah Mikaelson of all people. But, for the sake of helping Matt pass all his finals Caroline was willing to put all her differences with the female Original aside. Matt needed to graduate with them and Caroline was determined to help him do it.

Just as she was about to get inside her car she felt a presence behind her.

"Hello Caroline." The blonde vampire froze on the spot. When she turned around she found herself face to face with none other than Klaus Mikaelson.

"Hi." Her heart was beating like a bird against a cage. She hadn't seen him since prom, since the night he had given her that beautiful dress. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk you." he told her. "It's important."

He looked rather serious and Caroline became worried, "is something wrong?"

"It's about Bonnie." Klaus said.

"Did something happen?" Caroline panicked. She had seen Bonnie at school and everything seemed fine. _Had something happened that she didn't know about?_

Klaus took a step closer, "Everything is all right, there is no need to worry," his hand touched her shoulder, gently caressing her skin as he leaned closer to her.

Caroline gasped consciously aware of his closeness. His hand moved from her shoulder and up to her neck, bringing their faces together, "Klaus…"

There was a wicked smile on his face and Caroline felt a sense of dread. Something was wrong. In the next second he snapped her neck.

* * *

"Wait, so Ayana was a seer?" Bonnie interrupted Klaus's tale.

"Yes. After my sister Freya died, Ayana saw in her visions the land that was Mystic Falls. She came with our family as we escaped the plague." Klaus continued. "She was well known in our village for her prophetic dreams and healing abilities. She also communicated with the spirits quite frequently."

"You said that your mother learned everything from Ayana, why?" Bonnie questioned.

"My mother and her sister were witches but they never had anyone to train them or guide them." _Much like you_ Klaus thought. "Their mother died when they were still children, I think."

Bonnie sat on one of the leather chairs in his study, feet tucked under her. She looked so young, so tiny, so vulnerable. The protectiveness that swelled in Klaus's chest in that moment took him by surprise. "I believe my mother's sister learned everything on her own. My mother however fell in love and decided to focus on her family, until my sister was killed by the plague." Klaus continued, pacing in front of her. The Grimoire on a table in between them.

Klaus didn't know much about his older sister, only what Elijah had told him or the few times his mother talked about her, which had been rare and always filled with sadness and pain. "She met Ayana shortly after and the two became friends. My mother was determined to become a powerful witch, to ensure she would never have to lose another child."

It was a different time back then, half of the children born to families died, by disease, winter or famine. Klaus could still remember the harsh winters that assaulted their village. The way he and his siblings slept tucked together under the furs sharing each other's warmth. Had it not been for Ayana and his mother's magic, him and his siblings might not have lived to see past the age of ten.

"But she did end up losing another child. My youngest brother Henrik." The sadness and the pain in his voice cut through Bonnie. It hurt him deeply still. It was a wound that would never fully heal. "When he was killed, my mother decided to make us immortal."

"She created the immortality spell that turned you into vampires." Bonnie finished for him.

"She stole the immortality spell." Klaus corrected her. Bonnie's eyes went wide. "Qetsiyah created the immortality spell, Ayana as Qetsiyah's descendant knew the spell. She refused to give it to mother, so she stole it."

"But you're not like Silas, how?" Bonnie was surprised and confused. If Esther had used the same spell as Qetsiyah then why were Silas and the Originals so different?

"My mother not only wanted us to be immortal, she wanted us to be powerful, stronger and far more lethal than the wolves that hunted us." everybody always talked about his power hungry ways but whom did he have to blame for that. _His own mother_ , Klaus thought bitterly. "Ayana warned her that the spirits would turn on her, but my mother was determined. She modified your ancestor's spell to fit her own needs and made us thus."

Silence descended in the room. The Mikaelson and the Bennett families had been intertwined for a thousand years. Bonnie's head was spinning with all the information Klaus had shared with her. There was so much about the Bennett bloodline she still didn't' know. She wondered if her mom or even Grams had known so much history about their ancestors. "There is a reason you're telling me this?" green eyes searched his blue ones. "You're planning something?"

"Smart girl," Klaus smirked. "You see, Ayana did not just talk with any spirits. She spoke with the spirits of _her_ ancestors. Her blood, _your_ blood…" Klaus emphasized.

And then it hit Bonnie. They could use that same spell to contact her ancestors. To contact Qetsiyah, she had made Silas immortal. She knew how to destroy him.

Bonnie looked down at the Grimoire on the table in front of her and then back at Klaus, "the spell is in here isn't?"

Klaus nodded. "It's a tricky spell. Since Ayana, only one other witch succeeded in using it. But that is a tale for another time."

Bonnie was mesmerized as he walked towards her. Klaus had a magnetic presence that was irresistible, a predator who could seduce his prey with ease. _Is this how humans feel before they're compelled?_ Bonnie wondered as she found herself completely under his thrall. In that moment she would've done whatever he asked of her.

Klaus crouched down in front of her, blue eyes staring deeply into her green orbs. And in that moment, as their eyes connected Bonnie felt _it_.

The link between them

Hearts beating in harmony

Shared blood coursing through their veins

And power

undeniable power was pulsing with life and strength, from him to her, from her to him, feeding of each other, connecting each other. She had never felt anything like it. It took her breath away.

Klaus realized the moment Bonnie felt their bond. Her eyes went wide, her breath caught in her throat.

"What-" Bonnie began but was interrupted when her cell phone rang. Caroline's name flashed across the screen. Bonnie ignored the call, focusing on Klaus.

Bonnie stood up and Klaus did the same. The air vibrated with electricity. Everything around them completely faded, time seemed to stand still as they gazed into each other's eyes. They had been in this position before when she had trapped him at the Gilbert house. "How?" Bonnie questioned. "When-"

Her cell phone rang again. This time Matt's name flashed on the screen. That Matt called shortly after Caroline put Bonnie on the alert. Something had gone wrong at their study group. As much as she wanted and needed to talk to Klaus she needed to take the call first.

"Matt, now is not a good time," she told him when she answered her phone. Klaus eyes pinned her to the spot.

"I'm afraid Matt can't talk to you right now." Jeremy's voice responded.

A chill went down Bonnie's spine, Klaus stiffen. "What do you want Silas?"

"You know what I want." Silas told her. "I'm tired of waiting. And after the little stunt you pulled last night I've decided to give you a little push."

Bonnie swallowed, "if you hurt Matt-"

"Matt or Caroline or darling Rebekah…"

At the mention of his sister, Klaus growled, his eyes flashed amber for brief a moment. Bonnie had to put her hand on his chest in order to calm him down.

"Take your pick." Silas continued. "You have until midnight to destroy the veil once and for all. If you don't, I will kill your friends."

"Is not that simple-"Bonnie began but was interrupted,

"Don't play with me. You have the power to destroy the other side and you will do it tonight. Come alone." Silas instructed. "Tell _your_ hybrid not to get involved in this. I may not be able to kill Rebekah but I will _hurt_ her." His voice was laced with venom.

Bonnie felt like she was about to have a panic attack at the sudden turn of events.

"Do as I ask and your friends will live, is very simple Bonnie." Silas's voice grew softer, "fail and I will not only kill them but I will also kill everyone in this town," he threatened. "And I will start with your father…you know how to find me."

The line went dead.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thank-you so much for all your support. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

Bonnie sat on the floor eyes closed, Qetsiyah's talisman clutched tightly in both of her hands. For the past two hours she had been trying and failing to communicate with her ancestor. Klaus wasn't kidding when he said the spell was tricky.

It was not just the amount of concentration she needed in order to power the spell but the spirit in question had to agree to be summoned. And Qetsiyah was not responding to any of Bonnie's pleads for help.

Bonnie had trouble concentrating too. There were too many emotions swirling inside of her. Worry and fear for her friends. Confusion, anger, and uncertainty about the bond she just discovered.

She shared a bond with Klaus. She could feel Klaus inside of her, inside her mind, in her blood. She could feel the echo of his emotions as clear as if they were her own. It scared her. She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it before. Bonnie knew now when it happened. The night they had spent together, when he bit her and gave her his blood in turn. She should've known. She had felt something that night when they shared blood. But she had been too lost in him, lost in the pleasure he gave her to pay any mind.

And now she was filled with doubts about that night. _Was it really a drunken one night stand? Or had Klaus planned the whole thing?_

Klaus had never taken an interest in her before, except when it came to her magic. When he needed something from her, like the unlinking spell. _Had that been his plan all along?_ She wondered. To seduce her and form a bond with her so that he could use her for his own advantage. Had she been such a fool to believe that he actually wanted her? That he could desire her for more than just her magic?

When would she learn that people wanted her for the power she possessed and not for who she was?

Why would Klaus be any different?

"This isn't working." His accented voice interrupted her thoughts. Klaus had been pacing behind her, waiting rather impatiently for her to summon Qetsiyah. "You're not concentrating hard enough."

Bonnie opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. "I can't concentrate with you hovering over me."

Klaus smirked, "At the rate you're going sweetheart, we'll be here all night."

They didn't have all night. They barely had a few hours, before Silas started killing people. His demands had been straightforward when he called. And Bonnie had until midnight to do what he wanted.

"How do you expect me to concentrate when my friends have been kidnapped?" Bonnie asked in an annoyed tone. "When my dad is in danger?" _When I can feel your emotions inside of me_ she thought.

It was hard enough to deal with her troubled emotions but it was ten times worst when they were combined with his. There were so many things she wanted to ask about the bond. But they had agreed not to talk about it, not until they had defeated Silas. He was their main priority.

"I've already sent someone to fetch your father. He'll be safe." Blue eyes pinned her down to the floor, "You have so much power inside of you this spell should be as easy as breathing."

"Easy for you to say," Bonnie mumbled. Her hands hurt from the hard way she clutched the talisman. "I can't-"

"Do you want to destroy Silas or not?" Klaus questioned. "Because if you don't, he'll find a way to destroy the other side and every supernatural creature that has ever lived will come back to life. Do you want that?"

"Of course not," as much as she would love nothing more than to have her Grams back, to bring Jeremy back, the price was too high. Bonnie knew she couldn't let Silas destroy the other side. "But what if I don't have a choice?"

Silas had her friends. If Bonnie didn't do what he wanted, he was going to hurt them. Or worst go after her dad or murder the people of Mystic Falls. She had no idea how to destroy the immortal and the person who had all the answers refused to help.

"Why do you doubt yourself?" Klaus honestly couldn't understand it. Bonnie was one of the most powerful witches he'd ever met. "Where is the girl with fire at her wake, ready to die trying to stop me?"

Bonnie gave him a sad smile, "that girl had the power of a hundred dead witches flowing through her veins. I don't have that anymore." She could barely control the power she had.

"You have Expression." Klaus reminded her. "There is no magic on this earth that is more powerful than that."

"It's not that easy." Bonnie murmured. "Up until last night I couldn't even control Expression, not really." It was how Silas had manipulated her, by making her feel like she needed him in order to control her magic. When she hurt him Bonnie had felt triumphant but now that Silas had made a move against her. She was plagued with doubts. She looked down at her lap, "I don't know if I can do it again." She admitted in embarrassment.

What if it was a onetime thing? What if in the end Silas managed to get inside her head again?

"You must believe that you can." Klaus encouraged. "If you doubt yourself, you won't be able to destroy him."

"If only Qetsiyah had agreed to help." It was a testament of how powerful Qetsiyah was that she had successfully avoided being summoned by Bonnie. Or maybe it just showed how truly weak Bonnie was in comparison. She had failed. If she hadn't even been able to talk to the witch who made Silas and trapped him how was she going to stop him? Bonnie didn't know what spell or what kind of power Qetsiyah had used to entomb Silas.

"That bitch is clearly not coming." Klaus hissed. The spell had been a waste of time. They made a mistake thinking that Qetsiyah would be willing to help them. Here they were, trying to accomplish her greatest desire and sent Silas to the other side and the old hag hadn't even bothered to show up. Witches could be such a pain in the ass sometimes.

"What am I going to do?" Bonnie asked him in panic. Qetsiyah had been her last hope. She had been counting on Qetsiyah's desire to have Silas with her on the other side to help her.

"No need to fret love," Klaus hadn't lived for a thousand years by putting all his bets on one horse. He outlived countless of foes and plots against him by always being one step ahead of his enemies. He gave Bonnie wicked grin, "You have a one thousand original hybrid watching your back. I have another plan."

* * *

Matt blinked a few times before his eyes could adjust to the blinding light. _Where was he?_

He studied his surroundings. It looked like a cabin and he was bound to a wooden chair, a rope tied around the hands and ankles. Caroline and Rebekah were chained against the wall, across from him. By the red burning marks on their wrists, he knew the chains had vervain. Caroline was unconscious and so was Rebekah but she looked pale and sickly, sweat trickling down her skin. _Could Originals get sick?_

"Werewolf venom," Silas informed him coming into the room. He had taken Professor's Shane appearance. Matt struggled against his restraints.

"Why are you doing this?" Matt asked him as he tried and failed to get free.

Silas laughed. "I'm bored…I need some leverage over Bonnie…" he pulled out a knife. "And guess what? First one to wake up is the first one that gets tortured."

Matt's heart sped up as Silas approached him, knife in hand. "Bonnie will end you." He said in a foolish moment of bravado. She had to. Bonnie was the only with enough power to destroy him.

"She will try I have no doubt." Silas placed the tip of the knife against Matt's cheek. "And she will fail." A red thin line formed on Matt's cheek as the knife cut through his skin. He hissed in pain but was determined not to give Silas the satisfaction of screaming.

"We'll see how long your bravery lasts." Silas cut the other side of his cheek. Tears burned in Matt's eyes and he bit his lip in pain. "I'm just getting started."

* * *

"You want me to do what!" Bonnie stood up, trying to process Klaus's reckless plan.

"The way I see it you have three options." Klaus told her walking closer towards her. "One, you give into Silas's demands, destroy the other side and unleash hell on earth." He moved to stand in front of her, "Two, you trick him into thinking you are destroying the other side, hope that he will fall for it, take the cure and die," he rolled his eyes, "or three you go straight for the kill." He grinned.

"And you think I can go straight for the kill?" Bonnie shook her head. "That's insane!" how the hell was she supposed to go against a two thousand year old immortal who happened to be using her friends as leverage.

"You must." Klaus insisted. "With expression-"

"This magic is different Klaus, is not natural magic. It's not even like dark magic." Green eyes turned to him in fear, "Every time I've used expression I've lost control. That's how Silas manipulated me. By making me feel like I needed him to regain control."

"But you don't need him anymore. You were able to hurt him." Klaus reminded her. _Why did she have to be so stubborn?_

"Yes." Bonnie agreed. "But that's the thing, what if I'm not able to do it again?" She looked down at her boots, "what if I lose control again and hurt people or worst what if…" her voice wavered, "what if I lose myself?"

She noticed his shoes before she felt gentle fingers tilting her chin up, forcing her to face him. "Is that what you're afraid of?" He asked, skimming the soft line of her jaw. His tone was gentle, kind. It surprised her. Gentleness was not something one associated with Klaus.

Bonnie nodded, "I don't want to be consumed by it." she admitted, color rising to her cheeks. "Expression is addictive…I'm afraid…I." she tried to look away but Klaus's fingers on her chin kept her gaze in place. He was so close to her, she was certain he could feel the heat that spread over her face and neck.

"You need to have more faith in yourself Bonnie." There was a hint of a smile on his face. _How many times had he said that to her before?_ "You are in control. Magic does not control you."

Bonnie opened her mouth ready to argue but Klaus silenced her by placing his index finger over her lips. "Magic is power Bonnie. And power can be bent to your will."

"You make it seem so easy." Bonnie pulled away from him. "I never had so much power before. The power of the hundred witches I channeled to stop you is nothing compared to expression." She turned her back to him and looked out of the window. Night had fallen. Soon she would have to meet with Silas.

Klaus rested his hands possessively over her hips, bringing her back against his chest. The warmth of his body against her felt familiar, welcoming. Her heart was beating wildly against her chest, like it always did whenever he was near. Bonnie closed her eyes when his breath tickled her ear. "You are strong Bonnie. You are powerful. The most powerful witch I've ever met." He admitted. "It's time that you become what you were born to be."

"And what is that?" she asked in a soft voice. "A weapon to be used and manipulated by others…" she gave a small bitter laugh. _Wasn't that the story of her life?_

"A queen," he whispered seductively. Bonnie's eyes opened wide.

And then a gasp escaped her lips when Klaus's mouth descended on her neck, placing a soft kiss on her pulse point. Fire erupted inside of her when his lips touched the sensitive flesh. "You have all you need to destroy Silas." Klaus continued. Bonnie leaned her head back against him as Klaus nuzzled her neck. "Expression is the manifestation of your will. You can do anything. Anything you want." He said with conviction.

Bonnie spun around until they were standing face to face. Klaus brought his hands up to her arms and gently pulled her towards him. Blue eyes stared deeply into her eyes, "You will destroy Silas." The way he said it left no room for argument. "And you won't do it alone. I will help you." He promised. "Silas will regret the day he thought he could mess with us."

* * *

"Stop it! Stop it please!" Caroline screeched hysterically as Silas stabbed Matt-for the fourth time-in the stomach. She had woken up to the smell of blood, Matt's blood.

Rebekah, who was next to her, struggled to keep her eyes open, her whole body convulsing due to all the venom inside of her. "Matt..." she murmured.

"Oh. But we're having so much fun darling." Silas turned to Caroline who was struggling to break free, the chains around her wrists burned deeply into her flesh.

"But I guess you're right," Silas pulled Matt's head backwards, he was practically unconscious, a few moans of pain escaping here and there. He had strategically cut him to ensure the highest chance of survival; he didn't want to kill him, not yet anyway.

"Please, let me give him some of my blood, please." Caroline pleaded, watching Matt's face, which was covered in thin blood lines. His white shirt was soaked in blood as well. The scent of his blood engulfed the whole cabin and Caroline knew he wasn't going to survive for much longer.

"I suppose you can heal him," Silas studied her worried face, "I don't want him to die just yet, not until Bonnie gets here." Silas approached Caroline.

"Yes…" Caroline waited for him to take the chains off her wrist but Silas stopped a few inches from her, knife in hand.

"Something tells me you're quite the screamer." Silas face twisted into a grin as he brought the knife down and stabbed Caroline in the neck. She screamed.

* * *

 **Midnight**

 _The witching hour_ Bonnie thought. She had been able to locate Silas to an abandoned cabin in the woods, a few miles from the site of the witch massacre. When Bonnie stepped into the clearing she spotted Silas walking towards her. He was using the form of Professor Shane, hands tucked behind his back.

"I'm here." she told him, "Where are my friends?"

"They're quite indisposed at the moment." Silas looked her over, "Are you ready?"

"I need the power of the moon," Bonnie said, "The full moon is-"

"No. I don't have time to wait until the next full moon," Silas interrupted, it was three weeks way. He was not going to give her that time so that she could try and stop him. "I know a better way."

"What?" Bonnie asked. But Silas slid his gaze from her face to a point somewhere over her shoulder. He looked at the trees and then back at Bonnie with a frown on his face.

"In order to destroy the veil you will channel the power of the expression triangle." Silas informed her, "You have to activate each of its points. We will go to the site of each of the three massacres in order to do it."

Silas studied Bonnie's face, drinking in every single one of her reactions and he also paid close attention to the beating of her heart. He couldn't let his guard down, not after the stunt she'd pulled the night before. Now that she was no longer under his control, Bonnie was a wild card, and Silas needed to be careful.

"And then what, the other side will just disappear?" Bonnie asked. Not giving away any of her thoughts.

"Once the expression triangle is activated you will need to channel all of its power from the center of the triangle, which is located in the caves underneath the high school." Silas explained. "Once the veil is destroyed for good, I will take the cure…" there was twinkle in his eyes as he looked at Bonnie. "And I'll even be generous enough to let you kill me," he finished.

"And my friends?" Bonnie looked over his shoulder at the cabin behind him. "How do I know you haven't killed them? Or that you won't hurt them later?"

"You'll just have to trust me." Silas grinned.

"Like hell I will." Bonnie snapped.

Silas felt her magic pulsing, ready to be unleashed. He hadn't forgotten how her magic had viciously attacked him the night before. "Don't do anything stupid." He warned. "I have Caroline and Rebekah under my control. It was rather easy to get inside their heads, perhaps is the whole blonde thing." Silas laughed.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "This isn't a joke."

"No. It is not. Caroline and Rebekah are completely under my control. They will do anything I ask of them." Silas seemed quite proud of himself. "Like torture and kill your father for example," he beamed.

Anger flashed across Bonnie's face. "Let them go."

"I don't think you understand Bonnie. You will destroy the other side or I will use my influence over your friends and kill them." Silas threatened.

"I won't." Emerald eyes stared back at him with defiance. "I won't destroy the other side." She told him firmly.

"You stupid girl," Silas unleashed all of his power on her. Bonnie needed to learn who was in control. Silas needed to teach her a lesson.

Bonnie felt it, invisible hands squeezing her neck, the air thinning all around her. She gasped in shock, not expecting Silas's mind power to be so strong. He hadn't been able to get inside her head the night before so Bonnie had erroneously assumed it would be the case this time. She had been proven wrong.

"You think that because you hurt me once, that you'll be able to do it again." He gave her a vicious smile, sending another wave of his power at her. "You have a lot to learn little girl."

* * *

The plan was rather simple.

While Bonnie distracted Silas, Klaus sneaked inside the cabin. He needed to ensure that her friends and his sister were still alive. He knew Rebekah couldn't be killed. The only weapon that could kill an Original was in his possession after all. But Silas could easily kill Bonnie's friends in order to force her to drop the veil. It was the reason Bonnie's father had been taken to a safe house with countless protective spells and barriers. The last thing Klaus wanted was for Silas to surprise them by retaliating against him.

When Bonnie and Klaus made their way to the cabin, they were fully aware of the possibility that they were walking into a trap. They had to be prepared and anticipate the immortal's moves. Luckily for Bonnie, Klaus excelled at anticipating his enemy's moves.

The stench of blood,-human and vampire alike, was strong. It filled Klaus's nostrils as he made his way inside the cabin. He spotted the quarterback slumped into a chair. His face hardly visible by the blood tricking down from all the cuts on his face, more blood poured out of his chest and stomach. The heartbeat was slow. He was on the brink of death, having clearly been tortured by Silas.

Just as Klaus made his way to the human, there was a flash of blonde hair and in the next second he was slammed hard against the wall, near the cabin's door.

Caroline Forbes had him by the throat. Her eyes were red, fangs showing. She was clearly under some sort of thrall. Silas's doing no doubt.

Klaus hadn't seen her since prom night. But in that moment as he stared at her, Klaus realized something. He hadn't given Caroline Forbes a single thought in the past few days. _Not since prom, not since the night he had spent with Bonnie_.

Caroline snarled at him. Klaus slipped out of her grip easily and sent her stumbling backwards, "You're going to have to do better than that, sweetheart. I'm a thousand years old." He taunted. _Did she honestly believe she could take him?_

Caroline didn't say anything but there was a look of fury on her face. Klaus watched in amusement as she ripped apart a nearby chair, grabbing one of the legs as an improvised stake.

The smile dropped from his face however when he felt fangs piercing his neck. Rebekah had sneaked behind him. Klaus pushed his body backwards until he slammed Rebekah against the wall.

Caroline flashed in front of him, stake in hand.

Klaus used his superior speed to flip positions with his sister. In a blink of an eye he was against the wall and he had Rebekah in front of him as shield.

Caroline stabbed Rebekah in the shoulder. The Original hissed angrily and slapped the baby vampire hard in the face. With Rebekah's back turned, Klaus took the opportunity and snapped his sister's neck. She fell to the floor unconscious.

Caroline jumped at him then, snarling, punching. She was ferocious in her attacks but Klaus easily avoided each of her blows. He captured both of her wrists with his left hand and noticed the stake she had used on his sister and picked it up. He stabbed Caroline in the chest rendering her unconscious.

He turned to the human but stopped dead in his tracks.

 _Fear_

Pure agonizing fear washed over him.

Bonnie

* * *

 _It's not real. It's all in your head. Breathe…just breathe..._

But no matter how hard she tried Bonnie could not break free from Silas's mind control.

"Do you feel that Bonnie, the air thinning?" Silas asked as Bonnie fell on her knees.

Bonnie struggled trying to get air into her lungs. She had underestimated Silas's power. All the confidence, all the bravery she'd felt before facing him was gone. She was afraid. Logically she knew Silas had no magic. Deep down she knew it was an illusion but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't break free. She couldn't even feel her magic that was the worst part. She couldn't defend herself. Silas had taken her by surprise. His mind control was stronger, far more sinister than she had anticipated.

He squeezed harder and black spots formed behind her eyes.

"Oh Bonnie, I expected better from you." Silas leered at her, "I think I will kill Caroline. That will give you the motivation to destroy the other side. You should've known better than to underestimate me." He loomed over her, enjoying the fear in her eyes. "You really need to learn-"

"Oh shut up." An accented voice sounded behind his ear. A chain was suddenly thrown over his neck. Silas struggled as Klaus used all of his hybrid strength and squeezed the chain harder around his neck, keeping him in place.

The moment of distraction was enough for Bonnie to break free from his mind hold. The air returned to her lungs. Sweet relief filled her entire body and the magic inside of her sparked with life.

The wind picked up. Thunder flashed in the distance. The trunk of the tree to her left cracked and the leaves lit up with fire.

"He's all yours sweetheart." Klaus winked before using his vampire speed to leave. He stood a few feet away, close enough to assist should Bonnie need his help but far enough so that her magic wouldn't hurt him.

The minute the chain loosened around his neck, Silas tried to escape.

A ring of fire erupted around him, trapping him in place.

Silas screamed in agony as his right leg was broken.

Bonnie's green eyes darkened. She rose and drew herself to her full height. Her mind cleared, filled with determination. Silas had played enough games with her mind. The time had come to end this. With a flick of her wrist she broke the bones on his left leg.

Silas had not been expecting such pain. His healing abilities worked at full speed to repair the damage done to his legs and he used all of his supernatural strength to push himself up and launched at her, jumping through the ring of fire. But he was stopped midway by a powerful paralyzing spell. "What…are…" he choked.

But Bonnie did not stop. She unleashed all her magic, all the power of expression against the immortal.

Pain exploded in his head, as Bonnie gave him a thousand aneurysms. Blood poured out of his ears and nose, and trickled down his chin.

Fire erupted inside his body as she boiled his blood from the inside out, burning him.

Blood slid down his arms when his skin was torn open. The moment the cuts healed she tore them open again, and again and again.

He orchestrated three massacres, killed innocent people, used her and taught her a magic so dark it had nearly destroyed her. He had played with her mind and threatened the people she loved the most. He had to pay for all he had done.

Bonnie sent wave after wave of powerful magic at him.

Silas couldn't move. Silas couldn't think. Silas couldn't do anything but scream.

Bonnie showed him no mercy.

* * *

Klaus watched mesmerized as Bonnie unleashed all of her power against Silas. It was beautiful. She was stunning, dark hair flowing, green eyes dark and aflame. He'd seen that same fire in her eyes the night she had him on the floor writhing in pain.

Klaus had cursed her that night when she'd tried to end his life. Now watching Silas in a similar position brought him immense joy. The bastard had underestimated his little witch and he was paying the price. It was glorious. The display of her power was magnificent. He had never seen anything like it before. It turned him on.

 _How had he not noticed it before? How could he have been so blind? And not see what had been in front of him all along…_

Bonnie Bennett was the queen every king wanted at his side. And she was _his_.

By the time Klaus approached them. Silas was a crying, shaking mess, a rather pathetic sight.

"It's time." Klaus told her. They needed to finish this once and for all.

Bonnie nodded and exhaled deeply. She had never unleashed so much power in such a short time. Not even the night she'd tried to kill Klaus. The clearing pulsed with her magic. It filled the air, it clouded everything around them, dark, vicious, lethal and devouring everything in its path. And yet the moment she called it back, expression calmly returned to her.

Another time, another place, Bonnie would've fainted, drained completely by the amount of magic lashing out of her. But she felt fine. No dizziness, no nausea, no nosebleeds. On the contrary, Bonnie felt alive. She felt powerful, confident, and unstoppable. She was high on magic, high on the intoxicating power of expression. It was incredible.

Bonnie extended her right hand and the cure-which had been in Silas's pocket, flew to her. His eyes went wide at the realization of what was about to happen. But he was too weak to try anything.

"Do you want to do the honors or shall I?" Klaus asked as he pulled Silas's head back by the hair. He stubbornly refused to open his mouth. He didn't have the strength for anything else.

"I'll give him the cure, you can do the rest." Bonnie told him. Klaus smirked. After all the damage she'd inflicted on the immortal, she still felt uneasy at taking his life.

Klaus forced Silas's mouth opened and Bonnie shoved the cure down his throat. Klaus closed the immortal's jaw and kept it shut to ensure that he swallowed the cure.

For a moment nothing happened. The air stilled. Klaus and Bonnie waited.

Silas's eyes opened wide and his body began convulsing, twisting, as if his bones were breaking. It reminded Klaus of the way his own bones would break every time he turned into a wolf. And then he heard it.

 _Thump… thump… thump_

Klaus heard the wild beating of a human heart. The cure had taken effect. "He's human."

Bonnie let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Silas was human. Silas was mortal.

Silas was on his hands and knees shaking still by the change that had taken place. But they noted something different about his appearance, the hair was lighter and the face seemed familiar.

When Silas lifted his head, both Klaus and Bonnie were shocked to find the face of Stefan Salvatore staring back at them.

"What kind of trick is this?" Bonnie asked. Silas was human he shouldn't be able to use that trick anymore.

Silas gave her a weak smile. "No trick. This is my true self." After two thousand years, he was finally feeling like he's old self. He was finally human again. Not in the way he wanted of course.

"Stefan is your shadow self." Klaus deduced. Stefan Salvatore was Silas's doppelganger, _how was that possible?_

"Yes." Silas smiled and with a wave of his hand he sent both Klaus and Bonnie crashing into the nearest tree.

 _Fools_

They had no idea the power that flowed inside of him. He was human again but that didn't mean that he was easy to kill. He was too weak still, his body adjusting to his new mortal self. He needed time to get reacquainted with his magic before he could take his revenge on Bonnie and Klaus. And he would make them suffer.

Silas took off running into the forest, stumbling here and there. He didn't have the supernatural strength of before and he still felt weak from the change in his body and Bonnie's magical assault. But the adrenaline pumping in his veins definitely helped.

He was just about to disappear into the forest when he collided with a brick wall. He fell to the ground in shock, his whole body hurt.

Klaus stood in front of him, with that stupid smirk on his face.

Silas stood up ready to use his magic but before he could finish the spell, Klaus's arm tore through his chest. He had moved so fast, Silas didn't even have the time to react.

Pain

Excruciating pain erupted inside of him, blood pouring out of his mouth and down chin. It hurt. It hurt so much. He couldn't breathe.

Klaus held his heart in a tight grip. "Look at me." he hissed.

Silas struggled. Using all of his strength he sent a wave of his magic against the hybrid. But Klaus didn't even flinch. It couldn't be. Hybrid or not, Silas's magic was extremely powerful, even if it had been two millennia since the last time he used it.

"I'm blocking your magic." Bonnie said quietly as she appeared next to Klaus.

Silas's eyes narrowed.

Klaus gave him a wicked grin, "you will spend the rest of your miserable existence rotting on the other side."

"I'm sure Qetsiyah will be happy to see you." Bonnie remarked.

"Bonnie…please…" Silas pleaded, trying to use the fact that he looked like Stefan to sway her. "You… can't… kill me." he managed to let out. Klaus's hand squeezed his heart tighter.

"Close your eyes sweetheart." Klaus instructed as he tugged at Silas's heart.

"Actually, I'm going to go check on my friends." She gave one last look at Silas, still disturbed by the fact that he looked like Stefan. And then she met Klaus's eyes, nodded and left.

The moment Bonnie turned her back and began walking towards the cabin. Klaus ripped Silas's heart from his chest. The lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud and Klaus's squeezed the heart with his hand until it burst into a puddle of blood.

For a brief moment he was tempted. He wondered what Silas's blood would taste like. He had been a two thousand year old warlock after all. But a voice which sounded suspiciously like Bonnie's stopped him.

Klaus wiped his hands clean on his shirt and made his way back to the cabin.

~X~

Bonnie had Matt's head on her lap when Klaus came back inside, tears streaming down her face.

"It's over." Klaus told her, "We should probably burn the body and bury the ashes somewhere where no one can get their hands on them." The last thing they needed was some crazy fool trying to resurrect Silas.

Bonnie nodded. She had just finished chanting all the healing spells she knew in order to help Matt. She had closed the wounds on his chest and stomach but he'd lost so much blood and the cuts on his face were vicious. "I don't think he'll make it." His pulse was so weak and they were too far away from the hospital.

Klaus didn't need the bond to tell him exactly what Bonnie wanted to ask. He got down on his knees beside her and bit into his wrist, placing it over the quarterback's mouth. "For you." He told Bonnie, keeping his eyes on her as Matt began drinking greedily from his wrist.

The smile Bonnie gave him took his breath away.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Wow over 100 reviews…it's amazing. It means a lot to me that so many people have taken the time to read and review. Thank-you so much. Enjoy!_

* * *

Klaus and Bonnie buried Silas's ashes in the morning. In a wooded area nestled among big beech and pine trees a good number of feet away from the cabin. Rebekah and Caroline were with Matt, who had almost healed thanks to Klaus's blood. Whatever mind control or compulsion Silas had over them had vanished with his death.

"I can't believe it's over." Bonnie whispered as they made their way back to the cabin. Morning sunlight streamed through the canopy of trees as they walked side by side.

"You did it," Klaus told her with a small smile. The way Bonnie had unleashed her magic on Silas had been magnificent. It was something he would never forget.

"We did it." Bonnie corrected, crossing her arms over her chest as a cool breeze touched her cheeks. "For a moment there, he got inside my head. If you hadn't been there…" Bonnie hesitated. There was so much she wanted to say to him but she couldn't seem to find the words. She stopped walking and turned to face the hybrid. "You saved me again, thank-you."

Klaus nodded. "We do make quite the team." There was hint of mischief in his eyes, it made him look younger and carefree. "I think this calls for a celebration don't you?"

"We need to talk about the bond," Bonnie said instead. Since the moment she found out about the bond, Bonnie had been plagued with doubts. She had so many questions and Klaus was the only one who could answer them.

"Do you really want to do this now?" Klaus raised an eyebrow. Her friends and his sister were still waiting at the cabin.

"Don't you?" Bonnie questioned. "I can feel your emotions and you can feel mine…" she began waiting for him to explain more.

"Yes." Klaus answered leaning back against a tree. "A blood bond is a bridge if you will… between two people." He studied her face before continuing. "It allows us to feel each other's emotions, to know where the other is, to feed of each other's power."

"Know where the other is?" Bonnie asked. "How does that work exactly?"

"I will always know where you are, if you're near me or far." Klaus licked his lips. "If I concentrate hard enough I'll be able to get your exact location and you me. You will always be able to find me without having to use your magic."

"Oh." Bonnie looked down at her boots. They would be able to find each other without the need for a locator spell.

 _Confusion…uncertainty…distrust_

Klaus felt it all through the bond but he waited patiently for her to say something.

"That's how you knew…" Bonnie realized turning to look back at him. "When you saved me from the hunter, you felt my fear and knew where to find me."

Klaus nodded. "I did." The echo of her fear had taken him by surprise. He had never expected to feel her emotions so clearly through the bond.

"What else?" she inquired.

"It depends." Klaus forced his emotions to remain neutral. "Some blood bonds are stronger than others, particularly if we continue to share blood."

Bonnie flushed remembering how they had shared blood in the first place. Klaus smirked knowingly.

"So the more blood we share the stronger the bond will be," Bonnie waited for him to nod, before she continued, "So if we stop sharing blood the bond will disappear?" she hoped.

"Is not that simple Bonnie," there was an edge to his voice. "A blood bond is practically unbreakable."

"But it can be broken," Bonnie insisted. Magic always seemed to have a loophole; surely there was a way to break a blood bond.

"A blood bond can only be broken by death." He stated avoiding her eyes. It was something his siblings had learned the hard way.

The color drained from Bonnie's face, "No…" that couldn't be true. The sudden realization of his words hit Bonnie like a ton of bricks. He wasn't talking about his death for Klaus was immortal, he couldn't be killed, but her death. They were bonded forever. Until the day she died.

"Did you do it on purpose?" Bonnie tried to keep the hurt from her voice but he heard it perfectly.

"Is that what you think, that I planned this?" his eyes darkened.

"Didn't you?" Bonnie snapped. The thought that their night together had been some sort of Machiavellian plan on his part hurt her deeply, more than she had expected. "It works to your advantage." Bonnie continued. "To have a bond with a powerful witch…so that you can use my magic as you see it fit…so that I can be sired to you."

"Don't be ridiculous." His anger was palpable. "A blond bond is different than a sire bond. I can't control your feelings or sire you to me." _And I don't want you sired to me,_ he thought. "You're a witch your mind and your heart are your own to do as you please." He told her.

"You haven't answered my question. Did you do it on purpose?" Bonnie asked again. She needed to know, she had to know if he was only playing with her.

"And what if I did?" he challenged.

Bonnie's breath hitched. There was nothing coming from his end of the bond. Somehow he was blocking his emotions from her. She couldn't tell whether he was being truthful or trying to provoke a reaction out of her.

"Why wouldn't I?" Klaus took a menacing step closer. "Is what a monster like me would do."

"I didn't say that." Bonnie took a step back, his presence overwhelmed her.

"But you're thinking it," Klaus chuckled. "The big bad hybrid, taking advantage of the sweet, innocent little witch." He had a glint in his eyes. "But you're not so innocent anymore are you?"

Crimson colored her cheeks and Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "I deserve to know the truth."

"I didn't force you to take my blood," Klaus said angrily. "You were quite willing. As willing as when you drank my blood after I saved you from the hunter!" He threw back in her face.

"What do you expect Klaus?" The wind picked up and a dark cloud began forming in the distance. Bonnie took a deep breath. She couldn't lose control of her magic now. "I just found out that I'm going to spend the rest of my life bonded to you!"

"Hundreds of witches would be dying at the opportunity this presents!" he declared.

"I'm not those witches!" She shouted. She wasn't Greta or any of the other witches he had seduced and used to do his bidding.

"No, you are not." Klaus agreed. Perhaps it was the reason he was so fascinated by her. Because unlike the other witches he'd met, Bonnie Bennett was a real challenge. "Is it such a terrible fate, to be bonded to the most powerful vampire in the world?" he wondered.

"Aren't you troubled by it?" Bonnie questioned. And then she wondered how many witches had been swayed to his side by being bonded to him. _How many times had he done this before?_

"I can think of a worse fate than having a bond with a beautiful and powerful witch." Klaus smirked, blue eyes moving over her body in a suggestive manner.

Bonnie looked away from his heated gaze. "You don't get it," she murmured.

"Tell me."

Bonnie stared back at him. "You're immortal. You're never going to die." She was certain that Klaus would always find a way to outlive those who wished him dead. "Sixty, eighty years is nothing to someone like you. It will all disappear with a blink of an eye," she told him. "But I will die eventually and the thought of spending the rest of my life bonded to you…"

It was terrifying. It was almost like being married. Klaus Mikaelson was going to be a permanent fixture in her life. He would know her feelings, her whereabouts, not just now but always and that scared her. That someone had that kind of power over her. That _he_ of all people would have that power over her.

"You don't trust me," he realized. After everything they'd been through in the past few hours, after he had proven himself to her. "You think that I'm going to use the bond against you, to use you." He laughed bitterly. He should be the one questioning her. And yet, deep down Klaus knew that Bonnie was not the kind of person to take advantage of something like this. She wasn't like him.

"The last time I trusted someone he taught me a magic so dark and powerful it still scares me. He manipulated me for his own advantage." Bonnie was tired. She was so tired of people using her. There was a part of her that wanted to trust him, that wanted to believe that he would not take advantage of her. But she was not going to make the same mistake again.

"I'm not Silas, sweetheart." Klaus glared at her. "And the last time you trusted someone he saved your friend's life and helped you," he said furiously.

In that moment Bonnie felt ashamed because his words were true. Klaus had saved Matt because of her. He had saved her as well, not just against Silas but against the hunter too. He had given her the confidence she needed to take Silas down. He had killed Silas after they had worked together. She had trusted him the night before. But she still had doubts.

In a span of a week their entire dynamic had shifted. A week ago they had been enemies and then prom happened- that night they'd gone from enemies to lovers and then Silas had made them allies and now Bonnie didn't know. She felt so many conflicting emotions towards him and she didn't even know how to begin explaining them. "I.."

"You don't," he interrupted, his voice laced with anger.

Bonnie didn't like the look on his face, "Klaus-"

"You trusted me when you invited me into your home," Klaus hissed. He took a step closer, Bonnie moved back automatically. "You trusted me to help you against Silas." He pushed her back until she bumped into a tree."To kill him," Klaus continued, both arms on either side of her, as he trapped her body between the tree and his chest.

Bonnie swallowed nervously, heart pounding, very much aware of the heat of his body as it pressed against hers. She closed her eyes when he lowered his face, his breath tickling her when he moved to whisper in her ear, "and you certainly didn't have any qualms about trusting me when I was buried between your legs."

Bonnie's eyes opened in shock. Her hand moved on its own accord, slapping him hard across the face and wiping the smug grin from his face. She stopped breathing when she realized what she had done. Her hand hurt. It had been like hitting hard against a concrete wall.

Klaus's eyes flashed gold. And for one terrifying moment, Bonnie expected him to retaliate and braced herself for the impact.

"I have killed for far less, Bonnie." He warned his fangs showing.

"I'm not afraid of you." Bonnie stared back at him unflinching. There was a part of her that was scared of what he would do, but she was not going to give him the satisfaction of cowering in fear. She was not going to be intimidated by Klaus Mikaelson.

She felt the magic inside of her pulsing, ready to come to her defense. But he didn't move. Klaus simply stared at her. The way he was looking at her made Bonnie nervous.

"Good," he smiled.

It was the only warning Bonnie received before Klaus's lips came crashing down on hers.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The last thing Sophie Deveraux expected when she followed her sister down the stairs to the basement of her home was to find a brunette girl tied to a chair. "What the hell?" Sophie turned to look at her sister in shock. "What is this Jane-Anne?"

 _What in the world was her sister thinking? Kidnapping a girl and hiding her in the basement._

Jane-Anne smiled. "She's the key. She's key to lure Klaus back to the city."

"Why would you think that?" Sophie asked confused.

"Because she's carrying his child, I just need you to confirm it," Jane-Anne said beaming. "Go on."

Sophie looked at the unconscious girl her sister had taken hostage. She didn't even have to concentrate to know the truth. "She's not pregnant."

The smiled dropped from Jane-Anne's face. "You're wrong." She began pacing around the room. "Maybe is too soon? Yes, she must not be that far along." A hopeful look crossed her face. "Is too soon right?"

"I have a special gift you know that," Sophie said. "I can tell when a girl is pregnant. It doesn't matter if she's three months or three weeks." She took a step closer to her sister. "I can tell you with a hundred percent certainty that this girl is not pregnant." If she were Sophie would've sensed it the moment she saw her.

"You're wrong!" Jane-Anne snapped angrily.

"I've never been wrong!" Sophie snapped back. "Remember Marie-Lou? I told her she was pregnant like three days after she had sex with Billy." It had been a terrible Thanksgiving. Sophie had been seven and she had just blurted it out in front of the entire family. Needles to say, her uncle had nearly killed poor Billy.

"But Katherine said…" Jane-Anne trailed off.

"Katherine?" Sophie scoffed. "You do realize that Katherine Pierce is capable of selling her own mother's soul to devil in order to get out of the debt she owes you." Sophie couldn't believe her sister was so stupid as to trust that vampire. "Whatever bullshit she told you about this girl being pregnant is a lie."

"Katherine didn't tell me about the pregnancy!" Jane-Anne was in hysterics. "The ancestors did and they wouldn't lie to me!" the conviction in her voice was unwavering.

"The ancestors…" Sophie couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "You talked to the ancestors? Are you out of your mind?"

"I had to." There was a wild look in her sister's eyes. It scared Sophie. Jane-Anne had never been the same since the night she'd lost her daughter. They had rarely seen each other since that night. But the few times they did, Sophie could tell something had changed with her sister.

"Marcel has banned all witches from practicing magic in the Quarter. If he finds out what you've done he'll kill you." Marcel probably already knew that Jane-Anne was doing magic. He always knew when a witch did magic in the Quarter. It was how he was able to keep them under control.

"I did it for my daughter," Jane-Anne told her angrily. "The Ancestors told me that Klaus will defeat Marcel. They told me that I must bring Klaus back to the Quarter and his child too."

"Why would the Ancestors want a vampire's child?" Sophie questioned. "If that child even exists." Sophie was more inclined to believe that her sister had gone bat-shit crazy than to believe that a vampire could father a child.

Jane-Anne stayed silent, avoiding Sophie's gaze. She was hiding something.

"Why would the ancestors want Klaus's child?" Sophie questioned again.

"It doesn't matter," Jane-Anne told her. "We must bring them to the city. We have to Sophie. It is the only way I will get my daughter back."

Sophie closed her eyes for a moment, trying to be patient with her sister. "And why did you think this girl was pregnant?"

"Katherine said this girl and Klaus were lovers. She's a wolf and so is he, I just assumed…" Jane-Anne took her sister's hand. "You have to help me. We have to find the girl carrying Klaus's baby. We must bring her here." she pleaded squeezing her hand.

"You do realize what this means don't you?" Sophie asked softly, "If Klaus Mikaelson has truly gotten someone pregnant we are not going to be the only ones after that baby." The whole supernatural community would be up and arms about it. A child fathered by an Original vampire, the Original Hybrid no less, it would not remain a secret for long.

"Which is why you have to help me find her, before anyone else does," Jane-Anne said. "That baby is going to be Klaus's greatest weakness and the leverage we will use to control him."

Sophie bit her lip. Plotting to free the witches from Marcel was one thing. Plotting against the king of all vampires was an entirely different matter. Klaus Mikaelson was the most dangerous and feared vampire that had ever lived, going against him would mean an almost certain death.

"Please Sophie," Jane-Anne begged. "For my little girl, I have to get her back. Please!"

"I'll help you," Sophie reluctantly agreed. _And may the ancestors help us_.

* * *

 _Fire_

It exploded inside of Bonnie like hot lava, the moment Klaus took possession of her mouth.

Whatever he had done to block his emotions earlier was gone. She could feel him again. His desire, his lust, it echoed through the bond and mixed with her own.

Bonnie forgot about everything-her doubts, her fears. She forgot about everything except him-his scent, the scrape of his stubble against her chin, the taste of his mouth, the feel of his body pressed against hers.

Klaus gripped her hips and pulled her closer to him. He parted her lips with his tongue as the kiss grew more desperate. She whimpered when their tongues met.

Hungry…needy…

She hadn't realized how much she had been yearning for this, for him, until now. She didn't care that they were out in the open. In that moment she wanted to be reckless. For once in her life she wanted stop thinking and doubting herself. All she wanted was to feel, to lose herself in the pleasure, in the passion he ignited in her.

Klaus tugged the jacket off her shoulders and threw it on the grass, next to their feet.

Bonnie broke away from his mouth panting.

Not able to have her lips, he moved his mouth down her chin and neck, sucking lightly on her pulse point. Bonnie's head fell back against the tree as he nipped at her skin.

While his mouth planted kisses down her neck and collarbone, Bonnie's hands pulled the leather jacket off his shoulders and dropped it on the ground.

Klaus pulled back helping her to drag his shirt over his head, and then his mouth was back on hers.

Klaus's groaned against her lips as his hands cupped her breasts, squeezing gently through her top.

Bonnie gasped. His fingers moved to the buttons undoing them quickly before he pulled the top off her shoulders. She shivered, goose bumps prickled her skin from the cold morning air but she didn't care. Her skin was so hot it could melt her bones off.

Klaus lowered his head to kiss the swell of her breasts, hands moving down to the back of her tights.

Bonnie squealed when he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling his hard length pressing against her through her jeans.

Their mouths met again in a heated frenzy. Her hands dug into the skin of his shoulders before trailing upward until she had his blond curls twined between her fingers.

Klaus held her against the tree, one hand on her hip while the other moved up to her chest, palming her breast. A moan escaped Bonnie's lips. He tugged at her bra about to rip it off her-

"Well, isn't this lovely?" a female voice purred.

Bonnie froze.

She and Klaus pulled away quickly. He placed her gently on the ground before turning to find his sister a few feet away from them.

Rebekah Mikaelson had her arms crossed over her chest, head tilted to the side and a wicked grin on her face. "No wonder you were taking so long."

Klaus growled. Bonnie wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole.

"Leave us," he ordered while Bonnie did her best to hide behind his back, blushing from head to toe.

"Matt is awake and he wants to go home." Rebekah ignored her brother. "And Caroline wants to celebrate that Silas is gone..." she tried to take a peek at Bonnie but Klaus blocked her. "I guess you two already started."

Bonnie closed her eyes mortified.

"I'm not going to tell you again Rebekah!" Klaus hissed.

Rebekah rolled her eyes before disappearing at vampire speed.

Bonnie picked her clothes from the ground and began getting dressed, avoiding Klaus's eyes. Her fingers trembled when she buttoned her top. The moment she had her jacket on she was running out of there.

She didn't make it very far.

"Bonnie." Klaus grabbed her wrist, stopping her from leaving. He had dressed as well.

"Let me go, please." She couldn't look at him. After what they'd nearly done and the embarrassment of getting caught and by his sister no less, Bonnie couldn't face him.

"We need to talk," Klaus insisted. She kept avoiding his eyes.

"No. I can't." She tried to get away from him, but his grip tightened. "Please…" she begged. "Just let me go." She was on the verge of tears, barely holding herself together.

"This isn't over." Klaus told her before releasing her wrist.

Bonnie run back to the cabin all the while conscious of Klaus's eyes glued to her back.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sophie questioned as she followed her sister inside the cemetery.

"We can't wait." Jane-Anne began pulling candles and herbs out of her bag. "We have to do this now. We have to find her." she kneeled down on the floor and began drawing a circle in front of her.

Sophie crossed her arms over her chest, trembling. "How do you know it will work?"

Jane-Anne placed a copper bowl filled with water inside the circle. "The spirits told me about her, they have to know who she is, they will help me find her." They had to help her, if they wanted Klaus back in the Quarter.

Jane-Anne cut her left palm with the knife, the blood dripped inside the bowl. She started chanting.

The candles lit up. Jane-Anne closed her eyes, hands resting on her knees. Her blood swirled inside the bowl of water, tinting the clear liquid red.

Sophie looked around the cemetery in fear. Hoping, praying that they wouldn't be caught. The practice of magic inside the Quarter was forbidden and they were doing it in plain daylight.

Jane-Anne could feel it, the magic of the ancestors helping her, guiding her.

 _Jane-Anne flew up and up into the morning sky._

 _She soared leaving the city behind…_

 _She could see the top of the trees…a luscious green that extended for miles and miles…_

 _She was near…she could feel it…_

 _There was someone in the forest…_

 _A girl…_

 _Yes._ Jane Anne thought _. Let me see her face, give her name…please,_ she begged _._

A ball of fire exploded inside Jane-Anne's head. The force of it sent her crashing into the wall of the tomb behind her.

Sophie's eyes went wide as Jane-Anne screamed in agony, leaning against the concrete.

"Jane-Anne!" Sophie rushed to her sister's side in panic, "oh my god!"

"Jane-" Sophie got down next to her sister. Jane-Anne's entire body convulsed, blood pouring out of her mouth.

"Are you ok? What the hell was that?" Sophie grabbed her sister's hand.

"I…" Blood oozed out of her nose. "I saw her," she gasped. Her entire body hurt. "I know now."

"Know what?" Sophie questioned. "What did you see?"

Jane-Anne clutched her hand painfully. "I understand..." she managed to say. "…why the baby is so important."

Sophie looked at her in confusion. "Why?"

"The baby is the child of the Original Hybrid and a witch," Jane-Anne revealed. She finally understood why the Ancestors were adamant about bringing Klaus's baby to the Quarter.

Sophie gasped in shock. "A witch! No, that's impossible, nature would never allow such a thing." A child conceived by a servant of nature and an abomination. It couldn't be possible. Something like that could shift the entire balance.

"It is." Jane-Anne took a deep breath as the pain began to lessen. "And I know who she is."

"Who?" Sophie asked in a whisper, almost afraid to know the answer. Whoever she was, that witch was marked for death. She had betrayed everything they stood for and she would pay the ultimate price.

"Her name is Bonnie…Bonnie Bennett and we must bring her here," Jane-Anne insisted. "She's the key Sophie. Whoever has that girl will have control over Klaus."

* * *

Klaus stormed angrily into the mansion.

He was angry at Bonnie for doubting him, he was angry at Rebekah for interrupting them. But above all he was angry at himself. For one moment, for one crazy moment he had allowed himself to believe-

Klaus shook his head. He was not going to be thinking about that.

His phone buzzed.

"We have a problem," a voice on the other end said as soon as he answered.

"I'm sure you can handle it. It's the reason I left you in charge after all." Klaus moved to the liquor cabinet, he needed a drink or a dozen.

"One of the newbies got into a fight with two werewolves, he killed them," the male voice informed him. "They belonged to a well known and established pack. Their Alpha has challenged our Alpha."

Klaus laughed, "does he have any idea who I am?"

The man chuckled, "I doubt it. Only a fool would challenge you and expect to live." The admiration for his Sire was easy to perceive.

It was tempting. It had been a while since he visited his pack. Not since the last time he sired and trained three new hybrids.

"It's been a while since you sired new hybrids," the man continued. "I thought this would be the perfect opportunity."

Since Rebekah had destroyed his blood bags Klaus hadn't sired anyone. What his foolish sister and others did not know however was that Klaus had a couple of Elena's blood bags stored in a safe place. He had known that sooner or later someone was going to try and destroy his blood supply and stop him from making more hybrids, so he had taken precautions to ensure that didn't happen.

The same measures he had taken to keep his most valuable hybrids far away from Mystic Falls. Away from the Salvatore's or anyone who would want to destroy them. In the end, it had proven to be a wise decision. Unlike the treacherous hybrids he had slaughtered, the rest of his pack was loyal to a fault.

"Klaus are you still there?"

"Yes…"

Accepting the other Alpha's challenge would mean leaving Mystic Falls… _leave Bonnie_. Klaus closed his eyes.

 _Why did he feel an ache in his chest at the thought of leaving her?_

Perhaps it was for the best, to put distance between them. It might even help to test the limits of the bond. He wasn't sure how strong their bond was and this could be the perfect opportunity to test it.

"Tell him I accept his challenge," Klaus decided. "I will be there soon."

Yes, putting distance between him and Bonnie is what he needed. The bond was clouding his judgment and he needed a clear head to deal with the witch.

* * *

Bonnie grabbed a bottle of water from Matt's kitchen and drank greedily. Matt was in his room fast asleep. All his wounds had healed-thanks to Klaus's blood, but he was still in need of rest.

"I'm going to get us something to eat." Caroline said stepping inside the kitchen. "I can't believe Silas is gone!" She smiled excitedly. "And you must tell me how on earth you and Klaus ended up working together to defeat him." It was hard to believe that Klaus had become one of the good guys, for once at least.

"Yes Bonnie, you must." Rebekah said leaning against the door frame, a knowing smirk in place.

Bonnie looked away embarrassed. _Why on earth had Rebekah insisted on coming with them?_

"What are you still doing here?" Caroline asked annoyed at the Original's presence. From the moment they got out of the cabin both girls had been arguing about everything. They had both decided that it was their duty to take care of Matt but hadn't agreed on anything so far. Bonnie felt sorry for Matt he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"I'm not going anywhere until Matt wakes up," Rebekah snapped. Even thought it wasn't official yet she was already acting like his girlfriend.

"He's going to be fine. There is no need for you to be here," Caroline said rudely. She was Matt's best friend and knew what was best for him.

"There is no need for you to be here either," Rebekah glared.

Caroline huffed. "I'm going to get some food."

"I'll go with you." Bonnie did not want to be in the same room as Rebekah after what she'd witness earlier that day. Bonnie hadn't even been able to look at the Original's face and she had been terrified that Rebekah was going to spill everything to Caroline and Matt.

"No. It's fine," Caroline smiled. "You should stay here in case Matt needs anything." She leaned closer to Bonnie and whispered, "I don't trust her."

"I can still hear you," Rebekah smirked.

Caroline glared before exiting the house.

Bonnie went into the living room, doing her best to avoid Rebekah. She didn't want to be near Klaus's sister but at the same time she didn't want to leave Matt alone.

She had just sat down on the couch when Rebekah flopped down next to her."So, how long have you been screwing my brother?" she asked with an innocent smile.

Bonnie choked on her water, heat spreading to her cheeks and down her neck. She wanted to die of embarrassment, again. "I…we…"

Rebekah chuckled, "who would've thought that a prude like you would end up seducing Nik."

"I didn't seduce him!" Bonnie replied quickly. _It was the other way around_ , she thought.

Rebekah laughed clearly amused. "I suppose you're an improvement from that stupid baby vamp."

Bonnie didn't know whether to be flattered or offended by Rebekah's comment.

"It's not like that, we're not…" she found herself explaining. "We're not together." She avoided Rebekah's inquisitive eyes.

"If you say so," Rebekah smiled. _Earlier that morning they'd certainly seem like they were together_. She frowned. The Original took a closer look at Bonnie. There was something different about the tiny witch. She wrinkled her nose. Nik's scent clung to her like a second skin, that wasn't surprising they were sleeping together after all. But there was something else, something old…powerful and then her eyes widened. "Bloody hell you're bonded!"

The look on Bonnie's face said it all. "I…you…how the hell did you figured it out?" _Did she have some sign that said bonded to Klaus Mikaelson tattooed on her skin?_

Rebekah stood up, ignoring her question and began pacing around the small living room. "Unbelievable," she murmured. "He gets pissed at me and calls me reckless and stupid." She continued pacing. "And yet he's bonded to you." Rebekah turned to Bonnie eyes narrowing.

In the next second the Original had slammed Bonnie hard against the wall, "If this is some sort of plan," she hissed.

"Get off me." Bonnie used her magic to send Rebekah crashing into the opposite wall. A picture frame on the wall fell to the ground when Rebekah collided against it.

Rebekah stood up immediately. Bonnie waited- magic pulsing and ready to be unleashed.

"Why would you think I planned this?" Bonnie questioned angrily. _If anyone planned this it was probably Klaus._

"Nik has never shared a bond with a witch," Rebekah snapped. "Or anyone really," she admitted. "Why would he do it with you?" she asked suspiciously. They all had been bonded before except for Nik. He had always prided himself for not being foolish or weak as to forge a bond that could potentially be used against him.

Bonnie stared at Rebekah surprised by her words. Klaus had never been bonded to anyone. Klaus had never used a bond to force a witch to do his bidding. The thing she feared the most. That Klaus was using her for his own advantage like she imagined he'd done with other witches. But he hadn't. "He's never…"

Rebekah studied her face carefully, "No," she confirmed. "Nik doesn't need a bond to get a witch, they come willingly to him." Most of them anyway, the few that resisted always ended up doing his bidding one way or another. Her brother could be very persuasive.

 _Oh my god!_ Bonnie thought. No wonder he had been so angry with her.

"Do you realize what you've gotten yourself into?" Rebekah asked softly. "What it means to be bonded?" there was something in the way Rebekah said it. It was obvious she had personal experience on the matter.

"Yeah," Bonnie said. "Klaus told me some things." But they didn't have time to talk more. Bonnie bit her lip. She needed to see him. She needed to talk to him. "I have to go," she said suddenly.

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "You're going to leave me alone with Matt?"

"I highly doubt that you're going to hurt him," Bonnie told her. "Besides if you do hurt him in any way, I will hurt you a thousand times worse," Bonnie threatened. She didn't know what was going on between Matt and Rebekah, but Matt was her friend and Bonnie would always protect him.

"The same goes for you, if you hurt my brother," Rebekah replied fiercely.

Bonnie studied her face. "I thought you and him were on the outs." Or that's what she'd heard anyway. The Original siblings had a dysfunctional relationship. It was hard to keep up. One day they were thick as thieves and the next they were stabbing each other in the back.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to let anyone hurt him," Rebekah declared. No matter how pissed off she was at Nik, he was still her brother.

Both girls stared at each other, a feeling of understanding passing between them.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Iris followed the Seer into the greenhouse. The Keeper of the Order was scheduled to arrive that night to finalize the contract but there was something troubling her mistress. She had been aloof the whole afternoon, lost in thought.

"I have an important mission for you." The Seer told her leaning over to inspect a strange looking blue flower.

"Name it and it shall be done," Iris replied with conviction.

"There is a new vampire in town. One who cannot be allowed to leave." The Seer plucked the flower carefully with her hands. "You must neutralize him."

"I will kill him," Iris vowed. She couldn't kill Marcel's vampires because of the truce between the so called king of the city and the Seer, although Iris certainly enjoyed snapping their necks. This new vampire was an entirely different game. She was going to enjoy killing him.

The Seer seemed amused at her promise. "This one is not like the others. He cannot be killed," she said.

Iris frowned. "I don't understand-"

"He's an old one." The Seer revealed as she handed the flower to Iris. "Crush the petals and mixed them with belladonna. It will put him to sleep for an hour or two. Afterwards you can lock him up in one of the tombs," she instructed.

"An old one," Iris had heard the tales about the old ones, the first vampires that had ever walked the earth. All of New Orleans knew of them. "Which one?" she asked curiously.

"Elijah Mikaelson," the Seer murmured. "We cannot allow the knight to protect the Queen."

"What about the King?" Iris questioned touching the blue petals with her fingers.

"That won't be a problem." A voice answered walking towards them. "I've just been informed that Klaus left Mystic Falls earlier today. She's alone." the woman-another member of their coven- told them. "Now is the time to attack."

"Yes," the Seer agreed. "The time has come."

The first hunter had failed but this time things would be different.

The contract with the Order would be signed that very night and soon Bonnie Bennett and the monstrosity that had taken root inside of her would be dead.


	6. Chapter 6

**New Orleans**

Elijah stood atop a building on Bourbon Street.

New Orleans the city his family once claimed as their own was now infested with vampires. They walked the streets of the city with freedom, without fear or care. What happened to the laws of secrecy? To the witches who had proudly stood against his family two hundred years before?

It was a strange thing to see the way the witches cowered in fear. And the werewolves who for centuries had fought tooth and nail to keep a piece of the land, Elijah hadn't come across a single wolf since he had arrived earlier that day.

Oh, what he had come across was _his_ name.

Marcel Gerard the so called King of New Orleans.

Elijah's jaw clenched. The boy his brother had saved and raised and treated like a son was now the proud leader of an army of savages.

 _How are you still alive?_ Elijah wondered, dark eyes following the single figure leading the group of vampires below. They were on a hunt.

Jane-Anne Deveraux had broken the rules. She had practiced magic earlier that day and now there was a price on her head. All of the vampires were in search of the witch who had dared defied Marcel's rules.

Marcel jumped on top of a car and whistled to his guys. "Tonight," his voice boomed, "we hunt a witch… Jane-Anne Deveraux!" the crowd cheered. "The vampire who finds her will get a daylight ring!" he promised.

The cheers grew louder, the excitement palpable in the air.

"If you find her," Marcel told his guys, "bring her to me, I want her alive!" he smiled showing his white teeth as he surveyed his army. He was proud.

 _Children_ Elijah thought with amusement. The vampires below couldn't be older than a century. They couldn't even feel the presence of the dangerous predator looming over their heads.

The witches feared Marcel, the werewolves had been driven out of the city and the vampires bowed to him but the Originals…

The Originals bowed to no one.

 _Enjoy your kingdom while it lasts_ Elijah thought.

A noise to his let caught his attention. Elijah turned just in time to see a figure emerging from the shadows.

A woman

A witch

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Bonnie arrived home filled with sadness. He was gone. Klaus was gone from Mystic Falls.

After her talk with Rebekah, Bonnie had rushed to the Mikaelson mansion only to be informed by a servant that Mr. Mikaelson was out of town.

 _Was it because of me?_ She wondered as she climbed the stairs up to her room. _Would he be back?_

She had gone back to Matt's house afterwards. But the sadness that had invaded her was overwhelming. Klaus was gone and she hadn't been able to talk to him. It hurt. His absence hurt more than she could've ever anticipated.

Her room was dark when she stepped inside. She turned on the lights and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw him.

Klaus stood by the window. "Hello love." He smiled hands tucked behind his back.

Bonnie blinked in confusion. "You left." She didn't mean to make it sound like an accusation but that's exactly how it came out of her mouth.

"I did." He took a step closer. Nearly forty miles away from Mystic Falls the need to see her had overpowered all of his senses. He'd turned his car around and headed straight for her home. "I realized I couldn't leave without talking to you first." He told her softly.

Bonnie's breath caught in her throat.

 _Relief_

 _Happiness_

It made her knees weak.

There was a moment in which they stood in silence, simply staring at each other, neither knowing what to say.

"I didn't do it on purpose." He confessed and looked away briefly. Not understanding why he felt the need to explain himself to her. Why he wanted her to believe in him.

"I know." Bonnie moved closer to him. "I talked to Rebekah…" she began. "She told me you have never been bonded to anyone."

"I didn't know you and my sister where such good friends," he teased.

Bonnie snorted. "We're not, not really." They had come to an understanding at Matt's house but they weren't friends, not yet. "Are you mad that she knows?"

"A vampire as old as Rebekah would have figured it out sooner or later," he told her. He didn't seem angry but there was a hint of _annoyance_ coming from the bond.

"I thought you had planned the whole thing," Bonnie said. "Prom, I mean…well not prom…" She looked down at the floor. "But prom night...you know…when we…" she trailed off embarrassed, heart pounding.

"I know what you mean love." Her embarrassment amused him. He moved closer to her.

Bonnie shivered feeling the heat of his body as he came to stand in front of her.

"There is no need to be embarrassed, Bonnie." He said in a low voice as his fingers moved to trace the outline of her cheek until Bonnie lifted her face to meet his.

He took her breath away. Bonnie trembled at his touch, there were butterflies in her stomach and her heart was beating wild like a bird against a cage. With a single look, with a soft touch, Klaus could make her feel things that all of Jeremy's kisses had never been able to evoke in her.

He had stirred something inside of her, something new and exciting. It was like she had been asleep and had suddenly come to life with his touch. It was wonderful and scary. And there was a part of her that wanted to throw all caution to the wind and give in and yet, she didn't.

"What are we going to do?" she asked softly, moving her gaze from his blue eyes to his puffy lips, remembering the way those lips had kissed her skin earlier that day.

"What do you want to do?" he countered fingers still on her heated skin.

Bonnie opened her mouth and promptly closed it again. She moved away from him, she couldn't think straight when he was so close to her.

Klaus's eyes followed her figure as she paced around the room.

"I could try and find ways to break the bond," she said nervously.

"You could or you could die trying," he muttered. There was a spike of _anger_ echoing through the bond.

"It was just a suggestion Klaus you don't need to get angry," she said defensively. It's not like she was planning to break the bond behind his back.

Klaus raised an eyebrow, "you're getting better at reading my emotions."

"When you're not blocking them," Bonnie muttered and then turned to him with curiosity, "how did you do that, this morning I mean…" she flushed remembering how he had blocked his emotions from her until he kissed her. When they'd kissed Bonnie had been able to sense his lust, his desire for her.

"Remember when I told you the bond is like a bridge between us," when Bonnie nodded, Klaus continued, "you can create a barrier to block your emotions from me." He said. "You have to feel the bond first, get in tune with it and then work to block your emotions or amplify them if you want..." He studied her face debating over something. "We'll have to work on it."

"If you've never been bonded how do you know so much about it?" Bonnie asked curiously. She had a feeling that Rebekah had been bonded before but Klaus seemed to know a lot.

"My brother Kol," Klaus answered. There was a hint of sadness mixed with anger and regret.

Klaus missed him Bonnie realized. How could he not, Kol was his brother after all. And then she felt guilty remembering how she had trapped him at the Gilbert house with his brother's corpse.

"The first time he was bonded was an accident, but he was rather curious." Klaus told her. "When the bond became a problem he looked for ways to break it, he searched all over but found no way to do so."

"Until the witch died," Bonnie said.

Something flashed across Klaus's face. "Until he killed her."

"Oh," Bonnie didn't know what else to say.

There was more to that story but Klaus didn't say anything else instead he took a seat on her bed and stared with curiosity at the teddy bear next to him. It was the only stuffed animal in the room and her most cherished childhood toy.

The hybrid picked up her favorite teddy bear and raised an eyebrow.

"Ms. Cuddles," Bonnie told him. He was about to put in on the floor when Bonnie grabbed the bear from him.

Klaus chuckled. "Do you share the bed with that creature?"

Bonnie glared at him. Ms. Cuddles was not a creature but a friend. "I had this bear since forever." She touched the soft fur, remembering the many nights she had fallen asleep with it in her arms. Most of her childhood things were in the attic or had been donated, but Bonnie could never part with the bear. "It was my mom's," she explained. The only thing she had of her mom except for a couple of pictures, "and Gram's before that." She smiled sadly.

Thinking of Grams always hurt. She missed her. She needed her still.

"I suppose one day it will be your child's," Klaus stated.

Bonnie looked up startled. There was a strange look on his face but it was replaced quickly with his all too familiar smirk. "I don't know," Bonnie murmured. She had never really thought that far ahead.

Elena had always wanted a family, that wasn't possible now as she was a vampire. Caroline had her entire wedding planned since she was a little girl but Bonnie had never thought about marriage or children.

 _Could she bring a child into the crazy world she lived in?_

Bonnie shook her head. She had all the time in the world to figure all that out. She planned to go to college first. Have a life-hopefully without any vampires or crazy immortals trying to destroy the world.

"Do you really want to break the bond?" Klaus questioned.

"Don't you?" Bonnie asked. "Do you want me to know your emotions, to locate you always, to feel you…" she trailed off. Even when she'd thought he was out of town, she could still feel him. He was a silence presence inside of her, in her blood.

"I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice sweetheart." He sounded resigned to their fate.

Bonnie took a seat on the bed next to him, Ms. Cuddles still on her hands. "I guess we're stuck with each other." She murmured caressing the bear's soft fur.

Klaus reached out and grabbed her left hand gently in his, thumbs rubbing over the knuckles. Her heart leaped to her throat.

Bonnie looked down at their joined hands, his hand was big and strong, hers was small and soft. He was a vampire and she was a witch, they were like the moon and the sun or like day and night. But somehow, it felt right. Feeling his hand, his warmth, his touch, it made her feel safe.

They sat in silence, her hand in his, each lost in their own thoughts, their emotions mixing together.

 _Uncertainty, fear, resignation, curiosity..._

"Why did you leave?" Bonnie asked him after a while of silence.

He didn't say anything at first and Bonnie wondered if he was going to answer at all. "I have a werewolf problem that I must deal with."

"Werewolf," she frowned. "What-"

Klaus stood up suddenly, Bonnie missed his warm touch. "I should go," he said.

Bonnie stood up as well leaving Ms. Cuddles on the bed. "How long will you be gone?"

He turned to face her before saying, "a few days, weeks perhaps. It will be a good thing I think, to be apart." Klaus murmured. "To test the limits of the bond, to see how long we can be away from each other."

It would help them determine how strong their bond was. _It was a good idea,_ Bonnie thought. But she felt cold and extremely sad.

"Don't look so glum lover, I will be back." He promised while smirking, he no doubt could sense her sadness.

"I guess this is goodbye..." _for now,_ she thought. And it gave her comfort, the knowledge that he would be back.

"Indeed." His eyes darkened. Bonnie knew that look.

"Klaus…" she whispered. She knew what he was about to do. She closed her eyes and leaned in.

He cupped her face, lowered his head and kissed her.

It was a soft brush of the lips, a gentle caress like the touch of a butterfly. And then he was gone, disappearing at vampire speed.

Bonnie opened her eyes, dumbly sitting down on the bed again as her fingers traced her lips.

* * *

Sophie and Jane-Anne managed to slip out of New Orleans thanks to the help of a few witch friends and father Kieran, the leader of the human faction in the city. Sophie felt ashamed that she and her sister had repaid the kindness of the priest by stealing some of his dark objects. But they desperately needed them if they were going to kidnap a powerful witch.

Marcel had all his men looking for them. There was a price on Jane-Anne's head and once Marcel noticed Sophie was gone as well, they were going to be after her too.

"What are we going to do?" Sophie asked. Jane-Anne was driving and looked far too calm for someone who had been marked for death.

"We'll be fine." Her sister whispered.

"Where are we going?" Sophie had expected them to leave New Orleans and head straight to Mystic Falls, that's where Bonnie Bennett lived after all. But instead they were still in Louisiana heading to Baton Rouge. "Jane-Anne we're going straight into werewolf territory." Sophie warned.

Louisiana was the Mecca of all things supernatural, witches, vampires and werewolf had conquered different territories throughout the years. While Marcel had successfully taken over New Orleans, Baton Rouge belonged to a dangerous werewolf pack, the Navarro Pack.

Sophie shuddered, remembering the stories she had heard about the Navarro brothers. "Jane-Anne…"

"It's fine. We'll be safe here. Marcel is not going to cross into enemy territory." Jane-Anne said making a right turn into a narrow winding road.

"No, we're just going to get mauled by wolves." Sophie snapped. They'd escaped a city of vampires only to land in the wolf's den.

"Don't be so dramatic." Jane-Anne glanced at her. "We need a sanctuary."

"Not one surrounded by wolves." Sophie remarked.

"On the contrary this is the perfect spot." Jane-Anne muttered.

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked confused.

"Come Sophie, let's be real." Jane-Anne said angrily. "You and me, we don't stand a chance against Marcel or Klaus. The further away we get from New Orleans the weaker our magic will get. Do you honestly believe we can kidnap the Bennett witch so easily?"

"Father Kieran's dark objects, they can take her magic away." Sophie said.

"Yes," Jane-Anne agreed. "But we can't take her to the Quarter. Marcel wants us dead, the minute we set foot in New Orleans he'll know and he'll kill us." Jane-Anne took a deep breath, "we need a safe house, a place to keep her far away from Klaus and Marcel and his lackeys."

Sophie looked ready to interrupt but Jane-Anne didn't let her. "I made a deal," she explained, "with the Navarro werewolves."

Sophie's eyes widened. "Are you out of your fucking mind?" The Navarro werewolves were Marcel's greatest rivals. They were notorious for their cruelty and ambition.

"They will help us. They will provide a house and men, wolves." Jane-Anne clarified, "to help us get Bonnie and keep her guarded. They will protect us."

"Why would they do that? What kind of deal?" Sophie questioned.

"The Navarro brothers want to help the witches regain control of the city." Jane-Anne told her. "They believe that witches and werewolves can coexist and live in harmony, the only thing standing in the way of that is the vampires. They hate vampires." She glanced at her sister briefly. "Marcel will never come searching for us in wolf territory, he talks a big game but at the end of the day he knows that one bite and he's dead."

"And Klaus?" Sophie demanded. "You think a wolf bite will stop him, that we'll be safe from him?"

"Once we have Bonnie and the baby we will have control over Klaus." Jane-Anne said. "We'll link ourselves to her and he won't be able to touch us unless he wants to murder his own child." It was obvious Jane-Anne had been thinking long and hard about this.

Sophie mulled over her sister's words. "Why do we even need Bonnie?" she asked suddenly. "If the Navarro wolves want to help us, they can kill Marcel and his people. Why haven't they attacked yet? Why are we risking everything to get Bonnie and worst to bring Klaus back to New Orleans?" Klaus didn't play by anyone's rules but his own. Just because they had Bonnie and the baby didn't mean he would do as they ordered.

Jane-Anne stayed silent for a long time before finally saying. "The Ancestor's want Klaus and his child in the city, we have to bring them to New Orleans."

"You still haven't told me what deal you made with the Navarro werewolves?" Sophie stared at her sister, waiting for an answer but Jane-Anne remained silent.

"Don't worry about it." Jane-Anne finally said.

"Where are we?" Sophie asked when she saw the beautiful plantation home surrounded by oak trees.

Jane-Anne smiled. "You'll see." She drove all the way to the entrance.

Sophie gulped when a man-a werewolf she noted opened the door for her sister. Sophie got out of the car as well feeling nervous and uncomfortable. There were more wolves surrounding the property, all dressed in black suits and black shades.

"Jane!" A tall, dark haired man approached them. He smiled and opened his arms.

Sophie's jaw nearly hit the floor when her sister jumped into his welcoming arms, kissing him without shame.

Jane-Anne pulled away breathless, "Victor, this is my sister Sophie…" She introduced smiling, "Sophie this is my boyfriend, Victor Navarro."

A chill went down Sophie's spine.

 _What the hell had Jane-Anne gotten them into?_

* * *

 **Three weeks later** …

Summer vacation had officially started. Bonnie and her dad were enjoying a nice lunch at the Grill, before Bonnie joined her friends at the lake later that afternoon.

Graduation had been a bittersweet event. Without Elena and Tyler the ceremony had been different from what Bonnie and Caroline had once imagined.

Klaus hadn't been there either. He had been gone for three weeks.

Every day the need to see him, to hear his voice intensified. It was the bond. Bonnie knew. And every day she grew more worried and anxious. She knew he was fine. Some of his emotions echoed through the bond from time to time. A few days ago he had been extremely proud. There was a sense of accomplishment and victory.

 _At what?_ Bonnie wondered. _Where was he? What was he doing?_

A few days after he left town she had shyly asked Rebekah for his phone number but he hadn't answered her call that night. Bonnie didn't dare to call again.

He had however sent her a graduation gift.

A soft smile graced her lips when she recalled the big bouquet of red roses she found in her room the night of Graduation and the tear shape emerald pendant that had come with it.

The pendant was stunning but it was the note Bonnie treasured. It was more of a letter in which he talked about his trip to India and how he came to find the emerald over two centuries ago.

 _When I saw it again a few days ago, it reminded me of your eyes_ …he had written.

The note of parchment with his elegant handwriting was safely tucked inside her box of treasures. Alongside her grandmother's favorite pearls and the picture she took with her parents at Virginia Beach the weekend before her mom left.

"Are you ok?" her father asked with concern bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Just tired..." Bonnie smiled weakly. Since defeating Silas things had been quiet and it made Bonnie nervous. She couldn't help but feel like this was the calm before the storm. In the past few days there had been a strange feeling in her gut too. She felt like she was being watched. "I want more fries thought."

Her father smiled and shook his head. "Fries with mustard…" he made a face.

"Hey, they're good." Bonnie told him picking the last of her fries and dipping it in mustard before bringing it to her mouth. It was delicious.

"Only ketchup for me." her father said smiling.

It felt nice to spend time with her dad. Growing up he had always been too busy with work but since he became the Mayor of Mystic Falls he had been a bigger presence in her life.

"Have you heard anything from Elena?" Her father asked pushing his empty plate away.

Bonnie shook her head. The last time she had located Elena for Damon and Stefan had been three days ago, she was in Las Vegas.

"But she will attend Whitmore with you and Caroline right?" Rudy knew that had always been their plan.

"I don't know," Bonnie answered. The plan had always been for the three of them to attend Whitmore like their mother's had done before. Caroline already had a list of things they needed to buy for their dorm. "If she's ready. I haven't talked to her." Not since the night she had tried to kill her, but Bonnie didn't tell her father that.

The cover story used by Caroline and Bonnie was that Elena needed time to deal with all the tragedies in her life and had decided to leave town to spend time with some extended family. No one had questioned it, so far.

"I'm really sorry about Jeremy," her father told her gently. "I didn't even know you were dating him…"

Bonnie looked down at her plate with guilt. There were a lot of things her father didn't know about her, about her life.

"He seemed like a nice kid." Her father continued watching her face carefully. After Abby's departure he hadn't had much contact with the Gilbert family.

"He was." Bonnie said softly. Jeremy had been nice, sweet and he didn't deserve to die. There was a part of her that felt guilty for not trying to find a way to bring him back. Elena needed him.

Her father looked ready to say more but Bonnie interrupted him, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." He gave her a sad smile.

He was trying. He really was trying to make an effort and be there for her and Bonnie was grateful. But there were still a lot of things she wasn't ready to discuss with her dad. Her love life was certainly one of those topics.

"I'm going to order more fries, do you want anything?" Bonnie asked standing up. She immediately gripped the edge of the table for support.

"Bonnie are you ok?" her father asked standing up and moving towards her.

"Yeah…" she felt dizzy all of a sudden. "I just…" she closed her eyes. She felt like she was about to faint.

Her father grabbed her arm gently. "You need to sit down." He helped her back into her chair. "What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Bonnie reassured him. "It's probably the heat." She grabbed her glass of lemonade and drank from it, feeling slightly better. "I'm good really." She gave him her best smile.

The dizziness had passed.

Her father nodded but he still looked worried.

* * *

Katherine pierce was happily dancing in her underwear as she waited for her delivery. She was staying at a motel a few miles outside of Mystic Falls.

She took a sip of the bourbon bottle and swayed her hips to the beat of the music. _Life was good_.

She was free. Klaus Mikaelson had finally left town and with all the problems brewing in New Orleans, Katherine was certain that he was not returning any time soon. It was a pity that Stefan and Damon were still chasing after her pathetic doppelganger.

Katherine started laughing. Elena had finally dropped her good girl facade and was showing her true colors and her worst enemy, the vampire the world feared was going to be a daddy. Her stomach hurt from laughing so hard, imagining Klaus Mikaelson of all people changing diapers.

She almost felt sorry for the girl carrying his spawn. Almost…Katherine was too gleeful. Klaus was finally going to have a weakness, one that his enemies were going to use against him and bring him to his knees.

There was a knock on her door. _Finally,_ Katherine thought. Her food had arrived.

The last thing she expected when she opened the door was to find the Deveraux sisters on the other side. Worst still were the two werewolves standing behind them.

"You got to be kidding me!" Katherine cursed under her breath. "What the hell are you doing here?" witches were annoying but werewolves were ten times worst. Not to mention that one bite from them and she was toast.

"We need your help." Jane-Anne moved past Katherine and stepped inside the room.

"By all means go head." Katherine glared at the witch. "My debt to you is paid." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Actually is not." Sophie said stepping inside to stand next to her sister. Katherine shut the door before the two wolves could enter her room.

Sophie lit up a sage candle.

 _Interesting,_ Katherine thought. They didn't want the wolves to hear their conversation. "Let me guess the baby doesn't exist." She should've known it was too good to be true. "And here I was having so much fun imagining my worst enemy changing diapers." She pouted. "You ruined my night."

"The baby is real," Jane-Anne told her. "And we need you to help us get the girl carrying it."

Katherine laughed, "I already did!" she hissed when a burning mark appeared on her wrist, the reminder of the blood oath she'd made to Jane-Anne months ago.

"I saved your life," Jane-Anne reminded her. "You owe me a debt since that night."

"I gave you Hayley," Katherine snapped. The pain on her arm increased.

"When I contacted you a few weeks ago, I gave you my word that the debt would be paid when you delivered the girl carrying Klaus's child." She took a step closer. "You delivered the wrong girl. The debt is still in place."

Katherine hissed when the flesh of her arm burned. How she hated that stupid mark. Jane-Anne had been smarter than the other witches she had tricked into helping her. That bitch had saved her life but it had come at a price.

"How the hell am I going to know who's the right girl?" she asked furiously. Hayley had bragged about sleeping with Klaus but Katherine had no idea who else the Original had bedded since or before her. Klaus could've slept with half of Mystic Falls for all she knew!

"We already know who the girl is," Sophie told her. "All we need is for you to help us get her."

The burning sensation disappeared from Katherine's arm.

She stared at both sisters before finally asking, "If you know who she is then why the hell do you need my help? You're witches, can't you get her yourself?"

"We're going to need all the help we can get to kidnap this girl," Jane-Anne replied. "You know Mystic Falls better than we do and more importantly you know who she is."

That piqued Katherine's interest. "I know the girl carrying Klaus's evil spawn?" she asked incredulous.

"Bonnie Bennett," Jane-Anne informed her.

 _Oh shit!_ Katherine thought.

* * *

Rebekah drove Bonnie home after a relaxing afternoon at the lake.

The blonde Original kept looking at her phone; she had done the same thing at the lake. She sighed before putting it away.

"Everything ok?" Bonnie asked. She had been spending a lot of time with Rebekah now that she was officially Matt's girlfriend. Since the day at Matt's house in which they'd come to an understanding a camaraderie of sorts had formed between them-much to Caroline's annoyance.

Rebekah was snarky and witty but a very normal girl, considering that she was a thousand years old. And lonely Bonnie had realized. Rebekah did not have any true friends or people outside of her family who she could count on. Except now that she had Matt.

 _Was Klaus as lonely as his sister?_ Bonnie wondered.

"My brother refuses to answer my calls." Rebekah murmured making a left turn.

"Klaus?" Bonnie asked with concern. _Had something happen to him? Was he ok?_

Rebekah raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Relax darling. If anything were to happen to my brother you would be the first to know."

Bonnie flushed and looked down at her lap. _Of course, she was bonded to him after all_.

"It's Elijah actually. It's been weeks since I've talked to him," Rebekah informed her. "I wasn't exactly nice," she admitted.

"I can do a locator spell if you want." Bonnie offered. Rebekah glanced at her before focusing on the road ahead. She didn't need anything to locate Elena, thanks to the power of Expression. "I might need some of your blood though…" Elijah was an Original vampire; he was probably going to be harder to find than a younger vampire like Elena.

"You would do that for me?" Rebekah asked with incredulity.

Bonnie shrugged. "Friends help each other…" and then she looked away not certain if Rebekah would ever consider her a friend.

"I like you Bonnie Bennett." Rebekah smiled. "You're not like any other witch I've met. I can see why Nik is interested in you."

Bonnie smiled. The though gave her butterflies in her stomach.

Rebekah parked right in front of her house. "I'm going to the Grill and scare those stupid tramps away from my boyfriend." Rebekah made a face. She had already scared two girls earlier that day at the lake. "If Elijah doesn't respond to my voicemail I would like to try a locator spell if you don't mind." Rebekah continued.

"Sure. Thanks for the ride." Bonnie waved goodbye, watching Rebekah speed off in her red Mercedes. She almost felt sorry for the girls who tried to flirt with Matt, Rebekah was territorial.

The night was hot and humid as Bonnie walked towards her front door. And then she cursed. She forgot her cell phone in Rebekah's car. Maybe the Original would see it and drop it off later.

She was just about to unlock her front door when she felt it. Someone was watching her.

Bonnie turned around quickly. But there was no one behind her. She frowned. She couldn't help but remember the night the hunter had attacked her. There was something eerie similar to that night.

She unlocked her door and spun around just in time to see the arrow flying at her.

Her magic reacted immediately.

The arrow stopped a few centimeters from her chest.

If she had turned just a few seconds later, she would've been stabbed by the arrow before she had crossed the threshold. With another pulse of her magic the arrow shattered into a million tiny pieces.

Bonnie stared at the fallen pieces before looking up. And that's when she saw her.

A woman with black hair and dressed in a leather top and pants. She had a crossbow in her right hand. The grin on her face was ferocious.

A hunter Bonnie realized with alarm.

One second the huntress was in front of her and in the next second she had disappeared.

Bonnie frowned. _Where was she?_

Bonnie screamed as a sharp object suddenly impaled her skin, right on the left side of her neck. She gasped placing her left hand over the wound as warm blood trickled down her collarbone and chest. Her legs felt weak and she sagged to the ground.

The huntress stood in front of her. _How the hell had she moved so fast?_

"I thought you were going to be more of a challenge." She lifted the knife ready to strike again but in the next moment she was flung back until she crashed into the lamppost.

Bonnie's magic had come to the surface ready to attack and destroy the threat against her.

Bonnie closed her eyes, everything was spinning around her. She felt dizzy and feverish. Something was wrong.

 _Poison,_ she realized with horror. The knife had poison. She had been poisoned.

The huntress stood up quickly and launched straight at Bonnie.

There was a blur of movement which intercepted her.

Bonnie blinked trying to stay conscious. The poison in her system spread at a rapid pace.

The huntress engaged in a violent fight with a man, he seemed familiar. Bonnie was sure she had seen him before, around Mystic Falls.

The guy was quick and strong easily blocking the huntress's blows and throwing a couple of punches of his own. He managed to get behind her long enough to snap her neck. She fell to the ground with a thud.

He was in front of Bonnie in an instant. "Are you ok?" he asked. "Can you hear me?"

Bonnie only stared at him disoriented, her hand still clutching her neck. "I…" she felt slightly better; at least she hadn't passed out.

He helped her to stand up and that's when Bonnie noticed his eyes. His eyes were golden, like Klaus's hybrid eyes. H _ow was that possible?_

In the next second he was flung a good thirty feet away until he crashed into a car parked in the curb. The Huntress glared at him before turning to Bonnie again.

Bonnie lifted her hand and crushed her knee. She was feeling better. The poison had stopped spreading through her system and the pain in her neck had subsided.

The huntress screamed in pain as her bones shattered. But then she lifted her right hand and Bonnie was suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force.

 _She has magic_ Bonnie realized, eyes wide in panic and legs dangling a couple of feet from the ground.

"I bet you weren't expecting that." The huntress grinned and then gasped, blood pouring out her mouth.

Bonnie still suspended in the air watched as a pale hand suddenly tore through the hunter's stomach.

"I bet you weren't expecting this love." Rebekah Mikaelson stood behind her, vampire face showing, with a tug Rebekah tore the huntress spine off her body.

Bonnie fell to the ground. She closed her eyes expecting to feel the pain of the fall, but instead she landed in strong muscled arms.

The guy who had come to her rescue a few minutes before, _a hybrid_ Bonnie realized.

He placed her gently on the ground.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" Rebekah had him by the throat in the next second, slamming him hard against the wall of Bonnie's house.

"I…here…help." He managed to rasp as Rebekah's bloodied hand squeezed tighter.

"Rebekah, it's ok." Bonnie told her, touching her arm gently. "He helped me."

Rebekah let him go, dropping him to the ground and turning to face Bonnie. "Are you all right?" she asked, noticing the blood on her.

The witch nodded, face scrunched in confusion, a few minutes before she'd felt feverish, dizzy. She had been poisoned Bonnie was certain of that but she felt fine now. It was weird.

"How's the neck?" the hybrid asked standing up and staring at the blood that had trailed down her neck and over her shirt. His eyes were back to normal.

Bonnie absently touched the wound, only to find smooth skin. The wound on her neck had healed.

"The perks of being a witch huh," Rebekah winked.

 _No,_ Bonnie thought. She had been far too dizzy and disoriented. She hadn't thought of healing herself. Whatever had healed her from the wound on her neck and the poison invading her system had nothing to do with her magic. It was something else.

"Who are you?" Bonnie asked the hybrid. He was taller than both of them, with dark skin and piercing eyes.

"I'm Jesse." He told her offering her a small smile. "I'm here to protect you. Klaus sent me."

 _Klaus had sent a hybrid to protect her_. There was a flutter in her chest.

"My brother still has hybrids?" Rebekah asked staring at Jesse.

He nodded.

"Trust Nik to always be one step ahead, even if you didn't do a good job," Rebekah scowled. The Hybrid glared at her.

"I broke her neck, it's not my fault she came back to life and took me by surprise," he snapped not liking the way the Original looked down on him.

"I ripped her spine out and killed her," Rebekah declared with triumph. "You can't top that!"

While the two of them argued, Bonnie stared at the body of the huntress. It was twitching. "Oh my god!"

Rebekah and Jesse turned in time to see the huntress standing up.

"How is she still alive?" Rebekah asked. "I killed her!"

There was an opening in the huntress's stomach, where Rebekah's hand had torn through. But she didn't seem to be in pain, the skin was mending at a rapid pace, faster than a vampire.

She grabbed the crossbow off her back and aimed straight at them.

"Oh shit," Jesse hissed as he and Rebekah took a protective stance in front of Bonnie.

Whatever she was, she wasn't human.

* * *

 _A/N: Jesse is a character introduced in TVD season 5, he's eventually turned into a vampire by Caroline. In this story he's one of Klaus's hybrids._

 _I hope you liked this chapter. In the next one Bonnie will finally come face to face with the Deveraux sisters!_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank-you so much for all your support. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Darkness

He was surrounded by darkness. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't hear anything, he couldn't move, he was completely petrified. He was stuck inside a coffin, buried deep underground.

The more he struggled against the dark magic keeping him in place, the weaker he became. It drained him, it weakened him. It was as if the magic was feeding from him.

He had never encountered anything like this before.

He had already started to desiccate.

Elijah closed his eyes, concentrating, thinking of his brother and his sister, calling to them. But it was in vain. The magic that had him trapped and buried prevented it.

He was completely and utterly helpless and he hated it.

Whoever had done this…the witch…they will come to regret it.

Somehow, someday he was going to get out and he would descend upon them.

He heard an explosion above him.

And then he felt it.

Power…magic…

A witch was nearby.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"How many times have we killed this bitch?" Rebekah asked moving her hair out of her face. She was momentarily dizzy. The huntress's knife had poison in it, thankfully, she was an Original and her blood healed the poison quickly.

"About four or five," Jesse responded panting. "Maybe she has nine lives…"

The huntress's body laid on the ground in between them.

"Maybe she'll finally stay dead." Bonnie mumbled, trying to catch her breath. They were still on her front yard, it was surprising none of the neighbors had seen or heard anything.

The huntress was agile, strong and resourceful and she had magic to her advantage. While Rebekah and Jesse fought against her, Bonnie had used her magic to paralyze her, so they could deliver the final blow. But every time they killed her she came back to life.

"We can't keep doing this all night." Bonnie said. "How the hell does she keep coming back?"

"You're the witch, you should know." Rebekah told her, staring at the decapitated body which had started to twitch once more. She kicked the head with her right foot as if it were a soccer ball.

"Dark magic is the only thing I can think of." Bonnie felt nauseous watching as the body twitched and moved trying to reconnect with its head.

The head began gravitating towards the body as well. "That's creepy." Jesse muttered.

"Definitely black magic," Bonnie confirmed. It was the only explanation for something like this.

"What if we rip her body into pieces and bury her somewhere?" Rebekah suggested. They hadn't tried doing that yet.

"Yes." Bonnie said following her train of thought. "We can bury the pieces in consecrated ground." It was the only way that they might stop her. "We should burn her too." Fire could cleanse the dark magic from her.

In the next second the huntress body and head had joined once again. She stood up ready to fight.

 _Damn it!_ Bonnie thought.

Every time the huntress died it took her less time to come back to life.

"Shit." Rebekah used her vampire speed and began fighting the huntress again, Jesse followed suit. The two of them made a pretty good team.

Bonnie took a deep breath before using her magic to paralyze the huntress like she had done twice before. The huntress had expected it and used her own magic to sent Bonnie crashing into the car-the same Jesse had crashed into before.

Pain exploded in her back when she collided with the car. She fell to the floor on her hands and knees.

The huntress used her magic to break Rebekah's neck; her unconscious body fell to the ground.

The huntress then turned to fight Jesse, easily blocking all of his attacks. She was a quick learner and had easily anticipated his movements.

Bonnie stayed on her hands and knees and Jesse tossed a worried glance in her direction. "Are you ok?" he yelled.

The second it took him to look at the witch proved to be fatal as the huntress swiftly stabbed him in the stomach, before pulling the knife out and slicing his neck open. Jesse choked and fell to his knees, blood pouring out of the wound and down his shirt.

Bonnie looked up at the huntress who was determined to end her life. _Why?_ Bonnie wondered feeling angry, confused and scared. _Why do you want me dead?_

"The time has come to end this witch." The huntress hissed, right hand holding the bloodied knife while lifting the left to cast a spell.

 _Yes_ Bonnie agreed. The time had come to put an end to this. The magic inside of her pulsed with life.

"Incendia," the words left Bonnie's lips fueled with the power of Expression.

The huntress's entire body burst into flames before she could use her own magic against Bonnie.

At the same moment Rebekah woke up. "Alright, I'm pissed where is she?" The Original stood up and noticed the body on fire. "Oh."

Even with her skin on fire the huntress managed to throw the knife in Bonnie's direction.

Bonnie used her magic to stop the knife halfway towards her. She stood up and flicked her wrist, sending the knife back towards the huntress and stabbing her in the chest.

As soon as his injuries had healed, Jesse woke up startled. He stood up and moved to stand next to Bonnie.

The three of them watched as the huntress's body burned. She didn't scream, she didn't move, it was like she had accepted her death.

"This is it right?" Jesse asked unsure. "She can't come back after this right?"

"I think so." A thoughtful look crossed Rebekah's face. "We'll bury her ashes in the cemetery."

Bonnie nodded but she couldn't help but feel that this was far from over.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Iris stormed into the Seer's bedroom without knocking.

The Seer sat on her bed brushing her long dark hair, "you're in a mood." She commented calmly. She was waiting patiently to hear the good news. Tonight was the night.

"The old one has disappeared." Iris informed her.

The Seer placed the brush down on the bed next to her. "You buried him in the cemetery did you not?" she asked the young witch.

"I did." Iris told her furiously. "I felt it. The moment my magic was destroyed and then I went back to the cemetery and he was gone!"

The Seer stood up angrily. "Who got him out?"

"I don't know." Iris swallowed nervously. "A witch, I suppose. How the hell could a witch from the Quarter find him and free him from the tomb?" she yelled.

The Seer shook her head. "No, the witches of New Orleans are not strong enough." Not until they completed the Harvest and even then they were not so powerful. "Besides, if a witch from the city had done magic, Marcel would've known and killed her." Those were his rules after all.

Whoever had found the Original was not a witch from one of the New Orleans covens.

"What are we going to do?" Iris asked. "If he is free…"

"There is still a powerful spell sealing the coffin." The Seer reminded her. "He might be out of the tomb but it will be a while before they can open the coffin and free him." If they could open it at all. Iris was quite ingenious in her spells.

"But-" Iris began.

"It does not matter." The Seer waved her hand dismissively. "Tonight Bonnie Bennett dies."

Iris eyes widened. "The huntress finally arrived in Mystic Falls?"

"Yes." The Seer confirmed with a smile. "She is one of the best assassins the Order has ever created. Bonnie will die, make no mistake of that."

It didn't matter that the Old one was free. It was too late to save Bonnie.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Bonnie slept late the next morning.

They had buried the huntress's ashes in the local cemetery the night before. Jesse had offered to stay the night guarding the unmarked grave, to ensure the huntress was truly dead. While Rebekah drove Bonnie home once more.

The young witch had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She hadn't even bothered to change into her pajamas.

Bonnie awoke feeling rested and even stayed a few minutes in bed, thinking about everything that had happened the night before. She felt the strong urge to call Klaus, to tell him about the huntress, to hear his voice. She missed him. It had been three weeks since the last time she had seen him.

The need to see him grew stronger each day. The pang in her chest was a constant reminder of the bond they shared.

After taking a long hot shower, Bonnie made her way downstairs, wearing jean shorts and a black top.

Her father was in the kitchen engrossed in the newspaper.

"Morning sleepyhead," he greeted.

"Morning dad," Bonnie kissed his cheek and moved to the fridge.

"Any plans for today?" Rudy asked putting the newspaper down.

"Not really." Bonnie mumbled getting the milk out and searching for a bowl. After the events of last night Bonnie didn't want to leave her home, not for a long while. Rebekah and Jesse were probably going to stop by and check on her anyway.

 _Why were hunters after her?_

After the first hunter had attacker her, Klaus had promised to look into it. _Had he?_ He was out of town doing god knows what and Bonnie didn't know when she would get to see him again. She hadn't heard from him in weeks. Since the night he had said goodbye. The one time she had the nerve to call him he hadn't answered and Bonnie didn't dare to try again. And he hadn't called her either.

 _What are you doing?_ Bonnie wondered.

She was about to pour the milk in her bowl when bile rose in her throat.

"Are you ok?" Her father asked seeing the strange look on her face.

"Yeah…I…" Bonnie covered her mouth with her hand trying hard not to throw up. She ran out of the kitchen and went straight into the bathroom in the hall. Her father's concerned gaze following her.

While Bonnie was in the bathroom, the doorbell rang. Rudy went to answer, surprised to see the girl standing on the other side. "Elena?"

"Hello mayor Hopkins." Elena smiled, a brunette woman coming to stand next to her. "Is Bonnie home?"

"I thought you were out of town?" Rudy frowned. She was spending time with some extended family that's what Bonnie had told him.

"I was, just got back actually." Elena smiled sweetly, "This is my cousin Jane." She introduced.

"Hi." Jane said. The smile did not reach her eyes. "Can we come in?"

"Yes of course, please come in." The minute he turned his back to them, Katherine grabbed him by neck and slammed his head against the opposite wall. The blow knocked him unconscious.

At the same time Bonnie got out the bathroom and the first thing she noticed was her dad lying on the ground. "What the hell!"

Katherine used her vampire speed to reach her, but Bonnie extended her right hand and sent the vampire crashing against the wall, her head slamming hard and knocking her unconscious.

Jane-Anne lifted her hand but Bonnie sent her flying out of the house and into the porch, the door slamming tightly shut.

And then she rushed to her father's side. "Dad?" there was a lot of blood coming out of his head. "Oh my god!" Bonnie gently placed her father's head in her lap, chanting a powerful healing spell.

The door burst open and four werewolves stormed in.

Still focusing on the healing spell, Bonnie sent a wave of her magic against them. The werewolves cried out clutching their heads as pain exploded inside their brains.

"You're going to be ok dad, I promise." Bonnie closed her eyes chanting while still sending powerful aneurysms to the four werewolves.

She had never done two powerful spells simultaneously. But having the power of Expression allowed her the advantage to do that and more, like being able to sense the witch sneaking behind her back.

With a wave of her magic the woman was flung back crashing hard against the wall behind her.

Katherine woke up and stood up, noticing what was going on inside Bonnie's house she decided to bail out of there. She didn't make it very far. Jane-Anne broke her neck with a wave of her hand while stepping back inside Bonnie's house.

"Bonnie!"

Bonnie opened her eyes at the voice. Jesse was outside calling her name.

"Invite me in!" he yelled, body pressing against the invisible barrier that prevented him from getting inside her home.

Bonnie opened her mouth but she coughed and sneezed when dust hit her face. Everything went black.

"Bonnie!" Jesse growled at the witch standing in front of Bonnie but with a wave of her hand she broke his neck. His body sank to the ground.

While Bonnie had been too busy healing her dad and keeping the werewolves at bay, Jane-Anne had taken the opportunity to sneak in front of her and had thrown the sleeping dust in her face. "This will keep her out for a few hours." She said while the young witch's body fell to the ground.

Sophie who had been flung against the wall stood on shaky legs, still disoriented from the blow.

"Take her to the car." Jane-Anne ordered one of the wolves; they were still recovering from the pain inside their heads but they followed her orders.

"What about him?" Sophie asked walking towards Jane-Anne and pointing to the guy lying unconscious near the door. "He's a vampire."

"We'll kill him." One of the wolves, Oscar was his name growled. "And we'll take the vampire bitch with us." he said looking out to the lawn where Katherine's body laid.

"Why do you want Katherine?" Sophie asked curiously.

"Victor's orders," Oscar replied, "he wants to talk to her." He pulled a gun and turned to Bonnie's father. "We shouldn't leave any witnesses behind."

"No!" Sophie screamed moving towards him, "you can't-" another one of the wolves blocked her path.

There was shot, and then another and then another one.

Sophie turned to her sister in shock, not believing what she had just witnessed. "Jane-" this had not been part of the plan. Sophie had never agreed to something like this.

"We have to go." Jane-Anne said ignoring her and following the wolf carrying Bonnie in his arms. The fourth werewolf followed them out and picked Katherine carrying her bridal style to one of the cars parked outside.

Sophie tried to look past the wolf in front of her to Bonnie's father, but he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the house. "Don't do anything stupid." He hissed.

 _This is wrong_ She thought _. Bonnie's father is innocent. He doesn't deserve to die._

Tears streamed down Sophie's eyes. They had come here to kidnap Bonnie not to kill innocent people.

Oscar remained inside the house for a few minutes, throwing and breaking things, leaving the appearance that the house had been burglarized.

He grabbed the arm of the vampire near the door and bit him viciously. He frowned. There was something different about this vampire. No matter, he was going to die a long and excruciating death thanks to the venom from his bite.

Oscar made his way towards the cars parked in front of the house. Sophie and Katherine were already inside one of the cars with the other two werewolves.

Jane-Anne was waiting patiently for him in the other car with Bonnie. The wolf that had carried Bonnie into the car walked towards him.

"I must speak with you." He said. There was a strange look on his face.

"Now is not the time Raul. We need to leave." Oscar told him. They had just kidnapped a witch in broad daylight. They needed to get out of there.

"There is something you should know about the witch." Raul whispered.

"Spit it out." Oscar ordered impatiently. They didn't have time to waste.

"Her scent…" Raul said nervously while licking his lips. "She's mated to a werewolf…"

Oscar cursed under his breath. Jane-Anne had not mentioned that. "We haven't encountered any werewolves in this town." He frowned. Perhaps he was a lone wolf.

"If he has a pack…" Raul continued. "They will come for her." They might have just started a war by kidnapping the witch.

"I'll call Victor." Oscar said softly. "He'll know what to do." And then he stopped. He grabbed Raul by the shoulder. "On second thought…Victor is crazy about that bitch of Jane-Anne perhaps we should call Franco."

Raul swallowed. "I don't think-"

"If the wolf this girl is mated to has a pack they will declare war on us and Victor will be responsible for it. The only one who can spare us is Franco." Oscar said while Raul nodded.

There was a reason Franco was the Alpha among the Alphas in the Navarro clan after all.

* * *

"What do you mean you're not coming back yet?" Caroline asked angrily into the phone as she drove towards Bonnie's house. "You have to register for classes and-"

"I'm with a pack." Tyler told her. "I'm helping them, they need me."

"But you're coming back right, for school?" Caroline asked her voice breaking. She missed him. She wanted to see him, to be with him.

"I don't know Care…" Tyler sighed.

Tears formed in Caroline's eyes. "There is still time, you don't have to decide now." She told him, parking in the driveway. "Oh my god-"

"Care?"

"I have to go." Caroline hung up and got out of the car noticing that the front door was open. The smell of blood hit her instantly.

She rushed to Bonnie's house only for her body to slam hard against the invisible barrier preventing her access. There was a guy lying on the floor near the door. A vampire Caroline thought.

 _What had happened?_

At the same moment a red Mercedes pulled into the driveway. Rebekah and Matt got out.

"What the hell?" Matt rushed towards the house, Rebekah following closely behind.

"It smells like blood." Rebekah wrinkled her nose and spotted the unconscious hybrid by the entrance. "Bloody hell Jesse!" she kneeled down in front of the hybrid and slapped him hard across the face. "Wake up you stupid hybrid!"

Caroline turned to them, "Bonnie's dad he's on the floor bleeding!" She pointed to the body lying on the foyer. He was on his back, a pool of blood around him.

Matt ran passed her and got inside the house. He got down on one knee next to Bonnie's dad.

"Pull him out Matt!" Rebekah instructed coming to stand next to Caroline. "There is a faint heartbeat." She could barely hear it but it was still there. He was still alive. They could save him.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Caroline grabbed her cell phone and dialed 911.

Matt pushed Rudy's body out into the porch, a pool of blood trailing behind him. It took all of his strength to push half of his body out. Rebekah grabbed him and pulled him towards her. She bit into her wrist and fed him her blood.

"He's been shot." Matt said out of breath.

"The bullet's need to come out." Rebekah said, rubbing Rudy's neck with one hand so he could swallow her blood. "This will keep him alive until the ambulance get's here."

"What happened?" Caroline asked in panic. "Is Bonnie inside?"

"I don't hear another heartbeat." Rebekah responded. There was a strong scent which she recognized as werewolves and another which she was certain belonged to Katherine Pierce. _What had that bitch been doing at Bonnie's house and how had she managed to get in?_

"Everything is a mess inside, it looks like a robbery." Matt said. "Do you think Bonnie-"

"They took her." they all turned at the sound of Jesse's voice. He rubbed his neck. The bite on his arm had healed. "Two witches and four werewolves, there was a vampire girl as well." He looked at Rebekah "I tried…I couldn't get inside her home." He growled.

"Who the hell are you?" Caroline asked in confusion. "Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?"

The sound of the ambulance could be heard in the distance.

Rebekah stood up, "Go with him to the hospital and make sure he lives." She ordered Caroline.

"What are you going to do?" Caroline questioned while kneeling down next to Rudy's body. She took his hand in hers, he was cold. _Please don't die_ Caroline thought. He was all Bonnie had.

"I'm going to see if I can track Bonnie's scent." The witch's scent still lingered in the air and Rebekah was certain she could track her.

"I'm going with you." Jesse said standing up. "I was supposed to protect her. Klaus will kill me if anything happens to her."

"Why would Klaus-" Caroline began but was interrupted.

"Oh shut up and do as you're told." Rebekah snapped angrily. She didn't have time for Caroline's stupid questions. She turned to Matt. "Go with Caroline to the hospital and watch over Bonnie's dad."

"What if you need back up?" Matt asked with concern. "If they have witches-"

"I'll call the pack for backup." Jesse told him. "We'll be fine."

Matt nodded taking Rebekah's hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Be careful." He kissed her quickly on the lips.

"I will." Rebekah smiled before disappearing at vampire speed.

"What Pack? You're a hybrid?" Caroline turned to Jesse in confusion. "What is going on?" she yelled not understanding anything.

Jesse ignored her and took off after Rebekah.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Caroline asked Matt, her voice shaking.

"Let's get Bonnie's dad to the hospital first. Then we can talk." Matt told her. He only knew what Rebekah had told him the night before about the hunter who couldn't die and the hybrid that had protected Bonnie.

Caroline looked ready to protest but the ambulance arrived in that moment and the paramedics rushed to Rudy's side.

* * *

Bonnie woke up startled. She was in the back seat of a car. There was a werewolf next to her. She didn't know how long she had been out but somehow she knew that they were far away from Mystic Falls.

She didn't even know why she had been kidnapped.

"You're awake." The woman on the passenger seat turned to her in surprise. She had expected her to stay asleep for much longer.

"Who the hell are you?" Bonnie blinked, feeling a bit woozy. And then her whole body went rigid.

Her magic, she couldn't feel her magic.

 _Panic…Confusion_ … _anger…_

"My magic, what have you-" and that's when she noticed the iron bracelet around her wrist. She tried to take it off with her left hand but the moment her fingers touched the metal it burned her.

"Only the person who put that on your wrist can take it off." The woman informed her with a smirk, "or someone of their blood." She was clearly pleased.

Bonnie glared at her. "Who are you? What do you want?" She demanded. "Where are you taking me?"

 _Who the hell were this people? Why had they taken her? Did they work for the hunters? And her dad, where was her dad, was he ok?_

Bonnie felt like she was about to have a panic attack.

"My name is Jane-Anne Deveraux. There is so much we need to talk about." She said glancing at the werewolf on the driver's seat before smiling at Bonnie. "I'll explain everything once we get to the safe house."

Bonnie turned to her side trying to open the door of the car. It was locked. "Let me out!" she yelled, using her fist to hit the window.

The werewolf next to her grabbed her by the back of the neck, bringing her closer to him. "You are not getting out so stop trying." He hissed. His fingers dug painfully into her skin.

"Don't hurt her." Jane-Anne ordered. "Oscar let her go!" She said loudly.

Bonnie whimpered feeling the pain on her neck as tears formed in her eyes, wishing more than anything to have her magic back. But she couldn't even feel it. Every time she tried to get in tune with her magic all she felt was a void. The bracelet had completely suppressed her magic.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked trying to break free from the werewolf holding her by the neck.

"You'll understand soon enough." Jane-Anne muttered. She was hiding something Bonnie could feel it.

"Get your hands off me!" Bonnie hissed angrily trying to get away from the painful grip on her neck. She felt a spark of something inside of her, something dark and dangerous trying to break free…Expression.

The metal around her right wrist burned her flesh trying to contain all the power swirling inside of her.

 _Destroy it._

 _You can destroy it, Bonnie._ She though. If she could destroy the metal blocking her magic she could escape. Yes, she had to escape _._

That's when Bonnie noticed her.

The huntress appeared in the middle of the road a few feet from them.

"What the hell!" Jane-Anne stared at the leather clad figure. "Where did she come from?" She hadn't been there a minute ago.

"Run that bitch over, Raul." Oscar the wolf still holding Bonnie by the neck ordered. The driver pressed the gas pedal and sped towards the huntress.

 _How had she managed to resurrect herself?_ Bonnie wondered. They had burned her and bury her ashes in the cemetery. She had stayed dead for a few hours and now she was back, determined to finish what she had started the night before.

The huntress lifted her left hand and the tires of the car screeched into a painful halt.

The driver cursed. Oscar let go of Bonnie and pulled a gun from his pocket.

In the next moment the doors of the car swung open and all the occupants were thrown out.

Bonnie hissed in pain when her body landed hard on the pavement.

The car following closely behind them stopped and two werewolves got out as well as another witch, she resembled Jane-Anne.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" she asked frantically while kneeling down in front of Bonnie.

"Fine..." Bonnie muttered. She felt dizzy and nauseous.

The four werewolves fought against the huntress but it was obvious she had the advantage. She was faster and stronger than they were.

"Who the hell are you?" Bonnie asked pulling away from the witch helping her to her feet.

"I'm Sophie Deveraux. " She answered. "It's okay. You can trust us, we'll keep you safe."

Bonnie scoffed. "You hurt my dad. You kidnapped me from my home and took my magic away. I rather trust her." Bonnie pointed to the huntress. Not really, but at least the huntress had made her intentions clear.

"Sophie!" Jane-Anne screamed. Sophie rushed to her sister's side.

One of the werewolves laid on the ground dead, the other three struggled against the huntress.

Jane-Anne and Sophie held hands chanting in what sounded like French.

 _Their magic is weak_ Bonnie realized. The huntress didn't even flinch and blood oozed out of their noses from the strain of doing the spell.

Bonnie watched as Oscar was flung out of the way while the other two wolves kept fighting. Jane-Anne and Sophie continued to chant in vain. Their magic did not work against the huntress at all.

This was her opportunity. And Katherine's it seemed. Bonnie caught sight of the brunette girl as she disappeared at vampire speed.

 _Figures_ Bonnie thought. Katherine only cared about her survival.

Just as Bonnie tried to run off, Oscar grabbed her roughly, his fingers digging painfully into her arm.

Bonnie screamed in pain. "Let me go!" the burning sensation in her wrist increased.

The huntress killed another werewolf and then turned to look at the witches. She waved her hand and Bonnie watched in horror as Jane-Anne gasped. The huntress had slit her throat open with her magic.

Sophie screamed clutching her sister's dying body in her arms.

"Shoot her!" Oscar yelled at Raul. Bonnie struggled to get away but he kept a tight grip on her arm.

Raul managed to shoot once but the huntress didn't even flinch. With another wave of her hand she broke Raul's neck. She was done playing around. The murderous look on her face was scary.

Oscar threw Bonnie on the floor and pointed his gun at the huntress. He shot once, twice, three times. But it didn't stop her. She kept walking towards them. Oscar hissed and threw the gun away, hands turning into fists.

He was the last of the werewolves standing and he was ready to kill her.

Bonnie got up and ran towards the second car. The engine was still on. In the next moment she sped off out of there.

The last thing she saw through the rear-view mirror was the huntress and Oscar fighting and Sophie running and screaming behind the car. Bonnie did not look back again.

She pressed the gas pedal and drove out of there as fast as she could, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

She had managed to escape.

* * *

Caroline sat in the waiting room of the hospital as Bonnie's dad was still in surgery. Matt sat next to her leaning his head against the wall. They hadn't heard anything from Rebekah yet and Caroline was extremely worried. It had been hours since Bonnie had been taken from her home.

 _Had the original been able to find Bonnie_ She wondered. _Was Bonnie ok?_

"Rebekah will find her." Matt said softly. "She's not going to let anything happen to Bonnie. They're friends."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Why didn't Bonnie say anything about a hunter trying to kill her?" Why had Bonnie confided and trusted in Rebekah but not her? She was her best friend not the Original girl.

"It just happened last night." Matt replied. "Bonnie probably didn't have time."

"We can't just sit around doing nothing!" Caroline told him. "We should be out there looking for her not Rebekah!"

"Jesse and Rebekah-"

Caroline interrupted him. "A hybrid? We don't even know him!" she scoffed. "Why would Klaus want to protect Bonnie anyway?" she murmured. Not understanding anything. It didn't make any sense. _What was she missing_?

Matt stayed quiet. There was something going on between Klaus and Bonnie. Rebekah hadn't said much but Matt remembered clearly that night at the cabin when they had defeated Silas.

 _For you_ Klaus had told Bonnie before healing him. Klaus had saved his life because of Bonnie. Whatever was going on between them it was their secret and Matt respected that. Bonnie would talk to them when she was ready.

"I have an idea!" Caroline said suddenly pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. Matt watched her warily.

"Now is not a good time Blondie." The voice answered at the fourth ring.

"You need to come back." Caroline told him. "Please, I need your help…"

"We almost have Elena so if you need another prom dress, call Klaus." Damon told her with a chuckle.

"Bonnie has been kidnapped!" Caroline snapped angrily.

"What?" Damon's voice grew serious, he practically growled. "How? When?"

"Earlier today, they took her from her home, werewolves and two witches." Caroline repeated what Jesse had said. "Her father was shot, he's in surgery. Rebekah went after her, tracking her scent but I haven't heard anything…" Caroline's voice quivered. "I don't know what's going on. Please Damon you and Stefan have to find her…please…" she begged crying.

"Caroline, calm down." Damon said almost gently. "We'll be there soon. I promise. We will get Bonnie back."

Relief filled her body at Damon's words. "Thank-you." She said before hanging up. "Damon and Stefan are coming back to town. They can help us find Bonnie." She told Matt. They needed all the help they could get.

Matt nodded. Bonnie had protected them and helped them countless of times before, it was time they repaid the favor. He checked his cell phone again. He had no texts or calls from the Rebekah.

 _Please find her_. Matt pleaded silently.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Bonnie finally stopped driving. For the first few hours she had simply driven as far away as she could from the huntress and the crazy witch that had kidnapped her. She didn't dare to stop out of fear of getting kidnapped again or killed.

The car did not have a GPS but through the different signs on the road, Bonnie knew she was somewhere in South Carolina.

Her hands were shaking when she turned the engine off. She stopped on the side of a two lane road, surrounded by trees, it was empty and dark. She had passed a sign that said a gas station was a few miles ahead. She needed to get gas but she had no money. She didn't even have her cell phone.

 _What am I going to do?_ She wondered in panic. _Was her dad ok? Had anyone noticed that she was missing?_

 _Klaus_ she thought suddenly. He had told her that the bond allowed them to know each other's location without the need of a spell. She didn't have her magic but she could feel the bond pulsing with life.

 _Can you feel me?_ She wondered. _Did Klaus know she was missing? Had he sensed anything through the bond? Did he care?_

Tears formed in her eyes. She was alone in the middle of nowhere, she was tired and hungry and thirsty. She hadn't had anything to eat in the entire day. She had been kidnapped, her magic blocked by the bracelet on her wrist which still burned her skin. But above all she was scared.

 _How was she going to get out of this mess?_

Bonnie cried silently for a few minutes, letting out all of the pent up emotions inside of her. She wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed and sleep. And her dad, she needed to know that her dad was safe.

After crying for a while, she sniffled and wiped the tears away feeling slightly better.

Bonnie took a deep breath determined. She could do this. She could drive to the gas station surely they had a map and a phone she could use to call Rebekah or Caroline or anyone to come and get her. She could even wait there, Bonnie thought, feeling better with a plan in mind.

She was just about to start the car again when all of the windows shattered. Bonnie screamed.

The car door burst open with a thud and she was pulled out by the hair. The huntress threw her on the ground pulling the knife out. Bonnie managed to roll out of the way before the huntress could stab her with the knife.

"How the hell did you find me?" Bonnie asked angrily. "Why do you want me dead?"

The huntress chuckled but didn't answer any of her questions.

Bonnie stood up on shaky legs and tried to run. But the huntress had placed a paralyzing spell on her.

The magic inside of her pulsed sensing the danger she found herself in but the metal on her wrist blocked it once more. It hurt so much Bonnie thought the skin of her wrist would melt off at any moment.

There was no way out and no one to help her this time. The huntress smiled with triumph but Bonnie would not give her the satisfaction of cowering in fear. So instead she lifted her chin and stared unflinching into the huntress's eyes as she came to stand a few inches from her.

"You don't have your magic." She realized staring at Bonnie's wrist. "You can't fight me. You will finally die." The huntress hissed.

"Just tell me why?" Bonnie asked softly surprised that she was able to speak through the paralyzing spell. "Why are you trying to kill me? Why do you want me dead?" if she was meant to die tonight she at least wanted to know the truth.

The huntress smiled viciously, "because I have been ordered to kill you." She answered simply, "you and the abomination growing inside of you."

Bonnie gasped. _What?_

The huntress lifted the knife. Bonnie closed her eyes preparing herself for the pain.

It never came.

When Bonnie opened her eyes the huntress had disappeared. She stood paralyzed from the neck down, blinking in confusion. _Where was she?_

There was a moment of absolute silence before a heart fell to the ground a few feet away from Bonnie. The magic keeping her in place disappeared. Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief, free from the spell.

There was a thud and an arm dropped to the ground, then a leg, then another arm…the huntress had been torn into pieces.

Bonnie looked up a single word escaping her lips. "Klaus…"

The Hybrid stood a few inches away from her. Tawny eyes filled with rage, two sets of fangs showing. The veins around his eyes were more pronounced and the fingers on his hands had elongated into sharp claws which were covered in blood. He looked her up and down making sure she had not been harmed.

Bonnie didn't care that he was covered in blood or that his claws could easily cut her in half. She jumped into his arms. The happiness and relief she felt made her dizzy.

 _He had come for her. Klaus had found her._

Klaus's hands returned to normal as Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck, choking back a sob. He brought his arms around her, bringing her closer. "It's all right. You're all right, love." he whispered in her ear, holding her tightly against him. "You're safe." He murmured against her shoulder.

For the first time since she had been taken from her home, Bonnie did feel safe.

Bonnie pulled away and looked into his eyes which were blue once more. "You came for me." she whispered hand touching his face gently not believing that he was actually there with her after so many weeks.

"How could you ever doubt it?" He whispered back. He moved his hand up wanting to touch her face but he restrained himself. He still had the huntress's blood on him and he did not want to taint Bonnie with it.

She surprised him however when she reached out and took both of his hands in hers. Holding him tightly even though she got stained with the huntress's blood.

Klaus rested his forehead against hers and Bonnie closed her eyes. It that moment she not only felt safe but at peace.

Her lips brushed lightly against his before her knees sagged suddenly. Klaus caught her in his arms. "I…" she blinked up at him.

"It's all right. I got you love." He told her gently before picking her up bridal style and disappearing at hybrid speed.

Jesse and Rebekah were waiting with the rest of his hybrids at the safe house, Sophie Deveraux in their custody. She had been stabbed by the huntress but Jesse had arrived in time and healed her. Klaus intended to have a long chat with the bloody bitch and find out what she and her sister had planned. He would torture the truth out her if needed be.

But right now, Bonnie needed him. She was his priority.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank-you so much to everyone who has reviewed favored and followed this story. All your support keeps me motivated to write more. And I'm really sorry for any spelling and grammatical errors**.

 **I'm really nervous about this chapter. I hope you like it!**

* * *

Klaus carried Bonnie all the way to the safe house about forty or so miles from where he had found her. Rebekah was waiting for them on the porch, leaning against one of the white columns.

"Is she all right? Is she hurt?" She rushed towards them as soon as she spotted Klaus.

"I'm fine." Bonnie murmured opening her eyes. She noticed Jesse stepping out of the house. He looked relieved to see her and waved at her. There were others too, hybrids Bonnie realized as they got closer. Klaus's pack and they were staring at her with open curiosity. One girl in particular glared in her direction.

Bonnie tried to get down-Klaus was still carrying her bridal style-but the hybrid refused to set her down. Instead he carried her inside the house and up the stairs, all the way to the master bedroom, Rebekah following them.

"My dad…" Bonnie said as Klaus placed her gently on the bed. "Do you know-"

"He was shot." Rebekah informed her. "He's fine. I gave him some of my blood and the surgery was successful." She quickly reassured Bonnie after seeing the look of horror on her face. "Matt and Caroline are with him now. He's sleeping but he's all right."

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief, "thank-you Rebekah." The blonde original nodded.

Klaus frowned upon noticing the iron bracelet on her right wrist.

"It's blocking my magic." Bonnie explained. "And it burned me whenever I tried to use it." She looked down at her wrist. It didn't hurt anymore and the angry red marks on her skin had disappeared. She hadn't even noticed until now.

Klaus tried to take the bracelet off but he hissed when it burned him too. "We'll find a way to take it off."

"Only the witch who put it there or someone of their blood can do it. That's what Jane-Anne said." Bonnie told him. "The huntress killed her-"

"Well, luckily for you, we have Sophie." Rebekah informed her. "I was content to let her die, the huntress did a number on her but Jesse healed her." Rebekah sat on the bed next to Bonnie. "The poor thing was terrified Nik was going to murder him for not protecting you. He figured getting one of the kidnappers was a nice way to make up for it."

Bonnie looked at Klaus. "Jesse tried to help but he couldn't get inside my house. It's not his fault I was taken."

"I know." He murmured."Speaking of the witch," he turned to Rebekah, "is she awake?"

"Knocked out cold," Rebekah replied. "We chained her to a chair in the basement. I ordered two of your hybrids to watch over her."

Klaus raised an eyebrow amused at the idea of his little sister ordering his hybrids around.

"Is that necessary?" Bonnie asked.

"The last thing we need is for her to escape love." Klaus told her facing her once more. "We need to find out why they kidnapped you." _And what her sister was plotting against me,_ he thought.

Bonnie nodded a yawn escaping her lips.

"You must be exhausted." Rebekah stood up. "I'm going to call Matt and let him know you're ok." She turned to her brother. "I need to talk to you…" she looked worried about something.

"Tomorrow," Klaus told her. Whatever it was that Rebekah needed they could deal with it tomorrow. He didn't want to leave Bonnie alone.

Rebekah nodded understanding that Bonnie needed him. "I got you some clothes, things that you might need." She told Bonnie walking towards the door.

"When did you have time to go shopping?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"I got bored waiting for you and Nik." Rebekah shrugged.

"Thanks." Bonnie smiled, who would've thought that she and Rebekah would become good friends in such a short time.

"Good night." Rebekah smiled before she left the room.

Bonnie felt a little nervous as she found herself alone with Klaus. She still couldn't believe that he had saved her. He had found her. After weeks of not seeing or hearing from him he had come for her when she needed it the most.

"How are you feeling?" he asked standing in front of her.

"Tired…" Bonnie replied. It had been one hell of a day.

"Come." Klaus said extending his hand covered in dried blood still. Bonnie didn't mind, she placed her hand in his and stood up. Klaus led her to the bathroom.

The bathroom was huge and the first thing Bonnie noticed was the massive tub that could hold four or five people. Bonnie stood in front of the tub while Klaus bent to twist the taps, water immediately gushed forth. While the tub filled up he washed his hands in the sink.

Klaus moved to stand in front of her, staring into her eyes as he reached for her top. "May I?"

Bonnie felt a thrill rush through her at the look he gave her and nodded. Standing still Bonnie watched his fingers undo the buttons of her top; once he was done he pushed it off her shoulders, goose bumps prickled her skin. She trembled when his hands moved to her shorts, pulling them down her legs until they pooled at her feet.

She stood in front of him in her matching bra and panties, her heart nearly bursting out of her chest. It only took a second for both garments to fall to the floor. Bonnie closed her eyes, cheeks burning, completely bare to his heated gaze.

He had seen her naked before, on prom night. But that night she had been high on magic and the alcohol had given her confidence and made her bold enough to agree to go home with him. Right now she had none of those things and she felt vulnerable standing naked before him.

Bonnie was about to cover herself when he swept her off her feet and in the next moment she found herself submerged on the tub. She sighed keeping her eyes closed. The hot water felt amazing on her skin and her tense muscles relaxed immediately.

Bonnie opened her mouth but the words died on her throat when she felt him behind her. Klaus was in the tub with her. Klaus was _naked_ behind her. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest and her body tensed in anticipation.

He didn't say anything but he drew her back, until she sat in between his legs, back pressed against his chest. Bonnie swallowed nervously feeling something hard poking her lower back.

"Relax." He whispered in her ear, stubble grazing her skin while his hands rubbed her shoulders gently.

Bonnie rested her head against his shoulder and he nuzzled her neck, massaging the tense flesh until she finally relaxed against him.

Bonnie didn't know how long they stayed like that. Both lost in their own thoughts, simply enjoying the moment.

"The huntress will come back to life." Bonnie murmured after a while of silence. "She'll come for me." No matter how many times the huntress had been killed she refused to stay dead. "She won't stop until I'm dead."

"Don't worry about that love," Klaus told her running his fingers up and down her arms in a gentle pattern, sensing her fear through the bond. "You're safe here. I had a witch cast a protection spell around the house. The huntress won't be able to cross the barrier. As long as you remain within the property, you're safe." He reassured her. "We will find a way to kill her for good. And I promise you, I will find out who and why they're trying to kill you. And I will end them." He vowed.

 _Why are you trying to kill me? Why do you want me dead?_

 _Because I have been ordered to kill you…you and the abomination growing inside of you…_

The huntress's words echoed in her ears. Bonnie shivered mind racing. _Could it be true?_ _Had she heard correctly?_

Klaus rested one of his hands on her stomach, fingers lightly tracing the smooth skin while his lips placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder. Bonnie gasped. _No, it couldn't be. The huntress had to be wrong. It was a mistake. Vampires couldn't procreate. There was absolutely no way…._

Bonnie pushed his hand away as if she had been burned, moving her body as far away from him as possible.

"Are you all right?" Klaus asked feeling her confusion and uncertainty through the bond. He rested his arms on the rim of the tub noting the abrupt way she had pulled away from his touch.

Bonnie felt cold all of a sudden without the feel of his skin against her. She pulled her legs up against her chest. "I'm worried about my dad." She lied. She was not going to tell him what the huntress had told her. It was a mistake, it had to be. "I have to talk to him, I want to see him."

"First we need to find a way to get rid of the huntress for good." Klaus told her, eyes fixed on her back. Bonnie was hiding something from him, he could feel it. "I also need to interrogate Sophie Deveraux and find out what she and her sister were plotting against me."

"You think they kidnapped me because of you?" Bonnie asked. There was no trace of accusation in her voice and she hoped that he didn't think she was blaming him for her kidnapping. She was simply trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Perhaps…" The truth was that Klaus had no idea what Jane-Anne wanted with Bonnie or whether her kidnapping had anything to do with the plots against him.

Klaus stared at her, noting the tense set of her shoulders. He wanted to reach out and ease all the worry and tension he felt coming from her but he didn't want her to reject him again. He had done something to upset her. It was obvious she wanted to be alone. He stood up.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked looking at him over her shoulder before averting her eyes quickly. _He was naked!_ Her cheeks burned in embarrassment. _Oh my god she had just seen his_ -

"It's obvious that you want to be alone." he murmured closing his side of the bond. She had made it perfectly clear by pushing him away. He didn't want to upset her and if she wanted to be alone he would respect that.

"No…I…" Bonnie bit her lip, "don't go." The words came out in a tiny whisper but he heard her perfectly. She couldn't stand the thought of being alone, not after everything she had been through that day. "Please, I…"

Klaus got down on the tub once more, tentatively reaching out to her. He brushed his hand across her back, trailing his fingers lightly along her spine. "Tell me, what's wrong sweetheart?"

Bonnie shivered. She leaned back against him. Klaus automatically wrapped his arms around her. "Just hold me." She said instead closing her eyes.

She didn't want to think about anything. After the ordeal she had been through that day, Bonnie just wanted to take a moment and breathe. There was a lot to be done the next day but for tonight Bonnie just wanted to enjoy the moment and forget about everything else.

And that's exactly what she did.

* * *

When Bonnie opened her eyes it was still dark outside. She could hear the rain pelting the glass and thunder rumbling in the distance. The only light in the room came from a few candles scattered around.

She was on a bed, naked except for a silk black sheet draped across her body. Bonnie felt a moment of panic as she didn't remember how she got on the bed or why she was naked to begin with.

"You fell asleep." Klaus purred next to her.

Her gaze collided with his and heat rose to her cheeks. She had fallen asleep in the tub with him. _How embarrassing!_

"Good thing I was there or you would've drowned." He teased with a dimpled smile. He looked so handsome and relaxed. And he was so close to her their faces almost touching.

Bonnie swallowed nervously seeing his naked chest, the black sheet pooling around his waist. "How long have I been asleep?" She asked softly moving to lay on her right side, facing him.

"About two hours," he told her shifting his body to the left, facing her fully.

There was a moment of silence as they stared into each other's eyes. The last time she had woken up next to him she had tried to sneak out in panic but in that moment Bonnie only felt the need to be closer to him. Her eyes moved over his face and down to his lean chest. She took a moment to study the necklaces around his neck before her eyes slid lower to his stomach and lower still. He was as naked as she, the silky sheet the only thing separating them.

Klaus reached out and traced her cheek, bringing her gaze back to his and feeling the heat on her skin. "You're so beautiful." He whispered thumb moving over her bottom lip.

Bonnie couldn't find the strength to speak or move. She was completely mesmerized by his eyes, feeling the warmth of his touch and the butterflies in her stomach. Klaus stared at her like he was in awe, like he couldn't believe she was there with him, and then his lips were on hers, soft, gentle, familiar.

Klaus kissed her carefully, tenderly, as if she were the most precious thing in the world. The tip of his tongue trailed against the seam of her lips urging her to open for him and she did. Her heart exploded when his tongue slipped inside her mouth as he deepened the kiss. He pulled her closer-the sheet sliding down to her waist- bringing their bodies together, the hard planes of his chest pressing against her breasts, sensitive nipples hard and rubbing against him.

Bonnie whimpered kissing him back and melting against him. The bond pulsed with desire, with need, and heat-the force of it almost overwhelming.

Klaus growled against her mouth. He pulled the sheet off the rest of her body and rolled on top of her, settling himself between her thighs. Bonnie gasped feeling his hard length rubbing against her center. Heat twisted inside her belly. Her hands clutched his shoulders as his mouth moved against hers, hot, urgent, and demanding. When the tip of his erection pushed against her, Bonnie trembled and pulled away from his lips, breathless and dizzy.

Klaus kissed her jaw and moved down to her neck, lips sucking lightly on her skin, teeth nipping on her pulse point and trailing a hot path of kisses down her collar bone until he reached the swell of her breasts. Bonnie moaned and arched against him when he palmed her breasts.

He cupped her with one hand, rubbing his thumb over one nipple while his mouth lowered to the other breast running his tongue around the sensitive dark tip. Bonnie slid her fingers into his hair, holding him closer before he switched, taking the other nipple into his mouth while he rolled the nub between his thumb and finger of the other breast. He teased her with his lips and teeth and she moaned and arched into him, not able to stop the sounds coming out of her.

Klaus trailed kisses down the valley of her breasts and over her stomach. Bonnie gasped when he reached the delicate place between her legs. He parted her legs gently and brushed feather like kisses along the inside of her thigh, her whole body started to shake as he touched her.

His fingers stroked her center, circling on that nub of nerves between her legs. She bucked almost violently completely lost in the sea of sensations sweeping through her.

She was hot and wet for him and his finger slid against her, slow and exploratory, seeking out the places that made her gasped and arched against his hand. Her whole body was on fire, as his finger slid in and out of her and she rocked her hips with the rhythm panting and moaning.

Bonnie threw her head back and cried out as she came with a violent shudder. She closed her eyes and bit her lip when he moved his head between her legs. "Klaus…"

His stubble tickled her as his mouth nuzzled her softly, applying only the slightest amount of pressure, right over the most intimate part of her. Bonnie froze. She felt so exposed and vulnerable but she didn't want him to stop. He had done this to her before, on prom night and she quivered with anticipation-remembering the intense pleasure he had given her that night.

He parted her folds with his tongue and tasted her, stroking his tongue and gently scrapping his teeth along the erogenous zone. He lapped at her, making her thighs slick with need as he worshipped her sex, taking his time to tease and coax every sensation, every last drop of pleasure until her body quivered and contracted.

He kept his mouth on her while one of his hands moved up towards her breast, rubbing the tight bud between his fingers. Every swirl of his tongue sent a shock of sensations through her. The tension building relentlessly until she came apart over his mouth, pushing herself against his face without shame and crying out in ecstasy.

Green eyes opened to find him staring at her. His eyes drinking her in, taking note of her parted lips still swollen from his kisses, pert nipples aching for his touch, sweat trickling her skin, her body flushed and shaking from the pleasure he had just given her.

Bonnie looked away embarrassed, trembling at the intensity of his gaze and recognizing the hunger in his blue eyes. She knew what was going to happen and she was a bundle of nerves and excitement. She wanted him, there was no point in denying the obvious but there was still a hint of nervousness when he positioned himself at her entrance and rubbed himself against her wet heat.

Klaus must have sensed her apprehension through the bond, as his hands moved up and down her thighs, caressing gently, reassuring her. "Are you all right?" he asked huskily.

"…nervous…" she admitted shyly, heart pounding in her ears. Bonnie didn't even know why she felt so nervous all of a sudden. They'd done this before and yet she felt more nervous and uncertain right now than she had that first time.

Klaus placed his hand on her face, thumb caressing her cheek, "don't be." He murmured before he leaned down until their bodies were pressed together, skin against skin. She shivered feeling his heat, his hard body completely over her. He kissed her, tongue sweeping inside her mouth. Bonnie moaned kissing him back with equal passion, tasting herself on his lips.

He pushed into her slowly, groaning as she tightened around him.

"Oh god," she mumbled. It didn't hurt but it was still a relatively new experience for her. It had been weeks since that first time, since the night he had taken her virginity. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, all she could do was _feel_ him…every inch of him, stretching her, filling her, until he was fully embedded inside her.

Klaus kept still and rested his weight on his arms giving her time to adjust. His body tensed as he gazed down at her, searching her face for any indication of discomfort or pain.

"It's okay…I'm good." Bonnie whispered grabbing the dangling necklaces around his neck and pulling him closer for a kiss.

The nervousness had given away to an intense need.

He drew his hips back and thrust into her again. Bonnie cried out as her body stretched and molded around him. Klaus slid in and out of her, savoring the pleasure reflected on her face and through the bond. He bent his head down, kissing her fiercely as they moved together, finding a slow rhythm.

The beast inside of him wanted to brand her, to claim her, to flip her on her hands and knees and take her with reckless abandon but she wasn't ready for that, not yet. He restrained his darkest desires and took her gently, moving agonizingly slow in and out of her.

Bonnie's hands moved down his back, caressing his skin, holding him tightly as she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him deeper inside of her. Her soft cries grew louder as he picked up his pace and thrust into her faster and harder than before.

She was so hot and so tight and she fit him like a glove as though she had been made just for him. He couldn't get enough of her. Klaus buried his head against her neck, nibbling at her skin, eyes flashing gold and fangs elongating.

Bonnie dug her nails into his back as he moved faster. Her back arched and a cry escaped her lips, heat gathering inside of her. "Oh, God…" she could feel it coming. She was so close. Her body trembled and she clenched around him.

He slammed inside of her harder and faster, again and again. She tipped over the edge with each powerful thrust, feeling his fangs scrapping her heated skin. When he lifted his face, Bonnie recognized the hint of gold in his eyes.

"Do it." She told him exposing her neck to him. She wanted to be connected to him in every possible way, body and blood.

Klaus sucked at her pulse point but to Bonnie's surprise he did not bite her neck instead he moved lower, down to her breast, taking the pert nipple into his mouth before sinking his fangs deeply into her soft caramel flesh.

It was a sudden explosion, pain and pleasure combined into one. Bonnie screamed as wave after wave burst upon her. Tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision.

Klaus took a mouthful of her blood before licking the wounds close. He thrust into her one last time hard and deep. He groaned and shuddered as he spilled himself inside of her, his entire body shaking by the force of his own release. He braced his weight on his forearms not wanting to collapse on top of his tiny witch.

They stayed like that for a long time, panting and shaking, trying to regain their senses after the explosion of passion that had swept through them.

Her eyes were drowsy when she finally looked up at him. "Hi…" she blissfully greeted him. Her body felt like rubber, she didn't think she would be able to move.

Klaus smiled, lips moving gently over hers. She was soft and beautiful and all his. He rolled off her and pulled her into his arms, brushing the damp hair from her face before kissing her again.

Bonnie tucked her head into his shoulder, legs tangled together, she felt too weak to do anything else.

She snuggled against him as sleep finally claimed her.

* * *

The next time Bonnie opened her eyes it was morning. It was still raining and the candles continued to burn brightly-sage candles Bonnie realized, feeling the warmth of Klaus's body pressed against her.

The night before had been amazing. They had come together twice more after she had fallen asleep in his arms. She flushed with the memory of it, the intensity and the passion in which he had taken her. She had never thought she would want him so much, that she would yearn for his touch or scream his name with abandon.

When her friends had talked about sex, Bonnie had never understood what the big deal was. She had been the shy one, the quiet one, the one who had never experience the passion and desire her friends had. But now she knew. She understood why they giggled and talked in whispers like naughty children.

Sex was amazing and addictive. Sex with Klaus was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. He made her feel beautiful, sexy, and desirable.

Bonnie shifted slightly and turned to face him. He looked peaceful and so handsome. She hesitated before she raised her hand and touched his face, running her fingers down the side of his face and over his cheek and stubble.

There was a part of her that still couldn't believe that she was here with him, touching him like this. Her once worst enemy, turned ally, and now lover.

Her fingers moved down to his jaw and plum lips. His lips were red and soft. Her cheeks redden remembering what those soft lips had done to her the night before. She moved down, playing with the necklaces dangling around his neck and tracing the bird and feather tattoos on his chest and arm. She lightly traced his nipples before moving down to his abdomen.

Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip as she considered whether she should continue touching him. He had explored her body with his hands and lips and she wanted to do the same with him. She had seen him naked last night and before on prom night but she had never openly stared at him like she was doing now. She wanted to touch him, to explore his body in the same way he had done with hers.

Bonnie glanced at his face ensuring he was still asleep (she didn't think she was bold enough to do it if he were awake) before she ran her hand over his stomach, touching the hairs that began at his bellybutton and disappeared beneath the black sheet.

She swallowed nervously feeling a pulsing between her thighs. She pushed the sheet away slowly-exposing her own body in the process and staring at his naked glory. _Dear lord._ Heat spread over her from head to toe.

With trembling hands she touched him more intimately hesitating before closing her hand around him. His body hardened, ready and wanting and her eyes opened wide. She peeked at his face with uncertainty but he remained still so she continued her exploration.

Klaus held his breath and remained still as she touched him, shy and uncertain at first. He reveled in her earnest exploration of his body, trying not to give away the fact that he had been awake the whole time.

He gritted his teeth when she became too bold for his self control. Heat exploded inside of him when she kissed the tip.

Bonnie squealed when Klaus suddenly pulled her on top of him. She blushed furiously having been caught admiring his body. "I…"

His mouth curved into a mischievous grin before cupping her face and kissing her.

He placed his hands on her waist and slid them up her rib cage, skimming the outside of her breasts, thumbs brushing over the nipples before cupping them fully. She moaned into his mouth as he caressed her.

After everything they had done the night before she still wanted more. _Was this normal?_ She wondered as her body came alive under his touch.

Klaus moved so fast that in a blink of an eye Bonnie found herself pinned to the bed, his body caging hers. She shivered at the pleasant feel of her bare breast against his skin. Klaus kissed her deeply and thoroughly.

The desire she felt through the bond made her flush and shiver.

Klaus moved one of his hands down her body to caress her sex, moving his finger over the nub of nerves between her legs. Bonnie moaned softly, hips arching to meet his fingers. He slipped one finger and then a second one inside of her.

"So fucking tight." Klaus murmured against her ear. He was hard and ready, he needed to be inside of her again.

Klaus pulled his fingers away and slid inside of her with ease. She was so tight and as soft and slick as the inside of his cheek. _This is what heaven must be like for a mortal man,_ he thought as he held still for one moment savoring the sensation of being inside of her once more.

Bonnie gasped meeting his eyes and his breath caught in his throat as he stared into the green pools of her eyes. She was beautiful and glorious and he was completely enthralled by the way she complemented him. Bonnie aroused a raw passion and hunger inside of him but also an infinite tenderness. He had never felt anything like this before. He had known passion, he had known lust and pleasure but he had never known what it was like to treasure someone, to need and want them so much, with every fiber of his being, to hold on and never let go.

Klaus smiled eyes gleaming as he kissed her, tongue tangling with hers as he moved slowly, deeply inside of her.

Bonnie raised her hips to meet his in a delicious passionate rhythm, a scorching fire building inside of her with each of his thrusts. It felt wonderful. She wanted more, she needed more. The nervousness of the night before had completely disappeared, replaced by an aching need and by the desire filling her veins.

He reached down with one hand between her legs, rubbing that spot, stroking urgently, intimately as he deepened his thrusts.

Bonnie stopped breathing when he moved faster. She clutched his shoulders tightly, nails digging into his skin as she cried out his name in delirium, finding that sweet release.

Klaus felt his control slip and his breathing grew ragged as her pleasure became his own. He shuddered and groaned deeply as he came inside of her.

"Good morning." He whispered against her mouth, lips trailing over hers gently, before kissing her jaw and nuzzling her neck and shoulder.

"Morning…" she said breathless and giddy, her whole body thrumming with excitement and happiness. She was floating and it was incredible.

She had a goofy smile on her face when she gazed up at him.

Klaus grinned and kissed her long and hard.

 _I could wake up like this every day_ Bonnie thought dreamily while kissing him back.

* * *

 **Hours later…**

Bonnie stood by the window talking with Matt on Klaus's cell phone. Her hair was damp from the shower and she had changed into jeans and a red top. Rebekah had been kind enough to get her clothes, a pair of flats, a comb and even a tooth brush.

"He's sleeping right now. Dr. Fell said he needs time to rest." Matt informed Bonnie when she asked him about her dad. "The doctors are amazed at how fast he's healing. You know because of Rebekah's blood." He whispered.

"Thank-you Matt for staying with him and for being there..." Bonnie told him. "I will be there as soon as I can." She frowned staring down at the forest surrounding the property. It was drizzling and the wind had picked up too.

"I'm glad you're okay." Matt said. "Rebekah told me that hunter girl keeps coming back to life…"

"Yeah…" Bonnie sighed staring at the trees she could've sworn she saw a shadow down there. She shook her head, she was probably being paranoid. "Klaus says I'm safe here but she won't stop. "

 _I have been ordered to kill you and the abomination growing inside of you._

Bonnie shivered as she remembered the huntress's words.

"Caroline called Damon and Stefan. She's picking them up at the airport right now." Matt told her. "After Rebekah told me Klaus found you, I told her, but she's upset." Matt yawned; he had spent the whole night at the hospital. "She wants to know what's going on with you and Klaus and why you trust Rebekah more than her…"

Bonnie sighed. "I'll call her later. Matt about Klaus…I…" _what could she tell him?_ She didn't even know what she and Klaus were. She flushed remembering the night before and earlier this morning.

 _Are we together?_ She wondered. _Was Klaus her boyfriend now?_

They hadn't talked about it, talking had been the last thing on their minds in the past few hours.

Jeremy had been the only boyfriend she ever had. Their relationship had been nice and sweet. With Klaus everything was intense, all consuming. She had done things with him that she had never imagined doing with Jeremy or anyone really. But they had never even been on a date. They hadn't talk about their relationship. _Did Klaus want to be her boyfriend?_ _Had last night been as important to him as it had been to her? Did he want her for more than just sex?_

"Look, whatever is going on with Klaus I'm in no position to judge." Matt said. "I'm dating his sister and I think…" He paused. "… he cares about you. He saved me because of you." Matt whispered remembering that night in the cabin. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're my friend and I'll support you, no matter what."

"You're amazing you know that." Bonnie said smiling, "thank-you for being such a great friend."

"You're not so bad yourself Bon." he told her. "What should I tell Damon and Stefan?"

"Tell them I'm safe and that I'll return to Mystic Falls soon," or so she hoped. The door opened and Klaus stepped inside. He was carrying a tray with food. Bonnie's stomach growled when the smell hit her nose. "I don't have my cell phone so you can call Rebekah to talk to me. And let my dad know please. I'll call you later okay…" Maybe her dad would be awake by then and she would be able to talk to him.

"Okay, be careful." Matt hung up.

Bonnie stared at Klaus as he set the tray down on the bed. He had changed into jeans and a black henley. He looked good, better than good. She rubbed her thighs together unconsciously. _Would she ever stop wanting him?_

She looked down at her feet in embarrassment upon realizing that he could feel her lust through the bond. _What would he think of her?_

"Morning love," He smiled as his gaze slid down her body appreciating the way the jeans hugged her figure and feeling amused by her shyness. It was endearing really.

"Did you cook that?" she asked walking towards the bed. The smell was delicious. The tray had a plate filled with eggs, toast, ham, a bowl of fruit and a cup of coffee and orange juice. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled loudly.

"Unfortunately I can't take credit." He told her as they both sat on the bed. "The witch who secured the house is a great cook. She's part of my pack."

Bonnie had completely forgotten about that. They were not alone in the house. She had seen his hybrids the night before when he brought her to the house. _Had they heard them?_ Bonnie wondered briefly before looking around the room, seeing the sage candles burning still. She breathed a sigh of relief. The sage prevented others from hearing what transpired inside the room and she was grateful. It would be mortifying if his pack and his sister had heard what they'd done the night before, and this morning, and in the shower.

She turned the color of a fire truck before her mind caught up to what he had said. "A witch?" she asked suddenly. "How-"

"You'll meet them soon." Klaus said with a smile. "Now eat." Her stomach had been making some very loud noises demanding nourishment.

"Thank-you," Bonnie smiled at him and began eating.

Klaus watched in amusement as she devoured the food, licking her lips and moaning in appreciation as her hunger was sated.

"Sorry," she said flushing, he must have been appalled by her manners but she had been starving. "I didn't have anything to eat yesterday…"

Klaus frowned. It hadn't even crossed his mind to offer her some food the night before or this morning. Food had been the last thing on his mind. The hunger he had felt had been entirely different. He had given her some drops of his blood earlier that day. She had been sore and tired from their couplings and the blood had not only eased the aches but also any hunger she might have felt, temporarily at least.

Bonnie grabbed the cup of coffee ready to take a sip only to put it down immediately. The smell made her sick.

"Are you all right?" Klaus asked seeing the look on her face.

Bonnie covered her mouth with her hand. _Don't throw up…please don't throw up_ she thought. "I'm fine…the smell…" it made her nauseous. "Something is wrong with the coffee."

Klaus grabbed the mug and sniffed it, it smelled fine to him. "It's just coffee."

Another wave of nausea hit her and Bonnie leaped out of the bed running straight to the bathroom.

She hoped that Klaus stayed on the bed but of course he didn't, he was right behind her. She managed to shut the door on his face, locking it before getting down on her knees in front of the toilet.

"Bonnie!" Klaus pounded on the door.

Bonnie hugged the toilet as she threw up everything she had just eaten. She collapsed in a heap in the corner of the bathroom shaking.

 _What the hell is wrong with me?_ She wondered closing her eyes.

The door burst opened, a simple lock could not stop Klaus.

"What's wrong? Are you all right?" he kneeled down in front of her, touching her forehead lightly. She didn't seem to have any fever. But she did look sickly.

Bonnie shook her head keeping her eyes shut. Klaus picked her up and carried her to the bed.

He picked the tray from the bed and placed it on the dresser. Bonnie leaned back against the pillows, mind racing.

She had been sick yesterday and the day before that. She had been feeling nauseous and dizzy for the past few days actually.

 _The abomination growing inside of you_ The huntress's words haunted her. _What if it was true?_ She didn't want to believe it but the symptoms were there...

 _The nausea the dizziness…when was the last time she had her period?_

Bonnie eyes opened in shock. Klaus sat on the bed in front of her, watching her intensely. "What's wrong sweetheart?" he could feel the turmoil of emotions flowing through the bond.

"Oh my god!" Bonnie placed a trembling hand over her stomach as a sudden realization hit her like a bolt of lightning.

 _Shock disbelief horror_

The more she thought about the more sense it made. She hadn't had her period, she was late. She had been late before but it was no big deal. She had been a virgin then with nothing to worry about but now…

"Bonnie…" Klaus felt her emotions as deeply as if they were his own and he saw them flashing across her face as well. "What's wrong?"

Tears formed in her eyes as she stared at him, her body rigid, heart beating so loud and erratically it made her chest hurt. "The huntress said something…" Bonnie bit her lip nervously. "…something crazy and impossible." She whispered. "But I can't stop thinking about it and I think…" She trailed off.

"What did she say?" Klaus asked gently. He could feel her fear, disbelief, and confusion through the bond.

"I asked her why she was trying to kill me." Bonnie told him swallowing nervously. "She said that she had been ordered to kill me and…" she took a deep breath. If she said it now it would make it real. There would be no going back after this. But once the thought had taken root inside her mind she couldn't stop. As terrifying as it was it made sense.

"And…" Klaus prodded staring into her eyes.

"…to kill me and the abomination growing inside of me." Bonnie finally told him in a shaky whisper.

Silence

There was a moment of absolute silence in which Klaus stared at Bonnie with an unreadable expression on his face. The bond allowed her to feel the shock and confusion he was feeling though.

"What are you saying?" He asked quietly thinking he heard wrong.

"I think I'm pregnant." Bonnie told him.

* * *

 _A/N: Originally I had other plot related stuff happening in this chapter but I wanted Klaus and Bonnie to have some alone time and enjoy the moment before the big reveal. This is my first time writing smut and I'm truly sorry if it was terrible._

 _Next chapter we'll see Klaus's reaction and we'll learn who got Elijah out of the tomb…._


	9. Chapter 9

" _What are you saying?" He asked quietly thinking he heard wrong._

" _I think I'm pregnant." Bonnie told him._

Bonnie waited nervously for Klaus to say something… anything but he sat on the bed in front of her in stony silence. She didn't know how long they sat in silence, the sage candles burning still and the sound of rain hitting the roof. She had never seen him so still.

The moment she said the words she regretted them. What if she was wrong? What if she was letting the huntress's words get to her? Vampires couldn't have children. She couldn't be pregnant. But the symptoms were there and deep down she felt that it was the truth.

Klaus looked like a statue. He didn't move, he didn't say anything, he didn't even blink. But she felt his emotions echoing through the bond.

 _Shock…confusion…disbelief._

"That's impossible." Klaus finally said blue eyes pinning her to the bed. "Vampires can't procreate Bonnie."

"I know that." Bonnie told him. "But…the huntress said-"

"She lied." Klaus interrupted standing up. "It's a lie!" He said with conviction. He probably thought that she had lost her mind.

Bonnie shook her head. "She had no reason to lie to me, Klaus." She stood up, her stomach still felt queasy and she hoped she wouldn't throw up again. "She was going to kill me why would she make something up?"

"To mess with your head..." Klaus replied. "Perhaps you heard wrong." He suggested. He clearly didn't believe her and Bonnie couldn't blame him. It was hard to believe for her too.

"I didn't." Bonnie told him. "And it's not just her words I…I've been sick for the past few days and…I haven't had my period." She admitted, flushing with embarrassment. The last time had been before prom, before their first night together. "I didn't think much of it at first but now…after what she said...It dawned on me that it could be possible…that I…" She trailed off. _How the hell had she missed all the signs?_

Klaus stared at her in disbelief. "It can't be." He said. "You're wrong!" he snapped while pacing around the room like a cage animal.

 _Denial_.

She felt it echo through the bond along with a mix of other confusing emotions.

"I should take a test." Bonnie said quietly. That's what she should've done in the first place. But the realization had taken her by surprise and when Klaus had asked her what was wrong she had just blurted it out, she hadn't thought, she hadn't processed anything. "Oh my god…" she trembled as the reality of the situation started to sink in.

 _I'm going to have a baby_. She panicked. _A baby with Klaus_. Her hand shook as she slowly placed it on her still flat stomach. It was crazy. It was impossible. But the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that it was true. She was pregnant. She was going to have a baby.

Klaus's gaze slid down to her stomach. "I'm a vampire!" He hissed taking a few steps towards her. "There is no way you can be…" he couldn't even bring himself to say the words. "Unless…" his eyes flared with fury, a gold hue appearing briefly.

Bonnie gasped and felt weak at the knees as a wave of emotions hit her with the force of a tsunami.

 _Rage… Betrayal… Hurt._

His jaw clenched, his hands balled into fists. "You've been with someone else!" He yelled flashing in front of her.

Bonnie stumbled back until the back of her knees hit the bed. She closed her eyes sitting down, feeling lightheaded by the emotions that echoed through the bond. "How could you think-" She couldn't believe he had just said that. "How dare you!" she snapped opening her eyes.

"Who was it, the Quarterback?" Klaus loomed over her, dark veins forming around his eyes. "Answer me!" he growled, hybrid face coming to the surface.

Bonnie winced at the tone of his voice. She had never seen him so angry and for one terrifying moment when his face shifted she feared what he would do to her. "Matt is dating Rebekah. He's like a brother to me." Bonnie stood up angrily and glared at him. "How could you think that I would do such a thing?"

"I'm a vampire Bonnie." He reminded her, gritting his teeth. "I can't father children so if you truly are with child it means you have been fucking someone else and I want to know who!" He screamed viciously struggling to keep the rage inside of him under control.

He looked ready to attack her and Bonnie half expected him to, but he didn't. Oh, he wanted to. The anger that rolled off him in waves was terrifying but he made no move to touch her. No matter how much he wanted to lash out at her, he kept away.

"You're an idiot!" Bonnie yelled. "Do you seriously believe that I would sleep with someone else and lie to you about this?"

"Vampires can't have children!" he yelled back, nostrils flaring.

"But you're not just a vampire are you?" Bonnie countered. "You're a wolf, a hybrid!" She reminded him.

"You've been with someone else admitted it!" He shouted not backing down from his erroneous belief that she had betrayed him. It was easier to believe that she had been with someone else than to accept the possibility that he was going to be a father.

"You know that's not true!" She screamed in frustration looking up into his seething face. "I've never been with anyone else but you." Bonnie told him staring into his eyes. "You were the first, the only one I have ever been with. You know that." Her voice broke, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks.

The sincerity of her words echoed through the bond.

Bonnie couldn't lie to him. The bond prevented it. The bond would always expose the truth of their words and feelings. She didn't even know how to block her side of the bond like he did. Her feelings were an open book to him.

As conflicted as he was, Klaus felt the truth resonating through their bond.

As quickly as the anger had formed it evaporated. Klaus moved away from her until he reached the window, his hybrid face disappearing.

The anguish that flowed through the bond made Bonnie choked back a sob. She rubbed her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get a hold of herself. "It's yours…" She murmured glancing in his direction. "I wouldn't lie to you about something like this. You know me better than that."

Klaus kept his back towards her, shoulders tensed as he stared out of the window. He closed his side of the bond and Bonnie felt relieved. The wave of his emotions had slammed inside of her with such an unexpected force it made her lightheaded, almost faint. Now that he had blocked them, she felt slightly better.

Bonnie sat back on the bed and sniffled, trying to regain her composure.

"Are you certain that you are with child?" Klaus asked his voice deathly quiet, still refusing to look at her.

"I think I am." Bonnie answered honestly, wishing that he would turn around and look at her. "I'm not one hundred percent sure. I have to take a test." She mumbled staring at her hands.

Klaus didn't say anything after that.

 _How quickly things can change._ Bonnie thought sadly. In the morning everything had been wonderful. She had been happy and giddy. They had spent an amazing night and morning in bed, kissing, touching, making love and now… it had been a sweet dream, a fleeting moment of happiness but now the time had come to wake up.

When Klaus finally turned around his expression was neutral and his tone impassive. "We need to know for sure." He said.

Bonnie nodded. Perhaps it was her intuition as a woman or the fact that she was a witch but she knew she was pregnant. Now, that she had connected the dots there were no doubts in her mind.

"That's why they kidnapped me…" it suddenly occurred to her. If the huntress wanted to kill her because of the baby then maybe Sophie and her sister had wanted to kidnap her because of it too.

Klaus frowned, "what are you talking about?"

Bonnie stood up, "Jane-Anne…" she told him. "You said she was plotting against you what if…" she trailed off, her mind racing with the possibilities. "What if the baby is the reason they kidnapped me?"

"How would they know?" He asked a distinct edge to his voice.

"The spirits talk…" Bonnie murmured. Her Grams had always said so. "As keepers of the balance, sometimes witches know things before they happen. What if somehow they learned about the baby before we did?" The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place in that moment.

"There is only one way to find out." Klaus said eyes darkening before walking towards the door.

Bonnie shivered at the look on his face but followed him out of the room.

The time had come to face Sophie Deveraux.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"All right Donovan, I'm not going to ask again." Damon slammed Matt against the wall. They were in the parking lot of the Mystic Falls hospital. "Where is Bonnie?"

"I told you. I don't know." Matt tried to move away but Damon pushed him against the wall once more.

"Wrong answer." Damon told him annoyed that the human refused to tell him where Bonnie was.

"Damon, don't hurt him." Caroline intervened before looking at Matt. "Just tells us what you know please. We're worried about Bonnie." Just because Rebekah had told him Bonnie was fine didn't mean it was true. Caroline wouldn't believe anything until she could see Bonnie with her own eyes.

"She's safe." Matt told them. "She's at a safe house with Rebekah and Klaus, that's all I know."

"Why would they want to protect Bonnie?" Stefan asked crossing his arms over his chest. "Klaus doesn't do anything out of the goodness of his heart."

"I told you, something is going on with Klaus and Bonnie!" Caroline snapped. She looked at Matt. "You know more than what you're telling us. Bonnie could be in trouble!"

"She's already in trouble if there is a creepy hunter after her and witches trying to kidnap her." Damon scowled. "Where is this safe house?" he asked Matt.

"I don't know." He mumbled. "Rebekah didn't give me an address." And even if she had, Matt was not going to give it to Damon.

Damon glared. "You know more than you're letting on." He moved closer staring deeply into his blue eyes. "Where is the safe house?" he asked again, his voice hypnotic.

"I don't know!" Matt hissed. His watch-a gift from Bonnie, had vervain. Damon was wasting his time trying to compel him.

"Damon, let him go." Stefan pulled his brother away from Matt. "We should call Bonnie."

"She won't answer." Caroline told him. "She left her phone at her house. But you should call her BFF Rebekah I'm sure she'll be happy to let you talk to Bonnie." She crossed her arms over her chest angrily. "They're inseparable now."

"Are you jealous?" Damon scoffed glancing at Caroline. "Because Barbie Klaus and Bon-Bon are besties now."

"Absolutely not!" Caroline snapped. No one believed her.

Stefan grabbed his cell phone dialing Rebekah's number. She didn't pick up. "Nothing." He murmured.

Damon cursed. "We have to get Bonnie back. Klaus probably wants her to do something for him." He eyed Caroline. "You should call him and find out where they are, offer him a date or something." He suggested.

"Seriously?" Caroline rolled her eyes.

"He has a crush on you. All you need to do is play nice, flirt a little and you'll have him eating out of the palm of your hand." He said wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. "Come on blondie, you've done it before."

Caroline bit her lip nervously. "I guess I can try." She could offer to go on a date with him if he brought Bonnie back, Caroline thought. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed his number. She waited holding her breath and hating the fluttering in her chest. "He's not answering." She mumbled feeling disappointed.

"Good thing I have a plan B." Damon told them with a devious smile.

"Which is?" Stefan asked warily.

"Rebekah will tell us where they are or bring Bonnie back to us." Damon answered quite confident with his plan.

"Rebekah won't tell you anything." Matt glared at him.

"Oh she will." Damon smirked. "If she wants to see her boy-toy again…" He grabbed Matt by the back of his neck and dragged him towards the car.

Stefan sighed following his brother. He didn't like Damon's plan but he wasn't going to stop him either. They needed to save Bonnie from Klaus.

"Seriously! That's your plan B?" Caroline huffed angrily as she followed them.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge, Louisiana**

Victor Navarro stormed into his brother's study like an angry beast. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"I've done many things you will have to refresh my memory brother." Franco answered not even bothering to look up from the papers he was reading.

"Jane-Anne has not returned. You did something to her!" Victor accused.

Franco lifted his face and gave him a blank stare, "Jane…" he murmured, "ah yes, the bitch of the month. I haven't done anything to her, you should ask Isaac."

"I love her!" Victor yelled. "And if something has happened to her-"

"Oh Victor, you love all the women you sleep with." Franco turned back to his papers. "Close the door on your way out please." He dismissed his younger brother.

Victor growled hands balling into fists. "Jane-Anne is going to destroy Marcel Gerard!" He blurted in an attempt to get his brother's attention.

Franco sighed. "You do realize that she's a mediocre witch at best. She doesn't have the power to bring down Marcel and his army. If she did, she would've done it a long time ago."

"You don't understand-" Victor began.

"That you think forming an alliance with the New Orleans witches is the way for us to take over the city. You've told me that before." Franco told him getting angry. "And you know that I have no interest in forming an alliance with _their_ kind." Franco stood up and walked towards his brother, "witches are only good for three things brother, for spells if they're powerful enough, to feast upon their delicious blood or to fuck them bloody."

Victor looked ready to object but Franco didn't let him. "You want a witch to warm your bed at night by all means go head but remember that an Alpha can only mate with another wolf. No witch is worth a crown."

"Not even a Bennett witch." Victor asked softly.

Franco frowned, "what do you mean?"

"Jane-Anne told me that the key to defeat Marcel is a witch." Victor informed him. He licked his lips debating whether to tell him more or not. "A Bennett witch." He whispered watching his brother's reaction carefully.

Recognition flashed across Franco's face at the mention of that name. "Is that why she went to Virginia?" He asked in a quiet tone.

Victor nodded. "I sent our cousin Oscar with her but I haven't heard from him either. Something went wrong brother." He was deeply worried about Jane-Anne, deep down he knew something bad had happened to her.

Franco stayed silent for a few moments, considering his brother's words. "Did she tell you how this witch is going to defeat Marcel?" he finally asked.

"No." Victor answered. "She's been very secretive about the whole thing." He admitted. No matter how hard he had tried he hadn't been able to get much information out Jane-Anne. He had managed to get the name of the girl though. "But she's convinced that Bonnie is the one to destroy the vampire king."

"Bonnie…" Franco muttered intrigued, "Bonnie Bennett." The way the name rolled off Franco's tongue sent a shiver down Victor's spine.

"You say that no witch is worth a crown." Victor whispered. "But what about a witch who already has a crown upon her head, is she not worth the trouble bother?" The Bennett name was legendary after all.

Franco grinned, a wicked glint in his dark eyes. "That certainly changes things."

* * *

Sophie lifted her head when she heard footsteps. She recognized Bonnie immediately but her eyes opened wide upon seeing the vampire next to her. The hybrids that had been guarding her nodded in his direction before exiting the basement.

Klaus Mikaelson stood in front of her and pulled the gag from her mouth, "Sophie Deveraux." His lips curved into a wicked grin. "We have a lot to discuss you and I."

Sophie swallowed nervously, blinking back and forth between the hybrid and the witch.

"How about we start with why you tried to kidnap Bonnie?" his tone seemed cheerful, like they were old friends having a chat after a long time of not seeing each other. But Sophie was no fool. His eyes were murderous, promising a torturous and cruel end.

She looked away from him, debating what to do. The plan Jane-Anne had cooked up failed and now Sophie was at the hybrid's mercy. _How can you escape death when it's standing right in front you?_

Klaus grabbed her chin in a painful grip. "I'm not going to ask again." He snarled eyes turning amber.

Sophie whimpered. "My sister…Jane-Anne," she began, tears forming in her eyes remembering her sister's last moments. "She believed Bonnie is the key to free the witches."

"Free the witches from what?" Bonnie asked softly coming to stand next to Klaus. If Klaus promised a cruel and torturous end, Bonnie offered calm and gentleness.

What a contrast they were, so different from each other but the way they stood side by side let Sophie know how intertwined they truly were. "From Marcel." She finally answered.

The name meant nothing to Bonnie and while Klaus still kept his side of the bond shut, recognition flashed across his eyes. While his face gave nothing away to Sophie, Bonnie knew Klaus well enough to realize he had been caught off guard.

"Marcel…" he repeated quietly, deathly. Whoever this Marcel was, Bonnie had a feeling that Klaus knew him well.

"The vampire king of New Orleans," Sophie said bitterly.

"He died." Klaus hissed. He had seen it, that terrible night when his father had chased him off from his city. "Marcel is dead."

"He's very much alive." Sophie told him. "He has absolute control over the city. Witches are not allowed to do magic, those are his rules. He has an army of vampires to do his bidding and he even drove the werewolves out." Sophie continued. "He's out of control, he does what he wants, he kills who he wants and we want to stop him."

"And you assumed what?" Klaus laughed mockingly. "That Bonnie would help you do that?"

 _Where the witches of New Orleans so stupid as to think Bonnie would be their weapon against Marcel?_

"You know you're famous in New Orleans." Sophie stared at Klaus. "Witches tell bedtime stories about the powerful vampire Klaus. We know Marcel was nothing but an orphan street rat until you made him what he is." She shook her head. "We thought _you_ would help us defeat Marcel."

"And why would I do such a thing?" Klaus questioned looming over her.

"I have a special gift." Sophie said. "I can sense when a girl is pregnant." Her gaze slid over to the green eyed witch next to him.

Bonnie's breath hitched. "That's why you kidnapped me isn't it?" Sophie was confirming what Bonnie had already suspected.

"You don't seem surprised." Sophie murmured. She had assumed Bonnie had no idea about the baby, clearly she had been wrong.

"You're wrong!" Klaus spat. "Vampires can't father children!"

Bonnie sighed. He was still in denial about the whole thing.

"Marcel may keep us from doing real magic but as keepers of the balance, we still know when nature has cooked up something new." Sophie told them. "The ancestors, the spirits," she clarified, "they told Jane-Anne about Bonnie and her baby, y _our_ child." She emphasized looking at Klaus.

"You wanted to use me, _my_ baby." Bonnie said finally understanding and openly glaring at Sophie. "So Klaus could destroy this Marcel."

Sophie nodded. "My sister planned the whole thing. She was convinced that we could get Klaus to do what we wanted if we had you in our possession."

"I'm not a thing!" Bonnie snapped angrily. The lights in the basement flickered on and off for a few seconds. Sophie frowned staring at Bonnie's wrist, seeing the bracelet still on her arm.

Sophie opened her mouth but her words were cut off by the pale hand that wrapped around her throat. "You thought that you could manipulate me!" Klaus yelled, squeezing his fingers around her neck. "How dare you think that you could command me!" His anger had returned at full force. And while he hadn't dared to unleash it upon his little witch, Sophie was fair game.

Sophie gasped eyes bulging out their sockets as his hands choke the life out of her.

"Klaus…" Bonnie hesitated before gently placing her hand on his arm. "Klaus, you're killing her and if she dies, I won't get my magic back." She tried to reason with him, "let her go. Please." She begged.

Klaus growled, giving one last painful squeeze before releasing Sophie. He moved away trying to control the anger swirling inside of him.

Sophie gasped struggling to breathe again, tears streaming down her face at the excruciating pain on her neck.

"You need to take the bracelet off." Bonnie told her, "please." She needed her magic back, it was the only way she could protect herself and her baby.

Sophie shook her head. "I can't." she rasped. Her throat hurt so much. "He'll kill me…" Sophie knew the bracelet was her life insurance. She was the last of her line and if she died, Bonnie would be stuck with the bracelet forever. No one else could take it off her.

Klaus used his vampire speed and crossed the room to stand menacingly in front of her once more. "You will give Bonnie her magic back." He ordered. "You can do it willingly or I will make you." He threatened. "You are in no position to negotiate sweetheart, so I suggest you do as I said."

Sophie glared at him. "You need me." She wheezed out. It hurt to talk still but she had to make him understand. "You are going to need all the help you can get. The hunter girl is not the only thing you have to worry about…" she managed to say despite the pain. "They will come for you." She looked at Bonnie. "You and that baby have been marked for death."

Bonnie's heart sped up, knowing there was some truth to Sophie's words.

"You are a servant of nature and in the eyes of our kind you have betrayed everything we stand for." Sophie continued dark eyes boring into hers. "They will not rest until you and that baby are dead." She turned to Klaus. "And so will the enemies you have made in your miserable life." She finished with unmistaken venom in her voice.

Klaus's jaw clenched. "You know nothing."

"If you help us, we can keep Bonnie safe." Sophie added with a hopeful look on her face. "If you helps us defeat Marcel, the witches of New Orleans can protect her." She could convince them, Sophie thought. She had to convince them and bring them to New Orleans. It had been what Jane-Anne had wanted, what the Ancestors wanted.

"You are out of your mind if you think I will be foolish enough to trust you!" Klaus snarled.

"You will have to, if you want to keep her safe." Sophie told him. "The supernatural world is going to want your baby dead." she hissed. "Half of them at least, the other half is going to want to use it, for spells, as a sacrifice. You have created your own undoing." She taunted Klaus. "Everyone who wants you dead will use your own child against you!"

"Shut up!" Bonnie's hands balled into fists, hating the way Sophie spoke of the baby, _her_ baby. _.._ as if it were a thing to be used and discarded.

"And without her magic, Bonnie is very vulnerable." Sophie smiled viciously ignoring Bonnie. "I doubt she'll live long enough to wear a maternity dress."

Klaus had every intention to rip her to pieces but before he could reach Sophie, the chair had been flung against the wall, slamming hard into the concrete. One of the light bulbs shattered and Klaus turned to face Bonnie with surprise, sensing her magic.

The fury he felt through the bond was unmistakable.

"How dare you!" Bonnie snapped walking towards a stunned looking Sophie. "How dare you think you can use my baby like that?"

The power flowing in the air was undeniable. The metal burned her skin but Bonnie didn't care. In that moment the anger she felt had allowed Expression to break through. "Take it off." she hissed.

Sophie stubbornly refused and then she screamed as pain exploded inside her head. Her whole body convulsed, struggling against the chains that tied her to the chair.

Bonnie stumbled with the wave of power that left her body. She felt dizzy and blood trickled down her nose. Doing magic while the dark object around her wrist tried to restrain it, had taken a toll on her.

"Bonnie!" Klaus caught her before she could fall to the floor. The bracelet viciously tried to contain her power, angrily burning her flesh while the magic inside of her fought back struggling to break free.

Klaus picked her up and carried her out of the basement at vampire speed.

Sophie opened her eyes staring at the ceiling her whole body shaking with the aftershocks of Bonnie's surprised attack. _How did she do it?_ She wondered with fear. Father Kieran's dark objects were unique. No witch had ever been able to break free or to tap into their magic while the metal suppressed their power. But Bonnie had done it.

If Bonnie succeeded in breaking free from the object suppressing her magic…the leverage Sophie had over them would be gone.

 _I will die_. Sophie realized with horror and fear. She needed to escape.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Marcel Gerard stared at the ashen looking figure inside the coffin. This had been the last thing he had expected when Davina had called him earlier that day to tell him she had a surprise for him. "Where did you find him?"

The young witch smiled sweetly. "I had a dream. It told me where to find him."

Marcel crouched down in front of the coffin, staring with disbelief at the all too familiar face. "What happened to him?" as far as he could tell the Original had not been desiccated by a dagger.

"See that." Davina pointed to a strange wooden figure in the Original's hand. "It's a totem filled with dark magic, it's feeding off him, keeping him like this." She explained. "It's very dangerous and powerful magic. It took me all day to open the coffin." She studied her hands, remembering how it had burned her to do so.

Marcel reached out but before he could touch the object, he was flung back by an invisible force. He cursed standing up. "What the hell was that?"

"I can't destroy it." Davina admitted. "I've tried everything but the object is too powerful. I've never seen this kind of magic before." She looked down at the impeccably dressed figure. "The object is draining him, feeding from his energy and from the magic that created him. It's a very complex and unique spell." She added softly.

Marcel's jaw clenched. He had seen magic like this before. There was only one coven in New Orleans who practiced that kind of magic, _but why?_ he wondered. Why had the Seer attacked an Original vampire and more importantly why had he not been informed that Elijah Mikaelson was in his city. "Can you get him out?" he asked curiously. Davina was the most powerful witch in the city. If anyone could destroy the Seer's magic it was her.

The dark haired girl shook her head. "I didn't bring him here to get him out."

Something flashed across her face, an emotion Marcel could not describe. "Why did you do it then?" he asked softly.

Davina stared into his eyes a look of determination crossing her face. "We must kill him, Marcel."

Marcel frowned. "He's not like the other vampires D, he cannot be killed." He knew better than anyone that the Originals were practically indestructible.

"He must die." Davina insisted walking towards him. "I've seen it." She whispered fearfully. "The old ones will bring death and destruction to our city."

"What are you saying?" Marcel asked not liking what he was hearing.

"There is a war coming." Davina's eyes turned glassy. "The streets of New Orleans shall run red with the blood of witches, vampires and werewolves…" her body trembled remembering her vision. "There is a darkness coming…" she whispered. "An evil that will destroy all of us and they will be responsible for bring it into this world. We have to kill them!" she insisted. "Marcel we have to kill him, all of them!" she pleaded.

Marcel hugged her. "Calm down. It's all right." he rubbed her back trying to soothe her. The old ones in New Orleans, the Original family back in the city, _his_ city. No, it couldn't be true, but Davina seemed convinced. And the Original inside the coffin near their feet was proof enough that Davina's words were true.

Marcel knew better than to ignore her warnings. Davina's visions always came true, one way or another, she had never been wrong.

* * *

Klaus placed Bonnie gently on the sofa in the living room. She kept her eyes shut. Her arm hurt, the pain extending from her wrist to her elbow. A few tears streamed down her face as she let out a shaky breath.

Klaus crouched down in front of her. He bit into his wrist and offered it to her. "Drink sweetheart."

Bonnie took his bleeding wrist and drank greedily. The effect was immediate, the pain on her wrist disappeared, the burned flesh mended until her skin was soft and smooth once more. The taste of his blood had become familiar, so unique, so exquisite that her body tingled, warmth spreading inside of her as the rich liquid went down her throat.

Long after the burns on her wrist had healed, Bonnie kept on drinking. She had a sudden craving for his blood. _More,_ she thought sucking harder and swallowing big gulps of his powerful blood, feeling energized and stronger than before.

"I think that's enough sweetheart." Klaus murmured, blue eyes filled with lust and fangs elongated. A moan escaped his lips when she licked his skin. For one mad second he thought of ripping her clothes off and taking her right there on the sofa.

Bonnie whimpered when he pulled his wrist away. Her eyes were hooded with desire as she licked her lips.

Klaus groaned and took her mouth in his own, tasting his blood on her lips. He was neither rough nor gentle but he kissed her with the knowledge and confidence of a man who knew what he wanted.

Bonnie slid her arms over his shoulders and wrapped them around his neck, molding herself closer to him, responding to his kiss with fervor. When he leaned forward pushing her against the soft leather of the sofa Bonnie pulled away, gasping for air.

"What's wrong?" he whispered against her ear.

Bonnie shivered, "we need to talk." Her words had the same effect as a bucket of ice water.

Klaus pulled away from her and stood up. Yes, there was a lot they needed to discuss. The lust, the desire he felt for her had to be quenched for now.

"I need my magic back." Bonnie said softly, cheeks as red as an apple and still trying to catch her breath.

"I will force that bitch-" Klaus growled.

"No." Bonnie shook her head. "Sophie knows her life depends on the bracelet staying on my wrist. She's not going to take if off." She reminded him. "I have to go back to Mystic Falls. I can look through my grimoires and I can find another way-"

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to let you out of this house." Klaus snapped. She could feel the tension rolling off him.

"Let me?" Bonnie shot him an incredulous look. "I don't need your permission, Klaus."

"There is a huntress circling the property ready to kill you. You are not going anywhere!" he told her angrily.

Bonnie stood up, feeling better thanks to his blood. "I have to get my magic back. It's the only way I can protect myself." _And our baby,_ she thought. Without her magic she was vulnerable, she needed to get it back.

"This house is protected and you are staying here until we can kill the huntress for good." Klaus said. He was not going to let her out of this house, not until all the threats against her had been destroyed.

"And how long is that going to take Klaus?" Bonnie questioned. "I want to see my dad too, I need to. You can't keep me here forever." He was crazy if he thought she was going to stay put.

"I will keep you here for however long it's necessary." Klaus told her, determined to keep her safe. He needed to make Bonnie understand that staying in the house was the best thing for her and… _the child,_ he thought, still reluctant to believe that she was pregnant.

"And I don't get a say in the matter?" Bonnie asked angrily while crossing her arms over her chest.

Klaus looked ready to say something else but he stopped, sensing a familiar presence coming towards them.

"There you are lovebirds." Rebekah stepped into the living room, holding a glass of bourbon in one hand. "It was about bloody time. I'm surprised you can still walk darling." She gave Bonnie a saucy grin.

Bonnie flushed. _So much for the sage candles_ …she thought with embarrassment.

Klaus growled clearly annoyed by his sister's presence.

"Your hybrids got bored and decided to go out hunting." She informed Klaus, "and the witch said something about reinforcing the spells around the house. Really Nik, I'm not your secretary." Rebekah had been sulking the entire day, her senses overwhelmed by so many hybrids nearby. She had nearly finished her third bottle of bourbon when she sensed Klaus and Bonnie in the living room. "I need to speak with you." Rebekah told Klaus, a serious look crossing her face. She had noticed the tension between them but she couldn't wait. She had waited long enough and that had been for Bonnie's sake, not her brother's.

"Not now." Klaus hissed. He and Bonnie had a lot to talk about.

"It can't wait Nik." Rebekah insisted. "Elijah is missing. I haven't heard from him in weeks, I'm worried-"

"Elijah can take care of himself." Klaus muttered, turning his back to her and heading straight for the liquor cabinet.

"He may be in trouble." Rebekah snapped. "Don't you care about our brother?"

"Of course I do." Klaus glared as he gulped down his drink. "But I have more important matters to attend to than my immortal brother."

Bonnie felt guilty. She had told Rebekah she could do a locator spell to find Elijah and she hadn't, granted she had been kidnapped, but it was obvious how worried Rebekah was about her brother.

"Elijah went to New Orleans because of you!" Rebekah yelled. "Out of the loyalty he feels for you and you don't even care that he could be in danger." Rebekah shook her head, "how can you be so heartless?"

Klaus scowled, "don't be so dramatic. I'm sure he's fine." He dismissed her concerns.

Bonnie rubbed her forehead, wrinkling her nose at the strange smell that invaded her senses.

Rebekah threw her bourbon glass in Klaus's direction. He swiftly moved out of the way avoiding getting hit. The glass slammed against the wall behind him. He raised an eyebrow, "you need to work on your aim love."

He was restless and angry. He wanted to pick a fight and his little sister was the perfect target to let all of his frustration out.

"You're an ass!" Rebekah glared. "I should've told Damon Salvatore where we are." she said harshly.

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked her, feeling slightly nauseous at the strange smell.

"It seems that Damon fancies himself the knight in shining armor who will rescue you out my beastly brother's clutches." Rebekah told her. "He has Matt and threatened to hurt him if I didn't tell him where you are."

 _Damon did what!_ Bonnie couldn't believe what she just heard and yet it did not surprise her. She should've called Caroline like she told Matt she would do. Who knew what her friends were thinking or what ideas Damon had conjured up in his head if he knew she was with Klaus.

"Let him come, I'll gladly rip his heart out and eat it for dessert." Klaus spat as he poured himself another drink.

In the mood he was in, Bonnie believed him. "I'll talk to him." she said turning to Rebekah. "He won't hurt Matt." Damon knew better than to hurt one of her best friends.

"Don't worry about it." Rebekah said. "I can handle Damon. I'm going to rescue my boyfriend and then I'll teach that bloody git a lesson." Her eyes glinted, thinking of all the torture she would inflict upon the eldest Salvatore if he dared to hurt Matt.

"I'll go with you." Bonnie said quickly.

"Absolutely not!" Klaus hissed, moving at vampire speed until he stood in front of her. "You are not going anywhere."

Bonnie stared back unflinching, "you have no right to tell me what I should or shouldn't do." She snapped angrily. "You heard what Sophie said Klaus. I need my magic!" Sophie's words burned in her ears and Bonnie was terrified. The huntress was only the beginning of an endless list of enemies coming for her. The only way she could stand a chance against the people coming for her and the baby was with her magic.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Rebekah asked. Both hybrid and witch turned to face her. They were clearly hiding something. "What did Sophie said?"

"Nothing." Both replied in unison.

Rebekah's eyes narrowed, they were lying. She pulled a ring from her pocket. "You should've asked her about this." She threw the ring at Klaus, he caught it easily.

"What is that?" Bonnie asked catching a glimpse of the gold ring.

Klaus studied the ring in his palm, the crest all too familiar. "Navarro werewolves…" he cursed.

"I took it from one of the werewolves that kidnapped Bonnie." Rebekah informed him. "I was going to tell you yesterday but you told me to wait." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Bet Sophie didn't mention any of that huh?"

Bonnie studied Klaus's face, he was fuming. She opened her mouth ready to ask, but then she looked around the living room, sniffing. "Do you smell that?" For the past few minutes that strange smell had been invading her senses and she couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Klaus and Rebekah looked at her with confusion.

"I don't smell anything." Rebekah told her before turning to her brother once more. "Why are witches from New Orleans forming an alliance with their enemies in order to kidnap Bonnie?" she questioned. "What do they want with her?"

Bonnie looked at Klaus in alarm, her hand unconsciously resting on her stomach. _The baby_ …she thought with fear. She didn't think Klaus wanted to tell Rebekah about the baby, not yet anyway. He hadn't come to grips with it yet.

Klaus was about to reply when he jerked his head to the side, his eyes flashed gold as the smell hit his nose.

"Nik what-" Rebekah's eyes widened as her vampire senses picked up on the danger his superior senses had alerted him moments before.

The same smell Bonnie had somehow sensed long before they had.

"What's going-" the word's died on Bonnie's throat as her back suddenly got slammed hard against the hard wood floor, the air knocked out of her lungs as a wall of concrete fell on top of her.

 _Klaus_ …she dimly realized, her ears ringing.

Klaus had thrown her on the floor, falling on top of her, his hard body caging her beneath him.

The whole house shook by the force of the explosion. The toppling furniture could barely be heard over the roar of the growing fire tearing through the house.

The windows shattered and the liquor cabinet exploded like fireworks as a ball of fire swept through the entire first floor. A combination of debris, smoke and heat coated the three of them.

Rebekah was knocked off her feet, screaming in agony as her body caught fire.

Klaus hissed as his own body burned. Bonnie whimpered hiding her face on the side of his neck feeling the heat of the fire surrounding them. Klaus as her only shield against the flames.

The fire savagely burned everything in its path but it focused all of its anger on them, for it was not a normal fire. She felt it, the power fueling the flames, magic.

Dark magic, the same kind of magic that had become familiar to her in the past few hours, the huntress's magic. Somehow her magic had gotten through the barrier protecting the property. She had come for her again.

Bonnie felt the hard floor under her. She blinked trying to focus on Klaus's face but she couldn't, black billows of smoke hovered above her. She coughed and the black smoke filled her lungs. A single terrifying thought on her mind, _the baby._

* * *

 _A/N: Klaus and Bonnie still have a lot to discuss and come to terms with. While Bonnie has no doubts that she's pregnant, Klaus is still a bit reluctant to accept it. They'll be having a heart to heart pretty soon but first they have to deal with the huntress and stop her for good._

 _Thank-you so much for all your amazing reviews, see you next chapter!_


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't think I'll ever get tired of thanking you for all your support. I really appreciate the time you've taken to read and review this story it always brings a smile to my face. Thank-you once more and I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The witches gathered in a circle, all thirteen of them covered in black robes.

The Seer slid the knife over her right palm before passing it to Iris, who followed her example and cut her own palm, red blood trickled down her hand. She then passed the knife to the witch next to her, repeating the process until all of the witches had drawn blood.

Blood would serve was the link to unite their magic.

They held hands, blood running down their palms and into the stone floor.

"Tonight, Bonnie Bennett will die." The Seer told them. They all felt the spark as the link formed between them. "We will channel all of our power into the huntress and give her the strength and magic needed to put an end to that treacherous whore." She hissed. The anger she felt palpable in the air.

The huntress had tried and failed to kill Bonnie. She who was said to be the best the Order had ever created had been bested by a girl. The Seer had grown tired of waiting. Bonnie had to die and tonight the huntress would succeed. Bonnie had been lucky so far but the Seer and her coven were determined to put an end to her and the abomination growing inside her.

Bonnie was a powerful witch but even she was no match for a coven of thirteen powerful and experienced witches.

"Let's begin." The Seer started chanting. The Coven followed her lead and joined her.

The air crackled with the surge of their power.

* * *

Everything happened so fast.

One moment Bonnie felt the hard wood floor under her and the heat of the flames engulfing them. She coughed and the black smoke filled her lungs. _The baby,_ she thought terrified. In the next moment she had been lifted into the air. She felt like she was flying.

Klaus had picked her up and carried her out of the burning house at hybrid speed.

Bonnie blinked when Klaus gently set her on the ground, a couple of feet from the house. A shiver traveled down her spine as lighting lit the sky and rain fell hard over them, soaking them wet.

"Are you all right?" he asked, hands resting on her hips.

Bonnie nodded breathing clean air deeply into her lungs. She watched fascinated as the angry burns on Klaus's face disappeared completely right before her eyes.

Klaus's blue eyes looked her over, making sure she had not been harmed, miraculously Bonnie did not have a single burn on her skin. If the flames had touched her in any way it had all healed by now. She had drunk his blood minutes before the explosion after all. With his hybrid blood pumping through her veins any wound upon her body would immediately heal.

Rebekah landed next to them, hissing and cursing as her burned skin started healing at rapid speed. "What the bloody hell was that?" she snapped standing up.

"The huntress," Klaus growled staring at a point over Bonnie's shoulder. In the blink of an eye he switched positions, taking a protective stance in front of Bonnie. He faced the huntress who marched towards them with a determined look on her face.

"She's not going to give up isn't she?" Rebekah moved and stood next to Klaus. "I'm getting really tired of this bitch." She muttered. _Just how many times had they killed her already?_

Bonnie felt something different about the huntress; the power that radiated off her seemed stronger than before.

"Let's get this over with." Klaus hissed. He and Rebekah attacked at the same time, moving at rapid speed towards the huntress, with a wave of her hand she flung them straight into the burning house.

Bonnie screamed in horror as both Originals were thrown inside, disappearing with the flames.

The huntress smiled viciously in her direction. "We end this tonight." She hissed.

The fear she felt in that moment shook Bonnie to the core.

The huntress lifted her hand and Bonnie felt the air around her thickening with dark powerful magic. Her wrist burned as the bracelet tried to contain the power awakening inside of her. Her magic surfaced upon feeling her distress.

The huntress sent a spell in her direction only to be blocked by an invisible barrier. Her eyes narrowed, she had clearly not expected that.

Bonnie gasped feeling the pain on her wrist extending all the way to her shoulder. She had managed to tap into her magic but her head hurt and her vision blurred.

The huntress seemed ready to attack once more but before she could she screamed in pain, clutching her head and falling to her knees.

A dark haired woman came out from the back of the burning house, flanked by three hybrids.

 _The witch_ , Bonnie realized staring in her direction. She was part of Klaus's pack and had secured the house for him.

The three hybrids flashed towards the huntress ready to kill her but an invisible force sent them flying back, crashing hard against the trees. The huntress had broken free from the witch's attack and spun around to face her, a murderous look on her face.

The dark haired witch kept chanting, her magic slowing down the huntress but she couldn't stop her fully. The huntress was not only using her magic but she was channeling someone else's too. Bonnie could feel it. There was too much power in the air.

Rebekah and Klaus came out of the burning house. While his sister stumbled and fell down on her hands and knees while her skin mended once more, Klaus kept going until he appeared behind the huntress, yanking her head to the side and sinking his fangs viciously into her neck in a surprise attack.

Different images flashed across his mind as the acid blood went down his throat.

 _A contract in blood… Bonnie's name on it…_

 _A dark haired witch kneeling over a pool of blood…_

 _A coven of witches chanting…_

 _New Orleans…_

Klaus stumbled back, fire exploding inside his head. He screamed sinking down to his knees and blood oozing out of his nose as the coven's magic brutally attacked him. The huntress glared at him before attacking the dark haired witch, stabbing her in the shoulder.

"Klaus!" Bonnie screamed before running towards him.

More hybrids came from the woods, eyes flashed yellow and fangs elongated before they went straight for the huntress.

"Klaus-" Bonnie got down on her knees in front of him, cupping his face. The moment her hands made contact with his skin the spell broke. Klaus gasped as the burning sensation inside his brain ceased. A sense of calm and peace washed over him. The bond giving him the strength and support he needed.

"Are you ok?" Bonnie asked worriedly.

He nodded. "There is a coven…" he muttered. "She's channeling the power of an entire coven." He cursed wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand.

"We have to break the link." Bonnie told him; otherwise they wouldn't be able to stop her.

Jesse flashed towards them while the rest of the pack engaged the huntress in a violent fight. Rebekah also walked towards them.

"Get Bonnie out of here." Klaus ordered Jesse while standing up. "Rebekah, go with them."

"I'm not going anywhere." Bonnie said fiercely as she stood next to him.

"Don't argue over this Bonnie." Klaus snapped. His head jerked to the side when a piercing scream echoed around them.

Bonnie turned just in time to see the huntress rip the heart out of a hybrid girl. Her dead body fell to the ground and the huntress threw the heart on the floor before moving to the next hybrid.

Klaus growled hybrid face coming to the surface. "Get her out." He told Jesse.

"I'm not going anywhere." Bonnie insisted. She was not going to run. "I need you to distract her while I tap into my magic." She told Klaus grabbing his arm and preventing him from leaving.

He looked at her like she had grown another head. "What-"

"I just need to get in tune with my magic and-"

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" Rebekah snapped. "The bracelet on your wrist-"

"I can break free." Bonnie said looking at Klaus. "I can do it." She knew it. She had been able to use her magic when she had gotten angry at Sophie and when the huntress had attacked her a few minutes before. If she could tap into Expression again she could stop the huntress. She would do it. She had to do it.

"Bonnie." Klaus sighed. He knew how powerful she was, he had seen the way she had handled Silas but using her magic when the bracelet suppressed it had taken a toll on her. "Sweetheart you can't-"

"I can do it!" Bonnie told him with conviction. "Expression is the manifestation of my will." She echoed the words he had said to her on the night they had defeated Silas. "Just give me time to tap into it. And we can end this for good Klaus. I will stop her!" _For our baby,_ she thought.

Klaus pressed his lips in a thin line, watching as another hybrid was killed by the huntress. As much as he wanted to protect Bonnie, he knew that Expression was perhaps the only way they could end the huntress for good. He reluctantly nodded. "Jesse and Rebekah will guard you while I distract her." he stared into her eyes, "But if you can't, promise me you'll leave."

"Okay." Bonnie agreed.

Klaus placed a quick kiss on her forehead and headed straight for the huntress.

Bonnie took a deep breath. _I can do this._ She thought closing her eyes and reaching out to her magic. She had to stop the huntress. This had to end tonight.

Rebekah and Jesse moved in front of her as Klaus began fighting the huntress.

Klaus fought viciously, growling and hissing. The huntress used her magic to slash his face and arms as she met each of his blows. Despite the pain and the magic thrown at him, he stood his ground and blocked her attacks as best as he could. He was stronger physically but her magic fueled by the power of the coven gave them equal footing.

It was a strange thing to fight someone who was channeling the magic of others. Had Klaus been a normal vampire he wouldn't had stand a chance. But he was the original hybrid, the huntress could hurt him but she couldn't kill him.

His pack tried to help as best as they could but they were younger, easily knocked out by the enhanced magic the huntress possessed. Klaus himself was having difficulty fighting her with so much power in her favor.

"Stay here." Rebekah told Jesse, face shifting as she joined the fray, fighting alongside her brother.

Jesse swallowed nervously. "Come on Bonnie." He muttered hands balling into fists as his friends were easily bested by the huntress. While the hybrids were easily thrown out of the way Rebekah and Klaus fought with elegance, every attack was precise and their movements in sync like a dance. Jesse couldn't help but wonder how many times they had fought by each other's sides.

Bonnie tuned everything out, concentrating on her magic. She had to block everything around her, the fighting, the curses the huntress sent, the rain drenching her.

She felt it. The moment she connected with the magic inside of her. Her entire body tingled, warmth spreading from head to toe. It was an exhilarating feeling but it hurt as well, for the bracelet fought ferociously to stop her magic from breaking free.

Bonnie felt determined. _I want my magic back_. She chanted over and over in her head. She would not wait for Sophie to take the bracelet off her wrist. She would not let others fight her battles for her. The huntress had come for her, for her child, Bonnie thought with anger and anguish.

And it was that thought that fueled her power, the need to protect, to defend the innocent life growing inside of her. She was not fighting just for herself but for her baby.

Bonnie kept her eyes close, concentrating.

Jesse screamed as the huntress slashed his chest open and threw him out of the way.

"You think you can defeat me?" the huntress laughed standing suddenly in front of Bonnie. "You have no magic."

"I have every magic." Bonnie murmured eyes still closed, concentrating. "The magic of the earth," she said as thunder flashed in the distance and the rain stopped falling. The flames on the house died down too. The huntress lifted her knife ready to stab Bonnie only to be blocked by an invisible barrier.

"The darkness," Bonnie continued as black thin veins formed over her arms. The bracelet around her wrist which was burning her flesh sizzled for a few seconds before it turned black, the burning sensation stopping completely. The tables had turned and Bonnie's magic now suppressed the bracelet's power.

"Expression…" Bonnie whispered, her eyes opening. The forest green of her eyes had disappeared until only eyes black as coal remained. The metal around her wrist shattered into a million tiny pieces. She had done it, she was free at last.

There were no limits to the power of Expression and with it Bonnie had been able to do what in other circumstances would be deemed impossible.

The huntress snarled sending a wave of her magic towards Bonnie, only for her attack to be blocked once more. Their eyes met before Bonnie sent a wave of her own magic towards the huntress.

The huntress let out a piercing scream as pain exploded inside her body. She snarled eyes glowing with fury, the magic surrounding her becoming a dark cloud ready to be unleash upon Bonnie.

 _It ends tonight_. Bonnie thought as she stared at her nemesis, determination fueling her veins.

"You can't stop me." The huntress snapped. "You can kill me but I will come back always." She mocked. "I will not rest until you and that monstrosity growing inside of you are dead."

Klaus growled. He had been paralyzed by the bitch but he could still hear her clearly. He struggled against the invisible weight keeping him in place, feeling the dangerous magic surrounding him. "I will kill you and those who are helping you!" He screamed angrily. He would find every single member of that retched coven and feast on their blood.

Rebekah lay on the ground close to him, unconscious. The rest of his pack had also been paralyzed or their necks had been broken. They had fought valiantly but they were no match for a coven of treacherous witches.

"I will bathe in your blood!" Klaus yelled. He couldn't move but he could scream as many threats as he wanted.

The huntress ignored him eyes focused on Bonnie.

"I will stop you." Bonnie said extending her right hand.

The huntress also extended her hand, feeling confident with the amount of power that flowed through her in that moment. "I have the power of thirteen witches aiding me." She said. "Alone you don't stand a chance."

Bonnie swallowed, feeling the magic radiating off the huntress, knowing that as powerful as she was, she had never fought against the power of thirteen witches.

"I'm not alone." Bonnie whispered eyes meeting Klaus's over the huntress's shoulder. He managed to give a small nod understanding her silent message.

The huntress unleashed her power against Bonnie at the same time that the young witch freed Klaus.

Bonnie stumbled back, left hand also extended as she erected a barrier to block the huntress's attack. Sweat dripped down her skin as she struggled to keep the dark magic away from her. With a wave of her own magic Bonnie sent it back to the huntress. The magic disappeared before it could touch her.

The huntress hissed and got ready to send a second wave of dark power but Klaus's hand tore through her back. Blood poured out of her mouth when his hand squeezed her heart.

"Whatever you are going to do..." Klaus told Bonnie his skin burned as the dark magic attacked him. "Do it now!" He hissed feeling the dark magic feeding off him. It felt like he had dumped his arm in hot lava. The huntress's entire body was filled with dark power and as much as Klaus wanted to rip the heart from her chest, he knew she would just come back to life. They had to stop her for good.

Bonnie took a deep breath and closed her eyes channeling the power of Expression. The first thing she needed to do was to break the link between the huntress and the coven, only then could she use her magic to end the huntress once and for all.

The huntress struggled to break free, cursing and sending waves of her magic against Klaus, he refused to let her go, even when his skin tore open. The skin healed only to be torn open again, and again.

Rebekah sat up blinking in confusion for a moment before standing up and moving to help Klaus, with their combined strength they kept the huntress pinned to the ground.

Rebekah hissed biting her lip as the dark magic began sucking the life out of her. Her eyes met Klaus. Her brother could feel it too. If Bonnie didn't hurry up…Rebekah shook her head, whimpering as her body weakened. Bonnie would destroy her. She had too.

The huntress's magic increased. Rebekah screamed as the magic slashed her face and neck, blood pouring down her shirt.

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut struggling to break the link. Each of her attacks rebounded. Blood dripped down her nose and an excruciating pain exploded inside her head. _I can do it_. Bonnie thought. _Break it_ , she ordered. _Break the link._ She commanded her magic.

The huntress screamed and Bonnie's entire body shook by the wave of power that was unleashed from her.

She felt it. The moment the link between the witches and the huntress broke.

Tears streamed down Rebekah's eyes. "Nik…" she gasped her arms turning a grey color. Her heart constricted as she realized what was happening. "Nik…" she could feel it, her heart slowing down. She was desiccating.

"Let go." Klaus told her. "Let go Rebekah. It's all right." He said staring into her frightened eyes.

"I'm sorry." Rebekah pulled away, knees sinking to the ground, panting as her heart began pumping blood once more. A sweet relief filled her body but she also felt like she hadn't fed in months.

Klaus kept his hand inside the huntress, squeezing her heart despite the pain he felt. His arms had turned grey and his heart had slowed down considerably. He wouldn't last for much longer. "Now it's the time sweetheart." He yelled at Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded. "I will make the blood clot in your veins. I will make every bone, muscle and joint in your body turn to stone." Bonnie told the huntress, her eyes still black pools.

The wind picked up and the earth trembled with the power Bonnie summoned.

The huntress screamed as her body began turning to stone. Klaus pulled away and stumbled back gasping as he stared at his hands and arms. He groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

The huntress's body stood still, a rock in the shape of a woman as Expression succeeded in turning her to stone.

Bonnie smiled with triumph, releasing a shaky breath and pulling her hair out of her face. She was sweaty and tired but it had been worth it. She had done it. She had broken free from the bracelet and had stopped the huntress. It had been incredible, the rush of power, the thrill at having her magic back.

 _Relief…happiness…pain…_

Bonnie frowned, she was not in pain. _Where had that come from?_ The smile dropped from her face when she saw Klaus. His skin had turned grey and he seemed to be out of breath. "Klaus…" she moved towards him. "You're not healing…" she realized with fear, standing in front of him.

Klaus groaned and he sagged to the ground.

"Klaus!" Bonnie screamed grabbing him by the shoulders. He was too heavy and they both sank to the muddy ground.

Bonnie stared into his eyes. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

"You're desiccating." Bonnie realized with horror.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The moment Bonnie's magic broke the link, the Seer screamed, blood tears rolling down her cheeks.

One by one the witches fell to the ground screaming in pain as the link was forcibly broken. The shock and the pain they felt had been unexpected.

The huntress had been stopped.

Iris fell on her hands and knees, body shaking, her eyes wide and creamy skin covered in sweat. "How?" she asked in a fearful tone turning to her side and looking at her mentor. "How did she do it?"

The Seer sat on the floor, gasping, her body felt like rubber and she could barely keep her eyes open. She could not feel the huntress anymore. More importantly she had felt it. The contract in blood had been broken which meant the huntress had died.

Bonnie Bennett had bested her, again. "Is impossible…" she muttered. Not daring to believe that stupid girl had so much power. She knew the Bennett line was powerful, she knew Bonnie was not an average witch but this…

Fury filled her veins as she tried to stand up only to sink back down when a wave of dizziness blurred her vision. She felt weak, drained.

"You said the huntress was unstoppable." Iris said softly. "How can this be?"

"Silence." The Seer ordered trying to regain her composure. She would not allow anyone to question her, not even Iris had that privilege.

One of the witches managed to stand up on shaky legs. "I warned you." She told the Seer as she leaned against the wall, cold and shaking. "I told you this would not be easy."

"Silence!" The Seer snapped. She was their leader and no one had the right to reproach her.

"What are we going to do now?" Another witch questioned with fear in her voice.

"If the Order's best assassin could not kill her, how will we do it?" the witch on the Seer's other side asked.

The Seer opened her eyes.

Her coven stared back at her, waiting for her to say something, to ease their fears, to tell them what they would do next. The only problem was that the Seer had absolutely no idea what she would do.

For the first time since she became the leader of their coven she felt an emotion so strong that she could hardly breathe.

 _Fear_

The Seer felt afraid. She was absolutely terrified.

If that girl could do this now, what would she be capable of doing with more training?

And even more terrifying still, what would her child be capable of?

* * *

With the huntress turned to stone the magic that had paralyzed the hybrids faded and the ones that were unconscious also woke up soon after her demise.

They all gathered around Bonnie and Klaus.

To Bonnie's surprise Klaus stood up. Her heart ached with the pain that echoed through the bond. But she understood why he did it. The last thing he wanted was to appear weak in front of his pack.

"What's wrong?" A tall blonde haired girl asked, moving towards him. Bonnie glared not missing the way said girl touched his arm and the concerned look on her pretty face.

The jealousy…the possessiveness she felt in that moment was unmistakable. Her magic pulsed ready to attack.

Klaus pulled away from the girl's touch, looking straight at Bonnie, no doubt sensing her jealousy through the bond.

Rebekah moved to stand in between Klaus and the hybrid girl. "Nothing a little blood won't cure." She said dismissively and smiling sweetly but the smile did not reach her eyes. She grabbed Klaus's arm.

Bonnie noted how pale and sickly Rebekah looked, like her body had been drained.

Klaus nodded his skin still grey and veiny. The dark magic had nearly desiccated him and Bonnie knew he was barely holding on. _They need to feed,_ Bonnie realized.

"We need to go." Jesse said his shirt soaked with blood. The pain on his chest still lingered. "If the neighbors called the cops because of the fire they'll be here to investigate. We need to get out here."

"The witch secured another house a few miles away from here." A sandy blond haired hybrid said carrying the witch in his arms a nasty wound on her shoulder. "We can go there."

"Yes…" Klaus said. It took all of his strength to remain standing and pretend everything was fine. He wanted to say more but he couldn't. It even hurt to breathe. It didn't help how close Bonnie stood. Her scent and the steady beating of her heart drove him crazy. His fangs itched to break through his gums and a deep hunger arose in the pit of his stomach. He practically salivated remembering the taste of her exquisite blood.

"We should go to the safe house and get some rest." Bonnie spoke up, all eyes turned to her. "We also need to find a place to bury your friends and to put her," she pointed to the statue that was the huntress. "And someone should check and see what happened with Sophie, the witch in the basement." She clarified at the blank looks she received from the hybrids. "We can figure out the rest tomorrow or later today." She didn't even know what time it was.

"And who the hell do you think you are to give us orders?" the blonde girl snapped crossing her arms over her chest.

If looks could kill Bonnie would've been six feet under. She stared back at the hybrid girl, taken back by the venom in her voice.

"Alexa…" Klaus hissed. He looked worst than before and Bonnie knew that he managed to stay on his feet because Rebekah was supporting him. "Do as your told." He ordered.

The girl looked ready to protest but Jesse interrupted. "The cars are near the entrance. I'll take you." He said looking at the Original siblings and Bonnie.

"Riley…" Klaus said turning to the hybrid carrying the witch. "Go to the nearest hospital and get blood." He ordered. The hybrid nodded. All of them needed to feed. The fighting, the dark magic, they needed blood to regain their strength and fully heal from their injuries.

Bonnie took Klaus's arm. She and Rebekah supported him as they began walking slowly towards the cars as the hybrids followed Klaus's orders.

"We need to feed." Rebekah mumbled as a deep hunger arose in her stomach. The dark magic had weakened her, not as much as it had Klaus but she needed blood. The veins around her eyes became more pronounced.

"My blood…" Jesse offered catching up to them.

Rebekah shook her head. "You're blood has werewolf venom." She reminded Jesse. It might help Klaus but not her. Perhaps they could find some unsuspecting human wandering around. "And you need to feed too." She said looking down as his bloodied shirt.

Jesse got in the driver's seat, Rebekah next to him while Bonnie and Klaus climbed in the back.

Klaus groaned leaning back against the seat.

After a few minutes of driving in silence his head fell on Bonnie's lap and she caressed his forehead, his skin felt cold to the touch. Bonnie offered him her wrist. Klaus shook his head. "You need to drink. Your body is desiccating…" she whispered. If he didn't feed soon he would be immobilized for good.

The amount of self control Klaus and Rebekah possessed amazed her. Another vampire in their place would've fed from the hybrids or her without a second thought.

Klaus stubbornly kept his mouth shut as Bonnie moved her wrist over his lip.

Bonnie didn't understand, was something wrong with her blood? That he did not wish to drink from her. He had done it before, heat spread to her cheeks with the memories of the night before, remembering how he had fed from her breast.

Klaus closed his eyes. Her touch was soothing but he also tried to block the beating of her heart, tried not to think about the rich and powerful blood pumping through her veins, so close to him.

"Klaus…" Bonnie insisted pressing her wrist against his mouth. His lips stayed shut.

"NO!" Klaus growled moving his head away. Bonnie flinched dropping her arm to the side, body tensed.

"I have to feed!" Rebekah muttered, clutching her stomach with both of her arms. The hunger pains had intensified. If she stayed in the car any longer, she would attack Jesse and Bonnie and drained them dry.

"I'll text you the address to the house!" Jesse yelled watching as she disappeared through the car window.

Bonnie bit her lip, staring at Klaus's face. Unlike Rebekah he didn't have the strength to get out of the car and search for someone to feed from. _And he doesn't want my blood._ She thought sadly staring out of the window and not knowing what to do or how to help him. _Why don't you want my blood?_ She wondered green eyes lost in the darkness outside. She shivered feeling cold and lonely.

* * *

The house was smaller, newly painted in blue and with a big white porch wrapped around it.

Jesse had offered to carry Klaus inside but the fulminating look he received from the original hybrid silenced him numb.

Klaus walked inside the house, slowly, painfully but with his own legs and feet, determined not to show any weakness despite the hunger, pain and tiredness he felt.

Two more cars had followed theirs and the hybrids got out and moved inside the house after Bonnie and Klaus. Bonnie could feel their questioning gazes on her back. They didn't know what to make of her. She felt a prickle on the back of her neck and a chill went down her spine as she climbed the stairs to the second floor. Bonnie was certain Alexa was throwing daggers at her back as she followed Klaus. _What the hell was the girl's problem?_ She thought angrily.

Jesse followed them as they moved inside the master bedroom. Bonnie watched as Klaus sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. He closed his eyes and for a moment it looked like he had fallen asleep.

"Riley went to the hospital to get the blood bags." Jesse said. "He'll be back soon." He reassured Bonnie, seeing the worry on her face.

Bonnie nodded sitting on the bed next to Klaus. "Thank-you," she muttered without taking her eyes off Klaus.

Jesse himself had started to feel hungry. The hybrids that had not been seriously hurt were already out hunting. The others were inside the house, waiting for the blood. "You should stay here." Jesse said suddenly. "It's best if you don't go downstairs, for now." He added quickly. The younger hybrids in particular did not have much self control. And as the only human in the house Bonnie would be vulnerable.

"Keep them on the first floor." Klaus muttered eyes closed.

"I will." Jesse promised. Not that it would do much good. If the hybrids decided that they wanted to feed from Bonnie, Jesse wouldn't be able to keep all of them away. He offered Bonnie a small smile before exiting the room.

"Put a protection spell on the room." Klaus said opening his eyes.

Bonnie nodded closing her eyes for a moment and placing a barrier on the room, to prevent anyone from coming inside.

"I'm fine." Klaus murmured, sensing her concern though their bond and seeing the fear reflected in her eyes.

"No, you're not." Bonnie told him softly. "You can't wait until they get the blood bags. You need to feed now." The longer he waited the worst it would be.

Klaus ignored her.

"If you don't want to drink from me, you can ask one of them to give you blood." Bonnie said quietly. She hated the possessiveness and jealousy she felt at the thought of him feeding from someone else. She didn't even understand where it was coming from. But he needed blood and if one of his hybrids could provide it, she would swallow her jealousy. All she wanted was for him to get better.

"There is no need to be jealous love." Klaus told her, his lips twitching into a smile. Even with grey skin, he still took her breath way. "All of them have been injured in some way. I will not feed from them." Klaus said. "Or you."

"Why don't you want to drink my blood?" Bonnie asked staring at her hands, afraid of what answer he would give her. "I wasn't hurt. I can heal you."

Klaus didn't say anything but Bonnie could feel his gaze on her. She stubbornly kept her eyes down. "Is something wrong with my blood?" She asked in a tiny whisper.

"The baby…" Klaus finally answered. "I don't want to hurt him." he admitted softly.

Bonnie looked up startled. "Oh." Her heart skipped a beat, her body felt warm and tingly at his words and her face softened. Klaus was worried about the baby, _their baby_. In the morning he had been shocked and in denial but it seemed that he had finally accepted the fact that she was pregnant. "We'll be fine." Bonnie whispered staring into his eyes. "You fed from me last night." She reminded him almost shyly, as the vivid memories of the night before assaulted her brain. "My blood is powerful. All you need is a few drops."

"Bonnie…" Klaus groaned sorely tempted, his fangs itching to come out and sink into her neck. Her blood was unique and powerful, he had never tasted anything like it. He craved it. But as much as he wanted to drink from her, the thought of the child growing inside of her stopped him. "I can lose control…" He could drain her and killed her, killed them both.

Bonnie took her flats off and stood up. "You won't." She said before climbing on the bed. Despite the ravenous hunger he felt, which she sensed through their bond; Bonnie knew he would not hurt her. He had shown impeccable self control.

She placed her knees on either side of him and straddled him. Despite how tired he felt his hands moved to her hips. She placed her hands nervously on his chest and tilted her head to the side, baring her neck to him, "drink."

Klaus growled, his eyes changing and fangs descending. "Use your magic…" he warned her, "if I drink too much."

Bonnie nodded and prepared herself for the pain for she had expected him to bite her immediately but he didn't.

Klaus kissed her neck, nipping at her skin and sucking on her pulse point, preparing her for the bite. The times he had fed from her had been in pleasure. Biting her without any stimulation would be extremely painful and he did not wish to hurt her, not more than necessary.

Bonnie moaned arching her back and feeling his hardness rubbing against her center through their jeans. Klaus's hands kept her in place bringing their bodies closer together. He licked her caramel skin and Bonnie shivered closing her eyes.

She cried out when his fangs finally sunk into her neck. She felt a delicious mixture of pain and pleasure as he drank her blood.

The moment Bonnie's blood slid down his throat Klaus felt a jolt. The effect was immediate, his skin returned to its natural color, he felt energized and his strength returned at full force. The euphoria he felt with a few drops of her blood was intoxicating.

Klaus pulled her closer drinking deeply. Bonnie's hands moved from his chest and up to his shoulders, holding him tightly and moaning at the feel of being so connected to him.

The bond pulsed with life, becoming stronger than before.

Klaus pulled away, licking the wound close. Bonnie whimpered in protest, he had barely taken a few sips of her blood. She opened her eyes and smiled cupping his cheek, fingers lightly tracing over his stubble.

Klaus licked his lips and Bonnie gave him a quick kiss, her lips moving gently against his. She pulled away quickly tracing her fingers over his face. Her blood had healed him and he looked perfect like always.

Bonnie moved away from him and Klaus got comfortable on the bed, resting his head against the pillows. Bonnie laid down next to him, snuggling against him and resting her head on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart and feeling the warmth of his arms around her. The marks on her neck from his fangs disappeared immediately-she still had his blood in her system.

There was a lot they needed to talk about. But for now they were content to simply stay in each other's arms. It had been one hell of a day and a little bit of rest wouldn't hurt them.

"What are we going to do with the huntress?" Bonnie mumbled against his shirt.

"Throw her in the ocean…" Klaus answered eyes closed.

"I was thinking of burying her or putting her in a cave somewhere." Bonnie had thought of smashing the stone to pieces but she didn't want to risk having the huntress come back to life. "A place where the coven that helped her won't find her…"

"I will kill the lot of them." Klaus promised.

"We don't even know who they are." Bonnie said. And that worried her, what if they decided to send another hunter after her? The witches were probably pissed off that she had broken their link and stopped the huntress.

"I know where they are." Klaus told her, holding her tightly. "They are in New Orleans." Where he had lived once, where Elijah was, where Marcel was king, where Sophie and her sister had come from. "All roads lead to New Orleans." He muttered.

"You want to go there." Bonnie realized lifting her head and turning to face him.

Klaus kept his eyes closed, "We'll have to go." He answered.

"You want to go to the place where everybody is conspiring against us." Bonnie sat up an incredulous look on her face. "Why-"

"It's the last thing our enemies expect Bonnie." Klaus opened his eyes staring at her. "They don't expect us to bring the fight to their doorstep." He pulled her down against him once more. "Don't worry about that now. We'll discuss it tomorrow."

Bonnie bit her lip. She wanted to go back to Mystic Falls, to see her dad and her friends. God only knew what Damon had done to Matt. And she honestly didn't want to go to the city where all their enemies lived. "Klaus…"

"Tomorrow." He squeezed her shoulder gently and closed his eyes once more. He did not want to have that talk right now.

Bonnie sighed resting her head on his chest once more. _Tomorrow_ …she thought. They had to bury the three hybrids that had been killed, get rid of the stone that was now the huntress and discuss their future.

It would not be as easy as it sounded. And it was because she knew how difficult it would be that she allowed herself to relax and enjoy the moment. Who knew when they would be able to have a peaceful moment like this again?

Klaus didn't know how long they stayed like that but eventually Bonnie fell asleep. It felt right to have her in his arms, he felt content. He could stay like this forever he realized as his body relaxed.

He let his mind drift off, thinking of nothing in particular. And that's when he felt it.

A gentle probing …

Someone was calling to him, reaching out to his mind…

A familiar voice echoed inside his head.

 _Niklaus…_

* * *

The streets of New Orleans were dark and empty.

Klaus looked around recognizing the buildings around him. He knew this place like the back of his hand. But there was something wrong, something different. The city which should be buzzing with activity and filled with locals and tourist alike was eerily quiet.

He was the only one walking down the street. The only light came from the single lamp post near a bench. Everything else was surrounded with darkness and fog.

"Hello brother."

Klaus spun around at the familiar voice.

Elijah stood in front of him, a small smile on his lips. "This is not how I expected to see you again." He muttered, a frown appearing on his face.

"What's going on?" Klaus asked taking a step closer. "How am I here?" he asked. He had been with Bonnie in South Carolina. "Where the blood hell have you been?" he asked. He hadn't heard from Elijah in weeks.

"I'm in a coffin if you must know." Elijah answered taken back by the harsh tone in his brother's voice. "I've been trying to reach out to you or Rebekah but I have been unable until now…" he tilted his head studying Klaus's face.

"I'm inside your head then." Klaus realized. He had felt content while holding Bonnie in his arms. He had completely let his guard down and that had probably allowed Elijah to pull him inside his head. They were siblings bound by blood and the magic that had created them and they had from time to time communicated telepathically. But it was something they hadn't done in years. "What happened? Where are you?" he asked.

"I believe I'm near desiccation brother." Elijah answered calmly. The magic keeping him inside the coffin was feeding from him, slowly draining the life out him. He was still surprised he had been able to reach Niklaus and pulled him inside his head. "There is a lot we have to discuss." Elijah told him motioning to the bench across the street.

"Indeed." Klaus nodded.

The time had come to talk and figure out a plan of attack against their enemies.

Klaus planned to go to war and he needed his brother by his side.


	11. Chapter 11

"This is us, the original family and we remain together always and forever."

~Elijah Mikaelson

* * *

"How could you let a witch best you so easily?" Klaus asked Elijah as they sat on the bench.

"Not my finest moment, I'll admit." Elijah murmured. "I will find her, make no mistake of that." And she would pay dearly for what she had done to him. "The magic that is keeping me in the coffin is strong, different from anything I've ever encountered before."

"Like the magic that created the huntress." Klaus said a thoughtful look crossing his face. "Do you think this witch might be part of the same coven that is after Bonnie?"

"It's possible." Elijah answered. "The witches of New Orleans are not allowed to practice magic in the Quarter, those are Marcel's rules. Either this coven has no regard for his rules and willingly breaks them or…"

"Marcel has allowed them to do magic." Klaus finished for him. The Mikaelson brothers were no strangers to secret alliances. The coven was clearly more powerful than the witches of the Quarter, Marcel could've easily made a deal with them that benefited both of them. "You said that Marcel has a witch?"

"A young girl who wants to kill us," Elijah replied. While he was trapped inside the coffin, he was still conscious and had been able to hear their conversation perfectly. While he knew Marcel's witch could never kill him, the magic that kept him trapped was slowly sucking the life out of him. "From what I heard of their conversation she believes our family will bring death and destruction to New Orleans."

"Well, she's right on that account." Klaus muttered angrily. "How did he survive?" he wondered. "I saw father kill him with my own eyes…" his hands balled into fists remembering that terrible night when Mikael had come for him and chased him out of his city. He had grieved for Marcel thinking him dead, they all had.

"Why does a coven of witches want Bonnie dead?" Elijah asked instead of answering his brother's question. He had his suspicions as to how Marcel had survived Mikael's attack but that was a conversation for another day. "Why did Jane-Anne and Sophie risked everything to kidnap her? And the alliance with the Navarro werewolves…" He stared at his brother, sensing that Klaus knew more than he was telling him.

There was a long moment of silence as Klaus contemplated if he should tell Elijah the truth or not. His brother waited for his answer studying his face in silence. Klaus took a deep breath before finally answering his brother's inquiry. "Bonnie is pregnant…" he whispered almost afraid to say the words out loud, "…with my child." He confessed.

Elijah could count on one hand the number of times he had been rendered speechless and Klaus's revelation was at the top of the short list. "Pregnant…" he repeated, thinking that perhaps he had heard wrong. "…but…how can that be?" he finally managed to say, bewildered by his brother's revelation.

Under different circumstances Klaus would've laughed at the look on his brother's face. Elijah had always prided himself for being calmed and controlled and Klaus was quite amused by the dumbfounded look on his face. It was a rare sight to behold.

"Well you see when a man and a woman…" Klaus began with a smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I do not believe this is the time for jokes, Niklaus." Elijah chided him while regaining his composure.

Klaus shrugged. "I don't know how it can be." He admitted his face becoming serious once more. "Vampires can't procreate and yet…." He was still struggling to understand it himself and he hadn't had the chance to talk about it with Bonnie either. There was a lot they had yet to discuss.

"You broke your curse perhaps your werewolf side allowed for it to happen." Elijah told him deep in thought. In the one thousand years he had walked the earth he had never heard of a witch becoming pregnant by a vampire or hybrid in this case. Then again, there had been no hybrids prior to his brother and Bonnie was also an extremely powerful witch. "Or magic," he suggested.

"Perhaps," Klaus murmured. Expression was the most powerful kind of magic known to exist, that could have allowed Bonnie to become pregnant. "There is no way to know for sure. It's-"

"A gift," Elijah said with emotion, dark eyes focusing on his brother. "Your chance, our chance…" he whispered a soft smile on his face.

"To what?" Klaus questioned.

"To start over," Elijah responded. "All we have ever wanted, all _you_ have ever wanted is a family." Elijah reminded him.

"Do you have any idea how many enemies I have made?" Klaus snapped while standing up from the bench. "What they will do once they learn about the baby? How could they ever fear me again?" his enemies would see this as an opportunity to come for him.

 _You have created your own undoing_ …Sophie's words echoed in his ears. _Everyone who wants you dead will use your own child against you!_

"Is it so important to you that people quake with fear at the sound of your name?" Elijah asked raising his voice.

"People quake with fear because I have the power to make them afraid." Klaus said in a harsh voice. "What could this child offer me?" he asked, "will it guarantee me power?"

"Family is power Niklaus." Elijah said standing up. "Love, loyalty that is power, is what we swore to one another a thousand years ago before life tore away what little humanity you had left." Elijah told him. "Before ego, before anger, before paranoia..." Elijah said taking a step closer and placing his hand on his shoulder. "Niklaus, our own parents came to despise us. Our family was ruined, we were ruined but this child could be our chance to start again, to be a family once more." Elijah gave him a hopeful smile, "this child is a gift. Do you realize the opportunity you have been given?"

"You don't understand!" Klaus pulled away and turned his back to him.

Elijah studied his brother's profile, noticing the tense set of his shoulders. "You're afraid." He realized suddenly. His brother was good at hiding his emotions but Elijah knew him best. He could see beyond the mask. Klaus was absolutely terrified of becoming a father. "Every time you are given a chance at happiness you run in the opposite direction." Elijah said sadly. "Because you believe you are not worthy of it." He cursed Mikael for the damage he had inflicted upon his brother, the damage he had inflicted on all of them. A thousand years later and all of them were damaged by their parents' actions.

"The noble Elijah," Klaus mocked. "At what point will you stop searching for my redemption?" He asked turning back to look at his brother, lips curving into a sneer.

"I will stop when I believe there is none left to be found." Elijah answered fully convinced of his words. "You pretend that you don't care but the truth is that you do." Elijah stared into his eyes daring Klaus to contradict him.

Klaus looked away a myriad of emotions flickering over his face.

"It's okay to care Niklaus, its okay to want something." Elijah murmured as Klaus's jaw clenched while still refusing to look at him. "And you are not him…" Elijah told him quietly. "Despite what you may believe you are not Mikael." Oh, there were times when Klaus did resemble their father and the irony was not lost to Elijah, the son who did not share his blood was the one to resemble Mikael the most. But Elijah still had hope for his brother, that deep down despite all the anger, cruelty and viciousness there was still a shred of humanity left in him. He had to believe that the brother he knew once was still hidden somewhere inside the monster everyone else feared.

"You're pathetic." Klaus snarled masking the way Elijah's words got to him. What it mean to hear him say that he was not Mikael.

"Who's more pathetic?" Elijah asked quietly, "the one who sees hope to make his family whole or the coward who only sees the world though his own fear?"

"I haven't cared about anything for centuries." Klaus hissed. "Why on earth do you?"

"Because I failed you," Elijah replied. "The first time father laid a hand on you, I should've struck him dead." Elijah told him fiercely. "And because I know that deep down you care for your child. You want that child even if you're afraid to admit it."

"You're a fool." Klaus told him, but he did not deny Elijah's words.

As impossible as it seemed, as terrifying as it was to know that there was a life growing inside of Bonnie, a life they had created…the thought of anyone hurting that baby made his blood boiled with anger. There were so many conflicting emotions regarding the fact that he was going to be a father but there was one thing he knew for sure, one absolute truth he felt deep in his heart.

Elijah watched him closely, seeing the conflicted emotions flickering over his face. He didn't say anything, he simply waited.

"There is only one thing I know for sure…" Klaus finally said. One thing he knew in spite of the doubts and fears he felt at becoming a father. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt Bonnie…" he met his brother's eyes. "I won't let anyone hurt that baby." The swell of protectiveness he felt towards Bonnie and the baby was beyond anything he had ever felt before.

Elijah nodded. "We will protect them." He vowed. "I will stand by you and so will Rebekah." Elijah was sure of it. They had made a promise to each other a thousand years ago, always and forever, family above all, and that promise now extended towards Bonnie and the baby. "Those who wish Bonnie and your child harm will die."

Klaus nodded. "I will get you out of that coffin." He promised Elijah. "I will find you and get you out."

"I know you will." Elijah gave him a soft smile. "And when you do, we will destroy our enemies." His eyes darkened. "We will kill them all." He hissed.

* * *

Bonnie woke up alone. It was morning and sunlight streamed through the open window. She stayed in bed, thinking about the events of the past two days and how her life had changed so dramatically. She had been kidnapped, her magic taken from her. She had been rescued and she had destroyed the huntress that had been after her. But the most important change in her life was the revelation that she was pregnant.

She was going to be a mother. There was a life growing inside of her.

Bonnie got out of bed. After putting her shoes on she made her way to the bathroom. Her senses alerting her to the presence of the hybrids downstairs while the bond pulsed letting her know that Klaus was also inside the house.

After she washed her face, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. _I'm having a baby,_ she thought. _I'm having a baby with Klaus._

Bonnie pulled her top up and stared at her still flat stomach absently touching the soft skin with the other hand. She wasn't that far along, Prom had been about a month ago after all. _How can this be?_ She wondered. And more importantly, _how am I going to tell my dad? And my friends…What will they think?_

 _What am I going to do?_ She panicked.

Tears formed in her eyes as the realization of her situation hit her like a ton of bricks. She was eighteen years old and she didn't know the first thing about raising a baby, she had barely even known her own mother. How could she raise a child in the crazy world that she lived in?

She had planned to go to Whitmore in the fall, how was she going to go to college with a baby on the way and a coven of witches determined to kill her?

Bonnie wished more than anything that her Grams were still alive, Bonnie needed her. She had so many questions, so many fears and she didn't really have anyone to talk to. She and Klaus hadn't even had a chance to discuss anything. He had accepted the fact that she was pregnant and the night before he had refused to feed from her at first because he didn't want to hurt the baby and that gave Bonnie hope that he would be there for her and that she wouldn't have to go through this alone.

 _You are a servant of nature and in the eyes of our kind you have betrayed everything we stand for…they will not rest until you and that baby are dead_.

Bonnie remembered Sophie's words clearly. She knew that the coven of witches in New Orleans was just the beginning and that thought terrified her. _How many more enemies are coming my way_? She wondered fearfully. _And the enemies Klaus had made?_

She had never felt so afraid before. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something bad coming for her; something far more dangerous than the coven of witches that had sent the hunters after her.

Bonnie closed her eyes, shaking. She had thought that after defeating Silas everything would go back to normal or as normal as life can be when you live in Mystic Falls. And yet, here she was pregnant with a miracle baby. She wasn't even sure how it was possible for her to be pregnant, because of Klaus's werewolf side or because she was a witch? Maybe because of expression or was it something else entirely?

 _Was a witch pregnancy different than a human pregnancy?_

She choked back a sob missing her Grams and wishing that her mother had never abandoned her. In times like this she wished she had her mother, to ease her fears, to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay. She didn't even have her best friends, Elena was off somewhere without her emotions while Caroline…how was she going to explain to Caroline that she had sex with Klaus and gotten pregnant with his baby.

"What am I going to do?" she asked out loud while staring at her reflection, seeing the tear stained face staring back at her and the fear in her green eyes. In that moment, she felt like she had the whole world on her shoulders.

The lights flickered on and off for a few seconds and a small crack formed in the mirror, cutting the reflection of her face in half. Bonnie stumbled back, feeling the magic inside of her react to her emotions.

She took a deep breath trying to get a hold of herself. She couldn't lose control, not with the amount of power flowing inside of her; it could be a very dangerous thing.

 _One step a time Bonnie_ , she thought. _Just breathe…don't lose control_ _and breathe_.

She couldn't let the fear and the panic she felt get to her. She needed to calm down and figure out what to do. The thing she wanted the most right now was to see her dad and then get her grimoires maybe she could find something there that would help her. There had to be something about a mystical pregnancy in there somewhere. And above all she needed to talk to Klaus.

Bonnie waved her hand over the mirror, magically fixing the crack before placing both of her trembling hands over her stomach. "We'll be okay." She told the baby. "I promise."

Bonnie took a deep breath wiping the tears off her face before walking out of the bathroom and making her way downstairs.

* * *

There was a nervous flutter in Bonnie's stomach as she walked down the stairs.

Klaus stood in the foyer, talking to a hybrid and the dark haired witch that had tried to help her against the huntress the night before.

Klaus sensed her before the hybrid and witch of course and turned to greet her, "morning love."

"Morning," Bonnie smiled heart skipping a beat. It had to be a crime to look so good in the morning, especially when he had been near desiccation the night before.

"This is Riley. I believe you met him last night." Klaus said nodding towards the hybrid who greeted Bonnie with a nod of the head. "And this is Angelica." He introduced the witch. "Angelica this is Bonnie Bennett."

The woman's eyes widened and to Bonnie's surprise she bowed in her direction. "It is an honor to be in your presence, blessed one."

"…Thank-you…" Bonnie didn't know what else to say, she hadn't expected such greeting.

Angelica smiled. She looked to be in her thirties with dark long hair and clear blue eyes. She had a calming presence, a soothing aura that immediately put Bonnie at ease. "You turned the huntress to stone." She said in awe. "I wish I had been able to see it but my injuries got the best of me."

"It was so cool." A young hybrid girl said coming into the foyer, she had auburn hair and hazel eyes. She looked to be about Bonnie's age. "You totally kicked her ass." She smiled at Bonnie, "I'm Belle, well technically is Annabelle but everyone calls me Belle, you know like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. It was my mom's favorite movie and when she-"

"How many times have we heard the pathetic story of your life?" Alexa snapped coming into the foyer, followed by two other hybrids, a man and a woman.

Bonnie caught the hurt look on Belle's eyes before she looked down at her feet.

"Alexa," Klaus said in warning.

"We've heard it like a million times by now…" she gave Klaus an apologetic smile but Bonnie could tell how fake it was. And by the way Riley glared in her direction he didn't like the way Alexa had spoken to the young girl either.

"There is no need to be rude." Riley told Alexa the anger in his voice palpable. Belle kept staring down at her feet.

Alexa ignored him, turning to look at Bonnie. "We just buried the three hybrids that died last night."

"I'm really sorry." Bonnie said sincerely while turning to look at Klaus. The hybrids had died because the huntress had been after her and Bonnie felt guilty.

"It's not your fault." Klaus told her softly.

"You should be sorry. It's your fault they died." Alexa said at the same time loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Get out." Klaus growled.

Alexa's eyes widened, "I was just-"

"I do not like to repeat myself." Klaus told her. The coldness in his voice sent a shiver down Bonnie's spine. He had never spoken to her that way not even when he had kidnapped her and threatened her. His voice sounded so cold, so devoid of any emotions and he shut any of Alexa's complaints with a single look. In that moment, he wasn't _her_ Klaus Bonnie thought but an Alpha dealing with his pack.

Alexa sent a venomous look in Bonnie's direction before angrily storming out of the house. The hybrid woman that had come with her followed her out. No one dared to say another word.

"I don't think she likes me very much." Bonnie muttered breaking the silence. She could feel Klaus's anger and annoyance at Alexa through the bond.

"She doesn't like anyone." Belle told her, eyes burning with unshed tears.

"Would you like something to eat?" Angelica asked Bonnie.

Before Bonnie could answer her stomach made a loud growling noise, she flushed.

"I guess that's your answer." One of the hybrids that had come with Alexa muttered with a nervous smile. "Better get something now before Jesse eats all of it." he winked at Bonnie.

"I heard that Chris!" Jesse strolled into the foyer, followed by another hybrid that moved to whisper something in Klaus's ear.

Bonnie stared in their direction with curiosity, not able to hear what the hybrid said, but she noticed the frown on Riley's face and even Belle jerked her head in their direction a thoughtful look crossing her face.

Sensing her eyes on him Klaus looked up and gave her a small smile, conflicting emotions echoed through the bond. "I have some things to discuss with Riley and Felix." He told Bonnie. "Why don't you go get some breakfast and then we can head back to Mystic Falls."

"We're leaving today?" Bonnie asked, when Klaus nodded she beamed. She wanted to see her dad more than anything. With everything that had happened she hadn't even had the chance to call him. "I thought you wanted to go to…" _New Orleans,_ she thought and trailed off, not knowing how much they could openly discuss with his pack present.

Klaus took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I have to go to Mystic Falls first and you need to see your dad." He told her.

Bonnie nodded, "what about the huntress?" she asked.

"We threw her in the ocean." Klaus informed her, after burying the three hybrids Klaus himself had gotten rid of the stoned bitch. "You won't have to worry about her any longer."

"Thank-you." Bonnie murmured. Klaus kissed her forehead before pulling his hand away and walking towards the study, Riley and Felix following him.

Bonnie watched him go, trying to make sense of the conflicted emotions she felt through the bond. Something troubled him. _What had the hybrid told him?_

"Don't let Alexa get to you." Angelica told Belle, seeing her watery eyes. She put one arm around the young girl and pulled her towards the kitchen. "She's…" she struggled to find the right word.

"A bitch," Jesse suggested.

"I was going to say a special case." Angelica told him but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

"She means a bitch, but is far too polite to say it." Jesse told Bonnie. "Come on, let's get something to eat. The noises your stomach is making are really scary." He said playfully.

"Hey!" Bonnie replied in mock offense as they walked towards the kitchen.

"You already ate." Belle reminded Jesse.

"I'm hungry again." He muttered. "It's a hybrid thing, I guess." He said while rubbing his stomach.

Bonnie's mouth watered when the smell of food hit her nose. _Pancakes,_ she thought happily, forgetting all about Alexa and her attitude.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"Your plan sucks." Caroline mumbled while crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the couch. They had spent the whole night waiting to hear from Rebekah but nothing. Every time Damon had called the original girl he got her voicemail. "She's probably planning ways to torture you."

"You know what Blondie?" Damon turned to her, glass on bourbon in one hand. "You're not helping."

Caroline rolled her eyes. Matt sat next to her in silence, wondering if something bad had happened to Rebekah. It was strange that they hadn't heard from her yet, he hoped she and Bonnie were okay.

"Maybe Rebekah doesn't really care about you after all." Damon smirked in Matt's direction.

Matt glared at him, ignoring his jab. "You know I have to go to work right?" he had a late shift at the Grill.

"I don't care." Damon muttered.

"This isn't working." Stefan came into the room. "Holding Matt hostage is not going to bring Bonnie back."

"Like you have a better idea," Damon snapped.

"I think we should wait for Bonnie to return." Stefan suggested calmly.

"Hello, you think Klaus is going to let her go so easily." Damon told him.

"You do realize Bonnie is a powerful witch who has taken down Klaus before." Stefan said. He doubted Klaus could keep Bonnie hostage unless she didn't have her magic or he had found away to coerce her into doing his bidding. Or worst, Bonnie had willingly stayed with him.

"What are you saying?" Caroline asked suspiciously. "That she's with him willingly." She stood up. "Bonnie would never-"

"We don't know the circumstances." Stefan turned to look at her.

"Are you out of your mind?" Damon snapped. "Klaus has probably threatened her or hurt her in some way-"

"Have you ever thought that maybe Bonnie has finally seen the light and realized that she can do better than all of you pathetic lot?"

They all turned at the sound of the accented voice. Rebekah leaned against the doorway a smirk in place.

Matt stood up smiling upon seeing his girlfriend. Her shoes and jeans were covered in mud and her hair looked disheveled but she seemed fine. He felt relieved; he had been worried about her.

"Barbie Klaus-" Damon smirked but didn't get to finish, Rebekah had him by the throat in the next second.

"You threatened my boyfriend!" Rebekah hissed. Damon struggled to break free but it was in vain, she was stronger than him.

"Rebekah-" Stefan tried to intervened.

Rebekah turned to him face shifting. Stefan took a step back. She looked past him towards Matt. "Get out of here, go to the mansion. I won't take long." She promised.

Matt didn't need to be told twice, he nodded running out of the boarding house. Stefan and Caroline didn't try to stop him.

"I guess this is my cue to go." Caroline murmured. She flashed out of the room only to be blocked by Rebekah who suddenly appeared in front of her.

"You're not getting out of here so easily darling." The original blonde told her a wicked glint in her eyes.

Caroline swallowed turning to look back at Damon who lay unconscious on the ground. "Look Rebekah-"

Stefan tried to sneak behind Rebekah only for her to turn around and punch him in the face. Stefan stumbled back and in the next second Rebekah had snapped his neck.

Caroline took the opportunity to run out of the mansion but she didn't make it very far, she was suddenly flung back inside, crashing against the wall.

She blinked, her vision blurry by the blow to the head she received.

Rebekah stood in front of her, "you and the Salvatore brothers are going to learn a very important lesson today." She smirked.

* * *

"I shall be going to New Orleans very soon." Klaus told Riley and Felix, they were the oldest hybrids in his pack and the ones the others turned to when he wasn't around. "I need to get a few things from Mystic Falls first." His favorite paintings, his collection of grimoires and the white oak stake were at the top of the list.

"Felix, I want you and Angelica to head there first." Klaus instructed. "I need a house, close to the city but with enough space and land for the pack. And I also need information about Marcel Gerard, his friends, lovers, allies anything useful but do not attract attention to yourself or the witch."

Felix nodded. "I will find everything you need."

"What about Tyler Lockwood?" Riley asked crossing his arms over his chest. "One of the hybrids tracked him down, he's in Tennessee."

"And what is that traitor doing there?" Klaus asked while leaning against the desk.

"He's helping a pack of wolves, misfits." Felix told him. "Say the words sire and I will gladly bring you his head." His eyes flashed gold for a brief moment.

"Not yet," Klaus murmured. "Keep an eye on him for now." Sooner or later he would have to deal with Tyler but for now he had bigger problems to attend to.

"What about the wolf that's following us?" Riley asked.

Klaus's jaw clenched. For the past few days there had been a wolf tracking their every movement and they had yet to catch him. "Are you sure he was circling the property last night?" he asked. Klaus hadn't sensed anything, then again he had nearly been desiccated and had spent most of the night communicating with Elijah.

"Yes," Felix replied. "Is the same wolf from before, the same scent, he was here last night. He's very good at hiding his tracks." He growled angry with himself for not having caught him yet. The bastard was good at hiding from them.

"Do you think he wants to be part of the pack?" Riley asked curiously. It was only a matter of time before word spread that Klaus was siring new hybrids. Maybe this wolf wanted to break free from the curse of the moon like they had.

"He wouldn't stay in the shadows if that was the case." Klaus said lost in thought. The wolf had followed them, watched them but had not attacked or asked to be turn. And he had never gotten close enough for them to catch him or see his face. _Who are you?_ Klaus wondered. _What do you want?_

"We'll get him." Felix promised.

Klaus nodded blue eyes turning to Riley. "You and Jesse are coming with me to Mystic Falls. The others will remain here and wait until we have to go to New Orleans."

"What about Belle?" Riley asked almost nervously. "Alexa is giving her a hard time, can she come with us?"

That was another problem he had to deal with Klaus thought angrily.

"Alexa thinks of herself as the Alpha female of the pack. She's been giving orders left and right…" Felix muttered staring at Klaus, his tone was neutral but Klaus could see the question in his eyes.

"She's not." Klaus hissed. "You take orders from me, no one else." He had fucked Alexa once, months ago, quite the forgettable experience but ever since that night the stupid girl thought that she had a special place in the hierarchy of the pack. If she didn't fall in line Klaus would just rip her heart out and be done with it.

Riley waited expectantly.

"Belle will come with us." Klaus told Riley. The young wolf relaxed immediately. "Get everything ready, I want to leave in an hour."

Riley nodded and left the study.

Klaus turned to look at Felix, "there is something else I need you to do while in New Orleans."

"Tell me and it shall be done." The loyal hybrid answered.

"Marcel has a powerful witch helping him. I need you to find everything you can about her." Klaus ordered. "Her family, her coven…but more importantly I need to know where Marcel is keeping her." Wherever that witch was hiding so was Elijah. As soon as he had woken up Klaus had asked Angelica to perform a locator spell to find out where they were keeping Elijah but he was cloaked under powerful magic. Klaus knew the only way to find his brother was by tracking down the witch helping Marcel.

"Of course," Felix told him. "May I ask?" he licked his lips nervously. "Why are we going to New Orleans, what is happening down there?" he wanted to ask if it had something to do with the green eyed witch but he didn't dared to do so.

"War has been declared on my family." Klaus told him, a hint of gold in his eyes. "And the time has come to retaliate." His lips curved into a wicked grin.

Felix couldn't help but pity the poor souls that had been stupid enough to cross his sire.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Rebekah pushed Matt against the door to her bedroom, their lips meeting in a heated frenzy. After taking care of the Salvatore brothers, she had gone straight to the mansion where Matt waited for her.

Matt pulled away breathless, "You didn't kill them right?" he managed to ask through the lust that filled his brain and body. "Caroline is my friend and-"

"And she didn't do anything to help you out." Rebekah rolled her eyes. Matt looked ready to protest but she cut him off. "Relax love. I know that you and Bonnie care for those idiots. I didn't kill them." She bit her lip as she stared at his lips desperate to kiss him again. "I simply made sure that they will never mess with you or me again." She gave him a wicked smile.

"What did you do to them?" Matt asked curiously.

"You'll find out soon enough." Rebekah told him before her lips came crashing down on his once more. Matt responded with equal passion, forgetting about everything else and enjoying the moment. It felt like they hadn't seen each other in years. He had been reluctant to go on a date with her at first but he was more than glad he had given in. He felt like the luckiest man in the world with her in his arms.

Matt pulled her body closer to him, holding her with one arm while he struggled to open the door with the other. Rebekah kissed down his neck, sucking lightly on his pulse point before her hands ripped his shirt open.

In a blink of an eye she had opened the door and had Matt on the bed. She sat on top of him, placing soft kisses on his chest and moving up until she reached his lips once more. Matt suddenly pulled away.

"I swear…" Rebekah began but stopped at the look he gave her.

Matt traced his index finger over her cheek and the look on his face, it took Rebekah's breath away, her heart nearly burst out of her chest. "I missed you." He said softly moving his fingers over her lips.

Rebekah wondered when had been the last time someone had looked at her with such tenderness or caressed her so gently. Not that it mattered, in that moment all she could think about was Matt.

"I missed you too." Rebekah told him smiling.

And then they were kissing again, desperate and hungry for more. Hands began pulling off clothes until they were finally skin against skin, touching, kissing, and learning each other's bodies for the first time.

They had kissed countless of times before but they hadn't done more than that. They had been taking things slow, seeing whether they could work as a couple or not. But right now, in that moment, it felt right to take the next step.

They forgot about everything else and got lost in each other.

* * *

"Rebekah I need to talk to you, it's about Elijah. Call me." Klaus ordered before hanging up. He looked at Bonnie before focusing on the road once more.

Bonnie blinked awake, yawning as she stretched as best as she could in the passenger seat of the car. They had left South Carolina well past noon and she had fallen asleep as soon as she had gotten inside the car. Jesse, Riley and Belle were following them in another car.

"Hello there, sleeping beauty." Klaus teased. Bonnie hadn't even stirred when Klaus had stopped at a gas station about two hours ago to fill the tank.

"Hi." She mumbled a bit drowsy. "Are we close to Mystic Falls?" she asked wondering how long she had been asleep.

"About an hour or so more," Klaus informed her.

Bonnie noticed the white plastic bag by her feet.

"I stopped for gas about two hours ago." Klaus told her as Bonnie pulled the bag into her lap. She found two bottles of water and a couple snacks. "You didn't wake up at all." She had been asleep for over five hours.

Bonnie could sense a hint of worry echoing through the bond. "I'm fine, just tired." She pulled a bottle of water out and drank half of it. "Do you know where Elijah is?" she had heard the voicemail he had left for Rebekah. She had not returned to the safe house the night before or in the morning and Bonnie had been worried but Klaus had assured her his sister could take care of herself.

"In a coffin," Klaus replied calmly. "We believe the witch that trapped him is from the same coven as the witches who sent the hunters after you."

"Wait…you talked to him? He's in a coffin?" she looked at him with confusion. _Had Elijah been desiccated?_

"We communicated telepathically." Klaus explained.

"You guys can do that?" Bonnie asked amazed. She had known vampires could get inside people's heads. To communicate with others though the mind seemed like a cool ability to possess.

"Yes." Klaus told her. "It's easier to get inside someone's mind when you share the same blood." It was something that came in handy from time to time.

"Did you tell him about the baby?" Bonnie asked quietly.

"I did." Klaus kept his eyes on the road. "We need to tell Rebekah too and figure out a plan of attack against our enemies."

Bonnie sighed. "You're going to New Orleans." He had told her the night before but she still felt reluctant about it. She had come to think of New Orleans as the lair where all their enemies laid.

"We are going to New Orleans." Klaus told her, looking briefly in her direction.

"What if I don't want to go?" Bonnie challenged. "What if I want to stay in Mystic Falls? I would be safer there."

"The safest place for you is with me." Klaus told her firmly.

"And you plan to take me to a city filled with vampires and where the coven of witches that wants me dead lives." Bonnie told him angrily. "The minute I set foot in New Orleans they'll come after me."

"And you think you'll be safe from them in Mystic Falls." Klaus shook his head and laughed. "The witches probably already sent another hunter after you. He might be waiting at your door right now and the Navarro werewolves…" Klaus reminded her of the wolves that had helped kidnapped her. "We don't know what Jane-Anne told them." Klaus said. "They'll want to know how their pack members died and if they hear about you, they'll come for you, make no mistake of that."

"And you think that declaring war on the witches is the best thing to do?" Bonnie snapped. "Because that's what will happen when we arrive in New Orleans. The witches will see it as a declaration of war."

"War was declared the minute they came for you." Klaus told her. The minute the witches had come for Bonnie and the baby they had signed their death warrants. "And they will pay for it!"

"I can't just pack up my things and leave, Klaus. What am I going to tell my dad?" She didn't even know for how long Klaus planned to stay there.

"I can easily compel him to think you're on vacation or something and if it's his health that worries you, I'll give him some of my blood, problem solved." Klaus told her as he glanced in her direction.

"Are you serious?" Bonnie stared at him in disbelief. "Do you even care what I want?"

"What are you so afraid of?" Klaus asked suddenly, feeling the fear echoing through the bond.

Bonnie turned to look out of the window before answering. "Everything," she told him truthfully. "I'm eighteen years old Klaus and I'm pregnant with a miracle baby and I don't even know…I…" tears burned in her eyes. "I don't know how this can be possible or why they want our baby dead."

 _Our baby_ , Klaus couldn't describe the emotions he felt when he heard her say those words. Despite the anger he felt at her refusal to come to New Orleans with him his face softened.

Klaus had been a seasoned warrior for centuries but not Bonnie. In spite of the enemies she had faced in her short life she had lived a rather sheltered life. Unlike he who had been fighting to survive since the moment he had been born and who had started plenty of wars throughout the centuries, Bonnie fought when pushed, when backed into a corner, not because it was her desire to do so.

"They won't stop Bonnie." Klaus told her softly. "They will keep coming for you and the baby." Klaus had sensed their determination when he had drunk from the huntress the night before. "The last thing they expect, the last thing they want is for us to bring the fight into their territory. I will end them. I promise you."

Bonnie looked down at her lap. "I feel like…" she struggled to find the right words. "Like the whole world is coming after us and I don't know…" she had never been this terrified before. _How are we going to keep our baby safe?_

"Let them." Klaus said.

Bonnie jerked her head in his direction, feeling his determination through the bond.

Klaus took her left hand with his right, rubbing his thumb lightly over her knuckles. "Whatever enemies come our way, we will destroy them." Klaus told her. "I won't let anything happen to you, either of you." He promised.

Bonnie's breath hitched feeling the swell of protectiveness he felt towards her and the baby. There was a lot they had yet to figure out, to discuss but in that moment Bonnie felt hope. They could do this. Together they could face all the enemies coming their way. Together they would keep their baby safe.

Bonnie held on to Klaus's hand, feeling its warmth as well as the strength and reassurance that flowed through their bond.

Together they would brave the storm and destroy all those who wished their child harm.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls Hospital**

Bonnie ran through the hospital hallway going straight for her father's room. Her heart nearly burst out of her chest when she opened the door. Finally, she was going to see him.

"Dad!" Bonnie stepped inside with a smile on her face, Klaus following closely behind. The smile dropped however when she spotted the figure by her father's bedside. "What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped.

Abby Bennett stood up from her seat, putting the book she had been reading on the bedside table. "Hello Bonnie," she frowned looking from Bonnie to the original hybrid standing behind her. "What are you doing with him?" she asked.

"Aren't you the caring ex-wife?" Klaus smirked shutting the door behind him.

Abby glared at him.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Bonnie wanted to know, she hadn't seen her mother in months. Since she and her dad had tried to help her with expression.

"Liz Forbes called me, told me that your father had been shot and you were nowhere to be found." Abby answered. "What's going on Bonnie? Where have you been? And why are you with _him_?" she asked.

In the morning Bonnie had wished to have her mother with her but now that the wish had suddenly come true she didn't know what to say or do.

Mother and daughter stared at each other, standing rather close but Bonnie felt like there was an ocean in between them.

* * *

 _A/N: Klaus's pack is of about twenty hybrids plus Angelica who is a witch. Three of the hybrids died in the previous chapter and I'm not going to introduce every single one of them just the ones who will be relevant to the plot. And yeah Abby is back._

 _I hope you liked this chapter, the next one is going to be very emotional for Bonnie…_


	12. Chapter 12

Once the shock of seeing her mother had passed, Bonnie moved to her father's side. She sat on the bed and took his hand. He looked so peaceful sleeping. She had been worried sick about him and felt extremely relieved to see him.

"He woke up earlier today." Abby told her softly. "He didn't say much…" she glanced at Klaus uncertain of how much to say in front of him. "The things he said…it didn't make much sense."

Bonnie turned to look at her, "thank-you for staying with him." _for being there when I couldn't_ , she thought.

Abby nodded. "What's going on Bonnie? The police said it looked like a robbery but your father mentioned Elena. And what are you doing with _him_?" she pointed at Klaus who rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it a little late for you to play the caring mother?" Klaus muttered.

Abby glared at him, "leave us," she ordered.

Klaus raised an eyebrow and took a menacing step closer until he stood right in front of her. Despite her bravado, Abby knew that as a vampire she didn't stand a chance against him.

"You must really have a death wish." Klaus said in a quiet tone but it sent a chill down Abby's spine.

"Klaus," Bonnie said softly.

Klaus turned towards Bonnie, seeing the pleading look on her face before turning to face Abby once more."A pity," he murmured eyes flashing gold for a brief second, Abby flinched automatically. He chuckled before moving away from her.

"Bonnie…" Rudy blinked his eyes open groggily.

"Dad!" Bonnie smiled as her father squeezed her hand. "Hi." She whispered.

Rudy smiled weakly, "…you are…here…"

"Yes." Bonnie told him. "I'm here."

"Did they…hurt you?" he asked struggling to keep his eyes open.

"No," Bonnie leaned over him so he could see her face better. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm fine, I promise." Bonnie kissed his forehead.

Out of respect for Bonnie both Abby and Klaus exited the room. Bonnie barely even noticed, all she could focus on in that moment was her dad.

The minute the door shut behind them Abby turned angrily towards Klaus, "I swear if you are threatening Bonnie or using her, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Klaus hissed angrily. "There is nothing that you can do to me, so I suggest you get the hell out and stop pretending to care about Bonnie because we both know you don't."

"You know nothing," Abby spat.

Klaus chuckled. "I know more than you think." His eyes darkened. "I know the real reason you left Mystic Falls." He told her with a smirk.

Abby's eyes widened but she recovered quickly. "Bonnie knows why I left."

"Bonnie knows the lies you told her." Klaus snapped. "What was it again?" he tilted his head to the side pretending to be deep in thought. "Something about losing your magic or wanting a new life…well, either way we both know that's a lie."

"You have no idea-" Abby began but Klaus could clearly see the fear in her eyes.

"I know everything about you." Klaus interrupted. He had made it his business to know everything about Elena and her friends when he had first arrived in Mystic Falls. He probably knew more about the Bennett family than Bonnie and Abby. "Your deepest, darkness, secrets," he continued taking a step closer. "The reason your own mother chose to pretend you didn't exist."

Abby gasped and took a fearful step back. "No…" she whispered.

Klaus smirked. _Knowledge is power_ , he thought savoring the fear that radiated off Abby.

The door swung open and Bonnie stepped outside. "Dad fell asleep again." She looked from Abby to Klaus sensing the tension between the two. "Everything okay?" she asked. She felt glad that the hospital hallway seemed almost empty. The last thing they needed was to have a confrontation in public.

"You're mother was just leaving." Klaus told her before Abby could say anything.

"I want to talk to you." Abby told Bonnie while ignoring Klaus. Bonnie noticed her trembling hands. Her mother seemed afraid. "Alone," Abby emphasized.

"Not now." Bonnie told her. "I want to stay with dad, he needs me."

Abby nodded. "Tomorrow then, I'm staying at the motel." It was the only motel in town and Bonnie knew how to get there. "Can you come to see me tomorrow?"

Bonnie seemed uncertain but agreed nonetheless, "I'll meet you there."

"I'm in room twenty-two," Abby told her. She glared at Klaus once more before leaving.

Bonnie and Klaus watched her go. The moment Abby had disappeared through the elevator door Klaus turned to Bonnie.

"I'm going with you." He said.

Bonnie sighed. "I don't think my mother will want to talk to me with you looming over us."

"And you are out of your mind if you think I'm going to let you go alone." He snapped.

"Let me?" Bonnie repeated looking at him like he was crazy. "I don't need your permission Klaus." She could feel his anger and irritation through the bond. She was going to talk to Abby whether he liked it or not. "I need to talk to her alone." Bonnie told him.

Klaus opened his mouth ready to retort but Bonnie stop him. "I'm not having this conversation right now." And with that she turned and went back inside her father's room. Klaus followed her.

* * *

After spending the night at the hospital with her dad, Klaus drove Bonnie home early the next morning.

Abby had been right when she said it looked like a robbery. The damage the werewolves had done more than evident as soon as they stepped inside the house. The living room was a mess and Bonnie shuddered when she noticed the blood stain on the foyer where her father had been shot.

Not even Bonnie's bedroom had been spared.

The mattress had been flipped and the sheets thrown on the floor. The drawers of the dresser had been left open, her underwear scattered around the floor, mixed with other clothing that had been thrown out of the closet.

Her cheeks burned when Klaus picked a lacy red bra from the floor-Caroline's idea of a gift when Bonnie had started dating Jeremy. He raised an amused eyebrow when an embarrassed Bonnie took the garment from his hand and quickly put it back inside one of the drawers.

She avoided his eyes as she began moving around the room, picking things up and putting them back where they belonged.

"Did they take anything?" Klaus asked.

"I don't think so." Bonnie muttered as she got on her knees to look under the bed.

Ms. Cuddles had been lucky, there was not a single scratch on her favorite teddy bear when Bonnie found her under the bed alongside her grimoires. She pulled them out one by one and Klaus helped her up.

"Where did you get this?" he asked looking over at the different grimoires in Bonnie's possession. Some belonged to her ancestors but there were others that belonged to different witches.

"Jonas Martin…" Bonnie whispered. "He collected grimoires and after he died…I took them." She admitted guiltily, "in order to find a way to stop you." The grimoires contained valuable information that had helped Bonnie in many occasions.

"It's quite the collection," Klaus murmured impressed. Not nearly as impressive as his own collection but Bonnie had some valuable gems in the grimoires Jonas Martin had collected over the years.

Bonnie nodded as she continued to move around the room, trying to clean her bedroom. "I have to clean this mess before I bring dad home." Her father would be released from the hospital in the afternoon, thanks to some compulsion and Klaus's blood. "I don't want him to see the house like this."

"Don't worry about it." Klaus told her. "I'll hire someone to clean the house."

Bonnie turned to look at him ready to protest. "I can-"

"They'll have the house ready by tonight." Klaus said tugging at her arm and pulling her closer to him. "Don't worry about it."

"Thank-you," Bonnie smiled. Klaus had not only given his blood to her dad but he had also stayed with her at the hospital the whole night, keeping her company. "For everything," she whispered and got on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. At the last moment however Klaus moved his face until his lips met hers.

It was a quick, sweet brush of the lips at first.

Bonnie smiled against his lips and Klaus gave her a sinful smirk as he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him, his mouth hard on hers, unyielding.

Bonnie melted against him as he kissed her long and hard. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her body impossibly closer. Bonnie tangled her finger into his hair and moaned at the same time he growled. His stubble chafed her skin as he kissed her harder, plunging his tongue past her lips, exploring, tasting and devouring. It sent sizzling bolts of pleasure through her.

Klaus seemed desperate, needy, and thirsty for her. Like a man who had been in the desert for days and had finally found water.

Bonnie whimpered and struggled in his tight embrace as he kissed her harder, running his hands down her back and over her bottom. Her knees felt like jelly and her bones turned to mush by the intensity of his kiss. She tried to pulled away to catch her breath, she was human after all, but Klaus didn't let her. She sucked in a breath before he took her mouth again hungrily. His body hot and hard against her as Bonnie gave in into his demanding kiss.

Klaus had never kissed her like this before. He had been passionate and intense but there had always been tenderness in the way he held her or touched her, as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

This felt different. Bonnie could feel the need, the desire, and something else underneath…something primal and urgent.

His hands suddenly moved under her shirt and over her back. Bonnie moaned as his fingers traced her burning skin pulling her shirt up as he continued to devour her mouth. She gasped struggling to breathe, feeling the wild and raw need emanating from him.

Klaus wanted to possess, to claim. To mark her so that the whole world could see she belonged to him.

His hands moved to her hips, pulling her closer and pressing his hard length against her, while his fingers elongated into claws ready to rip her jeans off her.

Bonnie gasped pulling away as his emotions slammed into her, overwhelming her senses. She trembled as she felt the echo of his dark desires through the bond. She struggled to catch her breath, panting, her lips bruised and swollen from his kisses.

When Bonnie opened her eyes she noticed Klaus had his eyes closed, his body rigid, hands holding her hips in a tight grip. "Don't move." He hissed the veins around his eyes visible.

Bonnie stayed still watching him. He seemed to be struggling as if he were fighting some inner battle. "Klaus…"

He pulled away and moved as far away from her as possible, turning his back to her and staring at the wall.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked quietly. The emotions she felt echoing through the bond were confusing. She took a step closer.

"Don't…" Klaus growled. "Or I won't…" in a blink of an eye he had disappeared from her room.

 _What the hell happened?_

Bonnie didn't know how long she stood there, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

* * *

After taking a long and cold shower Bonnie tried calling Caroline. She didn't answer so Bonnie left a voicemail hoping her friend would call her back. She still struggled to make sense of what had happened an hour before between her and Klaus. She didn't understand his reaction. _Why had he left so suddenly?_

She tried calling Matt next and waited for him to answer hoping that he was okay. She planned to go to the boarding house before going to see Abby. She needed to make sure he was safe.

"Matt can't answer right now." Rebekah answered with a happy giggle.

"Rebekah!" Bonnie felt surprised and relieved. She had been worried about Rebekah when she had not returned to the safe house. "Matt is with you?" she asked. If Matt was with Rebekah then he was safe, Damon had not hurt him. Another giggle was the only response Bonnie got, "Rebekah?"

Silence

"Hey Bon," Matt finally said far too cheerful for someone who had been kidnapped and threatened. "Stop it!" he laughed.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked hearing more giggles as Matt and Rebekah playfully fought over the phone. And then she heard kissing and moaning.

 _Oh my god!_ Bonnie finally realized what was going on.

"Hey Bon, can we talk later…" Matt said distracted.

"Yeah sure, I'm glad you're okay." Bonnie told him before hanging up rapidly. _Oh my god! She had interrupted them while they…_ She shook her head. At least she now knew that both Matt and Rebekah were fine. One less problem to worry about.

Bonnie made her way downstairs and found Klaus in the living room.

"Everything okay?" she asked. He seemed irritated. She still didn't understand why he had suddenly run away from her room an hour ago.

"The hybrids still haven't found Sophie." He muttered. The bitch had escaped when the huntress had burned the safe house. "She's probably on her way to New Orleans as we speak." Or worst making her way to the Navarro werewolves. Klaus cursed under his breath. He needed to go to New Orleans but first he needed to talk to Rebekah and convince Bonnie to go with him.

"There is nothing we can do about that now." Bonnie told him. She stepped closer but Klaus moved away, keeping his distance from her. _What's wrong with him?_ Bonnie wondered. He had even closed his side of the bond. "Matt is with Rebekah." She informed Klaus watching him and trying to figure out why he seemed so tense.

"Of course, he is." Klaus murmured. It shouldn't surprise him that Rebekah had come to his rescue. His sister was infatuated with the pathetic human.

"I'm going to see my mom." Bonnie told him nervously.

"So you are." Klaus said an unreadable expression on his face.

"I need to talk to her alone, Klaus." The last time they had seen each other things had not ended well. But Bonnie still had hope that they could repair their relationship.

"Are you going to tell her about the baby?" Klaus asked, studying her face.

"I don't know…" Bonnie answered honestly. "There is a part of me that wants to confide in her, that…" _needs her desperately_ , she thought. "But at the same time I'm scared of how she'll react." She probably should wait to tell people about the pregnancy. She had read something about waiting until the second trimester to tell people the news. "I still don't know how I'm going to tell my dad or my friends." That was a conversation she was not looking forward to having.

"You don't have to tell them." Klaus told her softly. "There is no need for them to know."

"I can't keep it a secret forever Klaus. Sooner or later I'll start to show and we're going to need all the help we can get." Bonnie said.

Klaus shook his head, "you can't be so naïve…" he murmured.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bonne asked frowning.

"Do you truly believe that Abby, the Salvatore brothers, even Caroline will be willing to help?" he chuckled with amusement.

"They're my friends. It won't be easy at first but-"

Klaus laughed. "Don't be foolish love, the minute they find out you are carrying _my_ child they'll try to get rid of it." He said harshly.

"No!" Bonnie said looking at him with disbelief. "They wouldn't. It would be a shock at first but-"

"When have they ever helped you Bonnie?" Klaus questioned angrily. "When have they ever been there for you?" Bonnie opened her mouth but Klaus cut her off. "All Stefan and Damon care about is that pathetic doppelganger, she will always come first with or without her emotions. The best thing to do is to keep your pregnancy a secret."

"You told Elijah," Bonnie reminded him. "You plan to tell Rebekah, how is that any different from telling my friends or my mom?"

"I know my siblings." Klaus replied. Despite their differences Elijah and Rebekah would never dare to hurt Bonnie but the same could not be said about her mother or her friends. "Your mother abandoned you and your so called friends only care about you when they need your help!" he snapped.

"Damon and Stefan can help us-" Bonnie began but was cut off when Klaus grabbed one of the leather chairs as if it weighted nothing and threw it across the room. It crashed into the wall making a hole on the drywall before falling to the floor.

Bonnie stared at Klaus in shock. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You are out of your mind if you think I will trust those idiots with your or my child's safety!" he hissed eyes flashing gold. "I forbid you from telling them!"

"You have no right to tell me what I should or shouldn't do." Bonnie yelled angrily. She couldn't believe the nerve of him, ordering her around. _Who the hell did he think he was?_

"I have every damn right because you're mine!" Klaus snarled.

Bonnie's mouth opened in shock and her eyes widened. "I'm not a thing!" she screamed back. "I don't belong to you. I don't belong to anyone but myself. So whatever vampire Alpha wolf claim you think you have over me, get over it, because you don't!"

Klaus flashed until he stood a few inches from her, towering over her tiny frame, hybrid face coming to the surface. Bonnie stared back unflinching, if he thought he could intimidate her, he had another thing coming.

"We are bonded." Klaus reminded her. His tone harsh, barely containing the anger he felt. "You are carrying _my_ child. In the eyes of the supernatural world you belong to _me_." He hissed. "YOU ARE MINE!"

"I may be carrying your child but that does not make me your property." Bonnie told him angrily, eyes filled with fury. "And I'm not one of your hybrids either; you can't force me to do anything I don't want!"

Klaus growled and Bonnie's magic came to life as the two stared at each other, neither willing to back down.

Klaus's jaw clenched and his hands balled into fist. The nails on his hands elongated sinking into his flesh until he drew blood. He needed to get out of there before he did something he would later regret.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked when Klaus began walking towards the door. "Klaus-"

He opened the door and kept his back towards her, struggling to keep the beast under control. "I'm going to the mansion, to get everything ready so that we can leave as soon as possible." The tone of his voice sent shivers down her spine. "I'll sent Rebekah to keep you company tonight."

"Why?" Bonnie asked the anger suddenly replaced with concern. He looked so tense, as if he were ready to sink his teeth into the first thing that walked up to him. "What's going on?" something was definitely wrong with him. The way he was acting, it wasn't like him.

Klaus closed his eyes, holding the doorknob in a painful grip. "It's a full moon tonight." He whispered.

"I thought hybrids were not affected by the full moon." Bonnie said softly. _Was that the reason he was acting so possessive and irritated?_

Klaus turned to look at her over his shoulder. "All wolves feel the pull of the moon, hybrids can control the need to shift but there are other urges…" he said huskily, eyes dark and unreadable as his gaze moved brazenly over her body.

"What urges?" Bonnie swallowed nervously, heat spreading over her body at the heated look he gave her.

Captivating amber eyes bored into hers and the image came clearly to her mind.

 _The full moon…_

 _His body pinning hers to the wet grass as he slammed himself inside of her, hard, hot, urgent…_

Bonnie gaped as the image changed.

 _She was on her hands and knees, Klaus gripping her hips painfully as he plunged into her from behind._

"Oh god…" the image was so vivid, so real. A vision or a fantasy she didn't know but Bonnie could feel his phantom thrust inside of her heated flesh. Heat coiled inside her belly and she felt ashamed at the sudden dampness between her thighs. She whimpered closing her eyes and unconsciously rubbing her thighs together.

Klaus groaned. It took all of his self control to keep himself rooted to the door. He needed to get out of there. He didn't trust the beast inside, it yearned to be free.

A minute ago they had been fighting and now they seemed ready to rip their clothes off.

"It's best if I stay away from you tonight." Klaus told her giving her one last heated look before storming out of her house.

Bonnie didn't know whether she felt relieved or disappointed with his departure.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Davina concentrated, channeling all the power she had inside of her to destroy the dark magic protecting the Original inside the coffin.

Marcel watched warily from the corner.

Sweat trickled down the young witch's skin and the candles around the room had nearly burned out.

"This isn't working Davina." Marcel whispered. "If you keep this up, you will hurt yourself."

Davina ignored him, sending another wave of her magic towards the coffin, only to be rebuffed once more. She whimpered as pain exploded inside her head, again.

Diego stepped nervously inside the attic room, moving towards Marcel. "Thierry has news about Jane-Anne…" he whispered in his ear.

Marcel frowned and followed him out of the room where Thierry waited for him. He was keeping Davina hidden in the attic of St. Anne's church. The church was at the heart of the French Quarter but after a terrible massacre had taken place there, hardly anyone dared to visit anymore.

"What have you heard?" Marcel asked his right handed man.

"Just rumors but it seems that Jane-Anne Deveraux is dead…" Thierry answered. "The witches can sense when one of their own has fallen."

"What about Sophie?" Marcel asked.

"Haven't heard anything yet, but I'll keep looking." Thierry promised.

"If they escaped together, she's probably dead too." Diego said quietly.

"Keep an eye out for her." Marcel ordered. "If Jane-Anne is dead, Sophie will come back." She had nowhere else to go and Marcel was certain she would eventually make her way back to New Orleans if she was alive.

"What do you want us to do if we find her?" Diego asked.

"Bring her to me." Marcel told him. "I want her alive." For now at least, until he could know what she and her sister had been planning against him.

"There is something else you should know." Thierry said nervously. "Luis Navarro took over a pack in Mississippi."

Marcel cursed at the news, another pack that had fallen under Navarro control, "how many?"

"At least forty," Thierry answered.

Diego growled. "We can't let them get away with this Marcel. If the Navarro pack keeps growing there is only a matter of time before they set their sights on New Orleans."

"They have always wanted New Orleans," Marcel muttered angrily, long before he had come into power, ever since Klaus had claimed the city as his own.

Ever since they had taken over Baton Rouge the Navarro clan had grown rapidly, conquering smaller wolf packs and expanding their influence over Louisiana and its neighboring states. Marcel knew it was in preparation to take back New Orleans, the city their ancestors had once called home.

"Keep an eye out for Sophie." Marcel told them before going back inside Davina's room. He had a lot to think about and a lot to do. War was inevitable it seemed and he had to prepare.

"We should go and kill those wolves." Diego said angrily, hands clenching into fists and dark veins appearing under his eyes.

"How?" Thierry asked. "One bite from them and we're all dead."

If the Navarro's declared war they were doomed.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Bonnie took a deep breath before knocking on room twenty-two. The desire she had felt when Klaus had left her home had been quenched by the wave of nausea that had hit her so suddenly she had barely made it to the bathroom. After spending a good fifteen minutes with her head on the toilet throwing up she had made some chamomile tea and eaten some crackers, her stomach couldn't handle anything else.

Riley had been waiting outside her door when she stepped out. Klaus had left him to watch over her while he took Belle and Jesse with him to get everything ready for their departure. The hybrid kept a respectful distance away from her and Bonnie appreciated it.

She felt nervous and anxious as she waited for Abby to open the door. She had so many questions about her pregnancy and Abby was perhaps one of the few persons with enough magical knowledge to help her. But Bonnie felt scared of what her reaction would be upon learning the news.

The door finally opened. Abby seemed surprised to see her. "You came. I thought you wouldn't." She had actually thought that Klaus would not let her come.

"I'm here." Bonnie told her as Abby let her inside the room. Riley had stayed outside the motel in order to give Bonnie privacy to talk to her mom.

Abby turned the TV off and turned to smile at Bonnie. Neither of them knew what to say.

"What happened with your father?" Abby finally broke the ice. "He remembers that Elena came looking for you and then nothing. The police believe it was a robbery." It had looked that way at least according to what Liz Forbes had told her. "Where have you been?"

"It's a long story." Bonnie muttered.

"And Klaus has something to do with it?" Abby asked studying her face carefully. "Is he forcing you to do spells for him? Has he hurt you?" she asked with concern.

"He saved me." Bonnie replied. "He's helping me." She told her mother.

"Helping you with what?" Abby asked trying to make sense of everything. "Are you in trouble?"

"Two hunters have tried to kill me." Bonnie informed her. "There is a coven of witches who sent them after me and there were two other witches that kidnapped me with the help of some werewolves." Bonnie explained. "That's how Dad got hurt."

"Why?" Abby looked confused. "Why would witches attack one of their own?" she studied Bonnie's face. "It's expression isn't it. You still have it." Abby took a step closer. "Bonnie that kind of magic is dangerous. I told you before, it's dark and you must get rid of it."

Bonnie shook her head. "Expression has given me the advantage over my enemies." Bonnie said. Without it, she wouldn't have been able to stop the huntress or break free from the bracelet Jane-Anne had put on her wrist.

"What enemies?" Abby asked softly. "Why are they after you?"

Bonnie bit her lip and looked away afraid of telling her, fearing her reaction and yet she knew she needed to talk to someone about it, someone other than Klaus.

"Bonnie, talk to me." Abby said as she moved to stand in front of her, "tell me what's wrong…please." She grabbed one of Bonnie's hands, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Whatever it is I can help you."

"I'm pregnant." Bonnie blurted suddenly. "With Klaus's child," she admitted in a tiny voice while dropping her gaze to their joined hands.

Abby heard her perfectly. She dropped Bonnie's hand as if she had been burned and stared at her with shock and horror."No…No…" she shook her head, "it can't be."

"I don't know how," Bonnie told her. "But it's the reason the witches want me dead."

"And you are sure it's his?" Abby asked trying to keep her composure. This was the last thing she had expected.

"He's been the only one." Bonnie said, heat spreading to her cheeks and down her neck. "Jeremy and I…we never…" She felt embarrassed talking to her mother about something so intimate. "Klaus was the first, the only." She admitted. "I have so many questions…I…"

"How far along?" Abby suddenly asked gaze moving down towards Bonnie's stomach. "I can't hear the heartbeat yet, that's good. " She said with a small smile. "It means that is really early still. We have time."

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked frowning. She did not like the look on Abby's face.

Abby began pacing around the room muttering under her breath. "I need a couple of hours maybe a day to gather all the ingredients but we have time, its good. We can fix this."

"Ingredients…time for what?" Bonnie asked utterly confused. "What do you need to fix?"

"To kill it!" Abby snapped spinning around to face her.

Bonnie felt like she had been stabbed in the heart, "Oh my god!"

"Don't tell me you're planning on keeping it?" Abby asked upon seeing the horrified look on Bonnie's face.

"It's my baby!" Bonnie told her angrily. "How could you think..." She couldn't even bring herself to say the words.

"You don't even know if it's going to be a baby or a creature, a monster." Abby said cruelly. "You are a servant of nature that…that thing," she hissed, "is an abomination, it cannot live."

Bonnie gasped, tears blurring her vision. "How can you say that?" her voice broke. Despite their differences and their troubled relationship Bonnie had hoped that her mother would be there for her, that Abby would help her like she had done before.

But that hope shattered into a tiny million pieces upon hearing her mother's words and seeing the look on her face.

"I'm keeping my baby." Bonnie told her fiercely. The idea of an abortion hadn't even crossed her mind. As scared as she was of becoming a mother she wanted her baby. That was the one thing she had absolutely no doubt about.

"Bonnie…"Abby said gently, "you are eighteen years old. You are not ready to have a child. You don't even have a job, a career. What are you going to do about school?"

"I'll figure it out." Bonnie whispered struggling to keep the tears from falling.

"This is not a normal pregnancy." Abby told her, "this defies everything nature stands for. The spirits will punish you, in their eyes you have betrayed everything a witch is supposed to stand for."

"I don't care what the spirits want!" Bonnie snapped. All the lights in the room flickered on suddenly.

"They will kill you!" Abby yelled. "They will hunt you, they will persecute you, hurt the people you love and they won't stop until that thing is dead!"

Tears streamed down Bonnie's face as she looked at Abby with shock. "Stop calling my baby a thing!"

"Your life will never be the same again." Abby continued. "You will be branded a traitor, the witches will do everything in their power to end you before you can give birth and let's not forget all the enemies Klaus has made." There was a reason he was so infamous in the supernatural world.

"We will fight them." Bonnie told her filled with determination. "We'll fight and we will win."

Abby laughed. "You think you can count on Klaus to keep you safe, to help you." She shook her head. "Don't be stupid. He only wants you for your power. Soon enough he'll lose interest and move on to another witch. It's what he does!"

"You don't know anything," Bonnie said angrily. A crack formed on the TV screen.

"You are confusing sex with love." Abby told her harshly. "He's only using you. Men like him only care about power, nothing else."

"You don't know him like I do." Bonnie's entire body trembled as she struggled to keep expression from lashing out. She and Klaus were bonded, she would know if he ever deceived her.

"He's manipulation you, can't you see." Abby said looking at her with pity. "You are young. You have no idea the lengths men like him will go to seduce, to corrupt. He doesn't care about you. He will never love you."

"Shut up!" Bonnie yelled. The TV exploded and erupted in flames.

Abby gasped looking at the flames before turning to Bonnie, "calm down or you'll burn this place to the ground." She snapped.

Bonnie closed her eyes trying to keep her magic under control but expression wanted out, it wanted to be unleashed, to hurt, and to destroy the one causing its mistress pain. She sat on the bed and took a deep breath trying to get a hold of herself before she burned the motel room.

Abby handed her a bottle of water, "this kind of magic has a life of its own," she murmured. "Sooner or later it will end up controlling you."

Bonnie took the bottle with a shaky hand and drank all of it. Angry green eyes opened to stare at her mother, "I have control." The flames died down, the TV repaired itself as if nothing had happened and the lights turned off. She commanded expression not the other way around.

Abby wisely kept her mouth shut.

* * *

Rebekah had a goofy smile on her face as she stepped inside the mansion. After their night together, she had dropped Matt at the Grill. He had ended up calling out the night before but he had another shift to work that day. She was counting the hours to pick him up.

She immediately noticed the boxes and the moving crew moving around the house.

"What's going on?" Rebekah asked spotting one of her brother's hybrids.

"We're getting everything ready to go to New Orleans." Belle answered putting the box she had been carrying on the floor. "Klaus wants to have everything done today." She leaned closer to Rebekah and whispered. "He's in a terrible mood. It's the full moon I think."

Rebekah could sense him upstairs in his study. "Do as he says or he'll bite your head off." she muttered as she made her way up the stairs.

She opened the door without knocking.

Klaus stood in front of a huge canvas, angrily splashing different colors, reds, blacks, and blues among others.

Rebekah watched him warily, noting the tense set of his shoulders and the way he ignored her. Klaus could no doubt feel her presence in the room and yet he didn't acknowledge her.

She stood by the door watching him work and waiting for him to say something. He didn't. He was clearly upset about something.

"What's going on?" she asked softly, tired of being ignored by him. Demanding answers in the mood he was in would only end up in blood. "You said you wanted to talk to me about Elijah in the voicemail you left."

Klaus stopped and placed the brush down. He turned to face her but kept his mouth shut, watching her. And then he moved to the other side of the room to clean his hands.

"Nik?" Rebekah stood nervously, not knowing what was going on through his mind but it was obvious that something troubled him greatly. "Did something happen to Elijah?" she asked fearfully. _I can't lose another brother,_ she thought terrified.

"I suggest you get comfortable sister." Klaus told her while cleaning his hands. "What I have to tell you will be positively shocking."

Rebekah frowned.

* * *

Bonnie let out a shaky breath. She had managed to get her magic under control but she felt nauseous again. She kept her eyes closed waiting for the nauseousness to pass.

"Bonnie listen to me," Abby got down on her knees in front of her, taking both of her hands. "I know that this is a hard decision to make but sometimes we have to make hard choices."

"You're asking me to kill my baby…" Bonnie said opening her eyes and choking back a sob. "My baby…your blood…" she reminded her mother.

Abby watched her sadly. "I want to protect you. I want what is best for you," tears formed in her eyes, "I can help you be free from all of this, from Klaus, from the witches that want you dead."

Bonnie shook her head, she tried to stand up but Abby stopped her.

"I won't lie to you," her mother told her. "It's going to be hard and painful and you will live with that pain for the rest of your life, questioning whether you did the right thing but one day you will realize that you did."

"You're crazy!" Bonnie told her trying to pull her hands away but Abby didn't let her. "Let me go!" Abby held her down.

"Think about your future Bonnie," Abby told her. "You deserve to have a life free of vampires, free of Klaus, to go to college in the fall with your friends, to live, to enjoy…" Abby said gently. "To one day fall in love with a good man, an honest man. A man who will love you and cherish you and see you for the strong and beautiful girl that you are," tears rolled down Abby's eyes. "Klaus is not that man. He's a monster. He will hurt you. He will break your heart and that baby…" _if it even was a baby,_ Abby thought with a shudder, "it doesn't stand a chance Bonnie, the spirits will see to it, they will kill it and you won't be able to stop it."

Bonnie cried. Each word that came out of her mother's mouth felt like a dagger to her heart. "Stop…" she begged.

"It's never going to end baby…" Abby reached out and touched her face. "Is that how you want to spend the rest of your life, running from the people that want you dead?" Abby asked crying. "Fighting enemy after enemy and defying the world for…a creature that will never belong."

"Stop it…please…" Bonnie begged crying.

"The spirits will not rest until that creature is dead!" Abby told her in desperation.

Bonnie couldn't utter a word, she simply cried, her whole body shaking by the force of her sobs.

"I know the herbs to mix, you can take them at night and in the morning it will all be over. You will be free." Abby said her voice sweet like honey. "The witches will stop coming for you. You will be free to have a normal life. And more importantly you would have done the right thing for that baby." Abby told her. "End its misery before the witches get to it, because believe me they will not show mercy."

"How can you say that…" Bonnie said crying. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I want to help you." Abby told her. "Please Bonnie, let me help you. Klaus doesn't have to know if that's what your worried about." Her mother said to her. "I can help you disappear. I can help you start a new life, a magic free life, away from Mystic Falls."

"Disappear and put everything behind me…" Bonnie muttered eyes narrowing.

"Yes…" Abby agreed. "He will never find you, I promise."

"I'm not you." Bonnie spat. Abby dropped her hand from her face. "I don't run away, I fight."

"Bonnie-"

Bonnie stood up roughly pulling her hands away from her mother. "I don't want a normal life. I don't want a magic free life." Perhaps she had wished for that once upon a time but not anymore. "And above all, I want this baby." She told her mother. "My baby, my child, my blood…and you're wrong." Bonnie said with conviction. "This baby is not a monster, this baby is innocent and good." She could feel it, the life growing inside of her was pure.

"Do you have any idea what you're saying," Abby stood up angrily. "You are defying the spirits and they will punish you for it!"

"I don't care!" Bonnie yelled. "I have defied the spirits before in order to protect my friends. I've done things that witches twice my age cannot even begin to imagine." She stared deeply into her mother's eyes, "I would defy the devil himself in order to keep my baby safe!"

"You won't stand a chance-" Abby insisted.

"I'm not afraid of the spirits." Bonnie said wiping the tears off her face. "You don't know the power I have inside of me or the things that I can do now."

"Do you realize how difficult your life is going to be?" Abby asked quietly.

"Unlike you I don't plan on running away." Bonnie spat angrily. "I'm going to have this baby." She said fiercely. "I love my baby." She told her mother. "And I'm going to fight for him or her. I'm going to give him or her all the love, the care, the family that I never had. And if I have to fight the whole world in order to do it, so be it."

"I'm just trying to help Bonnie." Abby murmured sadly. "I just want to help you."

"And you have," Bonnie told her with honesty. "You have helped me, far more than you know."

Abby didn't say anything. She simply watched Bonnie, confusion written all over her face.

"Thank-you Abby, for making me realize what I kind of mother I do not wish to be," Bonnie said staring at her mother, "a coward who runs away, who doesn't care about her own child."

Bonnie felt satisfied seeing the hurt that flashed across Abby's face.

"I won't choose the easy way out like you did. Even if in the end I have to do it alone. I will." Bonnie told her. "The spirits, the witches, vampires, werewolves…it doesn't matter who comes after my child. I will fight them all and I will win." Bonnie promised. "I will fight for my baby like you never fought for me."

Abby took a fearful step back, sensing Bonnie's magic. It engulfed the whole room, constricting the air on her lungs and making her skin hot, almost to the point of burning "Bonnie…" she gasped.

"Goodbye Abby." Bonnie walked out of the motel room without looking back.

* * *

Klaus ordered the moving crew to take a break while he and Rebekah talked. He also sent Belle out. He didn't want anyone listening to his conversation with Rebekah.

His sister sat on the living room couch, mouth open and eyes wide. Klaus handed her a glass of bourbon. "Here you go darling."

"Marcel is alive…" Rebekah whispered in shock, "Elijah is trapped in a coffin that is draining the life out of him," she took the drink from Klaus. "And Bonnie is pregnant with your child." She gulped the drink down and welcomed the burning sensation down her throat.

Bonnie and Klaus were having a baby.

 _I'm going to be an aunt!_ She thought shocked by the revelation.

Rebekah stood up, "What the bloody hell are we going to do?" she asked her brother while she began pacing around the living room, mind racing. That's why the witches wanted Bonnie dead because of the baby. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that Klaus had gotten the green eyed witch pregnant and Elijah, dear Elijah at the hands of that traitor.

She couldn't believe that Marcel was alive and ruling New Orleans. Her blood boiled feeling angry, confused and betrayed. She had grieved for him thinking him dead. She had loved him once.

"We will go to New Orleans and wage war against our enemies." Klaus told her, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Have you done a locator spell?" She asked turning to face him. "We need to know where they're keeping Elijah."

"Angelica tried but he's cloaked. I sent her and Felix to New Orleans to secure a house for us." Klaus informed her while taking a sip of his own drink.

"When do we leave?" Rebekah asked while pouring herself another drink.

"As soon as possible, depending on whether Bonnie will come willingly or not." Klaus muttered angrily. "She seems to be under the illusion that her mother and her friends will help us in the war to come."

"Caroline might help…" Rebekah murmured lost in thought, _might_ being the key word. "But the Salvatore brothers and her mom…that's debatable."

"It's foolish. Damon and Stefan hate me. What do you think they'll do once they find out Bonnie is carrying my child? They will try to convince her to get rid of it!" Klaus spat. And he would kill them for it. He would kill Abby too. He should just kill all of them and be done with it.

"Bonnie is not that easy to manipulate Nik…" Rebekah told him. She walked towards him and touched his arm, trying to calm him down.

"You can help me." Klaus said suddenly. "You can convince Bonnie to come with us."

Rebekah sighed. "She's scared Klaus. Of course she doesn't want to go to the city where everyone probably wants her dead. It's normal for her to want to stay here. To raise her child here, in her hometown, this all she has ever known."

"And you agree with that?" Klaus asked incredulous. "You are taking her side!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Rebekah snapped. "It's not about taking sides. But you should try to understand where Bonnie is coming from. She's a young girl carrying a miracle baby…she must be terrified. It's natural for her to want to stay in the place where she feels safe, with her dad, with _her_ friends." Her brother needed to understand that whether he liked it or not Bonnie considered the Salvatore's friends.

"The safest place for her is with me!" Klaus hissed.

"Yes." Rebekah agreed. "But forcing her to do your bidding is not the way to go about things Nik." Not that he could, with all the power Bonnie had inside of her. Nik was delusional if he thought he could force her to do anything. "She cares for Damon and Stefan and you will have to deal with that."

"I'm surprised they're still alive after they threatened your human." Klaus muttered watching her carefully.

"His name is Matt and he's my boyfriend." Rebekah told him, there was a hint of a smile on her face and her eyes were filled with mischief.

"What did you do?" Klaus asked, he knew his sister well and he knew that look. _Was it too much to hope that she had gotten rid of them for good?_

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rebekah answered a wicked grin on her pretty face.

* * *

Bonnie cried her eyes out on the way back from the motel to her home. Riley had looked at her with concern but Bonnie had waved him off.

How could she have been so stupid?

 _What did you expect Bonnie?_ She thought angrily. Abby may be a vampire but she still thought like a witch. Bonnie whimpered remembering all the things Abby had said, the way she had so casually dismissed her baby and called it a creature…a monster.

Because that's what her baby was to the witches, a monster, a creature that needed to be destroyed.

The idea of getting rid of her baby had never even crossed her mind and the way Abby had assumed that's what she wanted angered her.

More tears streamed down her face as she rounded the corner towards her home. She could feel Riley's presence silently following her.

She had deluded herself into thinking that she and her mother could repair their relationship. That Abby would help her. "Stupid…" she muttered. "I'm so stupid." She should've known better. Abby was her mom and Bonnie had foolishly believed that link would be stronger than anything else. How wrong she had been.

She stopped abruptly when she spotted the three figures waiting outside her home. They looked terrible.

Stefan and Damon were covered in mud and their faces looked red, as if they had been burned. Caroline did not look any better, her hair wild and face pale.

"And the prodigal witch returns." Damon muttered angrily. "Where the hell have you been?"

"What happened to you?" Bonnie asked as she came to stand in front of them. Riley kept his distance but her friends saw him perfectly. Damon cursed and Stefan looked from Bonnie to the hybrid a thoughtful look on his face.

"Rebekah Mikaelson happened!" Caroline snapped angrily. "She tortured us!"

"What?" Bonnie stared at them in shock.

"As punishment for kidnapping Matt," Stefan told her. "She buried Damon and I in a coffin filled with vervain water and compelled us to stay there for hours."

"That's why we look like lobsters," Damon said, even after feeding their skin was still healing from their ordeal.

"And she compelled me to think that my body had been set on fire. I spent the entire night screaming at the top of my lungs because I thought I was dying." Angry tears burned in Caroline's eyes.

"I didn't know…" Bonnie murmured. "I'm sorry."

"You should be!" Caroline snapped in the heat of the moment. "We were trying to help you, to save you from Klaus…"

"Rebekah can be impulsive," Bonnie told them. "And you kidnapped Matt-"

"You're defending her!" Caroline said an incredulous look on her face. "Are you serious?"

"What the hell is going on Bonnie?" Damon demanded. "Since when are you fraternizing with the enemy? And why is one of his hybrids following you around? And how long have you known that he has more?"

"It's complicated…" Bonnie said looking away. After her confrontation with Abby, she felt exhausted. She did not feel ready to talk to her friends, let alone tell them the truth.

"Well, start talking witch because we want the truth and we want it now!" Damon yelled angrily.

Stefan stayed quiet, noting her shaky frame and the way she struggled to keep herself together. "Maybe this is not the best time…" he said suddenly. "We could use more rest…I'm sure we can talk later."

Bonnie gave him a grateful look.

"Are you nuts?" Damon turned to him before facing Bonnie once more. "Start talking." He ordered angry blue eyes pinning Bonnie to the spot.

"I…" Bonnie didn't know what to tell them. She suddenly wished Klaus were there.

"Are you sleeping with Klaus?" Caroline asked suddenly.

Bonnie's eyes widened. She didn't need to say anything, the look on her face and the way her heart skipped a beat gave her away to the three vampires standing before her.

* * *

 _A/N: Diego and Thierry are recurring characters in The Originals season one. Was anyone else bothered that Abby's reason for leaving Bonnie was basically because she lost her magic after saving Elena from Mikael? I'm putting my own twist into her story. I can't remember if she and Klaus ever met face to face on the show but I'm going on the assumption that they did. This chapter got way too long so I decided to end it here. Thank-you so much for all your amazing reviews. See you next chapter!_


	13. Chapter 13

**I never thought that so many people would enjoy reading this story. Thank-you so much for all your love and support! And please forgive any spelling and grammatical errors.**

 **I really hope you like this chapter is another long one ;)**

* * *

" _Are you sleeping with Klaus?" Caroline asked suddenly._

 _Bonnie's eyes widened. She didn't need to say anything, the look on her face and the way her heart skipped a beat gave her away to the three vampires standing before her._

Bonnie watched in horror and fascination the different emotions flickering over Damon and Caroline's faces. Stefan on the other hand didn't seem that surprised for a look of understanding crossed his features.

"Oh my god!" Caroline stared at her in shock, eyes wide and mouth open. "You and Klaus…" she couldn't believe it.

"No…" Damon said in disbelief. "It's not true." He waited for her to deny it, to tell Caroline she was wrong in her assumption. But Bonnie didn't.

For one crazy moment she thought of lying but in the end decided against it. The truth was inevitable and as much as she was not looking forward to this conversation there was no way out. Bonnie took a deep breath and braced herself, "it's true." She admitted. "I am."

"You're screwing Klaus..." Damon said in a dangerously low voice before the shock was quickly replaced by fury. "Are you out of your fucking mind? How can you be so stupid?" He moved closer until he came to stand inches from Bonnie, towering over her. "After all of the terrible things Klaus has done-"

"Don't you dare!" Bonnie hissed looking up into his angry face. "Don't you dare play that card with me Damon." She told him angrily. "After all the terrible things _you_ have done, you have no right to bring that up."

"You're defending him!" Damon yelled. "Are you kidding me?" he stared at her as if she had gone crazy. He turned to look at Stefan who kept quiet. "Can you believe this?"

"So what if I'm sleeping with Klaus?" Bonnie yelled back. "Why do you even care?"

"Because you're being an idiot, he's only using you!" Damon fired back.

"Klaus is a master manipulator." Stefan spoke for the first time. "Do you realize what you are getting yourself into by being with him?" his tone was gentle and calm so different from Damon's.

"I know what I'm doing." Bonnie told Stefan. "I know the things Klaus has done but he's also been there for me when I needed it the most. He saved me." He had saved her from the hunters and he had helped her against Silas. And more importantly Bonnie had felt his desire and determination to protect her and their baby.

"Why were you kidnapped?" Caroline asked desperate to understand. "Why are witches and werewolves after you? What's going on Bonnie?"

 _Because I'm pregnant_ , Bonnie thought. But she couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud. She wanted to tell them but after the way Abby had reacted to the news she was plagued with doubts. _What if her friends wanted her to get rid of the baby like Abby?_ Bonnie didn't want them to hate her baby just because of who the father was. "I don't know." She lied; feeling surprised at how easily the words slip past her lips.

"Bullshit." Damon exclaimed his eyes narrowing.

"How many hybrids does he have?" Stefan asked staring directly at Riley.

"That's none of your business." Riley snapped while keeping an eye on both brothers and preparing himself should they decide to attack.

"It is when you are in our town." Damon glared at the young hybrid. "That's how he's controlling you isn't it?" he turned to Bonnie, a sudden realization flashing across his eyes. "He's threatening you with something. Bonnie if he has force you-"

"He hasn't forced me to do anything!" Bonnie cut him off. "I'm a witch Damon. I can't be compelled and I already told you he's kept me safe!"

"You expect us to believe that Klaus, the most evil vampire in history is helping you out of the goodness of his heart?" Damon scoffed. "Did you hit your head or something?"

Bonnie glared at him.

"Bonnie…" Caroline told her softly taking a step closer. "We are your friends and we are worried about you. Klaus is…" She struggled to find the words. "Klaus…he's evil." She told her friend. "He killed Elena's aunt. He turned Tyler into a hybrid…and he killed his mom!" Caroline reminded her angrily.

"And despite all that, you didn't have a problem flirting with him and asking him for a new prom dress." Bonnie retaliated.

Caroline gasped a hurt look flashing across her face.

Bonnie let out shaky breath. This is not how she imagined having this conversation with her friends. The blazing heat of the sun did not help either. It was a hot and humid day and Bonnie was starting to feel faint. "Look, I know this is crazy but Klaus and I-"

"Crazy!" Damon interrupted with a mocking laugh. "Yeah, you're fucking crazy. You're sleeping with the enemy!"

"You know what?" Bonnie glared at him. "It's none of your goddamn business what I do with my life!"

"It is my business when you're letting an evil bastard like Klaus use you." Damon countered. "He only wants you for your magic. How could you possibly believe he cares about you?"

Bonnie shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "Because why else would someone like Klaus want me right?" She looked at Damon, before moving her gaze to Caroline and Stefan. "Why would anyone find me beautiful or interesting or desirable…" a bitter laughed escaped her lips. "I'm just the witch, nothing more." A few tears rolled down her cheeks. "The only thing I'm good for is for spells or to fix things."

"That's not true." Caroline told her sadly. "But how do you know if you can trust Klaus? That this is not some sort of plan to seduce you and use you-"

"He's been there when I needed it the most." Bonnie told her. "And he wouldn't lie to me, he can't." The bond would never allow it, the same way Bonnie couldn't lie to him either. Their bond would always reveal the truth of their feelings and intentions.

"Are you listening to the words spewing out of your mouth? He's brainwashed you!" Damon yelled in frustration. "You're crazy!"

"Damon-" Stefan said in warning but his brother did not listen.

"I thought you were smarter than this judgy." Damon continued. "You're acting like some sick fool teenager with a crush!"

Bonnie closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. Her whole body shook as she struggled to keep herself together. _Don't lose control Bonnie_ …she repeated like a mantra. She could feel it, the magic building inside of her, ready to explode.

"Why are you so angry?" Bonnie asked Damon as she opened her eyes to stare at him. "Why does it bother you so much? Why do you even care?"

Damon opened his mouth but was suddenly cut off by a new arrival.

"Yes, Damon. Do tell us why."

Everyone froze at the sound of that voice. Klaus suddenly appeared and made his way towards Bonnie followed by Jesse and Belle. He gave a nonchalant vibe but Bonnie could feel the simmering anger and the thirst for blood through their bond. She swallowed nervously, hoping that Damon would not put his foot in his mouth because things were going to end in blood in the mood Klaus was in.

Stefan and Caroline shared a nervous look, knowing that this was not going to end well.

Riley moved to Bonnie's side while Jesse stayed closed to Klaus. Belle stood a few feet behind them watching nervously between both groups but ready to fight should the situation called for it.

Klaus stood next to Bonnie, placing a possessive arm around her waist and pulling her against him. Bonnie flushed knowing that he was doing it to provoke her friends, to stake his claim on her.

Damon growled.

"Tell me something," Klaus said lips curving into his all too familiar smirk. "Are you truly worried about Bonnie…" he pinned Damon with his gaze. "…or are you jealous because I got her into bed before you could?"

Bonnie closed her eyes feeling the heat on her face at Klaus's words.

Stefan moved to Damon's side knowing that his brother was seconds away from losing his temper while Caroline gasped looking from Klaus's possessive grip on Bonnie's hip to Damon's angry scowl. She took a couple of steps back, her senses alerting her to the danger around her.

"Not that I can blame you mate, she's exquisite." Klaus continued taunting him. "And she's all mine." he declared with a possessive growl.

Damon lost it. He shoved Stefan out of the way and launched himself at Klaus.

All hell broke loose.

* * *

Matt smiled, blue eyes shining with undeniable happiness as he spotted Rebekah entering the Grill. "Hi." He greeted as his girlfriend made her way towards him.

"Hi." Rebekah smiled but it did not reach her eyes.

Matt frowned, "is something wrong?"

"We need to talk." She told him.

 _The words of doom in every relationship_ Matt thought. He called to one of his coworkers and told him that he was taking a break. It was lunch time and the Grill was packed so he and Rebekah walked outside.

"Is everything-" he didn't get to finish as Rebekah pushed him against the wall and planted a fiery kiss on him.

Matt wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. He didn't know how long they stood there making out near the entrance nor did he care. After the amazing night and morning they had spent together all Matt wanted was to be with her.

They pulled away breathless.

"Wow…" he panted. He reached out with his hand to touch her face. She looked so sad. "Something is bothering you…" he murmured fingertips tracing her cheek.

"I have to go to New Orleans." Rebekah told him nervously. "My brother Elijah is in trouble and there is a coven of witches plotting against us." She didn't know when Bonnie planned to tell her friends about the baby so Rebekah had to keep that a secret for now. "Nik and I are leaving Mystic Falls."

"Oh," Matt felt an ache in his chest. She was leaving. "But you'll be back?" he asked with a hopeful smile. "Once you find your brother I mean…"

Rebekah took his hand in hers. "I don't know." She answered honestly. "I don't how long this will take or if I'll back after…" She had a strange feeling that this would take far longer than they anticipated. They were going to war after all.

Matt looked away staring into the parking lot, lost in thought.

Rebekah bit her lip before taking a deep breath. _It's now or never_ , she thought. "I want you to come with me." she blurted out.

Matt turned to stare at her with shock. "You want…really?" He had assumed she was there to break up with him.

"I know we haven't been together for that long and that you have your job and your friends…" the more she thought about it the more convinced she became that he would chose to stay. Rebekah looked down at the floor. She was a thousand years old, an indestructible vampire and yet she felt as uncertain and shy about this as a fifteen year old human girl would. "But I was hoping that maybe you would like to come with me." She said lifting her face and staring into his eyes. "It's crazy I know…and your life is going to be in danger but I thought…I hope that you will come with me."

"You want me to go with you?" he asked still not believing what he had just heard.

Rebekah nodded. "New Orleans is beautiful, a city filled with music, culture…magic." She smiled. It had been the place where she and her siblings had been the happiest, the city where they had lived the longest in. "I think you will like it there and I know you've never been so it could be a good thing to get out of this town…" a hopeful smile graced her lips.

"I don't know what to say." Matt hadn't really thought about leaving Mystic Falls, ever. "When do you plan to leave?"

"If it were up to Nik we would go now." Rebekah told him. "We will leave as soon as we can." _As soon as Nik convinces Bonnie to come with us_ , she thought.

"I don't know Rebekah I…"

"You don't have to decide right at this very second." She said. "I know this is a big decision but think about it."

"I will." Matt promised. It was very tempting but at the same time, _could he leave his hometown and his friends behind?_

* * *

Klaus had anticipated Damon's attack and met him halfway. The two engaged in a violent fight.

Stefan stood up and tried to intervene only to be blocked by Riley while Jesse stood in front of Caroline.

"Are you serious?" Caroline glared at the dark skinned hybrid.

"Sorry gorgeous but I have orders." He winked.

Bonnie watched as Klaus easily blocked all of Damon's attacks. He was itching for a fight and it seemed he had decided to blow off his irritation on the younger vampire.

"You're pathetic." Klaus chuckled as he blocked Damon's punch with his left palm. He then proceeded to twist Damon's arm before sending him crashing into the ground. "What would dear Elena think if she knew her boyfriend fancies her best friend?"

Damon stood up vampire face showing, "you son of a bitch!" He attacked again.

"Stop it!" Bonnie screamed. She tried running towards them but Belle blocked her.

"Trust me," the hybrid girl told her. "It's best if you don't get in the way." Klaus would have all of their heads if they let anything happened to Bonnie.

Klaus was playing with Damon, taunting him. The younger vampire didn't really stand a chance but the anger he felt fueled his desire to keep on attacking the hybrid.

Klaus punched him and Damon fell to the ground bleeding.

By this point Stefan and Riley were fighting as well. Stefan was not going to sit around and watch as his brother got killed and Riley was determined to stop him from getting involved.

"Oh my god, Stefan!" Caroline screamed as she watched in horror the way Riley used him as a punching bag. She tried to run towards him only to be blocked by Jesse once more.

"Please," she begged. "He's going to kill him."

"I hope he does." Jesse murmured practically cheering when Riley landed a nice punch in the vampire's stomach.

Bonnie watched as Klaus continued to beat Damon, laughing at his poor attempts to fight back. Riley had the upper hand over Stefan too. And Caroline cried in panic and fear. Bonnie knew what she had to do.

"Did I strike a nerve?" Klaus continued as Damon stumbled trying to land another punch. Klaus blocked him easily laughing at his feeble attempts to hit him.

"You don't even care about Bonnie." Damon hissed falling to the ground once more.

"You know nothing." Klaus kicked him in the stomach, once, twice…

"Stop it." Bonnie screamed as Klaus flung Damon across the front lawn. She sent a paralyzing spell at Belle before running until she suddenly stood in between both men.

"Get out of the way Bonnie." Klaus told her angrily.

"Step aside Bonnie." Damon said as he managed to stand up on shaky legs despite the excruciating pain he felt-courtesy of Klaus's blows.

"No." Bonnie told them as she stood in between them determined to put an end to this. With a wave of her magic she paralyzed Riley and Stefan, preventing the hybrid from killing the younger vampire.

"You're protecting him now." Damon laughed spitting some blood on the grass before walking closer. Bonnie extended her hand to keep him from attacking again. "The big bad hybrid needs the little witch to keep him safe." He taunted Klaus.

Klaus growled. Bonnie's body stopped him before he could go after Damon once more. She had her back pressed to his chest while she kept her right hand extended touching Damon's chest and preventing him from attacking Klaus.

They both felt the jolt of her magic.

"You need to stop this now." She ordered both of them. Bonnie shivered feeling the dark and dangerous supernova that was Klaus's aura. Damon's aura wasn't as strong and for the first time Bonnie realized just how much older and powerful Klaus truly was. He could have easily killed him if he had wanted to.

"Do you really think he cares about you?" Damon snapped. "A few weeks ago, he was all about Caroline and now he's suddenly into you?" he shook his head. "Wake up Bonnie he's manipulating you."

"Like you manipulated Elena," Klaus retorted. "Bonnie came willingly to my bed." Bonnie flushed at his words. "Doesn't it make you sick that you needed a sire bond to finally fuck the girl of your dreams?"

Bonnie gasped at Klaus's words and even Stefan paled.

"Shut up!" Damon's pushed against her hand but her magic kept him at bay. "A few months ago you were practically begging me for advice on what to say to Caroline so she wouldn't be angry at you for all the evil things you've done!"

Damon's words stung more than Bonnie dared to admit. Her face fell and Damon smirked.

"The only reason he's with you is because he can't get between Caroline's legs!" Damon told her viciously. "You're just the whore warming his bed!" Damon regretted the words immediately especially when he saw the hurt look on Bonnie's face but it was too late the damage had been done.

Klaus moved so fast, no one saw him.

One moment he stood behind Bonnie and in the next he had Damon on the ground, looming over him as his hand violently tore through his chest and took hold of his heart in a painful grip.

Damon gasped in shock, in pain, and fear as Klaus's hand squeezed his heart.

Caroline covered her mouth with her hands while Stefan struggled to break free from Bonnie's paralyzing spell.

"Wow," Belle whispered eyes wide and body still paralyzed.

Bonnie watched horrified as Klaus tugged at Damon's heart, blood poured of the dark haired vampire as he gagged and convulsed.

"No…please." Stefan begged.

"Not so tough now are you." Klaus snarled eyes flashing amber and fangs visible.

Damon couldn't say or do anything. He laid paralyzed, tears burning in his eyes by the excruciating pain he felt in that moment.

Klaus gave him an evil smirk and squeezed harder. Damon choked on his own blood.

The beast inside Klaus urged him to tear the vampire limb from limb, to feast on his blood, to make an example of him. He squeezed the heart until the organ stopped pumping blood.

Damon's body slowly began to desiccate.

A warm soft hand touched Klaus's shoulder. "Klaus please," Bonnie's voice broke the painful silence that had befallen the group. "Don't kill him." She begged. "Let him go."

Klaus closed his eyes for a brief moment before staring back at the pitiful creature beneath him. He wanted to kill Damon, to destroy him but he also knew that Bonnie wouldn't forgive him. _For you_ he thought glancing in her direction before turning back to Damon. "Remember this day Damon Salvatore," he hissed. "Remember that you live because I allow it." He pulled Damon's half desiccated body up to whisper in his ear. "Bonnie is mine. She belongs to me and if you ever come near her again, if you even think of touching her, I will rip you apart." He promised.

Klaus pulled his hand out of Damon's chest and stood up.

Stefan closed his eyes breathing a sigh of relief. Caroline let out a shaky breath and stared at Klaus, almost as if she were truly seeing him-what he was capable of-for the first time.

Damon gasped as the blood slowly began pumping through his veins and the open wound on his chest began the painful process of healing.

"Get him out of my sight before I change my mind." Klaus ordered Stefan.

Bonnie trembled as she broke the paralyzing spell.

Stefan kneeled beside Damon and pulled him up.

Bonnie took a few steps closer towards him, wanting to see whether he would be okay but Klaus stopped her. He stood in front of her, blocking her path towards Damon. She heard the low and dangerous growl coming from his chest and Bonnie knew that if she got closer to Damon, Klaus would kill him without a second thought.

"I won't tell you again." Klaus hissed. The words were directed at Stefan but he kept his eyes on Bonnie.

Stefan didn't need to be told again, with Damon on his arms he took off at vampire speed.

Caroline looked from Bonnie to Klaus before shaking her head.

"Care wait..." Bonnie tried to stop her from leaving. "Please…we can talk…there is so much I want to tell you." Bonnie said. "Please don't go."

Caroline bit her lip and stared at her shoes before looking back at Bonnie. "I'm sorry I…I can't." She ran out of there, following Stefan and Damon.

Bonnie felt like she had been stabbed in the heart, again…first her mother and now her friends. _Would the hole in her heart ever be repaired?_ She wondered.

Bonnie cried watching her childhood friend go and feeling like she had lost a limb or more like it had been forcibly removed from her body. It hurt. It hurt so much. Her whole body shook by the force of her sobs. Her vision blurred and everything began spinning around her. She was emotionally drained.

Klaus caught her before she could fall to the ground. "I got you." He whispered against her ear while he pulled her shaking body against him. "I got you love."

Bonnie closed her eyes as Klaus picked her and carried her bridal style inside her house.

She burrowed her face on his neck and embraced the darkness.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The Seer steps echoed on the polish wood floor as she walked inside the house. She had arranged a meeting with the elder witches of New Orleans, Bastiana and Agnes.

The two witches anxiously paced around the living room of the abandoned house just outside the city limits. They knew what they risked coming to this secret meeting. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Thank-you for agreeing to meet with me," the Seer told them pulling her black hood off her head.

"You said it was important." Bastiana watched her warily, knowing that this could be a trap set by Marcel. It was no secret he and the Seer were allies after all. "If this is one of your games-"

"It is not a game, I assure you." The Seer told her. "I'm in need of your assistance."

"You have a lot of nerve," Agnes spat angrily. "You were shunned from this coven for practicing dark magic and now you seek our help."

"Magic is neither light nor dark…" the Seer murmured. "I was cast away because I dared to question the Ancestors. I dared to defy their wicked ways."

"Wicked?" Bastiana shook her head. "You no longer serve the Ancestors and yet you are able to practice magic?"

The Seer smiled. "You have no idea what I can do." She stared at both women letting them sense her power. Bastiana gasped and took a step back as the dark magic engulfed her. Agnes stubbornly refused to cower in fear. _Fool,_ the Seer thought. _You will die soon._ She wanted to tell her but she bit her tongue."You need me." she told them. "You will need my help if you want to dethrone Marcel."

"Marcel is your ally," Bastiana reminded her. "Why would you help us now?"

"Witches must stick together." The Seer answered. "There is a war coming and the only way our kind will survive is if we stand together as one."

"Let me guess, you saw it in one of your visions." Agnes's eyes narrowed. "Why should we believe anything you have to say?"

"My visions always come true." The Seer told her. "I have seen rivers of blood bathe the streets of this city. I have seen witches fall and the Ancestors have seen it too. It is the reason they want the girl."

Bastiana and Agnes shared a look.

"Bonnie Bennett." The Seer hissed. "The Ancestors want her baby." She chuckled at the surprised look on their faces. "Oh, I know that and much more." She told them. "I know why the Ancestors want that baby. And I'm here to make a deal with you."

"What deal?" Bastiana asked intrigued.

The Seer's eyes gleamed with triumph.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"I can't believe Bonnie is sleeping with Klaus." Caroline sat on the couch wiping the tears from her eyes. "How could she defend him after all the things he has done?"

"Stranger things have happened." Stefan said quietly, sitting across from her. Damon was asleep in his room, having fed and still healing from Klaus's attack.

"Klaus of all people…" Caroline continued. "I mean she dated Jeremy for so long and never slept with him and suddenly she jumps into bed with Klaus?" Caroline stood up angrily pacing around the living room of the boarding house. "It's insane. He has to be controlling her somehow." It was the only thing that made sense in her mind.

"Bonnie is a witch." Stefan reminded her. "Klaus can't compel her and I doubt he could force her to do anything she doesn't want to." Not with all the power Bonnie had.

"He's only using her!" Caroline snapped. "And Bonnie is far too innocent to realize that he's only playing with her." She combed her fingers through her blonde locks as she moved around the room, her mind racing with possibilities.

Stefan watched her warily.

"I mean, don't you find his sudden interest in her suspicious?" Caroline asked turning to look at him. "They tried to kill each other and now they're sleeping together. It doesn't make any sense!" She crossed her arms over her chest and flopped back on the couch. "What?" Caroline asked when she noticed the look Stefan was giving her.

"Are you really worried about Bonnie or are you jealous?" he asked suddenly.

Caroline scoffed. "I…you…" she laughed nervously. "I love Tyler."

"I didn't ask you that." Stefan said.

Caroline pressed her lips together consciously aware of Stefan's eyes on her. "I have no reason to be jealous." She said softly avoiding his eyes. "Bonnie is my best friend. I'm worried."

"Then you can at least try and support her." Stefan told her.

Caroline's head jerked in his direction, her mouth open in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Klaus is an evil bastard who has done terrible things." Stefan said. "But so has Damon, so have I. So have you…" he stared into her eyes. "We all have killed. We all have done things we regret."

Caroline looked down at her lap, remembering the night of the Carnival when she had lost control over her hunger and killed Carter and more recently the twelve witches she had killed to save Bonnie.

"Klaus has a thousand years over us," Stefan continued. "If Elena could see past all the terrible things Damon and I have done why can't Bonnie?"

"That's different. You've changed. You're not a ripper anymore." Caroline told him. She was not going to talk about the terrible things Damon had done. "Klaus doesn't regret anything and do you honestly think he actually cares about Bonnie?" Caroline asked with incredulity, "that he could want her for more than her magic."

"Klaus has always had a thing for witches." Stefan murmured recalling the time he had spent with Klaus and Rebekah in the twenties. "Powerful witches…"

"Exactly he's only using-"

"It makes sense that he would want someone like Bonnie by his side." Stefan interrupted her.

"What are you saying?" Caroline asked warily.

Stefan stared into her eyes, "Klaus has always seen himself as a king. The king of all vampires." He told her. "He's the strongest vampire-werewolf in the world. It makes sense that he would want an equal by his side."

Caroline frowned.

"Bonnie has done what no other witch has been able to do in a thousand years." Stefan continued. "She succeeded when not even Esther could. She put Klaus in a coffin." The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. "And Bonnie is not only powerful but beautiful, loyal, selfless…"

"If I didn't know any better I would think someone has a crush." Caroline teased.

Stefan smiled sadly. In his heart there was only one girl… _Elena_. It hurt to think about her and all that had happened since she had become a vampire. But his love for Elena didn't make him blind. He could see why Klaus had become interested in Bonnie.

"I guess what I'm saying is…that I'm surprised he didn't take an interest in Bonnie before now." Stefan admitted. He had been friends with Klaus once upon a time. Stefan knew of his fascination with witches.

And he also remembered the summer he had spent with Klaus finding werewolves to turn into hybrids. Klaus had asked him endless questions about Bonnie, the interest, the secret admiration he had sensed and that strange glint in the hybrid's eyes had worried Stefan. Klaus had been interested in Bonnie back then even if he had not consciously acknowledged it.

"This is not how things are supposed to be." Caroline murmured sadly. They were supposed to be enjoying their summer before going to college but Tyler was gone and Elena was out there somewhere wrecking havoc without her emotions and Bonnie…Bonnie was with Klaus.

 _When had everything gone so wrong?_ She wondered. _And why did she feel an ache in her heart at the thought of Klaus and Bonnie together?_

* * *

Bonnie woke up startled. She immediately felt the presence of a vampire in her room.

"Hi." Rebekah sat on the bed next to her, a nervous smile on her face.

Bonnie frowned while sitting up and rubbing her eyes. _How long have I been asleep?_ She wondered while staring out the widow. The sun was setting, it was late. "My dad!" she shrieked. Her dad was to be released from the hospital that afternoon. "I have to go-"

"Relax." Rebekah told her. "He's downstairs with Matt, we ordered some pizza."

Bonnie gave her a blank look. "My dad is here?"

"Nik called, he said you had a rough day." Rebekah stared at her hands, feeling guilty. "He wanted you to get some rest so Matt and I picked your father from the hospital." She bit her lip. "I hope you don't mind but I compelled him to think you were with us. I didn't want him to worry."

Bonnie sighed. "The house…" she murmured thinking back to the mess downstairs.

"The cleaning crew came in while you were sleeping." Rebekah informed her. "Your home is spotless." Rebekah had also done her best to fix Bonnie's room without waking her up.

"Thank-you." Bonnie said grateful that her dad was not only home but that he hadn't encountered the mess the werewolves had left behind. "And Klaus?" She asked. She remembered that Klaus had carried her inside her home while she cried. She didn't remember much after that.

"He had to leave." Rebekah told her with a shrug. "It's the full moon tonight." Her brother always got moody on the full moon and his siblings had learned a long time ago to stay far away from him during those nights.

"Right," her cheeks burned remembering that morning.

 _It's best if I stay away from you tonight…_

 _There are other urges…_

Bonnie shivered recalling the vision or fantasy she had seen when staring into Klaus's eyes. She felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm sorry." Rebekah said suddenly.

Bonnie looked up startled.

"What I did to your friends caused them to find out about you and Nik." She felt no remorse for what she had done to the Salvatore brothers and Caroline, they deserved it. But she did regret that it had caused Bonnie pain.

"They would've found out sooner or later." Bonnie replied sadly. Her heart hurt. She should've known better. She should've known her friends would not react to the news well. She didn't even want to imagine how Damon would react upon learning of her pregnancy. Bonnie shuddered. She didn't want to think about that now or she would end up crying again.

"If everyone can forgive Elena for being in love with Damon than they shouldn't mind that you're with my brother." Rebekah said. It was hypocritical of them to judge Bonnie.

Bonnie didn't say anything. "Klaus told you didn't he?" she said when she caught Rebekah staring at her stomach.

"Yes." Rebekah smiled sheepishly. "I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt." She smiled while she stared at Bonnie's stomach remembering how she had seen her mother pregnant with her younger brother Henrik. Her mother had let her rest her head and hands on her stomach to feel the baby kick. "How far along are you?"

"A few weeks," Bonnie told her. "I have to make an appointment with the doctor." She needed to take care of her baby and herself. Her baby was the most important thing in her life.

Rebekah studied her face wondering if she should broach the subject now or wait. _Better now than never_. "Bonnie…" she began. "You are coming with us to New Orleans right?" _please say yes_ Rebekah thought desperately, Nik would go crazy if she didn't and probably take her by force if necessary. And she also knew that there was a higher chance for Matt to agree to come with them if Bonnie did as well.

Bonnie stared at her lap. "I don't think I have much of a choice." As much as she dreaded the thought of leaving her home, her dad, her friends-despite the fact that they were angry with her, Bonnie knew she had to go. The witches would not stop coming for her. She was going to protect her baby at all costs even if it meant going to war. "I need to stop the people coming after my baby and New Orleans is where they are."

"We will stop them." Rebekah said placing her hand on top of Bonnie's. "My brothers and I will protect you." She promised. "You are one us now Bonnie."

Bonnie smiled. _Who would've thought that she would end up being so connected to the Mikaelson family?_

"Come on." Rebekah said standing up. "Your father is waiting and you need to eat. You have to feed my little niece or nephew after all."

Bonnie shook her head and got up from her bed.

"Your father is really nice, he invited me to stay for dinner." Rebekah told her as the two walked down the stairs and made their way to the dining room where Matt and her father were waiting. Bonnie wondered if her father knew or suspected Rebekah was a vampire. As the mayor of Mystic Falls he probably knew about the original family but as far as she knew he hadn't seen them face to face.

She put a smile on her face and tried to forget about the events of that day. She wanted to enjoy the time she had left with her dad. She would be going to New Orleans soon and she didn't know why but she had the sinking feeling she would not be returning soon.

* * *

The sun disappeared as the day became night.

The hybrids had felt the pull, that hypnotic call throughout the whole day but now as the day ended it became stronger than ever.

Belle stared nervously at the darkening sky. Tonight would be her first full moon as a hybrid and she felt nervous and anxious. She could feel the wolf inside of her, yearning to break free.

"You'll be fine." Riley told her coming to stand next to her. They were at the Mikaelson mansion. The big backyard let to the woods, far away from the rest of the town.

"I can feel it." Belle whispered. "What if I shift?" she asked hazel eyes filled with panic.

"You have absolute control. You're a hybrid now." Riley said. "All wolves feel the pull of the moon but we can decide whether we want to shift or not."

"Did you know that the full moon makes us stronger?" Jesse said stepping outside of the house and walking towards them. "Becoming a wolf under the full moon is different than shifting on every other night."

"What about the pain?" Belle asked chewing on her bottom lip. "Some of the other hybrids shifted before," the ones that had been turned at the same time as her. "They were curious but I don't want to, the pain…" it had been excruciating. The first time she had turned into a wolf she had thought she was dying. She didn't want to go through that ever again.

"It'll be less painful." Riley assured her. "And it's amazing." He smiled and Belle flushed. He looked really handsome under the full moon. "To be able to turn at will, to know you are in control, to hunt…" Unlike some of the other hybrids Riley was one of the few who enjoyed being in his wolf form.

The three of them watched as the moon appeared in the sky. Belle felt terrified that her bones would start breaking without her control.

"It's okay." Riley told her gently. "You are in control."

She let out a shaky breath. She felt the desire to shift, to become a wolf like every full moon before but she didn't. She looked up towards the moon smiling. It felt wonderful to remain human during the full moon, to be finally free from its curse.

"We should go hunting." Jesse murmured a mischievous glint in piercing eyes.

Riley smiled. "We should. In our wolf forms." He told Belle with a wink.

"The whole point of becoming a hybrid is to never experience that pain again." Belle told him frowning. "Why would you ever want to be a wolf again?" she had hated it and now that she was finally free she had no plans to ever shift again.

"Never turn your back on your wolf side, Belle." Riley told her seriously. "The same way you have come to accept your vampire side, the super strength, the ability to compel people, the immortality…you need to accept your wolf heritage as well. For it will always be a part of you."

"Come on baby girl," Jesse said. "Let's shift and have some fun." He didn't wait for her to answer as he began taking his shirt off. Belle looked away only to turn red as a tomato when Riley began taking his clothes off as well. Her mouth opened in shock when he began pulling his pants down. _Werewolves have absolutely no shame!_ She thought in embarrassment as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Jesse chuckled. "Are you ready?" she heard him ask.

"I will be in control?" Belle questioned while keeping her eyes shut. "Like in control, full control you know, I will know and remember what I did and I won't go crazy killing people not that I ever had…" she frowned. "Well I don't actually remember if I ever had. I don't think so but you promise that I will know and-"

"Yes." Jesse cut her off. "Trust me you have to experience it to understand it."

"What about Klaus?" She asked suddenly. "Will he join us too?" he was their Alpha after all. He should be the one to lead the hunt. Although he had been in a bad mood the whole day and it had become worst after what had happened at Bonnie's house. He had stayed with the witch and had come back shortly before sunset, only to locked himself in his study and no one had seen or heard from him since.

"No." Riley answered. "No one has seen Klaus in his wolf form." He told her. No one had ever seen Klaus shift. Some of the hybrids had run together in their wolf forms a couple of times but Klaus had never joined them. No one knew why and no one dared to ask either.

"Why?" Belle asked curiously. She opened her eyes and gasped, mouth open wide in shock upon seeing Riley's nakedness. "Oh my-" her eyes were suddenly drawn to a certain part of his anatomy.

Jesse laughed.

Belle jumped out of her skin and put her hands over her eyes mortified. When she finally dared to take a peek both Riley and Jesse had shifted. Both wolves one grey and the other dark brown stood near the edge of the property, staring at her, waiting for her to join them.

Belle bit her lip embarrassed and yet curious. She glanced at the moon before taking a deep breath. _I hope I don't regret this._ She thought. She went behind a statue that decorated the gorgeously kept garden and began taking her clothes off before she allowed her body to shift.

The three wolves took off running into the woods behind the Mikaelson mansion.

From the window on the second floor a pair of amber eyes watched them with envy.

* * *

Bonnie felt happy to have her father home but she also felt restless and anxious. She couldn't explain it. There was a strange feeling at the pit of her stomach. The sadness, the anger and the heartache she felt after her confrontation with Abby and her friends had turned into an almost desperate need to escape, to be free.

She wanted to forget, to escape, to bury the pain inside her heart and run wild and free, away from everything that made her hurt.

Bonnie didn't understand where this yearning had suddenly come from.

While her father slept peacefully and Matt and Rebekah crashed in the guest bedroom, Bonnie paced nervously around her room. She couldn't sleep, with each passing hour she grew more agitated.

 _What's wrong with me?_ She wondered. She felt like she wanted to run through the woods, to feel the earth on her feet, the wind hitting her face, to be connected to nature.

Her skin tingled and she felt hot, almost feverish. No matter how much ice water she drank she couldn't control the thirst. She craved something but she didn't know what exactly.

Each time she stared at the moon she felt that strange hypnotic pull. That desire echoing in her veins.

 _Come to me…_

A seductive voice whispered in her mind.

 _Come to me little one_ …

Bonnie whimpered as she felt the dampness between her thighs. She thought of Klaus, his lips, his hands on her skin, the way he had buried his head between her legs.

 _Oh god_. Bonnie closed her eyes rubbing her thighs together as she remembered the pleasure he had given her a few nights ago. She wanted more. She needed more.

 _Come to me Bonnie…_

The clock struck midnight.

Green eyes opened and a gasp escaped her lips upon feeling the electric jolt through her system. Her skin felt on fire, her blood burned and she finally understood.

Bonnie made her way downstairs as if she were in a trance.

She walked barefooted out of her home, shivering in anticipation when a soft breeze caressed her skin.

The night was warm but she knew a storm was brewing in the distance. She could feel it. Her skin prickled and goose bumps formed over her arms. She felt the spark of her magic ignite inside of her.

Bonnie made her way to him…to Klaus.

* * *

 _The pack hunted together. They knew each other well, their movements always in sync. They understood each other in ways no other wolves did. It was in their blood, in their lineage._

 _The black wolf followed them, always a step behind, always wary, always distant._

 _They knew he was following them, they knew he could see them, they knew he was there. But they didn't mind for he was one of their own._

 _The packed cornered a deer, the poor animal screeched and cried out as sharp teeth sank deep into his flesh. They were ravenous and they viciously devoured their prey._

 _The black wolf watched them from a distance, paws sinking into the muddy grown and yellow eyes moving over each of them. Every full moon the pack seemed to grow as more wolves joined the hunt._

 _The wolf wanted to join them but he restrained those desires. He was not part of the pack, he couldn't be._

 _The wolf in him yearned to be free, to join the other wolves and be part of their pack but the vampire in him vehemently refused._

 _They had a pack, a far more superior breed of wolves._

 _He didn't need them._

Klaus opened his eyes, cold sweat trickling down his skin. The glass of bourbon he had in his right hand shattered by the force of his grip. He stood up gasping and shaking. With each full moon the dreams became stronger, ever since he had broken his curse he had been dreaming of them, the strange pack of wolves that seemed to grow out of nothing.

The first few months were glimpses, flashes that did not make any sense and he hardly paid them any mind. But lately the images had become clearer and the strange pull in the pit of his stomach stronger.

 _Am I losing control?_ He wondered. No, he was a hybrid he could control the beast inside of him. No matter what his wolf side wanted, Klaus had a pack. There was no need for the wolf inside of him to seek another especially in dreams.

Klaus closed his eyes. It was barely midnight. He still had a long way to go before morning. He had hated the nights of the full moon when he had been human, because his family had to hide in the caves to protect themselves from the wolves. He hated the full moon as a vampire because it reminded him of what he didn't have, of what his own mother had taken from him.

For one thousand years on every full moon he indulged in blood and sex. He enjoyed to hunt and to devour, to drink himself into a stupor. He had never had a problem in finding a pretty little thing to fuck and kill or more than one. It was something he continued to do as a hybrid but tonight all he wanted was a certain green eyed witch. All he thought of, all he wanted since prom night was her.

 _Bonnie_

Klaus groaned. If Bonnie knew half of the things the beast in him wanted to do to her she would set him on fire before running away screaming.

 _Go to her…take her…claim her…_

The part that he kept locked away inside whispered. The wall he had carefully built between his vampire and werewolf selves was slowly crumbling to the ground.

Klaus stood up and walked to the window feeling conflicted. For a thousand years he had lived and thrived as a vampire, therefore it felt natural to suppress his wolf side even after breaking his curse. He enjoyed the perks that came with his hybrid nature but he also felt wary of the wolf inside of him. He couldn't help it; he didn't trust that part of him. But with each full moon it becomes harder and harder to keep the beast under control, especially now that both vampire and wolf wanted _her._

He stared at the moon trying to control the desire, the need, the lust he felt. Tonight in particular, the animalistic urges inside of him seemed far stronger than ever. They had intensified to the point of desperation. It took all of his self control not to run towards Bonnie's house and-

Klaus felt her long before he spotted her walking towards the mansion. He cursed and moved at vampire speed to meet her.

Bonnie walked towards him, back straight, head held high. She was a vision in white, her curves perfectly outlined by the silky material of her nightgown.

His mouth watered. His entire body shook by the wave of lust he felt in that moment.

"Bonnie," he groaned and forced himself to stay rooted to the spot, a few feet away from her. He didn't trust himself to get closer. "You shouldn't be here." He whispered almost in fear. _Did she have any idea what he would do to her?_

Bonnie ignored him and continued to walk towards him, until she stood a few inches away, so close that her scent filled his senses. A deep growl rumbled low in his chest.

Bonnie reached out and touched his face.

Klaus closed his eyes, body tense and heart pounding in his ears. "Go away…please…" he begged desperate to make her understand. "I will hurt you." His tortured gaze moved over her face and his jaw clenched. "I will break you." He hissed eyes flashing.

"You won't." Bonnie whispered cupping his cheek and seeing the hunger in his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as butterflies took flight in her stomach.

Klaus stood still, completely immobilized feeling the warmth of her touch on his heated skin. His hands balled into fists in a desperate attempt to keep control.

Her eyes were hooded with lust. "I need you."

Klaus growled. Her words destroyed any self-control he had. He pulled her towards him, crashing his mouth into hers in a desperate and explosive kiss. Her body came alive and her nipples hardened as Klaus crushed her soft body to his hard chest. Bonnie grew slick between her thighs as she felt his erection rubbing against her. She wrapped her hands around his neck and moaned into his mouth.

Klaus tilted her head as he took full control of the kiss. His fangs scrapped her bottom lip and he licked the rich red drops with his tongue before it tangled with hers. _More_ he wanted more. His blood felt like lava in his veins and he devoured her mouth, hot and hungry, his need primal, urgent.

He pushed her hard against a nearby tree, his hands moving up to cup her breasts through her thin nightgown. Bonnie gasped and pulled away from his lips panting.

Klaus's heated gaze sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine. He grabbed the top of her nightgown and easily ripped it in half. He yanked it off her body leaving her naked and shivering to his hungry gaze.

Bonnie used her magic to rip his clothes off his body. Klaus stared at her in shock before his lips curved into a sinful grin. And then his mouth came down on hers again, hard, desperate as they kissed again and again, skin against skin, her erect nipples pressed tightly against his chest.

Bonnie couldn't get enough, she wanted more. She didn't even care that they were out in the open where anyone could see them. "I need you." She whimpered pulling briefly away from his lips to catch her breath. "Please…" she couldn't take it anymore. The heat that boiled inside of her made her mad with lust and need for him, only him.

In the blink of an eye Bonnie found her back pressed against the cool grass, Klaus moved above her. His hot mouth sucked one breast while his hand moved to the other peak, rolling her nipple between his fingers. She moaned and arched her back as Klaus fed on her breasts, teeth scrapping and nipping at the soft and sensitive flesh before he moved down to her belly button and down still.

Bonnie cried out when Klaus buried his head between her thighs, licking, sucking. Her hips bucked against him. One hand tangled in his hair while the other dug painfully into the earth next to her head, feeling desperate for that sweet release only he could provide.

Klaus was addicted to the taste of her and he enjoyed hearing her cry out his name over and over. Bonnie tensed under him and with one last flick of his tongue she came apart in his mouth. Every part of her body sang with pleasure. She opened her eyes and caught the glint in his amber eyes. Klaus gave her a mischievous grin before he licked the inside of her tight.

Bonnie shuddered and screamed as another wave of pleasure slammed inside of her when his fangs pierced her inner thigh. He drank her delicious blood with greed, feeling her power flow inside of him and tasting the pleasure he had just given her.

Klaus licked the wound close pulling away from her to enjoy the sight of her spread before him underneath the moonlight. He had never seen anything more beautiful. Her skin covered in sweat, her lips bruised from his kisses and her body quivering with pleasure. He bit into his wrist. "Drink," he told her.

The night was young still and he had barely started to sate the hunger he felt for her.

Bonnie opened her eyes and took his bleeding wrist into her mouth, drinking his blood. She felt a firestorm inside of her as her magic mixed with his powerful blood.

Klaus pinned her underneath him and thrust inside her. Bonnie cried out wrapping her legs around him and squeezing him tightly. His eyes darkened with animalistic lust as he slammed inside of her, each time harder and faster than before.

Bonnie's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body shuddered. Her nails sinking into his shoulders as she pushed her hips to meet his hard thrusts. She was so close. She could feel the pleasure building inside of her.

"Oh God!" She moaned as his thrusts became deeper, stronger, and faster. Klaus grunted at the feel of her clenching him tightly as he drove into her over and over again. He pushed so deep inside of her, hitting a certain spot that had her crying out with a thundering climax.

A lazy smile formed over her flushed face after a while. Bonnie felt content and satisfied, her body still shaking from the aftershocks of her orgasm.

Klaus did not feel satisfied. He was still hard inside of her, he still wanted more, he still needed more.

Bonnie frowned when he pulled out of her. "What-" she didn't get to finish.

Klaus whirled her around and Bonnie gasped as she suddenly found herself on her hands and knees. Bonnie tensed when she felt him pressing against her back. "Klaus…I…" they had never done this before and she felt a moment of apprehension.

"Relax sweetheart." His hot breath whispered against her cheek. He moved one of his hands to her breast while the other moved between her legs. Klaus nearly lost it when she began moving back and forth against his fingers. He couldn't wait any longer. He needed to be inside of her again.

His hands dug painfully into her hips before he slammed into her. Bonnie screamed in pain and pleasure. She gasped and held her breath as he pulled out before slamming inside of her once more.

His thrusts were hard and brutal as he took her roughly.

Her moans and cries urged him on as he took her again and again. He was relentless as he slammed into her, over and over, again and again, claiming her, marking her, branding her skin with his scent and his seed.

Thunder flashed in the distance and the wind picked up. Neither of them noticed. They were lost in a sea of intense pleasure.


	14. Chapter 14

Bonnie couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. Every cell in her body burned so hot she thought she might die. It felt like she was on fire.

Klaus's hands dug painfully into her skin, the fingers elongating into sharp claws and sinking into her flesh as he slammed into her again and again. Bonnie hissed as red lines formed on her hips, the scent of her blood filled the air and Klaus increased his pace.

"Klaus!" Bonnie sobbed and gasped as the tension inside her kept building to the point of insanity. She had lost track of how many times she had come part and Klaus didn't show any signs of slowing down or stopping. No matter how many times he sent her crashing over the edge, he couldn't stop. He was like a man possessed, driving into her at a ferocious pace, claiming her, marking her.

Bonnie didn't want him to stop either. Even if it killed her, she wanted more. Everything felt more intense and he was buried so deep within her body, thrusting in and out of her quickly. She moaned and begged for more. She had never felt anything like this before. An infernal fire spread though her body as the tension coiled tighter and tighter.

A sob escaped her lips as Klaus jerked her body to meet the hard thrust of his hips, plunging into her, filling her, stretching her. He took her hard and fast sending ripples of pleasure over her body. Bonnie cried out, shivering with delight as she found her release only for the tension to build back again immediately.

Her hands and knees dug painfully into the earth as her body rocked in time with his thrusts. It burned as he drove into her at an inhuman speed.

Klaus slipped one arm under her lower stomach and lifted her up against him, while the other hand moved up to tweak her nipple. He kissed her shoulder, teeth scrapping her feverish skin as he plunged into her faster and harder. Her body went rigid and she felt him swell and pulsed. He slammed into her once, twice, and he sank his fangs into her shoulder as he filled her with his seed.

Bonnie screamed as ripple after ripple of pleasure quaked her body. She bit her lip painfully until she tasted blood and her vision blurred as she cried. Everything hurt.

She slumped over the grass shaking uncontrollably.

Klaus stayed inside her as he bent over her, placing kisses along her sweaty back and spine. Bonnie shivered; her heart pounding so loud and tears spilling down her cheeks by the force of her release.

"It's all right." Klaus whispered against her skin, his voice rough.

Bonnie whimpered when he pulled out of her. She rolled into her back trembling and gasping for air. It even hurt to breathe. _Am I dead?_ She wondered dimly. _Is this what it feels like to die from pleasure?_

Klaus stayed on his knees in front of her, hard and ready for more. His hands moved over her thighs, caressing her skin.

Bonnie closed her eyes, "I….can't…" the words died in her throat when she felt the thrill of desire as he moved between her legs and settled his body above hers. "Oh God…" _was this normal?_ She wondered _to want someone so much…_

Klaus kissed her neck, nipping and sucking at her caramel skin before moving up and nibbling on her ear. He trailed kisses over her jaw and claimed her lips in a heated kiss, licking the blood from her lips.

Bonnie didn't know where she found the strength to place her hands on his shoulders or to kiss him back, feeling the flames inside her ignite once more.

Klaus hooked her leg over his hip and slid deep inside her once more. She was so hot and slick and all his. His groans and grunts mixed with her own cries while her nails clawed down his back, as he moved deep and hard inside her.

Her nails scratched, slicing through his skin until thin red lines formed down his back, they healed immediately and she did it again and again, lost in the feel of him.

Klaus pulled her into a sitting position, moving her to straddle his lap, hands holding her hips in a painful grip and sinking deeply into her. Bonnie gripped his shoulders, as they rocked back and forth, holding his gaze before their mouths met in a slow burning kiss.

She couldn't describe what was happening, the change in position and the fast and hard way he was moving made her crazy as he hit that spot inside her that sent her closer over the edge. His mouth moved from her lips and down her neck, nipping and licking at her skin. He couldn't get enough of her. He wanted more, always more.

Bonnie arched her back while Klaus took one dark swollen nipple into his mouth sucking hard and swirling the tip with his tongue as his hips picked up speed. She moaned with every thrust, her smooth skin gilding against his, shuddering with pleasure as they moved together. Their moans and cries mingled as they found a delicious and intense rhythm.

She could feel it, the tension inside of her ready to explode again. _How many times had she found that earth shattering release? Did it matter?_

Klaus buried his head on her neck. Bonnie whimpered as the pleasure rolled over her body. She bit his shoulder, her human teeth managing to break his skin and taste his blood at the same time his fangs sunk into her neck.

BOOM

It was an explosion of hot liquid fire that burned her skin from the inside out. The moment his blood entered her mouth different images came to her mind.

 _Klaus running through the forest with his siblings, laughing, and playing. They were so young, so innocent…_

 _Elijah teaching him how to shoot an arrow…_

 _The hard kick on his stomach as his father yelled at him…_

Tears burned in Bonnie's eyes as she clung to him, feeling his pain and that longing to have his father's love and approval. A feeling she could understand so well.

 _Carving a toy for Rebekah and comforting her during a terrible storm…_

 _The sharp thrust of a sword into his chest and the pain so much pain…_

 _The scream that escaped his throat as the bones in his body began breaking and the confusion he felt the night he triggered his werewolf side…_

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut. It was too much, she couldn't take it. The feel of him inside her, his blood flowing through her veins, his feeling echoing through her and now his memories flashing through her mind, she had never been so connected to anyone. It was if they had suddenly become one and the same.

The moment Bonnie's blood slid down his throat, Klaus saw flashes of her life as well.

 _Young Bonnie clutching Ms. Cuddles to her chest, waiting and waiting for her father to get home, it's her birthday and he's late…_

 _Bonnie and her grandmother dancing to a Beatle's song as they wait for the cookies in the oven to be done…_

 _Her grandmother's lifeless body and the pain…so much pain, so much guilt._

Klaus understood her pain for it was the same pain and guilt he had felt when his younger brother had died.

 _Blood trickling down her nose as she exhausted herself doing a spell, pushing her body to the limit..._

 _The anguish, the guilt, the pain upon seeing her grandmother being tortured by the spirits…It's her fault, it's all her fault._

 _The shock when Elena sunk her fangs into her neck and the power of expression flowing inside her…_

Klaus gasped. His skin burned and his vision blurred as he felt her emotions, as he saw her memories and felt her climax as well as his own. He was inside of her, in her body, in her blood, in her mind.

The incredible force of the emotions slamming through them combined with the ripples of the physical pleasure, it was too much. Even for an immortal like him, it was an emotional and shattering experience.

They didn't know how long they stayed like that, shaking uncontrollably by the force of their pleasure and the renewed strength of their bond. They vaguely became aware of the hard rain falling upon them, the flashes of lighting in the sky and their tortured breathing as they struggled to get air back into their lungs.

Bonnie lifted her tear stained face to stare at him. She was breathless, boneless and she looked at him through glassy eyes. Her brain felt like mush and her body felt raw. She smiled weakly feeling the slight tremors over her skin after the intensity of the moment they had shared.

Klaus smiled back equally shaken by the experience. Never in his one thousand years on this earth had he experienced something so intense, so brutal. He felt as weak as a newborn babe.

They leaned closer, their foreheads touching, breathing hard and smiling.

In that moment as they gazed at each other, nothing else mattered.

* * *

 _Abby hummed as she rocked the baby in her arms. She was beautiful, her skin soft and delicate. She smiled as the baby squirmed and moved her tiny fists up._

" _Another Bennett witch."_

 _Abby looked up at the sound of that voice. Her mother stepped into the room carrying a bouquet of white lilies which she placed in the nearby table. "You don't know that." Abby said sadly as she stared at her babe. "Besides, Rudy wants her to have his name."_

 _Sheila rolled her eyes, "she's a Bennett." Her tone left no room for argument. "If you have a boy he can have his father's name."_

" _Are you sure she's a witch?" Abby asked with trepidation. She had hoped. She had wished with all her heart that her baby would be born free of magic, free of the burden the Bennett name carried._

 _Sheila sat on the bed next to her. "Every child born into this family is a witch." She said proudly. "Can't you feel it?" she asked smiling down as the baby wrapped her tiny hand around her index finger. "She's a witch as you are, as I am." She lifted her face and looked directly into Abby's eyes. "As her child will be one day."_

 _Abby's breath hitched._

" _You see our name and our legacy as a burden." Sheila continued. "It is." She knew it better than most. "But now you have an even greater responsibility." She continued. "It is your duty as her mother to guide her, to teach her, to show her our ways and to prepare her for her future role."_

" _What if I don't want her to be a witch?" Abby asked. "What if I just want her to be a normal little girl?"_

" _I'm afraid you don't have a choice." Sheila told her._

 _Abby looked down at her child and frowned. The blanket was empty, the baby had disappeared from her arms and so had her mother._

 _She looked around the hospital room, the flowers had died, and the day had become night. She felt cold…so cold her bones hurt._

 _She stood up. "Mama?" she asked feeling the fear that invaded her body. "Bonnie?" where was her baby?_

 _She ran out of the room in panic. "My baby! Where is my baby?" She screamed trying to find a nurse, a doctor, anyone who could help her find her child._

 _She heard a scream on the room down the hall._

 _Abby ran towards it and opened the door with trembling hands. "Mom?"_

 _Sheila Bennett sat next to the bed where a body laid covered by a white sheet._

" _What's going on?" Abby asked as she stepped inside, heart beating wildly against her chest._

 _Sheila lifted her face, tears of blood running down her cheeks. "You failed her." The accusing tone in her voice and the agony on her mother's face send a dagger through Abby's heart. "You killed her."_

 _Abby stood frozen watching as Sheila pulled the sheet down. "No…" tears ran down her eyes and her whole body shook when she realized who was in the bed. "No…please no…" not her baby, not her beautiful baby._

 _Bonnie's lifeless body stared back at her. And the blood, there was so much blood on her thighs, on the bed, on the floor. The whole room was filled with her blood. What had they done to her? who had hurt her little girl?_

 _Abby cried knees sinking to the ground. "No…please…not Bonnie."_

" _She never had a chance." Sheila said through her tears. "You killed her."_

Abby woke up screaming. She sat up tears streaming down her face _. It was just a dream_. She told herself. It wasn't real. Bonnie wasn't dead. Bonnie was alive and safe. She shut her eyes trying to erase the image of Bonnie's dead body on the bed covered in blood. It was just a dream, a terrible dream, nothing more.

"Help her."

Abby gasped recognizing that voice. She looked up startled, her eyes focusing on the shadowy figure standing in the corner of her motel room. Her mother stood there, a sad look on her face. "Mama?" she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. She stared in shock at the silhouette of her mother, hardly daring to believe what she was seeing.

"Help her." Sheila repeated with anguish. "You must help her."

Abby leaped out bed and ran towards the corner but the ghost of her mother had disappeared. She stood there trembling, wondering whether her imagination was playing tricks on her or if she had actually seen the ghost of her mother.

She didn't know how long she stood there, mind racing. She tried to understand the dream and the apparition she had just seen. _What did it mean?_ _Was her mother trying to communicate with her?_

 _Our dreams always have a hidden meaning_ , her mother had told her once.

She ran towards the bathroom. She washed her face and changed out of her nightgown quickly before grabbing her purse and keys.

Abby made her way to the cemetery, to visit her mother's grave.

* * *

Klaus woke up with a gasp his senses expanding to their maximum capacity and assessing any potential threats to him. He blinked and sat up in confusion as he took his surroundings. He was in his room at the mansion, Bonnie sleeping beside him. Despite her powerful aura, his senses no longer classified her as a threat. He was attuned to her now, the bond between them pulsing with greater strength than before.

Klaus let out a shaky breath. He rarely slept. To an original vampire sleep was an indulgence not a necessity. Falling asleep was extremely dangerous, it made them vulnerable and Klaus had learned a long time ago not to put himself in that position, ever. A millennium of running from Mikael had taught him to always be on his guard, always alert, always ready to escape. Even when he had company he never allowed himself to fall asleep. He could never allow such vulnerability.

The last time he had fallen asleep without care had been hundreds of years ago and he had woken up with a dagger in his heart-courtesy of Rebekah's lover, who had been a hunter. He shuddered remembering that night and how he had been cursed after he murdered the Five.

He turned to his side and studied the sleeping witch beside him. Bonnie laid curled up on her side a content smile on her lips. Klaus watched her, mesmerized by her beauty. He couldn't describe the emotions that he felt upon seeing her in his bed, naked and beautiful, and all his.

He lifted his hand to her face, fingertips tracing lightly over her cheek. Bonnie smiled and sighed happily unconsciously leaning towards his touch.

Klaus smiled tracing his finger over her neck, down her collarbone and down between the valley of her breasts. He had been rough with her the night before. He had been consumed by desire, by that animalistic lust that had taken over upon seeing her walking towards the mansion.

Bonnie had been responsive to his touch, to his savage lust but he still frowned when he recalled how his claws hand sunk into her soft flesh until he drew blood and the ferocious way he had moved inside her. He had hurt her but she had not complained or attempted to push him away. On the contrary, she had been responsive to his rough claiming and the wolf inside of him felt happy, content that his mate had accepted him.

Klaus froze as that thought came to his mind. _Mate?_ _Where the bloody hell had that come from?_ he wondered, feeling troubled and confused by the thoughts swirling inside his mind. He shook his head suppressing that part of him once more. He was in control not the beast inside him.

Klaus move his fingers down to her belly lightly tracing the still flat surface that would soon begin to swell as his child grew. He touched the side of her hip, fingers lightly tracing the soft skin where his claws had gripped painfully and made her bleed. There was not a single trace on her skin. No bruises, no marks, not even the trace of his fangs where he had bitten her.

 _How many times had they shared blood?_ He wondered. After the shattering experience of sharing their memories while drinking each other's blood, everything was a haze, blurred images of flesh, blood, sex and rain. Klaus didn't even know how they made it inside the mansion and into his bed. He felt certain that they had been on a blood high.

"Morning…" Bonnie mumbled sleepily.

Klaus dropped his hand and looked up into her face. Bonnie yawned and stretched, arching her back and giving him a delicious view of her perky breasts before quickly grabbing the sheet that pooled at her hips and pulling it up to cover her chest in embarrassment.

"There is no need to be embarrassed love," he chuckled with amusement. Not after everything they had done the night before. He had kissed, touched, and seen every inch of her glorious body.

Bonnie's heart hammered in her chest. She recognized the heated look on his face. She still couldn't believe that she was able to function after their night together.

"How are you feeling?" Klaus asked moving his body close to hers.

"Like I've been run over by a truck," Bonnie said. The night before had been intense…brutal…she had never experience something like that. Her body had been pushed to the limit. It had been so different from the other times they had been together. "I never thought we could just…"

"Fuck each other's brains out," Klaus replied coarsely.

"Klaus!" Bonnie slapped him playfully on the chest, feeling the heat on her cheeks.

Klaus grinned and rolled on top of her, pinning her arms on either side of her head and pressing his body against hers.

Bonnie closed her eyes moaning as he lowered his head and began placing light soft kisses on her neck. "You can't possible want…more…" she gasped as he sucked right on her pulse point. She had lost count of how many times they had come together the night before. And the wave of desire she felt at the feel of his body rubbing against her told her that she was more than ready for more.

Klaus lifted his face and stared down at her, his eyes filled with undeniable lust. "What do you think?" he murmured while settling between her welcoming legs. Her eyes widened and her breath hitched as began rubbing himself against her, hot, hard and ready. "I will never get enough of you, Bonnie." He whispered huskily into her ear.

Bonnie shivered as the heat from her cheeks spread all the way down to her toes. She freed her arms from his grasp and placed her hands on either side of his face, pulling him down for a kiss.

She kissed him gently, nibbling on his bottom lip and loving the growl that escaped from his chest. Klaus trailed his hand down her hip and over her thigh, fingers seeking that place between her legs. Bonnie moaned and arched into his touch.

The moment was broken however when her stomach decided to make its presence known. She closed her eyes mortified at the loud rumbling noises coming out of her.

Klaus pulled away chuckling."I think someone is hungry."

"It's fine." She pulled him down for another kiss. She could wait to get food, right now all she wanted was him. Their tongues met in a heated frenzy and Bonnie trailed her hands over his shoulders, his chest and down to his belly bottom.

But her stomach kept on growling, interrupting the moment.

Klaus pulled away from her. "You need to eat." He said rolling out of bed.

Bonnie sat up, "I'll be fine with some milk and cereal." She told him her eyes moving over his pale and lean back. She licked her lips as her gaze moved lower over his butt. Klaus had a nice butt and her hands itched to touch, particularly when he bent down to pick up his jeans.

He could feel her gaze on his body and he deliberately took his time pulling on his blue jeans. He then walked towards the dresser and grabbed one of his shirts. He had torn her nightgown in half the night before and she had nothing to wear. "Here,"

Bonnie took the black henley and put it on, his scent engulfing her. She got out of bed, surprised that her legs did not feel like jelly and that she was able to stand up after the sex marathon they had the previous night.

Bonnie squealed when Klaus picked her up in his arms. "What are you doing?" she laughed as he carried her out of his bedroom.

"I'm going to make you some breakfast." He told her simply.

Bonnie hooked her arms over his neck as he descended the stairs. "You can cook?" she asked, surprised.

Klaus only response was a dimpled smile.

* * *

Bonnie sat on one of the bar stools situated around the large kitchen island of the Mikaelson mansion. Her eyes followed Klaus as he pulled eggs, vegetables, and some dice ham from the fridge. Never in a million years could she have imagined that Klaus Mikaelson would one day be making her breakfast. "You know how to cook?" She looked at him with disbelief.

"Don't look so surprised love." Klaus glanced at her over his shoulder, "I'm a man of many talents."

Bonnie bit her lip watching as he poured the eggs into the pan. She ranked her eyes over his lean back. He was cooking shirtless and she definitely enjoyed the view. She could feel the heat rising inside her once more. _Dear Lord_ , after everything they had done and she still wanted more. "What else can you do?" she asked trying to distract herself from her lust induced thoughts. "Can you play the piano?"

"Yes," Klaus chuckled and turned to face her. "And the violin."

"Really?" Bonnie smiled in delight trying to picture him playing the violin. Or better yet, dressed in a tux and playing the piano. Yes, she could definitely see him doing that.

"What about you?" Klaus asked in turn. "Can you play any instruments?"

"Are you kidding me? Not if my life depended on it." Bonnie told him. "I like to dance." She confessed. It was something she had enjoyed doing before the craziness of the supernatural world had taken over her life.

"What else?" Klaus asked intrigued as he turned back to cooking.

"I like to read…watch old movies. I'm pretty boring actually." She told him with a shrug.

"Don't sell yourself so short love," Klaus said. "You're anything but."

Bonnie smiled.

"Here you go." Klaus placed a plate in front of her with a deliciously smelling omelet. He got her some orange juice and fruit as well; a much healthier breakfast than her traditional milk and cereal.

"Thank-you," her mouth watered and she wasted no time eating. Klaus leaned his arms over the counter and watched her silently.

"What happened with your mother?" he asked once Bonnie had finished her food. Riley had told him how shaken and sad Bonnie had looked after exiting the motel. Klaus himself had felt her disappointment, anger, and sadness.

Bonnie stared at her empty plate, feeling angry and sad once more as she recalled the conversation with her mother. "I told her about the baby…" She murmured. "She offered to give some herbs so that I could have an abortion." Technically, Abby had not offered.

"I will kill her." Klaus growled standing up.

"No you won't." Bonnie told firmly.

"You're defending her." Klaus couldn't believe it. "Why do you insist on trying to make her a part of your life when she clearly doesn't care?"

"Because she's my mom," Bonnie said. _Because I want her to love me, to want me, to tell me what I did wrong for her to abandoned me_ she thought. "She and my dad are the only family I have…I just thought that maybe for once she would turn into the mother I always wanted." She hated the tears that began forming in her eyes. "It's stupid I know." She should've known better by now.

"She doesn't deserve you." Klaus muttered. It was at the tip of his tongue to tell her about Abby's past, to shatter any illusion or desire to want that woman in her life again but he didn't want to hurt her.

"I've been thinking," Bonnie began nervously.

Klaus crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm going to New Orleans." Bonnie told him. She felt his relief, his happiness at her words. "I can't just sit back and wait for the witches to attack again. As painful as my conversation with Abby was, she made me realized that the witches won't stop, that the spirits will do anything in their power to…kill our baby." The biggest threat at the moment was the coven of witches that had sent the hunters after her and that had attacked Elijah. But who knew what else would be coming their way. The longer they waited the greater opportunity the witches would have to attack once more. "How long do you think we'll be there?"

"Do I wish we could just waltz into New Orleans and slaughter all our enemies and be done with it?" Klaus asked. "Yes. But is not going to be so easy, war is unpredictable Bonnie. And this coven is powerful. I can't give you an answer to that." he told her honestly.

"I don't want to raise our baby in the middle of a war." Bonnie said softly.

"We may not have a choice." Klaus replied.

Bonnie looked down at her empty plate. "I want to tell my dad but at the same time…" she didn't want to disappoint him.

"You can tell him you are spending the summer traveling with Rebekah and the quarterback." Klaus suggested. "He's more than likely coming to New Orleans after all."

Bonnie looked up in confusion. "Matt is coming with us?" he hadn't said anything to her the night before when he and Rebekah had been at her home.

"My dear sister fancies herself in love with him and has invited him to join us." Klaus informed her. Rebekah hadn't even asked him if she could bring the human along. The only reason Klaus might tolerate the presence of the pathetic human was because of Bonnie. It would be easier for her if she had at least one of her friends to support her.

"Does he know about the baby?" Bonnie asked nervously.

"No." Klaus replied. "Rebekah won't say anything until you decide to share the news." And seeing how her friends had reacted to the news of their relationship, Bonnie probably wouldn't be sharing the news of her pregnancy any time soon.

"I guess I could do that." Bonnie said. The idea of telling her father that she was spending the summer with her friends sounded easier than to tell him that he was going to be a grandfather. It would buy her time, to go to New Orleans and deal with the coven. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready," Klaus told her smiling. He was more than ready to get out of Mystic Falls. Elijah needed their help. "Felix and Angelica have secured a house for us we can leave this very night if you wish."

"I need to pack." Bonnie murmured. She knew how eager he was to find Elijah and as much as she wanted to stay and talk to her friends, Caroline mostly, Bonnie knew that they couldn't keep postponing their trip. The sooner they got to New Orleans and faced their enemies the better it would be. "Tonight is fine." She told him. She had made her decision.

Klaus grinned and then frowned feeling the conflicted emotions echoing through the bond. "Something else bothers you." He said studying her face.

Bonnie bit her lip nervously, "Everything has happened so fast, we haven't really had a chance to talk about…us." She took a deep breath. "We are having a baby and I don't even know…" she plucked up the courage to finally ask, "where do we stand Klaus?" she stared into his eyes feeling her heart nearly bursting out of her chest. "What are we?"

"Do you want me to get down on one knee and ask you to marry me?" he asked with his all too familiar smirk in place.

Bonnie glared him. "Are you really joking about this?" She was trying to have a serious conversation here. She stood up getting angry. "I'm trying to figure things out and you-"

"Is it so important to define what we are?" he asked curiously.

Bonnie looked away embarrassed. To him it probably wasn't a big deal but she didn't really have much experience at this sort of thing. Jeremy had been the only real boyfriend she ever had and it had been easy with him. They were close in age, he was still a teenage boy, but Klaus was not a boy. He was a thousand years older and far more experienced than her. And as much as she tried not to think about the things Abby and Damon had said, the seeds of doubts had been planted inside her mind.

 _Soon enough he'll lose interest and move on to another witch..._

 _He's only using you…_

 _The only reason he's with you is because he can't get between Caroline's legs…_

Everything had happened so fast between them, the sex, the bond, and now the baby. Bonnie felt overwhelmed. And she wanted to know, she needed to know if this was more than just sex. If what they had between them was as important to him as it was to her.

"It's important to me." She replied softly. Sex to him wasn't a big deal. He probably had been with hundreds of women but it had been a huge step for her. She had never been so involved, so connected to someone and he was also the father of her child. She needed to know where they were heading with this. "Is this just sex or…" she trailed off uncertain.

Klaus moved around the kitchen island until he came to stand in front of her. He extended his hand and Bonnie shivered as he took her hand in his. One touch from him and she was ready to turn into a puddle of goo.

"Don't let Damon's words get to you." he told her trying to contain the anger he felt at the thought of that insufferable vampire. He should've killed Damon when he had the chance, but he hadn't. He had spared his life because of Bonnie.

"I'm not-"

"You are." Klaus cut her off. "Do you really believe I'm only using you?" he asked. After everything that had happened between them she still doubted him. _Had he not proved himself to her?_

Bonnie stared at their hands. "No," she replied quietly. "I want to believe that this is more than sex but…" she didn't want to assume. She didn't want to hope and have it all be squashed in a blink of an eye.

"I want you and you want me, I think we can both agree on that." Klaus said staring deeply into her eyes.

Bonnie nodded. The chemistry between them, their mutual desire, it had been more than obvious the night before.

"I want you for more than just your body." He admitted. Bonnie felt happy and relieved upon hearing his words. "You have bewitched me Bonnie." Klaus said softly while raising his other hand to cup her cheek. "You have captivated me in a way I could never have anticipated." he confessed.

Bonnie had taken him by surprise, a hurricane that had swept him off his feet and he had been unprepared to stop it. Never could he have imagined that this girl would come to mean so much in such a short time. That she would stir something inside him, that she would make him feel things his cold dead heart had thought impossible. "You are mine." He declared. "My lover, my bonded, the mother of my child."

Bonnie stared at him, feeling the heat of his fingers on her skin and the thundering beating of her heart. "If I am yours…" she whispered, "Are you mine? Do you belong to me and no one else?"

Klaus let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, crushing her body to his. The hand that had been tracing her cheek moved to the back of her neck pulling her forward, their lips almost touching.

"Yes." He answered before his lips came crashing down on hers. Bonnie's heart soared. It wasn't a love declaration by any means but it was the closest someone like Klaus could give in that moment. And for Bonnie it was enough, for now.

She felt so happy and giddy as she kissed him back. Her hands running over every inch of exposed skin she could find.

He was hers and she was his and that was all that matter right now.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

As he lay in the coffin, Elijah dreamed.

He dreamed of the village he had called home as a child. He dreamed of his siblings, of the endless afternoons spent playing in the forest, running and playing without a care in the world.

Elijah stood near the white oak tree watching as little Kol followed after Niklaus, all chubby arms and legs.

Sweet Rebekah picking up a stick from the ground and pretending it was a sword.

Finn always apart, always quiet and sullen, he watched but never participated in their games.

"You were so young, so innocent." An all too familiar voice whispered.

Elijah turned and smiled at the woman who came to stand next to him, "Ayana." The woman who had been like a second mother to him and his siblings.

Ayana smiled sadly. "Sometimes I wish you all would've stayed that way."

"So do I." Elijah agreed. How easy things had been then, how simple. "How are you here?" he asked with a frown. She was dead, how could she be inside his head?

Ayana only smiled. "You need to wake up Elijah."

"I can't." He was stuck in the coffin. "The dark magic is keeping me trapped." And slowly eating away his strength and his life. He was desiccating and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Ayana took his hand in hers. "You have to wake up Elijah. You must warn Niklaus and Bonnie of the danger coming their way." She told him.

"What do you mean?" Elijah asked worried.

"There is a war coming." Ayana told him. "A war that will shift the balance in the supernatural world and they will be at the center of it."

"What can I do?" Elijah asked her.

"You must warn Niklaus that Mikael and Esther are plotting on the other side." She told him. "And there are others as well..."

Elijah stiffened when she mentioned his parents. "What are they plotting?"

"I'm not sure." Ayana replied sadly. "I do not have Esther's trust anymore but I will do everything in my power to stop them." She vowed squeezing his hand while raising the other to touch his cheek. "Darling Elijah, you have always stood by his side…" she murmured. "You must do so now more than ever, you and Rebekah. The three of you together are unstoppable, apart you are nothing."

Elijah nodded. "I swear to you that I will do whatever it takes to keep Bonnie and her child safe and that I will help my brother."

"I know you will." Ayana kissed his cheek. "And so will I and the witches of my blood." She promised taking hold of both of his hands. "The coven of witches that sent the hunters after Bonnie is led by a woman, a witch, a seer who was once part of the New Orleans coven but was shunned many years ago. Her name is Cassandra." Ayana informed him. "And the witch who put you in the coffin is her protégé Iris."

Elijah's eyes darkened, he finally knew the identity of the one who trapped him.

"Tell Bonnie that she's not alone." Ayana said. "Tell her that the Bennett witches protect their own and that her grandmother and I are doing everything in our power to help her, to help you all."

Elijah nodded. "I will." He gasped when he felt a warm tingle spread from his finger and throughout his body, Ayana's magic.

"Wake up, Elijah." She said sending a wave of her power to him. "Wake up." She commanded.

The jolt of power swept through him with the force of an earthquake. The totem that had been used to keep him in place, lit up in flames before it exploded and turned to ash. The dark magic had been destroyed with a single blast of power from her.

Elijah's eyes snapped open. He gasped as the air returned to his lungs for the first time in weeks.

He was free at last.

Ayana's magic had freed him.

* * *

Bonnie bit her lip as she turned the page, fully engrossed in Emily's grimoire. Klaus sat next to her enjoying a glass of bourbon while Rebekah and Matt cuddled on their seats giggling and whispering quietly. Belle had fallen asleep as soon as they got on the plane and Riley and Jesse were currently playing some card game.

They had about thirty minutes left before their private plane arrived in New Orleans.

It was amazing how quickly Klaus could get things done. By the time Bonnie had finished packing and setting all kinds of protective spells around her house, Klaus had arranged their flight and order two of his hybrids to come to Mystic Falls to keep a silent watch on her dad. The rest of his pack would be arriving in New Orleans in a few days time.

Her father had taken the news of her impromptu trip surprisingly well. Bonnie had the sneaking suspicion that Rebekah had something to do with it but she didn't call her out on it. She had embraced her dad in a fierce hug and promised to call as often as possible. She felt guilty. She had told him a big fat lie and yet it was easier than explaining the truth. For now at least she wanted to keep the news of her pregnancy a secret. She hadn't even told Matt yet. He believed they were going to New Orleans to save Elijah and find out more about the coven that was after Bonnie and she wanted to keep it that way for now.

Klaus placed his hand on her knee, jerking her out of her thoughts. "Those spells must be really good." He muttered.

Bonnie smiled feeling butterflies in her stomach at his soft touch. "They are actually. Emily was an extremely powerful witch. She came up with some great spells." _One in particular I'm thinking on doing._ She thought. Emily had created the rings that had been passed down in the Gilbert family and that allowed Jeremy and Alaric to keep coming back to life when they were killed by supernatural means. Bonnie had been thinking of creating a set of rings for her dad and Matt. She had been studying the spell and felt confident that she could recreated it.

Klaus moved his hand from her knee to her thigh. Bonnie squirmed in her seat. She was wearing a dress, giving his greedy hands plenty of access to touch her inner thigh. "Klaus…" she gave him a stern look hoping that he would take the hint. He didn't of course. He moved his hand under her dress and caressed her skin.

Her breath hitched and the corners of his lips curved into a wicked grin. "Is something wrong sweetheart?" He asked innocently as his fingers continued their exploration.

Bonnie glared at him only to gasp when his fingers skimmed the outline of her panties. _Oh my god!_ They were in a plane for crying out loud, with Matt and Rebekah a few feet away from them. Not to mention his hybrids.

 _Was it possible to have too much sex?_ Bonnie wondered biting her lip when his finger pressed against her center. He smirked, feeling the dampness between her legs. Bonnie closed her eyes. It was a miracle that they had managed to get out of his bed so that she could go home and pack and get ready for this trip. A few hours ago she had been screaming his name at the top of her lungs and now here she was easily wet and ready for more. Something was terribly wrong with her. She had become a sex addict.

"Knock it off." Rebekah's voice was like a bucket of ice water. Bonnie leaped out of her seat like lighting.

Jesse laughed at her reaction and Riley tried to hide his own laugh with a pretend cough. Bonnie glared at both of them.

"I could tell you the same thing." Klaus glared at his sister. She and the quarterback had been practically shoving their tongues down their throats right in front of them after all.

"Why don't we change seats?" Bonnie suggested. Rebekah didn't look particularly happy but she agreed.

Bonnie took a seat next to Matt, trying to calm the wild beating of her heart and forget about the sinful things Klaus could to with his fingers. Said hybrid pouted like a child who had been put on timeout as he watched her sit away from him.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Matt murmured. "I quit my job at the Grill and I'm on my way to New Orleans to help my girlfriend rescue her brother." He shook his head but there was an excited smile on his face.

"Did you say goodbye to Caroline?" Bonnie asked. She had tried calling Caroline but her friend had not answered any of her calls, so Bonnie had left a brief voicemail telling her that she would be out of town for a while.

"No." Matt said a serious look on his face. "I tried calling her but she didn't pick up. I think she's angry with me after what Rebekah did to her…" Rebekah had eventually confessed what she had done to the Salvatore brothers and Caroline. Matt didn't approve and had wanted to talk to Caroline but she had not answered and he didn't have time to go to her house either.

"She's angry with me too." Bonnie murmured.

"Because you're with Klaus," Matt concluded. He knew of the confrontation Bonnie had with them the day before. "Give her time." He said to Bonnie. "She's still processing but she'll come around." Bonnie and Caroline had been friends since forever, no guy or in this case vampire was going to come in between that friendship.

Bonnie sighed. "I hope you're right." She had practically lost both of her best friends and it hurt. She didn't know when she would see Elena again, if ever and now that she was heading to New Orleans she didn't know when she would see Caroline again. She felt a strange pang in her heart. She didn't know why but she felt like she was leaving for good and that scared her.

She stared out of the plane window. "We're here." She whispered at the same time the captain made the announcement that they were about to land.

They had finally arrived in New Orleans.

* * *

After visiting her mother's grave Abby Bennett had taken the first plane she could find to Georgia. She felt anxious as she knocked on the door. The dream or nightmare she had earlier that day had left her scared and confused. She didn't know whether seeing her mother had been a figment of her imagination or reality.

She had visited her mother's grave and thought long and hard about what to do. She had finally made up her mind and had decided to come here. To the only person who might be able to help her.

"Abby," the dark haired woman who opened the door stared at her in shock. It had been years since the last time they had seen each other, eighteen years to be exact. The woman stepped away motioning for Abby to come inside.

"You have to invite me in." Abby told her nervously.

"So it's true then," the woman pressed her lips in a thin line. "At the rate we're going, we'll be extinct soon." She murmured. "Why are you here?"

"Because I need your help," Abby told her. "It's about my daughter Bonnie."

"Come in, cousin." Joanna Bennett invited Abby inside her home.

Abby gave her a small smile as she stepped inside. There was a lot they had to discuss.

* * *

 _A/N: I'm amazed by all your incredible support with this story. Thank-you so much!_

 _Joanna is the mother of Lucy Bennett who appeared in the episode 'Masquerade' of TVD season 2. They are distant relatives of Abby and Bonnie. The Bennett witches are going to have an important role to play in the upcoming war. And we're finally in New Orleans, get ready for what's coming!_


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I don't think I'll ever get tired of thanking you for all your amazing reviews and support with this story. It means the world to me, Thank-you. I hope you enjoy this chapter ;)**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Davina woke up startled. Something felt wrong. The attic was dark and cold and she felt a chill in her bones. She sat up on the bed and looked around in confusion trying to locate the source of her discomfort. And that's when she noticed it.

The coffin that had the original vampire was now empty. He was gone. The old one had escaped.

Her heart leaped to her throat. _How?_ She wondered in panic. She had spent countless hours trying to break the dark magic that protected the coffin and had failed every single time.

Davina got up from the bed and walked towards the empty coffin. Her trembling hands touched the black ash inside, the only thing left from the totem that had kept the original in place. Someone must have helped him, it was the only explanation. The dark magic had weakened him and drained him slowly; there was no way he had been able to get out on his own.

 _But who did it?_ she wondered fearfully. _Who was powerful enough to break through such dark magic and let him out while she slept?_

Davina had not sensed anything. She had fallen asleep after another failed attempt at destroying the magic and now the original was gone.

She closed her eyes shaking as she remembered the visions that plagued her dreams. She needed to warn Marcel.

It had begun.

The end was coming.

* * *

The plantation house Felix and Angelica had secured for Klaus was absolutely stunning. A beautiful Greek revival style with tall white pillars, a gorgeous porch and nestled among beautiful oak trees. It was close to the city but with enough land to grant them the privacy they needed.

Angelica and Felix had prepared everything for their arrival. The house had been furnished and there was food on the kitchen much to Belle's delight as she had been starving.

While the hybrids went to the kitchen to eat Angelica showed Bonnie, Matt and Rebekah around the house and to their respective rooms.

Klaus took the opportunity to speak to Felix and they moved to the study.

"What have you found?" Klaus asked as soon as the door was closed.

"Marcel has quite the army of vampires, most of them nightwalkers but his inner circle has daylight rings." Felix informed him. "He has a deal with the local authorities so they turn a blind eye whenever his vampires feed or turn someone, tourist mostly. He's also charmed the locals; many not only respect him but actually like him."

Klaus stared out of the window, hands behind his back as he listened to Felix.

"The witches live in fear of him," Felix continued. "They break the rules, they die and none of them are willing to talk. I haven't found anything about the witch that is helping him. I heard some rumors but nothing substantial."

"What rumors?" Klaus questioned.

"Some sort of ritual that went wrong. A ceremony important for the witch community, it seems Marcel had something to do with it but I don't know the specifics." Felix answered. "I will find out." He hadn't been in the city that long after all. "There is however a girl, Marcel seems very interested in her."

Klaus turned to face Felix, "his lover?"

"No. She has turned him down a couple of times but he keeps trying to charm her. Her name is Camille and she works at a local bar, Rousseau's. Sophie and her sister worked there as well." Felix informed him.

"Is that so?" Klaus smirked. If there was one way to get to an enemy it was through the women in his life. "Keep an eye on the girl she might be useful."

Felix nodded. "There is something else…"

"What?"

"The vampires are increasingly worried about the Navarro werewolves. It seems Luis Navarro has taken over another pack in Mississippi." Felix informed him. "Franco Navarro and his siblings are the biggest threat to Marcel and his rule."

"The Navarro pack has always wanted New Orleans." Klaus murmured. The vampires were no doubt scared that the werewolves would attack at any moment. He couldn't help but smirk. No matter how many vampires Marcel had at his disposal they could all fall dead with a single bite from the werewolves. The Navarro pack and Marcel's little army were no real threat to him. The biggest threat to Klaus and Bonnie were the witches. "Do you know who is the current leader of the witches?"

"There are a few elders but they remain hidden." Felix answered. "They fear Marcel might kill them."

"Find out who they are." Klaus ordered. "I also want to know who the regent of the witches is." When Klaus had first arrived in New Orleans three hundred years ago he had formed an alliance with the witches, having the regent's support had allowed him to take over the city over night. Perhaps he could make a similar deal this time, one that benefited both of them. Unless said witch was after Bonnie, in that case Klaus would simply kill her.

"I will, sire."

"You've done well." Klaus told Felix. In the short amount of time he had been in New Orleans he had found useful information. "You can go now."

Long after Felix had exited the study, Klaus stayed staring out of the window.

He needed to think. He needed to plan. There was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to go down Bourbon Street and find Marcel. But he couldn't do that, not yet. First he needed to find Elijah then he would deal with Marcel.

 _Marcellus_

Just thinking of him made his blood boil. Klaus had practically raised him. He had given the boy a name, a home, an education. He treated Marcel as family and when he had thought that Mikael had killed him, Klaus had mourned him. And all this time Marcel had been alive, nearly one hundred years and he had never tried to contact Klaus. Instead he had built an army and taken the kingdom.

Klaus's jaw clenched. _My kingdom_ he thought angrily. His city, his kingdom, usurped by the one he had thought of as a son.

 _Enjoy it while it lasts_ Klaus thought while staring at the dark night sky.

Marcel's reign was coming to an end.

* * *

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Bonnie stared at her reflection in the mirror feeling nervous. She was going to share a room with Klaus. They were going to sleep in the same bedroom, in the _same_ bed. Perhaps it was silly to feel so nervous considering all the things they had done but she did. To make matters worse she had no idea what to wear. Her pink pajamas suddenly seemed so girly, so childish.

Bonnie bit her lip. She didn't have anything sexy or flirty to wear to bed. She had never had a sleepover with a boy…no, not a boy but a man. She didn't know what to do. She had never had to worry about impressing Jeremy but she wanted to impress Klaus. She wanted Klaus to keep finding her beautiful and sexy and to keep wanting her. When she had packed earlier that day it hadn't even occurred to her that she and Klaus would be sleeping in the same bedroom or that he would want to share a room with her. And now she felt like she was about to have a panic attack.

 _Does it matter what you wear?_ Her mind wondered. _He's just going to rip it right off you_.

Bonnie flushed remembering what he had done to her nightgown the night before.

 _You can surprise him and exit the bathroom naked_ her treacherous mind continued. _I bet he'll like that!_

No, just because they were sharing a bedroom did not mean that they were going to have sex every night.

 _Sure honey, keep telling yourself that!_ her mind responded.

Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment. As much as she tried to fool herself into thinking that they were just going sleep, she knew better. The butterflies in her stomach intensified as did the trembling in her hands.

Taking a deep breath she exited the bathroom wearing a simple white spaghetti strap tank top and matching white panties. It wasn't anything outrageously sexy or cute and flirty but it was better than her pink pajama pants.

And by the look Klaus gave her as soon as she stepped back into the bedroom he definitely appreciated it. Bonnie was a nervous wreck as she approached the bed. She didn't even know why she felt so nervous. It was just Klaus.

Klaus who had done the most amazing, toe-curling things to her body.

He was already in bed, leaning his back against the headboard. He was shirtless, the dark satin sheet pooling at his hips. His eyes gleamed as looked her over, lips curving into a grin as he trailed his gaze over her body, paying particular attention to her legs. A single look from him was all it took to make her heart race and the tingle of desire to surge through her veins.

 _Now what?_ Bonnie wondered as she stood in front of the bed. Her first instinct was to climb on the other side, next to Klaus and go to sleep and then she chided herself. She was being silly and sleep was the last thing on her mind anyway and by the desire that echoed through the bond it was the last thing on his mind as well.

Taking a deep breath Bonnie approached the bed from Klaus's side. His blue eyes glinted as they followed her movement. She climbed on the bed and straddled him.

Klaus grinned clearly pleased and his hands moved automatically to her hips. She could feel his hard length pressing against her and realized that he was naked underneath the sheet. The blood rushed to her face and the wave of desire intensified.

Bonnie touched his face, caressing his cheek and staring into his stormy blue eyes. It still seemed surreal to her that she could sit on his lap and touch him so freely. That she was here in New Orleans with him, sharing a bed.

 _I am his and he is mine,_ she thought. That thought made her insides melt and swoon with happiness.

Her hand moved over his mouth, fingertips lightly tracing over his plump lips. Klaus had such kissable lips.

A giggle escaped her lips when Klaus opened his mouth and licked and sucked on her finger. She pulled her hand away quickly.

"Why are you so nervous?" he asked feeling the slight tremor that went through her body.

Bonnie placed her hands on his shoulders. "I just…" she looked down at his chest, slowly tracing his tattoos with her eyes before moving over his lean torso. "This is new for me." She admitted in a whisper, "sharing a room…a bed."

Klaus moved one of his hands up to her face. He cupped her cheek gently before he lifted her chin up so that she would meet his eyes. "And for me," he said softly. There had been countless of women in his life, he had never been a monk. But the intimacy he was now sharing with Bonnie was new, different from anything he had ever known before. He should be as apprehensive as she was, filled with doubts and yes, even fears but he wasn't.

As he touched her face, as he looked at her, as he felt her against him. It felt right. Never in all his centuries roaming the earth could he have imagined that he would feel this.

Bonnie smiled. Their faces moved closer until their lips met in a gentle kiss. His lips were soft and warm against hers. Last night and even this morning it had been pure fire, it had been intense, a desperate need that had consumed them whole. But this felt different. It was a slow and sweet brush of the lips like the soft touch of a butterfly. It also made her body tingle and her heart beat wildly against her chest.

 _Don't let this end_ Bonnie thought as she continued to kiss him. _Please...don't ever take this away from me._

This small ray of light, of happiness that had come so unexpectedly into her life. she didn't want to lose it...him...ever. She wanted to hold on to it, to keep it always and to protect it from the cruel and dark world that surrounded them.

His arms captured her in his warm embrace, bringing their bodies impossibly closer as his mouth gently explored hers. Bonnie clung to him feeling wanted and cherished. Klaus nibbled at her lower lip and waited for her to part her lips and welcome him inside. Their tongues met and swirled in a well known dance.

They kissed and kissed, savoring each other, exploring one another without rush. It felt like they had all the time in the world. Klaus pulled her closer, their chests tightly pressed together and Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers playing with his hair as they continued kissing.

She had to pull away eventually, breathless and giggly. Feeling bold she leaned away from him and pulled her tank top off, throwing it somewhere down on the floor.

Klaus's eyes darkened with desire as he stared at her naked chest. His hands cupped her breasts, feeling the nipples hardening on his palms. Bonnie closed her eyes and gasped, feeling the heat spreading through her body and the all too familiar throb between her thighs.

He groaned when she rubbed herself against him.

Bonnie grabbed his head and pulled his mouth against hers once more.

Klaus pulled away suddenly, his body stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked when he pulled his hands away from her breasts. "Klaus?"

He sat very still, a faraway look on his face. It was almost like his body was there but his mind had suddenly gone somewhere else.

"Klaus, what's going on?" Bonnie asked worried.

"Elijah…" Klaus murmured. "He needs me."

He moved so fast, Bonnie didn't have time to react. One minute she sat on his lap and the next he had dumped her on the bed, put his clothes on and disappeared at vampire speed out of the bedroom balcony.

"Klaus!" Bonnie yelled after him but Klaus was long gone.

She had been left practically naked and utterly confused by the sudden turn of events. _What the hell?_

* * *

 **Georgia**

"Pregnant?" Joanna repeated as she handed Abby a cup of coffee. "By a vampire?" she was still trying to process the news Abby had brought with her. Never in a million years could she have imagined that her cousin would show up out of the blue with such news.

"By the original hybrid," Abby murmured grasping the cup with trembling hands. She still found it hard to believe herself. "I tried to convince her to get rid of it but she wants the _baby_. She's determined to fight the whole world if needed be."

Joanna took a seat at her kitchen table right across from Abby. "A vampire and a witch conceiving a child." It seemed impossible to believe, they were mortal enemies after all. Witches were servants of nature, vampires were abominations. How could nature allow them to create a new life?

"I don't know how it can be." Abby said. "Bonnie doesn't know either."

"The Bennett women have always been extremely fertile." Joanna said quietly. "Mama always used to say that all Bennett women are blessed with three great gifts, beauty, power, and fertility."

Abby smiled sadly. Her mother had made a similar remark once. "I don't know what to do Jo. The spirits won't rest until that baby is dead, until both of them are dead." Not just the spirits but the witches and the other supernaturals too. Once they learned about Bonnie and her baby they would come for her too. "This goes against everything a witch is supposed to stand for. Bonnie can't have that creature, that monster!"

"Is it a monster?" Joanna asked emerald eyes staring at Abby. "Do you truly believe that, cousin?"

"Klaus Mikaelson is the worst creature that has ever lived. How can his seed be anything but a monster?" Abby spat angrily. The hybrid was notorious and she still believed that he was only using Bonnie. He couldn't love her. He couldn't love anyone.

"The child is also your blood, your daughter's blood." Joanna reminded her. "Do you really believe your daughter will give birth to a monster?"

Abby looked away without answering instead she remembered the dream she had and the apparition she had seen of her mother. "I think my mother wants me to help Bonnie." She said quietly. "But the only way I can think of helping her is to get rid of that creature. It's the best thing to do. It's the right thing to do." _If only Bonnie had listened._

"That's her decision to make not yours." Joanna told her. "If she wants to keep her baby you have to respect that."

"They will kill her!" Abby stood up angrily. She had seen it, Bonnie in a bed of blood. It was an omen, a vision she was certain of it. "The spirits won't rest until they kill them both. They will hurt Bonnie. You can't expect me to let her get killed!"

"Then help her fight them!" Joanna yelled back while also standing up. "Do you realize the danger your daughter is?" she asked. "What it would mean to the witch community, to our family if Bonnie dies." She pinned Abby with her gaze. "Sheila is dead, you are a vampire, that makes Bonnie the head of the Bennett family. Have you told her what that means?"

Abby stayed silent and avoided Joanna's eyes.

"Does Bonnie know of her birthright?" Joanna questioned angrily. "Does she know the status she holds in the supernatural world? Have you told her anything?"

"What's the point?" Abby replied defensively. "Mother never took an active role, neither did my grandmother. The last thing I wanted was to fill Bonnie's head with the family _legacy_." She said the word with disdain. She had always hated the burden it had placed on her while growing up. The Bennett legacy had been a cloud hanging over her head unlike her mother who had always carried it with pride.

While her mother had viewed their position as a privilege and a responsibility Abby had always seen it as a burden. Growing up she had wanted to fit it, to be normal like her friends. Magic had always seemed like a chore, something she had to do and excel at in order to please her mother, but not something she enjoyed or particularly liked, until Mikael. The night she had desiccated Mikael, Abby had finally realized what it meant to be a witch. The power, the euphoria, and the satisfaction she felt upon bringing down an original to his knees had been like nothing she had ever experienced before. It had been incredible and addictive and had also led her to a path of destruction.

"Bonnie needs to know." Joanna's voice broke Abby out of her thoughts. "It is her right."

"What for?" Abby questioned. "There are hardly any Bennett witches left. Our family has been in decline for years. No one takes us seriously anymore."

Joanna shook her head and stared at Abby with disbelief. "Perhaps if our past leaders hadn't run away from their responsibilities things would be different." Her voice was laced with venom and it was a clear dig at Abby. Sheila hadn't taken an active role but she had tried to do her best for the family. Abby hadn't even bothered.

"I haven't come here to fight." Abby told her cousin. "I have come here because I want to help Bonnie." The dream had left her disturbed and worried about her daughter's future. "She's in danger and I want to protect her but she won't listen to me. Everything inside me tells me the child has to die. It's what the spirits want."

"And what Bonnie wants?" Joanna asked. "Do you even care?"

"Bonnie wants her baby." Abby said. Her daughter was determined to keep her child and there would be no convincing her otherwise. "But-"

"Then help her." Joanna said quietly.

The same thing her mother had said in her dream. Abby didn't know what to do. "Even if it means going against everything I believe in?" She asked. "If the baby is evil-"

"And what if it's not?" Joanna challenged. "How do you know? Are children born evil or do they become evil because of the circumstances of their upbringing?"

Abby bit her lip. "I don't know!"

"Exactly," Joanna said. "We don't know what Bonnie's baby is going to be. Nothing is set in stone Abby." Her face softened seeing the look of worry and fear on her cousin's face. "The spirits may be the keepers of the balance but that doesn't mean they are always right." She told Abby.

"What should I do?" Abby asked with desperation.

"Your daughter needs you." Joanna told her. "Be there for her, support her in any way that you can." If the spirits were determined to kill Bonnie and her child she was going to need all the help she could get.

"The spirits will kill her." Tears formed in Abby's eyes. "You know how they are. Any witch that defies them pays the price. I don't want them to hurt my little girl."

Joanna moved closer to Abby and took her hand in hers. "Then we must find away to protect her." She said. "If Bonnie dies the main branch of the Bennett bloodline will die with her. We cannot allow that."

"But how can we protect her against them?" Abby asked. "The spirits are all powerful, no one can defeat them."

"The spirits wouldn't even exist without the Bennett bloodline." Joanna murmured. "They exist because the other side exists, and the other side was created by our ancestor, Qetsiyah."

"What are you saying?" Abby stared at her cousin trying to follow her line of thought.

"Bonnie alone might not be able to fight all of them." Joanna told her. Oh, she would give them one hell of a fight, Joanna was sure. But a single witch was no match for hundreds, thousands of dead and hard headed witches. "The time has come Abby." She stared into her cousin's eyes and squeezed her hand. "The time has come for the Bennett coven to be summoned once more." It had been hundreds of years since the Bennett coven had been active, not since Salem.

"How are we going to find every single Bennett witch left?" Abby asked incredulous. There were only a few of them left but they were scattered all over the world. "Do you know how long it will take to track them down? Even with a locator spell-"

"We have all we need." Joanna said with a smile. "Who has the power to summon all the witches in our bloodline? dead or alive?"

"The leader of our coven." Abby replied automatically. "Or the queen if you follow ancient tradition." The leaders of old had always been referred to as queens.

"And who was the last leader or queen of the Bennett bloodline?" Joanna asked.

"My mother." Abby responded and then froze. Sheila had been a queen in name only like her mother before her and her grandmother before that. Since Salem, no Bennett witch had actually ruled as queen of the coven. It had been dissolved and never reformed after escaping the witch trials.

"And upon her death who became our next leader and queen?" Joanna continued asking.

"Me." Abby replied in a small whisper. The Bennett legacy, the burden of the first born.

"And the moment you became a vampire who became the next queen?" Joanna asked a small smile forming on her lips.

"Bonnie," Abby answered as the realization hit her. "She can summon them. As the rightful queen and leader of the coven she has the power to call every Bennett witch to her."

Joanna nodded. "All the witches in our bloodline are bound to serve and obey our queen." She said. "Bonnie may have the spirits and countless of witches against her but she also has an extremely powerful group of women who will help her."

Abby swallowed nervously. The legacy she had run away from, the one she had turned her back on and tried to protect Bonnie from, might be the one thing that could save her.

"You have to tell Bonnie." Joanna said. "The only way she stands a chance is with her coven by her side."

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Klaus moved at vampire speed through the dark streets of the city. Elijah had called out to him, a desperate plea that had echoed through his mind as clearly as if Elijah had spoken the words out loud.

Using his senses Klaus searched for his brother through the crowds of tourists and locals alike, when the smell of blood suddenly hit his nose.

Klaus moved to a dark alley, stopping short when he spotted the river of red sliding down the concrete floor. The alley was surrounded in darkness, not that it mattered. Klaus could see perfectly.

Two dead bodies lay against the wall, two men, the puncture holes in their necks quite visible. A third one laid on the floor, clearly dead. The eyes had stayed open, frozen in fear. The fourth, a woman was cradled to his brother's chest.

Elijah was crouched down on the floor, drinking greedily from her neck. His skin looked rather gray and pale and he moaned happily with each mouthful of blood that went down his throat.

"Elijah." Klaus approached him slowly as if he were a skittish animal, not knowing how his brother would react to his presence.

Elijah looked up and snarled, baring his fangs and blood dripping down his chin. He dropped the body of the girl and stood up. "I want more." he hissed before disappearing at vampire speed out of the alley.

Klaus followed.

Elijah pulled two more people into the next alley, a couple who had just come out of the restaurant in the corner.

He pulled the girl's back against his chest, yanking her hair to the side and baring her neck to him. She screamed as his fangs sunk into her creamy flesh. Elijah at least had the sense of silencing her with his other hand. She struggled in his hard and deathly embrace but it was in vain.

The man that accompanied her watched in horror as Elijah savagely drained her before running away, trying to escape. He didn't make it very far.

Klaus grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him back into the alley. He flung him against the wall.

There was a loud crack as the man's head hit the concrete wall. His dead body fell to the ground, blood oozing out of the side of his head.

Elijah dropped the girl's corpse to the ground and moved towards the man, picking him up and sinking his fangs into his neck, drinking with greed.

Klaus watched from the shadows. He had never seen Elijah act this way. So hungry, so savagely, it was so uncharacteristically of him. Even at his worst, Elijah had always prided himself for remaining in control. But tonight there was no such thing.

Elijah dropped the man's dead body on the ground and stood up. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from his chin with trembling hands.

"Feeling better?" Klaus asked tilting his head to the side and studying him. He seemed a little more in control than before but there was still something off about him.

Elijah closed his eyes. His skin still had a grayish hue, not as much as before but it was still visible to the eye. "I need more." He said struggling to control the hunger inside of him. "I never…" When he had been desiccated he had always woken up hungry but this…this never ending desire for blood was different. He had never felt anything like it. Not even when he had first become a vampire. "I can't stop." He wanted more. He needed to drink more.

 _Thump…thump…thump…_

He could hear Klaus's heartbeat. Elijah licked his lips remembering the taste of his brother's blood. The veins under his eyes reappeared once more as did his fangs. His body craved more blood, it was an unrelenting thirst that was driving him crazy.

"It's the dark magic." Klaus told him. "You spent weeks being drained by powerful magic, your body needs to recuperate."

In the next second Elijah had slammed Klaus hard against the nearest wall, growling and moving his head to the side, ready to sink his fangs into his brother's neck.

Klaus punched him. The blow sent Elijah to the floor.

"Not my blood." Klaus's growled. Under different circumstance he would have fed Elijah his blood without a second thought but he had drunk from Bonnie the previous night. He had drunk lots of her magical blood, which meant that Klaus's blood was now laced with that powerful elixir that was his little witch's essence and giving Elijah that kind of meal was a recipe for disaster. Many vampires had become rippers due to the addictive quality of a witch's blood. In Elijah's current condition giving him witch blood could cause more harm than good.

Elijah stood up and launched himself at Klaus once more. He wanted to drink more blood, he needed to feed and his brother's blood was as good as any. Klaus moved out the way easily avoiding him. He threw another punch for good measure.

Elijah stumbled back, nose bleeding but he was ready to attack once more.

 _Thump…thump…thump_

The unmistaken beating of a human heart resonated in both of their ears. Elijah punched Klaus and wasted no time to go after it.

Klaus stumbled back surprised by the force of the punch and angrily followed after his brother.

A woman clutching a little girl's hand was making her way down the street. They were chatting happily, completely unaware of the vampire making his way towards them. Klaus appeared behind him, breaking his neck before Elijah could attack them.

The woman gasped and the little girl's eyes went wide as the stranger fell to the ground right before their eyes.

"Good evening." Klaus grinned and compelled them both to forget what they had just seen. He also had to compel the couple that had been making out on the bench across the street and the older gentleman that had been coming out of his house at the exact moment that Klaus had snapped Elijah's neck.

One he had ensured no witnesses were left he grabbed Elijah and threw him over his shoulder, disappearing at hybrid speed out of there before they attracted more attention.

* * *

"What do you mean he just took off?" Rebekah questioned Bonnie. They were in the living room, after Bonnie had frantically knocked on Rebekah's bedroom and told her and Matt that Klaus had disappeared.

"He said something about Elijah," Bonnie told her. "And then he used his super speed and left." She had changed into a shirt and jeans and sat on the sofa nervously. Klaus hadn't given her much of an explanation before leaving.

"I thought Elijah was missing." Matt said. He sat next to her on the sofa while Rebekah anxiously paced in front of them. "How would Klaus know where he is?"

"Elijah must have communicated with him again." Rebekah murmured. "Can you do a locator spell?" she turned towards Bonnie.

"I already have." Bonnie said. "He's in New Orleans but he's moving, like really fast." She hadn't been able to pinpoint his exact location and it didn't help that she wasn't familiar with the city either. She only knew that he was close. And the bond told her that wherever he was he was safe.

"I'll go search for them." Rebekah told them.

Bonnie and Matt stood up immediately. "I'll go with you." They said at the same time.

"I don't think-"

"No need for that. I'm right here." Klaus told them while carrying an unconscious Elijah in his arms.

"What happened?" Rebekah asked rushing towards his side.

Bonnie moved closer as well. Elijah looked terrible. His hair was disheveled, his clothes were covered in ash and dried blood adorned his chin.

"Felix!" Klaus called. The hybrid appeared right away followed by the Jesse, Riley, Belle and Angelica. "There are a couple of dead bodies in the Quarter clean it up." He ordered. "Riley and Jesse go with him. And make sure no one sees you."

The hybrids nodded. The three of them took off at vampire speed out of the house.

"He looks kind of blue." Belle commented while staring curiously at Elijah's unconscious body.

"Like he's been desiccated," Matt murmured.

"I'll get some blood bags." Angelica said quietly before disappearing towards the kitchen.

"Where did you find him?" Rebekah asked touching Elijah's forehead. She felt happy and relieved that he was with them once more but he looked awful, like he hadn't fed in years. He looked worst than when waking up after being desiccated.

"In an alley feeding on some unsuspecting tourists." Klaus replied. "He's mad with hunger." He began walking towards the stairs. "I'll lock him up in one of the bedrooms until he feels better." The last thing they needed was for Elijah to go on a rampage and draw attention to their presence in the city. It was the advantage they had over their enemies after all.

Bonnie began walking after him but Klaus stopped her. "You need to stay here sweetheart." He told her. He did not want Bonnie near Elijah in his current condition.

"But I can help." She could use her magic to try and help Elijah. "My magic..."

Angelica came back, hands full with blood bags.

"Elijah is only thinking about feeding right now. The moment he hears your heartbeat he'll attack." Klaus told her. "You and the quarterback need to stay away from him until he regains his senses."

"He's right." Rebekah said. "Elijah will be fine once he's fed." She took the blood bags from Angelica's hands and followed after Klaus.

"I think he's going to need more blood than that." Belle said watching them disappear up the stairs.

"There is more in the freezer." Angelica told her. There was a worried look on her face.

"So what do we do now?" Belle asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"I guess we just wait." Matt said with a shrug.

"Yeah…" Bonnie said.

 _How had Elijah gotten out of the coffin?_

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Katherine opened her eyes and gasped feeling disoriented.

 _Where am I?_ She wondered. Her head hurt as she struggled to put the pieces together.

She had been in a bar enjoying her freedom. There had been a handsome man who had bought her a drink and then…they had gone back to her hotel room. Yes, that's right. He was sexy and she had planned to enjoy a nice night of sex and blood…but everything was a blur after that.

"You're a wake." A gruff voice said from the corner of the room.

Katherine looked up, noticing for the first time that she was in a basement of some sort. She was on the floor, chains laced with vervain held her hands and ankles.

"Who the hell are you?" she snapped angrily.

The man smiled as he moved closer. "I'm Victor Navarro." He told her.

 _Fuck_

Katherine cursed mentally. She cursed the day she had met Jane-Anne Deveraux. That stupid witch had gotten her in hot mess. The moment she had escaped from her and the wolves helping her, Katherine had disappeared from Mystic Falls. The huntress had done her a favor by killing Jane-Anne but Katherine knew that Klaus would be after her for the role she had played in kidnapping Bonnie.

"You were the last person to see Jane alive and I want answers." Victor told her as he crouched down on the floor in front of her. "I want to know what happened. Who killed her?"

"I don't know." Katherine replied putting her most innocent smile on her face. The smile disappeared with the force of Victor's blow.

Katherine spit blood and tears burned in her eyes from the pain of Victor's punch. _Stupid werewolf_ She thought angrily.

"Wrong answer." He told her. "I'm going to ask you again. What happened with Jane-Anne? Who killed her?"

"I told you I-" Katherine gasped and struggled to breathe as Victor grabbed her by the throat squeezing the air from her lungs.

"Victor." A voice called. Victor let go of Katherine immediately.

A dark haired man descended the stairs and stepped inside the basement. He stared at Katherine, a mask of indifference on his face. "The infamous Katherine Pierce." He said. "I have heard many things about you."

Katherine watched him warily.

"I can't say the same thing, I'm afraid." She said with a fake smile.

"I am Franco Navarro." He introduced himself. "And it has come to my attention that you possess valuable information on Jane-Anne's plans." He came to stand in front of her, looking down at her with scorn. "You are going to tell us everything you know."

"And why would I do that?" Katherine snapped. _Were they really stupid enough to believe that she would just spill the beans without getting anything in return?_

Franco gave her a wolfish smile. "It's quite simple really. You tell us what we want and you get to live."

"After all," Victor continued. "One bite from us and you're dead and rumor has it that the only one who can heal you is your worst enemy…" he smiled. "Start talking honey."

Katherine swallowed painfully and looked between both brothers the wheels in her head turning.

"Jane-Anne wanted my help." She began. "She saved my life and I owed her."

Victor nodded. He had known as much. It was the reason he had tracked her in the first place. Jane-Anne had told him about Katherine.

 _So far so good_ Katherine thought. She knew she needed to be careful with what she revealed to them. She was a survivor and she was determined to make the best of her situation.

"And?" Franco probed.

"She was looking for a witch…" Katherine continued deliberately trailing off and waiting to see what they would say.

"Why was this witch so important?" Victor questioned.

The first thing Katherine noticed is that they didn't ask who the witch was. That could only mean two things, it was irrelevant to them or they already knew who the witch was. Considering who the witch in question was Katherine was willing to bet they already knew her identity.

"I asked her but she didn't say." She answered. "She was very secretive about the whole thing."

Victor nodded and was ready to ask another question when Franco's voice stopped him. "You're lying." He said staring into Katherine's eyes.

Katherine shook her head. "No, I-" she screamed when vervain was suddenly thrown on her face. Her skin burned and turned red before it healed itself.

"Let's try this again shall we." Franco said holding the half filled bottle of vervain. Katherine hadn't even seen when he had pulled it out. "I can tell when you lie." He told her. "It's a wolf thing, so how about you tell me the truth?"

"How do I know you won't kill me after I do?" she asked determined not to show any fear.

"You don't." Franco said simply.

Katherine's eyes narrowed and she lifted her chin in defiance. "You need the information I have." She told him. "So I want to make a deal. I tell you what you want to know and you let me go, alive and unharmed."

Franco chuckled. "Or I could just kill you now."

"You won't." Katherine said smiling despite the pain she felt. "Jane-Anne is dead and so are the wolves that you sent with her. I'm the only one who knows how they died and the reason she was willing to die trying to kidnap Bonnie." She let the name drop and studied their reaction.

 _They know_ Katherine realized. The Navarro brother's knew who Bonnie was but they didn't know why Jane-Anne wanted her, if they did, she wouldn't be chained to their basement. "You need me." She continued knowing that she had the advantage now. "What I have to tell you is extremely _valuable_." She emphasized. "If you kill me, you will never know. So I suggest you take the deal." she gave him a saucy grin.

Victor looked nervously at his brother, "maybe we can-"

"You really have no idea who you are dealing with, do you?" Franco's voice sent a chill down Katherine's spine. "Vampires, always so arrogant." He hissed. He made a strange sound with his tongue. "You need to be taught a lesson."

The door to the basement opened and five figures emerged. Victor stood up and looked at her with something akin to pity.

"You know what to do." Franco said. He turned around and walked out of the basement, Victor following closely behind.

Katherine's heart sped up, fear and adrenaline pumping her veins. This was not the turn of events she had anticipated.

She watched nervously as the five werewolves stood looming over her. She flashed her vampire face at them but they only laughed.

For the next couple of hours all that could be heard from the basement were her anguished screams.

* * *

 **The next morning…**

 **New Orleans**

Bonnie knocked on the door and waited patiently. Rebekah and Klaus had spent the whole night locked up with Elijah. Rebekah had come down a few times for more blood bags while Bonnie waited with Matt, Angelica and Belle in the living room.

After enjoying the nice breakfast Angelica had made for them, Bonnie had decided to see if Elijah was feeling any better.

Rebekah opened the door and offered her a small smile.

"How is he?" Bonnie asked peering into the room.

"Come in love," Klaus sat on the bed while the elder original stood by the window, his back towards Bonnie.

Elijah turned and offered Bonnie a small smile. He looked like his old self now. The grayish color of his skin had disappeared and he seemed in control of himself once more. He had also showered and dressed in one of his well tailored suits. "Miss Bennett." He greeted.

"Hi." Bonnie hadn't really interacted much with Elijah and felt nervous under his scrutinizing gaze. He was Klaus's brother, one of the few people the hybrid trusted and Bonnie wanted to cause a good impression.

"We have a lot to discuss." Elijah said moving his gaze from Klaus to Bonnie and to Rebekah who shut the door and leaned her back against it.

"How did you get out of the coffin?" Rebekah asked the question in everyone's mind.

"Ayana helped me." Elijah told them.

"How?" Klaus stood up from the bed and moved closer to Bonnie.

"Her magic freed me and she also gave me the name of the witch who sent the hunters after you." Elijah answered while looking at Bonnie. "Cassandra, she was part of the New Orleans coven, her protégé Iris is the one that trapped me in the coffin."

"What about the witch that is helping Marcel?" Klaus asked. "Do you know anything about her?"

"Her name is Davina and she's part of the New Orleans coven." Elijah answered. "She also believes that we will bring death and destruction to the city." From what Elijah had heard of her conversations with Marcel she was pretty convinced that the Mikelson's were going to destroy New Orleans.

"How wonderful," Rebekah muttered sarcastically.

Elijah stared at Bonnie, "I have a message for you." He said. "From Ayana."

"What message?" she asked. Klaus had told her that Ayana had been like a mother to them and she was also Bonnie's ancestor.

"She asked me to tell you that you are not alone." Elijah told her softly. "That the Bennett's protect their own and that she and your grandmother are doing everything in their power to help you, to help us."

Bonnie gasped. "My Grams…" Klaus took her hand and gave it a gently squeeze. He knew how much such message meant to her. "She doesn't think my baby is evil?" she asked her voice breaking. It had been one of her fears that her Grams thought like her mother did.

"No." Elijah answered with a soft smile. He stared at both Bonnie and Klaus and studied their clasped hands. It suddenly dawned on him. They were bonded. He stared at Niklaus in shock. His brother gave a small nod confirming Elijah's realization.

Bonnie touched her stomach as she thought of her Grams, feeling relief and happy with the message Elijah had delivered. "She wants to help us." She whispered. _Oh Grams, how much I miss you_ she thought.

Elijah nodded and took a step closer until he was standing right in front of her. "I made a promise to Ayana." He said gently. "And today I make the same promise to you." He looked deeply into her eyes. "I will always protect you Bonnie Bennett. You have my word."

Bonnie didn't know what to make of the eldest original. She barely knew him and here he was promising to protect her. Elena had always described him as the good one, the honorable one. But Bonnie had not forgotten that he had broken his word before or the role he had played when her mother had been turned into a vampire. She nodded but she felt wary. She didn't really trust the original. She couldn't trust him when she barely knew him. But she was grateful for his words and offer of protection.

"So, what's the plan?" Rebekah asked. "We're in New Orleans, you're out of the coffin and we know the identity of the witch who wants Bonnie dead. What's the next step? How are we going to kill the bloody bitch?" _And all the other enemies coming after us?_ She thought.

Elijah and Klaus shared a knowing look.

"She will come to us." Elijah replied calmly.

"Why would she do that?" Bonnie asked looking from Elijah to Klaus. She felt like she was missing something, the brothers clearly had a plan.

The hybrid's lips curved into his all too familiar smirk but he did not answer her question. However, Bonnie could feel how pleased he felt through their bond.

"I'm free." Elijah said suddenly. "We are back in New Orleans and there is a Mikaelson on the way. I believe this calls for a celebration." His lips curved into a sardonic smile.

"I believe you are right brother." Klaus said smiling with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

Rebekah and Bonnie exchanged confused looks.

"We are practically at war and you want to throw a party." There was an incredulous look on Rebekah's face. "Have you gone mad?" They had more important things to worry about than to celebrate and this coming from a girl who loved to dress up and attend a good bash.

"Not just a party my dear but a ball," Elijah clarified.

"And we shall invite everyone in New Orleans," Klaus said quite on board with the plan.

"The time has come for everyone to know that the Original family is not only back into town," Elijah said his eyes darkening with an unreadable emotion. "But to also learn a very important lesson, no one dares to harm one of us and lives." He hissed.

Their enemies were going to learn why the original family was at the top of the supernatural order.

* * *

 **Tennessee**

Tyler laughed as he watched the two werewolves wrestle each other. The group was small only five lone wolves plus Tyler but they had come together and formed a pack of their own. They had become like family to Tyler in the time he had spent with them.

They had found an abandoned farm house and made it their home for the past few months. The woods nearby helped them to hide and train and run free on the nights of the full moon.

"Who's next?" Tyler asked as the wolves broke apart. Tyler had been helping them not only with their turning but also training them, teaching them how to fight.

Two new wolves took positions getting into a fighting stance. The moment was broken when Tyler sensed the presence of more werewolves.

At least ten werewolves suddenly appeared from the woods, surrounding them.

Tyler's friends growled and prepared for a fight. "Easy." Tyler told them.

A tall black haired man walked towards them. He was impeccably dressed, his dark eyes immediately zeroed in on Tyler.

"We don't want any trouble." Tyler told him. He knew how easily tempers could flare among their kind and he was trying to prevent a violent confrontation. They were outnumbered and something told him that these wolves would not be so easy to fight.

"You must be Tyler Lockwood." The man said coming to stand in front of him. "I've heard about you."

Tyler did not like the way the man was staring at him nor the tone of his voice. "And who the hell are you?" he snapped.

"My name is Luis Navarro," the man told him. "And I have a business proposition for you."

Tyler swallowed nervously.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: There have been a couple of questions in the reviews and I wish I could answer them but I don't want to spoil anything._ _Some of you have also asked about the flashback to Klonnie's first night together. When I first started writing this story that was actually the first chapter. I wrote most of it but when I got to the smut I chicken out and started with what was originally the second chapter (the morning after). I have the scene (minus the smut) and I want to include it in the story but I also want to go back and give the smut another try and make it a full chapter, but I haven't done it yet. I definitely want/plan to include some flashbacks to that night in this story I just haven't found the perfect spot for it. I also thought that if I finish writing the full chapter I might post it as a one-shot or a prologue to this fic, but I haven't made up my mind so I don't want to make any promises. I will let you know when I decide what to do. If you guys have a preference please let me know._

 _Sorry for the long note and thank-you for all your lovely and wonderful reviews. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Tennessee**

Tyler and Luis moved away from the rest of the werewolves, walking side by side. Tyler didn't know what to make of the werewolf. He seemed well mannered and pleasant but it could all be an act. Tyler was not going to let his guard down.

"You are the first successful hybrid sired by Klaus Mikaelson." Luis stated as the two walked around the property.

"Yeah," Tyler answered. _How the hell did he know that?_ he wondered.

"For a long time no one believed hybrids could exist." Luis murmured. "Have you tried siring hybrids on your own?" he asked curiously.

"No." Tyler answered honestly. "I don't think that's even possible." Not to mention that Klaus had needed Elena's blood to make his hybrids and Elena was no longer human. Tyler definitely had no interest in trying.

Luis studied him and Tyler shifted uncomfortably under the man's sharp gaze. "For a long time werewolves were believed to be extinct or near extinction anyway." He said.

Tyler nodded he had heard as much. It wasn't true of course there were plenty of werewolves still around. Far more packs than the vampires assumed.

"Werewolves have been around for a long time," Luis told him calmly. "Not as long as the witches but certainly far longer than the vampires."

"And?" Tyler shrugged. _Could he get to the point?_

Luis shook his head amused by the younger man's indifference. "One thousand years ago the werewolves ruled the supernatural world. That all changed with the creation of vampires." Luis explained. "There was a shift in power, the mighty wolves that had once ruled the world were persecuted, murdered, and brought to the brink of extinction."

"By the vampires," Tyler added.

"Yes." Luis confirmed. "The Mikaelson patriarch was responsible for exterminating many ancient and important wolf bloodlines." He had started the war between both species. A war the vampires had been winning for a very long time. "The Navarro pack has been around for centuries. We have succeeded in avoiding destruction and annihilation several times." The closest they had come had been in New Orleans three hundred years ago.

"Why are you telling me this?" Tyler asked impatiently. "What do you want?" He didn't give a damn about the Navarro pack.

"Another shift in the balance of power is approaching." Luis murmured. He looked up into the sky and took a deep breath, letting the smell of pinewood, earth and wildflowers penetrate his senses. "My father believed that the werewolves could regain their power and status in the supernatural world." His gaze returned to Tyler. "He believed that by unifying our species we could once again rise to the top. My siblings and I have been working hard to make that happen." By taking over smaller packs and bringing them under Navarro control they had succeeded in creating the biggest werewolf pack in North America.  
"There is only one thing standing in the way of that."

"And what is that?" Tyler asked. There was a strange feeling at the pit of his stomach.

"The Original family," Luis answered. "Unlike other vampires our bite is not lethal to them." And for one thousand years the Mikaelson family had been at the top. Not even the witches had succeeded in bringing them down.

Tyler swallowed nervously. "Why are you here?"

"Because rumor has it that you and your friends murdered an Original vampire." Luis answered staring deeply into Tyler's eyes. "You have succeeded in doing what no one else thought possible…until now."

Tyler looked away. His friends stood a few feet away close enough to see them but far away as not be able to hear their conversation. They looked nervous. "What do you want from me?" he asked turning back to face Luis.

"I am here to offer you the chance to be a part of something great." Luis said. "You can be part of a new beginning, a new era in which our species will once again rise to the top and rule the world."

"I'm not just a werewolf." Tyler reminded him. "I'm a hybrid."

"So you are." Luis said. Tyler did not like the look on his face. "As a hybrid, you are stronger than a regular werewolf or vampire but you have the heart of a wolf. You did not choose to be what you are."

Tyler's jaw clenched remembering how Klaus had turned him into a hybrid, how he had turned others against their will. But despite the anger he felt towards Klaus he was smart enough to realize that Luis wanted something. "But this offer comes with a price doesn't it?" he wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart.

Luis smiled. "You know how to kill an Original, that kind of information is extremely valuable." The kind of information his family needed.

Tyler rolled his eyes. "So that's your plan kill the Originals?" _Good luck with that_ he thought. The only weapon that could kill an Original was in Klaus's control. And he was not going to give that information to Luis.

"Now that we know they are not invincible as we once thought there will be many who will want to kill them." Luis responded. "Don't you want revenge against the monster that did this to you? The one who killed your mother?"

Tyler's eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists. "How do you know so much about me?"

"I made it my business to know." Luis answered. His lips curved into a grin.

Tyler did not like him. There was something inside of him, something telling him not to trust this man. A feeling deep in his gut that told him not to fall for the werewolf's words.

"My family will ensure the werewolves rule the supernatural world once more." He said with confidence. "Those who choose to stand with us will be rewarded greatly," his eyes bored into Tyler's. "Those who stand against us will die."

Tyler swallowed nervously. The threat had been implicit.

"Think about it Tyler and choose wisely." Luis said. He pulled a small business card out of his pocket. "Call me when you make your decision."

Tyler reluctantly took the card.

He had fantasized about killing Klaus. He wanted revenge for what Klaus had done to his pack, his friends, and his mom. He wanted that evil monster to suffer. But killing Klaus meant killing every vampire from his sire line.

Caroline the girl he loved, Elena his friend, Bonnie's mom…even the Salvatores not that Tyler particularly cared that much about them. He doubted Luis knew that if one Original died all the vampires they had sired died with them. That was the kind of information he would deem valuable. Maybe he already suspected it and was trying to confirm it. He seemed to know a lot about Tyler and what had happened in Mystic Falls.

 _How? How had word spread that an Original had been killed? How did Luis know so much?_

If the Navarro family was willing to go against the Original family that meant war and under different circumstances Tyler would've jumped at the idea of taking those fuckers down. He would give anything in the world to kill Klaus, to make him pay for what he had done.

 _And that was the problem wasn't it?_

If Klaus died so would Tyler and the people he cared about.

Tyler watched Luis go feeling a sense of foreboding.

 _A war is coming._ Tyler thought. _And I have no fucking idea what I'm going to do._

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Never in a million years could Matt have imagined that he would be having breakfast with the Original family. Elijah had decided that they should eat outside. He wanted a bit of fresh air after being stuck in a coffin for weeks.

It was a sunny and breezy day as they enjoyed their breakfast underneath a huge oak tree in the backyard of the plantation. The table was round and Matt sat in between Rebekah and Bonnie. Next to Bonnie was Klaus while Elijah sat in between Klaus and Rebekah.

While the hybrid had been content on ignoring Matt, Elijah hand pinned Matt with his gaze and began an endless interrogation, about his family, his studies, and his plans for the future.

Matt was half expecting the typical, w _hat are your intentions with my_ _sister?_

Only Elijah could be so polite and even charming while quizzing Matt about his life and subtly letting him know what terrible fate awaited him should he break Rebekah's heart.

Matt shifted nervously in his seat as he answered all of the questions. Elijah was intimidating and the worst thing was that he did it in that polite manner of his. It was hard to guess what he was thinking or if he was setting a trap for you with his words.

"Really Elijah, you are acting worst than the Inquisition." Rebekah was quite annoyed by his interrogation.

"I simply want to get to know your…" Elijah looked from Matt to Rebekah.

"Boyfriend," Rebekah offered with a smile. "Matt is my boyfriend and you need to stop harassing him."

"It's fine…" Matt said. He could understand where Elijah was coming from. As the older brother he wanted to protect Rebekah.

"Well, considering your track record Elijah has every right to be concerned about your choice of men," Klaus intervened.

Rebekah rolled her eyes, "Just because I made some questionable choices in the past does not mean-"

Klaus snorted, "how about every time?" he muttered under his breath.

"Like you and Elijah's choices in women have been any better." Rebekah snapped. "This does not include you Bonnie." She said looking at her friend. "Don't take offence please."

"Not taken." Bonnie said before she happily continued eating.

"Do I need to remind you of-"

That of course started an argument among the three siblings. Matt and Bonnie watched in amusement as they each threw insults and jabs at one another. It was surreal and yet despite the insults there were smiles and camaraderie.

No matter how much they argued it was pretty obvious how deeply they cared for each other and how happy they were to be together again.

"Remember that time that stupid harlot burned our house because you dumped her," Rebekah said to Klaus.

"That wasn't me darling. I'm pretty sure Elijah broke her heart." Klaus retorted.

"Absolutely not," Elijah was quick to respond. "I was not acquainted with that woman. I believe Kol chose her sister instead."

"And she burned the house trying to kill him!" Klaus remembered with a laugh.

Silence descended over them at the mention of their younger brother. Rebekah looked down at her plate. It hurt still to think about him, mischievous Kol always getting into trouble.

Bonnie could feel the sadness and the rage Klaus felt at the thought of his brother. She very slowly moved her hand over his underneath the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Klaus rubbed his thumb over her knuckles and offered her a small smile. It was amazing how one simple touch could have such an effect on him.

"As pleasant as this breakfast has been," Elijah said after a while of silence. "I do believe we have matters to attend to." He turned to Rebekah. "We need to start preparing for the ball. We need a suitable location, people, the invitations…"

"I'll start today." Rebekah told him. There were a couple of places she had in mind that could work well for the ball. She also knew of a group of vampires that specialized in supernatural parties.

"The ball is going to be a turning point in this war." Elijah said. He regarded Matt carefully. "Do you realize what you are getting yourself into?" he asked. "The dangers you will face by associating with us."

Matt lifted his chin and stared back at him. "I know." Rebekah took his hand in hers. "When I decided to come here I knew how dangerous it could be." He looked from Elijah to Klaus. "I know I'm just a human…but…I will help." He looked at Rebekah and then at Bonnie. For them, Matt would do anything to keep them safe.

Both girls smiled at him.

"You'll get yourself killed." Klaus said nonchalantly.

Bonnie and Rebekah glared at him.

"Klaus!" Bonnie couldn't believe he just said that.

"Don't be an ass!" Rebekah snapped.

"I'm just stating the truth." Klaus shrugged. The human was a liability. Sooner or later he would end up turning or dying. Klaus didn't see any other future for him.

"Have you thought about turning?" Elijah asked.

Matt's eyes went wide. He and Rebekah had not discussed that. "I…"

"I'll make a ring for Matt." Bonnie announced. All eyes turned to her. "Like the Gilbert rings." She explained at their curious looks. "We're in a city surrounded by supernaturals and I hope it never happens but you might need it." She looked at Matt and offered him a small smile.

"You can do that?" Matt asked incredulous and hopeful at the idea. He honestly didn't know if he wanted to be a vampire. He hadn't really thought of that.

"The spell is in Emily's grimoire." Bonnie told him. "I can do it." It was an intricate spell but Bonnie felt confident she could replicate it. "In fact, I'll do it today."

Rebekah stood up from her chair and moved towards Bonnie, surprising everyone when she suddenly embraced the tiny witch in her arms. "Thank-you." She whispered in her ear. With that ring Matt would be safe.

Matt beamed while Klaus and Elijah turned to look at each other.

Rebekah had finally found a true friend and so had Bonnie.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Damon finished the drink in one big gulp. He was at the Grill drinking away his anger and trying to forget how close he had come to dying. He could still feel Klaus's phantom fingers squeezing his heart. He shuddered. For one moment while Klaus had held his heart in his hand Damon had been certain he would die. But Klaus had spared him…because of Bonnie.

Damon still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Bonnie was sleeping Klaus. Bonnie and Klaus together…it was surreal, something from a nightmare. He couldn't understand how Bonnie could be so stupid as to fall for Klaus of all people. _Couldn't she see that he was only using her?_

"Another one," he ordered. It was not even noon but he was ready to finish another bottle. He didn't want to think about Bonnie or Klaus. The thought of that bastard touching her made him angry.

The bartender frowned but served him nonetheless.

Damon welcomed the burning sensation down his throat. He didn't understand why it made him so angry.

 _So what if Bonnie is fucking Klaus?_ He thought.

 _Why does it bother you so much?_ Bonnie had asked him. _Why do you even care?_

 _Because Klaus is evil,_ Damon thought. He was only using Bonnie, manipulating her. He was taking advantage of Bonnie. And Elena wouldn't like it. Elena would never approve of her best friend and the monster who murdered her aunt being together.

Sooner or later Bonnie would realize what a big mistake she was making. She was naïve and probably thought Klaus really cared about her. She was in for a rude awakening, of that Damon felt sure.

He stared at the bartender a rather young man and narrowed his eyes. "Where's Matt?" he asked suddenly. He had been at the Grill since they had opened and he had yet to see the human.

"He quit." The man answered while polishing some glasses.

Damon frowned. "What do you mean he quit? Did he win the lottery or something?"

"Or something," the man murmured.

Damon grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled his face closer, "where is Matt?" he asked using his compulsion on the human.

"He quit." The bartender answered honestly.

"Why?" Damon questioned.

"He said he was going to travel with his girl." The bartender replied.

"Forget we had this conversation." Damon ordered before letting go of the man and exiting the Grill at vampire speed.

He suddenly had a strange feeling in his gut and an intense desire to see Bonnie.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Bonnie giggled feeling the tingling sensation in her hands as she dug them deep into the soil. Warmth spread from her fingertips to her arms and legs. She sighed in contentment.

The garden sprang to life with wildflowers, a mix of reds, yellows, and purples.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of this feeling." Bonnie said smiling as her magic fed the earth and created more flowers.

Angelica smiled back. Her own hands buried in the soil as her magic sprang more plants to life. "It's amazing isn't it?"

For the past two hours or so they had been working in the garden, using their magic to help the plants and flowers grow more rapidly. They were going to work in the green house next.

"Do you think Marcel will know?" Bonnie asked suddenly. "That we are using magic, I mean."

"No." Angelica answered. "Marcel knows when the witches of the Quarter practice magic but he won't know when we use our magic. The witches of New Orleans practice a different form of magic than you or me." She explained.

"What kind of magic?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Ancestral magic," Angelica told her. "They must remain close to the remains of their ancestors for it strengthens their magic. The further away they get, the weaker their magic becomes."

Bonnie remembered how weak Jane-Anne's and Sophie's magic had been against the huntress. Because they had been away from New Orleans she realized. It was the reason the witches in New Orleans stayed in the city despite the restrictions Marcel had placed. They wanted to remain connected to their ancestors, to the source of their power even if it meant that they had to stop practicing magic.

"Can I ask you something?" Bonnie asked staring at Angelica. It was something she had been wondering about but hadn't yet asked. When the dark haired witch nodded, Bonnie continued. "How are you part of Klaus's pack? I'm sorry I don't mean to pry." She was quick to say. "It's just that you are not a werewolf and I just wondered…"

Angelica smiled. "You do not need to apologize blessed one." She stared at the sunflowers she had just created with her magic. "My mother was a witch and my father a werewolf." She told Bonnie.

"Really?" Bonnie felt intrigued by that. "You have the werewolf gene then that means that…"

"If I trigger my curse I will lose my magic." Angelica finished. "The same way that a witch that is turned into a vampire loses her magic, it's the way the balance is kept." She explained. "I never really knew my father. I grew up as a witch with my mother and grandmother. I eventually grew curious and tried to join a pack once but they told me that in order to join them I had to give up my magic. They wanted me to kill someone and trigger my wolf gene."

"And you didn't." Bonnie said.

"I couldn't." Angelica lifted her face and stared at her. "Being a witch is all I have ever known." She pulled her hands away from the soil and continued with her story. "When I met Klaus I was intrigued. A hybrid, the first of his kind." There was a faraway look on her face as she remembered that day. "He understood that I couldn't give up my magic and still offered me a place in his pack." She was far more useful to him as a witch than she could ever be as a hybrid. "Wolves need their pack, that sense of belonging, of family. I finally found that."

 _Will my baby be like Angelica?_ Bonnie wondered, _a witch with an untriggered werewolf gene? Or maybe a hybrid like Klaus?_

 _No!_ Bonnie thought. _My baby is going to be much more than that_. She didn't know where that thought had suddenly come from but she felt it deep in her heart. Her baby was special in more ways than one.

"Shall we move to the green house?" Angelica asked.

Bonnie nodded and stood up. A sudden thought occurred to her. "You called me blessed one, why?" she asked. Angelica had greeted her with those words the first time they had met and she had even bowed. And the night before when they had arrived at the plantation she had done the same thing.

"Is what you are." Angelica replied simply.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie questioned. No one had ever referred to her as such before.

"The Bennett family is known as the line of the blessed." Angelica replied. There was a strange look on her face as she regarded Bonnie. "Don't you know?"

"Know what?" Bonnie asked. There was a lot she didn't know about her family.

Angelica pressed her lips together and looked away from her, moving her gaze over the trees that surrounded the property. "Your name carries a lot of weight in the supernatural world." She finally said turning to face Bonnie once more. "In many ways you are like royalty among the witches."

"Really?" Bonnie stared at her in shock. She had never heard such a thing. Her grandmother had never told her anything about that.

 _It's time that you become what you were born to be,_ Klaus had told her the night they had defeated Silas. _A queen,_ He had whispered in her ear. Bonnie remembered his words clearly. _Did he know?_

Angelica nodded. "My grandmother used to tell me stories, witch folklore," she told Bonnie. "She told me that your family has been around since the beginning and are known as the line of the blessed because you are the blood of the first witch."

"The first witch…" Bonnie murmured. _Was Angelica referring to Qetsiyah?_

"There are many myths about how magic came to be, how it spread all over the world, how witches were created. Magic is different and different cultures have different believes." Angelica explained. "But I do know that your name is legendary among the witch community. My grandmother had a deep respect and awe of your family." Something had had been passed on to her daughter and granddaughter.

"There is a lot that I don't know," Bonnie said staring down at her feet. She felt embarrassed. She didn't know her own family history _. How many witches out there knew more about her family than she did?_

"You should ask Klaus." Angelica said softly. "He's been around for a long time. I'm sure he has heard plenty of stories about your family."

Bonnie nodded. "Thank-you." She was definitely going to ask Klaus about her family.

"I have a book too." Angelica said. "My grandmother gave it to me for my tenth birthday. It's a collection of stories about magic, fables, fairytales." She shrugged. "I don't know how much truth there is to them but I really enjoyed them."

"I would like to read it, if you don't mind." Bonnie told her with a smile. She liked Angelica. It was nice to have someone who understood and practiced magic. Bonnie had a feeling that she was going to learn a lot from her.

"I found it!" Matt said walking towards them and showing his graduation ring. "I took it off this morning when I took a shower and it fell under the sink." He handed the ring to Bonnie. It felt like he had been looking for it for hours.

Felix came following Matt. He nodded in Bonnie's direction before addressing Angelica, "a word." He said before turning to walk back inside the house. He was a very quiet man, young probably in his late twenties. Bonnie had noticed that he only spoke when spoken to and he didn't interact as much with the others. Unlike Riley, Belle, and Jesse who seemed to be friends. Felix always kept his distance. He was respectful and aloof and he seemed to get along with Angelica far better than with anyone else.

"Excuse me." Angelica followed the hybrid inside the house.

"Let's do this." Bonnie told Matt and they also made their way inside the house. She needed to get Emily's grimoire and start the spell.

* * *

Klaus frowned and put the grimoire down and picked another one from the small pile he had in front of him. He was in the study trying to find information on the New Orleans witches. Felix had mentioned an important ritual for the witches of the city and Klaus could've sworn he had heard something similar when he had first arrived in New Orleans three hundred years ago.

"You seem troubled brother." Elijah murmured as he stepped inside the study.

Klaus pulled another grimoire. "Do you remember a ritual important for the witches of this city?"

Elijah frowned. "I'm sure there is a long list of rituals, Niklaus."

Klaus threw the grimoire away and flipped through another one. "Felix said that Marcel interrupted a special ritual for the witches and I want to know what it was. These grimoires are from witches who lived in this city."

Elijah took a seat across from him and picked one of the grimoires his brother had discarded. He recognized it immediately. "Celeste," he murmured fingertips tracing over the leather cover. His dear Celeste, his lover and bonded. Elijah closed his eyes feeling guilty and sad over her death. He had never forgotten Celeste or the tragic end she had suffered. A death Klaus had partly been responsible for.

Elijah put the grimoire down. It was best not to think about that.

"Something you wish to say?" Klaus muttered as he flipped through another grimoire.

"I did not want to trouble Bonnie or Rebekah," Elijah began while blocking any thoughts of his former lover. "But Ayana warned me about something."

"What?" Klaus asked without looking up.

"It seems our parents are conspiring on the other side." Elijah informed him.

Klaus's body went rigid. "Esther and Mikael?" he looked up eyes dark with different emotions.

"Yes." Elijah sighed. "She doesn't know what mother is planning but it's not so hard to guess what her intentions are or father's for that matter."

"To destroy us," Klaus spat angrily. He stood up and moved to the liquor cabinet. _Why couldn't they leave him alone?_ Even after their deaths he had to watch his back.

"We need to be careful, Niklaus." Elijah said accepting the drink his brother had offered.

"We can't do anything about Mikael and Esther right now." Klaus told him before taking a sip of his bourbon. "What we can do is focus on the enemies within our reach."

Elijah nodded a pensive look on his face. "I think I shall pay a visit to Davina." The girl was powerful and Elijah felt intrigued about her visions. "She might be useful to us." And she was close to Marcel as well.

"There is a reason Marcel is protecting her." Klaus said deep thought. "They must know you are free by now."

"Indeed." Elijah agreed. "What are you going to do about Marcel brother?" he asked intrigued.

"He staged his death." Klaus murmured. "There is only one reason why he did such a thing." Anger laced his veins. Marcel's betrayal hurt more than he cared to admit. "And he shall pay for it."

Elijah stood up. "The ball will be the perfect opportunity to have all of our enemies in one room." There was a lot to be done before that of course, pieces of the game that needed to be moved and positioned before that night.

"I won't wait for the ball to confront Marcel," Klaus told him angrily. "The time has come for us to come face to face." He could wait no longer.

"As you wish," Elijah had figured as much. "What about the witches?" he asked. "The Seer and her coven are the biggest threat to Bonnie and your child at the moment but what of Sophie and her coven?"

"I want to meet with the regent of the witches." Klaus informed him. "Perhaps we can persuade the witches to join our cause." He had learned a long time ago that witches could easily be sway to a vampire's side when you gave them the right motivation.

"By giving them the one thing they want the most," Elijah said comprehending Klaus's plan, "their freedom."

"Exactly," Klaus smirked. The witches had wanted to use his child in order to get him to destroy Marcel and gain their freedom. Now, Klaus planned to use them. He would give them their freedom but they would all swear fealty to Bonnie and his child. The witches who helped them would live those who conspired against Bonnie and his child would die.

The brothers clicked their glasses together and smiled conspiratorially.

* * *

By the time Bonnie and Matt arrived in the study Elijah was long gone. Klaus placed the stack of grimoires in the mahogany desk and smiled as Bonnie stepped inside.

"Ready to do the spell I presume." He said while staring at the grimoire in her hand.

"Yep," Bonnie answered. She felt conflicting emotions coming from the bond. "Is everything okay?"

Klaus looked at Matt. "Give us a moment." He ordered. Matt didn't need to be told twice.

"Why are you so rude to him?" Bonnie asked as soon as Matt shut the door.

Klaus wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, pressing her body against his. Bonnie giggled and he smiled down at her.

"Klaus-" her words died on her lips as Klaus's mouth came crashing down on hers. The intensity of the kiss felt like he hadn't seen or kissed her in months, like he was making up for lost time, that was far from the truth of course.

Bonnie responded immediately. Emily's grimoire fell to the ground with a loud thud as Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with fervor. She didn't know how long they kissed but they had to break apart eventually.

"Something troubles you." She whispered touching his cheek. She had grown used to feeling his emotions by now.

"I'm going to see Marcel." Klaus informed her.

"There is history between the two of you isn't it?" When Sophie had mentioned Marcel it had been obvious to her that Klaus knew him.

"It's a rather long and complicated story," Klaus told her. He gave her a quick kiss. "We shall talk later."

"Yeah," Bonnie moved her hands to his shoulders. "I wanted to ask you about my family. Angelica said something and I have some questions."

Klaus nodded. "Not today." He told her. He didn't know what kind of mood he was going to be in after seeing Marcel. "I might return pretty late tonight." Or not at all depending on his mood and how his confrontation with Marcel went. "Don't wait for me and stay inside the property." He didn't want her wandering off on her own.

"Klaus maybe you shouldn't go by yourself what if-" She didn't get to finish as Klaus cut her off with another scorching kiss.

"Don't worry over me love. I'll be fine." He murmured against her mouth before kissing her once more.

Bonnie sighed knowing that he had made up his mind. They kissed for a few more minutes before he left to meet Marcel.

Bonnie didn't know why but she felt a sense of dread as she watched him go.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"What do you mean she's gone?" Caroline screeched. Damon had called her and Stefan the minute he had found out that Bonnie was gone.

"According to her father Bonnie is traveling for the summer with her friends," Damon said the word with disgust. Bonnie's father had not given him any details, he was on vervain. "Matt quit his job and Klaus and Rebekah are also gone." He had checked the Mikaelson mansion himself. The place was empty. It looked like no one had lived there in years.

"But where would they go?" Stefan asked.

"They could be anywhere," Caroline murmured. They could be traveling the world, Rome, Paris, Tokyo...she hated the way his words had been engraved in her mind.

"We have to find them." Damon told them. "Matt is probably compelled and Bonnie no doubt has been brainwashed by Klaus." He was one hundred percent convinced of that.

"But how are we going to find them?" Caroline asked feeling worried and perturbed. Bonnie had left her a voicemail the day before and Caroline had still been conflicted so she had deleted it without even listening to it. She had figured she would talk to Bonnie face to face, once she had time to process everything. She cursed herself and regretted it immensely now.

"We'll start by-" Damon was cut off by the sound of his cell phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned. "Hello,"

"Damon."

He froze. He would recognize that voice anywhere. "Elena." He breathed, not daring to believe that he was hearing her voice. _How long has it been since the last time I saw your face?_ He wondered.

"Damon, I need your help." She sounded desperate, emotional, like her old self. "Please," she begged. "You have to help me."

Stefan and Caroline looked at each other as they heard Elena's voice. She was crying and the fear and panic in her voice was more than evident.

"Where are you? What's wrong?" Damon asked worried. "Tell me where you are?" he would go to her. Wherever she was he would find her and keep her safe.

"I-" there was a scream and the line went dead.

All three of them stood frozen with fear and worry. Elena was in trouble.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Finding Marcel was relatively easy. He was at a local bar giving quite the performance to a cheering crowd. Marcel was obviously popular with the locals and vampires alike and he clearly enjoyed putting on a show.

Klaus watched from the shadows as the tall, dark skinned man moved over the stage singing and dancing. He was enjoying himself, having all eyes on him as he danced.

The crowd cheered to the very last lyric and Marcel got down from the stage to a congratulating circle.

Klaus chose that moment to make his presence known.

Everyone froze.

The vampires in the room all turned to towards him when they felt his presence. The music, the chatter, the smiles all died down. The humans looked nervously between Marcel and his group and the newcomer.

The dark aura radiating off him let them know this was no ordinary vampire.

A chill ran down Marcel's spine and the smile dropped from his face as he felt the all too familiar presence so close to him. He turned to face his sire. "Klaus."

"Marcel." Klaus greeted walking closer.

If Marcel was surprised to see him he did his best not to show it. "Must be one hundred years since that nasty business with your papa."

"Has it been that long?" Klaus's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion as he surveyed the room with disinterest before his gaze focused on his former protégé.

"Your father left a trail of dead vampires after he ran you out of town." Marcel said in a taunting manner.

"And yet _you_ survived." Klaus said in turn. "My father however I recently incinerated to dust."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop and all the vampires stood up feeling the tense atmosphere.

"Well if I had known you were coming back…" Marcel smiled, playing it cool and trying to ease the tension.

"The moment you found my brother you should've expected my arrival." Klaus interrupted his voice harsh.

The smile dropped from Marcel's face. There was no point in pretending anymore. With a nod of his head the humans were escorted out of the room as quickly as possible.

Klaus smirked with amusement when he suddenly found himself surrounded by Marcel's army. At least thirty vampires encircled him, looking fierce and determined and ready to protect their master should the occasion call for it. "How charming," a small laughed escaped his lips. It was rather endearing that they thought they had a chance against him. How naïve and childish they were.

The vampires growled, angry at being mocked.

"What do you want?" Marcel snapped. He moved closer until both sire and childe stood facing each other. Marcel refused to show fear or bow down. He was no longer the boy Klaus had rescued and turned. He was a king.

Klaus smirked placing his hands behind his back. Another in his place would be calculating the odds, seeking the exits, seeing which vampires he could kill first before running out of there. He wasn't. He was the perfect picture of calm and control, like he was about to have tea with an old friend rather than a confrontation.

He was not intimidated by Marcel and his pathetic little group.

* * *

Davina sat on her bed scribbling on a piece of paper, trying to make sense of the visions she had been having for the past few weeks.

A chill ran down her spine and her senses alerted her to another presence in the attic.

Davina looked up and gasped.

"Hello Davina." Elijah Mikaelson stood in front of her, one hand on his pocket and lips pressed into a small smile. She should've been used to his face by now. For weeks she had stared at his desiccated body while trying to destroy the dark magic that had trapped him. But he looked different, alive, real, and far more threatening than ever.

Davina's heart leaped to her throat and she stood up fearfully. "What are you doing here?"

"I wish to speak with you." Elijah tilted his head to the side consciously aware of the erratic beating of her heart. He scanned the room until his eyes landed on the coffin that had been his resting place for the past few weeks.

"Marcel knows you escaped." Davina told him raising her chin. "He has every vampire in the city looking for you."

Elijah chuckled with amusement. "Do you honestly believe I fear Marcel or his army of children?"

Davina swallowed nervously but Elijah felt the jolt of her power in the air. For someone so young she possessed incredible power he had to admit.

"You're wasting your time my dear," he told her as he grabbed a chair and dragged it closer to her. "I'm an Original. I cannot be killed." Many had tried and failed quite miserably.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked suddenly. In her mind it was the only reason he was back in the attic, to get revenge on her. Even if she hadn't been the one to trap him in the first place.

"I don't particularly enjoy murdering children." He took a seat and motioned for her to do the same. "Have a seat. We have much to discuss."

Davina gulped and did as she was told.

* * *

Bonnie concentrated. She held Matt's graduation ring on her hands as she chanted the spell from Emily's grimoire.

Matt stood in front of her, silently watching as she made his ring like Jeremy's and Alaric's had been.

They were in the study. Rebekah was currently making calls and getting everything ready for the ball and the hybrids were somewhere around the plantation.

There was a soft breeze as Bonnie finished the spell, the ring in her hands shook and burned for a few seconds as the spell took effect.

"It's done." Bonnie smiled opening her eyes. She could feel it. She had succeeded in recreating Emily's spell.

"Just like that?" Matt asked. It hadn't even taken her fifteen minutes to do. "I thought you said it was a complicated spell."

"It was." Bonnie shrugged and handed him the ring. It was an intricate spell but she had gotten it at the first try. Now that she not only had confidence but also control on Expression magic came surprisingly easy to her. "Now, should you meet a terrible end by supernatural means you will come back to life."

Matt grinned as he took the ring. "I hope that we don't have to test that anytime soon." He said as he put the ring on his finger. It felt exactly the same as before.

"Me too." Bonnie murmured. "I also added an anti-tampering spell," she told him while smiling. "To make sure no one tries to mess with your head like Esther did with Alaric."

"Thank-you." Matt smiled.

The smile dropped from her face. Bonnie closed her eyes feeling lightheaded all of a sudden.

"What's wrong?" Matt quickly grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

"Nothing…I just…" She felt dizzy.

"Was it the spell?" Matt asked with concern as he helped her into a chair.

"No…" Her magic felt fine to her. She pressed her lips together as a wave of nausea hit her. "I'll be fine." She managed to say while placing a hand on her stomach. _Morning sickness is a big lie_ she thought. She had usually felt nauseous in the morning but today it was well into the afternoon.

"I'm going to get you some water okay?" Matt said before he hurried out of the study.

"Yeah," Bonnie rubbed her forehead. She hoped she didn't throw up. She looked down briefly and stared at the expensive Persian rug. _I should move to the bathroom_ she thought. Just in case…

 _Bonnie…_

She frowned. She knew that voice. She opened her eyes feeling a strange sensation in her stomach that had nothing to do with nausea.

 _Bonnie…_

She turned around and stared out of the glass door that led to the porch that surrounded the first floor.

 _Bonnie…_

She knew that voice. Bonnie stood up hoping she wouldn't faint and made her way towards the door, her heart pounding. She opened it, stepped into the porch and froze.

There, standing amid the oak trees that led to the woods that surrounded the house stood her grandmother.

Tears formed in Bonnie's eyes. "Grams…" she couldn't believe it. Her grandmother was there. Bonnie couldn't breathe; she could only stare at the figure of her grandmother.

 _Help me…_

Bonnie didn't think twice before she took off running into the woods. Her grandmother needed her.

A shiver went down her spine the moment she crossed the protective barrier Angelica had placed around the property. There was something in the back of her mind. A little warning that went off but Bonnie paid no attention to it.

"Grams!" the moment Bonnie reached her, she disappeared. Bonnie frowned. She looked around in panic. "Grams!" She yelled as she scanned the woods.

 _Help me…_

Her Grams appeared further away, deeper into the woods. Bonnie ran in her direction. She was desperate. She wanted to help her Grams. She ran and ran and ran.

Bonnie didn't know how long she ran for. She was so deep into the woods that there was hardly any sunlight streaming down.

Bonnie placed her hand against the trunk of a tree as she struggled to catch her breath. She had been running and running trying to catch up to her Grams. But every time she got close her Grams disappeared and re-appeared further away.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and Bonnie turned around. Her Grams stood behind her.

Bonnie threw her arms around her. "I've been so worried about you." She said pulling away and smiling.

Sheila smiled sadly taking Bonnie's hands in hers. "I've been worried about you too."

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked. She looked so sad. And Bonnie had not forgotten that the last time she had seen her- the spirits had hurt her. _Because of me_ , she thought guiltily.

Sheila shook her head.

Bonnie noticed the burns in her hands and arms. "Grams what happened?" she asked feeling worried. _What were the spirits doing to her on the other side?_

"They punished me." Sheila replied. "They hurt me." She choked back a sob and tears formed in her eyes.

"What? Why?" Bonnie panicked.

"Because of you," Sheila answered. "They are punishing me for your sins." Tears streamed down her grandmother's face. Bonnie's heart broke upon hearing those words.

"Grams I…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" she didn't want to cause her grandmother pain. It was the last thing she wanted, for the spirits to punish her grandmother because of her. "I'm sorry." She meant it with all her heart.

"You can stop it. You can help me." Sheila told her in a sweet and gentle voice.

"How?" Bonnie cried. She would do anything, anything in the world to ease her grandmother's pain.

"You must get rid of it." Her grandmother replied squeezing her hands painfully. "You must kill the abomination growing inside of you!" she spat angrily.

Bonnie stared at her with shock and disbelief. "No…you said…you told…" her eyes narrowed. This wasn't right. Elijah had talked to Ayana and she had said…a sudden realization hit her. "You're not my Grams!" Bonnie snapped and pulled her hands away from her grasp.

The sinister smiled that formed on her Grams mouth was terrifying.

Bonnie took a fearful step back. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded, deep down she knew. She felt them.

 _The spirits_ , she realized with horror.

The spirits had found a way to cross into the land of the living and had come for her.

* * *

 **Georgia**

After making a couple of phone calls Joanna made her way to the living room where Abby waited.

"Lucy is on her way, after that we can go to Mystic Falls and talk to Bonnie." She told Abby. "The flight leaves tomorrow morning."

Abby nodded but continued to stare out of the window.

"Is something wrong?" Joanna asked.

"I feel cold." Abby murmured while rubbing her arms. Her heart felt heavy...something was wrong.

"I'll make some tea." Joanna told her making her way to the kitchen.

Abby heard the shattering sound as the mug fell to the ground and broke into tiny pieces. "Joanna?" she sped towards the kitchen and stared at her cousin with concern.

Joanna was gasping, her hands shaking. Her green eyes seemed darker, unfocused.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked moving closer.

Joanna blinked a few times before she stared at Abby, "a witch of our blood is in danger." She whispered with fear. The vision had taken her by surprise.

"Who?" Abby panicked. "Is it Bonnie? What did you see?"

"Blood…so much blood…a forest…" Joanna gasped small tremors recurring over her body. The vision had been quick like a bolt of lightning. She had not been able to make anything else.

"It's Bonnie." Abby said. "It has to be Bonnie." In her heart she knew. She felt it. Her little girl was in danger.

With a wave of her hand Joanna summon her grimoire to the kitchen table and three white candles, "quick, fill a bowl with water and your blood." She ordered Abby.

Abby did as she was told. The candles were placed in the form of a triangle and Abby placed the bowl with water and her blood in the middle. A protection spell, but they were so far away from Bonnie it might not even work.

 _Please let it work,_ Abby thought with desperation. "Channel me." She said on an impulse. "Use me to make the spell stronger." She was a vampire after all, stronger than a human.

Joanna nodded and took Abby's hand in hers. She began chanting.

Abby closed her eyes and prayed the spell would be enough to keep Bonnie safe.

 _Please…mama…if you can hear me…help us…_ she pleaded. _Bonnie needs you._

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The temperature dropped and dark clouds formed in the sky.

Bonnie shuddered. She felt the change in the air. The day that had been sunny and nice was now dark and cold, so cold her bones hurt. The forest that had been green and lush now looked sinister, looming over her, trapping her.

Shadows formed around her. They rose from deep within the ground until she was encircled by them. Twisted ugly creatures that could only be conjured up in a nightmare stared back at her.

Their dark aura engulfed her like a poison.

 _Traitor! T_ hey hissed in her head. _Kill the creature!_

 _Kill it!_

A sense of dread coiled in the pit of Bonnie's stomach and her whole body trembled as she realized that she was alone. She had gone so far into the woods that she couldn't even see the plantation house anymore. She had fallen straight into their trap.

The spirit that had taken her grandmother's form took a step closer. "You have betrayed us and for that you shall pay."

"Go to hell!" Bonnie snapped. She summoned her magic ready to attack the spirits before they attacked her. But nothing happened.

 _What the hell?_ Bonnie tried again and again but nothing happened. She couldn't feel her magic. How had she not realized it before?

They had taken her magic. The fear she felt in that moment was unlike anything she had ever felt before. _My baby!_

 _Foolish girl…_ the spirits laughed.

 _You think your magic works against us?_ Another one said.

 _We make the rules._

 _We are the keepers of the balance._

 _We decide your fate._

Bonnie felt it, their sinister magic growing and moving closer towards her. Bonnie looked around. She was surrounded. A dark circle of evil spirits determined to punish her.

The spirit that wore her grandmother's face lifted her hand and Bonnie was flung back by the force of the magic.

She landed on her back and screamed.

Pain

Unimaginable pain erupted inside her. Her brain felt like fire and her body hurt as the wave of dark magic penetrated her skin, her very soul.

An anguished cry left her lips as the powerful magic assaulted her.

Her body twitched and convulsed as the magic attacked viciously. She was helpless, defenseless, her magic had been stripped from her without her notice and she was at the mercy of the spirits.

 _It will be over soon,_ they hissed

 _We shall cleanse you of this abomination…_

Bonnie screamed. A river of tears streamed down her face. It hurt. God, how it hurt.

She tried to move but she had been paralyzed.

She tried to summon her magic again but she felt nothing.

She tried to feel the bond and call Klaus but she couldn't feel him either.

The circle of spirits blocked everything. She was alone.

All Bonnie could feel was pain. It was as if her body was being stabbed repeatedly by painful burning knifes, tearing her flesh apart.

Her anguished cries and screams could be heard for miles but there was no one to listen. The spirits had made sure of that.

It hurt. It hurt so much. Bonnie screamed until her throat felt raw and blood began oozing out of her nose, her ears, and her mouth. Even her tears turned a crimson color.

The burning pain was unbearable.

The spirits focused all their anger, all their hatred, all their power on her stomach. Wave after wave of magic was directed at her belly with a single purpose… to kill, to destroy the life that grew inside of her.

* * *

 _Another cliffhanger I know...I'm sorry._


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: I know how cruel the cliffhanger for the last chapter was. I didn't want to keep you waiting too long for the next update, so here it is. Enjoy!_

* * *

The moment Matt noticed Bonnie had disappeared, he alerted Rebekah. Jesse and Riley took off into the woods in search for her immediately while Angelica used her magic to track her down. Felix and Belle waited with them as well.

"Klaus is not answering." Belle told them. She had left at least six different messages for him.

"Neither is Elijah." Rebekah eyed the dark haired witch.

Angelica had Bonnie's favorite teddy bear in her hands as she chanted a locator spell, nothing happened. She tried again and nothing. She couldn't find Bonnie.

"What is taking you so bloody long?" Rebekah demanded. She was desperate every minute they waited for the spell to work, they were wasting precious time to help Bonnie.

"I can't find her. There is something…blocking me." Angelica murmured keeping her eyes closed as she clutched the bear in her hands and continued with the locator spell.

"What if you tried another spell?" Matt suggested.

Angelica opened her eyes. "The only other locator spell I could try is by using her blood." She told Matt. "Unless you are related to Bonnie, I don't see how we could locate her like that."

Rebekah bit her lip. "Using blood for the locator spell…" she eyed Angelica with uncertainty. They didn't have Bonnie's blood but the baby, the baby was a Mikaelson. Maybe Angelica could use her blood to track her little niece or nephew. "Will it make it easier to find Bonnie?"

"Maybe," Angelica said softly. "There is something blocking me, almost like a cloaking spell." There was something meddling with her magic and Angelica didn't know what it was.

"And there is something preventing us from leaving the property." Jesse informed them as he stepped back into the living room.

"What are you talking about?" Felix spoke for the first time.

"Every time we try to cross the barrier and leave the grounds there is an invisible force blocking us." Riley explained. He looked at Angelica, "can you do something about it?" She had placed the protection spell around the property in the first place.

Angelica nodded and exited the house, the hybrids following after her. Rebekah stayed behind a thoughtful look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked.

"This is no ordinary attack." She murmured. "Bonnie wouldn't just leave the house like that. She's never been to New Orleans and we just got here yesterday she barely knows the property."

"What are you saying?"

"What if the coven that wants her dead knows that she's here? What if they attacked again?" Fear and worry gripped at her heart. Bonnie was out there on her own. Nik would dagger her for the next two centuries if any harm came to Bonnie or his baby while on Rebekah's watch.

Belle came rushing back inside a few minutes later."Angelica can't break the barrier but she thinks she knows who's doing this." She yelled. "Come, quick!"

Rebekah and Matt hurried out of the house, running until they reached the invisible barrier Angelica had created to protect the property.

Angelica sat on the ground, blood pouring out her nose. Jesse was holding her while Felix fed her his blood.

"What happened?" Rebekah asked.

"The spell backfired when she tried to break the barrier." Riley explained. "Something is messing with her magic." And whatever it was, it was really powerful.

"How is that even possible? You placed the spell in the first place you should be able to break it." Rebekah said frustrated by the whole situation.

Angelica wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stared at the Original blonde. "There is only one group of people powerful enough to mess with my magic in this way."

"Who?" Matt asked fearfully. He didn't liked the worried look on Angelica's face.

"The Spirits," Angelica told them. "The power I felt, the magic keeping us trapped inside the house…it can only be them." She was certain of it.

"The spirits are dead withes right?" When Angelica nodded, Matt continued. "Why would they attack Bonnie? Why would they lure her out of the house?" he wondered out loud. He couldn't understand why they would want to hurt Bonnie. As far as he knew Bonnie hand't done anything to cause the wrath of the spirits.

 _Because they want to kill her baby,_ Rebekah thought fearfully. _Bloody hell Nik! Please wherever you are, you must find her. The bond has to let you know she's in danger._

"Try again." Rebekah ordered Angelica. They were wasting too much time.

"She can barely stand!" Felix snapped. "Trying to break the spell hurt her. If she keeps on trying-"

"My brother is going to kill you if anything happens to Bonnie. She was taken right from under our noses!" Rebekah interrupted him angrily. "Keep trying." She hissed. They had to find Bonnie, no matter what.

Angelica took a deep breath and stood up. She tried once again to break the magic that trapped them.

* * *

Bonnie didn't think she could ever explain what happened that night.

One moment she had been screaming at the top of her lungs, her body twitching and convulsing violently by the never ending magical attack from the spirits. Blood poured down her nose and mouth and from her eyes and ears.

By all intense and purposes she and the child growing inside of her should be dead. But they weren't. Somehow, some way, they had been able to fight back.

Oh, Bonnie had been more than ready to welcome death with open arms in order to stop the excruciating pain in her body. She had never experienced this sort of torture before. The spirits were cruel and relentless, attacking her again and again. They showed no mercy. They were determined to kill her baby.

What neither Bonnie nor the spirits could've anticipated was the blast of power that emanated from the petite witch or more specifically from her belly. Despite the fact that the spirits had somehow blocked her magic.

The blast of light was so intense, so unexpected that the spirits had no time to block it or even see it until it was too late.

The earth shook by the force of the powerful magic that was suddenly released from Bonnie's body.

The sinister spirits that had encircled Bonnie disintegrated the moment the light touched them. It burned them. It hurt them. There was nothing left of them after the light swallowed them whole. They were sent back to the other side with a single blast of the powerful magic.

Bonnie whimpered. Never, had such amount of power been released from her body before. It was exhilarating, it was revitalizing. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

The pain in her body disappeared suddenly. It was almost like she had been drowning and had suddenly come up for air.

Bonnie let out a shaky breath as a sense of calm washed over her. She found herself engulfed in a warm light. She felt safe. There was no more pain, there was no more fear or anguish. It had all disappeared with a blink of an eye and it had been replaced by sense of peace. A feeling of elation and triumph.

 _Where had this power come from?_

Bonnie opened her eyes briefly and was almost blinded by the light.

The entire forest was illuminated, surrounded by a beautiful white light and so was she. She was practically glowing from head to toe. It was beautiful and so peaceful. In that moment, Bonnie felt like nothing could touch her or hurt her and she felt, dare she dare say it, invincible.

 _It's okay_. Bonnie thought. She barely had the strength to lift her arm. Her body felt so heavy and she felt really sleepy all of a sudden. She managed to place her right hand over her belly. She felt it then.

There was spark of life, a jolt of undeniable power. With happiness Bonnie realized that her baby was fine. Her child was safe.

A soft smile formed on her lips. _We're okay_.

That was her last thought before she passed out.

* * *

 **Georgia**

"Did it work?" Abby asked nervously. Joanna had stayed quiet since she had finished the spell and it made Abby anxious.

"I'm not sure." Joanna muttered while staring at the bowl. The water mixed with Abby's blood had lit up in flames and been consumed, which meant the spell had worked and yet…

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Abby snapped. "Did it work or not?" She was a witch for Christ's sake! She should know whether a spell worked or not.

"The spell worked." Joanna said. "But…I'm not sure if Bonnie received it or if another witch did instead."

"What do you mean?" Abby questioned fearfully. _Had someone else received the protection spell and not her daughter? What the hell had Joanna done?_

"The spell did not go to Mystic Falls." Joanna said staring into Abby's eyes. "The spell went to New Orleans." And that was the reason for her doubts.

"There is a Bennett witch in New Orleans?" Abby asked her cousin.

"I can only think of one." Joanna replied. "She doesn't go by Bennett anymore not since she married."

"So you sent the spell to another witch!" Abby practically screamed. "How could you?" She felt so angry and scared for Bonnie.

"I sent the spell to the Bennett witch that was in danger!" Joanna snapped. "You assumed it was Bonnie and I thought so too but now I'm not sure."

Abby cursed under her breath.

Joanna's emerald eyes watched as Abby paced around the kitchen and mumbled under her breath. "What if…" she could be wrong but she had idea. "What if Bonnie is no longer in Mystic Falls? What if she's in New Orleans?" And the spell had gotten to her anyways.

Abby stopped dead in her tracks. "Why would Bonnie go there?" There was no reason for Bonnie to go to that city and with all the rumors Abby had heard about New Orleans, Bonnie needed to stay as far away as possible. That place was trouble.

Joanna shrugged. "You tell me."

"I have to call Rudy." Abby said. She needed to know for sure. The sooner they got to Bonnie and helped her summon the Bennett coven the safer she would be from those coming after her. She needed to know where her daughter was.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"What do you want?" Davina asked nervously.

Elijah stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "I want the truth." He stated. "I'm curious to know how a witch from New Orleans not only willingly helps the vampire that is oppressing her kind but also seems to care so much about him." He tilted his head to the side watching her carefully. "Witches and vampires have been enemies for one thousand years."

Davina looked down at her hands. She didn't know if she should tell him the truth, lie to him, or try to escape. _And how far could she make it anyways?_ She hadn't left the attic in months.

"I will know if you lie to me." Elijah told her, almost as if he were reading her thoughts.

Davina looked up startled. "Why do you want to know? Why do you care?" she snapped.

"The witches of New Orleans are plotting against my family." Elijah told her. "Jane-Anne and Sophie Deveraux…" he let his words sink in.

Davina's eyes widened. She knew them. They had been part of the same coven once.

"Are you conspiring with them too?" Elijah asked calmly. He knew she wasn't of course but he wanted to see her reaction. He wanted to know how much she knew.

Davina looked genuinely surprised. "No." She said. "I knew them. Sophie tried to help…" she murmured. She shivered remembering that terrible night.

Elijah leaned forward in the chair. "Davina," he said gently. "You are hiding from them aren't you?"

Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes were filled with fear upon hearing his words.

"Perhaps we can help each other," Elijah said. His voice was sweet as honey and so gentle. The sincere look on his face startled her. His demeanor had changed in a matter of seconds. The threatening aura that had first alerted her to his presence had disappeared.

"Why should I trust you?" Davina asked. She didn't know him. For all she knew this could be a trap.

"My siblings and I are the first vampires in history, the Originals." Elijah told her. "Three hundred years ago we helped built this city. When we ruled over New Orleans there was peace. Vampires, witches, and even werewolves learned to coexist. For a long time we were very happy here until we had no choice but to leave." He explained. There a flash of something in his eyes, a painful memory but it was quickly replaced. "It would be very beneficial to you to have the Original family on your side."

"Why would I want that?" Davina questioned. _What could the Original family offer her that Marcel hadn't?_

Elijah smiled. "Marcel's protection can only go so far and we both know the witches of New Orleans are conspiring against him." He had heard Marcel and Davina's conversations many times. "It is only a matter of time before they make their move and let's not forget the Navarro werewolves." That was another of Marcel fears, perhaps his biggest fear at the moment. "Marcel's days as king of this city are numbered." Elijah sentenced.

"You heard us…" Davina realized. "You were conscious while in the coffin." It had never occurred to her. _How many secrets had Elijah learned while she and Marcel had so obliviously talked right in front of him? How foolish and careless had they been?_ She wondered.

"I was." Elijah confirmed with a small smile. "The witches are conspiring against my family and make no mistake, those who dare threaten my family will die." His eyes bored into hers. "We have a common enemy Davina."

 _The witches_

"Marcel saved me." Davina finally admitted. "He stopped the Harvest." She swallowed nervously.

"Tell me." His eyes were hypnotizing.

Davina knew that as a witch she could not be compelled but there was something in Elijah's gaze. Something that had her lowering her guard and the words began spilling out of her mouth. Once she started with her tale she couldn't stop.

"The Harvest is done every three hundred years," she began. "It's a ritual that our coven does to restore the bond with our ancestors, as we draw our power from them."

"How does it work?" Elijah asked.

Davina took a deep breath. "Our magic weakens over time so we must appease our ancestors by giving them an offering to prove our faith. Four girls from the coven were chosen. I was one of them." Davina laughed bitterly. "We thought it was such an honor, we never questioned it. No one did, not even my mother, except for Sophie. Her niece Monique was one of the Harvest girls too."

Elijah kept quiet; he did not want to pressure her. So he gave her all the time she needed to gather her thoughts and continue with her tale.

"We were led out like princesses. The Elders of the coven called upon the elements to bind our past and future magic together. We were told that we would be put in a peaceful sleep by the magical knife used to cut our palms and that we would be resurrected later during the Reaping. They said that we would be more powerful than ever." She shivered remembering that night. "It was just like we rehearsed it, but there was no cut on our palms…" tears formed in her eyes. "We were not going to be put to sleep; they were going to slaughter us." They were going to be sacrificed in order to restore the connection with their ancestors.

"Everyone who was there…" Elijah murmured. "They all knew."

"Yes, except the four of us." Tears spilled down Davina's cheeks. "They killed my friends, one by one. I begged for someone to help but no one did, not even my own mother." Her voice broke at the thought of her mother. "The only one who tried was Sophie but they stopped her." No one had dared to questioned the Elders.

"Yet you survived." Elijah said. Clearly someone must had helped her.

"Marcel and his vampires," Davina told him. "He stopped it. He saved me." Marcel had protected her. He had been keeping her safe since that night.

"That's why you're loyal to him, why you help him." Elijah realized. "Even when he harms the witches, _your_ people, he kills them Davina. He kills them for using magic."

"They deserved it." Davina said angrily. "They lied to us. They killed my friends. They would've killed me if Marcel had not saved me." The witches deserved what Marcel did to them. Davina wanted to make them pay and gladly helped Marcel with it. "You shouldn't worry about the witches. They're running out of time." Davina told him suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Elijah asked intrigued.

"After the Harvest comes the Reaping," Davina explained. "And if they don't complete the Harvest there won't be a Reaping. They will start to lose their power and eventually…" she smiled. "They will stop being witches all together." All she had to do was wait until then. Wait for the witches lose their magic and she would be free from them for good.

 _That's why they were so desperate,_ Elijah realized. Why Jane-Anne and Sophie had been willing to form an alliance with the Navarro pack, why they wanted to use his brother's child. It all made sense now.

"What does it take to complete the ritual?" Elijah asked suddenly.

"I have to die." Davina told him.

* * *

Klaus and Marcel stared at each other. The vampires looked nervously from one to the other. No one knew what to do or how to react.

Diego was more than ready to attack should Marcel give the order but he hadn't. Thierry's hands clenched into fists as he looked between both vampires, he was also ready should Marcel needed it.

"You seemed different." Marcel commented. There was something about Klaus, his aura; it seemed far more threatening than what it had been one hundred years ago.

Klaus smirked. "I am hybrid." He said proudly. He had finally achieved what he had always desired.

"You broke the curse." Marcel realized. The werewolf side that had been dormant had finally been released, which made Klaus far more dangerous than what he had been before.

Klaus grinned. He could sense the hint of fear echoing from Marcel. "I did."

"What do you want Klaus?" Marcel finally asked. "Why are you here?"

"I want many things none of which you can provide for me." Klaus replied dryly. "Although I'm curious about something…" he murmured while studying Marcel's face carefully. "How are you keeping the witches in line?"

"That's my business." Marcel replied curtly. "My town, my business," he told Klaus.

Klaus laughed. "When I left one hundred years ago you were nothing but a pathetic little rat and now look at you, prince of the city." He mocked.

"Are you jealous?" Marcel taunted with a smile.

Klaus's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

"I get it you know," Marcel said keeping his smile in place. "Three hundred years ago you helped built this city but then you ran away. Or more like your father chased you out like a scared little boy. I rule this city now." He hissed. "Vampires don't live in the shadows anymore. The locals look the other way and let us do what we please. I got rid of the werewolves and I control the witches. The blood never stops flowing and the party never ends. You want to pass through, you are more than welcome, but this is my town, my home, my rules!" Marcel yelled.

"And if someone breaks those rules?" Klaus asked in a deathly quiet voice.

"They die." Marcel hissed. "You thought me that mercy is for the weak. And I'm not the prince of the Quarter. I am the KING!" He yelled. "Show some respect."

The vampires surrounding Klaus practically cheered at Marcel's speech. They were clearly proud of their master. It was quite sad really.

Klaus looked around and then he made his move. He used his hybrid speed and began ripping hearts and heads from the vampires that were close to him.

Three hearts and two heads fell to the ground before Marcel and the other vampires could react. It had happened so fast they didn't know how to react. They stood frozen in shock and fear, as much as they tried to hide it. It was reflected in all of their faces.

"I just broke one of your rules." Klaus said a wicked grin on his face. "What are you going to do Marcel, kill me?" he laughed. "I am immortal." He hissed. "I cannot be killed." He grabbed another vampire and bit him viciously before dropping him to the ground.

The vampires growled and Marcel glared at him, a look of fury on his face.

Klaus moved until he was standing inches from Marcel's angry face.

Diego and Thierry moved closer, vampire faces showing and yet they didn't attack. All the vampires seemed to have been paralyzed, none of them wanted to die.

"You may be the king of this city for now but don't forget that I am the Original Hybrid." Klaus hissed. "Your sire. I gave you life Marcel and I can easily take it away. Everything you are is because of me." Klaus reminded him viciously."I don't need your permission to be in this city. And I certainly don't need to show respect to you or anyone. You…all of you…" he said glancing at the group. "You are beneath me." He snarled.

His eyes flashed gold for a few moments as he stared at Marcel. Klaus had let the wolf come out for a few seconds and they all had felt it.

Marcel took an involuntary step back when he heard the menacing growl. He hated himself for such a weak reaction. But this Klaus was different than the one he had known before. As a hybrid Klaus was ten times more deadly than as a regular original vampire.

Klaus smirked. He turned his back to them and took his time exiting the bar. No one stopped him, no one said anything. The vampires parted like the sea. Klaus walked with confidence out of the bar, the fear he smelled coming from them was extremely satisfying.

Marcel may have been the king of the city but Klaus was the king of all vampires. And they knew it.

* * *

"The power that you have," Elijah said. "Is not just your own is it?"

Davina shook her head. "I have the power of the three other Harvest girls." It had all flown into her when they had been killed. "That's why the witches want me dead." The witches wanted to release all that power back into their community. "I won't let them kill me. I'm going to keep fighting them no matter what." Her voice was filled with determination. She would not let the witches win.

"And the visions about my family," Elijah questioned. That was one of the reasons he had wanted to talk to Davina in the first place.

"I keep having this dream." Davina said as she stared at her hands. "The streets of New Orleans are covered in blood. I see death. The death of witches, vampires, werewolves…their bodies…it almost looks like a battlefield I…" she shook her head. The dreams frightened her. "I hear a voice that tells me your family will bring something dark, something evil into this world."

"Do you believe that?" Elijah had lone ago learned that nothing was set in stone. Even the most terrible of visions could change and evolve into something else with time.

"My visions always come true, one way or another." Davina replied. "Whatever you will bring into this world, it's dangerous…a threat to the rest of us."

Elijah looked away from her as he gathered his thoughts. "A threat to all of you…" _but not to us_ , he thought. He turned back to face her. "Do you see my death?" he questioned, "or my family's demise?"

Davina shook her head. "No…" her eyes widened. Fear gripped her heart as the cold realization hit her. In her dreams she had seen death to all except for them. She had seen witches fall, vampires burn, and werewolves torn to pieces, but not them. She had not seen the old ones die.

Elijah smiled. Under different circumstances it would have been a friendly smile but with the terrible realization Davina had just made, it seemed sinister. "There is a war coming Davina." Elijah said while standing up. They both knew that. "The question is, what side are you going to be on?"

Because whatever the outcome of this war, Elijah knew one thing. His family would live. They had not come this far, lived this long to find a tragic end. He had lost two brothers already and he was determined not to lose another member of his family. Not now, not ever.

"People have been after us for a thousand years." He said. "We have survived and we will continue to do so." If they had to burn New Orleans to the ground and everyone in it so be it.

Davina watched him silently not knowing what to say.

"Think very carefully Davina," Elijah said softly. "Think about whether you will be with us or against us." Because there would be no middle ground. Elijah would not hesitate in killing her if he had to. It would be a pity, the girl had potential. But at the end of the day…family came above all. And if Marcel and Davina dared to conspire against him and his blood, they would die.

"I will return to hear your answer." Elijah smiled. "And I do trust you will keep this visit to yourself."

Davina nodded fearfully.

"Good girl." With that he was gone.

Davina let out a shaky breath. The relief she felt was overwhelming. He hadn't explicitly threatened her, but Elijah did not need to do that in order to be intimidating. His mere presence had been enough.

* * *

The moment the spirits had disappeared, the barrier around the plantation house was lifted. Night had fallen by then.

Rebekah took off into the woods at vampire speed followed by Klaus's hybrids.

Angelica and Matt followed at a much slower human pace after them. The Mikaelson's had an entire collection of weapons in the basement of the house and Matt had taken a crossbow and a gun with him. He also felt more confident with the ring in his finger. Angelica had her magic but she also had a pocket knife hidden in her boots.

They split into groups. Matt and Angelica, Riley and Belle, Jesse and Felix, while Rebekah chose to go by herself. She was faster than the hybrids and knew the land a bit better, granted it had changed a lot since the last time she had been in New Orleans but she still felt confident that she knew her way around the woods.

What Rebekah also felt was fear. She was terrified that something bad had happened to Bonnie. She would never be able to forgive herself if something happened to Bonnie and the baby while they had been under her watch. Nik would never forgive her either.

The woods were dark and thick but Rebekah could see clearly. She came to a sudden halt when she felt the presence of other supernaturals close to her.

Rebekah frowned as she heard the growling noises getting closer and closer to her.

A howl could be heard in the distance. Another howl could be heard a few feet away from her.

A chill ran down Rebekah's spine and she turned around.

Three pairs of yellow eyes stared back at her. _Werewolves_ , she realized. _How is that possible?_ She wondered. It was not the full the moon, there shouldn't be any werewolves out there. And yet there they were, growling angrily in her direction. They knew she was a vampire.

Werewolves and vampires were mortal enemies and as they saw her, they had only one thing in mind. They wanted her dead. They wanted to rip her to pieces.

Rebekah snarled flashing her vampire face. She was the predator not the prey.

When the werewolves jumped and attacked her, Rebekah was ready.

* * *

Klaus stormed angrily out of the bar. Marcel had certainly grown a big head in the past one hundred years. But more than anger, Klaus felt a strange feeling in his gut. He couldn't describe exactly what it was but something felt wrong. The bond told him Bonnie was fine but something felt off. He couldn't really feel her emotions, they were clouded somehow. It was not normal. It didn't feel right.

He tried calling Bonnie but there was no answer and then he heard Belle's frantic messages.

 _Bonnie is missing…she disappeared from the plantation…we don't know where she is._

Rage

Fury

And a feeling only one person had been able to evoke in him before, fear.

Klaus moved so fast out of the French Quarter that it almost seemed like he was flying. He didn't go to the plantation, he took off running straight into the woods surrounding the property. He needed to find Bonnie.

He expanded his bond with Bonnie to the maximum, trying to locate her. He let the bond guide him. He let his connection with Bonnie direct his movements. He had to find her. _Where are you?_ He wondered while trying desperately to understand why something felt off about the bond. He couldn't feel her in the same he had since Prom night. Something had changed. _Why did it feel odd?_

Klaus stopped dead in his tracks when the realization hit him. Bonnie had closed her side of the bond. The question was, had she done it intentionally?

Elijah practically bumped into him, in the darkness of the woods.

"Rebekah left a voicemail." Elijah told him. "I came as soon as I heard it." He placed his hand on Klaus's shoulder. "We will find her brother."

Klaus nodded. "Did you hear that?" he asked when his senses picked out a noise.

Elijah shook his head. He hadn't heard anything. A few seconds later he heard a distinct howl echoing through the forest.

"Werewolves," Klaus informed him. He could feel them. At least twenty of them far too close for his liking.

"How can that be?" Elijah questioned. "It's not a full moon." He pressed his lips in a thin line. If there were werewolves in the woods and Bonnie was out there, they could hurt her. Elijah had not forgotten what the wolves had done to his little brother.

There was another howl and a piercing scream followed.

Klaus's eyes flashed gold as he took off at hybrid speed in the direction of the scream. Elijah followed after him.

* * *

The werewolves jaw clamped on the back of her leg and Rebekah screamed as she fell to the ground. A hot burning pain erupted inside of her as the werewolf sank its sharp teeth into her flesh. Sweat trickled down her skin as her system was pumped once more with werewolf venom.

Rebekah had managed to kill the first three werewolves that had attacked her. But it seemed that her presence attracted the other wolves like a moth to a flame, for soon after she found herself surrounded by four more wolves.

She had been bitten at least four times and while the venom could not kill her, her movements were getting slower. She felt tired and dizzy and the hallucinations had started to take effect. She could've sworn she had seen Kol laughing at her predicament. Finn always serious, always judging and little Henrik calling to her for help, blood dripping out his chest and mouth.

Rebekah screamed as another werewolf bit into her shoulder. She used her superior strength to push him off her and flung him as far away as possible. She stood on shaky legs. The wolves circled her, growling, hissing, they seemed to be taunting her.

"Come on," Rebekah yelled. "Is that the best you got?" she extended her arms and stared defiantly at them. "I'm just getting started." She told them. Never mind the fact that she was about to pass out from all the venom pumping in her system.

The wolves leaped at her, jumping in her direction with surprising speed. Rebekah was ready for the attack but it never came.

Klaus appeared in front of her. He easily captured two werewolves in each of his hands and held them there. With a simple twist he broke their necks and killed them. The dead bodies fell to the ground near his feet.

Elijah took care of the third one, decapitating him in a swift move. He immediately pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the blood from his hand.

Rebekah had never been more relieved upon seeing her brothers.

"Sister," Klaus said turning to face her, his hybrid eyes glowing in the darkness.

Rebekah shivered. She could feel the wolf on the surface. "I'm sorry…" she muttered before her knees gave out _. I'm sorry for not protecting Bonnie,_ she thought.

Klaus caught her before she could hit the ground. He wasted no time and bit into his wrist and fed her his blood. Rebekah moaned as she sucked greedily into his wrist. The moment the blood touched her system Rebekah felt relief. The venom was immediately cured by her brother's blood.

"That's enough sweetheart." Klaus tried to pull away after a while but Rebekah grabbed his wrist and sank her fangs into his flesh sucking more of his blood. "Rebekah!" Klaus pulled away roughly, the puncture wounds on his skin healed immediately.

Rebekah pouted before she licked her lips, a look of euphoria on her face. Nik's blood had always tasted different than Elijah's or Kol's. It was richer and far more exquisite. For a moment Rebekah wanted to ask for more.

Klaus gave her a knowing look, "control yourself." He ordered. He was grateful that Bonnie's blood was out of his system by now. He didn't want to imagine what drinking his blood combined with Bonnie's would have done to his sister.

Elijah looked around at the remains of the wolves. "This pack is big." He murmured. Judging not only by the dead bodies around them but by the presence of the other wolves running around the woods, Elijah could sense them. "There is at least forty that I can sense," he whispered. He had never seen a pack this big before.

"Fifty-three," Klaus corrected as he helped Rebekah to her feet. The wolves were close and moving constantly but not in their direction.

"Who do you think they are?" Rebekah asked quietly. She felt much better now that she had been cured.

"Doesn't matter, what we need is to find Bonnie." Klaus hissed.

The three Originals moved at vampire speed deeper into the woods in search for the witch. Klaus led the way. Bonnie might had closed her side of the bond but Klaus could still use his side to track her down.

* * *

Sophie knocked frantically on the door to her friend's apartment. She was wearing a wig and a big sweatshirt and prayed that no one had recognized her when she had sneaked back into the Quarter a few hours ago. She had no other place to go. The plan had failed and her sister was dead and she definitely didn't trust the Navarro werewolves. This was the only place she could return to.

"Come on," she muttered desperate as she continued to knock on the door.

The door finally opened. A dark skinned woman stared back at her with shock. "Sophie!" She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Hurry up get inside." She knew better than most the risk Sophie was putting her in with her presence.

Sophie stepped inside the living room and turned to her friend, tears forming in her eyes. "Jane-Anne is dead. I didn't know where else to go…I…" She knew she was putting her in danger but Sabine was the only person she trusted at the moment.

"I'm so sorry." Sabine replied as she threw her arms around her and hugged her. Sabine worked as a tour guide around the city and was also a witch and the only true friend Sophie had.

"We failed." Sophie told her as Sabine helped her into the couch. "The plan backfired." She sobbed. "We lost." She said feeling defeated.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that my dear."

Sophie looked up at the sound of that voice. She stood up immediately and stared at Sabine with shock. "What the hell is _she_ doing here?" she asked angrily.

"A lot has happened since you left." Sabine told her while crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't look happy at having the Seer in her home.

"Your coven and I have come to an understanding." The Seer told Sophie as she moved from the kitchen and into the living room. "We are all helping each other now."

Sophie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "After all the things you've done…you…"

"Desperate times calls for desperate measures." Sabine muttered. "We're running out of options Sophie."

"Have a seat." The Seer ordered. "I want to know everything that happened with you, your sister, and the huntress."

"How do you know about that?" Sophie asked. She hadn't mentioned the huntress at all.

The Seer smiled. "I was the one that sent the huntress after Bonnie Bennett." She replied calmly.

Sophie's eyes popped out of her head. "The huntress killed Jane-Anne you…" she launched herself at the Seer without thinking. She wanted to hurt her for what she had done to her sister.

With a wave of her hand the woman paralyzed her. "Do you truly believe that you can hurt me?" she laughed before forcing Sophie to sit on the couch once more. She was a puppet in the Seer's hands now.

"You managed to get an assassin from The Order." Sabine looked impressed.

"You are not the only one who has a bag of tricks, _Sabine_." The Seer replied with a knowing look. "Now," she said turning back to face Sophie. "I want to know everything."

Sophie was not going to talk. She refused to join forces with the woman who had been shunned from their coven and who had caused her sister's death and yet, with a single command from the Seer the words came spilling out of her mouth.

Sophie had not only been paralyzed but her mouth opened on its own accord and spilled everything without her wanting to. The Seer had placed a truth spell on her and she hadn't even realized it.

* * *

Light

That was the first thing Bonnie became aware of when she regained consciousness.

 _Where am I?_ She wondered as she blinked her eyes open and stared in confusion at her surroundings. She was in a bed and a blanket had been thrown over her.

Bonnie lifted herself on her elbows and looked around. She was in a cabin of some sort. A soft breeze streamed through the open window and sunlight illuminated the place. _It's morning!_ She realized startled. _How long had she been out?_

The last thing she remembered was the pain and that warm light that had engulfed her. _And then what? How did I get here?_

Fear and panic filled her veins. She leaped out of the bed only to flop back down as a wave of dizziness assaulted her. Her body felt heavy and her head hurt a bit. Bonnie placed her head on her hands and closed her eyes, breathing in and out and hopping the dizziness would soon stop.

Bonnie lifted her face when the door opened and a man stepped inside.

"You're awake, finally." He said placing a small tray on a nearby table. The tray had a glass of water, a roll of bread, some cheese and grapes. "It's not much," he said turning to face her. "But it's all we got at the moment."

"Who the hell are you?" Bonnie demanded as she stood up abruptly. Forget the dizziness she needed to get the hell out!

He was tall with brown hair and eyes. "My name is Cary." He told her. "You're the hybrid's woman." He said looking her up and down.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "Is that why you brought me here?" was he planning on using her to get to Klaus. Her magic flared. After the ordeal she had been put through she would be damned if she trusted so easily again.

Cary lifted his arms in surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you. No need to use your magic against me."

"And why should I believe that?" Bonnie asked. She looked over his shoulder and stared at the door. She could knocked him out and run out of there.

"Because I saved you," Cary snapped. Bonnie jerked her head back in his direction. "I saw you running into the forest like a loon and I felt this need to protect you, to keep you safe." He said quietly. "Whatever that thing was that attacked you in the forest kept me running in circles for a while until I saw this light." The magic that had kept him at bay had disappeared suddenly with that bright light. "I found you passed out in the middle of the woods. I couldn't take you back to the plantation. I can't cross the barrier so I brought you here." He explained. Had he left her there the wolves would've killed her.

"And where is here exactly?" Bonnie stared at him trying to find any deceit in his words. He seemed sincere but she would not make the same mistake twice. She had nearly lost her baby for believing in her Grams apparition.

"The Bayou," Cary replied. "It's the only place the werewolves can live."

"You're a werewolf." Bonnie realized. She couldn't believe it took her that long to figure it out.

"I am." Cary confirmed. "The woods are not safe at night, neither is the Bayou but at least there is more space here to hide." The Bayou was immense after all. And it was the reason his people had chosen it as the perfect place to hide.

"Not safe from what?" Bonnie wanted to know.

"The werewolves, rumor has it that the vampire king cursed them to remain in their wolf form except on the night of the full moon. At least that's what the relatives who weren't cursed said." He informed Bonnie. He didn't particularly cared about that lot.

"You're not one of them?" Bonnie asked wondering why he hadn't been cursed.

"Are you kidding me? The Crescents like to think of themselves as royalty." He rolled his eyes. "They're nothing more than a deluded bloodline with airs of grandeur." Cary didn't like any of them. "I belong to a far more superior ancient breed."

"You said that you felt the need to protect me…" Bonnie recalled suddenly. "Why? You don't know me." There was something about this werewolf. He almost seemed familiar somehow. Bonnie was not going to let her guard down but she was curious.

"I asked myself that question," Cary said softly as he stared at her face. "Until I carried you here and felt it."

"Felt what?" Bonnie asked warily.

"You're with child." Cary stated. "Klaus's child." There was a soft smile on his face. "The pack will freak out once they learn he has fathered a child." It was another proof that he had truly broken his curse. He was one of them once more.

Bonnie gasped. Her first instinct was to lie, to deny her pregnancy, but Cary's gaze pinned her to the spot.

"That's why I felt the need to protect you." Cary continued telling her. "You have nothing to fear from me or my people. You have my word on that. Werewolves do not harm their own blood." The Crescent pack however would've no problem attacking her. She would be fair game to any other wolves.

"I'm not a werewolf." Bonnie told him as she tried to make sense of his words.

"Your child is, in part at least." Otherwise Cary wouldn't have sensed it. He wouldn't have felt the need to protect her. As long as that child was inside her belly all the wolves from his pack would feel the same need to keep her safe.

"Wait…are you saying that…" her mind finally caught up to his words.

"That child is Klaus's blood," Cary said staring into her green eyes. "My blood." He told her. "I am a direct descendant of Ansel, Klaus's true father."

Bonnie's mouth opened in shock and her eyes went wide. "Oh my god!"

Bonnie sat back on the bed as she processed Cary's words. She had heard from Elena that Esther had an affair with a werewolf which resulted in Klaus. But Elena had said something about Mikael killing the werewolves and starting the war between the species.

"You and Klaus are related." Bonnie repeated staring at Cary with disbelief.

"Yes." Cary said. "I've been following him for a while now." He admitted almost sheepishly.

"Why haven't you talked to him?" Bonnie questioned. Surely Klaus would want to know that he had more family, his werewolf family.

Cary shrugged. "I don't know how to approach him. He seems more like a vampire than a wolf." In the weeks he had been following him, Cary had never seen Klaus in his wolf form. He couldn't understand why the hybrid refused to turn when he could do it at will, unlike the rest of the wolves. "He's very intimidating." He mumbled. "I haven't figure out how to talk to him yet."

"Well you need to do it fast." Bonnie told him while standing up.

"What do you mean?" Cary asked confused.

"Klaus is here now." Bonnie told him. She could feel him. Klaus had found her. The bond would always tell him where she was. He would always find her, just like he had found her the night she had been kidnapped. Klaus had come for her now. She couldn't stop the pleased and happy smile that formed on her lips. She wanted nothing more than to be in his arms and forget everything else.

Bonnie didn't wait for Cary's reply. She hurried out of the cabin at the same moment that Klaus and his siblings arrived at the werewolf camp.

* * *

Marcel drank straight from the bottle. He was angry. Klaus's little display the day before had undermined him. As much as his followers had liked his speech Klaus had killed a couple of his vampires and left unharmed. Had it been any other vampire Marcel would've killed him but, _how do you kill someone who is unkillable?_

"Marcel," Diego said as he came into the compound. "We have a problem."

"I'm sure you can deal with it." Marcel said. "I'm not in the mood to deal with vampire business right now." He needed to think. He needed to plan his next move.

"How about werewolf business?" Diego asked. Thierry and a couple of other vampires moved into the room upon hearing Diego's words.

Marcel turned to look at him. "What's going on?"

"A new pack of wolves has been spotted in the Bayou." Diego told him. "It seems their arrival has upset the Crescents."

"Do you know who they are?" Marcel asked intrigued. The first thought that came to his mind was the Navarro clan but they wouldn't infiltrate the Bayou. They would go straight for the kill. "How many?"

"At least thirty maybe forty and they're definitely not from here." Diego informed him. "They've just arrived."

Marcel stayed quiet for few minutes. "Gather a group of vampires and head into the Bayou." He ordered. "I want you to kill every single werewolf you can find. I'll get Davina to do a spell to help you out." With Davina's help it would be easier to kill the werewolves without losing any of his vampires.

Diego's lips curved into a grin. "All of them?" he wanted to make sure. He hated those fuckers. He had been waiting for the moment to kill all of them and it had finally arrived.

"All of them." Marcel confirmed. "I am not going to give Klaus the chance to turn those wolves into hybrids." He was not going to let Klaus form an army so he could take back New Orleans. "And I will also send a message to the Navarro pack. Any werewolf that comes into my city will die." He hissed. The time had come to take action.

This was going to be a show of strength. He could not afford to be weak right now. The Navarro's would have to think twice before they decided to attack and take his city. Marcel was ready to give them one hell of a fight. He would not allow the Navarro's to take over the wolves in his city nor would he allow Klaus to create hybrids under his nose. He would not let a single wolf alive in his kingdom. He would kill them all!

* * *

 _Cary and Sabine appeared in TO season one._

 _Klaus and Bonnie are going to learn some very interesting information in the next chapter. Thank-you and see you next time!_


	18. Chapter 18

**You are all amazing! Thank-you for all your support. I hope you like this chapter ;)**

* * *

Running out of the cabin was perhaps not the best idea. Bonnie didn't make it very far. She managed to get down the steps and run a few paces before coming to an abrupt halt as everything around her started spinning.

 _What's wrong with me?_ Bonnie felt disoriented and her vision blurred. She sagged towards the ground but strong arms caught her before she could fall down.

Klaus

His arms kept her in place, holding her against his hard chest. Bonnie immediately found herself engulfed in his arms and his all too familiar scent. The happiness, the relief she felt in that moment was overwhelming. She wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug.

The moment they made contact the bond suddenly pulsed with life sending an electric shock through both of their systems. Klaus could once again feel her emotions as clearly as if they were his own.

"Are you all right?" Klaus asked quietly. His eyes moved over her body making sure she had not been hurt. She looked fine, physically at least.

Bonnie looked up into this handsome face and smiled weakly. "I…fine…" But she wasn't. She felt dizzy and so very tired. The adrenaline that had pumped her body as soon as she woke up and while she had talked to Cary had disappeared by now.

Despite the smile on her face Klaus could feel the slight trembling all over her body and the look on her eyes, those green eyes that stared back at him seemed haunted. It was obvious that something traumatic had happened to her. The thought of anyone hurting her made his blood boil with rage. He would kill them!

He raised one of his hands to her face and touched her cheek, bolts of electricity shot through her body at that simple touch and her heart skipped a beat, like it always did with him.

Klaus frowned, her skin felt warmer than usual. "What's wrong?"

Bonnie shivered and opened her mouth but didn't get the chance to say anything as a gust of wind suddenly passed them.

Cary who had run after Bonnie and had waited a few steps behind her upon seeing Klaus suddenly found himself lifted from the ground. Elijah had him by the throat, his feet dangling as he struggled to breath under the Original's choking hold.

There were a couple of werewolves near Cary's cabin. A few more came out of the trailers that were stationed around the cabin. They no doubt felt the presence of vampires and had come out to investigate.

They looked at each other with uncertainty, not knowing what to do.

Two tall and bulky men made a move towards Elijah in an attempt to help Cary but Rebekah got in their way, startling them with her sudden appearance.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She said with a feline smile on her face. She flashed her vampire face and the werewolves took a step back.

Bonnie looked over her shoulder at Elijah. "Let him go." She tried to pull away from Klaus and turn around to face Elijah and Carry but she still felt dizzy. Klaus kept one arm firmly around her small waist, holding her in place.

Bonnie blinked as her vision blurred once more. She hoped she wouldn't feel nauseous next, she didn't want to throw up in front of so many people.

"He kidnapped you." Elijah glanced in her direction before squeezing Cary's neck harder.

"He was trying to help." Bonnie told him. She blinked a couple of times trying to clear her vision.

Klaus turned to Elijah. "Let him go." They didn't have time for this. He needed to take Bonnie home. It was obvious she wasn't feeling well.

Elijah unceremoniously dropped Cary to the ground. The werewolf gasped and struggled to catch his breath but he still managed to give the original a murderous look.

There were whispers and murmurs among the group as they all stared at the original siblings, in particular Klaus.

The group that surrounded them was rather small but Klaus could feel dozens of more wolves hiding in the trailers and tents scattered around the campsite. He had the strange feeling that he knew them somehow. They seemed familiar. He couldn't explain it.

While Elijah and Rebekah watched the werewolves with distrust and no doubt were quickly calculating the best way to kill them all and escape, Klaus did not feel threatened, which was surprising. Something inside him told him these wolves were not his enemies. The wolf in him seemed to trust them.

Bonnie's hands balled into fists as she clutched Klaus's shirt into a tight grip. She wanted nothing more than to curl into bed and sleep. She felt exhausted.

"Let's go home." Klaus said ready to pick her up in his arms and carry her out of there.

"No…" Bonnie pulled her head away from his chest and looked up at him. "You need to listen to what he has to say." Klaus needed to know that these people were his family.

Cary stood up and stared nervously at Klaus not knowing what to say or how to start this particular conversation.

"I told you it was a mistake bringing her here." One werewolf hissed. "Fucking vampires always ruin everything."

Rebekah rolled her eyes as she moved closer to Klaus. She glanced at Bonnie-she didn't look good-before looking at her brother. "We should go." She muttered.

"Speak." Elijah ordered as he moved to stand on the other side of Klaus and Bonnie. His dark eyes focused on Cary.

Cary glared at him before looking at Klaus and then at Bonnie. "She needs to rest." He said quietly. "She can do it in the cabin and then we can talk."

"Nik I don't think-" Rebekah began.

"Why would I want to talk to you?" Klaus hissed. The only thing he wanted was to get Bonnie out of there and take her to the plantation where he knew she would be safe.

"Because what I have to tell you will change everything." Cary said staring into the hybrid's eyes.

"Listen to him." Bonnie murmured quietly against his chest. She was holding on to him for dear life. She was going to faint at any moment, she could feel it.

Klaus's jaw clenched. The vampire in him wanted to slaughter the wolves around him and get Bonnie to safety while the wolf inside him urged him to listen. Something inside him told him that he needed to stay here. That he had nothing to fear from these wolves.

Klaus picked up Bonnie bridal style and walked towards the cabin without saying a word. He stopped right in front of Cary and with a single look ordered the wolf to walk inside as well. Cary did as he was told.

Elijah and Rebekah exchanged looks before following them, all the while feeling countless of stares following their every move.

The wolves watched them silently but with intense curiosity.

* * *

"You want me to do what?" Davina stared at Marcel, an incredulous look on her face.

"I need you to use your magic to keep my vampires safe while they kill the werewolves." Marcel replied calmly.

"Marcel, the werewolves in the Bayou have not triggered their curse yet." Davina reminded him. "They are not threat to you."

"There is another pack, a new one," Marcel informed her. "I won't let Klaus turn them into hybrids or worst have the Navarro try and conquer them." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against Davina's desk. "If Klaus creates an army of hybrids it will be our end, D." He couldn't allow that to happen.

The young girl bit her lip. She wasn't fond of werewolves but she didn't hate them either. She couldn't help but remember her visions, in which she had seen countless of werewolves torn to pieces. And not just the werewolves but witches and vampires had met a terrible end as well. "Marcel I-"

"Davina please," Marcel said as he walked towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I can't fight three battles at the same time." The witches of the Quarter, the Navarro pack, and Klaus, the last thing he wanted was to give his enemies the advantage. "These werewolves have to die. I can't have the Navarro clan take over them or worst have Klaus turn them into hybrids." He would be unstoppable them. "They have to die." He insisted.

 _There is a war coming Davina_ , Elijah had told her, _what side are you going to be on?_

Davina felt afraid. The war had begun and Marcel would be the one to ignite the fire, the one to make the first move. _But could he win the war?_

* * *

Klaus gently deposited Bonnie on the bed inside the cabin. Rebekah placed the pillow behind her so that she could sit and lean against it.

"You're rather warm." Rebekah touched Bonnie's forehead. "I thought witches didn't get sick."

"I'm not sick." Bonnie protested. "I just…" she just didn't feel well at the moment.

"We need to find out what's wrong with you." Klaus grabbed her chin and lifted her face, "does anything hurt?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Stop worrying." She told both of them.

"We should take her home or to a hospital." Rebekah said. She was on edge, her instincts alerting her to all the werewolves surrounding the cabin. Werewolves were a vampire's natural enemy and while they could never kill her, Rebekah did not want to be bitten again.

"I told you I'm fine, just tired." Bonnie looked at Rebekah and then at Klaus. "You need to talk to Cary." She insisted. He had to learn the truth about his family.

Klaus fingers traced her cheek. Bonnie grabbed his other hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm fine." She reassured him. She felt certain that once she managed to take a nap she would feel better. Klaus didn't look convinced.

Bonnie leaned her head back against the wooden wall and closed her eyes. Rebekah took a seat next to her.

Meanwhile, Elijah stood a few feet away from the bed. He did not move his gaze from Cary, as the two stood face to face, seizing each other up. Neither was going to let their guard down.

Klaus turned to face Cary. "Start talking," he ordered. He had never been a patient man and he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible and take Bonnie home.

Cary licked his lips nervously. "My grandfather has always told me stories, about our people, our clan." He began. "He said that an Alpha from our bloodline fathered a child with a powerful witch."

Klaus and Elijah exchanged knowing looks.

"A child that became something more, different from anything anyone had ever seen before. Not just a wolf, but immortal, a vampire." Cary said watching him carefully. "They feared what he would become, so they cursed him. I didn't really believe in such stories, until I felt it."

"What did you feel?" Elijah questioned.

"The night you broke your curse," Cary said holding Klaus's gaze. "We all felt it, we felt you." He clarified. "And you can feel us too. On the nights of the full moon your wolf always joins us in spirit while we hunt."

Klaus kept silence and a neutral expression on his face but Bonnie could feel the turmoil of emotions coming from him. She kept her eyes closed as Klaus processed Cary's words.

The pack he had been dreaming about since he broke his curse. It was them. Every full moon the wolf in him had yearned to be free, to join them. Klaus hand wondered who they were and why he kept dreaming of them and now he knew. He felt a chill as he realized what it meant.

"We've been searching for you since then." Cary continued. "You are that child, the son of Ansel."

"You are the wolf that has been following me." Klaus realized. His voice was distant and cold as he studied Cary's face. His expression gave nothing away but inside there was a hurricane of emotions overtaking him.

 _Ansel,_ his father, his true father's name, the man Mikael had brutally killed after finding out the truth. Klaus had only seen him once. When he had gone to the wolf village and found the carnage Mikael had left.

Cary nodded. "I didn't know how to talk to you." He admitted softly. His hands moved to his neck, he pulled the necklace hiding underneath his shirt and took it off. A silver ring hanged from the chain and Cary offered it to Klaus.

Klaus gasped when he took the ring, he recognized it immediately.

Elijah's eyes widened as he stared at the familiar piece of jewelry. He recognized it as well.

Rebekah stood up immediately and looked at the ring, a stunned look on her face. "That can't be."

"Where did you get this?" Klaus asked his heart pounding in his ears. He knew, deep down he knew.

"My grandfather gave it to me, it was his father's before that." Cary told him. "It has been passed down in my family for one thousand years."

Bonnie frowned opening her eyes and wondering what did the ring signified and why Klaus and his siblings were so shocked upon seeing it. She wanted to stand up and take a peek but she still didn't feel well so she stayed on the bed.

"That's mother's ring." Elijah murmured. She had worn it on her finger until one day when she had claimed she had lost it. Finn, had searched endlessly for it, determined to find their mother's beloved ring.

"There is magic in this ring." Klaus said. He could feel it. There was powerful magic coming from the object, a familiar kind of magic. It had his mother's magical signature.

"Yes," Cary confirmed. "This ring keeps me from turning into a wolf on the nights of the full moon, a gift your mother gave to her lover, my ancestor." He explained. "A daylight ring protects a vampire from the sun while this ring protects me from the curse of the moon." It was his most valuable possession.

Bonnie gasped at the revelation. Esther had created a ring that could keep a werewolf from turning during the full moon. Despite all the things Esther had done, no one could deny that she had been one powerful witch.

"How many more do you have?" Elijah asked with interest.

"This is the only one." Cary replied. His grandfather had said that their ancestors had tried to replicate the ring but all attempts had been unsuccessful.

Rebekah took the ring from Klaus's hand. "She must have cared for him very much." She murmured as her fingers traced the familiar object. It had been Esther's favorite ring, the only thing she had of her mother. Rebekah had always found it odd that her mother didn't seem distressed when she told them she had lost the ring considering how valuable it had been to her. Now, Rebekah knew why. She couldn't help but wonder about Klaus's real father and his story with her mother. _Had they been in love?_

Klaus's jaw clenched. "Mikael killed them." He had seen the slaughter Mikael had done on the wolf village, on his kin. "He slaughtered everyone in the village once he learned the truth."

"He killed most of them." Cary confirmed. "Your grandmother escaped with the children and some of the women. They eventually went to Europe and for the past thousand years our clan has lived in the shadows, always hiding and moving all over. We have been persecuted not just by vampires, but by other werewolves too." He told them. "Our people ruled the world once and now there is hardly any of us left." Cary's own father had met a terrible end at the hands of a cruel wolf pack.

There were so many conflicting emotions swirling inside Klaus in that moment. He had always believed Mikael had slaughtered all of his werewolf family. And now, centuries later he had just discovered that was not true. They were alive. They had found him.

"I am your blood." Cary said to Klaus. "We have traveled so much in search of you." He still couldn't believe it. He was actually talking to Klaus, the wolf from his grandfather's stories. "The moment you broke your curse it marked the beginning of a new era for our people."

"Why do you say that?" Klaus asked trying to mask the shock he felt.

"Things are changing in the supernatural world." Cary told them. He had heard the rumors. He knew of the big pack that was preparing to take over. "Werewolves will rise to power once more and you," he said looking directly at Klaus. "You will help us take our rightful place as the leaders of our people."

"How presumptuous of you," Elijah commented dryly. He had never been fond of werewolves.

Cary ignored him continuing to stare at Klaus. "You're not just another Alpha of a pack. You are the son of Ansel and the blood of Fenrir. You are the king of our entire species." He said with conviction. "Werewolves will flock to your side once you claim your birthright and more so once they learn you have fathered a child with her." He said pointing at Bonnie.

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked quietly. Her heart was pounding loudly and she felt a strange sensation in her stomach. She felt much better by now but Cary's words sent alarm bells.

Cary stared at both of them. "For the first time in thousands of years, the three original supernatural bloodlines have united in a single, living being…your child." He told them, his eyes shining with emotion.

Something resonated inside Bonnie in that moment and by the emotions that echoed through the bond, Klaus had felt it too.

"You are a Bennett, the blood of the first witch," Cary said while staring intensely at Bonnie. His gaze moved to Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah, "you are the first vampires in history and us," he said pointing to Klaus and himself. "We are the blood of the first wolf." His gaze returned to Bonnie. "The three most powerful bloodlines have become one in your baby. Do you have any idea how special that is?"

Bonnie touched her stomach remembering the powerful blast of magic that had destroyed the spirits that had been torturing her. She had felt it, the jolt of power inside her belly, her child's power. It had saved her from the spirits. Deep down she had always known that her baby was special but she hadn't grasp the magnitude of it. Her baby was not only a witch but also part vampire and werewolf.

No one said anything.

Silence descended in the cabin as they let Cary's words sink in.

* * *

Elijah, Rebekah, and Cary silently had decided to give some alone time to Bonnie and Klaus. While the original siblings remained close to the cabin, talking in hushed tones, Cary walked towards his pack.

A group had gathered a few feet from the cabin, waiting to talk to Cary.

"You shouldn't have brought them here." One of them hissed. "Vampires only cause trouble."

"We are in vampire territory." Another one pointed out. "It's best to keep them on our side."

"Did you talk to him?"

"What is he like?"

"Is it true he's mated to a witch?"

"Has he really broken his curse?"

So many questions were fired at Cary at once that he had no idea how to answer them.

"Let the man breathe." An older werewolf said putting some sense of order. Ishmael was the leader of the pack and all wolves fell silence at his command. "Did you speak with him?" he asked Cary, blue eyes twinkling.

"Briefly," Cary replied. "He knows that we are of the same bloodline."

"Did you tell him about the Navarro clan, what they have been doing?" A woman asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"No. we didn't get to talk about that." Cary answered. There was a lot he had yet to discuss with Klaus. "We will." He promised.

"He's going to kill every single one of those fuckers." A boy no older than thirteen said proudly. "A hybrid is stronger than a regular wolf right?"

"Billy!" his mother yelled scandalized. "Watch your language." She reproached him.

"Now what, you're going to hand over the reins of the pack to a stranger?" A tall muscular man said with disgust as he looked at Ishmael and Cary. "He may have our blood but he does not know our ways."

"He's Ansel's son," Cary reminded him, "the rightful ruler of our people."

"He's a vampire!" Another wolf yelled. "You can't trust those leeches."

"Do you think he will turn us?" someone asked with curiosity. "We could become hybrids like him."

"Yes! I want to be a hybrid!" Billy yelled with excitement. His mother pulled his ear and told him to be quiet.

"I'm not becoming a fucking vampire." A man said as he spit on the ground. "He shouldn't be here."

"He's one of us," another interrupted. "We should at least give him a chance."

"If he wants to rule over us, he must earn his place." An older man said.

"We must teach him our ways and cleanse him of the demon inside him." His wife suggested.

Cary sighed as the wolves went back and forth with their arguments. He placed his hands on the pocket of his jeans and remained quiet as did his grandfather.

"The time of the wolves has come," Ishmael murmured as he stood next to Cary.

* * *

Bonnie sat on the bed lost in thought. She didn't even noticed when Elijah, Rebekah, and Cary left the cabin.

Klaus crouched down in front of her. "Bonnie," he said gently, a tone reserved just for her.

"I get it now." She said quietly. "If what Cary says is true…then the spirits not only see our baby as an abomination of nature but as a threat…" she shivered remembering the burning pain she had felt by the spirits assault.

"What happened?" Klaus asked. He needed to know. It was clear that whatever she had endured had been traumatizing.

"The spirits tricked me." Bonnie felt so angry. She had been so stupid to fall right into their trap. "They pretended to be my Grams in order to get me out of the house…and by the time I realized it, I couldn't do anything." She felt cold and scared all over again as she remembered the attack. It had been terrifying and the pain…she had never experienced anything like it before. "They hurt me. They wanted to kill our baby." A few tears spilled down her cheeks. She could still feel the magic attacking her, hurting her. She had managed to escape but she still did not feel like her old self.

Klaus took her trembling hands in his and Bonnie clung to that, to his familiar touch, his warmth. She was safe, the spirits were gone, they couldn't hurt her anymore…for now at least.

"How did you escape?" Klaus tried to contain the rage boiling inside him, the pure hatred he felt for the spirits. He couldn't help but wonder if Esther had something to do with this attack.

Bonnie looked down at their joined hands before meeting his eyes. "The baby," she whispered. She still couldn't believe it.

A look of confusion crossed his face.

"Klaus, our baby has magic." Bonnie told him before he could say anything. "I felt it. The spirits took my magic away and I couldn't defend myself but there was this blast of power, this light that made them go away." She couldn't help but smile remembering that light. "It came from me. It was the baby." She was certain of it. "I think I must have tapped into the baby's magic or the baby did it all…I don't know…it was…incredible." That beautiful light had destroyed the spirits and made her feel safe.

Klaus stared at her in shock before his lips curved into a soft smile. "Our son has magic?" he had heard of witches displaying magical abilities at a young age but he had never heard of anyone showing signs of magic from the womb. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised considering both of their lineages. The Bennett line was the oldest witch bloodline known to exist, it was only fitting that Bonnie's child would be a witch. Klaus himself had witch blood in his veins through his mother's line.

Deep down both of them knew that their child was special. A baby conceived by a powerful witch and the original hybrid had to be more than just a regular baby. But now they were starting to see the proof of that.

"They won't stop." Bonnie murmured the fear clear in her voice. "The spirits won't give up until we're dead." She hated how terrified she felt of the spirits. _But how could she not be after what happened?_

"That's never going to happen. I won't let them." Klaus told her fiercely.

Bonnie felt a sudden sadness, "how can you stop them? I don't even know how they managed to escape the other side and attack me." Even if the spirits had managed to appear in the land of the living they should've been ghosts without power, without being able to be seen, let alone hurt anyone.

"We will find a way to stop them." Klaus vowed. "Magic always has a loophole. I am proof of that." He told her, "and so is our son."

Bonnie shook her head. "You do realize that there is a fifty percent chance that we're having a girl right?"

"It's going to be a boy, sweetheart." Klaus grinned. Until proven otherwise Klaus was fully convinced their child was a boy.

Bonnie rolled her eyes before lifting one of her hands to her forehead.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Klaus asked. "Is it the baby?"

"No…" Bonnie stared into his worried face. "I feel tired. Kind of like when I do a really hard spell and push my body to exhaustion." It was the only way she could describe it. Her nose wasn't bleeding at least.

"It was probably the amount of power that was released from your body." Klaus said studying her face. "At the end of the day you are still human and doing magic can take at toll on the body, especially in your condition."

"And what would be your recommendation Dr. Mikaelson?" Bonnie teased, "since you're such an expert on witches, it seems."

Klaus moved so fast Bonnie didn't have time to react. One moment she had been leaning against the wall and in the next she was lying in the middle of the bed. Her back pressed against the mattress as Klaus pinned her beneath him. He rested his weight on his arms as he didn't want to crush her, "Dr. Mikaelson huh?" there was a playful glint in his eyes.

Bonnie stared at up at him and smiled. "Has a nice ring to it doesn't it?" dear lord, a few minutes ago she had been feeling tired and dizzy and now a whole different emotion had taken root inside her.

"I'm afraid my recommendation will keep you in bed and positively exhausted for many more days to come love." He told her with a sinful grin.

Bonnie flushed and looked away embarrassed.

"You still blush…" Klaus murmured while tracing the heated skin of her cheek with his finger. After everything they had done, after all the times they had been together. "I've lost count of how many times I've been buried inside of you and yet you still blush like the first time." Her innocence was endearing and the Alpha wolf and the vampire in him both felt pleased to know that she had never known another. And she never would. She was his forever.

"Klaus!" Bonnie slapped him on the arm flustered by his comment. Elijah and Rebekah were outside and she felt mortified, they could probably hear what he was saying not to mention Cary and his pack.

Klaus chuckled. "My siblings have a pretty good idea of what we do behind closed doors." He told her. "There is no need to feel embarrassed." He leaned forward until his face was just inches from her, blue eyes filled with undeniable lust.

Her cheeks still burned as his lips touched hers. In that moment as their lips met, they forgot about everything else. In that moment all that mattered was the two of them.

The kiss was hot, sensual, as they hungrily devoured each other's mouths. It felt like they hadn't kissed in ages. His hands roamed possessively over her curves and Bonnie tugged desperately at his shirt as their lips met again and again. They were more than ready to rip their clothes off.

The moment was broken when a piercing scream echoed around the bayou.

They pulled apart breathless, brains clouded with desire.

"What-" Bonnie didn't get to finish as she felt it, the presence of many vampires moving closer. And by the look on Klaus's face he felt them as well.

"Stay here." He ordered pulling away from her and standing up. He flashed out of the cabin at vampire speed.

Bonnie didn't listen and followed him outside.

* * *

"I'm tired." Belle mumbled as they made their way inside the plantation.

"You're a hybrid, you'll be fine." Felix said.

While they had split into groups the night before in order to search for Bonnie, they had eventually met up in the woods. Rebekah had called Matt to inform him that Bonnie had been found and was safe with them. So Matt, Angelica, and Klaus's hybrids had made their way back home.

"And I'm hungry too." Belle continued as she flopped down on the couch in the living room.

"I can make you some pancakes." Angelica offered while sitting next to her.

"Yes, please. And some eggs too, scrambled with cheese, and some bacon…" Belle's mouth watered at the thought.

"Sausage too…" Jesse mumbled his stomach rumbling.

"Some toast would be nice." Riley mumbled while closing his eyes and resting his legs on the coffee table. They had burned a lot of calories and energy during the search.

"Would you like anything?" Angelica asked Matt with a smile. She didn't mind cooking, it was one of her passions.

"A little bit of everything." He replied. "I'm starving." His stomach wholeheartedly agreed.

"Very well," Angelica stood up and made her way to the kitchen followed by Belle and Jesse. Riley kept his eyes closed, dozing off on the couch, while Felix stood silent as always near the window.

Matt sighed and leaned back against the couch. He contemplated taking a nap before eating or maybe a shower. He was covered in mud and sweat after an entire night in the woods. He was just about to stand up when his cell phone rang.

Matt had expected Rebekah but instead he frowned when he noticed the name that flashed across the screen. "Excuse me," he left the living room as fast as he could. It wasn't until he was certain that he was out of ear shot that he picked up the call. "Tyler?" he asked uncertain. It had been months since they had talked to each other, since before Tyler had left Mystic Falls.

"Hey man," Tyler greeted. "I know it's been a long time but I just wanted…" he trailed off unsure of what to say.

"Is everything okay?" Matt asked with concern. He made his way up the stairs towards the room he shared with Rebekah.

There was a long pause on the other end before Tyler finally spoke. "I don't know what to do Matt. I'm screwed…I'm helping this pack and I…there is this one wolf that showed up and I don't know…" he rambled incoherently.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Matt suggested while taking a seat on the bed. He didn't understand Tyler's ramblings.

Tyler took a deep breath before he started with his tale.

* * *

Elijah and Rebekah stood talking quietly a few feet away from the cabin while Cary talked with his pack.

"They don't like us." Rebekah muttered as she stared at the group of werewolves gathered around Cary. She could hear everything they were saying. "Half of them are wary of Nik because of his vampirism."

"They're werewolves." Elijah commented. "They will never like us." But they could certainly be useful in the war to come.

"Then what the bloody hell are we still doing here?" Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest. "I just ruined my favorite pair of shoes you know."

"They're Niklaus's family." Elijah said quietly.

"Do you think she loved him?" Rebekah asked suddenly, different emotions flashing across her eyes. "Mother I mean, do you think she truly loved Nik's father?" she had often wondered.

"She gave him her ring and enchanted it to protect him from the curse of the moon." Elijah contemplated the bayou as he thought of his mother. They had never known the true story between Esther and the man who had fathered their brother. "She must have cared for him deeply."

"So where does that leave father?" Rebekah questioned. "Did she ever love him? Was our family a lie?"

Elijah's gaze turned to her and for a moment he was struck by how vulnerable and young she looked. She reminded him of the young girl she had been once. He opened his mouth but didn't get the chance to respond. He and Rebekah exchanged looks as they both felt the presence of vampires nearing the camp.

A dark cloud covered the sun and thunder flashed in the distance.

The werewolves screamed when the tents around the cabin caught fire all of a sudden. The wolves that had been inside scrambled out in panic.

The attack was surprising as countless of blurs suddenly invaded the werewolf camp. They were fast and well coordinated as they attacked.

A woman screamed.

A child cried in the distance.

Cary and the group he had been talking with ran and began fighting the vampires the moment they saw them. All hell seemed to break lose around the camp.

"You got to be kidding me." Rebekah whined. First werewolves and now vampires.

Elijah wasted no time to join the fight and Rebekah followed after him. Nik had just found his long lost family. They weren't about to let them die on their watch.

Every time the wolves tried to punch or kick the vampires however they were repelled by an invisible force which gave the vampires the advantage as they easily overpowered the werewolves.

"What the hell?" Rebekah gasped as she tried to punch a vampire only for her fist to be stopped by an invisible barrier. The vampire grinned before he punched her right in the face. Rebekah stumbled back and glared tasting the blood on her lips.

The vampire attacked again but she moved out of the way in time. He attacked again and she did the same thing. "Not so tough now are you?" she gave him a sweet smile. She couldn't touch him but she could easily avoid each of his blows. She was older and stronger than him after all.

Elijah was not faring much better, each of his attacks were easily blocked which meant that the three vampires circling him were having a blast punching his ribs and knocking the air out of him. The last person to have successfully delivered a blow on him had been Niklaus.

"What the fuck?" Cary spit some blood on the ground as he fell to his knees. One vampire kicked him in the ribs while another delivered a bone breaking punch.

"Magic," Elijah said angrily. He couldn't touch the vampires so he used his superior speed to avoid each attack that came his way. He was ashamed with himself that he hadn't thought of it before; he had seen Rebekah do it. If he couldn't fight them, he could at least make them crazy by avoiding each of their blows. That strategy was working perfectly for her, so Elijah adopted it as well.

Klaus rushed out of the cabin and joined the fray only to stumble back when the magical barrier protecting the vampires flung him back as he tried to land a punch. He growled as a vampire punched him in the face.

When the next blow came he tried to intercept it and surprisingly managed to made contact with the vampire but he hissed in pain. His flesh stung and burned. His hand practically burst into flames. "Fuck," he cursed pulling away. The wounds healed immediately. Klaus stood up growling as he moved out of the way before he could receive another punch.

When Bonnie came out of the cabin it was like a scene from a movie, there was fire and thunder and chaos all around her as the werewolves struggled to fight the vampires. She could feel it, the powerful magic in the air. The vampires were being helped by a witch.

She watched in horror as a vampire decapitated one werewolf right in front of her, a teenager really.

Another flung a woman to the ground and kicked her repeatedly in the stomach and chest. Her little girl cried uncontrollably as she watched helplessly as her mother was being brutally attacked. The mother tried her best to fight back, to get away from him but she couldn't. He was stronger.

"Mama," the little girl cried. In a moment of courage she tried to help her mother only for the vampire to knock her out of the way, blood trailed down her nose by the force of the blow. She whimpered before bursting into tears. She couldn't be older than six years old.

Fury

Bonnie's entire body shook by the force of it, seeing that poor little girl and her mother being attacked so brutally. It wasn't right.

The vampire that was beating the poor woman froze above her. It was the only warning he got. In the next second his body was set on fire.

The little girl's eyes went wide as the creature that had nearly killed her mother screamed and burned to death courtesy of Bonnie's magic.

Bonnie walked down the steps of the cabin and moved to the center of the camp. A vampire tried to attack her but he was stopped by an invisible barrier that sent him flying a good thirty feet away from her.

 _A protection spell,_ Bonnie realized with a frown. She didn't recall casting a protection spell on herself. She didn't have time to put more thought into it as she heard another scream, two teenage boys were doing their best to take down a vampire and were failing quite miserably.

With a snap of her fingers Bonnie broke the vampire's neck. With a wave of her hand she sent another three crashing into the trees and with another wave of her magic two more burned to death.

"Cool," a teenage boy said eyes wide in open admiration.

Klaus appeared next to her all of a sudden. "Some kind of magic is protecting them." He hissed. He was surprised when a vampire tried to get to Bonnie only to be flung away by an invisible force.

"I'll break it." Bonnie told him before he could ask. Determination filled her veins as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

A couple of vampires tried to attack her but once again they were repelled by the protection spell on her. Bonnie paid no attention to them as she concentrated on breaking the magic that aided the vampires.

Bonnie gasped suddenly when she felt a blinding pain inside her head, like a hundred needles were suddenly poking her brain. Bonnie's eyes snapped opened and lit with anger as pain exploded inside her head. After what she had endured at the spirits hands she was determined not to be put in that position ever again.

She used the anger she felt towards the spirits to fuel her magic. Expression lashed out with greed against the magic that had just attacked Bonnie.

Snap

Everyone in the camp felt it, the moment the magic protecting the vampires was destroyed with a single wave of Bonnie's magic.

Rebekah grinned as the vampire in front of her nearly pissed in his pants when he realized what had happened. He tried to run away but didn't make it very far, her arm tore trough his chest in a blink of an eye. She ripped his heart out and proceeded do the same with the other vampires close to her.

The werewolves attacked as a pack and launched themselves at the vampires, biting viciously into their cold flesh and injecting them with their venom.

Elijah ripped hearts with both of his hands. He was a blur as he swiftly moved around the camp killing vampires left and right. No one saw him coming until it was too late.

Klaus ripped hearts and heads and tore all the vampires he could get his hands on to pieces, blood coated his face and shirt but he didn't care. He bit a couple of vampires for fun and snapped necks when he got bored of their feeble attempts at fighting back.

The battle, if it could really be called a battle was over fairly quickly. In a matter of minutes.

Diego was the lone survivor because he ran away like a coward. The moment he felt Davina's magic leave them, he took off running away from the camp, knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance against three originals.

He watched from the safety of the trees. Marcel needed to know that Klaus had already gotten to the new pack in the bayou but above all, Marcel needed to know that Klaus had a witch too, an extremely powerful witch.

* * *

The moment Bonnie broke through Davina's spell the young girl screamed. Fire erupted inside her head, pure liquid fire that burned her from the inside out.

"Davina!" Marcel yelled as he caught her in his arms. Thierry who had been waiting with them watched horrified as blood poured out Davina's nose and down her chin as her entire body shook uncontrollably.

The witch convulsed and tears rolled down her cheeks from the excruciating pain she felt in that moment.

"What happened?" Marcel asked. "What's wrong?"

Davina couldn't speak; she couldn't do anything except cry. It hurt. Everything hurt.

Marcel pulled her in his arms, holding her tightly as her body was rocked with tremors. His gut told him that his show of power and strength had backfired. He had a feeling he had just made a big mistake.

* * *

They burned the vampires bodies- all thirty-seven of them and buried the five werewolves that had perished during the attack.

The werewolves had a ritual to bury their dead and Bonnie, Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah stood silently paying their respects. Bonnie and Klaus held hands during the ceremony. Klaus had cleaned his face but there were dried blood spots on his shirt.

There were so many conflicting emotions radiating off Klaus. It worried Bonnie. In many ways he was still processing the fact that he had more family. The curious looks the werewolves gave her and Klaus had not gone unnoticed by Bonnie either.

Ishmael as the leader of the tribe said words in an ancient language, a language the original siblings understood well.

Once the ceremony was over, Ishmael approached Bonnie and Klaus. "You helped us." He said looking directly into Bonnie's eyes. "You have our gratitude and our respect," he told her. His eyes were kind and filled with wisdom. His dark hair was filled with silver lines and there were wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.

Bonnie smiled and nodded. He seemed like an honorable man and he clearly had the respect of all the wolves in the pack.

Ishmael turned to the original siblings. "As do you," He said softly. "We are grateful for your help." Another werewolf would've never uttered such words to their mortal enemies and it was that alone that had Elijah nodding and studying the older man carefully. If Niklaus could win over Ishmael, he would win over the entire pack. Ishmael's eyes met Klaus. "We must speak."

"Indeed." Klaus said. He turned to his siblings, "take Bonnie to the plantation." He told them.

"No, Klaus I'm staying." Bonnie didn't want to leave him alone. She could feel his apprehension. These people were his family and as much as Klaus projected a mask of indifference Bonnie knew he didn't want the wolves to reject him.

"Sweetheart-"

"You can wait with the pack." Ishmael said kindly. "We won't take long."

"Then we will stay as well." Elijah said. He was not going to leave Bonnie unprotected with an entire wolf pack while his brother went off with Ishmael.

"No." Ishmael told him. "Your presence makes the other wolves nervous; the only vampire we will accept is Klaus." His tone left no room for argument.

"You can't be serious?" Rebekah glared at the older man, "If you think-"

"No harm will come to your wife." Ishmael said while looking directly at Klaus. "You have my word."

Bonnie flushed and her heart nearly burst out of her chest upon hearing those words. _Wife_ , Ishmael thought she was Klaus's wife. She waited to see if Klaus would correct the older man but he didn't. Bonnie bit her lip nervously. _Did that mean Klaus considered her his wife?_

"Nik you can't believe-" Rebekah began.

"Werewolves do not harm their own blood." Elijah murmured meeting Ishmael's gaze.

"That is true." The older man answered without looking at him. "You have nothing to worry about. Bonnie will be treated with the respect she deserves as Klaus's mate." He said.

"I will be fine." Bonnie told them. "You should go back to the plantation."

Elijah seemed ready to protest.

"Elijah," Klaus stared at his brother, the two seemed to engage in some sort of conversation with their eyes. Finally, Elijah reluctantly nodded.

"Very well," he said. "We shall wait at the plantation for your return."

Rebekah looked pleadingly at her brother. Klaus kissed her forehead. "Don't worry." He whispered. "Go." Feeling defeated the original girl followed Elijah out of the camp.

"I can't believe this." She muttered angrily. "We're leaving Nik and Bonnie with a pack of wolves how-"

"We might need them in the war to come." Elijah told her. "The Navarro clan has their army, Marcel has his army and what do we have?" he asked, "a handful of Klaus's hybrids and our own strength and wit to help us."

"What are you saying?" Rebekah asked not liking the tone of his voice.

"If Niklaus can win over his pack he will have an army that will protect Bonnie and the baby," Elijah said. And if he decided to turn them into hybrids they would be twice as deathly. "If we can get more witches on our side we will have the upper hand on our enemies and perhaps…"

"What?" Rebekah knew that look she had seen it before. Elijah was plotting something. "What are you planning Elijah?" she didn't like to be left out.

Elijah's lips curved into a wicked smile, "you shall see." He told her mysteriously.

* * *

Klaus and Ishmael walked deeper into bayou away from the camp. Klaus didn't know what to make of the old man. It was obvious the other werewolves looked up to him and respected him greatly. He didn't know why but he felt like he wanted to make a good impression on him.

"Your wife is with child." Ishmael broke the silence.

"Can all werewolves sense a pregnant woman?" Klaus asked. He did not correct Ishmael's assumption that Bonnie was his wife.

"Only those of our pack," Ishmael responded.

"Bonnie is not a werewolf," Klaus said as they came to a stop near a swamp. He could see an alligator clearly through the muddy water.

"She's your mate and her child is of our blood that means she's part of our pack." Ishmael explained. "Werewolves mate for life. In ancient times it was simpler. The wolves claimed their mate under the full moon, there were no rituals or marriage ceremonies, that was introduced later." He took a seat on a log and stared at the murky water in front of them.

Klaus leaned against a tree crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you the Alpha of the pack?" He asked.

"I am." Ishmael answered.

"In theory, I suppose I am your Alpha." Klaus stated. He was Ansel's son after all.

"That is your right by birth." Ishmael agreed. "But it doesn't mean all the wolves would accept you as such."

"I'll kill you then." Klaus told him simply. "I'll take over the pack." And he would turn them into a far more superior breed.

Ishmael chuckled. "I've no doubt you can kill me and anyone who dares challenge you." He studied Klaus's face carefully. "People follow you out of fear, not because they are loyal. They'll easily turn against you if given the opportunity."

Klaus growled. "Watch your tongue old man." He had killed for far less.

"That is the vampire way." Ishmael stood up and walked closer _._

 _He clearly has a death wish_ , Klaus thought watching him warily.

"I want to offer you the chance to be a part of this pack, not as the Alpha, not yet, but as another wolf." Ishmael told him.

Klaus laughed. "You're joking?" he was amused by the man's proposal. "I'm not just another wolf but a hybrid, an Alpha to my own pack."

Ishmael shook his head. "And yet you fear the wolf in you."

Klaus pulled himself away from the tree, his jaw clenching.

"Because you don't know it," Ishmael continued. "You haven't been taught our ways and you've lived a thousand years as a vampire. That is your dominant nature."

Klaus glared. "I don't need to waste my time with this." He started walking away.

"Come and spend time with us," Ishmael's voice stopped him. "Stay with us for a few days, get to know us, learn our ways, meet our people, and join us in the hunt on the next full moon."

Klaus turned back to look at him an unreadable expression on his face. He didn't know what to make of such offer.

"Be a part of this pack; earn your people's trust and respect and above all, their loyalty." Ishmael told him. "So that one day you can teach your son how to be a true Alpha."

Klaus looked away sorely tempted.

"A wolf is not beneath a vampire Klaus," Ishmael said, despite what others like him liked to believe. "You are both, embrace your true nature. Do not fear it." There was a long pause before he continued. "I am Ansel's blood as you and Cary are."

Klaus's head jerked back in the man's direction. "You're Cary's grandfather." He realized.

Ishmael nodded. "Cary is a follower not a leader." He knew his grandson well enough to know he was not Alpha material. "He is a good man, loyal, smart, and he will be a great beta to you when the time comes." _When I die_ , he thought.

"Why are you telling me this?" Klaus asked.

There was a sudden sadness in the man's eyes. "The time has come for you to become what you were always meant to be." His eyes were blue Klaus noticed, just like his. "Do not be afraid, Klaus. Join us and you will see." With those words Ishmael left and went back to the camp.

Klaus stood alone contemplating the swamp and mulling over the old man's words.

* * *

 _A/N: Next chapter will be Bonnie's turn to meet some of her family!_


	19. Chapter 19

_She was running as fast as her legs could possibly carry her. Her knees were scrapped and bloody from the times she had fallen on the ground. There were cuts on her arms and her face, it stung and tears blurred her vision but she kept going. She had to escape._

 _She couldn't let the spirits get to her again. She had to get away from them. She had to protect her baby._

 _A scream was suddenly torn from her throat as the burning pain hit her back. The magic viciously slashed her skin open, the cut deep and painful as blood poured out and wet her shirt._

 _She sank to her knees crying. She was helpless, cold, and alone. There was no one to help her, to save her from this torture._

" _Please, make it stop." She tried to stand up but she couldn't. It hurt too much. She was frozen in place as another wave of magic attacked her. And then there was another wave of pain and another and another._

 _She cried, she begged but no one heard her. Her anguished screams echoed through the forest._

"Bonnie!" Strong arms wrapped around her but in her panic and her fear she saw them as a threat and her magic reacted accordingly.

Klaus hissed as he was flung off the bed and send crashing against the opposite wall. Angry red lines formed around his chest and arms as her magic angrily slashed his skin open. It stung but the cuts healed immediately.

Every object in their bedroom was floating in mid air. The crystal vase with roses on the dresser shattered and the flowers died suddenly, killed by the force of Bonnie's power.

Small cracks formed in all the windows and the balcony doors opened as a strong wind came swirling inside the room.

Bonnie sat up gasping for air. Her body trembling as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Klaus stood up and walked towards the bed slowly, knowing that any sudden movement could startle her and have her magic react again. He approached her gently, like he would a skittish animal.

Fear

He could smell her fear and he could feel it echoing in his blood.

Bonnie's hands held the bed sheets in a painful grip as her body was rocked with sobs. The nightmare had felt so real, the spirits attacking her and the pain. Oh god, that terrible and excruciating pain all over her body. She could still feel it.

She didn't know how long she sat there shaking. She shut her eyes whimpering as she tried to calm herself.

 _It was just a dream…it wasn't real…the spirits can't hurt you._

Klaus sat behind her and pulled her gently against his chest. "It's all right." He whispered in her ear. "You are safe." His strong arms wrapped around her trembling frame and Bonnie leaned against him closing her eyes. "I'm here." He murmured while placing a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder. "I got you. You're safe."

The only person Klaus had ever comforted had been Rebekah and that had been mostly one thousand years ago when they were still children but for Bonnie…for her, he always found himself making an exception, doing things he had never thought of or expected. For her, he was willing to try.

Bonnie didn't say anything, she couldn't. She was too frightened still. But she took comfort in his embrace, in the soft velvet voice that whispered against her skin and in the bond which pulsed with life and strength, letting her know that she was safe.

Klaus didn't know how long they sat like that but eventually he felt Bonnie relax in his arms. The heart that had been beating erratically returned to normal and the trembling in her body stopped.

The wind stopped as well and the objects floating around the room fell back into place.

As the fear passed, as the tears stopped and Bonnie breathed calmly once more, Klaus swore revenge. The spirits would pay dearly for what they had done to her. He would find a way to destroy them.

* * *

Marcel sat on a chair in front of Davina's bed. He had spent the entire night watching over her. After the trembling that assaulted her body and the blood dripping from her nose had passed, she had gotten a fever. She had spent the night drifting in and out of consciousness, even after he had fed her his blood she had not gotten better.

Davina blinked awake and stared at him with confusion. "What happened?" her throat felt dry and her head still hurt a bit.

"You had a fever," Marcel told her as she helped her into a sitting position. "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty," Davina replied and her body felt heavy and sore. The memories of the night before came to her mind then and she looked into Marcel's face with fear. "I never felt anything like that before," she said. "That kind of power…"

Marcel stood up and got her a glass of water. "Diego said that Klaus has a witch." He told her while handing her the glass. "She broke through your spell."

Davina nodded. "I felt her power." She said. Her hands shook as she took a sip of water. She shivered remembering how easily the witch had broken through her magic and the fire that had exploded inside her head. "Things didn't work out the way you wanted them. I'm sorry." She had failed him.

"Klaus has already gotten to the pack in the bayou and I lost over thirty vampires." Marcel said as he sat back on the chair in front of her bed. His show of strength had backfired terribly. He was angry and on edge. "I didn't expect Klaus to have a witch helping him." He should've known, Klaus had always had a thing for witches.

"She's very powerful." Davina commented. "And she's not from the Quarter, her magic is different." She handed the glass back to Marcel and stared at her lap. "Marcel…" the fear in her voice was undeniable. "I saw something…" her voice broke with emotion.

"What? What did you see?" Marcel asked leaning closer.

Davina's lower lip trembled as she forced herself to look at him. "Death…" she whispered terrified of saying it out loud. "I saw my death."

Marcel froze at her words. "No…" he took her hand in his his.

Davina cried. "I don't want to die."

"You won't." Marcel said squeezing her hand painfully. "It was a mistake, it was-"

"I saw it. You know I'm never wrong." Davina said through her tears. She had never been wrong before why should it be different this time.

Marcel got out of the chair and sat on her bed pulling her closer. He hugged her tightly. "I'm not going to let that happen. Do you hear me?"

Davina closed her eyes holding onto him for dear life, a river of tears streaming down her face.

"I'm not going to let you die Davina, I promise." He had made a promise to her the night he had saved her from the Harvest ritual and he intended to keep it at all cost. "I will keep you safe. No matter what."

Davina closed her eyes. She wanted to believe him, she really did. But she had never been wrong before. One way or another her visions always came true.

* * *

Bonnie's eyes lit up with excitement as they moved through the crowd. Her eyes filled with wonder as she looked at their surroundings, the Spanish inspiring buildings with the wrought iron balconies. The colors, the music, the people, and the energy that palpitated all around them, it was incredible. She had never seen anything like it.

To anyone watching them they were simply a couple enjoying a day in the city. They certainly looked the part as they held hands, walking among the many tourist in the French Quarter. Klaus pointed out different buildings and had little tidbits that made Bonnie laugh and ask endless questions about his time in New Orleans three centuries before.

After her nightmare Klaus had decided that a change in scenery would do her good. Bonnie had been excited about seeing the Quarter. She had never been to New Orleans before and Klaus certainly put any tour guide to shame with his stories.

They spotted a few of Marcel's vampires patrolling the streets but Klaus and Bonnie were protected under a powerful cloaking spell, so that no one would know who they truly were. Klaus ignored the vampires as he tugged at Bonnie's hand and led her in the opposite direction towards Jackson Square.

Marcel's attack on his werewolf family had not been forgotten but today was about Bonnie. He wanted to distract her, to make her forget what she had endured at the spirits hands, to make her smile and show her the city he had once called home.

"There is magic," Bonnie gasped as she stood in the middle of Jackson square and looked around feeling the ripples of power that caressed her skin. From the moment they had stepped inside the Quarter she had felt something but it wasn't until now that she finally realized what it was. "Klaus, I can feel it!" Her mouth opened wide and her eyes shinned with delight.

It was amazing. There were different kinds of magic surrounding her, little currents of power that sent electric shocks through her system. Her body tingled as she allowed the magic to fill her. Some currents of power seemed familiar, there were others that felt similar and many more that were different and new.

New Orleans was a city filled with all kinds of magic, spiritual, ancestral, voodoo, and even dark and dangerous currents that made her shiver. Bonnie could feel them all. She allowed herself to be submerged in them, to feel them, to touch them with her own magic.

Klaus kept his eyes on her, enjoying her happiness, her wonder. In many ways he was rediscovering the city through her eyes. She looked beautiful and radiant as she tilted her head back, the sun cascading over her caramel skin and the magic flowing towards her like a magnet. He could feel the magic to a lesser degree and could only imagine how it must be for her.

Bonnie stood in the middle of the square eyes closed, hands open wide. The wind picked up as she allowed herself to feel the power flowing in the air. She could not only feel it but to her delight she could touch it. The moment she tapped into the magic flowing around them there was a spark, like fireworks had suddenly exploded inside her. Her own magic came alive as well, electrifying her body.

The loud rumble of thunder startled a couple that had been making out on a nearby bench.

A woman gasped when her hat flew off her head, carried away by a sudden strong wind.

The windows of the nearby shops cracked and two actually shattered into tiny million pieces.

A man screamed when his newspaper suddenly burst into flames out of the blue.

When he felt the slight tremor in the earth Klaus grabbed Bonnie's hand bringing her out of her trance. "Be careful love," he warned her.

Bonnie smiled sheepishly. She had tapped into the power flowing all around her and for a few seconds had allowed herself to be carried away by it. "It's amazing!" she giggled before throwing her arms around Klaus's neck. "The magic flowing all over the city, I've never felt anything like it."

His hands immediately moved to her waist, holding her closer, "it's one of the reasons this city attracts so many supernatural creatures, witches in particular."

Bonnie's cheeks were flushed and Klaus could feel the little jolts of power on her skin. The magic that moved freely over the city was obviously drawn to her own power.

"I could take it." Bonnie said suddenly. "If I wanted to, I could absorb all the magic around us." She declared. A normal witch would not be able to do such a thing but with Expression she could take it all, she knew it. There was a part of her that wanted to, it was tempting.

"I've not doubt that you can." Klaus told her staring into her eyes a serious look crossing his face. "But it could kill you." The human body was not meant to withstand so much power. "Besides mixing different forms of magic is a recipe for disaster."

Bonnie nodded. As tempting as it was to absorb all the power around them, her witch senses told her it was a deathly idea. "Why don't the witches use this magic?" she asked suddenly. "Why must they depend on the Harvest and the Ancestor's powers?" After their arrival at the plantation from the werewolf camp, Elijah had informed them of his conversation with Davina and why the witches were so desperate. They had to complete the Harvest in order to keep their magic.

"They can't." Klaus said. "They can feel the magic around the city but few witches can tap into it." The earth was filled with all kinds of magic but the witches who could manipulate such power were extremely rare.

"But I can do it," Bonnie frowned. _If she could do it so could other witches right?_ "I just did."

"You're not like other witches my love," Klaus murmured leaning closer to her face. Bonnie's hands tightened around his neck, feeling the heat ignite inside of her.

 _My love_ …her insides melted upon hearing those words. Bonnie grabbed him by the neck and brought his head down, kissing him soundly.

Bonnie giggled against his lips as he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her a few inches from the ground, deepening the kiss.

If anyone would've told her that one day she would be in New Orleans making out with Klaus like any normal couple on a date, Bonnie would have laughed. But in that moment as they kissed without care, her heart soared and she felt happy. So happy, it was almost terrifying.

* * *

"So how are we going to find her?" Lucy asked her mother as unpacked her clothes. The hotel they were staying at was right at the heart of the French Quarter. They had arrived about half an hour before but Lucy was more than ready to seek her cousin out. Her mother had told her everything and Lucy still couldn't believe Bonnie was pregnant and by a hybrid no less. She was desperate to see her, to talk to her. Bonnie was going to need them in the war to come.

"We'll use Abby's blood for a locator spell." Joanna responded staring out of the window. "Eight," she murmured as she looked down at the street.

"Eight what?" Abby asked as she sat on one of the beds. She didn't feel like unpacking yet.

"In the past half hour I have seen eight vampires walking the streets." Joanna answered. And these were only the ones that could walk in the sun. She couldn't help but wonder how many more vampires lived in the city.

"The city is crawling with them," Lucy mumbled, her senses were driving her crazy as they alerted her to the presence of the vampires nearby. After helping Katherine at the masquerade where she had met Bonnie, Lucy had stayed far away from vampires and their business, until now.

"We need to get Bonnie out of here." Abby said. "She's not safe in this city." They all had heard the rumors about New Orleans and she was worried about her daughter. "We have to get her away from _him_."

Lucy and her mother shared a look. "Do you think she will want to come with us?" Lucy asked. "You're not exactly her favorite person."

"She has to." Abby told her. "We can keep her safe. We need to get her away from Klaus."

"Somehow I don't think it's going to be that easy." Lucy muttered. Joanna silently agreed.

"He's only using her." Abby told them. "The safest place for her is with us, with her family. The best thing for Bonnie is to get as far away from him as possible." And Abby was going to help her do it. She was going to keep her daughter safe from that monster.

Lucy seemed ready to argue but a look from her mother shut her up. Now was not the time to get into that.

* * *

Bonnie and Klaus took a carriage ride through the French Quarter later that afternoon. The hybrid wasn't keen on the idea but Bonnie insisted. He had to compel the friendly tour guide to shut up because according to Klaus, he knew nothing of the true history of the Quarter.

Bonnie rested her head on his shoulder and listened as he talked about his favorite city in the world. By the way he spoke Bonnie could tell how much he had enjoyed his time in New Orleans. He told her about their arrival, about the war between the witches and werewolves and how he and his siblings had taken power seemingly overnight. It was something he was very proud of.

Klaus didn't tell her everything of course, there were things he kept to himself, things that he and his siblings had done that Bonnie would not approve of.

"And Marcel?" Bonnie asked quietly. It was obvious they had a history and Bonnie was curious to know what it was. _What had happened between them?_

Klaus's jaw clenched as he thought of Marcel. Bonnie gave his hand a reassuring squeezing feeling the turmoil of emotions inside of him.

"Marcel was the son of the Governor of Louisiana and a slave woman." Klaus told her. "I took him in. I gave him a name, a home, a family." He laughed bitterly remembering the time he had spent with Marcel. "I treated him like a son. I made him."

Bonnie could feel his rage, his hurt. Klaus felt betrayed. "What happened?"

"My siblings and I returned to Europe from time to time you know, to plant false clues for Father, to keep him off our backs." Klaus explained. "Eventually I suppose we grew confident that he would never find us. But he did. In 1919 there was a terrible fire in the city, the opera house burned down. It was him." He could still feel the white oak stake against his back, the screams as the city burned, Marcel's body displayed on the stage.

"He made a spectacle of it, he wanted to destroy everything I built." Klaus continued. He would never forget that night. "He displayed Marcel's body and Lana's…" it had been a long time since he had thought of the wolf girl. "She was the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack." He explained at Bonnie's confused look. "We had something," he murmured. Mikael had found out of course and killed her for it.

"She was your lover." Bonnie realized trying to keep the jealousy from her voice.

Klaus looked down at her face. "I needed the wolves on my side." The corners of his lips twitched into a smirk as he felt her emotions. "There is no need to be jealous love."

"I'm not!" Bonnie pouted. Okay maybe she was a little, which was ridiculous because obviously Klaus had a past and who knew how many women he had slept with (not that she wanted to know) but still she couldn't help but feel extremely possessive of him, the thought of anyone else kissing him, touching him, it made her angry.

"Father burned the opera house and great part of the city." Klaus resumed with his tale. "We managed to escape but we were sure Marcel had perished that night. Rebekah was devastated, they had _something_ …" he had never truly agreed with it but Rebekah had loved Marcel.

"But he didn't." Bonnie murmured.

Klaus stared at their surroundings. It was late in the afternoon and the crowds were multiplying in the Quarter. He could hear the Jazz music from a group in a corner. "He lived." Klaus hissed. "And now he calls himself the king. He's living in our home, sleeping in our beds…" he pointed to an old building as the carriage moved down the street. "Do you see that M?"

"Yeah," Bonnie had seen it in many different places around the French Quarter, old buildings mostly. "Is it for Marcel?" she asked curiously. _Had the vampire king branded his city as a show of power?_

Klaus shook his head. "I'm sure he likes everybody to think that." He turned to face Bonnie. "That M is for Mikaelson."

Bonnie did not like the glint in his eyes nor the devious smile on his face. He was obviously plotting something against Marcel. She opened her mouth to ask but the ringing of his cell phone interrupted them.

Klaus frowned when he saw the caller ID and reluctantly picked up the call. "This better be good," he hissed.

Bonnie studied his face carefully as he listened to the person on the other end. His face gave nothing away but his side of the bond was shut immediately. Bonnie frowned.

"I see." He said in a neutral tone. "Keep watching. I will contact you later for further instructions."

"Is something wrong?" Bonnie asked as soon as he hung up.

There was a pensive look on his face before it was replaced with a smile. "Nothing," Klaus touched her cheek and stared into her eyes. "The pack is getting restless," he shook his head. "Hybrids in close quarters can cause tempers to flare." He offered her a dimpled smile.

Bonnie remembered that the rest of his pack had stayed in the house in South Carolina. _But why had he closed his side of the bond?_ She couldn't help but wonder. Any other thought was completely erased from her mind as his lips suddenly claimed hers in a heated kiss. There was something nagging at the back of her mind, something important, but Klaus's tongue swept inside her mouth. Bonnie melted against him, kissing him back and forgetting everything else except for him.

The white carriage continued its journey through the French Quarter, Klaus and Bonnie kissing passionately in the backseat.

* * *

While Bonnie and Klaus enjoyed a day in the city Elijah worked on finalizing all the details for the ball. He took Angelica and Riley to the old Governor's mansion, a few miles outside the city and a place he had bought over a hundred years ago. It was the perfect location to host the ball.

"We need to secure the area," Elijah told them as they moved towards the white ball room. "We also need an escape plan should things go terribly wrong." The hybrids would be in charge of watching their backs and helping them escape in case things turned for the worst. "Your main priority is Bonnie." Elijah told Riley. "You must keep an eye on her at all times and get her out as quickly as possible and Matt as well." Rebekah would never forgive him if he didn't think of protecting her human.

Riley nodded. Klaus had given him the same orders earlier that day. The hybrids knew their task during the ball was to keep a close eye on Bonnie and protect her from any threats.

Elijah turned to Angelica. "We need you to do a spell on the mansion, a barrier to prevent the witches that come inside from using magic."

"You want me to block their magic when they come inside the house." Angelica pressed her lips together. "I don't know such spell," she admitted with embarrassment. She didn't even know if it could be possible to do it.

Elijah took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is the spell and the ingredients you will need to perform it."

Angelica's eyes widened as she took the paper and read it.

"The original spell is in Old Norse, I translated it." Elijah told her. He had taken the spell from his mother's grimoire.

"I need to study the spell," Angelica murmured. It was very complex and different from any other spell she had ever done before.

Elijah nodded. They still had time before the ball. "You and Bonnie will have to cast the spell together."

"Why?" the witch asked curiously. Not that she minded doing a spell with Bonnie on the contrary.

"Because only the witch who performs the spell will be able to use magic inside," Elijah informed her. "It was one of my mother's most clever spells."

"I see." Angelica was very impressed. She couldn't help but wonder how many other spells the Mikaelson matriarch had created. Esther's spell book was one of the most coveted items in the witch world after all.

"Will any werewolves be invited?" Riley asked curiously. Vampires and witches in the same room spelled trouble but adding werewolves to the mix, it was a recipe for disaster.

"One or two," Elijah responded. He had already decided to send an invitation to Ishmael and Cary. It would be beneficial to them to have Klaus's werewolf family fighting on their side. As for the other werewolves living in the bayou, that was something that they needed to address soon. And Elijah already had a plan in mind.

"Let me show you the tunnel that runs underground," Elijah said. It would serve as the perfect escape route should the need arise. Elijah wanted to be prepared for everything.

* * *

The next morning Bonnie sat on the floor piles of grimoires surrounding her. She and Klaus had spent an amazing day in the city. But now there was only one thing on her mind, the need to protect herself and her baby. Since the spirits had attacked her she hadn't been sleeping well. Her mind was constantly plagued by nightmares. If the spirits had succeeded in escaping from the other side and attacking her then it was only a matter of time before they tried again, she needed to be ready. She had to be prepared and more importantly she had to find a way to stop them.

There was a knock on the door and Matt stepped inside her bedroom. "Hey."

"Hi." Bonnie looked up from the grimoire she was reading. So far she had found nothing helpful, not even Klaus's collection of grimoires had information on the other side. Which was not surprising considering how little had been written about Qetsiyah.

Matt moved a couple of books out of the way before sitting across from her. He had wanted to talk to her since his talk with Tyler two days ago, but after Bonnie and Klaus had arrived from the werewolf camp there had been no time to tell her and the day before they had been out the whole day.

Bonnie noticed the tense set of his shoulders and the worried look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked putting the book away.

"Can you do a spell or something so no one can hear our conversation?" Matt asked nervously. He really didn't want Klaus to hear what he had to say to Bonnie. He hadn't even told Rebekah yet.

Bonnie gave him a weird look. She turned her head to the side, in the direction of the dresser. The bottom drawer opened immediately and one large sage candle floated out of it. With a single look from Bonnie the candle floated towards her. The moment the candle landed in her hand it lit up.

"No one can hear us now." Bonnie told him setting the candle on the floor in between them. "What's going on?" she felt slightly worried.

"Tyler called me." Matt told her nervously. Bonnie was about to say something but Matt interrupted rapidly, "he was approached by a werewolf named Luis Navarro who apparently is plotting to rise the werewolves to power by killing the Originals. He wants Tyler and his friends to join him." Finally confiding in Bonnie was like a weight had suddenly been lifted off his shoulders.

Bonnie stared at Matt in shock. She couldn't help but recall Cary's words. _Things are changing in the supernatural world…werewolves will rise to power once more._ He had been right after all.

"He doesn't know what to do." Matt continued before Bonnie could utter a word. "He's scared. He wants to get revenge against Klaus but at the same time he knows that if Klaus dies so will everyone he has ever sired. Tyler said that Luis made it clear, they either join him or die."

Bonnie stood up her mind racing. "We have to tell Klaus…we have-"

"NO!" Matt stood up as well. "Klaus hates Tyler, he'll kill him." Of that, he felt certain.

"We have to help Tyler." Bonnie said. "And Klaus is the only one-"

"Klaus is the reason Tyler left Mystic Falls!" Matt reminded her. "Tyler helped his pack break their sire bond and became their Alpha and Klaus murdered them for it. He murdered Tyler's mom. Do you really think he'll help Tyler?" he shook his head. "Klaus is going to kill him and we both know it."

Bonnie bit her lip. As much as she wanted to defend Klaus she knew that in his eyes Tyler was a traitor and he wouldn't hesitate in killing him. "What else did Tyler said?"

"This Luis guy seems to know a lot about him and what happened in Mystic Falls. He knows that we killed Finn. He probably wants to know how. He gave Tyler some time to think about his proposition but Tyler said that he's being watched and followed."

Bonnie bit her lip.

"The Navarro helped the witches kidnapped you." Matt remembered. Her father had nearly died because of it. "That's why they want you, isn't it?" He stared into her eyes. "They must know you are a powerful witch and probably want you so that you can help them kill the Originals." Not that Bonnie would but she had the power to take down Klaus, she had done it before, the Navarro clan probably knew that too.

"Maybe," Bonnie didn't know how much the Navarro wolves knew about her. She took a deep breath. Matt needed to know the truth. She couldn't keep hiding it any longer. He was going to find out sooner or later and it was better if he heard it from her lips. "Jane-Anne and Sophie… they wanted me for another reason…" she said nervously. "I should've told you sooner, I…I didn't know how."

"What are you talking about?" Matt noticed how nervous she looked.

"I'm pregnant." Bonnie blurted out.

"Wait…what?" Matt looked down at her stomach. "You don't look pregnant." It was the first thing he said as he processed the news.

"I'm not showing yet." Bonnie said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't know how. And everything has happen so fast I…" Her whole life had been turned upside down in a matter of weeks.

Matt looked up into her face, "is it Klaus's baby?" it seemed impossible, vampires couldn't have children but apparently hybrids could.

"Yes." Bonnie confirmed. "It's the reason the witches want me dead, well the Seer and her coven, the witches of New Orleans wanted to use my baby to get Klaus to kill Marcel." She explained.

"The vampire king," Matt suddenly understood. The hunters that had tried to kill her, the kidnapping, the protectiveness Rebekah and Elijah showed towards her. "And the werewolves, do you think they know?" Tyler hadn't said anything about Bonnie.

"I don't know." Bonnie replied. "But if they want the Mikaelson's dead…"

"That includes your baby," Matt finished. _Shit!_ He thought. When Rebekah had told him that people were conspiring against her family Matt hadn't realized that Bonnie was at the center of it. "You are going to be a mom?" he still couldn't believe it.

Despite her worries Bonnie smiled. "I am."

"How do you feel?" He asked trying to picture Bonnie with a baby in her arms.

"Afraid…happy…" Bonnie confessed. "I know I'm young and there is a war coming but I want my baby." That was the one thing she was absolutely certain of. She loved her baby. "I will do anything in the world to keep him or her happy and safe."

"You're going to be a great mom, Bonnie." Matt said smiling.

"You think so?" it was one of her fears, to fail her child, the same way her mother had failed her.

"I know so." Matt told her.

Bonnie jumped into his arms and hugged him. He had no idea what his words meant to her. Matt had not only accepted her relationship with Klaus but he had also accepted her pregnancy without question. Matt didn't think her baby was evil or a monster and Bonnie hoped that one day her friends would react the same way. It was perhaps a foolish hope but she had it nonetheless.

"We have to tell Klaus." Bonnie said as she pulled away. Matt looked ready to protest but she cut him off. "Tyler has every reason to hate Klaus but he can help him. And if the Navarro werewolves want Klaus and his siblings dead, we have to warn them Matt. They have to know."

Matt knew that of course. He wanted to protect Rebekah at all cost and Bonnie was technically now part of the Mikaelson family through her baby which meant the werewolves would come for her too. Telling Klaus was the reasonable thing to do but he was worried about Tyler. "What if Klaus kills Tyler?"

"He won't." Bonnie said firmly.

"How can you be so sure?" Matt asked her.

"Because I won't let him," Bonnie replied. "Tyler is my friend too and I am going to protect him." She reassured Matt. It was not going to be easy, who knew how Klaus would react but Bonnie was determined to keep her friend safe.

* * *

Bonnie and Matt made their way downstairs ready to talk to Klaus. At the exact same moment Klaus was exiting the study followed by Felix.

"Remember what I told you." Klaus said a serious look on his face. The hybrid nodded before disappearing at vampire speed out of the house. Klaus spotted Bonnie and Matt at bottom of the stairs. "Is everything all right?" he asked as he sensed Bonnie's apprehension.

Bonnie and Matt exchanged looks. "We need to talk." Bonnie said.

Klaus looked from Bonnie to the Quarterback sensing that something was wrong. Before he could say anything however Belle came rushing inside the mansion, her cheeks pink and her eyes wide.

"You guys need to come out." She panted. "There are two witches and a vampire outside the property and they're trying to get in."

Klaus growled. "Stay here." He told Bonnie before speeding out of the mansion. Bonnie followed him out of the house of course as did Matt.

The last thing any of them expected was to find Abby Bennett outside the gate. The barrier prevented her from stepping inside the property.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Bonnie snapped. Abby was not alone, there were two other women with her. Bonnie immediately recognized Lucy, her cousin. They hadn't seen each other since the masquerade. It seemed such a long time ago.

"Hello cousin," Lucy greeted her with a smile. "Long time no see."

Bonnie smiled and automatically moved closer. Klaus's hand took hold of her arm in an almost painful grip. He was not going to let her cross the barrier. As long as the barrier was kept in place there was nothing Abby and the other two witches could do against them. They couldn't come inside the property unless he invited them and he had no intention of doing so.

"We want to speak with you." Abby said to Bonnie. She glared at Klaus when she noticed the hold he had on Bonnie. "This is our cousin Joanna and her daughter Lucy whom I believe you met before."

"The last time I saw you, you were a baby." Joanna said she looked at Bonnie a soft smile on her face. Her emerald eyes shifted towards Klaus, openly staring at the hybrid. She couldn't help but feel curious about the man. She had heard many tales about him after all.

"Come with us Bonnie," Abby said extending her hand. "We have a lot to discuss. It is very important."

"Are you serious?" Bonnie stared at her mother's hand. After their last talk, the last thing Bonnie wanted was to be near her mother. He words had hurt her deeply.

Klaus laughed. "You are out of your mind if you think I will let you near Bonnie again." He hissed. He had not forgotten how deeply Abby's words had hurt Bonnie. The bitch was lucky she was still breathing. Perhaps he could remedy that soon.

"This is a family affair." Abby snapped angrily. "We need to talk to Bonnie _alone_." She hated his guts it was more than obvious.

"Abby," Joanna warned. Antagonizing the hybrid was not going to help the situation; they hadn't come here to fight but to talk to Bonnie.

"I have nothing to talk to you about," Bonnie said. "After all the awful things you said, I don't even want to see you." She turned towards Joanna and Lucy. "If she brought you here to try and change my mind you're wasting your time."

"This is very important," Joanna said in a gentle tone. "We are your family Bonnie. We mean you no harm, on the contrary we are here to help."

"Trust me you want to listen to what we have to say." Lucy told her.

"We need to talk to you, alone." Joanna said. "Please."

Bonnie stared into her eyes trying to sense any deceit in her words. Klaus's grip tightened on her arm as he sensed her conflicting emotions. She turned towards him.

 _I am not going anywhere,_ his eyes bored into hers. He was not going to leave her alone with them. They would have to kill him first.

Bonnie turned towards Matt and Belle. "Would you leave us alone please?"

Matt nodded and began making his way back inside the house, Belle following closely behind.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of Klaus." Bonnie told them, "because I'm not going anywhere with you and I'm not inviting you inside either." She had enough reasons to distrust her mother and anyone that came with her.

"We are your family." Joanna said.

"That doesn't mean I have to trust you." Bonnie snapped.

"But you trust him?" Abby asked incredulous. "You trust that _monster_ over your own mother?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Don't you have any better insults to throw around?" it was taking all of his self control not to flash towards her and rip her heart out.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "How can I trust you when you want me to kill my own child!" the anger and resentment she felt towards Abby surfaced as the air cracked with electricity.

Joanna's eyes sparked with emotion as she felt the magic in the air. Bonnie's power. "Very well," she said. "It seems we have no choice."

Abby didn't look happy but she chose not say anything.

"Your pregnancy is going to cause an upheaval in the order of things." Joanna told Bonnie. "Most witches will want you and your child dead. You alone cannot fight them all. That's why we're here."

"Are we supposed to believe you want to help us?" Klaus asked suspiciously. They might be Bonnie's family but he didn't trust them one bit.

Joanna ignored him and stared at Bonnie. "Your mother never told you about the Bennett legacy, about the importance of your birth. You are a queen Bonnie, the leader of the Bennett coven."

"The Bennett coven?" Bonnie looked at her mother. "You never said anything."

"I always ran away from it." Abby said with shame. "It was a burden to me. I never wanted you to be part of it." She wondered how different things would've been if Bonnie had grown up knowing about her legacy.

"The Bennett coven has not existed in over three hundred years." Klaus said while looking at Joanna.

"You knew?" Bonnie turned towards him, the shock clearly written across her face.

Klaus shrugged. "When I said you were born to be a queen I wasn't throwing the word lightly." He moved his hand from her arm and took her hand instead. "In the eyes of the supernatural world you are a queen."

Bonnie remembered the night he had first utter those words.

"The coven was dissolved after Salem. It was too dangerous. Our family was persecuted and had no choice but to split in different branches. The main line of the Bennett bloodline moved to Virginia." Joanna continued explaining. "The first born is always the head of the family and the queen of our coven."

"Grams never summoned the coven, neither did her mother," Abby said quietly. "But you can," as she stared into her daughter's face she couldn't help but remember the tiny baby she had been, so sweet, so gentle, so pretty. The young woman standing before her still had that gentleness, that innocence but there was an edge to her as well. "You must, now more than ever."

"The only way you can defeat the enemies coming your way is with your coven by your side." Joanna told her. "There are not that many Bennett witches left but they will come, they will help."

"How can you be so sure?" Klaus asked. Bonnie was too numb to say anything. "Why would they fight for Bonnie when your kind considers our child an abomination?"

"We are bound by blood to serve and obey our queen." Joanna told him.

Bonnie stared at her mother, for a long time she didn't say anything she simply watched her. Joanna and Lucy waited patiently for her to say something. Klaus kept hold of her hand, letting her know with a simple touch that she was not alone, that he was there for her.

Bonnie let out a shaky breath, "you said my child is a creature…a monster that cannot live," her voice broke. Her heart had broken into a million pieces that day when she had that painful conversation with her mother. "Do you still believe that?"

Abby pressed her lips together struggling to find the right words. Joanna gave her a look. _Don't say anything you'll regret later_ , it seemed to say.

"Answer me!" Bonnie needed to know.

"Yes." Abby replied. Joanna closed her eyes and Lucy shook her head. "I still believe that the best thing you can do is get rid of it."

Klaus growled. The wave of hurt that Bonnie felt in that moment cut deeply through him too. He took a step forward ready to rip Abby to pieces but Bonnie squeezed his hand stopping him for his murderous pursuit.

"Abby!" Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was not the way to get Bonnie to trust them.

"I won't lie." Abby said looking at Joanna and Lucy before facing Bonnie once more. "I won't pretend that I'm okay with this. This is not how your life should be, you will never know peace. You will never be safe again. You are so young. You deserve better than this, than him." She pointed at Klaus.

Tears formed in Bonnie's eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

"It doesn't matter what I think or what I want. You have made up your mind." Abby continued. "I don't approve of your choices. I don't want this life for you but I want you safe…I want to keep you safe." She moved closer as far as the invisible barrier would allow her. "I love you." She said tears rolling down her cheeks. "I failed you. I should've fought for you and I didn't." She had been a terrible mother, there was no denying that. "I want to help you. Let me help you."

"My baby is not a monster." Bonnie said fiercely. "You are wrong."

"Believe it or not, I hope I am." Abby said softly and with sincerity.

"I don't think your baby is a monster." Lucy said gently. "You are one of the good ones Bonnie and so is your child." She believed that at heart.

Bonnie cried harder upon hearing Lucy's words. Not all witches saw her child as an abomination at least.

"You are not alone Bonnie. We protect our own." Joanna said.

Bonnie had heard those words before. Ayana had said them to Elijah. Bonnie met Joanna's eyes, _can I trust you?_ She wanted to say. _Are you really going to help me? How do I know this is not a trap?_ She wanted to believe that her family would help her, that she could rely on them and trust them but Abby's words stung just like the first time she heard them.

"We are not going to let anyone hurt you. Not you, not your child. We will protect you both." Joanna promised. "Let us help you."

Klaus stayed quiet, letting Bonnie make the decision.

Bonnie nodded. She still needed to think, to process, and learn more about the Bennett legacy. But there was one important thing she needed to tell them first. "If you want to help me," she said wiping the tears away from her eyes. "If you really mean what you say, you are going to have to accept Klaus and his siblings." She looked at her mother before moving her gaze to Joanna and Lucy. "They are my family now too."

The bond pulsed with the emotions Klaus felt upon hearing her words. Bonnie offered him a soft smile and squeezed his hand. She meant it. Klaus was the father of her child and Bonnie had no intention of letting him go. They were a team. Together they were going to face whatever enemy came their way and Klaus did not come alone, he came with Rebekah and Elijah. Her family was going to have to accept that the Original siblings were now a part of Bonnie's life.

Judging by the shocked looks on the three women standing in front of them, they had not expected such words.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

She groaned as she blinked her eyes opened. Her wrists were bound to vervain chains. She hissed as she struggled against the chains keeping her against the wall. _What the hell happened?_ She wondered feeling disoriented. She had been at home with her mom and there had been a knock on the door.

"About time you woke up," a familiar voice drawled.

"Lena?" she whispered as the blinding light of the basement hit her right on the face. _Basement, she was in a basement. What the hell?_

"Try again," the familiar voice said.

"Katherine." Caroline realized as she finally looked at her face. "What's going on? Where are we? What happened to you?" Katherine looked like she had been through hell and back. Her hair was disheveled and her skin was covered in burns that had yet to heal.

"The pretty blonde is awake," another voice said. Heavy footsteps echoed around the basement as two men came into view, werewolves Caroline realized with trepidation.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded. "What do you want?" she tried to break free but she couldn't. The chains dug painfully into her skin, burning her flesh.

"I'm Isaac." The werewolf answered as he crouched down in front of her. He was young, early twenties with dark curly hair and hazel eyes. "As for what do we want?" he tilted his head to the side. "Your boyfriend seems a bit indecisive."

The other werewolf pulled out his cell phone. "It's recording." He said.

"Franco thinks he needs a little push." Isaac continued with a boyish grin. "I volunteered for the job. Can't have my big brothers having all the fun, you know."

Caroline did not like the look on his face. Another werewolf came into view carrying a metal rod. Caroline swallowed hard as she saw the red burning tip.

"Tyler is going to obey my brother's orders," Isaac told her as he took the rod from the other wolf. "And you are going to help us convince him."

Caroline looked past his shoulder towards Katherine who was chained to the opposite wall. Her blue eyes were wide with fear as Isaac loomed over her. Katherine looked away and closed her eyes knowing what was coming.

"Something tells me you are screamer," Isaac touched her cheek and gave her a wolfish grin before removing his fingers and replacing them with the rod.

Caroline screamed as her flesh burned and practically melted. Isaac laughed pulling the rod away. The creamy skin healed immediately as tears rolled down her cheeks and whimpers filled with pain escaped her lips.

"The beauty about vampires," Isaac murmured. "They can heal exceptionally fast." He turned towards the wolf holding the camera. "Keep recording, I'm just getting started."

Caroline closed her eyes and bit her lip. The rod was placed on the other cheek. Her heartwretching screams echoed all around them.

* * *

 _A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Get ready because the Mikaelson ball is coming! Thank-you and see you next time ;)_


	20. Chapter 20

Long after Abby, Joanna, and Lucy had left the plantation grounds Bonnie sat on the porch deep in thought. A cold breeze caressed her skin as rain fell down hard while lightning illuminated the dark sky.

The storm was her creation. It had been too hot and humid to be sitting out and sweat had trickled down her skin dampening her dress, so she had conjured the storm and cool down the temperature around her.

Klaus had watched her silently, lips curving into a knowing smile as the rain began falling on the plantation grounds. He stood next to her, leaning one shoulder against the pillar.

"Grams never said anything." Bonnie murmured. "The legacy…the coven…" Bonnie had never heard of it, until now.

"There are a lot of things your grandmother never taught you." Klaus said. As much as Bonnie loved the woman, Klaus couldn't help but resent her for not preparing Bonnie for her future role. Everything Bonnie knew about magic she had mostly learned by herself. She had never had anyone to guide her or teach her anything.

The bitter tone in his voice did not go unnoticed by Bonnie. "I'm sure she had her reasons for not telling me anything," she said defensively. Her Grams had probably wanted to protect her.

Klaus was not going to argue with her over that. He moved away from the pillar and sat down next to her, on the front steps of the house. "Having a coven of your own will be useful in the war to come." He told her quietly. The stage had been set and the pieces of the game were coming together.

"I don't know the first thing about being a leader…a _queen_ ," the word seemed foreign to her own ears. It was one thing for Klaus to call her a queen but to actually become one was an entirely different game.

"It's what you were born to be." Klaus stated turning his head to face her. "It will come naturally and besides you won't do it alone." He would help her. He would be there for whatever she needed. "Every queen needs a king by her side," he told her with a grin.

"They hate you." Bonnie said staring into his eyes. "What if they try and take me away from you?" she had made it clear to her mother and her cousins that Klaus and his siblings were now part of her family but still, Bonnie didn't think they would accept him so easily.

"Plenty of people hate me love," It didn't bother him. It's not like they could kill him. "I suppose I will have to charm them," he smirked. Not her mother, that woman he would gladly kill but the other Bennett witches. If he set his mind to it, he would've them eating out of the palm of his hand, he was sure. He had done it plenty of times before.

Bonnie shook her head. "I don't think your charm will work on my relatives."

"It worked on you didn't it?" he raised an eyebrow while a playful grin formed on his lips.

Bonnie laughed but it was short lived as his lips were suddenly on hers. Their lips met in a slow lazy kiss before Bonnie pulled away a troubled look on her face. "There is something you need to know," she said nervously, hoping that he wouldn't react badly to what she had to say. She had almost forgotten about it, with her family showing up out of the blue.

"Tell me." He could tell it was something very important.

Bonnie took a deep breath. "Tyler called Matt and told him that Luis Navarro wants him to join his pack, to help him and his family take over basically," she watched his face carefully as she said the next words."They want to kill you and your family."

Klaus didn't say anything. In fact, there was no reaction from him. The bond didn't even spike with emotion. He wasn't shocked or surprised by the news. He took it very calmly. It wasn't like him, unless…

"You already know." Bonnie realized as she stared into his eyes. It was the only explanation for his lack of reaction.

"One of my hybrids has been tracking Tyler since the moment he left Mystic Falls," Klaus informed her. "The moment Luis Navarro came into contact with him I knew."

It shouldn't surprise her really. This was Klaus after all. "What are we going to do?" Bonnie asked him. _Did he have a plan already? Of course he did!_

"Don't trouble yourself over this. I will handle it." Klaus told her.

"How exactly are you going to handle it?" Bonnie questioned, not liking the fact that he wanted to keep her out of it.

"Don't worry about it." Klaus said while standing up. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about this anymore. "It's late, we should go inside."

"What are you planning Klaus?" Bonnie asked while standing up. "Please," she begged him. "I need to know. Tyler is my friend, _we_ have to help him."

"We have to help him?" Klaus gave her an incredulous look. "You do realize that he hates me. That he's conspiring with my enemies against my family." The anger he felt resonated through their bond.

"Tyler doesn't want to help them but it seems he doesn't have a choice. If he refuses their offer they will kill him and his friends." Bonnie was quick to point out. "He's angry, he's hurt. He has every reason to be after what you did-"

"He betrayed me!" Klaus yelled. "He turned my pack against me. I had every right to kill them, to kill him. My actions were justified. Any Alpha would have done the same." He told her furiously. "He should be grateful for the mercy that I have shown him thus far."

"And his mom?" Bonnie asked softly. "That wasn't justice that was vengeance."

"You're taking his side." His eyes darkened and his voice was laced with pure venom.

Bonnie flinched as she felt the echo of betrayal coming from the bond. "It's not about taking sides," she said calmly. "You have your reasons for wanting Tyler dead, for considering him a traitor and he has his own reasons for wishing you dead as well." Klaus had killed Tyler's mom, the only family he had left.

Klaus turned away from her, leaning his hands on the porch railing. He tried his best to contain his emotions, he didn't want to say something he would later regret.

"Tyler is alone, all he has are his friends and Caroline," Bonnie continued. "He's desperate. He doesn't want to help the Navarro's because he knows that if you die so does Caroline. He loves her." Bonnie bit her lip as she stared at his back. "I have no right to ask you anything but, I am begging you to help him, please." Bonnie moved closer and tentatively touched his shoulder.

Klaus kept staring ahead, gaze lost in the storm. Bonnie didn't know how long they stood there until finally he turned to face her once more. He traced the outline of her cheek with his fingers. "I won't kill Tyler if that's what you are worried about." That had been his first thought, to murder the son of a bitch but Klaus had learned to control his impulses.

The relief she felt echoed through the bond. Bonnie had meant what she told Matt, she was willing to protect Tyler even if it meant protecting him against Klaus. But she felt glad that she wouldn't have to fight Klaus in order to keep her friend safe.

"There is use for him yet." Klaus murmured while staring into her eyes. Bonnie was not going to like his plan but he had already made up his mind.

Bonnie's heart sped up. "What are you planning?" she was almost afraid to know how Klaus planned to use Tyler.

"I need a spy in the Navarro clan," Klaus told her. "Tyler is the perfect candidate." The Navarro's themselves had sought him out.

"But how do you know he will be willing to do it?" Bonnie questioned. As conflicted as Tyler felt in regards to Klaus he still hated the hybrid, it would take a lot to convince him to help.

"He doesn't have to be willing." Klaus replied. "He may have broken the sire bond but he's still part vampire therefore he can be compelled by me."

"No…" Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "You can't take away his free will, you-"

"We are at war!" Klaus snapped angrily. "Do you think that I will what? Go to Tennessee and rescue Tyler from Luis Navarro and his pack," he laughed. "I could. I could slaughter Luis and his wolves but that will only precipitate the war against his family." That was a risk Klaus was not willing to take, not yet. "One must plan very carefully before any battle, Bonnie."

Bonnie tried to protest but Klaus cut her off. "Tyler can try and escape but the Navarro wolves will follow him wherever he goes. Bringing him here is out of the question. It will put you and our child in danger."

As much as she hated it, Bonnie could understand his reasoning. She didn't like it though. "You don't have to compel Tyler, I could ask him and-"

"Don't be so naïve love," Klaus smiled sadly. "Hate runs deeper than reason. I can't trust Tyler. But if I compel him, I can control him. I can control the information he will give to the Navarro pack. Let me handle this Bonnie, I'm Tyler's sire still. It is my duty to deal with him as I see fit."

"I don't like it." Bonnie whispered. All of this had started because Tyler had been under Klaus's control after all. "There must be another way…"

"Time is of the essence," Klaus told her. "Which is why I'm leaving for Tennessee this very night, I'm taking Felix and Angelica with me."

Bonnie's eyes widen. "Tonight?"

"It can't wait." Klaus said. "I will be gone for a few days."

"I don't like this plan," Bonnie told him honestly. Klaus seemed ready to protest but Bonnie stopped him. "I need you to promise me that if something goes wrong, you'll help Tyler escape and you will give him his freedom back…when this is over." Tyler was probably going to be angry with her for allowing this to happen but Bonnie had no choice but to trust in Klaus's plan.

Klaus sighed. "I promise." He looked straight into her eyes and kept his emotions neutral. He was going to try and keep his promise but if things didn't go according to plan, the hybrids that would be watching over Tyler had been ordered to kill him. Klaus would never admit that to Bonnie of course.

Tyler was just a pawn in a much bigger game.

Klaus placed his hands on Bonnie's shoulders and pulled her closer, so their faces were almost touching. "In this war you will have to make some very difficult choices," he told her firmly. Bonnie needed to understand that she couldn't save everyone no matter how much she wanted to. "There might come a time in which you will have to choose between yourself or someone that you care about. You must be ready Bonnie, you have to choose yourself always…for our child." He emphasized. "Do you understand?"

Bonnie nodded shakily.

Klaus pulled her against him, holding her in his arms. The words he had left unsaid echoed clearly in their minds.

 _If it comes down to a choice between you and me, you must save yourself Bonnie, for our child._

* * *

 **Tennessee**

Klaus had been true to his word. After his talk with Bonnie, he, Felix, and Angelica had left the plantation house and made their way to Tennessee.

Klaus had left specific instructions for Riley, Jesse, and Belle to keep Bonnie protected at all costs. He hated the thought of leaving her but he had to be the one to compel Tyler. Long before his talk with Bonnie, Klaus had already set his plan in motion. In fact, when they had been in the carriage through the streets of New Orleans he had received a call from one of his hybrids. Tyler was in their custody.

The hybrid that had tracked Tyler to Tennessee had been given instructions to take the rebel hybrid into a warehouse and chained him until Klaus's arrival. They had to get to him before Luis lost his patience and forced Tyler into helping him.

They took a small private plane, a car was waiting for them at the airport and the drive to the warehouse took approximately thirty minutes. Angelica had placed a cloaking spell on them as they needed to go unnoticed by the wolves Luis had patrolling the city.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Klaus snapped angrily as he spotted Alexa guarding the entrance to said warehouse.

Alexa flinched at the tone of his voice and gave Felix a look. "He called me," she said while pointing at Felix.

"Nate was not strong enough to restrain Tyler, I called for backup." Felix told his sire. As annoying as Alexa could be she was one of the strongest and better fighters in the pack.

"Don't ever do anything again without consulting me first," Klaus said harshly.

"Forgive me sire." Felix bowed his head.

They moved inside the warehouse. Nate was keeping guard over Tyler who had been chained against the wall.

Tyler growled eyes flashing gold as he spotted Klaus.

"And we meet once more," Klaus chuckled. Tyler was shirtless and there were visible bruises over his chest and arms. They were healing really slowly.

"We shot him with wolfsbane in order to bring him here." Alexa told him softly. "We also laced the chains with it." Klaus had given specific instructions not to use vervain as he needed to compel Tyler.

Tyler growled struggling against the chains but he couldn't break free from them.

"Leave us." Klaus ordered. He wanted to speak with Tyler alone. He shot Angelica a knowing look, the witch nodded and casted a silencing spell before exiting the warehouse with the others.

Klaus's lips curved into an evil grin. "Now, you and I are going to have a long chat." He stepped closer enjoying the sight of the treacherous bastard in pain.

"Go to hell!" Tyler spat angrily despite the pain he felt.

Klaus laughed. In a blink of an eye he grabbed Tyler's chin in a painful grip and brought his face up, so their eyes could meet. "I think you misunderstand my words mate, you don't have a choice."

Tyler's eyes went wide as he realized the meaning behind Klaus's words. He struggled using all of his strength in order to break free. He couldn't do it. Before he could even think of closing his eyes, Klaus said the words that sealed his fate.

"Stop fighting." Klaus ordered looking at him directly in the eyes.

Tyler froze. The compulsion took effect immediately.

Klaus smirked.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

In the days leading up to the ball, Bonnie and Rebekah spent a lot of time together. They needed to get their dresses for the grand occasion after all. Bonnie had assumed they would go to a store and buy the dresses like she had done for prom with her friends but Rebekah had other ideas. She had compelled a French designer to come all the way from Paris, to make their dresses.

Bonnie's eyes were wide as she touched the different fabrics the designer had brought. She needed to pick the color and the design for the dress before it could be made.

"How about this one?" Rebekah asked showing her a satin white fabric.

Bonnie shook her head. "It's pretty but…"

Rebekah stared at the sample. "You're right. It's not your wedding yet and this will make you look like vampire bait." She threw the sample away and began searching for another.

Bonnie flushed at Rebekah's words. _It's not your wedding yet_. She shook her head. "I like this one." she said pointing to a beaded black sample.

Rebekah made a face. "It's boring."

"You can never go wrong with black." Bonnie said defensively.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "You played it safe at prom Bonnie." She flipped through the different fabric samples before continuing. "You need to make an impression. All eyes will be on you that night. You have to leave everyone speechless."

"The more I think about the ball, the more anxious I get." Bonnie muttered. There was another reason she was feeling anxious, Klaus had been gone for three days. They had talked briefly on the phone the night before. Tyler was under his compulsion now and he was just working on the last details of his plan against the Navarro werewolves. Bonnie missed him and worried that something could go wrong. She knew he was practically indestructible and he had Felix and Angelica for back up but still.

"This one," Rebekah handed her a silk emerald sample. "It matches your eyes."

"It's pretty," Bonnie agreed her fingers touching the soft fabric.

"It's going to be a big night." Rebekah said while contemplating her friend. "But there is one thing you must remember."

"What's that?" Bonnie asked looking up into her face.

"You won't be Bonnie the high school girl going to a dance," Rebekah told her gently. "That night you will be Bonnie Bennett, the queen."

Bonnie flopped down on a nearby chair, the emerald fabric still in her hands. "I don't know the first thing about being a queen," she mumbled. She felt so uncertain about the Bennett legacy and what it meant for her future.

"Queen's are not made darling, they are born." Rebekah replied while taking a seat across from her. "Besides you have all the guidance and information you need in Nik and me and your family."

Bonnie sighed. "I don't think I want to be near my mother." Her heart constricted just thinking about Abby's words.

"I don't blame you, after all the horrible things she said."

"I'm meeting Lucy later today," she informed Rebekah. "Hopefully she'll be able to answer all the questions I have."

"In the Quarter?" Rebekah raised an eyebrow.

"I'll use a cloaking spell." Bonnie was quick to assure her. And Riley was also going to be there, he had become her shadow at Klaus's insistence. "I don't want to go to their hotel." She was avoiding Abby. The last thing Bonnie wanted was another confrontation with her mother.

"Are you going to invite them to the ball?" Rebekah asked. The invitations were already made they just needed to send them.

Bonnie nodded. "We might need their help." Silence descended over them for a few minutes before Bonnie stared at Rebekah with curiosity. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Klaus told me you and Marcel had something…" Bonnie began nervously. "Are you going to be okay, seeing him again I mean?"

Rebekah smiled. "I love Matt," she said softly. She hadn't said that to his face yet but she felt certain of her feelings. "Seeing Marcel will probably bring back some memories but I'll be fine." Since she had learned of Marcel's survival, Rebekah had wondered what it would be like to see him again. She felt certain of her love for Matt. Marcel was the past and the enemy. "He's our enemy now."

"This ball is going to end in bloodshed isn't it?" Bonnie asked quietly. Elijah and Klaus had spent countless hours plotting and organizing the party, making sure there were no surprises. Bonnie knew plenty of their enemies would be in attendance and a confrontation was inevitable. She had been studying countless spells from her grimoires in case of a fight.

"It's inevitable," Rebekah told her. "Don't worry Bonnie. Whatever happens that night we won't let any harm come to you or the baby." That was a promise Rebekah, Klaus, and Elijah were all determined to keep.

Despite her apprehension at the approaching ball, Bonnie smiled. "Thank-you."

"There is no need to thank me love. We're family now."

Both girls smiled before continuing searching for the perfect dresses for the ball.

* * *

Sabine had just finished one of her tours when she felt the powerful presence of a vampire behind her. "Elijah Mikaelson," she greeted turning around to face the impeccably dressed original vampire.

"You know me," Elijah stared at her with curiosity.

"You and your family are famous among the witches," she muttered. "You've been following me. Why?"

"You are a friend of Sophie Deveraux and part of the French Quarter coven," Elijah commented while taking a step closer.

"And?" Sabine asked in a bored tone.

Elijah studied her face carefully. There were three reactions Elijah had been accustomed to receive when meeting witches, fear, awe, or hatred. Sabine looked indifferent. _How curious,_ he thought. She was clearly unimpressed by him. It was baffling.

"I am here to extend an invitation to you and your coven," Elijah informed her while handing her a white envelope.

Sabine took it from his hand and opened it."You are inviting us to a ball?"she asked with disbelief.

"A ball that will be very important for your kind," Elijah said. "Be sure to let Sophie know that she's also invited." He smiled when he saw the flash of surprise in her eyes. It had been brief for she recovered quickly but he had seen it.

"I don't know what-"

"Sophie is back in the Quarter and is staying with you." Elijah interrupted before Sabine could finish.

"Are you keeping tabs on everyone in the city?" she asked angrily.

"Only those who are of interest," he was quick to reply. He met her eyes and frowned. "Do I know you?" he asked suddenly. There was something familiar about her. _Had he met her before?_ He couldn't be sure but he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something.

"You tell me." Sabine replied. It was almost like she was challenging him.

"See you at the ball." Elijah murmured before disappearing at vampire speed.

Sabine contemplated the invitation and smiled.

 _Darling Elijah, if you only knew…_

* * *

After returning from Tennessee, Klaus went straight to the bayou. He walked through the werewolf camp as if he owned the place. He spotted Ishmael easily, talking to a small group. All chatter stopped the moment they felt Klaus's presence.

"I was wondering when you would be back," Ishmael said with a welcoming smile. He turned to the group who were staring at Klaus with open curiosity. "Would you give us a moment please?"

The men left. There was one in particular who glared at Klaus as he walked past him.

"His name is Charles," Ishmael said once the man was out of earshot. "He thinks we should cleanse you of your vampirism."

"I would like to see him try." Klaus replied coldly. He knew many of the wolves were reluctant to trust him because of his vampiric side.

He and Ishmael began walking. "Have you thought of my proposition?" the older man asked as they moved past the cabin and further into the bayou.

"I have." Klaus replied. "However there is another important matter occupying all of my attention at the moment." He spotted a couple of children playing happily with a red ball. "What do you know about the Navarro clan?" he asked turning to face Ishmael.

"They have been taking over other werewolf packs in the past few years. Rumor has it that they are the largest werewolf pack in America." Ishmael responded a thoughtful look on his aged face. "Did you know that Armando Navarro came to me once?"

"Is that so?" Klaus felt intrigued by that. If he recalled correctly Armando had been one of Franco's brothers.

"I still don't know how he managed to track us down, we were in Turkey then." Ishmael explained. "He wanted us to join him. To be part of a new era for the werewolves," he shook his head. "His words were alluring. I can see why there had been many packs that have joined them freely."

"What happened?" Klaus asked with interest.

"I had to relinquish my Alpha status." Ishmael responded. "I had to accept Armando's father Juan, as my Alpha, as my king. Naturally that didn't sit well with me. I also didn't agree with some of their methods." The Navarro wolves were cruel and vindictive.

"You refused." Klaus deduced.

"I challenged him." Ishmael corrected him with a small smile.

Klaus was surprised by that revelation.

"If a wolf wants to take over a pack he has to defeat the Alpha first, in a fair fight." Ishmael said. "He has to prove that he is stronger, a better leader, that he deserves to take over. That's the way of the wolves." He looked directly into Klaus's eyes as he said it. "I told Armando that if he defeated me, he could take over my pack. If I defeated him, they had to leave us alone."

"And?" Klaus probed. He couldn't imagine Ishmael fighting anyone, the man was old.

"I won. I killed him," Ishmael answered. "For a time it seemed that his father was going to respect the deal I had made with Armando but a few months later, he led an attack against us." Ishmael turned his face away from Klaus and his eyes glinted with emotion as he recalled the brutal attack. "We lost many wolves that night, including my only son but we defeated them." He met Klaus's eyes once more."We slaughtered all of them." That night the Navarro clan had learned that they were not the strongest of the werewolf bloodlines.

"Even Juan?" Klaus asked. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. His werewolf family was not one to be trifled with.

"I personally took care of Juan." Ishmael admitted. There was no arrogance in his voice, he wasn't boasting about what he had done. He was simply telling Klaus how things had happened. "I sent his head to his second son, Franco and told him never to come after us again."

Klaus felt a sense of respect and even admiration for the old man. He might have the appearance of a grandfather but it was obvious that he was ruthless when he needed to be. He was a true Alpha.

"That was ten years ago and while they have not bothered us since then," Ishmael continued. "Their increasing power is a source of concern, not only for us but for any pack that wishes to remain independent."

 _Ten years ago_ , Klaus noted. Ishmael had been past his prime when he had succeeded in killing Juan and his son. The Navarro wolves had probably underestimated him due to his age and appearance and had received the surprise of their lives for it.

"They want to restore the werewolves to power," Klaus said. "With their family as the ruling pack of course, the only thing standing in their way is the current family at the top of the food chain."

"Your family," Ishmael muttered. Since the vampires had been created, the Mikaelson family had been at the top of the hierarchy of power in the supernatural world.

"Precisely." Klaus pulled out the white envelope he had been carrying in the inner pocket of his jacket and gave it to Ishmael.

The older man took it and frowned. "An invitation to a ball?" he shook his head and tried to hand the invitation back. "We don't get involved in vampire politics."

"This goes beyond vampire politics." Klaus refused to take the envelope back. "This war is going to involve all of the supernatural species."

"What are you planning?" Ishmael asked curiously.

"Cary told me that we descent from the first wolf," Klaus said. "I suppose that makes us werewolf royalty."

"That is true." Ishmael confirmed. "You could be the king of the entire werewolf species," he said. "It is your birthright."

"I don't want to be the king of one species." Klaus replied meeting his eyes. "I want to be the king of all."

Ishmael regarded him carefully before he spoke again, "I have no doubt that the werewolves will follow you and I suppose the vampires will do so as well, but the witches…" he shook his head. "Witches bow to no one."

Klaus's lips curved into a smirk. "The witches will fall in line." He felt certain of that. He had a plan for that.

"They will never follow a vampire, not even a hybrid one."

"I don't need them to follow me. Bonnie will be the leader of the witches." Klaus said. For the past few days he had been thinking, planning the future he wanted for Bonnie and his son. "She will rule over them the same way I will rule over the werewolves and vampires. And together we shall create a new world, a kingdom." This was perhaps his most ambitious endeavor but Klaus was determined.

Ishmael stayed silent as his mind processed Klaus's words. "You want to unite all the supernatural species under a single rule?"

Klaus smirked. "You can help me forge this new kingdom," he told Ishmael. "I will ensure that our pack is never persecuted again. I will protect all of you," he promised. "When I am king I will ensure that werewolves and vampires stand as equals."

Ishmael considered his words carefully. "In order to do that you will have to learn our ways. You will have to accept that part of you, the wolf in you and embrace it. Will you be willing to do so?" he questioned.

"Don't expect me to leave the comfort of my home and come to live in a swamp," Klaus snapped. "But I suppose I can come and spend time with the pack, learn whatever it is that you wish to teach me." He rolled his eyes. He felt confident that he knew everything there was to know about being a wolf. "After the ball of course," he clarified. The ball was the first order of business and the turning point in the war.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Very well," Ishmael finally accepted. "We shall help each other then." He extended his right hand for Klaus to shake. To seal the pact that had just been made.

Klaus shook Ishmael's hand.

It was not going to be easy but Klaus felt determined. He was going to build a kingdom worthy of his queen and his heir.

* * *

"This is delicious," Bonnie moaned as she ate another beignet. She and Lucy had met at Café du Monde and were enjoying their famous coffee and beignets. "I'm taking some home." she declared as she licked the sugar from her index finger.

"I just threw my diet out of window." Lucy said taking a bite out of another one.

It felt nice to spend time with Lucy, to talk to her. It seemed like a lifetime ago when they had met at the masquerade dance in Mystic Falls. Riley and Belle were across the street, keeping watch over Bonnie as Klaus had ordered them to do. The young witch had also placed a powerful cloaking spell on herself-Lucy also had one- so that no one would recognize them or know they were witches.

"So how does this whole coven thing works?" Bonnie asked after a while. They had spent the first few minutes catching up on their lives.

A serious look crossed Lucy's face. "I don't know all the details but you call upon your blood, I think there is a spell." She explained before taking a sip of her café au lait. "The witches of the Bennett bloodline will feel you calling them and they will come, wherever you are."

"And then what?" Bonnie probed.

"They will accept you as the leader of the coven and swear their allegiance to you." Lucy told her. "Once they do that, the Bennett coven will be officially formed."

"What if they don't accept me as their leader?" Bonnie asked nervously. _What if they shared her mother's opinion that her baby was evil?_

"You will have prove to them that you are worthy of being their queen and leader." Lucy said. It was the logical thing to do.

"How am I going to do that?" Bonnie panicked. Joanna had never said anything about proving herself to the witches of her family. "Do I have to do some magic or fight someone?"

Lucy opened her mouth and promptly closed it. "I don't know," she admitted. "You need to talk to my mom about all the details of the ceremony." The coven had not been summoned in centuries after all. Lucy didn't know all the specifics.

"I will," Bonnie told her. "There is a lot that I need to learn but right now my main focus is on the ball." She had already handed the invitations to Lucy.

"You sure it's a good idea having witches, vampires, and werewolves in the same room?" Lucy questioned. "It could end badly."

"Klaus and his siblings are carefully planning the whole thing." Bonnie murmured.

"Do you really trust them?" her cousin questioned gently.

Bonnie stared into Lucy's face. "I do," she answered honestly. "It's crazy. A few weeks ago I would've told you they were my enemies but now…"

"You considered them family." Lucy finished for her.

Bonnie nodded. "Elijah and I haven't really interacted much but Rebekah is my friend and Klaus…" heat spread to her cheeks and down her neck as she thought him. Her face even broke into a goofy grin.

"You really like him." Lucy commented. She didn't know what to make of the hybrid. Abby had said that he was evil and only using Bonnie for his own advantage but Lucy had not formed an opinion yet.

"I think I'm falling in love with him." Bonnie admitted in a whisper.

"You think?" Lucy gave her a knowing look. Her cousin was head over hills in love with the hybrid, by the looks of it.

Bonnie bit her lip. "I've never felt like this before…what I felt for Jeremy it…it doesn't even compare to what I'm feeling for Klaus." It was scary. "Everything has happened so fast between us I…am I crazy?" she wondered out loud.

"Love is unpredictable." Lucy told her softly. "Some people fall in love at first sight, for others it takes time. There are no rules Bonnie." Every couple was different. Lucy could only hope that Klaus was being honest and not playing with Bonnie.

Bonnie smiled.

"So," Lucy said with a playful smile. "How did you and the hot hybrid end up hooking up in the first place? How's the sex?"

"Lucy!" Bonnie felt certain she turned red from head to toe at her cousin's words. She even looked around the café scandalized that someone might hear their conversation.

"What?" Lucy asked oblivious to her discomfort. "I want to know all the details! I heard that sex with a vampire is amazing. I can only imagine how it would be with a hybrid. And he's really hot to boot!"

"Oh my god!" Bonnie looked away embarrassed. She hoped that Riley and Belle were not listening to her conversation. It would be mortifying. The people sitting around them didn't appear to have heard Lucy's words and for that Bonnie felt grateful.

"Come on, spill!" Lucy urged, her eyes filled with curiosity. "The only supernatural I have ever been with is a werewolf," she confessed. "It was hot! Like supernova hot."

Bonnie bit her lip.

"I'm your cousin!" Lucy told her. "I'm not asking you to give me all the raunchy details…unless you want to," she finished with a wink.

"It all started on prom night actually…" Bonnie began nervously. She wasn't going to give every single detail to Lucy but she could tell her some things.

* * *

"What did she look like?" Marcel questioned Diego again.

"I already told you. Black hair, green eyes I think. I'm not sure." Diego replied.

"Did anyone mention her name?"

"No!" Diego felt frustrated and tired of Marcel's endless questions about Klaus's witch. "I already told you everything I saw."

Marcel growled in frustration. Since the failed attack on the werewolves in the bayou he had been trying to find any information on the witch that was helping Klaus. Whoever she was, she was extremely powerful and Marcel needed to know more. Davina had the power of four harvest witches and she had easily been overpowered by Klaus's witch.

"Maybe Davina can do a spell and track her." Thierry suggested.

"She already tried," Marcel muttered and she had failed. Davina had said that Klaus's witch was not from the Quarter which meant her magic was not bound to the ancestors and that made her even more dangerous because she couldn't be controlled like the witches of the Quarter. On top of all that, now Klaus had the werewolves in the bayou under his control. He was probably already turning them into hybrids.

"What are you going to do when you find her?" Diego asked curiously.

"Get her on my side." Marcel replied with a smile. "Or kill her. It will depend on her." And how cooperative she was towards him, Marcel thought. He turned towards Thierry. "Have you found anything on where Klaus could be staying?"

"Nothing," Thierry informed him. "I'll keep looking." All of the houses that had been bought recently in the Quarter had checked out.

A young vampire made his way inside the compound. He was one of the new ones that had been accidentally sired after a night of partying. "This just came for you." he said nervously while handing Marcel an envelope.

Marcel's jaw clenched as he read it. "I guess now I know where he's staying," he muttered angrily. He should've known.

"What do you mean?" Thierry and Diego asked at the same time.

"The old Governor's mansion, that's where Klaus is staying and hosting his welcoming party," he told them. Where Marcel had been born and where he had lived the first few years of his life. He blocked any thoughts of the past. "Get ready." He told his most trusted companions. "We have been invited to a ball." And then Marcel smirked, a plan already forming.

Klaus had just made things so much easier for him.

* * *

After his visit to the bayou Klaus had gone to the Quarter before making his way back towards the plantation. He couldn't help but smirk. The past few days had proven to be quite prosperous for his machinations.

He had compelled Tyler to do his bidding and given him instructions on what to say to the Navarro wolves. He also left Alexa and Nate to keep an eye on him should things turn for the worst. Tyler and his little group of misfit friends were now on their way to Baton Rouge with Luis Navarro.

Klaus did not only have a spy inside the Navarro clan but one inside Marcel's army. A pathetic boy he had sired by the name of Josh and who had also been compelled to do his bidding. Not only that but today after his talk with Ishmael, Klaus had returned to the Quarter to deliver Marcel's invitation and to paid a visit to a certain blonde bartender that Marcel had a crush on. She was now also under his compulsion.

"You seem quite please with yourself." Elijah's voice interrupted his thoughts. Klaus was half way up the stairs when he turned to his brother who was exiting the study. Elijah moved to his side in a flash.

"Everything is going according to plan." Klaus told him smirking. "Tyler Lockwood is on his way to meet Franco Navarro and I also have a spy in Marcel's little army. And you'll be happy to know that Ishmael and the elders of the pack will be in attendance at the ball."

"As you'll be happy to know that Sophie Deveraux is back in the Quarter. I have invited her and her coven to the ball." Elijah informed him. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Sophie's strange friend, Sabine. There was something about her that seemed so familiar.

"Bonnie has also invited her family." Klaus said. As much as he disliked Abby and vice versa they had one desire in common to keep Bonnie safe, the Bennett witches were going to be pivotal in that regard. "Is everything ready at the Governor's mansion?"

"Yes. All we need is the spell Bonnie and Angelica will perform but that shall be until the day of the ball." Elijah replied. "They'll probably have to do a little practice before then, to ensure it works."

"I'll tell Bonnie." Klaus could sense her in their bedroom. "Where is Rebekah?" he asked suddenly. He didn't feel his sister's presence at the mansion.

"She's with Matt. They went out, to enjoy a night in the city." Elijah informed him.

Klaus nodded and continued his way up the stairs, towards his bedroom where his little witch was waiting.

Elijah watched him go and for the first time in a very long time he couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness. He moved down the stairs towards the music room, and sat in front of the grand piano in the corner, near the window.

Rebekah was deliriously happy with Matt. Elijah had seen her bright smile as they walked hand in hand out the house earlier that day. And Niklaus had Bonnie.

Elijah had watched them closely when they thought no one was looking. He had seen the heated looks, the whispers, the tender smiles and the sense of unity and belonging that surrounded them. Bonnie was practically glowing and Elijah had a feeling that it was not the pregnancy but the happiness that radiated off her. The same happiness-although much more carefully masked-he could see in his brother.

He started playing the piano, a sad melancholic music that echoed through the house. It was a reflection of his mood. While Elijah was extremely happy for his siblings he couldn't help but feel lonely.

As he lost himself in the music, thoughts of Celeste, his former lover and bonded invaded his mind.

* * *

Bonnie sighed as the water cascaded down her skin. She was taking a cold shower, it had been another hot and humid day and Bonnie had wanted to cool off before going to bed.

She had spent a lovely afternoon with Lucy. Her cousin was a riot and Bonnie had enjoyed their talk greatly. After the ball she was going to invite Lucy and her mother to dinner Bonnie thought, so that they could meet Klaus and his siblings properly.

 _And your mother?_ Her mind wondered. _Will Abby even want to? Or would she only make things worse?_

Bonnie jumped out of her skin when she felt his fingertips lightly trace down her wet back.

Klaus

He was back.

Bonnie turned around to face him. She hadn't even sensed him approaching. "Hi." she greeted almost shyly. Klaus's greeting was anything but, as he grabbed her around the waist and crushed his mouth to hers in a hungry kiss.

Three days, he had been gone for three days and Bonnie had missed him terribly. And judging by the heated kiss he was planting on her, he had missed her as well.

The moment their lips met, the bond sparked with energy, happiness, and desire.

They had to pull away eventually as Bonnie had to catch her breath. She placed her hands on his chest and stared into his face as he brought their naked bodies closer until they were tightly pressed together. She could feel the growing bulge poking her belly.

"I thought you would be back earlier today." Bonnie murmured. The temperature in her body increased despite the cold water.

Klaus rested his hands on her hips, "I went to see Ishmael. I invited him to the ball and I accepted his proposal."

"Really?" Bonnie's eyes lit up with excitement. Klaus had told her about Ishmael's proposition. Bonnie had wanted him to accept but she hadn't pushed him as she had felt how conflicted he was about meeting his werewolf family.

"After the ball I will be spending time with them and learning their ways." Klaus told her. "Everything is practically ready."

"You will be spending time with your family and I will be spending time with mine." Bonnie informed him. "I need to learn how to summon the coven and it seems I have to convince them to join me…I need more details." Lucy hadn't been able to tell her much.

Klaus nodded. "You'll be fine," he reassured her. "They will follow you." He would make certain of it.

Bonnie hoped he was right.

"There is only one invitation that needs to be send out," Klaus told her staring into her eyes. "I thought you would like to have the honor, after…" he murmured leaning his face closer. The bond pulsed with intense desire.

"After-" Bonnie didn't get to finish as his lips came crashing down on hers once more.

Bonnie moaned kissing him back and holding tightly to his shoulders as Klaus pressed her against the shower wall. Klaus's hands roamed over her body, cupping her sensitive breasts, tweaking the hard nipples with his thumbs, before moving down between her legs.

Bonnie gasped as his finger slid inside her. She leaned her head back against the wall. Her breathing became labored as he hit that spot inside her that made her toes curl. _God, how she had missed him!_

When Klaus lifted her up, Bonnie was more than ready wrapping her legs around his waist. He kissed her passionately, groaning as he pushed inside of her. Bonnie's fingernails dug painfully into his skin as he slid all the way in before pulling out and repeating the process again. Their slick bodies moving together in an all too familiar rhythm.

Bonnie held onto him tightly as the friction between them grew with each thrust. She pulled away from his lips panting and moaning before kissing his cheek and nibbling on his ear as Klaus pumped into her harder and faster.

The shower was filled with the sounds of their moans and grunts of pleasure and skin slapping against skin.

Bonnie screamed and bit down hard on his shoulder as her orgasm hit her. She tightened around him like a vice and Klaus's thrusts became more erratic. He buried his face on her neck before he found his own release.

* * *

The Seer sat in front of her vanity table combing her long hair. Everything was falling into place and going according to plan. Despite their reluctance the witches of the Quarter had accepted her and now she was back to where she rightfully belonged.

There was a soft knock on the door and Iris stepped inside nervously. "This just arrived for you my lady." She said handing the Seer a white envelope.

The Seer placed the comb down and took the envelope form Iris. The change in her mood was immediate.

"What is it?" Iris asked curiously as she saw the pale look on the Seer's face.

"It's an invitation." The Seer answered her voice trembling slightly. "We have been cordially invited to a ball hosted by the Mikaelson family," she muttered angrily. She clutched the delicate paper in a tight grip as anger fueled her veins.

It wasn't the invitation that was making the Seer angry. It was the note that had come attached to it, a note addressed to her, to her _real_ name. A name very few people knew. A name she had not used in years.

 _Cassandra,_

 _The time has come for us to meet face to face, unless you prefer to keep sending assassins after me. Let's finish this once and for all._

 _~Bonnie Bennett._

The Bennett witch was in New Orleans, the Bennett witch knew her real name and had just challenged her to come and face her.

The Seer's entire body shook with fury and fear. This was an unexpected turn of events. This had not been part of her plan.

* * *

 _A/N: I hope this chapter wasn't too much of a filler. The long awaited Mikaelson ball is next chapter!_

 _If anyone is interested I posted the first chapter of a new Klonnie fic, it's called Blood on the Rails ;)_

 _Thank-you so much for all your amazing support. See you next time!_


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: I'm really sorry for the late update but this chapter was a tough one. I never had so many characters in the same place at once and while I knew how I wanted the ball to go, writing it was a bit more difficult than I expected. This is also the longest chapter I've ever written and this is only the first part of the ball…so yeah…I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Days later…**

Bonnie took a deep breath as she stared at her reflection in floor length mirror. She stood inside the master bedroom of the Governor's mansion, a place Elijah owned and which had been chosen as the perfect location for the ball.

Bonnie was startled to see the face that stared back at her. She looked regal, matured, not a girl but a woman. She could only hope that her nerves would not betray her in the hours to come.

She had decided upon a red silk-chiffon, lace and tulle strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline that showed just the right amount of cleavage, the tiered cascade ruffled skirt accentuated her figure. Her hair had been pulled up in an intricate bun and the smoky eye makeup made her green eyes pop.

The dress was beautiful. The fabric was soft against her palms as she moved them over the bodice. She had never worn something so soft or so expensive in her life.

A soft smile graced her lips as she looked down and touched her stomach, it had started to swell just slightly, it was hardly noticeable but Bonnie could see it, her baby was growing with each passing day. She took a deep breath and began chanting the protection spell. She was not going to take any chances this night. Her child would be protected at all costs.

There was a tingle and her hand glowed as a warm feeling spread over her belly as the protection spell took effect.

Bonnie looked up and stared at her reflection once more. She felt beautiful. She was glowing-that had more to do with her pregnancy but still, while she had never been vain in that moment she really felt truly beautiful.

 _Is this how Cinderella felt before the ball?_ Bonnie wondered.

"You are absolutely stunning," an accented voice said from the doorway.

Bonnie spun around at the sound of his voice and her breath caught in her throat. Klaus looked hot, elegantly dressed in a black tux. She had seen him in formal clothing before, in the white suit he had worn at the decades dance in Mystic Falls. He had looked really good then but tonight he looked extremely handsome and dashing.

Klaus had always looked attractive in his regular clothing but he looked damn sexy and appealing in a tux as well. Bonnie bit her lip feeling the heat stirring in her belly. Since his return from Tennessee, Bonnie had not been able to keep her hands off him. Klaus certainly hadn't mind.

"I feel like a princess," she said with a soft almost shy smile.

"Not a princess but a queen." Klaus stepped inside the room and stopped a few feet in front of her. He stood silently contemplating her, his gaze moving across her face and her neck before slowly moving down her body, drinking the sight of her in the red silk dress, red was his favorite color. He licked his lips as he undressed her with his eyes.

Bonnie felt a nervous flutter in the pit of her stomach at the sensual way in which Klaus's eyes moved over her body. He was anything but subtle in his appreciation of her body. She felt an all too familiar throb between her legs when he met her eyes with a heated look, a look that told her perfectly what he wanted to do to her.

The bond pulsed with desire from both ends.

"As beautiful as you look my love, something is missing," Klaus told her with a dimpled smile. He did his best to contain the lust he felt in that moment before he did something lewd like rip her dress apart, throw her on the floor and claim her like a beast.

As sorely tempted as he was to claim her right there, Klaus knew that he would not be able to stop, the ball would be all but forgotten. A few minutes, an hour of stolen pleasure was not enough. Klaus indented to take his time and worship every inch of her skin. And he couldn't let his need for her to cloud his judgment. He needed to have a cool head in the hours to come. They both needed to be at the top of their game.

"What?" Bonnie asked touching her hair and wondering if she had a loose strand of hair or maybe it was her dress. "Is something wrong with the dress?" She looked down at her dress and wondered what could be wrong. The French designer had tailored it perfectly to her figure. It was probably the last time she was going to wear something like this as her belly was starting to swell.

"Nothing is wrong," Klaus chuckled. "You are perfect. I have never seen someone as beautiful as you," he declared. The intensity of his gaze made her weak in the knees and caused a slight tremor over her body. But it was the raw sincerity of his words that took her breath away and had her heart leaping with joy. Klaus was not the kind of man to throw compliments lightly; when he gave them he truly meant them and his words made Bonnie's insides melt.

"Well, you don't look so bad yourself," she said with a flirty smile. "You look incredibly handsome…sexy," she finished feeling the heat on her face.

"Don't be fooled love. I'm the devil in disguise." He winked before giving her a playful smirk.

Bonnie grinned and took notice of the black velvet case he was holding in one of his hands. "What is that?" she asked curiously. Klaus offered her another smile before he opened the box and showed her what was inside.

Bonnie gasped upon seeing the sparkling white diamond drop necklace and matching earrings. It was impressive. "Klaus, I can't-" it must cost a fortune. The diamonds sparkled with the light from the chandelier above them.

Klaus set the case on a nearby table before picking the diamond necklace. "Turn around," he ordered.

"It's too much I-" Bonnie couldn't accept such costly jewelry. It was probably worth more than what her father made in a year.

"It's a gift worthy of a queen." Klaus told her, "turn around," his tone left no room for argument.

Bonnie reluctantly turned her back to him and Klaus fastened the necklace around her neck. She shivered when she felt his fingertips caressing the skin on the back of her neck before slowly moving over shoulders and further down until he touched the zipper of her gown.

Bonnie gasped throwing her head back against his chest when a vivid image suddenly assaulted her mind.

 _Her hands painfully clutching the edges of the dresser as she felt his sharp claws rip the silky material of her dress in half, exposing the caramel skin to his hungry gaze as he tore it off her body with ease while his ardent mouth sucked on her pulse point, fangs grazing the soft flesh._

 _She instinctively arched her back, rubbing herself against the hard length of his body, moaning with a mix of pain and pleasure as his claws sank into her hips drawing blood._

 _Klaus lowered her body and bent her over the dresser. Bonnie shivered as her elbows touched the cold surface. His fingertips traced her spine, causing goose bumps to form on her heated skin and a slight tremor to ripple over her body. She spread her legs apart as he possessively grabbed her hips._

 _Klaus slid into her with one powerful thrust that tore a scream from her throat._

Bonnie was jolted out of her vision when Klaus nuzzled her neck, gently kissing below her ear. "Klaus…" she moaned as he held her around the waist, pressing her back against his front. She could feel how hard and ready he was to make the fantasy turn to reality. And she desperately wanted him to do so.

"Later," he whispered seductively in her ear. It was a promise.

Bonnie bit her lip, her body felt on fire and her heart had nearly burst out of her chest. _Why wait?_ She thought her brain clouded with desire, _they could easily steal a few minutes before the ball…_

Bonnie shook her head. She knew that if they did that now they would never get out of this room. A couple of minutes were not enough to contain the lava of passion burning their insides.

She pulled away from him trying to control her hormones before Klaus helped her with the earrings.

"I'll give them back after the ball." Bonnie promised.

Klaus shook his head. "They're yours now."

Bonnie turned around to face him once more ready to protest but Klaus silenced her by placing his index finger over her red lips.

A soft smiled formed on Bonnie's lips, "let me guess these were the property of some princess…"

"Actually," Klaus murmured placing his hands on her waist and pulling her body against him. "They belonged to an Empress."

 _Of course,_ she should have known. Bonnie hooked her arms around his neck and stared into his face. "I'm nervous," she admitted in a whisper.

"I know." He could feel her apprehension through the bond. "You have nothing to worry about; everything will go according to plan," he said with confidence. "I won't let anyone hurt you." Klaus promised while resting his forehead against hers. "I'll keep you safe, both of you."

Bonnie knew that he would. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the quiet moment between them.

It was the calm before the storm and they both knew it.

* * *

Matt watched mesmerized as Rebekah finished the last touches on her appearance in front of the bathroom mirror. She was wearing a dark blue gown with a transparent v neckline and cap sleeves, her hair had been pulled into a half up do and her jewelry sparkled with the bathroom light.

"You're staring," she caught his gaze over the mirror and smiled.

"I'm speechless," Matt said while placing his hands inside the pockets of his pants and leaning against the door frame. He was dressed in a well tailored black tux. "You're gorgeous." He still couldn't believe she was his girlfriend. _How the hell did he end up being so lucky?_

Rebekah turned around and walked towards him, "You look rather dashing too." She said while pulling him towards her. "Although I do like you better without any clothes on," she murmured against his lips.

Matt smiled. "Yeah?" he bumped his nose against hers causing Rebekah to giggle. "How much time to we have left?" he asked in a whisper. Her eyes sparked with mischief at his words and her glossy lips formed a wicked grin.

"The guests are just starting to arrive," Rebekah whispered back wrapping her arms around his neck, "we got plenty of time I wager."

"Good." Matt kissed her, wrapping one arm around her waist and pressing her body against his. He began walking backwards until the back of his knees hit the bed. He pulled Rebekah with him as he fell on the bed, his girl on top of him.

Rebekah giggled breaking the kiss and caressing his cheek, "remember what we talked about?"

Matt sighed. "I'm to stay close to Belle and Jesse while you and your siblings make your grand entrance and give speeches." The night before they had a 'family' meeting of sorts in which Elijah had given a general outline of what was to be expected at the ball.

Rebekah snorted, "Elijah has always been the one to give the welcoming speech to our guests." She kissed Matt lightly on the lips. "I will be entering with him, while Nik escorts Bonnie."

Matt nodded. "I know." It had been decided that he would not be entering with them. Elijah didn't want anyone trying to use him against Rebekah. Matt had agreed. He was no fool. He knew there was a lot at stake. He knew most, if not all of their enemies would be in attendance. "But I better have the first and second," he gave her a peck on the lips with each of his words, "the third," another peck, "the fourth," he continued, "and the fifth dance," he finished with another peck in her soft lips.

Rebekah laughed. "You can have all of them," she murmured before taking possession of his lips and devouring his mouth in a hungry and desperate kiss.

Matt's hands caressed the soft material of her dress, moving over her back as the kiss deepened. He rolled on top of her, never breaking the kiss. His hand cupped her breast before moving down to her stomach and down still, until he found the slit of her silk dress and caressed the heated skin underneath.

Rebekah moaned arching her back and welcoming his familiar touch. "Don't stop," she gasped as Matt's hand found that sweet spot where she needed him the most.

Matt had no plans of doing so. They had time after all.

* * *

Riley fixed the bowtie of his tux as he and Jesse waited patiently for their sire. The guest had started arriving at the Governor's house about half an hour before, mingling on the first floor in a mix of anticipation, nervousness, and curiosity.

The servers moved around the floor offering drinks and tending to the guests every need before the hosts of the ball made their presence known.

Jesse had his elbows on the staircase railing in the second floor as he watched the new arrivals. "No vampires so far," he commented. All the guests he had spotted were human. The witches had not arrived either.

"You think they'll try anything?" Riley asked while moving to stand next to his friend. The way Klaus had talked to them the night before made it feel like rather than going to a ball they were going to a slaughter.

"Probably." They were fools in Jesse's opinion. Anyone who thought they could go against Klaus and live to tell the tale was an idiot. The ones who might possibly stand a chance were the witches but Angelica and Bonnie had perform a spell earlier that day; a spell that would prevent any witches inside the property from doing magic. But while the witches would be neutralized there was no telling what the vampires had planned. What both hybrids knew however was that they had to be prepared for everything.

The sound of a door opening and closing had them both turning around and moving back inside the medium size sitting room.

Belle and Angelica stepped out of one of the rooms. While the witch had chosen a discreet black dress, Belle looked like a princess in a beaded champagne color gown.

"You're so pretty." Riley blurted out taken by surprised by how beautiful and elegant she looked.

"You too," Belle said her cheeks turning pink. "Not pretty, that's girly and you're not girly or a girl…I mean you're a guy so..." she rambled nervously. "You look hot…I mean handsome." She said rapidly before looking down at the floor in embarrassment.

Angelica and Jesse shared a knowing look.

"You both look beautiful," Jesse said smoothly while giving them his most charming smile.

"Yes," Riley agreed with a nervous cough, just realizing he hadn't complimented Angelica. "Both of you are beautiful."

"Thank-you," Angelica replied at their compliments.

"Are we ready?" Felix's voice grabbed all of their attention. He was also impeccably dressed in a tux. "Does everybody know what our duties are tonight?"

The hybrids nodded before they all turn towards the door when they sensed their sire approaching.

Klaus looked at each and every one of them as he stepped inside the sitting area. "My siblings and I will wait a few more minutes before making our entrance but you can go and start mingling with the guests. Pay attention to anything you hear or see that might be suspicious…" he said. "I need you all to be on the alert. I don't want any surprises." He turned towards Belle, "your senses might be a little overwhelmed at first with so many supernaturals in one place not to mention the humans in attendance."

"I just fed." The petite girl told him. "We went hunting earlier today and I just had two blood bags." She didn't want to take any chances. She was getting better at controlling the hunger pains.

"You need to be prepared." Klaus said staring into her eyes. She was the youngest hybrid in the pack after all. "If the vampires or the witches attack, you and Jesse are in charge of getting Bonnie and Matt out of here. No matter what you see or hear, you are to get them out." It was a command and it resonated through the sire bond.

Belle nodded. "I will, sire."

Klaus turned to Felix and Riley, "don't show any mercy. Those who dare attack will die, plain and simple," he ordered. It was not in his nature to be merciful. He didn't even feel pity for the humans that no doubt would get caught in the crossfire.

Klaus turned to Angelica last, he opened his mouth but the dark haired witch cut him off. "I can take care of myself," she told him. "I know what to do should things turn for the worst."

"Good." Klaus smiled.

Another door opened and Elijah made his way inside the sitting room. He too was elegantly dressed in a black tux.

"Go," Klaus ordered. "And remember all we have planned." He had given them plenty of instructions in the days leading up to the ball. They all knew the parts they had to play.

The hybrids and the witch exited the room and began making their way downstairs.

"And so it begins," Elijah murmured once both brothers were left alone.

"Indeed."

Both brothers exchanged knowing looks. While they had planned and discussed plenty with the hybrids and Angelica, with Bonnie and Rebekah and even Matt, they were the only two people who knew _exactly_ what was going to happen this night.

"I suppose we should start making our way downstairs and greet our guests." Elijah said just as Bonnie and Rebekah made their way inside the sitting room.

"You both look stunning," Elijah said smiling as he looked at both girls.

"Thank-you," Bonnie moved towards Klaus's side.

"You look quite handsome yourself," Rebekah told Elijah as she kissed his cheek. "As do you." She said turning towards Klaus and kissing his stubble cheek as well. "It feels like all times doesn't it?"

Klaus smiled remembering the countless balls he had attended with his siblings. He took Bonnie's hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be I guess." Bonnie mumbled nervously. "I hope I don't trip with this dress and fall flat on my face."

"Don't you dare," Rebekah said sharply as she took Elijah's arm. Klaus and Bonnie were going to descent first, with Rebekah and Elijah following after them. Matt had already gone downstairs. "This is your big moment Bonnie," Rebekah continued, "don't mess it up."

 _Easier said than done_ , Bonnie thought with a tense smile. The butterflies in her stomach had intensified and her heart was pounding so loudly she was afraid it would pop out of her chest at any moment. All three originals could hear it, of course.

"You will be fine," Elijah told her with a soft smile. "You must remember not to let any nervousness show, do not show any weakness for they won't hesitate to use it against you." he wasn't trying to scare her but to warn her that she was about to walk down to a room filled with people who could be a threat to her and her child.

"You guys have more experience at his than me," Bonnie said."This is my first ball you know." And she was feeling like a fish out of water and it hadn't even started!

Klaus brought their joined hands up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. "There is no need to worry love, you will do splendidly."

"Just do what we do," Rebekah suggested with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She shared a secretive and knowing smile with her brothers.

"It always seems to work no matter the circumstances," Elijah agreed.

Klaus smirked. "That's because we have perfected the art in a thousand years."

Bonnie stared at the three Original siblings with confusion. "What do you guys do exactly?" _Did they have some sort of ritual to prepare for big events?_

"We always walk into any room with confidence in the knowledge that everyone else is beneath us." Rebekah answered while grinning.

Bonnie snorted. Humbleness did not seem to exist in the Mikaelson's vocabulary.

Klaus lifted his other hand to her face, lightly tracing her cheek as he stared into her green orbs. "You are a queen," he told her, "and the time has come for you to act as such." The confidence in his words, the belief in his eyes that he knew she could do this, gave Bonnie the strength and reassurance she needed.

Bonnie took a deep breath and nodded. She needed to be at the top of her game tonight. She couldn't let their enemies get the best of her. She had to put away any fear, any doubt she felt, far way in the depths of her mind.

Together they walked out of the room and made their way downstairs.

* * *

The three Bennett witches made their way inside the Governor's mansion dressed to their very best. The first floor was already filled with guest chattering and moving curiously from room to room, all of them waiting expectantly for the Mikaelsons. Everyone who was of importance in the city had been invited, like the mayor of New Orleans and his wife, prominent business families and any others who had connections with the supernatural world or were aware of its existence.

The moment they stepped through the threshold Joanna shivered. Warning bells rang in her head as she felt a shiver run down her spine. _Something is off_. She thought.

"You okay?" Lucy asked seeing the strange look on her mother's face.

"I'm fine. I just felt a sudden chill is all." Joanna smiled reassuringly but she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.

"This is a bad idea." Abby said ominously as her eyes moved around the room trying to locate her daughter.

"It's a ball hosted by vampires, what do you expect." Lucy took a glass of champagne from one of the servers and scanned the people gathered in small groups in the formal living room. She felt the presence of another witch and turned towards the opposite side of the room where she spotted a dark haired witch dressed in black walking arm and arm with a hybrid.

As if feeling Lucy's eyes on her, the dark haired witch turned her head and met her eyes. She whispered something in the hybrid's ear and the two crossed the room making their way toward the Bennett women.

"She's powerful," Joanna murmured standing next to Lucy and watching as the couple approached them.

"It is a great honor to meet you, witches of the line of the blessed." The witch said with a slight bow of her head. "My name is Angelica and this is Felix," she introduced them to the hybrid.

"The honor is ours," Lucy's mother replied politely. "My name is Joanna and this is my daughter Lucy," the younger witch nodded. "And my cousin Abby," Joanna introduced.

The vampire stared at Angelica, a look of distrust on her face. "You're Klaus's witch," she eyed Felix as well, "and one of the abominations he created."

Lucy closed her eyes and shook her head, giving her mother a look as if to say, _is she seriously doing this now?_

"An abomination just like you," Felix replied coldly.

Abby saw red.

Joanna placed a gentle hand on her arm. "We are not here to fight," she reminded her cousin. "We are unlikely allies in this war." She said looking at Angelica and Felix. "We are on the same side."

"That we are," Angelica agreed. A look of understanding passed between both women before Angelica and Felix departed to mingle with the other guests.

"You really want to dig your own grave don't you?" Lucy turned in annoyance towards Abby.

"Klaus is a monster and the hybrids he created-"

"Enough." Joanna silenced her. "Whether you like it or not, on this night we are fighting on _his_ side." Her tone left no room for argument. "For Bonnie," Joanna said staring deeply into Abby's eyes. "For your daughter," she emphasized the word. She wasn't fond of vampires either but sometimes difficult choices had to be made.

Abby reluctantly nodded. As much as she hated Klaus and anything related to him, she was going to have to tolerate him and god forbid even help him, if things turned for the worst. Which deep down Abby knew it was bound to happen. Something told her this ball was going to end up in blood.

A sudden chill was felt then and all three women turned in time to witness the arrival of a group of vampires led by a tall, dark skinned man.

"The vampire king," Joanna whispered. In the days since their arrival in New Orleans they had heard different stories about Marcel Gerard and his ruthless rule over the city.

There was a serious look on the vampire's face as he surveyed the room with a strange sense of familiarity. He immediately made his way towards the Mayor of New Orleans with a polite smile on his handsome face.

"Things are about to get interesting," Lucy said as she took a sip of her champagne.

No sooner had the vampires arrived when the werewolves made their entrance.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop all of a sudden and tense electricity charged the air.

Abby unconsciously rubbed her arms as her vampire senses exploded alerting her to presence of the werewolves nearby.

Even the humans could feel a slight change in the air. While their senses were not as sharp as the witches, vampires, or even werewolves their self preservation instincts did sent warning bells. They knew something was about to go down.

The tension multiplied tenfold when the witches made their entrance a few minutes later.

All three supernatural species had come together in one single place for the first time in a very long time.

The air around the mansion crackled with the undeniable power of each species.

* * *

"We shouldn't have come," Charles commented as he spotted the group of vampires glaring at them. Five wolf elders had decided to accompany Ishmael and Carry to the ball hosted by the Mikaelson family. Charles had already started to regret that decision. His skin itched as he felt the sharp gazes of the undead, their looks promising murder.

There was one vampire in particular that was ready to jump at them, had it not been for his friend who seemed to be holding him back. The vampire king on the other hand, did his best to ignore them.

"We need to be here," Carry muttered his brown eyes focused on the vampire king, on the bastard that had given the order to kill his clan. Cary wanted nothing more than to teach him a lesson.

"This will end in blood." Mila, the only elder woman in the clan said as she surveyed the room nervously. There was a tense atmosphere in the air that was making everyone uncomfortable. Even the humans could feel it.

"I hope it does," another wolf whispered. "I'll gladly rip that son of a bitch's head." He stared unflinchingly into Marcel's direction.

Marcel no doubt could feel their gazes on him but the vampire purposely ignored them. He beamed and nodded and charmed everyone he came into contact with but he stayed far away from the werewolves' way.

"Calm down," Ishmael's calmed and controlled voice put the brakes on the flaring werewolf tempters. "We are here to observe and listen, not to instigate any bloodshed." _Not on purpose at least_ , he thought.

"And if they attack?" Charles asked turning to face his Alpha. "What then?" he challenged.

Ishmael's eyes darkened. "We kill them," he stated simply. He was not going to lose any more werewolves to the vampires.

"Fuck!" another elder cursed. "I don't know who we have to be more wary of, the vampires or them." He said pointing to the group of women that had just arrived at the mansion.

"Both," Cary mumbled as he watched the witches warily. He didn't trust any of them. They were probably plotting something, of that he was certain.

* * *

The air cracked with electricity, there was a sense of anticipation in the air. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen but no one knew exactly what that was.

There was an energy building, coiling around the room, ready to explode at any moment.

A sudden silence befell all the guest and all heads turned to the spiral staircase almost at the same time.

All eyes were suddenly glued to the four figures making their way down.

Bonnie took a deep breath, lifted her chin and did her best to project the same aura of confidence and even arrogance Klaus and his siblings showed.

 _Do not let them intimidate you,_ Bonnie thought. _You can do this_.

All heads turned the moment the Original family walked down the stairs. Silence descended among the guests as they watched their every movement.

Bonnie remembered the night she and Matt had been crowned prom queen and king. The attention she got in that one moment was nothing compared to now. All eyes were on them, curious gazes that made her skin prickle and her heart stutter.

The crowd seemed to part like the sea as they stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

The first person that came up to them was the Mayor of New Orleans, a fat little man, with red cheeks who seemed to be pleasant enough if not rather oblivious.

 _Easy to manipulate_ , Bonnie thought as the mayor introduced himself and his wife.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mayor de la Fontaine," Klaus greeted putting on his most pleasant smile. "My bother Elijah and my sister Rebekah," he introduced first, "and this," he said turning towards Bonnie, a hint of mischief in eyes. "This is my lovely wife, Bonnie."

Bonnie froze at his words. Her heart jumped out of her chest and she turned as red as her dress.

"How lovely to meet you," the Mayor shook her hand but Bonnie barely reacted. She felt dazed and utterly stunned by Klaus's introduction.

 _Wife_ , Klaus had just introduced her as his wife. _His wife_ …Ishmael had assumed she was Klaus's wife and he hadn't corrected him but this…Klaus had willingly introduced her as his wife. _Did Klaus consider her his wife in his heart?_

 _Oh my god!_ She was hyperventilating.

His wife, Klaus's wife, Mrs. Mikaelson…

Mrs. Bonnie Mikaelson

Mrs. Bonnie Bennett-Mikaelson

 _It actually has a nice ring doesn't it?_ Her mind supplied. Bonnie was so stunned by Klaus's introduction that she zoned out of the conversation. It wasn't until she realized that all eyes had turned towards her and seemed to be waiting expectantly for some sort of answer that she blinked herself back to reality.

"I'm sorry what?" she asked feeling embarrassed. This was not the way to make a good first impression.

"The Mayor just asked what you think of New Orleans, sweetheart." Klaus said with a playful grin.

"Oh, right…it's beautiful." Bonnie answered stammering a little.

Rebekah giggled playfully and even Elijah's lips curved into an amused smile at her reaction.

Bonnie smiled politely as the Mayor began rambling on and on about the city.

It was the first of many introductions as it seemed everyone wanted to talk to them. The humans at least, for the vampires kept themselves in one corner of the room, while the witches stood in the opposite corner, both groups sending murderous looks at each other the whole while.

Bonnie smiled as she was introduced to so many people she could hardly remember their names or faces. Everything was a blur after Klaus introduced her as his wife. _How the hell was she supposed to concentrate after the magnitude of that introduction?_

She met a bunch of prominent business people who were not only aware of the existence of vampires but actually had many professional and personal relationships with them. New Orleans was very different from Mystic Falls, it had a more intricate network of people and vampires working together.

There was even a priest in attendance whom according to Klaus was the leader of the human faction in the city. "I created the faction three hundred years ago, to represent the four main species that lived in the French Quarter…" Klaus told her, after the priest introduced himself as Father Kieran O'Connell.

"The faction is now only run by humans." The priest said regarding the hybrid carefully.

"Perhaps that shall soon change," Klaus muttered cryptically. Judging by the hard look on the priest's eyes he did not like that idea.

When they finally got around and met the witches in attendance, Bonnie felt a chill run down her spine.

Agnes and Bastiana were the last leaders left of the New Orleans coven. They greeted Bonnie politely but the hard set of their eyes and mouth did nothing to appease Bonnie's nerves.

"I do believe my brother sent an invitation to the Regent," Klaus commented as he regarded the group carefully. _And the fucking bitch had not dared to show up_. He thought angrily. _People these days, they lacked manners._

"Madame LaRue has not attended any festivities in recent years," Agnes replied coldly. She hated vampires and she hated werewolves, Klaus was both.

"And Sophie Deveraux? I believe my brother invited her as well." Klaus asked casually.

"She did not wish to attend." Sabine, her friend replied. Sophie had been terrified of what Klaus or Marcel could do to her and no matter how hard Sabine had tried to convince her to attend the ball, the witch had refused. Maybe it was for the best.

"A witch in the arm of a vampire," one tall and skinny witch with a pointed nose commented while staring directly at Bonnie. "A pity that someone from your line has fallen so far, it's a disgrace," she spat.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "And I pity the witches who live in fear of vampires." She said defiantly. "Those who believe they are so powerful and yet let vampires walk all over them. That's a disgrace, wouldn't you say?"

A chuckle escaped Sabine's lips, while Agnes stared at Bonnie with curiosity. The other witches looked furious. If looks could kill, Bonnie would've been six feet under.

Klaus chuckled not bothering to hide his glee at Bonnie's biting words. "What can you expect love, the witches of the Quarter are mediocre at best."

The glares that he received from the group of witches were more pitiful than threatening. _Did they honestly think they could scare him?_

Three witches in particular seemed ready to want to jump and attack them but Bastiana stopped them with a wave of her hand. Now was not the time. "Why have you invited us here?" She asked suddenly. "To be in the same room as vampires and werewolves, have we not been insulted enough?"

"Believe me when I decide to insult you, you will know." Klaus retorted. "After the waltz my brother and I would like to speak with the leaders of each species present today."

"What for?" Agnes asked genuinely curious.

"Let's just say that things are about to change quite drastically in the Quarter," Klaus smiled before leading Bonnie away, the witches' gazes following their every move.

* * *

The last person Bonnie was introduced to was Marcel Gerard and his group of vampires. She had expected to see him with an entire army but he had surprisingly arrived with just a handful of vampires.

He was also very different from what Bonnie had imagined. He was tall, dark skinned and with an impossibly white and contagious smile. He was definitely charming and had an easy going way about him that could put anyone at ease.

Klaus once again introduced her as his wife and Bonnie couldn't help but turn red once more.

Marcel stared at her face with an almost hungry look. "Wife…who would've thought," he commented, his eyes never leaving Bonnie's face. If he was shocked or surprised by the revelation it was carefully kept hidden under a mask of neutrality. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said as he kissed the back of her hand and gave her the friendliest and flintiest smile he could muster. "I've heard so much about you."

"I wish I could say the same thing." Bonnie muttered. She hadn't forgotten the attack his vampires had made on the werewolf camp and judging by the glares coming from Klaus's relatives it was something they were not ready to forget either.

Klaus chuckled. "Marcel is not as popular as he thinks he is."

"Not all of us are as infamous as you." Marcel retorted, not liking his sire's tone. He glared in Klaus's direction before focusing on Bonnie once more.

"And yet you wish you were," The viciousness in the hybrid's tone was more than evident.

The tension between them the two of them was palpable. Bonnie hoped they could control their tempers because from the glares on both of their faces they looked ready to attack each other.

"Where is your witch?" Klaus asked suddenly, "afraid to bring her to a vampire party."

"Not all us like to parade our witches as if they were some possession or toy." Marcel said deviously, taunting him with the way the hybrid had paraded Bonnie around the room.

"No, you prefer to keep her lock up and use her to subdue her own kind," Elijah's said coming to stand on Bonnie's other side. The Originals always presented a united front against their enemies. "One should pity the poor girl."

"You know nothing." Marcel hissed taking a step forward. The vampire behind him, Diego, Bonnie recalled seemed ready to jump and defend Marcel but two others held him back. The rest of the group watched them nervously not knowing what to do.

Marcel turned to Klaus and grinned. "One should feel pity for your poor wife," he gave Bonnie a quite convincing sad look, but she could see underneath the mask. "Having to deal with all your baggage and daddy issues…you must be a saint." He said to Bonnie a wicked grin on his face.

Bonnie glared at him.

"You're one to talk," Klaus growled. "Do you still tremble with the sound of a whip, _boy_?" He sneered. Bonnie flinched at the fury that echoed through the bond and the venomous remark he made, even Elijah was startled. In that moment Klaus uncanny resemblance to Mikael was eerie.

Marcel growled and moved closer until both men were standing face to face, neither willing to back down.

Bonnie got in between them. She placed one hand on Klaus's chest while she pushed against Marcel's chest with the other. Now was not the time to get into a fight.

The vampire gasped as he felt the jolt of her power, pushing him back with ease. He couldn't help but feel intrigued by the tiny witch. He could feel the tendrils of her magic on his skin, even through his clothes, powerful, threatening, and easily letting him know that he had to fall in line or else.

"There is no need to lose your tempers." Bonnie told them calmly. "The party is barely getting started." She grabbed Klaus by the arm and dragged him away before he decided to instigate any bloodshed.

Klaus reluctantly let her take him away, muttering angrily under his breath.

Elijah remained behind while Marcel's eyes were glued to the girl in the red dress, watching her retreating form with curiosity and raw hunger.

Her power was intoxicating, as well as her scent, and her beauty. He couldn't help but be enthralled.

 _There was something about Bonnie…_

Marcel was so captivate that he momentarily let his guard down, letting his emotions reflect on his face which Elijah studied carefully.

"Be careful Marcel," Elijah's voice brought the other vampire back to reality.

Marcel stared at the elder Original, his face becoming a mask once more.

"Bonnie is off limits." Elijah warned him, the threat implicit in his voice.

Marcel's lips twitched into an amused grin. "Are you once again lusting after your brother's woman Elijah?" he taunted. He knew part of the muddy history between the brothers and a girl that they had once lusted after, Rebekah had told him. Rebekah had told him a lot of secrets. "It seems to be your favorite pastime isn't it?"

Elijah's eyes darkened as he took a menacing step forward. Marcel did not back down.

"And your favorite pastime it seems is to want what my brother has," Elijah's face broke into a sardonic grin. "Tell me Marcellus, how long have you been fantasizing about becoming Klaus Mikaelson?"

Marcel growled vampire face surfacing, the anger giving away to impulsiveness.

In a flash Elijah had grabbed him and sped him into the balcony, away from prying eyes. He slammed Marcel hard against the house wall and kept him rooted to the spot.

"I am an Original," Elijah hissed. "Never forget that." He could easily rip Marcel's heart out and be done with it, and they both knew it.

In the next second, Elijah flashed out of there, leaving an angry Marcel behind.

* * *

Rebekah rolled her eyes as another useless human introduced themselves to her. She and Matt exchange knowing looks.

Rebekah shivered; her skin still tingled from their heated encountered earlier in the evening. For one crazy moment she thought of sneaking way upstairs with Matt but Elijah was determined to establish important connections in the city and he also wanted to present a united front against their enemies, so he kept dragging her from one side of the room to another to greet their guests.

Until he had left her on her own sensing some sort of trouble brewing with Marcel and Niklaus.

Rebekah had done her best to avoid her former lover. She had kept herself as far away as possible from Marcel. But she could feel his lingering gaze on her skin from time to time.

Rebekah put on her best fake smile as they were introduced to Francesca Correa a prominent business woman who had quite a lot on influence in the city.

"And what do you do?" Rebekah asked in a bore tone. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and her skin prickled as she felt _his_ gaze on her skin once more. From the moment they had descended the stairs, Rebekah had made it a point to ignore _him_. But Marcel seemed to be trying to get her attention.

"My family and I own the Palace Royale Casino," Francesca told her. She started talking some more about her business but Rebekah tuned her out. Matt kept the conversation going for a little bit before Francesca left them to mingle with the other guests.

"Are you all right?" Matt asked seeing the distressed look on her face.

"He's watching," Rebekah muttered under her breath.

Matt squeezed her hand. "If you want to talk to him…"

"You don't mind?" Rebekah questioned curiously.

Matt shrugged. "He's the past." He said with confidence. He felt certain of what he and Rebekah had and nothing was going to get in the way of that. He also knew that Rebekah had thought Marcel had died and had mourned him greatly. Rebekah had told him the important details of her relationship with Marcel and had also assured him that said feelings were long dead.

Marcel's eyes followed her everywhere and much as Rebekah tried she couldn't pretend anymore. She finally turned her head to the side and stared directly into his dark eyes.

Marcel grinned with victory.

Rebekah turned to Matt once more. "I won't be long." She said. "I promise."

Matt nodded giving her hand one gentle reassuring squeeze. Rebekah turned to leave, ready to make her way to the gardens but Matt stopped her abruptly.

She didn't have time to question him because in the next second he had pulled her against him and planted one hell of a kiss on her, without carrying who was watching, and yes, to mark his territory against the vampire. He was a guy after all.

Rebekah nibbled on his lower lip before pulling away, "Matt Donovan, I think I like this wild side of you."

Matt grinned before kissing her once more. Elijah would certainly not approve of their behavior, with so many eyes staring at them but they didn't give a damn.

Rebekah smiled once more before she made her way out of the room. Matt watched her go and noticed Marcel following her outside.

He grabbed a flute of champagne from one of the servers and made his way towards Jesse to distract himself until Rebekah's return.

* * *

Marcel did his best to keep control of the anger he felt at Elijah and Klaus. He was not going to let their words get to him. He stood in the shadows, watching and learning, doing his best not to attract attention any more than necessary. Diego was more than ready to jump at the werewolves; he hated them with passion after all. Thierry was the only one calming him down. The other vampires he had brought with him kept close, nervously waiting for his signal.

Marcel barely paid them any attention. He felt intrigued.

From the moment Klaus had descended the stairs with the petite witch on his arm, Marcel had known she was different. Not only because Klaus himself had escorted her and kept her at his side as he moved around the room- a possessive hand on her lower back- but because of the power that radiated off the tiny witch in waves, he had never felt anything like it.

If Davina was a bright burning candle, the girl on Klaus's arm was the sun.

 _Bonnie_

That was her name. And she was Klaus's wife. Marcel still couldn't believe it. _How the hell had that fucking bastard gotten himself such a beautiful and powerful witch as a wife?_

Klaus had always been fascinated by witches, he had always had a weird obsession with them, Marcel knew it, but something told him this was different. If he had married the girl she was clearly very special.

He watched them as they moved around the room as if they were the only two people in the world. There was a connection between them, an intimacy. He had sensed it when he had briefly spoken to them earlier. _Love is a vampire's greatest weakness_ …Marcel recalled Klaus telling him once. His lips curved into a sly smile. _Oh how the mighty have fallen_ , he thought. _You have delivered your own undoing in a silver platter,_ Marcel though with a pleased smile as he watched Klaus. His sire wasn't as untouchable as he believed himself to be.

Klaus Mikaelson had a weakness and he had willingly introduced her to Marcel.

"You seem quite pleased with yourself," Father Kieran said coming to stand next to him.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Marcel commented. "You rarely leave the church."

"As the leader of the human faction I was invited," Father Kieran replied.

Marcel crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, his dark eyes glued to the girl in red. "Should I add you to my list of enemies Kieran?" he asked in a neutral tone. He turned his gaze to another girl, in blue. Sweet Rebekah who kept trying to pretend that she could not feel his heated gaze.

Marcel had stared at her from time to time, trying to make her turn and face him. But Rebekah refused as she paraded around with a human boy. A human, Marcel shook his head. Dear Rebekah, she never seemed to learn. Klaus was going to turn that boy into his dinner sooner or later.

"I want what is best for the humans in this city Marcel." The priest replied. "That is my duty and responsibility."

Marcel rolled his eyes. He wasn't particularly fond of the self righteous priest. But Kieran had been the one to inform him of the Harvest ritual taking place, to plead with him to help the Harvest girls. It had been his intervention that had allowed Marcel to save Davina.

"Where is Davina tonight?" Kieran asked casually.

"Safe," Marcel replied quickly. Davina had wanted to come to the ball, she had insisted but Marcel had refused. It was no doubt what Klaus wanted, for him to bring Davina straight into the wolf's den. Marcel knew better than that. He was not going to let Klaus get his hands on Davina and use her for his own advantage or worst kill her. Davina was at St. Anne's church with some of his vampires loyally guarding her, she was far away from what was about to unfold. And that was for the best.

"I told you to get her out of here," the priest continued in a much quieter tone. "And instead you keep her locked up in that attic and use her for you own advantage-"

"I don't have time for this," Marcel muttered. He left before Kieran could go on with one of his sermons. They had been having the same discussion since he had saved Davina and Marcel was getting tired of the priest's meddling.

He had spotted Rebekah slipping out of room and Marcel followed her. The time had come for them to face each other.

* * *

"She's not here." Agnes murmured as she sat in one corner of the room, watching as everyone seemed to carter around to that family of leeches. "You said she would be here."

"She will come," Bastiana replied. "Don't worry," the plan had already been set in motion; nothing would stop it now.

Sabine kept her mouth shut. It was obvious they were plotting something but the two elders had not informed the rest of the witches of the coven what that was. The only thing she was sure of, was that the Seer was somehow involved.

Sabine's eyes moved towards the girl in red. The one that had captivated everyone from the moment she walked down the stairs. _A powerful witch indeed_ , Sabine thought. Bonnie Bennett was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Sabine still felt amused at her little encounter with the rigid elders of the coven, Bonnie had shown some spine.

She unconsciously touched her left wrist where the skin seemed to throb and burn.

 _I demand a witch's oath…_

Sabine shook her head. She was not going to think about _that_ now. Instead she turned her gaze towards Marcel Gerard, who was trying his best to stay in the shadows at the opposite end of the room and who couldn't seem to keep his eyes away from the Bennett witch and from Rebekah Mikaelson. The so called vampire king kept staring back and forth between both women. He had a history with Rebekah after all.

She watched as Rebekah slipped out of the room, followed closely by Marcel. Some things never changed.

Katie, another witch from their coven sat nervously next to Sabine gripping her dress until her knuckles turned white. She kept looking at Thierry, one of Marcel's generals.

"You're still screwing him," Sabine muttered as she glanced at Katie. _Stupid girl!_

Katie pressed her lips together, keeping quiet but it was that silence that gave her away.

"You're a fool," Sabine told her. If Bastiana or Agnes were to learn that Katie was screwing one of Marcel's vampires they would burn her alive.

"You don't understand," Katie whispered quietly.

"I understand more than you think," Sabine told her giving her a hard look. "Nothing good ever comes from a witch loving a vampire," she told the girl. "Only death…" she stood up abruptly. She needed a drink.

* * *

"The last time I saw you, the city was burning and you and your siblings were fleeting from your daddy…"

Rebekah froze momentarily at the sound of that familiar voice, before she turned around and came face to face with her ex lover. She had felt his gaze on her throughout the night and had done her best to ignore him, until now.

"I thought you were dead." Rebekah said. She had mourned him. She had blamed herself for his 'death' for quite a while, until Stefan had come into her life.

"You never looked back to find out for sure." Marcel told her taking a step closer.

The two of them stared at each other, countless memories coming to the surface. It had been one hundred years since they had seen each other. And there was quite a lot of history between them.

Rebekah shook her head, "how convenient for _you._ " She didn't bother to hide the anger in her voice.

"Why are you here, Rebekah?" Marcel asked searching her face for any type of clue. He had been good at reading her once upon a time. With Rebekah, it had always been easy to know what she was thinking and feeling unlike Klaus who was harder to read or Elijah who was nearly impossible.

"This city was my home once," Rebekah smiled. "My brothers and I got quite nostalgic …"

"You expect me to believe that?" Marcel shook his head, lips curving into a smile. "If there is one thing I know is that wherever you and your brothers are, you always cause trouble and it never ends well for the people around you."

"It seems to have ended well for you." Rebekah replied."Marcel Gerard, King of the city. I shouldn't be surprised; you always wanted to be like Niklaus. He built you in his own image after all."

"I'm not like him." Marcel hissed.

"No," Rebekah agreed. "You will never be like him." _Nik was in a league of his own_. She tilted her head and regarded Marcel's face carefully. "Even after all you've achieved, you still fear him?"

"I fear no one." Marcel replied. "If Klaus thinks he will take _my_ city from me, he has another thing coming."

"How long were you plotting against my brother's back?" Rebekah wondered. "You always wanted to have it all didn't you?"

"Rebekah…" Marcel made a move to touch her arm, she pulled away immediately.

"When Nik found out about our relationship and daggered me as punishment, he gave you a choice." Rebekah said angrily, "to take the dagger out and live out a human life with me or to become a vampire. You chose to be a vampire and I was daggered for fifty-two years." She had once again been punished for choosing love. "And yet, I still took you back years later…" Nik had always said she was a fool when it came to love. "When Nik finally gave his blessing for us to be together one hundred years ago, you betrayed us. You chose power over me…again." _How many times has my heart been broken?_ Rebekah wondered. All for a love that had not been worth it.

"Everything I did, I did it for you." Marcel said in a gentle tone.

Rebekah laughed. "Don't. Don't you dare pretend that your betrayal was so that we could be together," she hissed. It was a lie and she knew it. "My brother will never forgive you for calling Mikael. You sold us to our worst enemy!"

"And the role you played in that?" Marcel snapped. "Do you think Klaus will forgive _you_?"

Rebekah glared at him. Her deepest, darkness secret, the one thing she had kept from her brother. Nik had always wondered how Mikael had found them…if he knew the truth…he would hate her.

"I trusted you." Rebekah said softly hating the way her voice trembled. "I trusted you with my family's greatest weakness because I loved you and you used me. You betrayed me. You betrayed us." She had been the one to tell Marcel about Mikael, Rebekah had confided in him and she had been burned for it. Everything they had built had been taken away the night Mikael had come for them. They had barely been able to escape with their lives. And for that Rebekah would nerver forgive Marcel.

She had given Marcel the key to destroy her family. How foolish and stupid she had been.

"Klaus will never forgive you," Marcel said playing on her insecurities. "He will even take it out on that human pet of yours. You'll end up daggered again, that's his favorite punishment for you isn't it?"

Rebekah wouldn't put it past him. Niklaus would find a way to punish her for the role she played in Mikael arriving in New Orleans one hundred years ago. But she also knew Bonnie would never allow any harm to come to Matt and that gave her some peace of mind. "Perhaps…" she murmured. "But at the end of the day a few decades, a century daggered is nothing," she hid her fears and doubts from her voice. She was not going to let Marcel's words get to her. "I suppose I should be used to it. But above all, I am his blood." Her eyes glinted as she took a step closer to the vampire. Nik could hurt her and punish her but he would never kill her. The same could not be said for Marcel. "What Nik might do to me is nothing compared to what he will do to you." She whispered in his ear.

Marcel turned his head so their faces were merely inches apart. "And yet you will still choose his side?" he questioned leaning even closer, their lips a few centimeters apart. "After everything he has done to you. After all the times he has hurt you…" his eyes bored into hers, challenging her to contract him with those dark pools that had once attracted her like a moth to a flame. There had always been a pull between them, a sizzling chemistry, like two magnets who couldn't seem to break apart no matter how hard they tried. "Don't you want to get revenge?" he murmured lips softly brushing hers, a quick gentle touch, like the tips of a butterfly wing. "Don't you want to make him suffer?"

One hundred years ago she would have shivered with anticipation or pull his head forward and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Instead Rebekah's full lips curved into a sly grin. She lifted her hand and touched his cheek. Marcel leaned into her touch a knowing smirk on his face.

 _Did she want to hurt Nik?_

 _Yes,_ There was a part of Rebekah that wanted her brother to know what it was like to be daggered for centuries, to make him suffer, to hurt him like he had hurt her time and time again. But at the same time she wanted his approval, she wanted his love and protection like when she had been a little girl.

She hated and loved Niklaus in equal measure.

Perhaps she and Elijah were cursed to be foolish enough to believe that their rascal brother could change, Elijah more so than her. And while she would gladly liked to teach Nik a lesson or two at the end of the day she was not going to let anyone try and hurt him. It was one thing for the Originals to fight with each other, to betray and stab one another in the back and seek revenge for past wrongs. They had been doing just that for the past one thousand years after all. But it was an entirely different matter when someone else tried to do the same to one of their own.

She had lost two brothers already…she would not lose another.

 _Family was above all._

When Rebekah leaned closer, Marcel licked his lips and grinned. He dipped his head down and was more than ready to claim her full lips in a long anticipated kiss.

"Nik is my brother." Rebekah said stopping him. "I will always choose him." She stared directly into his eyes, "and if you come after him, you come after me and Elijah." She snarled, her vampire face surfacing for a few seconds. "And make no mistake Marcel, we will rip you apart." With those words she turned around and began walking back inside the house.

 _We stick together as one, always and forever._

The promise they had made to each other, a vow that was as strong as the day it had been made. A vow Rebekah intended to keep.

Marcel's jaw clenched as he watched her walk away.

* * *

"Apple cider," Lucy said handing Bonnie a glass.

"Thank-you," Bonnie smiled at her cousin and took the glass, drinking the cool juice greedily. Meeting so many people at once had been exhausting.

"I'll be right back," Klaus told Bonnie. He kissed Bonnie's cheek and nodded in Lucy's direction before making his way towards Ishmael and Cary. He had something to discuss with them.

"So when were you going to tell me, Mrs. Mikaelson?" Lucy teased.

Bonnie nearly choked on her cider. "We are not…I don't know why he…" She stammered feeling the heat spread from her face and down to her neck and chest. She still couldn't believe Klaus had introduced her to everyone as his wife. She definitely needed to talk to him about that.

Her mother had looked murderous when she had heard him. Bonnie had done her best to avoid her. She had greeted her and Joanna rather quickly before making her way towards the other guests.

Lucy smiled. "He's one smooth son of bitch."

Bonnie smiled, feeling giddy, and warm and fuzzy inside. She caught her mother's gaze standing a few feet away, next to Joanna. Abby offered her a small smile. Bonnie smiled back feeling a sudden sadness.

"She'll come around," Lucy told her noticing the look between mother and daughter. "You'll see."

"I doubt it." Bonnie mumbled. She could only hope, but she would not be foolish enough to live on that false hope.

Elijah approached them suddenly. "It's the time for the toast and waltz," he told Bonnie with a smile.

The green eyed witch nodded. "I don't think you have been properly introduced," she said. "Elijah this is my cousin Lucy," she introduced them. "Lucy, this is Elijah Mikaelson."

"Pleasure," Elijah answered taking Lucy's hand in his and placing a small kiss on the back of her hand.

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "My, my, my, aren't you charming?"

"I'll go get Klaus," Bonnie said leaving them alone.

Lucy tilted her head to the side and stared at Elijah. "So you're the one they call honorable," Lucy muttered studying his face carefully before her gaze lowered and moved unashamedly over his body, taking in every detail of his elegant appearance. He seemed uptight and the kind of person who loved to be in control of everything.

 _Someone needs to ruffle you feathers_ , Lucy thought biting her lip. She certainly wouldn't mind sacrificing herself for the cause.

"I am." Elijah said as he raised an eyebrow very much aware of her lingering gaze on his body. He was certainly not a stranger to that kind of reaction from the opposite sex but there was something about the way Lucy did it.

"Are you as honorable as they say in the bedroom?" Lucy asked with a saucy grin.

Elijah's lips parted before he pressed them together once more. It rarely happened but he had been caught off guard by her question. He had just met her and he had not expected something as such to come out of her mouth.

Lucy's grin widened when he didn't say anything. "I guess we'll have to see," she winked before turning around and making her way towards her mother and aunt. She had just walked a few paces when she suddenly turned back to look at him over her shoulder, a flirty smile on her pretty face. "And the answer is yes by the way,"

"Excuse me?" Elijah frowned. He hadn't asked her anything.

"I will dance with you." Lucy told him with clear amusement.

"I haven't asked you to dance," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Any other woman would have been offended by his tone but Lucy had a mischievous smile on her face. "You will." She told him with confidence. With that, she made her way towards her mother and aunt.

Elijah's gaze slowly moved over the tight and silky material of her green dress, which emphasized her curves perfectly. He unconsciously licked his lips at the sight of her swaying hips.

* * *

"Welcome and thank-you ladies and gentlemen for accompanying us this night," Elijah politely addressed their guests. His dark eyes moved over the group gathered around them. Everyone who was in attendance knew who they where, knew of the existence of vampires. There were no pretenses here. They had been invited for a very specific reason. "Three hundred years ago our family arrived in New Orleans from the old world. We made this city our home." Elijah's smooth voice resonated on the first floor.

"We helped built this city," Klaus spoke up, "shape its identity, fought its enemies, and created a safe and thriving community that it's still remembered to this day." He smiled blue eyes twinkling as if he knew some kind of secret they didn't. "We are extremely delighted to be back." His gaze lingered on Marcel and his vampires momentarily before he continued. "We are happy to make this city _our_ home once more."

"We will like to make a toast," Elijah said as one of the servers approached them with a tray of champagne glasses. Elijah handed Rebekah a glass while Klaus did the same with Bonnie.

"To this beautiful city," Elijah raised his glass, "to its people, and above all, to family."

Everyone lifted their glasses and toasted with the Mikaelsons, drinking the exquisite liquid. Except for Bonnie, she merely pretended to drink, placing the champagne flute to her lips but never taking a sip. It wasn't good for the baby.

"It's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance, please joins us in the ballroom." Elijah directed their guest.

Klaus took Bonnie's hand and led the way towards the large ballroom.

They stopped right at the center of the beautiful decorated and candle lit room and turned to face each other.

The mayor and his wife were close by, as well as Rebekah and Matt. And Bonnie was surprised to see her cousin Lucy and Elijah on her other side. Lucy only winked at Bonnie's questioning look.

There were other couples anxiously waiting for the music to start; among them a giddy Belle and a rather reluctant Riley.

"Don't step on my toes," she told him.

Riley only shook his head, he hated dancing but for Belle he found himself making the exception.

Jesse was a few feet away flirting with a red haired girl. While Angelica and Felix were a few feet away from him ready for the first waltz.

Katie looked longingly at Thierry but he did he's best to ignore her. He didn't want to risk anyone finding out about their secret affair.

Sabine's eyes were glued to Elijah and the tall, voluptuous woman on his arms. She kept her back to the wall, watching them with acute interest.

While Marcel and Francesca Correa moved to the center of the ballroom, pretty close to Klaus and Bonnie.

Joanna and Abby watched the dancing couples from the sidelines while Ishmael and Cary did the same, just a few feet away from them.

As the first notes of music began filling the room, the couples bowed and moved closer.

Klaus placed his hand on the small of Bonnie's back and pressed her body to his in a rather sensual manner that made the young witch blush. Her hand was sweaty and her heart was beating like a bird against a cage.

 _Don't trip_ , Bonnie thought. She hoped that the waltzing lessons Caroline forced her to attend would paid off.

Klaus took the lead and they began spinning around the room.

The first few moments of their dance were in silence as Bonnie was doing her best not to trip and embarrassed herself. When she finally began to relax in his arms, she took the courage to approach the subject that had been revolving in her mind.

She muttered a silencing spell around them, so no one would be able to hear their conversation. Klaus arched an eyebrow impressed.

"You introduced me as your wife," Bonnie said feeling the heat on her face once more.

"I did." Klaus grinned as he twirled her around the ballroom. Bonnie giggled when he let her out of his arms and pulled her back in with expert ease. He was an excellent dancer.

"But…we are not…" Bonnie closed her eyes momentarily. "Why did you do it?" she finally asked.

"I'm one thousand years old Bonnie, girlfriend seems too small a word to encompass what you mean to me," he answered honestly.

Bonnie's breath hitched.

"I suppose I could call you my lover but you are much more than that." He continued. There was something in the way he was looking at her, as if he was trying to communicate some hidden message. Something he wasn't able to say with words yet. "In the eyes of the wolves you are my wife." It had felt natural to refer to her as such but now he felt a moment of uncertainty.

 _What if she didn't want such compromise?_ She was so young still. _What if she didn't want him in the way he wanted her?_

"Does it bother you?" he asked almost in a whisper, trying to keep a neutral tone in his voice and avoiding her eyes. The bond however betrayed his real feelings.

Bonnie could feel his uncertainty and the nervousness he felt about her answer. It was rather cute. It was a rare thing for Klaus to show his insecurities, the last thing he wanted was to appear weak but due to the bond he couldn't really keep things from her for long.

"No," Bonnie whispered back. It was the truth. She had been taken by surprise certainly but in her heart she knew the truth. She liked the idea of people thinking she was his wife, of him thinking and referring to her as such. _Perhaps one day we could make it official,_ she thought dreamily.

The two stared into each other's eyes as the waltz came to an end. They stood holding hands and gazing at each other, completely oblivious to everything around them.

Klaus smiled- a genuine kind of smile that was rarely seen- if ever upon his face, except when it came to her. The more time he spent with her, the more he found himself smiling.

Their bond pulsed with happiness and another type of emotion he could not truly describe, except that it made him feel warm inside. His cold, dead, and cruel heart pounded loudly in his ears as he stared at her. Feeling the heat spread inside his body and burn his veins from the inside out, a heat that had nothing to do with lust, but adoration…devotion…and…

 _Is this love?_ He wondered. _Is this what it feels like to love someone?_

His Bonnie, his lover, his bonded, the mother of his child, his wife and his everything…Bonnie Bennett had not only gotten under his skin but had made him feel things he had never felt before. Things he had never thought he could feel or deserve. She completed him.

The doors of the ballroom suddenly burst opened.

Klaus jerked his head to the side as he felt the threatening presence. Bonnie turned as well knowing exactly who it was that had come to interrupt their moment. It was the moment she had been anticipating. The person she had been looking forward to meeting and had not been able to find among the guests earlier in the evening.

The Seer and her coven had arrived.

The witches led by Agnes and Bastiana immediately stood and went to her side, showing where their loyalties lay, with the exception of Sabine who kept herself against the wall, a frown on her face.

At the same moment Abby, Joanna, Lucy, and Angelica moved towards Bonnie's side. Letting the witches know that Bonnie had a coven of her own.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop as the air was filled with an undeniable tension once more.

The music stopped. The couples twirling around the room also stopped as they felt the change in the air. They instinctively knew something important was about to happen.

Klaus and Elijah exchanged looks.

Ishmael and Cary moved closer to Bonnie as did Klaus's hybrids. All of them ready should Bonnie need their help.

Matt squeezed Rebekah's hand nervously as they stared at the Seer and her coven.

Marcel looked from the Seer to Bonnie trying to determine which witch to place his bet on. Despite what he knew of the Seer and the deal he had with her, Marcel was leaning more towards the beauty in red.

Bonnie lifted her chin and stared unflinchingly into the Seer's face. When she had sent the invitation, her note had been a challenge. A challenge the Seer had accepted by showing up to the ball.

 _The time has come to end this_. Bonnie thought squaring her shoulders and preparing herself.

The Seer waited expectantly for Bonnie to acknowledge her presence, to say the first word, to come to her. To show the respect and deference other witches had shown her before and to recognize the Seer's powerful position in New Orleans.

Bonnie didn't. Instead she waited for the Seer to come to _her._ She would not make the first move, if she did Bonnie knew it would be a show of weakness. This was a power play, that's why the Seer had arrived this late to put Bonnie on the spot in front of all the guests.

The guests anxiously looked from one witch to the other, waiting to see who would cave first.

The Seer waited, her lips tightly pressed together and challenging Bonnie with her eyes to come and greet her.

She was going to keep on waiting because Bonnie had no intention of doing so. Instead Bonnie turned to the side where the band nervously waited for any instructions.

"Continue," Bonnie ordered her voice loud and clear. She deliberately turned her back to the Seer, ignoring her as she smiled at Klaus and offered him her hand. "Shall we?" She wanted to continue dancing. Their waltz had been rudely interrupted by the late arrival.

Klaus smiled from ear to ear and took her hand.

There were a couple of gasps from the witches. No one had ever dared to ignore the Seer before; everyone seemed to live in fear of her, except for Bonnie. This was a great insult and everyone knew it.

The music filled the room once more and the guest took their cues from their hosts. The couples began to move once more around the ballroom.

Elijah grabbed Lucy's hand and twirled her around.

Ishmael offered a polite smile towards Joanna who accepted his offered hand and began dancing with the older wolf.

Rebekah beamed at Bonnie, clearly proud of her friend before she and Matt began waltzing once more.

Bonnie Bennett had just snubbed the Seer and her entire coven in front of the most important members of the city of New Orleans. In front of all the supernatural species gathered in the mansion.

The Seer's hands clenched painfully together as she watched Bonnie and Klaus dance without care, ignoring her presence, fury swirled inside her and ignited her blood with fire.

Iris bit her lip until she drew blood. Her mentor's plan of arriving late and forcing Bonnie to show some respect had horrendously backfired in her face.

The Seer had just learned a very important lesson.

Bonnie Bennett was the Queen. She bowed to no one. And the game was being played by her rules now.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: I want to take the time to address something very important. As some of you are aware some has accused me of plagiarizing Klonnie stories. I am deeply shocked and sad that anyone would think I am stealing their work and passing it as my own because that is not true. As I told the person who made the accusations everything that I have written in my story are my own words and the way I envisioned it in my head. I haven't read the stories in question but I have been more than willing to talk to her and discuss this issue because I don't want anyone to accuse me of something I haven't done. It really hurts to have people call me a thief or to blame me for other Klonnie authors leaving the fandom especially after all the hard work that I have put into writing my story. Crimson Peak is my baby. Every moment of free time that I have has been put into writing my story, countless hours and many late nights because sometimes inspiration strikes just as I'm about to go to sleep. I work really hard to put my ideas into writing and to do my best to get the chapters done so that I can update once a week because I know how much you love and enjoy this story._

 _I want you to know how grateful I am for all the support, for all the encouraging, kind, and thoughtful words I have received from you. It really means a lot to me and has helped me greatly not to let any negativity bring me down and to focus on continuing to write this story. Thank-you, I really appreciate it. Thank-you so much with all my heart,_

 _Redqueen._

* * *

Davina muttered angrily to herself as she occupied her time drawing. She had wanted to go to the Mikaelson ball. She had thought Marcel would take her, but he hadn't. According to him, it was too dangerous. Klaus could try and hurt her.

She angrily moved the pencil over her sketchpad. As grateful as she felt towards Marcel for saving her, she couldn't help but feel angry and resentful that she had to spend her time locked up in the attic. She knew it was for her own good but she wanted to go out. She wanted to see her friends from school. She was getting tired of living in the shadows.

 _I just need to wait a little bit more_. Davina thought. Soon the witches were going to lose their magic and she would be free. She had to keep on waiting for now but soon she would free to do as she pleased.

"Here."

Davina looked up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. A young dark haired guy stood in front of her a paper bag on one hand and a drink on the other.

"I thought you might be hungry," he said with a friendly smile while handing her the bag and drink.

Davina frowned. "Who are you?" she had never seen him before. He was a vampire she could tell. A new one it seemed. His aura resembled that of a human which meant he had not been turned that long ago.

"I'm Josh." He replied with a smile, "the newbie." That's what the other vampires called him. "You're Davina right?"

"What are you doing here?" Davina asked. Only Marcel's inner circle knew where she was, only a few of Marcel's vampires were allowed close to her.

Josh shrugged as he deposited the bag and drink on the side table before sitting across from her.

"Logan is supposed to watch you and some of the others but they ordered me to do it instead. They're out hunting, Marcel is going to kill them if he finds out but I've been threatened with bodily harm if I don't do as they tell me." He told her rapidly while fidgeting.

"And you are afraid of them?"

"Hey I'm new, barely getting a handle on being a vampire and I don't have a daylight ring so yeah…I'm scared shitless." He replied with a nervous smile. "You are way less scary than they are. No offense."

Davina smiled. She grabbed the bag and found a hamburger with fries. "I haven't had a burger in a while," she admitted her mouth watering. She looked up at the guy, Josh he said his name was. "Thank-you, Josh." She smiled.

"Enjoy." Josh beamed before stealing one of her fries. "So, what are you drawing?"

 _He seems nice_ , Davina thought. And he was close to her age too, _maybe we can be friends?_

She was lonely.

* * *

"She hasn't taken her eyes of you." Lucy murmured as she came to stand next to Bonnie.

Bonnie's cheeks were flushed and she was still catching her breath. She had lost count of how many waltzes she had danced with Klaus. The hybrid was currently getting her something to drink. Not once had she looked at the Seer and her coven, despite feeling their murderous gazes on her skin.

"She's waiting for me to acknowledge her and I won't." Bonnie told her cousin. She had done an impeccable job so far in ignoring the Seer and her coven which were all in the corner of the room throwing daggers at her.

Lucy laughed. "Little Bonnie Bennett all grown up."

Bonnie smiled before tilting her head to the side and giving her cousin a knowing look. "You and Elijah seemed to be having fun."

Lucy shrugged but a small smile formed on her lips. "He's sexy, uptight and a control freak but something tells me he's an animal between the sheets."

"Lucy!" Bonnie couldn't believe her cousin had just said that and of Elijah no less. She couldn't imagine Elijah dating anyone, he seemed so serious, then again Lucy was the kind of person that could make him laugh and help him be less uptight.

"Eww," Rebekah's voice interrupted them as she came to stand next to Bonnie. "Please refrain from making those kinds of comments about my brother when I'm close."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You were on the other side of the ballroom a few moments ago," she pointed out.

"Vampire hearing remember," Rebekah gave her a look. They had been introduced earlier in the evening and while Joanna had greeted Rebekah politely, Abby had pressed her lips together and glared at the Original girl, Lucy had been much nicer and open minded. Bonnie had made it clear she and the Mikaelson siblings were a package so Lucy wanted to get to know them better.

Lucy was ready to say more before a serious look crossed her face. "And here is someone who hasn't taken his eyes of you either," she told Bonnie.

Bonnie looked up just in time to see Marcel Gerard approaching them. She had seen him dancing with Francesca Correa before and a couple other women. And she had also felt his gaze on her from time to time. She didn't know what to make of him.

Rebekah glared in the vampire's direction.

Marcel ignored her and offered Bonnie his most charming smile, "may I have the next dance?" he extended his hand and waited expectantly for Bonnie's answer.

Rebekah was throwing daggers at him while Lucy watched with suspicion.

It was at the tip of her tongue to say no, but Bonnie stopped herself at the last minute. There was no need for her to be rude. He was just asking her for one dance, not to take a chunk out of her arm.

 _He's Klaus's enemy_. Her mind retorted. _And what was that saying? Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer…_

Bonnie reluctantly nodded. She exchanged a look with Lucy and Rebekah before accepting Marcel's hand and moving towards the center of the ballroom once more.

"I don't like him." Lucy muttered as she watched them go. She had heard plenty of stories about Marcel and his treatment of witches.

"Join the club darling," Rebekah replied.

Marcel was a good dancer. He easily twirled Bonnie around the room.

"You are provoking one of the most powerful women in the city," he murmured against her ear.

Bonnie didn't feel comfortable with his mouth so close to her ear or the possessive grip he had on her back. She tried to put as much distance as possible between them. "I don't know what you mean," she played dumb.

Marcel chuckled. "The Seer is not one to forget this slight against her coven." The seriousness in his tone and face did not go unnoticed. His eyes seemed darker as well, two dark pools that seemed almost hypnotizing. "Do you know who you are dealing with?"

"Someone who thinks she's better than everyone else," Bonnie muttered looking up into his face. He was taller than her. "Do you know her well?" she asked suddenly.

"As much as anybody else," he said. "And you?" he asked in turn. "Why is there so much animosity between the two of you?" He was very curious to know more. It was obvious that something had happened between both witches and that they didn't get along.

"I don't know." Bonnie continued to played dumb. She was not going to divulge the reason the Seer was after her to Marcel.

"You are definitely quite something…" Marcel murmured with a smile. "I do wonder though…"

"What?" Bonnie asked not liking the look on his face.

"How is a girl like you willingly married to a man like Klaus?" She was a witch she couldn't be compelled that much Marcel knew. "Do you know _what_ he is?"

"I know _who_ Klaus is." Bonnie told him, "and I am certainly not going to discuss my personal life with you." She and Klaus weren't really married but she would never admit that to Marcel.

"So you don't care?" Marcel asked intrigued. "All the terrible things he has done, the innocents he has murdered, humans, witches…" He regarded her face carefully. "Doesn't it bother you to make your bed with the most selfish and cruel vampire the world has ever seen?"

"And who are you to judge?" Bonnie asked with honest curiosity. "You talk about all the terrible things Klaus has done but what about the terrible things _you_ have done?" _Why were vampires so eager to point fingers to other vampires without considering what they'd done first?_ She couldn't help but think of Damon in that moment.

"I-" Marcel began not liking her tone.

"You oppress the witches, you forbid them from practicing magic and if they do you kill them." Bonnie interrupted him. "How many witches have you murdered for fun since you became king?" She had heard the stories, not just from Klaus but from Angelica and even Lucy had shared some of the things she had heard Marcel had done to the witches that defied him.

"You don't know-"

"I know that you terrorize and oppress them. I know that you are using a sixteen year old girl to punish those whose only crime is to not accept you as a ruler," Bonnie told him before he could say anything, "and what about the werewolves? You cursed them simply because they dared to stand up to you?"

Marcel's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched at her words. "You have no idea what you are talking about." He hissed.

"I know it's not right." Bonnie snapped. "Klaus has done terrible things yes," Bonnie stopped in the middle of the waltz and pulled away from him. "But so have you. You are no better than him or any other vampire so don't pretend otherwise," and with those words she turned around and walked away.

Marcel watched her go, his gaze lingering on her curves as she walked out of the ballroom. Despite the fact that he did not like what she had said to him, he still couldn't stop the soft smile that formed on his face.

 _I like you Bonnie_ , he thought. She was definitely something. He was starting to see why Klaus had married her.

* * *

"You are related to Klaus," Joanna stared at Ishmael with curiosity. They had danced a couple of waltzes before getting something to drink. She kept glancing at the Seer from time to time to ensure the woman and her coven didn't try anything against Bonnie. So far, the Seer had stayed sulking in the corner of the room.

"Yes," Ishmael responded. "I am a direct descendant of his biological father."

"Your line is ancient." Joanna took a sip of her cocktail deep in thought. She hadn't dealt with many werewolves before but she had heard the stories.

"As it's yours," Ishmael remarked.

"This war is inevitable isn't it?" Joanna murmured. She could feel it. This was no coincidence, Klaus finding his werewolf family, Bonnie's pregnancy, the Bennett coven coming together once more. It was the beginning.

Everything was falling into place. It was coming.

"It is." Ishmael responded staring at the rim of his glass. "I have fought many battles in my life but something tells me this war is unlike anything we have ever seen before."

Joanna nodded. She felt the same way. Her eyes landed on Bonnie who was dancing with the vampire king. She looked rather uncomfortable. "What do you make of him?" she asked suddenly.

Ishmael followed her line of sight and stared at Marcel, regarding him carefully. "Ambitious, determined, smart…" his jaw clenched thinking of the five werewolves he had lost because of Marcel. "I don't think you should worry too much about him."

Joanna was taken back by that comment, "you don't consider him a threat?" Was the older wolf so arrogant or did he honestly didn't think Marcel was a worthy enemy to consider.

"Not tonight." Ishmael shook his head. "It is the witches we all should worry about." His eyes moved towards the Seer. "She was insulted, humiliated in front of everyone and yet she has chosen to sit in the corner with her coven, don't you find that strange?" There was something about that woman. As a wolf Ishmael had learned not only to read people but to sense…to see beyond their outer appearance. All he could sense from the Seer was darkness…

The wheels began turning in Joanna's head. "She's plotting something…" It shouldn't surprise her really. _But what could the Seer be planning?_ What could the woman possibly do in a room filled with supernaturals and humans? There were too many witnesses and too many people to stop her should she try anything.

Ishmael took a sip of his scotch and turned to face her, "don't let Bonnie out of your sight." he instructed. "The night is young and the witching hour is yet to come." With those words he walked away from her and made his way to his grandson, Cary.

Joanna watched him go before hurrying to find Abby and Lucy. She needed to warn them. Whatever the Seer was planning, Joanna knew Bonnie and her baby were the targets.

* * *

Iris was sick of sitting around doing nothing. She felt anxious and nervous. There was a strange feeling she couldn't seem to shake no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't even distract herself dancing even if there was a part of her that wanted to.

No, they had to wait. They had to follow the plan.

Iris stood up abruptly.

"Where are you going?" Her mentor asked. The Seer didn't even look in her direction, since their arrival she had kept her eyes on the young Bennett witch, patiently waiting until the right moment.

"Powder room," Iris replied."I'll be back." she quickly made her way out of the ballroom. They still had over an hour. They had to wait until midnight, wait until the witching hour to make their move against the Bennett witch- that was the plan. But the longer they waited the more agitated Iris became.

She locked herself in the bathroom and took her time reapplying her make-up. She felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something felt off. From the moment she had stepped inside the Governor's mansion she had felt something, a chill of sorts that had washed over her body and refused to leave her.

 _The call of dead._

Iris closed her eyes remembering that's what her mother used to say. Whenever her mother had uttered those words someone closed to them had died. Iris shook her head. _Don't think about that now_ , it's a bad omen. She shook her head and stared at her reflection in the mirror for a few more seconds. _Maybe a drink would help._

Iris took a deep breath before exiting the powder room. Maybe a glass of bourbon would calm her nerves.

No sooner had she stepped out when her eyes landed on the tall, dark, and handsome figure waiting for her.

Iris froze.

"Hello Iris." Elijah Mikaelson stood a few feet in front of her in the barely lit hallway of the mansion. He appeared calm and nonchalant, one hand on the pocket of his pants and a thin smile on his face.

He was the perfect picture of elegance and arrogance.

Iris swallowed hard taken completely off guard. She had done her best to avoid the old one, the one she had trapped for weeks inside the coffin. She didn't think he would recognize her with so many people attending the ball. It had never occurred to her that he would want to seek her out. That he would corner her when she was alone.

 _Stupid!_ she chided herself. _How could she had been so stupid as to let her guard down?_

"I believe you remember me don't you?" he asked taking a menacing step closer. The last time they had been face to face she had used a special powder to knock him out. She didn't have that today and he knew it. He had the upper hand now and they both knew it.

Iris lifted her hand and used all her magic to send a powerful blast of power to him, to buy her some time so that she could return to her coven. Elijah couldn't harm her, not with her mentor and her coven protecting her.

Nothing happened.

Iris tried again and nothing. She didn't understand it. She had her magic, she could feel it. It was there. _But why isn't it working?_ She wondered as her heart leaped to her throat in panic. This had never happened to her before. She definitely didn't like this turn of events. This was not part of the plan.

Elijah chuckled. "My mother was a very gifted and powerful witch," he murmured. "Not only did she create a very powerful spell but one that is completely untraceable."

Iris gasped. "All the magic inside the mansion is being blocked by that spell," she realized at his words. "And the witches haven't realized it…." She needed to warn her mentor. The plan to kill Bonnie was set in motion but without their magic to help them out, there was no way they could escape the mansion alive.

The Seer had to know this.

Iris took off running. She didn't make it very far.

Elijah flashed in front of her, immediately grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up with one arm.

Iris gasped and tears burned in her eyes as his fingers dug painfully around her neck while her feet dangled a couple of inches from the ground.

Elijah's eyes bored into hers. He thought of the weeks he spent trapped in the coffin, the dark magic slowly eating away his life. Days after days unable to move, to talk, petrified and alone in the darkness and feeling his strength and energy slowly being drained from his body. There was a part of him that wanted to make the witch suffer the same fate as him, to trap her inside a coffin and bury her in the ground so she would die slowly and alone. It was a luxury he could not afford at the moment. There were too many eyes and ears inside the mansion, to many witnesses.

"Goodbye Iris," he said simply.

The young witch tried to say something but she couldn't, tears streamed down her pale cheeks and her coppery hair came undone from her messy bun as she struggled to break free. It was impossible. Without her magic she could not fight him.

 _No…no…it can't end like this…_ Iris thought struggling and failing to break free from his grasp. She wished for someone to walk in on them, for her mentor to realize, to sense or maybe see her predicament and come to her rescue but it was a foolish dream. Her mother had been right. The strange feeling she had felt as soon as she came inside the mansion. It was death knocking at her door.

Death had come for her in the form of Elijah.

He could have broken her neck and be done with it but instead Elijah squeezed his fingers around her neck cutting her air supply completely. He couldn't trap her in a coffin the same way she had him, but he was going to kill her for what she had done to him and it wouldn't be a quick death.

Elijah Mikaelson might be known as the honorable one of the Originals but he had no mercy for those that dared cross him.

His eyes never left her face as he squeezed the life out of her, giving her a slow and agonizing death. The death she deserved for what she had done to him.

* * *

Bonnie found Klaus in the kitchen talking conspiratorially with Felix and Angelica. All three of them turned to stare at her the moment they felt her presence.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked curiously as she moved closer to Klaus.

"Getting you water," Klaus quickly replied. He handed her the glass filled with icy water he had in his hand.

Bonnie who was definitely thirsty took the glass from him and drank greedily before staring at Felix and Angelica, a questioning look on her face.

"We've been ensuring that nothing is out of the ordinary," Felix told her in his usual nonchalant tone. "We don't want to be caught off guard."

Angelica nodded eagerly.

Bonnie couldn't shake the feeling that he was lying. She turned towards Klaus sensing his emotions through the bond but the hybrid was calmed and relaxed. He placed his hands behind his back and offered her a dimpled smile.

To anyone else he would look like a handsome angel. But Bonnie knew better. There was a wicked glint in his blue eyes. A devil wearing an Angel's face her grandmother would have told her.

"We should return to the ballroom," Angelica grabbed Felix's arm and the two exited the kitchen leaving Bonnie and Klaus alone.

"You're hiding something," Bonnie said as soon as they exited. The bond allowed her to see beyond the mask the hybrid wore.

"I would never!" Klaus replied with mock offense. The corners of lips however did twitch and the glint in his eyes let Bonnie know that she had been right on target. The hybrid was planning something and Felix and Angelica were clearly on it. _But what was he planning?_

"Klaus-" she didn't get to finish because in the next second Klaus pulled her against him, dipping his head and capturing her lips with his. Bonnie responded eagerly. She managed to place the empty glass of water on the kitchen island before wrapping her arms around the hybrid and pressing her body closer to his.

They kissed and kissed, lips meeting with intensity. In that moment Bonnie forgot everything else. All she could think about was him, all she wanted was him. The world could've come to an end and Bonnie wouldn't have noticed, so lost was she in his passionate embrace.

Klaus's tongue traced her bottom lip and Bonnie wasted no time in granting him access. She whimpered and moaned in delight when their tongues met with urgency, tangling together in a well known waltz. _She could kiss him forever_ , Bonnie thought. She wanted to spend forever kissing him.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look?" Klaus murmured as he reluctantly pulled away from her lips.

"Yes," Bonnie panted trying to catch her breath after their intense kissing session.

"And how much I want to rip this dress off your body and fuck you into oblivion…" He said huskily.

"Klaus!" Bonnie colored and playfully slapped his chest at his choice of words and yet despite her scandalized reaction she felt a wave of desire invade her body. Her breasts ached to be touched and heat pooled in her belly.

Klaus grabbed her waist and inched her body closer to his, so that she could feel how ready he was to make his words come true. "We have time…" his seductive voice sent shivers down her spine.

 _Oh yes we do!_ Bonnie lusted clouded mind supplied. They could easily sneak upstairs.

"The meeting with the leader of…" Bonnie trailed off when Klaus dipped his head on the curve of her neck and shoulder, lips finding her soft skin and licking the sensitive flesh before he started sucking on her pulse point. "Klaus…" Bonnie moaned.

Klaus placed hot open mouthed kisses up her neck, over her chin, until he reached her ear. His stubble tickled her a bit as he nibbled on her earlobe. "Let's go upstairs," his husky voice whispered in her ear.

Bonnie was more than ready to scream yes but the moment was interrupted.

"Klaus…" A nervous voice said from the doorway.

Bonnie closed her eyes feeling frustrated that they couldn't go upstairs and embarrassed at having been caught in a compromising situation.

Klaus turned to Belle who stood by the entrance an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm really sorry…" Belle said looking at Klaus and then at Bonnie. "Really I didn't mean to…I swear I…"

"It's okay." Bonnie told her.

"What is it?" Klaus asked frustrated that their moment had been interrupted.

"You told us to keep our eyes open and let you know of anything suspicious and well I saw this girl…" Belle told them moving inside the kitchen. "She's a werewolf I'm pretty sure, I think she crashed the party…I told Jesse and he went to look and he hasn't been back and I'm worried and I don't…"

"Where did you see this wolf girl?" Klaus interrupted her rambling.

"In the backyard," Belle replied. "She's not one of your family…cousins…pack…" she wasn't really sure what to call Klaus's newly found relatives. "Well, I'm not one hundred percent sure but I don't think she is."

"Get Riley and meet me there." Klaus ordered. He wasn't going to take any changes with anyone crashing the party. If the wolf girl belonged to Carry and his pack she wouldn't have been trying to sneak inside the party.

Belle nodded and ran out of the kitchen in search for Riley.

"I'll go with you." Bonnie said as Klaus turned to face her.

"Absolutely not," the hybrid told her. "You are staying here."

"But Klaus-"

"As long as you are inside the house you are protected." Klaus reminded her. No one could use magic against her inside the mansion thanks to the spell she and Angelica had preformed earlier.

"What if this is a trap by the witches or Marcel?" Bonnie asked him feeling worried.

"I'm ten times older than Marcel and his vampires and the witches are in the ballroom sulking." Klaus traced his fingers over Bonnie's left arm in a reassuring touch. "Don't worry love, I can't be killed remember."

"That doesn't mean you can't be hurt." Bonnie reminded him. "Stay here, don't go," she pleaded suddenly. She didn't want him to go. Something inside of her told her that it would be best if Klaus stayed inside.

"Sweetheart," Klaus touched her cheek gently, surprisingly touched at how worried she was for him. He wondered, _when was the last time anyone had ever worried about his safety?_ "Don't worry."

Bonnie didn't like it but he had already made up his mind, she could tell from the bond that he was going to investigate who the party crasher was.

"If you are not back in ten minutes I'm coming for you." Bonnie told him. Her tone left no room for argument. "And please be careful."

"I'll be back." Klaus smiled, "I think we'll even have time for another waltz before the meeting." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before making his way to the backyard.

Bonnie watched him go feeling a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Something didn't feel right.

 _Please be safe._ She thought as she watched him go.

* * *

"What are we waiting for?" Diego questioned Marcel as he paced nervously near one of the windows. He was sick and tired of watching people dancing and waiting for Marcel to give the order, it was close to midnight. He didn't see the point in waiting any longer.

"Patience my friend…" Marcel crossed his arms over his chest, deep in thought.

"It's almost midnight, the guys are in position all you need to do is give the order and-" Thierry didn't get to finish.

"Not yet."

"But Marcel!" Diego whined. His hands clenched into fists, he was more than ready. He was itching for a fight. And the first people he was going after were the stupid werewolves glaring at him from across the room. He hated werewolves with passion. He wanted to kill all of them.

Marcel ignored his protests. Something wasn't right. He stared at the Seer who was the picture of elegance iciness on the corner of the ballroom. _What are you planning?_ He wondered. She looked far too calmed and relaxed for someone who had been humiliated in front of la crème de la crème of New Orleans.

The Seer was planning something and that made Marcel second guess his actions.

From the moment he had received the invitation Marcel formed a plan. He knew that brutal force was not the key to defeat Klaus-that had been more than evident in his failed attack of the werewolf camp. No, to defeat Klaus, Marcel needed to be smarter. He needed to be one step ahead of the hybrid.

 _The queen is the most important piece in the game_. Elijah had said when he had taught Marcel how to play chess over a century ago, when he had been just a child eager to learn.

The queen in this case was Bonnie and now that Marcel knew who exactly Bonnie was- who she was to Klaus. That made her all the more valuable to him and any other of Klaus's enemies. Bonnie was the key to destroy Klaus. Marcel was more than ready to take the queen but the Seer…

He needed to weigh his options. _Should he attack first? Should he let the Seer make the first move? Or perhaps they could combine forces and attack at the same time?_

"Marcel!" Diego tried again. "Now it's the time we need-"

"Not yet." Marcel hissed turning to him and glaring. "When the time comes, I will give the order." He didn't wait for a response before walking away. Marcel was determined not to make the same mistake he had made at the werewolf camp. He needed to be careful. He couldn't fail a second time.

 _Let the Seer have the first attack_. He thought. Depending on her success or failure, Marcel would proceed with his plan or come up with an entirely new plan of attack.

Marcel spotted Rebekah happily dancing with her human. He moved his gaze towards the werewolves who were whispering among themselves in a language Marcel didn't understand. His eyes narrowed wondering what the hell they were planning.

He continued to look around the room and stopped to look at two witches and a vampire. All three women were beautiful and seemed to share similar features. _They must be related_ Marcel thought. They weren't from the French Quarter, that he knew for sure. This was the first time he had ever seen any of them.

 _How are all these people connected?_ Marcel wondered. _What piece of the puzzle am I missing?_

Marcel frowned when he realized the Seer was no longer in the room. _Where the hell is she?_

It seemed the Seer was ready to make her move.

Marcel took a deep breath and waited. He waited to see how all of this would play out.

* * *

After disposing of Iris's body Elijah made his way back inside the mansion, ready to return to the ballroom. They needed to meet with the leaders of the supernatural species present at the ball. It was time to move the next pieces of the game.

He had planned to make his way inside through the side porch but stopped short when he spotted Sophie's friend, the witch Sabine.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" she said staring at the half moon and leaning her elbows against the porch railing. She looked rather melancholic.

There was something about her. Elijah wasn't sure but he felt like he knew her from somewhere. The problem was he couldn't remember from where.

"Who are you?" Elijah asked moving closer until he was standing beside her.

"Who do you think I am?" Sabine asked instead. She turned around so she could face him fully. There was a challenge in her gaze.

"I feel like I know you…" Elijah murmured staring into her dark eyes, there was something familiar about those eyes, about her aura. It almost seemed like it was calling to him, reaching out.

Sabine's red lips curved into a smile. She reached out and touched his cheek, "perhaps you do…" she whispered leaning closer.

Before Elijah could say anything else, she pulled his head down and kissed him. Despite his reservations his body acted on its own accord and his lips returned her kiss with unexpected eagerness and passion.

He felt drawn to her in a way he couldn't explain. There was a spark when their lips met, something resonated inside his blood. He had been kissed like this before.

Elijah pulled away when he felt it. "What did you do?" he asked feeling the magic take root inside him.

 _No not again_ …his mind protested as it struggled to fight it.

"Just a simple sleeping concoction on my lipstick…" Sabine muttered watching as he blinked rapidly, "just enough to get you away from here without making a scene." She had waited for the perfect opportunity to get him alone. Iris's death had not been a waste after all.

Elijah sank to his knees, his body heavy, so heavy and tired. He felt really sleepy. He managed to look into her face as tried his best to fight the darkness that threatened to consume him. "Why?" he managed to say.

"You and your siblings have been so busy trying to protect Bonnie…" Sabine told him, crouching down to his eye level. "You missed one very important detail, Elijah." She grabbed his face, tracing the outline of his cheek gently, like a lover's caress. Elijah's eyes glazed over. "The witches don't want just Bonnie, they want all of you."

Elijah's head slumped over and his body fell to the ground with a thud.

Sabine pulled her cell phone out. "Elijah is sleeping like a baby, pick him up, you know where to take him." She instructed the other person on the phone.

* * *

Klaus found Jesse near the trees that surrounded the property, he was unconscious. His neck had been broken. A familiar brunette girl laid next to him also unconscious. Klaus knew her, Hayley Marshall.

 _What are you doing here?_ He thought. He could feel the magic in the air. The hairs on the back of his neck and arms prickled as he sensed them.

He had known this could be a trap. It was the reason he had refused Bonnie's offer to come with him. The witches had probably realized they couldn't use magic inside the house and wanted to lure them out.

Klaus felt them long before he heard their footsteps. The witches approached him from behind and Klaus was more than ready to kill them all. He was done playing games.

"So this is your plan?" Klaus asked turning around to face Bastiana. Something felt off. _What the hell were the witches plotting?_ They couldn't kill him. Perhaps they wanted to hurt him and force Bonnie to come outside. Klaus was not going to let that happen.

Bastiana glared at him, three other witches stepped from the shadows as well. They looked determined and ready for battle. Klaus rolled his eyes, _fools_ he thought. _Did they honestly think they could take him down?_

Klaus wasted no time. Under different circumstances he would've taken his time playing with them, torturing them, dragging their deaths for fun. But his senses told him that he needed to be quick and return to the house immediately.

He used his superior speed and attacked them. Blood trickled down his nose as he ripped the hearts of the two witches closest to him. He had a heart in each of his hands and turned to Bastiana with a wicked grin before dropping them to the ground.

Bastiana kept sending aneurysms at him but Klaus didn't stop. He could feel the blood vessels in his brain popping again and again and it only made him angry. Those kinds of tricks no doubt worked on younger vampires but on him…it was a waste of time really.

He decapitated the third witch with ease before flashing in front of Bastiana and grabbing her by the throat. He easily lifted her from the ground.

"You stupid hag," Klaus snarled hybrid face flashing. "Are you so foolish to believe that I can be so easily stopped?"

Bastiana moved her fingers sending another aneurysm at him.

Klaus laughed squeezing her neck harder. "I am one thousand years old." He hissed. "Your tricks don't work on me." She could explode all the vessels in his brain as much as she wanted to, he healed immediately. "I can't be killed."

"No…need…" Bastiana rasped. "…to kill…distract."

Klaus froze.

 _Bonnie_

Klaus growled. He threw Bastiana out of the way before he flashed back towards the house. Bonnie needed him. Something was about to happen, he needed to get her to safety.

He didn't make it very far. Just as he was about to reach the door he fell to his knees.

Pain erupted inside his brain. This time the magic behind the attack was a hundred times stronger than Bastiana's attack had ever been.

Klaus growled doing his best to stand up. He needed to get to Bonnie. But the magic forced him back down.

There was chanting all around him, witches encircling him, dozens of them with their hands extended in his direction and channeling all their power to keep him down. These were not the witches that were inside the ballroom.

"Klaus!" Belle rushed out f the mansion towards him only to be sent flying back, her body crashing against the side of the house, the magic pinning her in place.

Riley who had been following after her managed to kill one of the witches before the others broke his neck with their magic.

"You…" Klaus hissed as he looked up at the figure that stepped in front of him. He growled baring his fangs and struggling against the powerful magic keeping him in place.

Agnes smiled as she approached him, "Where you so stupid as to believe that all the witches from our coven were those inside the mansion?" the witches currently in the ballroom were just a handful, a small fraction of the entire coven. "Vampires can be so arrogant." Agnes continued. "All of you will be taught a very important lesson tonight. The time of the witches has come."

"I will bathe in your blood." Despite the pain Klaus lifted himself a couple of inches before the magic forced him back down. Many of the witches were already bleeding from their noses. They wouldn't last much longer. He could wait and break free, he was strong enough to do it, he knew it. "You will die screaming," he snarled as he pushed himself to his feet. "I will tear you apart!"

Two witches fell to the ground dead. It was too much power they were channeling.

For one single moment Agnes took a fearful step back, surprised by his strength.

"Do it now." One witch hissed, blood oozing out of her nose and dripping down her mouth and chin.

Klaus growled as he was pushed back down once more. Another witch fell dead.

Agnes lifted her right hand. That's when Klaus noticed the bone white blade she had in her hand.

Klaus screamed as the blade was embedded in his chest.

* * *

As Bonnie made her way back to the ballroom counting the minutes until Klaus's return she came face to face with the Seer.

They met right at the bottom of the grand staircase. There was no one around except for the two of them. Everyone else was in the ballroom.

Bonnie could hear the music coming from the ballroom as she waited for the Seer to say something. She knew the witch couldn't use any magic against her. Bonnie had the upper hand. _But did the Seer know that?_

They stared at each other in silence in a battle of wills. Bonnie refused to be cowered. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and stared directly into the Seer's cold and calculating eyes.

"Your arrogance is astonishing," the Seer spoke first, the venom in her voice more than evident. "The arrogance of youth, always believing you have the world at your feet."

"What do you want?" Bonnie asked. She was done playing games.

"I could ask you the same thing." The Seer replied. "You challenged me to come here," she extended her arms. "Well, here I am."

"You sent hunters after me. You tried to kill me and my child." Bonnie glared at her. "I want to know why?" Bonnie studied her face carefully. "You are not like the other witches, you don't follow the spirits…so why? Why do you hate me so much?"

The Seer took a step closer watching her intently. Her eyes moved over her face before slowly moving down her stomach. "Do you have any idea what kind of monster you have growing inside of you?"

"My child is not a monster." Bonnie snapped.

"I have seen it." The Seer told her looking up into her face once more. "I have seen the death, the destruction, the evil this _thing_ will bring…" her eyes glinted. "Would you like me to show you?"

Bonnie watched her warily. She felt surprised by the offer but she also knew she needed to be careful. She couldn't let her guard down.

"I'm called the Seer because I can see things. I can see the past and the future. I can see what is to come." She moved even closer to Bonnie. "It is a horrible thing you know, as a child I didn't understand it but now I can control it better." She extended her right hand. "Let me show you Bonnie, see what I have seen, feel what I have felt and then…then you decide if you still want to bring that monster into this world."

Bonnie stared at the extended hand, feeling a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know what to do. There was a part of her that felt certain that the Seer was lying but there was another part of her that felt curious about her so called visions.

 _She can't hurt me_. Bonnie thought. But that didn't mean she was going to accept the woman's hand without taking any precautions. She used the power of Expression and said a couple of spells in her head before she slowly very slowly reached out with her hand and took the Seer's hand.

Bonnie gasped as the images came to her without warning.

 _A trail of blood on a cobblestone street…_

 _Witches on their knees crying tears of blood before their bodies burst into flames…_

 _The French Quarter burning…_

 _A pack of wolves running in the bayou…the murky water turning red…filled with their blood…_

 _A church…a woman screaming….a child crying…_

 _A huge black wolf with yellow eyes…sharp fangs gleaming with the moonlight…_

 _A crib surrounded by purple dahlias…_

 _A little boy, dark blond curls and bright blue eyes, an innocent smile on his face…_

 _Bodies…countless bodies scattered on the streets…rivers of blood…so much blood…_

 _The blood of humans, of witches, of vampires, of werewolves…_

 _The little boy standing over the bodies, this time with yellow eyes and sharp fangs, his mouth and chin dripping with their blood…his belly was full but he still wanted more…_

 _Blood on his mouth, blood on his hands…blood on his feet…._

 _He wants more…always more…more blood…blood…more…Blood..._

 _"I want more..."_

" _Mother please, give me more…" the tiny voice said._

"NO!" Bonnie pulled her hand away abruptly, her entire body shaking. "You're lying." Tears burned in her eyes. "You're making this up." It had to be a lie. What she had seen could not be real.

"I am not." The Seer said. "Your son is a monster. And no amount of blood in this world will ever sate his thirst. By bringing him into this world you will unleash a beast, an evil like no other and he will consume us all, even you." She hissed.

"I don't believe you." Bonnie hated the lack of conviction in her voice. She felt a sudden cold invade her body and the feeling of dread intensified tenfold. Her baby a monster who thirsted for blood...no...it couldn't be true. She refused to believe it.

"What can you expect from a creature fathered by Klaus?" The Seer asked taking advantage of Bonnie's shock. "You can end this. You can stop this Bonnie. You must." Her voice turned gentle and sweet. "You have to stop this before it begins."

Bonnie closed her eyes and placed her trembling hand over her stomach. The vision she had seen had been disturbing, scary, filled with death and blood and so much darkness. But as she touched her stomach all Bonnie could sense was light. Such a warm and beautiful light, she had seen it, when the spirits had attacked her. She could feel it now.

Her baby's magic had protected her, that kind of light, that power she had felt, that power she was feeling now, it wasn't evil. No matter what the Seer said or had seen. Bonnie knew the truth. She felt it in her heart, in her very soul. Her child was innocent. Her baby was good.

Green eyes opened and stared at the Seer unflinchingly. "I won't fall for your tricks." Bonnie hissed. "You could have easily manipulated those images to make me believe something that is not true."

The Seer's eyes narrowed. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"Yes."

The Seer waved her hand sending all the power she could muster towards Bonnie, but nothing happened. She stared at her hand before trying again, a look of confusion on her hard face.

Nothing.

She could feel her magic. It was there. But every time she tried to use it, something blocked it.

"You didn't honestly think that I was going to make it that easy for you to kill me, did you?" Bonnie let her magic out. Expression happily obeyed her command.

The lights flickered on and off for a few seconds and one of the light bulbs actually burst.

The Seer took a step back realizing that while her magic was being blocked, Bonnie could still use hers.

The Seer screamed when the bones on both of her legs were suddenly broken by Bonnie's magic. She gasped, eyes filled with shock, anger and above all…fear. She sank to the ground in agony, gasping and shaking. This was not part of the plan. Things were not supposed to be going this way. She was supposed to have the upper hand, not that stupid girl.

The Seer felt afraid, without her magic she didn't stand a chance. Not even with her coven so close to her. A witch without magic was useless.

Bonnie looked down at the Seer, ready to put an end to this.

The clock struck twelve.

It was midnight.

The witching hour had come.

And the witches had one last card to play.

All the lights went out inside the Governor's mansion.

When the lights went out, Bonnie had the sense to cast one single spell.

A second later, an explosion shook the entire house from top to bottom.

It was the moment the Seer had been waiting for. She smiled with triumph closing her eyes as the blast resonated through the entire house.

* * *

Everything happened so fast, no one really had time to react.

Rebekah and Matt had just finished another waltz when the lights suddenly went out.

"What the bloody hell!" Rebekah squeezed Matt's hand feeling anxious. "This is-" she didn't get to finish.

One second darkness descended in the room and the next everything and everyone was sent crashing to the ground by the force of the explosion.

The candles toppled over and fire erupted inside the room while the crystal chandelier came crashing down to the ground before the ceiling collapsed on top of the unsuspecting guests inside the ballroom.

People screamed in panic, in fear. Some tried to run away but it was too late the heavy concrete pieces fell down, killing anything in its path.

The force of the explosion tore Matt and Rebekah apart.

"Matt!" Rebekah's frantic cries were the last thing Matt heard before a heavy piece of concrete fell on top of him, sending him crashing to the ground and crushing him beneath its weight.

Matt choked as the air left his lungs, blood oozed out of the side of his mouth and ears, as part of the concrete smashed his head with brutal force.

 _Rebekah_

It was his last thought before his heart collapsed and stopped beating.

The Governor's mansion was suddenly engulfed in flames.

 _This chapter was tough to write. I know that you don't like cliffhangers. I'm sorry but I promise to do my best and update quickly._


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: Thank-you so much for all your amazing reviews and support with this story. Shout-out to TeamEveryoneButEdward who wrote the one thousand review. OMG, I still can't believe it! You guys are amazing, thank-you!_

* * *

Darkness

Panic

Confusion

Fear

Chaos

The guest inside the Governor's mansion screamed and shrieked in pain and in fear as they tried to get out of the house as fast as possible. Those who were conscious at least, many guests were on the ground dead, others whose injuries were too severe simply moaned in pain and waited. They waited for someone to help them or waited for death to release them from their agony.

Tears streamed down Lucy's face as she tried to use her magic to lift the heavy piece of concrete that had trapped her mother. "Mama…can you hear me?"

The only response she got was a moan of pain. Joanna's lower body had been buried under the concrete. She was motionless but occasionally moaning.

"Everything is going to be okay, I'm going to get you out." Lucy promised. She couldn't use her magic. Something or someone was blocking her. She tried and tried but nothing. "Help!" Lucy screamed in desperation. "Someone please!" She tried again but once more her magic was useless. She didn't understand it. She could feel her magic but for some reason she wasn't able to use it.

A woman close to her sat up screaming, blood spilling out of a wound on the side of her head. The screams died on her throat when the vampire to her left launched himself at her, unable to resist the scent of her blood. He pulled her up and sank his fangs on her shoulder, draining her in a matter of seconds and healing his own injuries in the process.

"My leg!" Another man screamed at the top of his lung. "Oh god…my leg…" he moaned in agony.

Lucy watched horrified. The poor man sat up leaning against the wall, his leg had been crushed and rivers of blood streamed down the wound. He was pale and shaking.

 _He's going to die,_ Lucy thought. She looked around and cried even harder. It was like a scene from a movie, people screaming in agony, some trying to help their love ones, many of them had missing limbs and were covered in blood.

Lucy coughed as the thick blanket of smoke filled the air. The people who had managed to survive the explosion and the collapse of the ceiling were surely going to die with the fire, which was growing and spreading at an alarming rate.

Two vampires used all of their strength to pry the double doors open but they couldn't. They were tightly shut and even their unnatural strength was of no help.

"Marcel, the doors are sealed!" One of them screamed.

"Try the windows!" Marcel yelled back. His ears were still ringing from the explosion and the nasty wound on his shoulder was healing rather slowly. He needed to feed but he kept his hunger in check. He helped a dazed and confused Mayor de La Fontaine to his feet.

"The house is burning…" The Mayor of New Orleans looked around in panic. "We need to get out…we need…the people."

Marcel looked around the ballroom or what remained of it anyway. The thick blanket of smoke made it almost impossible for the human eye to see the damage but he could see it clearly.

The beautifully decorated ballroom was in ruins. Pieces of drywall, debris, and countless of bodies were scattered all around while the flames were spreading rapidly, surrounding the survivors in a ring of fire that was closing in.

Diego and Thierry hadn't been able to open the door so they moved to the windows. Some of the other survivors were also trying to break them open. It was useless, it couldn't be done.

 _Magic_ , Marcel realized with horror. The explosion had been caused by magic and magic was keeping them trapped inside the ballroom. _The witches_ , his vampire face surfaced as anger fueled his veins. The Seer had done this. His hands balled into fists. He had already spotted the dead bodies of four of his guys.

The werewolves weren't doing any better either.

Ishmael had a nasty gash on his forehead and half of his face was covered in blood. Cary clutched his right arm which had been broken by a falling piece from the ceiling. Both of them did their best to help their people out.

Charles was moaning in agony as both of his legs were trapped by pieces of what had been a marble statue and Mila was moaning and shaking clutching her bleeding stomach with both hands.

Not far from them, Abby managed to crawl her way out of the debris on top of her. She rolled to her back panting and groaning in pain. She had broken countless bones and damaged many internal organs but she was a vampire. Her body slowly started to heal on its own, allowing her to breathe easier and pulled herself into a sitting position.

"Bonnie!" She screamed. "Bonnie!" _Where was her daughter? Was Bonnie okay?_ She didn't remember seeing Bonnie before the explosion.

"Abby!" Lucy's frantic cries reached her ears. "Abby please you have to help me, please!"

Abby sped towards Lucy's side and saw Joanna lying motionless under a heavy piece of concrete.

"My magic is not working." Lucy cried. "You have to help me pull her out, please."

Abby stared in shock at Joanna's pale face. She was so still and looked rather peaceful, like she was sleeping.

"Abby, please!" Lucy pleaded, clutching her mother's hand. It was slightly cold now.

Abby turned and stared at her cousin with an anguished look on her face. "I can't hear her heartbeat," she murmured. "I'm sorry." Joanna was dead.

"No…" Lucy shook her head as more tears spilled down her cheeks. "No...please…" Her mother was all she had. After the death of her father and sister all they had were each other. "No…"

"She's dead." Abby said placing a gentle hand on Lucy's shoulder. There was nothing she could do, Joanna had died.

Abby felt the heat of the flames closing in on them, circling them, there was no way out. She had seen the vampires desperately trying to open the doors and the windows but all their attempts had failed. She kneeled down next to Lucy's trembling body and took her hand. Lucy clutched her mother's hand on her other hand. They both closed their eyes. Death had come for them.

The moans had stopped and turned into desperate cries and pleas as the fire began burning people alive, devouring everything in its path.

"I don't want to die!" Someone screamed. "Please, someone help us!"

"Someone helps us!"

"Oh God, please!"

"Help!"

Marcel, Thierry, and Diego used their fists, the silver candle sticks, chairs, anything they could find to hit the windows and try to break them but it was useless. Whatever magic had been put in place had successfully locked them inside the burning ballroom.

"We're going to die." Thierry said. He hadn't even been able to find Katie in the chaos. He didn't know whether she had escaped or was buried under the fallen ceiling.

 _No_ , Marcel thought as he felt the heat of the flames close to him. _It can't end like this._

There was a strong gust of wind that seemed to come out of nowhere.

The smoke disappeared and the flames suddenly died down.

Marcel frowned when the lights returned to the ballroom and all doors and windows were thrown open by an invisible force.

Relief

Happiness

Joy

People stared at each other in confusion before looking around in wonder and not daring to believe their luck. The fire had stopped. They had been saved.

The double wooden doors burst open.

Bonnie stepped inside the ballroom, looking desperately around the room, searching for her family.

There was not a single scratch on her skin, her red dress was impeccable, and not even a hair in her head was out of place. The explosion had not harmed her at all.

 _Who are you?_ Marcel wondered in awe.

* * *

The Seer had disappeared shortly after the explosion happened. When the fire came, she was long gone. She had tried to pinch Bonnie with an odd looking needle but the protection spell Bonnie had cast on herself had sent the Seer crashing into the opposite wall. The woman had realized she couldn't harm Bonnie and ran like a coward out of the house.

Bonnie had pressed herself against the wall as the ceiling came crashing down around her. She had been protected by an invisible cocoon of magic. The pieces of the ceiling that would've fallen on her head diverted at the last moment and fell to her sides.

A ring of fire erupted around her as the flames spread throughout the first floor after the explosion. The protection spell blocked the flames easily before Bonnie released a wave of her magic and extinguished them immediately.

She wasted no time using her magic to break through the debris and fallen pieces of ceiling in her way as she made her way towards the ballroom where she could hear the desperate cries from the people inside.

The witches had placed a strange looking object on the doors. It looked like a doll of sorts, a very creepy one. _A dark object,_ Bonnie realized. It was blocking people from getting out, trapping them inside. When Bonnie tried opening the doors her magic rebounded.

Bonnie saw red. She extended her right hand and unleashed the power of Expression on the dark object holding the doors locked. The ugly doll turned completely black before shattering.

As soon as the doll was destroyed the doors leading to the ballroom burst open.

The moment she stepped inside all eyes turned to look at her in wonder and awe, but Bonnie paid them no attention. She focused on finding her family and friends.

"Bonnie!" Abby stood up and sped towards her, crushing her in a big hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Bonnie told her feeling relieved that her mother had been unharmed. "You, Lucy, and Joanna?" she asked.

Tears burned in Abby's eyes, "Joanna is dead."

Bonnie gasped and immediately turned to find Lucy.

Her cousin was sitting on the floor holding the dead body of her mother in her arms-Abby had moved the piece of concrete that had crushed her and pulled Joanna's body out. Lucy looked up when Bonnie got down on her knees in front of her. "The ceiling collapsed…a piece fell on top of her…I tried to help her but the witches blocked my magic and I…I couldn't…"

 _Guilt_

Bonnie closed her eyes. The witches hadn't blocked the magic inside the room, she and Angelica had. The plan to prevent the witches from trying something against them had horribly backfired and now Joanna was dead. Lucy hadn't been able to use her magic to help her and Bonnie felt so guilty.

"I'm sorry…" Bonnie said crying. "I'm so sorry this is my fault." She hadn't even thought of warning her cousins that they wouldn't be able to use magic inside the mansion. _Stupid_ , she had been so stupid.

"The witches did this Bonnie," Abby murmured while kneeling next to her. "This isn't-"

"I did it." Bonnie said staring into Lucy's disconsolate eyes. "We didn't want the witches trying anything so I cast a spell Esther created to block the magic inside the mansion. I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

"You…" Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I should've told you. I'm so sorry…" Bonnie cried. "But I will fix this." She said feeling determined. "I will bring her back." She stated. She could do it, with all the power flowing inside of her she could bring Joanna back. She was sure of it.

"Bonnie you can't. You can't bring people back from the dead." Abby tried to reason with her. "It goes against nature, there is no magic powerful enough…"

"I will bring her back." Bonnie told Lucy ignoring her mother's protests. She opened her arms. "Let me bring her back. Let me make this right."

Lucy stared at Bonnie before looking down at her mother. She gently placed her mother's dead body on the ground watching Bonnie warily. The young witch grabbed Joanna's head and placed her on her lap.

"Bonnie you can't do this. The spirits will not allow it. They will punish you." Abby insisted. She was terribly sad about Joanna's death but she was also terrified of what the spirits would do to Bonnie as punishment for defying their laws. "Bonnie please, the spirits will hurt you."

"I don't give a damn about the spirits anymore." Bonnie snapped giving her mother a look. She wasn't planning on using spirit magic to bring Joanna back anyway. There was only one kind magic powerful enough, a magic that was not monitored by the spirits. "Expression is the manifestation of my will. I can do anything, anything I want." Her green eyes suddenly turned black as coal. "And my will is for Joanna to live." She was not going to lose any more family. Not if she could help it.

Abby gasped and even Lucy froze as both of them felt the powerful surge of magic in the air. Bonnie's magic, so powerful, so different from anything they had ever felt before.

Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated. She murmured and chanted under her breath as she let the power of Expression take over.

She felt it. The rush of power that flowed through her was incredible, exhilarating. She used that power to pump life into Joanna, to re-start her heart and bring her back.

The lights flickered on and off for a few seconds and there was a soft breeze around them as her magic followed her command.

Joanna's eyes snapped open and a gasp escaped her lips.

"Oh my god!" Lucy couldn't believe it. "Mom!" Her mother was alive!

Bonnie opened her eyes, her entire body tingling. She looked up into Abby's stunned face. "She's going to need your blood. She's been badly injured."

Abby bit her wrist and fed Joanna her blood without question.

Lucy threw her arms around Bonnie and pulled her into a fierce hug. "Thank-you." She whispered in her ear before pulling away and tending to her mother.

Bonnie smiled softly. She stood up and looked around the room. "Where is Matt?" She asked suddenly, feeling a sense of dread form in the pit of her stomach. "And Rebekah?" She hadn't seen any of them or Elijah.

 _Klaus,_ Bonnie thought feeling a sharp pain in her heart. She hadn't seen Klaus since he had gone to check on the party crasher. He must have seen and heard the explosion, _Where was he? Why hadn't he come back inside?_

Bonnie heart hurt and she lifted her hand and touched her chest. Something was wrong, very wrong. _Klaus, where are you?_

She needed to find him. Bonnie spun around more than ready to get out of the mansion and go search for the hybrid when a voice stopped her.

"Bonnie!"

Bonnie turned to the sound of Cary's voice. He was clutching his arm, it was obvious he was in pain. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Bonnie said. "You're hurt." She spotted Ishmael and the other wolf elders that had attended the party. Two of them were badly injured the others were dead.

She debated what to do, leave the mansion and go search for Klaus or stay and help his werewolf family. When she noticed how tired Ishmael looked and how he had to lean against the wall for support, Bonnie made up her mind. "I can help you." She told Cary. Klaus needed his family as much as she needed hers.

* * *

The art of healing was something Bonnie didn't have much experience with. She knew a couple of healing spells from reading her grimoires but she had never truly put them into practice before. There were different kinds of healing spells, from one to cure a fever, to another to mend a cut or to repair a broken bone. Instead of trying to crack her brain trying to remember the right spell, Bonnie let her instincts guide her.

She gently placed her hands on Cary's arm and concentrated on channeling her magic and repairing his injuries. Cary gasped and shivered as he felt her magic mending the broken bones and healing his arm until it was as good as new.

"Wow," he moved his arm amazed. There was no pain. "Thank-you."

"Can yo do me a favor?" Bonnie asked him suddenly.

"Anything." Cary replied.

"My friend Matt and Rebekah they were inside the ballroom during the explosion I don't see them..."

"I'll look for them." Cary promised her.

Bonnie nodded and helped Ishmael next.

"You don't have to, I will be fine…" He tried to protest but Bonnie healed the injury on his forehead nonetheless. She also helped Charles and Mila and soon she found herself surrounded by people who were terribly injured and in need of assistance.

"I broke my leg!" someone told her. They had seen what she had done and were desperate for her help.

"I think my arm is broken, please help me." A woman approached her.

"I got burned." Some else yelled.

"All right back off!" Marcel stepped up. "My guys and I can help you. Don't overwhelm the lady." He signaled for Diego, Thierry and the other vampires that had survived the explosion and gave them orders to feed people their blood.

"I already called the emergency services," Mayor de la Fontaine told them. "But if you could help the people who are badly injured, those who cannot wait for the ambulances I would be deeply grateful." He obviously cared for the people of his city.

Marcel nodded. He winked in Bonnie's direction and began helping the people closest to him.

Even Abby decided to help, offering her blood to the injured. Mother and daughter shared a smile as they began working on helping people. They were innocent, they had been caught in the cross fire. And while the witches were more than ready to sacrifice innocents for their cause, Bonnie was not.

Ishmael, Cary, and their clan did their best to help people and pulled them out of the debris. Cary in particular was searching for Matt and Rebekah as he had promise Bonnie.

In that moment everyone was working together, humans, vampires, werewolves…all their animosity and differences were set aside as they did the best to help each other out.

Bonnie closed her eyes and leaned one hand against the wall, letting out a shaky breath. She felt lightheaded. She had healed four others after the werewolves and it was starting to take a toll on her.

The ambulances had arrived by now and the paramedics were helping out but there were still many people with terrible injuries.

"Are you alright?" Ishmael placed a gentle hand on her arm.

"I'm fine." Bonnie lied, she was starting to feel nauseous as well. The feeling of dread in her stomach continued as did the ache in her heart. She knew something was wrong.

Ishmael didn't believe her and was about to say something when he spotted his grandson carrying Bonnie's friend in his arms.

Bonnie noticing the look on his face turned around and gasped. "Oh my god, Matt!" She rushed to his side. He looked terrible, dried blood covered the back of his head and he looked so pale and still.

"I'm sorry." Cary said softly. "He was dead when I got him out."

Bonnie froze and stared numbly at Matt's body. _No, please no_ , Matt couldn't be dead. He couldn't. Her shaky hand reached out and grabbed his hand-it was so cold. She could see the graduation ring on his finger. The one she spelled for him. Bonnie let out a shaky breath, hope filling her insides. "He's going to be fine." She murmured while staring at the ring. "He will wake up." But there was also a feeling of doubt creeping in. The explosion had been nearly two hours ago and Matt hadn't woken up yet. That was not right. "He's going to be fine." She repeated more to convince herself than anything else.

But, _what if she had failed? What if the spell hadn't worked?_ Bonnie shook her head. "He's going to be fine. He will wake up," she said. She couldn't lose Matt. He was more than a friend, Matt was the brother Bonnie never had.

Ishmael and Cary shared worried looks. They obviously thought she was in denial.

"Did you find Rebekah?" Bonnie asked looking at Cary.

"No. I haven't seen her or Klaus." He said looking worriedly at his grandfather.

"His hybrids are nowhere to be seen either." Ishmael murmured more to himself.

"Bonnie," Abby who had been close by moved to her daughter's side. Bonnie was shaking and looked rather pale and sickly. "You need to rest honey. Come on." She placed her arms around Bonnie's trembling form.

"Bonnie!"

Bonnie turned to the sound of Jesse's voice. He had just entered the ballroom with Belle and Riley. A soft smile formed on Bonnie's lips and she felt a momentarily sense of relief. She was expecting to see Klaus at any moment, but the hybrid was not with them.

The smiled dropped from her face. Whatever sense of happiness or relief had been short lived, instead she felt cold and that feeling of dread invaded her stomach once more.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked seeing the chaos all around them. There were not that many people left in the ballroom just a few who the paramedics were checking before transporting them to the hospital but the house was practically in ruins.

"Where is Klaus?" Bonnie asked instead of answering. She had assumed that Klaus was with them outside.

Belle burst into tears, Jesse looked down at his feet and Riley's hands balled into fists.

"Where is Klaus?" Bonnie repeated. The ache in her heart intensified and the room began spinning.

"They took him," Belle answered tears streaming down her rosy cheeks. "We tried to help…I swear we did…" she hiccuped. "I'm sorry…"

"Took him?" Bonnie repeated feeling her stomach drop while a cold chill ran down her spine. _No…please…not Klaus…no…_ she repeated in her mind again and again. She heard wrong. Belle had to be wrong.

"The witches," Riley informed her. "There were too many of them, an entire coven. We couldn't stop them."

"They stabbed him." Belle murmured quietly afraid that anyone else could hear them. Marcel and his vampires were thankfully out of the ballroom, inspecting what was left of the house with the police who were trying to determine the cause of the explosion. "With some weird blade…" she continued. She would never be able to forget Klaus's anguished scream as the blade was swallowed inside his chest. It had been creepy. "It was horrible." She cried harder and Riley pulled her against him, doing his best to comfort her.

Bonnie closed her eyes, her entire body shaking. _The witches had taken_ _Klaus…_ It was the pain she had felt in her heart. It was Klaus, his suffering. She knew it now. The witches had taken him and she hadn't even noticed it. _Oh god._ The witches had taken him right under her nose and she hadn't done anything to help him.

"We tried to help him," Riley said. He felt guilty and angry that they hadn't been able to stop the witches.

"We haven't seen Elijah either." Jesse informed her. "I think this was the witches plan all along, to get the Originals." All their focus had been in protecting Bonnie and the witches had used that to turn the tables on them.

"He went to look for you." The accusing tone in her voice did not go unnoticed. It was unfair to blame Jesse, irrational really but Bonnie wasn't thinking properly in that moment. Klaus was gone. The witches had taken him. And Elijah and Rebekah had also disappeared.

"It was a trap. The wolf girl around the property was a distraction." Jesse kept his eyes down. "I'm sorry. I should have known."

 _We all should've known_ , Bonnie thought bitterly. They had been so confident, so sure that everything would work according to plan but the witches had bested them. And now they had Klaus and Elijah and probably Rebekah. And Matt was dead. Bonnie prayed that the ring worked and that he would wake up soon. He had to. She needed him.

Fear, panic, anger, uncertainty, sadness, rage…Bonnie tried her best to control the hurricane of emotions swirling inside of her. Her head hurt, her heart ached and the magic inside of her was more than ready to burn the city to the ground if she so desired.

The lights flickered on and off for a second or two and one of the curtains caught fire. The people left inside the ballroom gasped.

"Bonnie." Her mother, who still had her arms around her, squeezed her shoulder. "Calm down honey." With all the power she had inside her, Bonnie could bring the house down in a matter of seconds.

"We need to get out of here," Ishmael said. "There is a lot we must do." They needed to find Klaus and his siblings. They needed a plan against the witches.

Bonnie put the fire out and did her best to control her emotions. She couldn't lose control. She had to get a hold of herself. But how could she? The witches had taken Klaus.

Bonnie gasped. She wanted to cry, she wanted to lash out, she wanted to run and search for Klaus, and above all, she wanted to hurt the witches. "Oh god," the room was spinning again and she was gasping. She couldn't breathe. She was choking. She felt like she was dying.

"Breathe," her mother said rubbing her back. "Just breathe," she whispered. "You need to breathe baby."

Bonnie closed her eyes and touched her stomach. _Be strong Bonnie_ , she told herself. _You have to be strong._

* * *

Matt woke up with a gasp. His skin felt like ice as he stared at the black sky. _What the hell?_ He wondered as he lay on the ground, feeling confused. _Where am I? What happened?_

"It was about bloody time," an accented voice said.

Matt sat up immediately, feeling slightly lightheaded. His hands immediately went to his head. He remembered the explosion, the blow to his head. He blinked a few times before he stared at the figure standing in front of him casually leaning one shoulder on a nearby tree.

"You…" Matt looked him up and down not believing what he was seeing.

"I know I'm a sight for sore eyes but you are not really my type." Kol Mikaelson grinned.

"How?" Matt couldn't understand what the hell happened. He had been in New Orleans in the ballroom with Rebekah and now he was in a forest which looked exactly like the one in Mystic Falls. _How the hell did I get here?_ When he looked down at his right he jumped out of his skin. His body was laying next to him.

"What…" Matt gasped in shock and horror. He was staring at himself. He was sitting right next to his own body. It was creepy and terrifying. "How..." he couldn't even form a coherent sentence from the shock of it.

"Welcome to the other side." Kol told him pushing himself off the tree and walking closer to him.

"I'm dead?" Matt's fearful eyes turned to the Original vampire.

"Temporarily," Kol told him. "You're human, you shouldn't even be here," he muttered as he stared at Matt's hand with curiosity. "That ring however brought your spirit here. In order to go back you have to reconnect with your body." The Original vampire explained. "Each time you die you will wake up further and further away from your body and will have to wander the other side to find it. Since this is your first time dying, you're right next to it, lucky you." He motioned to Matt's side, where his body was.

Matt shivered. It was like having an out of body experience. It was such a surreal thing, to see oneself. He looked down at his graduation ring, the one Bonnie had spelled. "The explosion was caused by a supernatural..." he muttered, otherwise the ring wouldn't have worked. He would've been dead for real, with no way to go back. _Holy shit, he had died!_

"The witches," Kol muttered. A dark look crossed his features.

The concrete that had fallen on his head might have delivered the final blow, but the explosion had been a supernatural event, caused by the witches. They were the ones ultimately responsible for all the deaths in the ballroom.

"How do I…" Matt swallowed nervously. He felt cold and there was a sort of void inside him. He didn't like it. He wanted to go back. He needed to go back. _Was Rebekah okay? And Bonnie?_ He wondered fearfully.

"All you have to do is touch your body." Kol told him. "The moment you come in contact with it, your spirit will go back and you'll wake up." He almost sounded envious.

Matt was more than ready to do so. He needed to make sure Rebekah and Bonnie were okay, that they had not been harmed by the explosion.

"Wait!" Kol's voice stopped him just in time.

Matt stared at the Original vampire waiting for him to say something.

"There is something I need you to do…" Kol stared into his eyes a serious look on his face. It was a far cry from the mischievous and carefree vampire that he had been when alive. "It's very important that you deliver a message to my siblings."

Matt nodded. "What is it?"

"Tell them that-"

A rumble echoed in the distant, like the sound of thunder and the wind picked up as well.

"Shit." Kol cursed while staring nervously at the darkness. "Not again."

"What's going on?" Matt asked the wind was getting stronger. He could feel it hitting his face like a thousand cold knifes. It hurt.

"You have to go back." Kol said turning towards him. "You have to go before you get swallowed by the void."

"The void?" Matt questioned.

"Something is happening to the other side." Kol told him, he kept looking over his shoulder, trying to calculate how much time he had left. "We don't know what's going on for sure but…it's bad."

The strong wind that hit them sent Matt crashing against the tree behind him. "What the hell?" he gasped. He had never felt such a strong wind before. He wondered if a hurricane was coming or something.

Kol was stronger and managed to stand up and resist the strong wind-for now at least. He grabbed Matt's arm and pulled him forward. "I don't want to be taken by the void." He said to Matt. He sounded scared and desperate the Quarterback realized. "Ayana and the Bennett witches are doing everything they can but…we need their help Matt."

Matt had never seen an Original vampire so scared. Whatever Kol was enduring on the other side was bad.

"Tell Nik to get me out of here, please." Kol didn't wait for a response. He shoved Matt into his body. The moment Matt's spirit connected with his body. He was pulled out of the other side, back into the land of the living. Where Kol was so desperate to return to.

Kol watched the body disappear with sadness and envy. There was another rumble this time closer to him and the wind became twice as strong.

Kol took off running deeper into the woods.

* * *

Bonnie stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her tear stained face stared back at her with anguish and fear. It was so different from the confident and regal young woman that had stared into the floor length mirror at the Governor's mansion. She had showered and changed and cried in the sanctuary that was her bedroom. _No_ , she corrected herself, _our bedroom_ , hers and Klaus's.

Her heart still hurt. Klaus was in pain she could feel it. Wherever he was he was hurting and the echo of his pain reached her. _What were the witches doing to him?_

Bonnie felt desperate. She had tried to locate him but he was cloaked. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't find him. The witches were hiding him.

 _Where are you?_ She wondered tears spilling down her cheeks. There was another wave of pain that echoed through the bond. Bonnie hugged herself squeezing her eyes shut. It hurt, it hurt so much. The pain spread from her chest and down to her belly while her blood seemed to burn and this is that she was only getting an echo of his emotions. She could only image what he was truly going through at the moment.

So much was his pain that he hadn't thought of shutting down his emotions. Bonnie froze when a realization hit her like thunder. The bond, she and Klaus shared a bond. It was like a bucket of ice cold water had suddenly fallen on her. She could use the bond to find him, like he had done with her when Sophie and her sister had kidnapped her. She hadn't thought of it until now.

Bonnie stood up, heart pounding loudly as she paced around the room. She needed to clear her mind. She needed to focus on the link between her and Klaus. The bond would tell her where he was. She had the key to find him.

Bonnie stopped pacing and closed her eyes. She thought of Klaus. She thought of his beautiful blue eyes, of his hands as they move over her body, his ardent touch and his plum red lips on her skin. Her hand unconsciously moved to her neck, shivering as she recalled the feel of his fangs piercing her flesh. He had drunk her blood countless of times before and she had drunk from him too, usually when they were together, when he was buried deep inside of her. Their bond had only gotten stronger each and every time they shared blood.

She could feel it now, the bond pulsing with life and strength. She called to it. _Tell me where he is,_ she ordered. _Show me_.

Bonnie gasped. The image came to her like a bolt of lightning. It was sudden, brief, and powerful.

 _An abandoned hospital..._

 _Klaus strapped to a metal table..._

 _The Seer smiling with triumph..._

Bonnie's eyes snapped open. She knew where Klaus was. She knew how to find him.

Bonnie ran out of the room and down the stairs like a woman possessed. She was on a mission and nothing and no one was going to get in her way. She was going to get Klaus back.

"Bonnie!" Abby yelled the minute she spotted her racing down the stairs.

Bonnie didn't listen. She ran towards the door, ready to find Klaus. Her only though was of him. She needed to save him. The Seer was hurting him, Bonnie had to save him. She knew where he was. She had to save him.

Abby used her vampire speed and flashed in front of her before she could open the door. "What are you doing?" she asked shocked to see the wild look on her daughter's eyes.

"I know where Klaus is. I have to go to him." Bonnie said. She was desperate. "Get out of my way," she ordered. The longer she waited the more danger Klaus was in.

"Bonnie you're not thinking clearly." Abby said calmly trying to reason with her. "You can't go on your own. It's too dangerous. "

"He's in pain, he needs me!" Bonnie screamed. "I found him. I have to go to him. I know where the Seer is keeping him." The Seer was going to keep on hurting him. Bonnie knew that.

"You can't go alone." Abby told her. Joanna was currently in one of the guest bedrooms resting and Lucy was with her. "The hybrids, maybe they can help." Klaus was their sire after all, they were surely loyal. "Maybe you can stay and let them-"

"I'm going!" Bonnie interrupted. She had made up her mind.

"It's a trap."

Bonnie and Abby turned to the sound of Ishmael's voice.

He stood on the doorway that led to the living room, Cary stood behind him watching them nervously.

Ishmael regarded Bonnie sadly. "The Seer wants you dead and she's leading you straight into a trap." He said. "If you go after Klaus right now she will kill you."

"She's hurting him!" Bonnie yelled. The vase of flowers on a nearby table shattered as her magic surfaced. "I don't care if it's a trap. I will kill her." She hissed angrily. She was not going to let the Seer get away with this.

"Bonnie maybe you should wait-" Abby reached out trying to grab her arm.

"Don't touch me," Bonnie hissed. She couldn't keep wasting time, Klaus needed her.

Abby flinched as Bonnie's magic caused small cuts to form on her hands and up her arms. Thin red lines formed on her skin as the magic cut it open.

Bonnie gasped. "I…I didn't mean to," She said shocked that she had hurt her mother. Her magic had reacted on its own, fueled by her emotions. "I'm sorry."

Abby looked down at her hands, the cuts hurt but they healed almost immediately thanks to her vampire healing.

There was a sudden scream coming from the living room, _Belle,_ Bonnie realized. They all rushed to see what was wrong with the hybrid girl.

Belle stood in shock in front of the sofa. "He…he…" she couldn't utter a word as she pointed to the figure.

Jesse stood next to her, his mouth practically hanging open. "Did he have vampire blood in his system?" He wondered out loud.

"What the hell?" Cary nearly tripped when he saw him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Matt!"

Bonnie rushed towards her best friend, jumping into his arms and embracing him with all her strength. He was alive. The ring had worked. "I was so afraid," she said when they pulled away. "I thought the ring hadn't worked."

"It did." Matt replied softly. He still couldn't believe it. He had died and now he was back. He touched his head remembering the hard blow to his skull. It had killed him but the ring had brought him back.

"How are you feeling?" Bonnie asked looking him over to ensure he wasn't injured. "It took you a long time to come back," she muttered. That was rather strange. It had taken Matt longer to come back to life than it had taken Alaric or Jeremy when they had their rings.

"I feel fine." He frowned. "But there is something…" he whispered with uncertainty.

"What?"

"I feel like I'm forgetting something." Matt admitted. He remembered the painful blow to his head and then waking up in the living room, Belle jumping out of her skin and screaming like crazy upon seeing him. _But what happened in between? Why did he have the feeling that he was forgetting something important?_ He felt like he had to tell Bonnie something but he didn't know or remember what.

"What happened?" Matt asked her. "Where is Rebekah? Is she okay?" he looked around the room to the shocked and confused faces behind Bonnie but he couldn't find his girlfriend. He didn't even see Klaus or Elijah. He knew something what's wrong. "What's going on?"

"The witches took them." Bonnie replied her voice shaking. "They caused the explosion. We saved as many people as we could but many died. They have Klaus and we're pretty sure they have Elijah and Rebekah as well."

"What are we going to do?" Matt asked worriedly. He knew Rebekah was practically indestructible but who knew what the witches could do to her. His jaw clenched at the thought of anyone hurting her.

"We are going to war." Ishmael said moving his eyes over each and everyone in the room. He was still stunned that Bonnie's friend had come back to life but there were more important matters to focus on. "We can't rush into this with a hot head." He looked pointedly at Bonnie. "If we want to get Klaus and his siblings we need a plan of attack against the witches."

"We?" Abby raised an eyebrow.

"Klaus is my family." Ishmael told her. "The witches not only took him but three elders of my clan are dead because of them. Their actions will not go unpunished." He stared at Abby a curious look on his face, "don't you want to destroy the coven that is hunting your daughter?"

"Of course I do," Abby responded offended by the question. "But how many witches does the Seer have?" Fighting an army of witches was a sure death sentence. "No offense but werewolves and vampires don't really stand a chance against a powerful witch coven."

"You would be surprised of what we are capable." Ishmael told her in a self-assured tone.

The two of them locked eyes in a battle of wills.

"Bonnie." She jumped out of her skin when Riley suddenly appeared next to her. "I need you to come with me," he whispered.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked.

"It's important." he murmured.

Bonnie frowned. "I'll be back." She told Matt. Her friend nodded.

Bonnie reluctantly followed Riley out of the house while Abby and Ishmael continued to talk.

Jesse and Belle noticing that Bonnie and Riley were slipping out of the living room followed after them.

* * *

He was shirtless and strapped to a metal table. Sweat trickled down his pale skin as he shivered uncontrollably and red veiny lines covered his chest.

He whimpered in pain and moved his head to the side, his eyes blinking open when he felt the sunlight hit his face while a soft breeze caressed his skin.

"You poor thing."

Klaus watched as the Seer stepped inside the room. The windows had been thrown open but all he could hear from the outside were a couple of birds chirping. He was not in the city of that he felt certain.

The Seer stopped and at a table across from him which had different instruments and potions and a vase with some strange purple flowers.

Klaus closed his eyes and bit his lip as another wave of pain hit him. It hurt. His chest hurt, his blood boiled and he felt week and lethargic.

The Seer turned around to face him, a wet cloth in her hands. She smiled down at him as she leaned over his body to place the cloth on his forehead.

Klaus hissed slipping into his hybrid face as the cloth burned his skin. It was wet with vervain.

 _Fucking bitch_ , he thought angrily while glaring at her.

The Seer smiled fingertips caressing the side of his face. Klaus flinched and moved away from her touch. "It took fifty witches…" she murmured. "Fifty witches to keep you in place so Agnes could stab you." She grabbed his jaw painfully and forced him to look at her. "Four of them died last night and two more followed this morning, magical exhaustion." She said dismissively, her cold and calculating eyes studied his sweaty face with intensity. "I must say, I am quite impressed."

Klaus glared at her. "What do you want?" he hissed. His throat felt dry and sore and his insides were melting from the dark magic inside his body.

"I want many things…" The Seer tilted her head to the side. "I will go down in history as the witch who finally put Klaus Mikaelson down," she declared proudly.

Despite the pain he felt Klaus chuckled. "You think I've been put down." He used all of his strength to push himself up, as far up as he could anyway with the magical restrains that strapped his arms and legs to the metal table. The cloth on his forehead fell down, the burning flesh healing right away. "There is only one witch who has succeeded in putting me down," Klaus gave the Seer his most deathly stare accompanied by a wicked grin. "And she didn't need fifty witches to do her dirty work for her," he spat. "You should learn a thing or two from Bonnie."

The Seer slapped him for his insolence.

Klaus laughed. "Did I strike a nerve?" his eyes glinted with amusement. He was burning, he was in immeasurable pain but he definitely enjoyed the anger that flashed across the Seer's face. "You should be careful my dear, before you turn green from envy."

"I have no reason to envy _her._ " The Seer spat angrily.

Klaus lips curved into a smirk. "Bonnie is not only young and beautiful but far more powerful than you could ever be." Klaus taunted. "She hasn't even reached her full potential and she has already bested you and your pathetic little coven of minions." When she had defeated the huntress, Klaus remembered that night perfectly.

Klaus screamed when the Seer used her magic to cut his face, thin angry red lines formed all over his skin before they healed as soon as her attack stopped. He snarled in her direction wishing more than anything to get his hands on her and rip her into pieces. "Bitch."

"You are so proud of her." The Seer said in a quiet deathly tone. "But we both know that Bonnie doesn't stand a chance." She laughed and her eyes gleamed, like if she knew a secret and he didn't. "She's a girl, a stupid, silly little girl who has no idea what I have in store for her." She had a plan. She was simply waiting for Bonnie to fall for her trap.

Klaus growled not liking the way she spoke of Bonnie.

"She will come for you." The Seer continued feeling confident in her words. "She's probably desperate to rescue you and she will come and when she does…" the Seer smiled wickedly leaning closer to Klaus, so close he could smell the stench of her flowery perfume. It made him sick. "I will rip the abomination growing inside of her and feed it to you." She hissed.

Klaus launched himself at her or try to because the magical cords keeping him bound to the table stopped him. He struggled to break free, growling. It hurt. The more he tried to break away, the tighter the cords became, digging painfully into his skin and pumping his body with dark magic, weakening him even more.

The Seer laughed. "I have your brother. He isn't doing any better than you by the way. I have your sister and her screams are music to my ears." That was something Klaus had not known. He stopped struggling as anger and fear laced his veins. His face remained an angry mask but inside he felt worried. He hadn't expected the witches to have trapped his siblings as well. "And I have you." The Seer smiled triumphantly. "Don't you see? It's over. You have lost." She waved her hand in front of him and Klaus screamed as fire exploded inside his brain. She burned his brain, melting the vessels until his vision clouded and his body fell down on the metal table in exhaustion.

The Seer smiled with malice before she turned around and began making her way out of the room.

"You will die for this." Klaus hissed, blood running down his nose.

The Seer stopped and turned to look a him over her shoulder. "Do you ever get tired of making empty threats?"

"You will beg, you will cry," Klaus stared directly into her eyes. "You will bleed and you will burn." It wasn't a threat but a promise.

She laughed amused by his threats.

Once the Seer had left and closed the door behind her, Klaus closed his eyes, breathing heavily. Everything hurt. He could feel it. The blade Agnes had stabbed him with was inside of him still, twisting painfully in his chest and spreading its dark power through his veins. Had he been a regular vampire Klaus would've been dead by now.

It would be so easy to give up, to let the darkness consume him whole. But Klaus knew that if he were to give up, if he were to keep his eyes closed for good he would never wake up again. For such was the power inside the blade.

He had to fight it. He had to endure the pain. He couldn't let the Seer win.

Just as the darkness threatened to take him, Klaus remembered something, a voice that had inspired fear and admiration, his father's words.

 _The ability to endure pain is a warrior's true weapon. Master that, and nothing holds power over you._

Mikael had said that to him when he had taught Klaus how to wield a sword. A thousand years ago and yet Klaus remembered those words as if they had been said yesterday.

Klaus's eyes snapped opened. He could do it. He could endure all the pain in the world, all the pain necessary in order to overcome this ordeal. He was going to endure it. And he was going to break free. One way or another he was going find a way out and when that happened he would kill the witches. He would kill them all and feast on their blood.

As he lay on the metal table, whimpering in pain and staring at the ceiling, he thought of Bonnie.

 _Don't fall for the Seer's trap, my love…_

* * *

Bonnie followed Riley quietly out of the mansion. The sun was shining brightly. It was morning and Klaus and his sibling had been missing for hours. Jesse and Belle quietly followed after them.

"Where are we going?" Bonnie asked Riley.

"Felix and Angelica were not at the Governor's mansion when the explosion happened." Riley said quietly as he led Bonnie into the woods surrounding the house. "They were doing something."

They walked and walked until they reached a small cabin. Bonnie had never been this far into the woods before. She remembered running in the opposite direction when the spirits had tricked her with her grandmother's spirit.

Angelica waited nervously by the door. "Riley told us what happened." She said. She was still dressed in her ball gown. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help Klaus."

"Where were you?" Bonnie asked as Felix stepped out of the cabin and came to stand next to the dark haired witch. The two shared a knowing look.

"Come and see." Felix said pushing the wooden door open.

Bonnie could feel the magic radiating off the cabin. Whatever was inside was protected by powerful spells. She could detect a barrier spell at the entrance but there were other enchantments as well. She shivered as she moved forward and stepped inside. The moment she crossed the threshold she recognized the same spell she and Angelica had used at the Governor's mansion. Magic was being blocked inside the cabin. _But why?_ Bonnie wondered.

"What's going on?" Belle asked from behind Bonnie.

"What have you done?" Jesse questioned the hybrid and witch.

"Klaus orders us to do something very important." Angelica told them as she stepped inside.

"It's the reason we weren't there when the witches attacked." Felix explained.

Bonnie frowned while looking inside the cabin. There was a fireplace at the other end of the room and a sofa right in front of it. A table with two chairs was near the window and across from there on the other side, a bed. She was surprised to find a girl sleeping peacefully.

"What is this?" Bonnie turned towards Felix. "Who is she?"

The girl was probably about her age with dark long hair and pale creamy skin. _A witch_ , Bonnie could sense her power.

"Davina Claire," Felix told her. "Marcel's witch."

Bonnie gasped and took a couple of steps closer to the girl, surprised that her senses hadn't alerted her to their presence. She was deep asleep.

"I put belladonna on her food." Angelica explained. "It made it easier to bring her here. She'll sleep for the rest of the day."

"Klaus ordered you to kidnap her," Bonnie suddenly realized something. "When I walked on all of you in the kitchen, this is what he was plotting wasn't it?"

She couldn't believe it. _What the hell was Klaus thinking?_

"How could you take her from under Marcel's nose?" Riley questioned staring at the girl with curiosity.

"Klaus has a spy in his army." Felix told him.

Bonnie stared at the hybrid in shock. _Just what else had Klaus been plotting without her knowing?_

"Klaus unknowingly gave us the key to get him and his siblings back." Felix told Bonnie while watching her face carefully.

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie questioned.

"The Seer wouldn't have been able to pull this off without the help from the withes of the French Quarter." Angelica told Bonnie. Riley had told them exactly what happened at the Governor's mansion. "She has her own coven but she's using the witches of the Quarter for her own advantage."

"The one thing the witches want above all else is to complete the Harvest." Felix said quietly. "This is the last Harvest girl. The witches need Davina and so does Marcel in order to keep them under control." There was a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Do you know what this means?" he asked.

"I'm sure you are about to tell me." Bonnie's head was spinning. She had a pretty good idea where this was heading and she didn't like it.

"By having Davina, we will not only keep Marcel Gerard under control but we will have the leverage needed against the witches." Felix explained.

"We can use Davina to get Klaus back." Riley said.

"Marcel is going to be pissed when he finds out we have his witch." Jesse pointed out. "He's going to come after us."

"Davina is the key to win the city," Angelica said. It was the reason Klaus had ordered them to kidnapped her. Her eyes bored into Bonnie, "by having her, we will have control over the witches of New Orleans."

"You want to use a sixteen year old girl as leverage…" Bonnie shook her head. From what Elijah had told them Davina was simply trying to survive. She had been betrayed by her own family and sent to be slaughtered. To be a sacrificial lamb in some ancient ritual from which Marcel had saved her, that's why she was so loyal to him.

"Do you want to get Klaus back or not?" Felix asked angrily. "Because I already contacted the pack, they are on their way. We are going to war." The hybrids were more than ready.

 _Klaus's hybrid pack_ , Bonnie realized startled by Felix's angry tone. He had always been so calmed and controlled. She had never seen him so angry.

"I will do whatever it takes to get Klaus back," Bonnie snapped. "But I won't negotiate with the witches."

"Bonnie," Jesse intervened."It's a good plan."

"The presence of the pack is going to make the vampires nervous. They'll be out for blood." Riley told them. "It could cause more harm than good." It was the reason Klaus had not called them into the city yet. "We need to focus on getting Klaus and his siblings first before starting a war with Marcel."

"The vampires don't stand a chance against us." Jesse told them. One bite from them and they were dust. "We can take them all out if we have to."

"And the witches?" Riley questioned. "They have magic. How are we going to defeat them?"

"We won't. We have Davina," Angelica told them. "We'll use her to get the witches to fall in line." The witches were desperate after all.

"The witches took Klaus." Belle said nervously sensing the tension among all of them. "I don't think they will want to help us." She didn't like or trust the witches.

"We will do whatever it takes to get our Sire back." Felix said in a dangerously low voice. "How far will you go?" he challenged his pack mates.

"I'll do whatever it takes." Jesse said with determination. "I'm more than ready for war." He was on board with the plan.

Belle bit her lip and seemed ready to cry, not knowing what to say. She wanted to get Klaus back but she didn't agree with the plan, the witches couldn't be trusted.

"Are you questioning my loyalty?" Riley asked offended by his friend's words.

Bonnie stared at the sleeping witch as the hybrids argued back and forth. _She's so young_ , Bonnie thought sadly. Her hand absently moved to her chest. It hurt. Because Klaus was in pain, wherever he was, he was hurting. The witches were hurting him.

Felix, Jesse, Angelica, and Riley kept arguing over a plan of attack while Belle stared at Bonnie waiting expectantly for her to step in. _Do something,_ her brown eyes seemed to say. _Stop them from doing something they'll regret._

 _In this war you will have to make some very difficult choices_ …Klaus had told Bonnie, not so long ago.

 _You are a queen_ , he had told her before the ball, _and the time has come for you to act as such._

Deep down she knew what she needed to do. In a way she had always known.

"Enough!" Bonnie ordered.

Jesse clamped his mouth shut immediately. Riley turned to Bonnie in surprise, they had practically forgotten that she was there and even Felix was startled by the force behind Bonnie's voice.

Belle looked relieved that she had finally intervened while Angelica watched her carefully, an unreadable look on her face.

"We won't waste our time negotiating with the witches," Bonnie told them. "The Seer won't stop until she kills me and the witches of New Orleans made their choice last night. They were willing to sacrifice dozens of innocent people to get what they want. They could have waited to hear what Klaus and Elijah had to say. They could have chosen to stay out of this, but they didn't. We know where they loyalty is." The witches couldn't be trusted.

"What are you saying?" Felix asked studying her face carefully.

"The witches sealed their fate the moment they came after my family." Bonnie told them fiercely. Joanna had died and so had Matt. They had been lucky to come back to life but countless others hadn't been able to share the same luck. Bonnie was done. She was done being persecuted and hunted down by the Seer and her coven and she was not going to negotiate anything with the witches of the French Quarter. Not after all the innocents they had killed in order to get to Klaus and his siblings. Who knew what they had done to Elijah and Rebekah but Bonnie could feel the excruciating pain Klaus was in, because of them.

"We don't need them on our side." Bonnie continued. Soon she would have her own coven, a coven that would not be bound by ancestral or spirit magic. A coven that would be loyal. She knew what she had to do. The time had come to act.

Bonnie stared at Felix with determination. "You are Klaus's second in command but don't you dare make decisions without consulting me first." She was not going to let the hybrids take matters into their own hands. The time had come for her to step into the position that had been trusted upon her the moment she had accepted Klaus. "From this moment on, until Klaus returns, you will do what I tell you, you will obey me. All of you." She emphasized moving her gaze towards Jesse, Riley, Belle, and Angelica.

Felix and Angelica exchanged looks before facing her once more. Belle nodded eagerly while Jesse nodded and smiled in Bonnie's direction impressed with her attitude. Riley also gave her a nod with a small smile on his lips.

Felix seemed more reluctant, "you are not a werewolf," he stated simply. It was nothing personal against Bonnie, he respected her. But he didn't trust her to be able to handle the hybrid pack. "The hybrids will never see you as the Alpha female of the pack. They won't listen to you." Some of them might follow her out of respect for Klaus but not all of them. "Some of the hybrids will challenge you for control of the pack." He told her. He was Klaus's second in command he had a better chance of dealing with them.

"I am not the Alpha female of the pack." Bonnie agreed. She knew the wolves would never see her as such. They could be quite arrogant and set in their ways in that regard and many of them distrusted witches. "I am the queen." She told them. It was the first time she had acknowledged her position. She was the queen of the witches by birthright and the queen of the wolves by being Klaus's mate and mother to his child. "If they want to challenge my position they are more than welcome to." She was not afraid of any of them. "And so are you." She told Felix.

Felix was taken back by her words. "All I want is to get our Sire back." He said. Everything he was doing was because he wanted to save Klaus. It was his duty to do so. "Klaus is the Alpha of the pack and I serve and obey him." Felix had no ulterior motives, he just wanted to serve his Sire to the best of his ability.

"And now you serve and obey me." Bonnie told him. They locked eyes and Bonnie waited to see if Felix would challenge her authority. The rest of the pack also waited anxiously. Without Felix's support Bonnie would have a harder time controlling the pack and they all knew it. Bonnie did her best not to let her nervousness show. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake but with Klaus gone someone needed to step up and lead pack. Felix's and Angelica's plan was good but after what the witches had done to Klaus, Bonnie was not going to negotiate with them.

Felix nodded and bowed his head, accepting her as his queen. Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief. Riley, Belle, Jesse, and Angelica followed his lead and bowed their heads in Bonnie's direction as well. She was their leader now.

"The moment the hybrids arrive in New Orleans I want you to bring them here." Bonnie ordered. "No one is going to make a move until I order you to do so." Ishmael had been right. They needed a plan of attack. They had to be smarter than the witches. "We can't rush blindly into this." They needed to think before acting in desperation. Now more than ever she felt grateful that Ishmael had stopped her from rushing to Klaus without a plan. Bonnie had just done the same with the hybrids. While their plan looked good on the surface, Bonnie knew it was going to take a lot more strategy and cunning to bring the Seer down and she was more than ready for the challenge.

"So what are we going to do if you don't plan to negotiate with the witches?" Angelica asked softly. It was the question everyone wanted to ask.

All the hybrids were watching her, waiting for her to tell them what to do.

"Davina is an important part in this war." As much of Bonnie hated the idea of using a young girl, she could see why the hybrids wanted to use her to negotiate with the witches. "But I won't negotiate with anyone. We are going to get Klaus and his siblings back." Bonnie told them. "And there will be no mercy for those who have dared hurt the people I love." The witches had made their choice and now they had to live with it. "The Seer, her coven, and all of the witches that helped them last night will die."

 _The witches will burn for this_. Bonnie thought. And if the spirits wanted to get involved, Bonnie would go after them too. She was done playing games.

* * *

 _Up until this point Bonnie has been reluctant to accept her role as queen but the Seer's attack has definitely changed that. This chapter marks the beginning of Bonnie embracing her legacy and taking charge. With the king missing at the moment, the queen has to step up and lead the army. I hope you liked this chapter. See you next time!_


	24. Chapter 24

He had been chained to a wall. He was shirtless, covered in sweat, and his skin burned from all the werewolf venom that had been pumped into his system. With his head down, Elijah whimpered as memories flashed across his mind, flashes of hidden secrets, torments of his past that surfaced and turned into his worst nightmares.

In his feverish dreams he saw her, the face that still haunted him even after all these centuries. The woman who had marked him, the one he had loved above all others.

His Tatia.

So _beautiful, dark curls blowing with the wind._

 _Her sweet laugh echoed in the forest surrounding the village._

 _Elijah chased her, mesmerized by her beauty._

 _Tatia laughed merrily as he pressed her against the trunk of the tree._

 _Elijah smiled down at her and caressed her cheek with infinite tenderness. "You are so beautiful…" he murmured in awe. Not daring to believe his luck. "The most beautiful girl…" and she was his. She had chosen him._

 _Tatia smiled wrapping her arms around his neck, a look of pure joy and adoration on her pretty face. "Elijah…"_

 _Hearing his name on her lips made Elijah tremble, fire coiled inside his belly and desire fueled his veins. "I love you…" he whispered against her mouth before his lips crashed down on hers._

 _Tatia responded to his kiss, she was always so responsive to him, to his lips, to his touch._

 _Elijah gasped when a cold wind suddenly swept her away. "Tatia!" He yelled._

 _But Tatia was gone. He looked all around the forest but he couldn't see her. He couldn't find her._

 _Elijah ran like crazy through the forest searching for his lost love. "Tatia!"_

 _A red door appeared suddenly in front of him. The forest had turned into a dark hallway, the tress turned to stony walls as Elijah found himself standing in front of the door. He knew that door. He had seen it before in his nightmares. It had always haunted him._

 _Someone was screaming on the other side. Elijah's heart jumped to his throat._

 _He felt something wet and warm underneath his feet. Elijah looked down and gasped when he saw the blood on the stone floor. He was standing in a puddle of blood, blood that stained his clothes._

 _Elijah's entire body shook as he looked up. The door had turned into a mirror and he could see his reflection staring back at him. Dark veins around his eyes and sharp fangs gleaming menacingly._

 _A monster that looked like him, a monster who shared his face. He stared at his pristine white suit which was bathed in blood. There was blood everywhere, on his hands, his arms, his chin, so much blood. "No…" he knew the scent of that blood. He knew the taste of it. He had drunk that sweet blood until his belly was full, until there was nothing left but a corpse._

 _And then she was in his arms. Beautiful, soft, and cold…so cold like ice. A death girl she was…_

 _Elijah cradled Tatia's dead body in his arms, tears streaming down his face. He had killed her. He had devoured his love._

" _NOOOOOO….."_

His body jerked and twisted as he struggled to break free, incoherent words coming out of his trembling lips every now and again as the terrible images assaulted his brain.

"Is he going to die?" Hayley asked tilting her head to the side and studying the Original chained against the wall. He looked pale and sickly. She knew werewolf venom was lethal to vampires and he had been pumped with extreme amounts of it.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sabine snapped. "Originals can't be killed by werewolf venom." He was going to spend hours and hours of suffering due to the venom in his system however.

Hayley glared and turned to face the witch. "We had a deal. You promised me." She was tired of waiting and tired of dealing with witches. First Sophie and her sister and now the French Quarter coven, but Hayley was desperate for their help. She needed them.

Sabine kept her back towards the wolf, mixing herbs and different liquids in a bowl. "And I will deliver." She said while pouring some water into the bowl and a couple of strange looking roots. "You need to be more patient."

"My family has been cursed for years and I promised to save them." Hayley said angrily. She had done so many things in order to find her family and when she had finally found them she discovered they had been cursed by the vampire king. She had promised them to set them free and she was going to keep that promise no matter the cost. It was the reason she had formed an alliance with Sabine. "Do you have any idea how pissed Klaus is going to be when he finds out I helped you." She knew Klaus's temper and vengeful nature.

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Calm down. I'm working on the potion that will free the Crescents from the curse." She had been the one to create the curse in the first place, a long time ago, another body and another face. It had been a favor for Marcel while she had possessed the body of Brynne Deveraux. _Fun times_ , Sabine recalled with a smile. Marcel was sexy and really good in bed. "You have nothing to fear from Klaus," she continued. "The witches will ensure Klaus Mikaelson is all but forgotten. By the time they are done with him, he will be nothing."

Revenge was a sweet thing.

* * *

Bonnie sat alone in the kitchen lost in thought. After her talk with the hybrids she had spent the next hour throwing up. The nausea this morning was worse than in previous days. She had managed to tolerate a piece of toast with strawberry jam and some chamomile tea but her stomach still felt upset.

Bonnie stared at her mug, conflicting emotions invading her. Her chest hurt. The echo of Klaus's pain was a constant reminder of his predicament. She needed to save him. The hybrids would be arriving later that day and Bonnie was waiting for the two wolf elders of Ishmael's pack to arrive at the mansion in order to begin their rescue plan. She wanted nothing more than to find the abandoned hospital were Klaus was and rescue him, but that's exactly what the Seer was counting on and Bonnie was not going to fall for her trap.

 _Hold on,_ Bonnie thought. _Please hold on…just a few more hours_. _Hold on Klaus…_

"Hey."

Bonnie looked up at the sound of Lucy's voice. Her cousin stepped inside the kitchen a small smile on her face. "You okay?" she asked seeing the look on Bonnie's face. "Stupid question," she said immediately afterwards. How could Bonnie be okay with all the shit that happened in the past few hours?

"Morning sickness," Bonnie mumbled. Her stomach still felt uneasy.

"I never understood why they call it morning sickness," Joanna said coming into the kitchen followed closely by Abby.

"Me neither." Abby agreed. "When I was pregnant, I was sick day and night. Sometimes I couldn't even stomach water." She smiled in Bonnie's direction.

Bonnie smiled back. She had wondered the same thing a few times.

Joanna went straight towards Bonnie and threw her arms around her. "Thank-you." she said hugging her tightly. "You saved me." She still couldn't believe that she had died and that Bonnie had brought her back.

"I should have warned you that you couldn't use magic inside the mansion." Bonnie said as they pulled away. "I'm sorry." She felt guilty and responsible for Joanna's death.

Joanna shook her head. "I hope the spirits do not punish you for this." The fear and worry in her voice did not go unnoticed. There were laws of magic that the spirits deemed sacred. Bonnie had openly defied them by bringing her back.

"They can try and they will fail." Bonnie told her firmly. She was not going to let the spirits get to her again. They had no idea what she was capable of now.

Abby shook her head at Bonnie's words. "It's a dangerous thing to defy the spirits, Bonnie." No one knew what consequences this could bring.

"It's not the first time I defy them and it won't be the last." Bonnie locked eyes with her mother as she said it. Bonnie had opened rebelled against the spirits but refusing to do their bidding.

Lucy began rummaging through the cabinets until she finally found a cup and filled it up with hot water from the pot Bonnie had in the kitchen island. "So what's the plan?" she asked as she prepared herself a cup of coffee. "What are we going to do?" They had three Original vampires to rescue.

Abby and Joanna took seats around the kitchen island across from Bonnie while Lucy took a seat next to her.

"I heard the hybrids talking," Abby studied her daughter's face carefully before saying the next words. "It seems you are ready to go on a rampage." She kept her tone neutral, doing her best to discuss this as calmly as possible. What she had heard from Klaus's hybrids had disturbed her greatly. "You are planning on killing the witches."

The hybrids were definitely excited and eager for the battle to come. They were more than ready to murder the witches that had taken their Sire.

Joanna and Lucy looked nervously between Abby and Bonnie; the tension simmering all around them. As diplomatic as Abby was trying to be, it was obvious she did not approve of Bonnie's plan.

Bonnie stared at her mother's face. "I'm done being hunted by the Seer and her coven. I will do whatever it takes to stop her, w _hatever_ it takes to save Klaus and his siblings."

"I understand that." Abby told her doing her best to keep her emotions under control. "You are planning on killing her, _all_ of them." She couldn't imagine her daughter killing anyone, let alone an entire coven. That was something Klaus would do not Bonnie. He was a bad influence on her.

"Yes." Bonnie replied angrily. It was the only way to stop the Seer for good. Bonnie knew she couldn't keep giving the Seer more opportunities to attack her.

"Bonnie-"Joanna began nervously.

"She's not going to stop." Bonnie told them. "She's convinced that my child will bring destruction into this world and she won't rest until we're dead. There is only one way to stop her for good." Bonnie had made up her mind. "This has to end and it will end tonight."

"It's obvious that the Seer is not going to stop…" Lucy said quietly, "but what about the other witches, the ones from the Quarter?"

"They made their choice." Bonnie replied coldly while glancing in Lucy's direction. "They chose the Seer's side, they chose to murder innocent people to trap the Mikaelsons. I won't show them any mercy." Her voice was filled with anger and there was a spark in the air around them. Bonnie's magic had surfaced for a few seconds.

Joanna shivered while Lucy watched Bonnie carefully. Maybe it was her imagination but Bonnie's magic seemed to be getting stronger.

The hard look on her daughter's face frightened Abby. As did the spike of power she felt thrumming in the air. It was dark, it was dangerous. Bonnie's magic had come a long way since the first time they had seen each other after Abby had left her and her father.

Abby had sensed Bonnie's magic as a baby and toddler. She had sensed that same power when they reunited after so many years. But since then, Bonnie's magic had tripled. It was terrifying.

"Do you realize what you are saying?" Joanna asked. "We are talking about an entire coven, over twenty witches…" maybe even more. As powerful as Bonnie was she couldn't possible kill all of them. Not to mention the repercussions such act would bring not only for Bonnie, but for the witch community in general. "You need to be careful Bonnie, you cannot act harshly."

Bonnie looked away. She had meant the words she had said to the hybrids. She was tired of being persecuted by the Seer and her coven. She was done being pushed around, done being the victim. The Seer was not going to stop, not now, not ever. The only way to stop the Seer was to kill her and the witches helping her hadn't touched their hearts to murder innocents to get what they wanted.

But despite the anger and the rage Bonnie felt towards the witches, she was already second guessing herself. The doubts had started creeping in. It was not just one witch Bonnie had to finish. It was the Seer's coven and the French Quarter coven combined.

 _Can I really do it?_ Bonnie wondered as she looked down at her mug of tea. _Can I really kill all the witches as I told the hybrids?_ Yes. She had enough power to do it. But how would such an act change her? Could she end up losing a part of her humanity if she went through with it? It was that thought that frightened her the most. Bonnie did not want to lose herself. But what other choice did she have? They were fighting a war. It was either them or her.

"The witches are not going to stop." She said sadly. "There were over three hundred people invited to the ball." She looked up and moved her gaze over her cousins and mother, "half of them died. Innocent people murdered by the witches. They were willing to sacrifice so many lives. If they can do that now, what will they do if they are not stopped?"

It was a difficult situation and they all knew it. Show mercy and keep an eye open for the next attack or end the witches once and for all, _But at what cost?_

"Fighting an entire coven of witches is not going to be easy." Lucy began nervously. "The power they have-"

"I have enough power to kill them all." Bonnie told them, feeling confident and exhibiting a rare hint of arrogance. Expression was more than ready; Bonnie could feel it, the magic inside of her hummed in excitement at the prospect of blood. Expression wanted to destroy, wanted to burn those who had dared hurt its mistress. The magic could feel Bonnie's pain and was reacting to her emotions.

"Saying you are going to kill someone is very different that actually doing it Bonnie." Abby told her. "Once you cross that line there is no going back." Mother and daughter stared into each other's eyes, different emotions flickering over both their faces.

"I know that." Bonnie said with emotion. "I know that killing someone is not right. But what am I supposed to do? Ask them nicely to return Klaus and his siblings? Slap them on the wrist and make them promise not to do it again?" Bonnie stood up. "I have to stop them for good, before they hurt my baby or kill us both." Because Bonnie was not going to let anyone hurt her child. Not now, not ever. If she had to kill other witches in order to keep her baby safe Bonnie would do it. To keep her child safe, Bonnie was willing to go to the deepest of hell.

"Bonnie-" Abby tried to interrupt.

"If the witches had taken me," Bonnie asked her mother. "If they were torturing me, hurting me after killing so many innocents, would you show them mercy?"

Abby pressed her lips together. _Yes,_ she wanted to say. She wanted to believe that she would not sink to the witches level, that she would be better than them. But Abby had killed before. Abby had a stopped a human heart in order to desiccate Mikael, because the Original needed to be stopped from hurting Elena. And the things she had done afterwards…Abby looked down at the floor shuddering. She couldn't judge Bonnie, not after the things she had done.

"They're hurting him." Bonnie said tears forming in her eyes. "I can feel it. I can feel Klaus's pain." His pain was her pain. It was only an echo, a fraction of his suffering but it hurt all the same.

Joanna and Lucy exchanged confused looks.

Abby froze at Bonnie's words, "feel him?" she repeated studying Bonnie's face carefully. "You can feel his pain?" surely she had heard wrong. It had to be a mistake.

Bonnie nodded. "As if it were my own," she admitted.

"Shit!" Lucy's mouth opened in shock as Bonnie's words sunk in.

"You don't mean to say…" Joanna couldn't believe it.

"You are bonded to Klaus." Abby whispered with shock and disbelief. "Oh my god!" She slumped into the nearest stool. "What have you done?"

* * *

A pentagram had been drawn on the ground with salt, Rebekah Mikaelson laid on top of it and a strange symbol had been carved on her forehead. She was a one thousand year old Original vampire and the witches were going to channel her in order to enhance their magic.

"We should've used both of them." Agnes muttered while staring down at the vampire. "Or better yet all three."

"Her energy is more than enough." The Seer replied as she lit candles around the room. "Besides we need the hybrid in order to get to Bonnie." And Sabine had a special vendetta against Elijah. Rebekah would have to do for now.

"Are you sure she'll come?" Bastiana asked. It had been hours since the ball and Bonnie Bennett had yet to show up. The witches had been waiting patiently for the girl to arrive but so far they'd been out of luck.

"She will." The Seer smiled. "Love makes us quite foolish." She handed a candle to Bastiana and another one to Agnes. "By channeling Rebekah our magic and strength will be enhanced. We will be linked to her, we will be unstoppable."

The Bennett witch had no idea what awaited her.

The Seer moved to stand by Rebekah's head while Bastiana and Agnes moved to the sides near Rebekah's feet, forming a triangle over the Original girl.

"Let us begin."

The three witches started chanting.

* * *

"You are bonded to Klaus." Abby repeated still trying to process the revelation. Had she been human she probably would've died of sheer shock. "How could you let him trapped you into-"

"He didn't trap me!" Bonnie snapped angrily knowing where this was heading, as always her mother was going to blame Klaus for everything and paint him as Satan. "It was an accident." Prom night had been unexpected. The last thing Bonnie and Klaus had anticipated was they would be bonded that night.

"An accident?" Joanna raised an eyebrow very much intrigued by Bonnie's words.

"We didn't mean to, it happened the first time we…" Bonnie trailed off embarrassed. She was not going to discuss that night with them.

"How can you be so sure?" Abby questioned her daughter. "How do you know he didn't plan this?" in her mind Abby was starting to believe that Klaus was using the bond to manipulate Bonnie.

"He didn't." Bonnie defended Klaus. "He's never been bonded to anyone before. And you know what? I'm not going to argue over this. Klaus and I have a bond and we're having a child and you are going to have to accept it." Besides now was not the time to be arguing over this. Bonnie had more important things to worry about than explain herself to her mother and cousins. The bond was hers and Klaus's private business.

"Bonnie-"

"I'm not going to get into this argument again." Bonnie interrupted her. "You told me how you feel about Klaus and the baby. I get it. But you're not going to change my mind. We have more important matters to attend to." She reminded her mother.

"This is important Bonnie, this is life changing. You can't expect me-" Abby tried once more.

"You can either accept it." Bonnie interrupted again. "Or you can get the hell out." She didn't want to fight with Abby over Klaus. All Bonnie wanted was to get Klaus back.

Abby gasped.

"I need you to help me get Klaus and his siblings back." Bonnie said. "If you can't, if you don't want to, that's okay. You know where the door is." She turned to her cousins. "And the same goes for you." she had made it clear before that Klaus and his siblings were her family. It was something that was not up for negotiation.

"We're with you to the end, Bonnie." Lucy said fiercely. Joanna nodded.

"Thank-you." The anger simmering inside her disappeared right away. It meant a lot to her that her family was willing to stand by her side. Bonnie turned to Abby waiting expectantly to see what her mother would decide.

There was a lot Abby wanted to say to Bonnie but she bit her tongue, now was not the time. She would talk to Bonnie eventually; this conversation was far from over. A blood bond was something unbreakable. Bonnie needed to understand what she had gotten herself into. "I will help you." Abby said sincerely. "You are my daughter Bonnie." Her face softened and she stood up and walked towards her, taking Bonnie's hand in hers. "I will stand by you to the very end." _Even if I don't agree with your choices,_ Abby thought as she gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Bonnie nodded feeling relieved and grateful that her mother was choosing to stay by her side and was not going to abandon her like she had done before. Despite her bravado, if Abby had chosen to leave Bonnie's heart would've been broken. She needed her family, now more than ever.

* * *

"Where is she?" Marcel grabbed Father Kieran by the throat and lifted him up a couple of inches from the ground. "What did you do?" he hissed angrily, vampire face flashing.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Kieran replied struggling to break free. It was impossible. Marcel's hold was iron clad.

"Davina is gone." Marcel told him. He had returned from the Governor's mansion only to find the attic in disarray and Davina missing. The vampires that were supposed to be watching over her were all dead. No one could tell him where the young witch was and Marcel was desperate.

"I just got back from the ball a few hours ago," Kieran told him. "I haven't seen Davina. I don't know where she could be."

"Don't lie."

"I am not lying." Kieran stared into his angry face. He had no reason to do so. "I had nothing to do with Davina's disappearance." The priest told him honestly. He had tried to convince Davina to leave the city on more than one occasion but the young girl had refused.

Marcel let him go. Father Kieran fell to the ground and stared at the vampire as he paced nervously around the church altar.

"Someone took her." Marcel's jaw clenched.

Kieran stood up a frown on his face. "Who else besides you knew Davina was hiding here?"

"A few of my guys, you…" Marcel watched him warily. The priest had been trying to get Davina out of town for months. "You have been bugging me about getting Davina out of the city if you-"

"I didn't do this." Kieran interrupted. "I hope she finally realized that the best thing for her is to leave this city but if that's not the case, this is your fault." He said harshly. Kieran had warned Marcel not to use Davina.

Marcel growled.

"You used that girl as your own personal weapon against the witches," Kieran continued. He was one of the few people that could push Marcel's buttons and get away with it. "If anything happens to her, it's on you."

"I care about Davina." Marcel told the priest. He sounded worried and there was even a hint of fear but he covered it well. "I will find her. And whoever took her will die." He promised before storming out of St. Anne's church. There were two other suspects he had in mind and Marcel dreaded the thought of anyone of them having Davina. He had hoped Kieran had been the one to take her because at least with him, Davina would've been safe.

Father Kieran watched him go and frowned. A terrifying thought forming on his mind. _Who could possibly want Davina? Why kidnapped her now?_ The answered came to his mind immediately. There was only one group of people desperate to get to the girl.

The witches.

They had been responsible for the explosion at the Mikaelson's ball. They had murdered innocents and there was only one thing they wanted above all, to complete the Harvest. Davina was the key to do so.

Kieran closed his eyes. The witches ruthlessness had taken him by surprise. He had never thought they would be so willing to murder innocents. He needed to know for sure if they had Davina and he knew just the right person to talk to.

* * *

The war council met in the dining room. Bonnie sat at the head of the table, Felix to her right and Matt to her left. The hybrids sat on Felix's side while the witches sat across from them on Matt's side. Ishmael sat at the other end with Mila and Charles to his sides. A map of the city was spread on the table.

"In my vision I saw an abandoned hospital." Bonnie told them. "Klaus was strapped to a metal table." She shivered remembering the Seer's triumphant smile.

"No doubt he's been restrained by magic." Ishmael murmured.

Bonnie nodded before turning to Felix. "Is there any abandoned hospitals in the Quarter?"

The hybrid had been sent to New Orleans by Klaus long before they had arrived in the city. He knew it best out of all of them.

"Not in the Quarter." Felix answered. He pulled the map forward studying it carefully. His fingertips traced one spot in particular. "Fleur-de-Lis Sanatorium," he said looking up from the map. "It's been abandoned for over eighty years. People believe it's haunted." He handed the map to Bonnie.

The moment Bonnie's fingers traced the spot Felix had pointed out she knew that's where Klaus was. The bond told her so. "That's where he is." Her fingers kept moving over the spot. She closed her eyes briefly trying to tune out the dull pain in her heart. Klaus was suffering, she couldn't keep wasting time.

"How many witches does the Seer command?" Charles asked.

"Thirty…" Riley answered with a frown. He wasn't really sure.

"More," Belle added quickly. "At least fifty, I think. A couple dropped dead when they took Klaus." It had taken all of their combined power to capture Klaus.

"They channeled too much magic." Joanna murmured deep in thought. At the end of the day no matter how powerful witches were human, doing too much magic took a toll on the body. "That's a weakness we can exploit."

"The Seer has a coven of her own, thirteen I think." Bonnie said remembering how the Seer and her coven had channeled their combined power to aid the huntress.

"So, we are talking about sixty witches." Abby shook her head. "We can't fight them all." They didn't stand a change.

"We can and we will." Felix said with determination. The hybrids were going to get Klaus back no matter what.

"Sixty witches can channel an incredible amount of power." Lucy said worriedly. "And if their ancestors are helping them…" she looked at Bonnie. "Our line is powerful but sixty against three…" It was not enough and they all knew it.

"Four," Angelica told her. "I may not be a Bennett but I can and will fight at your side." She was powerful in her own right.

"That's still not enough." Abby murmured. _Couldn't they see this was practically a lost cause?_ The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became they would fail. "We don't stand a chance against so many witches."

"Our clan is ready." Mila told them fiercely. The witches had murdered three of their elders, the pack wanted blood. "Between Klaus's hybrids and our pack we more than double the witches' numbers."

"But not their power," Abby told her. "Against vampires or another werewolf pack yes, but when it comes to magic no offense but you don't stand a chance." They were going to lose, Abby thought. She glanced at Bonnie terrified that she might get hurt or that she would sacrifice herself for Klaus. It was the last thing Abby wanted.

"The Bennett coven."

All eyes turned towards Bonnie.

"I can summon the coven." Bonnie looked at her mother and cousins. "That'll even the tide."

"It's not that easy." Joanna gave Bonnie a sad look. "Summoning the coven it's the first step. Once the witches of our bloodline get here there is a ceremony that must be done in order to activate the coven." Her eyes bored into Bonnie's. "They will have to decide if they want to be part of the coven or not, if they want to follow you or not. The witches who decide to do so will all participate in an ancient ritual that will bind the coven to you."

"How long will it take?" Angelica asked curiously.

"It depends how long it takes the other Bennett witches to get here but after that at least three days to complete the ceremony, preferably on the night of the full moon." Joanna answered.

There were mutters and curses all around the table.

"I should've done it sooner." Bonnie muttered feeling sad and angry with herself. She should've summoned the coven the moment she found out about her legacy. She had been so reluctant about the Bennett legacy and now she was paying the price.

"And they will probably refuse to help you if you summon them to rescue a vampire family." Abby said quietly, everyone heard her of course.

Bonnie glared at her and opened her mouth but Lucy's voice interrupted her.

"She's right." As much as Lucy did not agree with Abby's views, the vampire had a point. "The best way to get all the Bennett witches to be part of the coven is to appeal to their sense of duty and family. " She told Bonnie, "to fight for you, not for Klaus and his siblings." All witches were wary of vampires and the Bennett's were no exception.

"If the hybrids are willing to fight for Bonnie why can't her witches fight for Klaus?" Felix challenged. Klaus's inner circle had accepted Bonnie as their queen, the witches in turn would have to accept Klaus as their king it was only fair.

Jesse and Riley nodded agreeing with Felix's views.

"You know Bonnie," Lucy glanced at the hybrid. "You have spent time with her. You know how important she is to Klaus. The rest of our family on the other hand doesn't know Klaus. They've heard of him of course and know of his reputation but you can't expect them to risk their life for him and his siblings." She turned to face Bonnie once more. "You have to summon the coven to help you, not him."

Lucy's words rang true. The witches were proud, the women of their line more so. They were not going to bow down to a vampire. If Klaus wanted the coven's allegiance he was going to have to prove himself worthy of it.

"So we're screwed." Belle mumbled crossing her arms over chest a defeated look on her face.

"I say we storm into the Sanatorium and murder as many witches as we can." Jesse told the group.

"They'll paralyze and kill you before you can touch them." Angelica told him.

"That's what they're waiting for." Ishmael said almost at the same time. "For us to storm in there and try and rescue Klaus by brutal force, we'll be easy prey for them."

"So you suggest we wait?" Riley obviously didn't agree. "The longer we wait, the harder it will be to fight them." Who knew what the witches were cooking up at the moment?

"And if we rush into this blindly, we will all die." Ishmael retorted.

"But we have to get Klaus back!" Belle pleaded.

Ishmael's face softened. "And we will, but we have to be smarter than they are."

"What if there was a way to neutralize the witches." Matt spoke up for the first time. He shifted nervously in his seat when everyone turned to stare at him.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie frowned.

"Well…" Matt cleared his throat nervously. "The spirits took your magic away, before I mean," he said staring at Bonnie. "And you and Angelica blocked the witches' magic at the Governor's mansion…" he shrugged. "I don't know…what if there is a spell or something to block their magic again. Or better yet, to take it away." The blood rushed to his face. He felt uncomfortable having so many eyes on him. They had been looking oddly at him, ever since he had died and come back.

"Is that even possible?" Charles looked at all the witches in the room with curiosity.

"Can you do it?" Jesse asked eagerly.

"You can do the same spell that you did at the Governor's mansion!" Belle exclaimed.

"We would have to get inside in order to do it." Angelica crushed her hopes. "The witches will attack the minute we step inside, we might not even have the chance to utter the spell." It could be done in theory but the risks were really high.

"The magic the witches of New Orleans practice is a different kind of magic from us." Joanna said quietly. "The ancestors monitor and guide them. And for all we know they are helping them with this." That was something that worried her. It meant that their magic would be twice as strong.

"But maybe there is another way?" Lucy turned to her mother. "If we look in the grimoires…" They had enough resources.

"We don't have much time." Mila murmured. Their best chance was to act as quickly as possible before the witches had time to double or triple their power.

Bonnie sat staring into nothing. The conversation continued all around her, but Bonnie didn't hear anything she was lost in thought.

 _If they could find a way to neutralize the witches' magic. A way to block their power... If the spirits could do it to her…there had to be away to do it to other witches…sixty witches at least_ …Bonnie mulled over Matt's words. _She wouldn't have to kill all of the witches…all she had to do was take their magic and-_

Her heart leaped to her throat as an idea suddenly sprang to her mind. The chair screeched loudly as Bonnie stood up.

Everyone quieted down and stared at her.

"I have a plan," she told the group. It was a crazy plan but if she could pull it off…

Bonnie beamed at Matt before running out of the room.

* * *

Klaus groaned as another wave of pain hit him. Trying to keep his eyes open was far more difficult that he had first anticipated. As the hours passed the pain intensified and the dark magic inside of him continued to spread over his body. The red thin lines on his torso had spread to his arms and neck and up to his chin. It was like a parasite slowly eating away his insides. It was the rage he felt towards the witches and his stubborn determination that kept his eyes open and helped him fight.

A noise to his side caught his attention. A witch was picking different bottles and mixing them in a copper bowl. Klaus recognized her immediately. She had been at the ball and Felix had given him very juicy information about her.

"Katie…"

She jumped startled at the sound of his voice and turned around immediately.

"That's your name isn't it?" His voice was groggy, tired, the dark magic inside his chest wearing him down with each passing minute. "You're Thierry's girl."

Her heart gave her away immediately as did the fearful look on her face.

"A witch and a vampire in love in a city at war…" Klaus muttered with a half smile. "How tragic…"

"Your wife is a witch." She pointed out immediately. She had been at the ball and she had heard the rumors as well.

"Unlike you and Thierry I have no need to hide." Klaus said. "Aren't you tired of keeping your love in the shadows…of constantly hiding your feelings…of living in fear?"

Katie glared at him. "I don't have time for this." She began making her way out of the room as quickly as possible until Klaus's voice stopped her.

"What if you didn't have to live in the shadows anymore?" he asked. His voice was silky, seductive. "What if you and Thierry could be free to be together?"

Katie turned around slowly. "That will never happen." Her eyes were sad and the pain in her voice was unmistakable. Marcel would never allow it and neither would the witches. Her love with Thierry was doomed but despite knowing that she couldn't give him up.

"It could happen." Klaus told her in a surprisingly gentle tone. "But it won't. Not as long as Marcel and the Seer are in control of this city."

"What do you want?" Katie asked watching him with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

"I want to offer you freedom," Klaus replied simply. "The freedom to live and to love without fear," his cat-like eyes bored into hers, his face softened as if he were an old friend offering her comfort. He looked at her with gentleness and kindness- such a contrast to the stories she had heard about him. "I can protect you Katie, you and your lover."

Her heart sped up at his words. She didn't dare to look away, she couldn't. Klaus's mesmerizing eyes had trapped her. "Protect me?" she repeated. She felt bewildered by the idea.

"The Seer has an agenda of her own. You and your coven are nothing but pawns. She won't hesitate to sacrifice you the same way she did the people at the ball." Klaus had heard the witches talking; he knew many people had died in the plot to get him and his siblings.

Katie's breath hitched. She had heard of the countless deaths at the ball too. While she had agreed to stand by the Seer's side she had never agreed to sacrifice so many innocents. Most of the witches hadn't even know what the Seer had planned until it was too late.

"How many more innocents will have to die?" Klaus questioned. "How many more of your kind will be slaughtered because of the Seer?"

Katie chewed on her bottom lip. "We have to complete the Harvest." It was the reason the witches of the Quarter were helping the Seer, because she had promised to help them. "This is a war. Many people will die." It was the price to pay for their freedom.

"The Seer doesn't care about the Harvest. All she wants is to kill Bonnie." Klaus growled. "I won't allow that. I won't allow anyone to hurt her." He hissed. Those who dared tried would meet his wrath.

"You're trapped." Katie said staring at the magical cords holding him in place. "You can't protect her." No one could protect Bonnie now.

Klaus gave her a devilish handsome smile, "I will be free." He sounded so sure, so confident. "You will help me."

Katie frowned. "I-"

"You will help me escape this place," Klaus interrupted. "And in turn I will spare your life."

A chill ran down Katie's back at the look he gave her.

"People have been after me for a thousand years," Klaus continued. "I cannot be killed. You've heard the stories about me have you not?"

Katie nodded. All the witches knew of Klaus, his name was legendary especially in New Orleans.

"Then you know I will get out of here and the first thing I will do is slaughter the witches who serve the Seer. I will kill them all." Klaus snarled. "But if you help me, I will spare you. You and your precious Thierry, I could use people like you." His eyes never left hers as he spoke. He hypnotized her with his magnetic gaze. A snake charmer, he was. "I will reward you in ways you can't possibly phantom sweetheart," he purred eyes moving over her body in a suggestive manner.

Heat spread to Katie's cheeks, her heart was about to jump out of her throat and a shiver run down her spine. _How could a man strapped to a metal table and stabbed with a dark object ooze so much confidence and sexiness?_ She wondered as she struggled to find her voice. "I…"

"You will help me won't you, sweet Katie?" Klaus's lips curved into a knowing smirk. He had her, he knew it. Even at his worst, he could easily charm a witch.

* * *

Bonnie took a deep breath as she placed her hand over Davina's head. The young witch's nose twitched slightly as Bonnie's magic moved over body arousing her from her deep sleep.

Davina yawned and stretched as her eyes slowly blinked opened. She frowned realizing immediately that she was not in the attic of St. Anne's church. She sat up feeling worried and afraid, a fear that tripled the moment she sensed the presence of another witch next to her on the bed.

She sent a wave of her magic towards the witch but nothing happened. Davina frowned and stared at her hand. _What the hell?_

"You're magic is blocked inside this room." Bonnie told her softly.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Davina stood up immediately, her eyes searching the cabin for the nearest exit.

Bonnie stood up studying the frightened girl carefully. "I'm Bonnie Bennett," she introduced herself.

Davina who had been more than ready to start running towards the door froze. She knew that name. She had heard it plenty of times growing up. The Bennett name was legendary in the witch community. "You…" there was something about the witch. An aura of power, so vast, so different from anything Davina had ever felt before. It was frightening.

"Marcel will come for me." Davina blurted out. She wanted to let the other witch know that she wasn't alone and defenseless, that she had someone fighting for her. "He's not going to rest until he finds me. You have no idea who you are dealing with."

"I've met Marcel." Bonnie told her. "I hope the trust and loyalty you have in him is reciprocated." She knew of course that Marcel was not going to be able to get to Davina. The plantation as protected by powerful magic, no one could come inside unless invited and Bonnie had no intention of inviting Marcel.

Davina glared at Bonnie. "What do you want? Why have you brought me here?" _how?_ Davina wondered. The last thing she remembered was talking to Josh and eating the hamburger.

"I didn't bring you here." Bonnie replied. It had been Klaus who hatched the plan and his hybrids the ones to execute it. "But now that you are here…" Bonnie took a deep breath. Davina was essential for her plan. "I need your help."

"Why the hell would I help you?" Davina snapped angrily. "You kidnapped me!"

"We have a common enemy Davina," Bonnie told her softly. "The witches of the French Quarter want you dead in order to complete the Harvest and they have taken someone very important to me…" _someone I love,_ Bonnie thought. "We can help each other." She stared into Davina's eyes hoping that the girl would agree to her plan.

"Help each other how?" Davina asked intrigued and curious. She didn't know what to make of Bonnie Bennett.

Bonnie smiled at least she wasn't refusing out right, that was good. "I have a plan and if I succeed the witches of the French Quarter will never be a threat to you or to me." She said.

Davina gasped heart speeding up upon hearing Bonnie's words. _Could it be true?_ She wondered fearfully.

"If you help me Davina, you will be free of them for good." Bonnie promised.

* * *

Bonnie took a deep breath as she descended the stairs. After her talk with Davina she had spent the rest of the afternoon finalizing the details of her plan. All was coming together nicely and if everything worked the way Bonnie had planned, Klaus and his siblings would be freed in a few hours. Now she needed to convince the rest of Klaus's hybrid pack to follow her orders.

The hybrids were gathered in the living room. There were seventeen hybrids in total, two of which had accompanied Tyler to Baton Rouge or so Bonnie thought. The last thing she expected was to find Alexa at the front of the group.

"You're supposed to be in Baton Rouge." Felix practically growled as he followed Bonnie down the stairs. Riley, Jesse, Angelica, and Belle already waited at the bottom. "You're disobeying Klaus's orders." Klaus had instructed Alexa and Nate to stay with Tyler and help him while he infiltrated the Navarro pack.

"Nate it's with Tyler," Alexa snapped. "Everything is going smoothly. I wasn't going to stay there when Klaus has been kidnapped right under your noses." She glared at Felix and Riley before she turned towards Bonnie. "You're probably responsible for this aren't you?" She gave Bonnie a look of pure hatred. "You are the reason the witches took him."

The hybrids watched both women curiously, sensing the tension and knowing that blood might be spilled at any second.

"Alexa," Felix said warningly.

Bonnie ignored her. She was not going to get into an argument with the hybrid girl. Bonnie didn't even understand why Alexa hated her so much.

"We are going to get Klaus back." Bonnie told the group. "My cousins and Klaus's werewolf family will help us." The hybrids were the last piece of the puzzle in order to carry out the plan.

"Klaus has another pack?" someone asked. "His blood pack?"

"How were the witches able to best our Sire?" another hybrid asked with clear worry.

"Is Klaus going to die?"

"Who's our leader now?"

"Do we have a plan?"

Murmurs and whispers spread around the group like wildfire. They were shocked that the witches had kidnapped Klaus, fearful of what that meant for the future of the pack and surprised and wary of the witch that addressed them like their leader.

The majority of the hybrids wanted to get Klaus back as soon as possible, for others this was an opportunity.

"Silence!" Felix ordered trying to put some order. "The witches have a large coven," he informed the hybrids. "And we all need to work together in order to get Klaus."

"And who put you in charge?" Alexa asked angrily.

"He's Klaus's second in command." A hybrid girl pointed out.

"That doesn't mean we have to listen to him." One muscular hybrid said angrily. "If Klaus is gone we need a new leader." He was more than ready to take that spot if needed be. He was looking forward to it.

"Shut up Brian!" Riley hissed angrily. "Klaus will be back."

"Don't tell me to shut up." Brian hissed eyes flashing gold. "You're not the boss of me."

"We need to elect a new leader." Someone said.

"Wolves do not elect leaders, we fight for control of the pack." Another hybrid said.

"There will be no fighting." Jesse's jaw clenched. "The pack already has a leader."

"A leader that has been kidnapped," Brian pointed out with a smirk.

"All of you shut up." Bonnie's voice was loud and clear, effectively silencing the group. "This is not the time for fighting or petty arguments. We are going to work together and we will rescue Klaus, your Alpha." She emphasized.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Alexa questioned angrily. "You have no right to give us orders. You are not one of us."

"I'm Klaus's wife." Bonnie told her firmly. Klaus himself had presented her as such and Bonnie was going to take advantage of that. "Until Klaus returns, I am in charge of the pack and you will listen to what I have to say."

"You are not…you can't…" Alexa looked crushed upon hearing those words. The thought of Klaus marrying the witch girl made her sick. Her sadness was quickly replaced by anger however. "Liar!" she yelled.

"I'm not going to take orders from you." Brian hissed fists clenching. "And neither will the rest of the pack. I will never follow a witch bitch-" The words died on his throat and he screamed in agony before sinking down to his knees. His eyes nearly popped out of his head and he gasped as fire exploded inside his brain.

Bonnie glared at him as she slowly retracted her magic. "Let me make one thing very clear," She said turning to the stunned group of hybrids. "I'm not asking you. I am informing you that I am in charge now. You will listen and you will obey." She let them feel her magic, the currents of power slowly circling them, engulfing them, ready to attack upon her command. It was an implicit threat and they all knew it. "Does anyone have a problem with that?"

Bonnie had never been one to show off or threaten people into submission but she needed them to get on board with the plan. All of them had to work together to take down the witches and rescue Klaus. She didn't have the luxury of time to argue her case and win their favor. She was willing to do whatever was necessary to get her hybrid back and if she had to do it by force, so be it.

Jesse and Riley shared impressed looks while Belle smiled sweetly in Alexa's direction.

The group of hybrids swallowed nervously watching Brian's paralyzed body and feeling the currents of power all around them. No one dared to challenge her. Not even Alexa. Oh the hybrid girl wanted to, but she wasn't stupid. They were strong, stronger than any normal vampire or werewolf but they were no match for Bonnie and they knew it.

But it was more than that.

There was something about Bonnie's presence, when she spoke, when she ordered them, they felt compelled to obey her. The hybrids couldn't explain it exactly but something had resonated in their blood when she ordered them to listen and obey. Almost as if Klaus had spoken to them. As if his blood lived in Bonnie somehow and had commanded them to obey her. But that couldn't be right.

The hybrids watched her warily before they slowly bowed their heads in unison-even Alexa. For whatever reason the sire bond had worked in Bonnie's favor.

"Good." Bonnie smiled. "Now this is what we are going to do…"

* * *

The Seer's entire body thrummed with power. The linking spell has been successful and now, she, Bastiana, and Agnes were drawing from Rebekah's strength. Their magic had been amplified. They were unstoppable now. Rebekah was immortal, they could channel her forever. The witches now had an unlimited source of power.

She smiled as she opened the door to the room. It was time for another round of torture for that stupid hybrid, that's how she planned to spend the time until Bonnie's arrival. Because the Seer knew that Bonnie would come for her lover.

The smile dropped from her face when she noticed the empty metal table.

Klaus Mikaelson was gone.

Every crystal in the room shattered by the angry release of her power, the rage she felt in that moment was all consuming. He couldn't have escaped, not without help. The bonds strapping him to the table were magical he couldn't have taken them off. _But who,_ _who had dared to help that beast?_

The Seer stormed out of the room in search for the witches scattered around the abandoned Sanatorium. She was out for blood. She was going to find that traitor and burned her alive. Who ever had helped Klaus was going to have an excruciating death. They had to be inside still, there were wards that protected the place. She was going to find them sooner or later.

The lights in the hallway flickered on and off. The Seer stopped eyes narrowing.

A middle aged witch came rushing up the stairs. "Someone is coming." She told the Seer struggling to catch her breath.

The Seer's lips curved into a knowing smile. "So the little Bennett witch is finally here." The time had come it seemed. "Gather the others," she ordered. "The time to end this has come." She extended her left palm and summoned the needle of sorrows, a dark object which had been specifically designed to cause an abortion in a witch.

Bonnie Bennett was going to regret the day she crossed her.

The Seer moved down the stairs with confidence and determination. She felt certain of her victory. Agnes and Bastiana joined her at the bottom of the stairs and the three witches walked fiercely out of the house.

The other witches remained inside. They had specific orders and positions to be at. The only witches that followed the Seer outside were those of her own coven, eleven witches who were her devoted followers.

In total fourteen witches stepped out of the house and came face to face with Bonnie Bennett.

Bonnie stood at the edge of the property alone. She was dressed in simple black jeans and a black top, her dark hair softly flowing with the wind.

Fourteen witches versus one.

Bastiana and Agnes shared knowing looks and smiles. It was going to be an easy victory.

* * *

A soft breeze rustled the leaves of the trees around them. Night had fallen and thunder rumbled in the distance. They were close to the Sanatorium but outside the protective barrier that surrounded the property.

Joanna pulled out a white cord made of wool from a satchel, while Lucy pulled out the vial of blood Bonnie had given her. Angelica mean while drew a pentagram with salt on the ground.

Charles, Belle, Jesse, and Abby guarded the witches. Ishmael and his wolves waited at a strategic point as did Felix with the hybrids. While Matt and Cary hid in the woods under a powerful cloaking spell waiting for the signal.

Joanna placed the wool at the center of the pentagram and Lucy poured the blood over it.

The three witches formed a circle and held hands.

The moment their magic connected, the wool which was now a crimson color was lifted from the ground and floated in between them.

They began chanting.

* * *

Bonnie walked calmly towards the Fleur-de-Lis Sanatorium. There was a barrier spell around the area but she easily managed to break through and walked towards the front of the property. The Seer wanted her to step inside after all.

The Seer flanked by Bastiana and Agnes met her with a smile on her face. Her coven stood behind her ready to attack.

"You must be the most arrogant witch I have ever met." The Seer said. The nerve of the girl to think she alone stood a change against them.

"You wanted me to come." Bonnie replied calmly. "Here I am."

"You came alone?" Bastiana seemed surprised. They had expected Bonnie to come with Klaus's hybrids. They had anticipated a fight against them after all.

"I won't let you kill more innocent people." Bonnie said keeping her eyes on the Seer. "Why don't we finish this, just you and me?"

The Seer's eyes narrowed. "You and me?" she repeated amused by Bonnie's words.

"No one else has to get involved." Bonnie told her. No one else had to die. "You want to kill me. Do it. But on your own." Bonnie challenged. "Face me alone." It would be the fair thing to do, but the Seer was anything but.

"Don't be foolish." The Seer laughed but it sounded hollow even to her own ears. She studied Bonnie's face trying to figure out what she was planning. But Bonnie's face and thoughts gave nothing away.

"What's the matter Cassandra? Are you afraid?" Bonnie taunted with smirk. She did her best to imitate Klaus and Rebekah's arrogance and posture. In this moment she needed all the confidence she could muster.

The Seer glared. "I'm not afraid of you." She replied her voice cold and threatening. But she didn't agree to Bonnie's challenge.

Bonnie turned to Bastiana and Agnes. "You can go." She told them. "This is your chance to get the hell out and save yourselves."

Both women exchanged worried looks. This was not how they expected things to go. _What the hell was the Bennett witch playing at?_

"If you leave now," Bonnie continued. "You get to live. If you stay, I will end you. All of you." She said looking past the three witches and staring at the coven behind them. "The choice is yours."

There was a nervous energy in the air. But no witches made any move to leave. The Seer's coven was loyal to a fault. They were willing to die for their leader. Agnes and Bastiana on the other hand paused to consider Bonnie's words.

The Seer chuckled. "My coven is loyal. They will fight for me until the very end." She told Bonnie. "Tonight you die Bonnie Bennett." It was a promise.

"It doesn't have to come to this." Bastiana said suddenly while staring at Bonnie. "You are young. There is so much potential...if you get rid of it..." she suggested.

Agnes nodded. They didn't have to fight Bonnie if they could convince her to appease the spirits. "You can have more children. Children fathered by a human not a monster."

The Seer rolled her eyes. Bonnie had made it clear that she would not get rid of her little monster. The two elders were wasting their time.

"That's not going to happen," Bonnie told them angrily. She couldn't believe that instead of trying to save themselves Bastiana and Agnes were trying to convince her to kill her child. "I'm keeping my baby. I will protect him or her against anyone."

"You've made your choice." Bastiana said sadly. They had given Bonnie a chance and she had refused now she had to die. "And so have we." They were not going to abandon the Seer. They felt confident in their victory especially due to the power they were channeling from Rebekah. It was a pity that they had to kill a Bennett witch but it would also give them great prestige. Ending Bonnie would elevate Bastiana's and Angnes's status as the most powerful witch elders in New Orleans. It was an opportunity they were not willing to pass.

"So be it." Bonnie muttered. The time had come to end this once and for all.

A tree was struck by lighting and it burst into flames as the witches called upon their magic.

Bonnie summoned Expression.

The Seer lifted her left hand and sent a ball of fire in Bonnie's direction.

Not even half way through and it was deflected by Bonnie's magic. The ball of fire slammed back straight into the witch standing next to the Seer, burning her alive. Her screams filled the air.

There were shocked gasps, curses, and angry hisses. In the next moment all of the witches attacked at the same time, sending waves after waves of magic towards Bonnie. The three witches at the front sending the most dangerous attacks.

Bonnie raised her chin and erected a protective barrier around herself which blocked the lesser spells coming her way. The others she countered with her own magic.

It was Bonnie Bennett and Expression against fourteen witches, three of which were channeling from an Original vampire.

All of New Orleans shook as the fight began.

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter was getting way too long so I had to end it here. Bonnie's full plan will be revealed next chapter and for the people wondering about the MF gang don't worry, we'll see them soon as well as a certain werewolf pack. Thank-you for reading and reviewing, see you next time!_


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: And here it is, the moment everyone has been waiting for. I hope it lives up to your expectations. Let me know what you think. Enjoy! :)_

* * *

"The Italians called them Strega. The Yoruba of West Africa called them Aje, meaning mother. Where my mother was from, they called them Haxa. And here, we called them witch. Over the centuries vampires have fought them and fought besides them, bedded them and burned them. Whether adversary or ally they have been a force to be reckoned with."

~Elijah Mikaelson on Witches

* * *

All of New Orleans shook as the fight between the witches began. The air crackled with currents of power as the spells came and went. The grounds in front of the Sanatorium were illuminated by different color lights- the blasts of power from different spells that were sent and deflected.

Sweat trickled down Bonnie's forehead and back as she did her best to fight fourteen witches. The magical barrier she had created protected her against most spells. The invisible wall blocked and rebounded attacks left and right.

Bonnie was no stranger to confrontations. She had channeled the power of one hundred witches in order to take down Klaus. She had stopped Jeremy's heart in order to desiccate the Original Hybrid too. She had faced Silas and used Expression to bring him to his knees and she had also turned the huntress to stone and broken the link between her and the Seer and her coven. But this, Bonnie had never fought other witches like this.

Fighting a witch was different than fighting a hybrid or a crazy immortal like Silas. Fighting fourteen was a death sentence. Bonnie was no fool, she knew that when it came to magical knowledge and training she was not at the Seer's level. Bonnie was still learning, discovering, and coming to grips with the power inside of her.

But what Bonnie lacked in magical knowledge and training she made up with raw power.

The magic flowing inside of her was unique. Every Bennett first born was born with incredible power and Bonnie not only had her birthright that but she also had Expression.

And it was Expression she summoned to fight the Seer and her coven. Not the magic of the sprits, not the magic of the earth, not even the magic that flowed naturally all throughout New Orleans. Expression was not bound by any laws of magic, or monitored by anyone. It was a force so powerful and malicious that witches discredited as magic. It truly had no limits.

For a long time Bonnie had feared it. For a long time the magic had controlled her but in the past few weeks, she had been able to control and use Expression when she needed it. Tonight she was doing something more, she wasn't just tapping into the power of Expression she was embracing all of it.

Bonnie let the magic inside of her guide her, she let it take over. It was a dangerous thing to do but it was the only way she stood a chance against the witches and judging by the hard look on the Seer's face she was not happy.

The witches thought this would be an easy victory. They thought that because of their numbers they had already secured their triumph. They were wrong.

Bonnie was not only holding her own and deflecting the witches' attacks, she was fighting back fiercely.

The witches had no idea who they were dealing with.

Bonnie Bennett was a force to be reckoned with and the Seer and her coven were about to learn a very hard lesson.

* * *

Klaus closed his eyes and groaned in pain as he leaned against the wall. The lights flickered on and off and the scent of magic filled the air. Something was happening outside he could feel it.

Katie stood a few feet ahead of him ensuring that no witches would surprise them in their attempt to escape the Sanatorium. They had made it to the first floor using the back stairs and they were just a few feet away from the back door.

"Something is wrong…" Katie muttered. She could feel the residues of power carried with the wind, witches were fighting.

Klaus opened his eyes. His skin burned and the pain on his chest had spread up his shoulders and arms and down his legs. He could barely stand. The dark magic inside the blade was eating him slowly and painfully. If he didn't get it out he was going to desiccate.

"This was a bad idea." Katie turned to him fearfully. "The witches-"

"It's too late for regrets love," he forced himself to his feet, holding back a scream as the intense pain hit him once more. His vision blurred as he attempted to take a step forward only to stumble.

Katie caught him but he was far too heavy for her so the two fell on their knees. Klaus's head ended up somewhere close to her neck and she involuntarily shivered. She could feel his hot breath against her jugular. All of her senses screamed at her, warning her of the dangerous predator that could latch at her throat at any moment.

"Get it out…" he hissed painfully. He pulled away from her and stared into her dark eyes. "Get it out…" The red veiny lines that adorned his chest and arms had moved over his face now. He was covered with them. Soon the redness would turn grey and he would desiccate. He had to get the bloody dagger out.

"Something is going on outside…" Katie whispered fearfully. "We need to get out now." She stood up and tried to pull him to his feet. "Once we get to safety. I'll try to get the dagger out." She didn't even know how to get it out to begin with or what condition he would be in afterwards. It was best to do it at a safe location.

Klaus was about to protest when another voice surprised them.

"Well, well, well, look what I found." Two witches wearing matching smirks came into view.

Katie gasped and let go of Klaus as if she had been burned.

"Who would've thought that you would be the traitor?" one of them said. She had dark hair and a nasty scar on her left cheek.

"It's the mousy ones you have to watch out for." The other replied almost immediately. She was younger, prettier with shiny blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

Klaus groaned as he pushed himself against the nearest wall.

"We'll have to kill you now." The younger witch told Katie. "You betrayed us. How could you?" She seemed shocked and disappointed.

"You don't have to do this." Katie told them. She kept her eyes on both of them and unconsciously took a protective stance in front of the hybrid sitting against the wall. "We are part of the same coven, we-"

"You betrayed us!" The scar-faced witch yelled angrily. "And now you will die."

"Or you could let us go." Klaus quipped from the floor.

Both witches glared at him.

"You're next." Scar-faced promised.

Klaus rolled his eyes. The ugly bitch had another thing coming if she thought he would be easy prey.

Katie used the opportunity to attack them first. She extended her right hand knocked out the younger witch easily.

The blonde landed practically on top of Klaus. The hybrid wasted no time, he grabbed her by the hair, exposing her creamy neck and pulling it towards his mouth. His fangs sank on her flesh and he drank greedily. He was starving. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until the witch's delicious blood went down his throat. He sucked her dry in seconds.

The scar-faced witch deflected Katie's next attack and the two began trading spells back and forth.

Klaus licked his lips and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The witch's blood had given him the strength he needed. He managed to pull himself to his feet and watched the duel between both witches.

They were quite evenly matched but it was obvious that Katie was merely defending herself and attacking only with simple spells which were easily blocked by the scar-faced bitch. Katie didn't want to kill the other witch. They were from the same coven and they had some sort of bond or loyalty, which the hybrid didn't give a damn about.

Klaus began moving very slowly, he had to move like a snail in order not to attract attention. Under different circumstance he would've used his superior speed but the dagger in his chest prevented that, the dull pain a bitter reminder that he was not at his best. He also had to be careful not to get hit by a stray spell so he moved silently and slowly, a hunter stalking his prey.

Scar-faced managed to send Katie to her knees with a particular nasty hex. Katie didn't want to kill a witch from her coven but it was obvious the other witch had not such loyalty.

"You should've known better than to betray us." Scar-faced gave Katie a sinister smile. "What did he promise you?" she asked. "What did he offer you?"

Katie gasped as she found her legs paralyzed.

"Answer me!" The witch yelled.

Katie screamed as her skin burned from the inside out for a few seconds. It felt like her blood was boiling. She panted and looked up just in time to see the shadow moving behind the other witch. "He promised to spare me," she finally answered.

The witch frowned, "spare you, what-"

She didn't get to finish. In the next second Klaus snapped her neck, her dead body falling against his chest. Klaus grinned quite pleased with himself.

Katie looked away as the hybrid sank his fangs into the witch's neck, feasting happily on her blood.

* * *

"Hurry up." Abby muttered nervously. She paced back and forth waiting anxiously for Joanna, Lucy, and Angelica to complete the spell.

"Shut up." Jesse mumbled looking briefly in her direction. "You're distracting them." He was nervous as well. The success of their plan depended on the success of the spell.

Abby glared at him but stayed quiet.

Charles and Belle stood a few away from them watching the three witches and fidgeting from time to time. They were all itching for a fight but they knew they had to wait for the right moment to attack. That was Bonnie's plan.

The three women held hands and kept chanting, completely oblivious to anything or anyone around them. The spell required all of their strength and concentration. They had to get it right. They could not afford to make any mistakes.

The red wool floated between them, the long cord spinning and slowly coiling tightly together. The more the wool coiled together the harder it was to keep it in place. For with each thread that coiled the more energy and concentration it required to ensure it wouldn't come undone.

A small trail of blood made its way down Angelica's nose but she kept chanting, determined to complete the spell.

Joanna and Lucy were sweating and trembling, putting all of their strength and magic into the spell as well.

The moment the spell was completed there was a blast of energy. It blinded Abby, Charles, Belle, and Jesse momentarily and it sent all three witches on their hands and knees, gasping and panting.

The wool fell down on the ground, a red ball containing powerful magic inside.

"Is it done?" Charles asked blinking rapidly.

Joanna looked up and despite her tired state managed a smile. "It's done." They had succeeded. The spell had worked, they all felt it.

"Let the hybrids know." Charles told Jesse, the young man nodded and took off at hybrid speed. Charles disappeared in the opposite direction where the werewolves were waiting.

"Are you going to be okay?" Belle asked Angelica as she helped the witch to her feet.

"I'll be fine." Angelica gave her hand a squeeze. "Go. You know what you need to do." The witches needed a bit of rest to catch their breath before joining the others. The spell had taken a toll of them.

Belle nodded and disappeared, taking off in the same direction as Jesse.

"We did it!" Lucy laughed wiping some drops of sweat from her forehead. She felt tired and her head hurt a bit too. The spell had drained them but she felt happy all the same.

"Here," Abby kneeled down next to her cousins. "You're depleted, my blood can help." She it into her wrist and offered it to Joanna. Her blood would help to give them their strength back.

"Thank-you." Joanna took the bloody wrist into her mouth.

Abby fed Lucy and Angelica her blood next. The three witches needed it after the exhausting spell they had done.

* * *

The witches were getting frustrated. Every single one of their attacks was blocked by the barrier Bonnie had conjured or was easily deflected by said witch. They were supposed to be winning. The Seer had promised a quick and easy victory and yet here they were struggling.

A coven of powerful witches and they were struggling against one tiny witch. One fucking witch was besting them. It was infuriating and humiliating.

A witch angrily conjured a dozen sharp knives and sent them in Bonnie's direction.

With her left hand Bonnie transformed the knives into rose petals which rained down on her, while with her right hand she stopped the nasty hex Bastiana sent.

Bonnie shook her head. She had done that without thinking. She didn't know as many spells or hexes as the witches she was fighting and she didn't need to. She simply led the magic inside her guide her and dictate every single one of her movements

A blue light emerged from one of the witches but it was easily blocked by Bonnie's barrier. With a wave of Bonnie's hand said witch was knocked unconscious.

Three other witches combined their magic and sent a jet of green light towards Bonnie. It was an electric current of power that left fire in its wake. Bonnie extended her right hand and stopped the attack in mid air. With a wave of her magic the green light evaporated as did the fire behind it.

It was incredible. The power thrumming inside her body was unlike anything Bonnie had ever felt before. It made her feel alive, it made her feel indestructible and on top of the world. Her entire body was filled with adrenaline and pumped with magic.

She had no idea what kind of spells the witches were sending her way, she didn't even know how to counter them but Expression did. Expression was one step ahead of the witches and their attacks and it was amazing.

It was intoxicating and exhilarating. Bonnie was on a magic high and enjoying every second of it.

One of the witches sent a nasty curse towards her but Bonnie deflected it towards a tree nearby. It was like it had been dumped on acid. The green leaves turned brown then black and the tree shrunk down, like it was melting to the ground, so horrible had been the curse it received.

Bonnie shuddered at the thought of what it would've done to her had she not sent the curse a different way. Her hand clenched into a fist and the witch who sent the curse screamed in agony as both of her legs were shattered instantly.

That only served to infuriate the witches who continued to attack Bonnie. They clearly had no intentions of giving up. They were determined to win this fight.

 _Fools!_ Bonnie thought. She could kill them all. Expression was begging her to do so, to put an end to these pathetic and miserable creatures once and for all.

 _End them. Burn them_. _Destroy them_. The magic inside of her begged her. It was a siren's call that tempted every pore in her body, how easy it would be to give in. How easy it would be to end this right now.

 _Not yet_. Bonnie thought. She had to wait. It wasn't the right time, not yet.

Bonnie was focusing mostly on the trio of witches whose spells managed to break through her barrier with ease. The magic Bastiana, Agnes, and the Seer channeled felt stronger, different from the rest of the coven. It didn't take long for Bonnie to realize that they were channeling something or someone which amplified their magic to great lengths.

When the Seer, Bastiana, and Agnes combined forces and sent a powerful attack against her, Bonnie stumbled back surprised by the force behind it. The nasty yellow light broke through her barrier and went straight for her stomach.

There was a moment of panic. Bonnie froze momentarily hoping that the protective spells she had placed on herself (Joanna and Lucy had also added some extra spells) would be enough to deflect the dark magic.

Her back slammed against the trunk of the tree behind her as the curse hit her stomach. The witches smiled with triumph but it was short lived.

The moment the curse hit Bonnie's stomach it was swallowed by a bright white light that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Bonnie gasped feeling a strange tingling in her belly. In the next second a ball of bright light emerged and headed straight for Bastiana and Agnes.

Agnes managed to jump out of the way but Bastiana could not. She was hit straight in the chest. A gasp escaped her lips and her eyes widened in panic before she fell to the ground dead.

The Seer looked from Bonnie to Bastiana in shock. There was a moment of absolute silence in which the witches stopped attacking. They had all been taken by surprise by the power behind that light. No one had expected something like that to happen.

"What was that?" one of the witches asked the Seer. "How did she do that?" There were gasps and fearful murmurs all around the group.

The Seer's eyes narrowed and fury laced her veins as she prepared another attack.

 _What the hell?_ Bonnie thought feeling the strange warmth in her belly. It was magic. Not her magic, not Expression. The baby's magic. She was stunned. She had felt it before, when the spirits had attacked her and the baby's magic had ultimately saved her but never in a million years could she have imagined that her child would do something like that and from the womb!

 _Oh my god!_ Bonnie thought.

It was moment of distraction that cost her, as a shot of red light swirled straight at her.

Bonnie screamed caught by surprise. Her left cheek slid open and small cuts formed down her neck and chest, her arms and hands. It stung. Tears blurred her vision from the pain.

The Seer smiled and wasted no time before sending another attack.

Despite the pain, Bonnie managed to divert the angry current of power towards another witch. The girl screamed in agony as boils erupted all over her face and body before falling to the ground screaming in agony as the boils exploded with blood and pus. It was another nasty hex.

The cuts on Bonnie's skin healed almost instantly and the Seer's icy eyes turned deadly as she launched another attack. Her coven followed her lead, except for Agnes who sat on the ground staring at Bastiana's corpse, a bewildered look on her face.

Bonnie felt it then. The spell had worked. Joanna, Lucy, and Angelica had succeeded. The moment had come. It was time.

"Enough!"

All the witches froze as the words left Bonnie's lips. A cold breeze swept around them and their attacks disintegrated unexpectedly. The different swirls of power were swallowed by the magic surrounding them.

A sense of dread filled the pit of their stomachs as they felt the dangerous magic encircling them, trapping them.

Bonnie's right hand clenched into a tight fist and all the witches sank to their knees screaming. They were pushed down by an invisible force that paralyzed all of them instantly.

The Seer gasped in surprise. She had not expected such powerful blast of power. She used all the magic she could muster to try and break free, to pull herself to her feet but it was impossible. Bonnie's magic had paralyzed them completely, keeping them in place.

The Seer and her coven were puppets in her hand now.

"No…" she tried again channeling all the strength and power she could from Rebekah but she couldn't move. Bonnie's magic was unbreakable, like an iron chain that began squeezing them slowly and painfully.

 _It can't be_ , the Seer thought a cold chill running down her spine. As sudden frightening thought came to her mind then. _If Bonnie could do this, why had she waited this long to paralyze them?_

Bonnie walked calmly towards them, back straight, head high. "It's done." she told them. She felt it. The spell had been completed.

 _What's done?_ The Seer wondered hating the spike of fear that run down her body. She tried once more to stand up but the current of power swirling around her pushed her back down, keeping her on her knees.

"It's over." Bonnie said coming to stand in front of the Seer.

The Seer hated the humiliating position she found herself in. She was on her knees in front of Bonnie and had no choice but to look up into the young girl's face. Like a servant kneeling in front of the queen.

Bonnie looked down at the Seer and her coven, a small smile on her face. "You lost Cassandra."

* * *

The moment they received the signal the werewolves and hybrids stormed inside the property. The barrier that protected the place came down easily and they were able to run inside without any trouble.

The hybrids were blurs as they sped inside the Sanatorium.

Felix and Riley stopped by Bonnie's side. The Seer and her coven were kneeling down in front of her, completely paralyzed by her magic.

"Go." Bonnie ordered them. "Everything is under control."

Both hybrids nodded before speeding inside the Sanatorium. They had to find Klaus and his siblings.

The witches inside were prepared. The Seer had ordered them to remain inside and to fight against the hybrids she had expected would come to rescue Klaus. They had orders to kill as many hybrids as possible.

The moment the blurs moved inside, the witches lifted their hands and sent their strongest attacks.

Except nothing happen.

They waved their hands frantically trying to summon their magic but it was in vain. No magic came out of their palms. Their magic was gone. They hadn't even realized it until now. The witches had not even felt the moment their magic was taken from them.

"What the hell?"

"My magic!"

"What's going on?"

The words died on their throats at the hybrids launched themselves at the witches. They moved through the first floor, sharp fangs tearing through the delicate necks and feasting on their intoxicating blood.

Alexa punched one witch before slamming her against the nearest wall and biting her shoulder.

Felix's hands elongated into sharp claws before he slashed the chest of one witch. She dropped to the ground, rivers of blood pouring out of her chest. A hybrid girl crouched down and picked the body feasting on her blood with greed.

Riley and Jesse ripped hearts left and right before making their way upstairs, desperate to find their Sire.

Belle cornered a witch who was trying desperately to fight back with a lamp. The hybrid girl easily caught the woman's arm breaking it and sending the lamp crashing to the ground before slamming her against wall and tearing into her throat.

If the witches had anticipated a bloody fight they were in for a surprise. There was no fight on their part. They were lambs to the slaughter. Without their magic they didn't stand a chance.

The minute that reality sunk in, they ran, desperate to save themselves, desperate to get away from the creatures that attacked them without mercy.

The Sanatorium was filled with their screams as their attempts to escape failed and they found themselves the prey of vicious, angry beasts.

The hybrids attacked the witches from the front while Ishmael led the werewolves through the back door.

The werewolf pack wanted revenge for the three elders that been murdered at the ball and they began killing witches the moment they stepped inside. They showed no mercy to their enemies.

Ishmael let his pack attack the witches while he moved from room to room trying to find Klaus and his siblings. He sensed Klaus's hybrids upstairs so he decided to move downstairs to the basement.

He easily killed a couple of witches as they attempted to stop him.

* * *

"You will regret this." The Seer hissed still on her knees. She had seen the blurs of movement and sensed the werewolves inside the Sanatorium. "There are over thirty witches inside the Sanatorium," she smiled but it did not reach her eyes. Despite the furious look on her face there was fear in her voice. "It's going to be a slaughter." Hybrids and werewolves were strong no doubt but against magic they were nothing. They didn't stand a chance, Bonnie should have known that.

Bonnie looked down at the Seer with something akin to pity. "Can't you feel it?" she asked quietly.

"Feel what?" the Seer snapped. _Keep her distracted_ she thought. She would keep Bonnie distracted and slowly break through the magic paralyzing her. She could do it. She was an extremely powerful witch after all. Bonnie had taken them by surprised with her paralyzing spell but she would get tired eventually. No witch could hold a spell for so long especially on an entire coven. Bonnie's over confidence was going to be her undoing. The Seer felt certain of that. She would wait for the right moment and end the stupid girl once and for all.

"The witches no longer have their magic." Bonnie told her simply. That had been her plan all along.

The Seer's eyes widened. "That's impossible…." she was bluffing. Bonnie had to be lying. There was no way she had taken the magic from all the witches inside the Sanatorium. It had to be a lie.

Bonnie glanced down at her before turning to face Agnes who had been trying to sneak an attack behind her back. "You're wasting your time." Bonnie told her. "It's over."

Agnes ignored her and sent a wave of her magic or she tried to for nothing happened. She frowned and tried again but once more nothing. She waved her hand again and again, concentrating, trying desperately to summon her power but it was useless. She didn't have her magic.

"No…" she stared down at her hands in disbelief. Agnes could feel the remains of power in her fingertips, the power they had channeled from Rebekah, an echo it was now for she could not access it. But her own magic, the magic she had been born with, that power Agnes could not feel at all. It was gone. There was only a strange void that made her shudder and feel empty and dead inside. "My magic…" she looked at the Seer before turning to Bonnie, "what have you done?"

"Your magic is gone." Bonnie told her. "You are no longer a witch."

"That's impossible." Agnes replied angrily. "You couldn't have done this." She sent Bonnie a murderous look. There was no way Bonnie could've taken her magic away while also fighting them.

"I didn't." Bonnie answered honestly. "My cousins and Angelica did. My job was to keep you distracted." Until the spell was completed giving the pack of wolves and hybrids the advantage over the witches inside the Sanatorium. Bonnie could hear their screams, without their magic the witches did not stand a chance against her army.

"You little bitch-" Agnes launched herself at Bonnie. She felt angry, desperate, and above all she wanted to hurt Bonnie.

Bonnie was more than ready to fight back but she didn't have to.

There was a blur of movement that appeared in front of Bonnie and lifted Agnes a couple of inches from the ground.

"Show some respect." Klaus hissed while squeezing Agnes's neck with all his strength, which considering the dagger buried inside his chest, it wasn't that much to begin with.

"Klaus," Bonnie beamed as she stared at Klaus's back. She felt relief and so happy to see him. The bond sent an electric shock to her system. It was filled with pure joy.

Klaus glanced at her over his shoulder and offered her a small smile.

Bonnie gasped when she saw the red veiny lines adorning his face and neck and she could also see them on his arms. "What-"She screamed as pain exploded all over her back.

The Seer had taken advantage of her moment of distraction to break free and attack.

Klaus growled sinking his claws into Agnes's flesh and tearing her throat open before dropping her to the ground like a rag doll. She gagged as blood flowed out of the wound and her body convulsed for a few agonizing seconds before she died.

Bonnie sank to her knees screaming. Her back burned, it was like pure liquid fire had been thrown over her skin. It only lasted for a few seconds but it was extremely painful. Her breath came in short gasps as the pain dissipated. She breathed a sigh of relief as her skin healed and mended rapidly. She didn't understand how she was able to heal so fast but it didn't matter, the fury she felt in that moment consumed her.

 _That's it!_ Bonnie thought angrily. It had to end now.

Klaus launched himself at the Seer but she used her magic and crushed both his legs. "I'm not part of the French Quarter Coven anymore." She hissed. Her magic had been left intact for it was no longer bound to the Ancestors. "I'm not your average witch." A sinister smile curved her lips as she conjured the needle of sorrows sending it towards Bonnie who was still on her knees.

"Neither am I." Bonnie lifted her hand and the needle shattered into tiny pieces with a single blast of her magic.

The Seer's nostrils flared and her jaw clenched. She was ready to send another attack but Bonnie didn't let her have the chance. She was done playing games. With a wave of her had she let the power of Expression slam with all its fury against the older witch.

"You sent hunters after me." Bonnie pulled herself to her feet.

The Seer screamed in agony as Bonnie broke every single one of her bones.

"You murdered innocent people at the ball." Bonnie walked closer, right hand extended as she channeled all the power of Expression.

Blood oozed out of the Seer's nose and down her chin as pain exploded inside her brain. She felt like her brain was melting. It burn.

"You hurt my family." Bonnie flung the Seer back towards her coven. The witches were still on their knees trapped by Bonnie's magic. Unlike their leader they hadn't been able to break free.

The witches flinched and gasped fearfully as the Seer's body twisted painfully, convulsing from magical assault. Her screams echoed all around them as Expression attacked her again and again.

It was over and they all knew it.

"Please…" one witch cried out. "We were just following orders." She looked at Bonnie pleadingly.

"Vampire whore!" Another one yelled.

"You have to let us go!" Another said firmly. "You can't do this to us!"

"You will regret this!" One older witch spat furiously.

"We will kill you!" one swore.

"Bitch!" another yelled.

"You made your choice." Bonnie glared at them. She had given them a choice; it was too late for regrets now. She knew in her heart that they would never stop. The witches viewed her child as a threat and as long as her baby was alive they were going to keep trying to end his or her life. Bonnie felt determined to ensure that never happened.

"Incendia." The word left Bonnie's lips without a second thought. The spell fueled with her emotions, the anger, the pain, the fear, everything the Seer and her attacks against her had made her feel since all of this began.

The Seer and her entire coven were set aflame.

It happened so fast, so suddenly the witches didn't have time to react. One moment they were paralyzed and the next they were burning. There was nothing they could do except scream as their bodies were engulfed in the ferocious flames.

Bonnie did not look away. She watched the Seer's body burn, hearing her agonizing screams echo around the property, mixing with the screams of her coven.

The sky was suddenly illuminated by flashes of lighting.

Rain began falling hard all over the property.

Bonnie stood silently, eyes lost in the fire in front of her. Despite the hard rain that fell down from the sky Bonnie didn't get wet. The rain did not touch her at all, nor did it touch the burning flames.

The witches continued to burn.

* * *

Matt and Cary made their way slowly inside the Sanatorium. Matt carried a crossbow with him ready to attack but there were no attacks to defend himself from. By the time he and Cary stepped inside, the fighting was over.

In reality the battle hadn't even lasted an hour, if one can call it a battle. Without their magic the witches hadn't been able to fight back.

There were bodies sprawled everywhere, dead and bloodied corpses all over the first floor. Matt caught a couple of hybrids crouched down on the floor, drinking greedily from the dead witches.

Others were dragging the bodies out and piling them up on the front lawn.

Matt frowned when he spotted a hybrid in the corner. He had two corpses on his lap and was sucking greedily from the arm of another. There was a wild look on his face, his eyes gold and territorial and he growled in warning as Matt and Cary passed by him. He clutched the body tightly to his chest and bared his fangs angrily.

"Witch blood is intoxicating to vampires," Cary muttered as they climb up the stairs. He had heard that many vampires had become rippers after drinking from a witch.

Matt had counted at least six bodies between the front door and the stairs and three more in the hallway on the second floor. He didn't feel any pity. It was strange; he didn't feel sorry for them. He felt cold and detached as he stared at the corpses.

 _Am I a terrible person?_ Matt wondered. He should feel horrified at the massacre that had taken place but he didn't. He didn't feel anything at all. Because he remembered the screams at the ball, he remembered the panic and the fear of the people that were murdered that night. He remembered the blow to his head and the agonizing last seconds before he died. All because the witches wanted the Mikaelson siblings and Bonnie.

"Matt…"

Matt and Cary turned to the sound of Rebekah's voice. The moment the Seer had died the link had been broken and Rebekah had woken up.

"Rebekah!" Matt threw the crossbow on the floor and rushed to her side. He crushed her body against his in a fierce hug. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he pulled away searching her face frantically, trying to find any injury.

"Bit dizzy," Rebekah mumbled, she was starving as well but she managed a smile and caressed his cheek lightly.

Matt's head came down and he crushed his lips to hers in a desperate kiss. Rebekah responded immediately wrapping her arms around his neck, moaning as their tongues clashed together. They forgot about everything and everyone as they kissed passionately.

Cary looked away feeling uncomfortable by the display of affection. He cleared his throat hoping they would take the hint but they didn't. When Rebekah slammed Matt against the opposite wall and began planting kisses down his chin and neck Cay knew he had to get away from there. The couple had obviously no intention to stop audience or not.

Matt moaned as Rebekah sucked on his pulse point.

"Right, I'll go down then." Cary said-not that the couple heard him. He quickly turned around and made his way down the stairs as fast as his legs could take him.

* * *

Ishmael helped Elijah out of the chains. The Original was still feverish but he was conscious. The venom had started to leave his system. He was feeling much better.

"Sabine…" he said blinking rapidly and leaning against the wall for support. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." Ishmael responded. The scent of witch and werewolf lingered in the air, as did the smell of other herbs.

"She was here…she…" Elijah remembered the kiss. Her lips had been soft, familiar. He felt like he had kissed her before. There had been a moment…he shook his head. His judgment was clearly impaired due to the venom.

"She must have escaped when the fighting began." Ishmael said. A couple of witches had probably made it out of the house alive and since Sabine had been in the basement she probably had succeeded unlike most of the witches upstairs.

"Fighting…" Elijah stared at Ishmael with confusion.

"The witches took Klaus and Rebekah as well. Bonnie organized the hybrids and came up with a plan of attack." Ishmael informed him.

"Did she?" Elijah couldn't help but smile. He also remembered the night Bonnie had nearly taken his brother down. Bonnie had been fierce that night, she was bit older and far more powerful now. He could only imagine what she had done to the witches. Niklaus would no doubt be proud of his witch.

"Let's get out of here."

Elijah slowly followed Ishmael out of the basement. He still couldn't understand why Sabine had chained him in the basement. She had left without trying to kill him or injure him further why? What was the witch playing at? More importantly what was she hiding? Why did he feel like he knew her?

Elijah felt troubled and intrigued by her. He frowned as he touched his right arm, where he felt a dull pain. There was a name engraved on his wrist… _Brynne Deveraux_.

 _What are you playing at?_ Elijah wondered as he stared at the ink on his skin. It was clearly a spell. It was a puzzle, a clue that Sabine had left for him to figure out.

 _What do you want from me Sabine?_

Elijah followed Ishmael up the stairs towards the first floor, his mind swirling with possibilities. There was sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. A crazy thought that had come to his mind like a bolt of lightning.

It couldn't be and yet…

* * *

Bonnie didn't know how long she stood staring at the flames. The screams had stopped and the fire had dimmed but Bonnie kept staring at it. She was rooted to the spot. The magic inside of her swirling with little jolts of power that traveled all over her body.

She had just burned the Seer and her entire coven without batting an eyelash. Bonnie felt numb as she stared at the flames.

A hand touched her shoulder and Bonnie jumped startled by the sudden contact.

"Fuck!" Klaus flinched and pulled his hand away immediately. His hand had been set on fire. He watched horrified as the flames began spreading towards his wrist and arm. "Bloody hell!"

"Klaus!" Bonnie froze and stared in shock at his burning arm. "Oh my god!" with a wave of her hand the flames stopped.

Klaus groaned in pain as the red and burned flesh slowly tried to heal itself. His healing abilities were not at their full capacity thanks to the dark magic currently eating his insides.

"I'm sorry!" Bonnie couldn't believe what she had just done. She hadn't meant to. Her magic had simply reacted on its own accord. "Why aren't you healing?" She asked moving closer. She wanted to inspect his arm but was afraid to hurt him again. She noted that he looked feverish and was having difficulty standing up. There was an angry red gash on his chest from which the red veiny lines sprang for.

"Dagger…" Klaus managed to say. The blood he had drunk from the witches while he escaped had helped somewhat but the pain had come back full force. His entire body was boiling from the inside out. It was taking all of his strength to remain standing. He didn't have much time left. "Pull it out!" he hissed desperate to find some release from the pain. It didn't help that Bonnie had accidentally burned half of his arm. It hurt.

"I…" Bonnie hesitated. Her hands itched to touch him. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him and hug him and kiss him. But she was afraid that if she touched him she would hurt him. She didn't want to hurt him again.

Klaus groaned and sank to his knees, his entire body trembling. He needed to get the bloody thing out before he passed out.

Bonnie bit her lip. "I don't want to hurt you." She got down on her knees in front of him.

"Just do it." He snapped. They couldn't keep wasting time. "Use your magic." It was going to hurt like a bitch but he had endured this long he could withstand the pain if it meant he would stop feeling like a parasite was eating his insides.

Bonnie took a deep breath and moved her hand over his chest, close but without touching his skin. She could feel the dark magic radiating off his skin, coming right from inside him. Her heart constricted as the echo of his pain flowed into her. He had been suffering for hours now.

She stared into his eyes. Klaus nodded before looking up into the dark night sky. It had stopped raining.

Bonnie used her magic and pulled the dagger out of Klaus's chest.

Klaus screamed as the dagger tore through his flesh on its way out. He gasped and squeezed his eyes shut. It felt like they were tearing him apart, limb from limb.

The white bone dagger covered with his blood fell on the ground in between them. Bonnie stared at it as Klaus's ragged breaths filled the air.

She looked up into his face, the red lines had disappeared from his face and arms but the gash on his chest was still more than visible.

She didn't hesitate. Bonnie pushed her dark hair to the side and bared her neck to him.

Klaus's eyes flashed gold immediately. He salivated at the thought of her rich and delicious blood. Under different circumstances perhaps he would've protested but there was no second thought or hesitation as his hand grabbed Bonnie by the back of the neck pulling her against him. This time her magic didn't burn him.

The sharp click as his fangs descended echoed in the darkness.

Bonnie shivered in anticipation.

Klaus growled as his face descended on her neck and Bonnie cried out as he bit her flesh. It hurt. It hurt more than she had anticipated.

Klaus had always prepared the biting zone by kissing and sucking playfully on her skin. He had always prepared her before biting into her flesh. This time there was no foreplay. His fangs tore through her skin violently, with desperation, sucking long mouthfuls of her blood. His arms wrapped around her waist tugging her closer as he continued to drink with greed.

Bonnie whimpered, her hands moving to his shoulders, the nails sinking into his pale skin. She closed her eyes as he sucked harder, fangs sinking deeper into her flesh, taking all of her blood, devouring her.

They stumbled back falling into the wet grass, Klaus's body crushing Bonnie beneath him. She shifted and he nudged his knee between hers, his heavy body crushing her.

The air left her lungs as he caged her tiny frame underneath him. Bonnie moaned as Klaus continued to suck her blood with desperation.

White light exploded behind her eyelids and Bonnie began to feel dizzy. "Klaus…"

The hybrid continued to drink, sucking and gulping down mouthfuls of her blood. He had never drunk from her like this. He had always been careful, never overindulging, not even in their most wild and passionate moments. For one single moment she was afraid he wasn't going to stop.

"Klaus please…"

The taste of her intoxicating blood consumed him but the fear and panic in her voice cut through his clouded brain like a bucket of cold water. He froze above her.

Klaus pulled away from her neck immediately. He searched her face fearfully, noticing her wide eyes and the way her body trembled underneath him. She looked pale and terrified. He had scared her. He had savagely fed from her without thought or care. He had hurt her.

He swallowed the remains of her blood and stared horrified at the angry fang marks on her skin. He had bitten her viciously. He felt disgusted with himself. _How could he have been such a beast? How could he have let the bloodlust consume him and hurt the most precious person in the world to him?_

Bonnie blinked up at him as the air returned to her lungs.

Klaus pulled one of his wrists into his mouth ready to feed her some of his blood and heal the horrible bite marks on her precious skin only to freeze. He watched mesmerized as the bite marks began healing on their own. The red angry dots reducing in size until they disappeared completely from Bonnie's neck, until there was not a single mark visible on her skin. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know." A small laugh escaped Bonnie's lips. The trembling had stopped. The dizziness had passed. Even the color had returned to her cheeks. She felt energized and revitalized all of a sudden. She felt giddy, excited.

 _How strange,_ Bonnie thought. A few moments before she had felt dizzy due to the blood lost but now she felt fine. Better than fine, she felt incredible. The kind of euphoria she got whenever Klaus fed her his blood. She was still high on magic.

Klaus pulled away from her, kneeling on the grass and studying her face with a frown.

Bonnie sat up and touched the side of her neck. The skin was smooth and soft, it had completely healed on its own. She stood up.

"Are you okay?" Klaus stood as well searching her face.

"I'm fine." Bonnie replied. She moved her eyes over his body and noticed that he had completely healed. She licked her lips as she stared at his exposed flesh. The wave of desire she felt in that moment made her almost dizzy again.

Klaus traced the outline of her cheek. "I'm sorry," he murmured staring into her eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you or hurt you." He still could't believe he had lost control that way. Like a newborn vampire crazed with bloodlust. He knew better.

"I'm fine." Bonnie told him. She could feel his turmoil. "I didn't realize how hungry you were…" it had been a bit frightening she was not going to deny that. But Bonnie knew that Klaus would never intentionally hurt her. She trusted him.

"Bonnie…" he should've known better. He couldn't believe he had risked her life like that, risked his child's life!

She silenced him by planting a scorching kiss on him. Bonnie didn't want him to feel bad, she was fine. She poured everything into the kiss. Her relief, her happiness, her desire, and her utter joy at having him with her once more, Bonnie tried to convey all of it as she kissed him.

She had missed him so much. She needed him to know how much she had longed for him. How much she cared for him…how much she loved him.

Klaus responded with equal fervor, their lips meeting and parting, tongues coming together in a sensual dance. He wrapped one arm around her waist and tugged her forward pressing their bodies closer together.

"I missed you." Bonnie murmured breaking away from his lips needing to catch her breath for a few seconds before his lips claimed hers again and again. His hands roamed over her back, needy, desperate to touch, to feel her against him.

Someone cleared their throat and Bonnie froze. She pulled away from a reluctant Klaus to find Felix awkwardly standing a few feet away from them. The other hybrids were also making their way towards them.

"Sorry…" Felix said looking away from them.

Bonnie flushed in embarrassment but she also felt angry at the interruption. She glared at Felix while crossing her arms over her chest. She bit her lip as she looked in Klaus's direction. The hybrid stood next to her, shirtless, pale skin gleaming in the moonlight. Her hands itched to touch, to kiss, to lick, to mark that perfect sculptured flesh as her own. Another wave of heat and desire slammed into her body like a volcano. She could easily snap Felix's neck so she and Klaus could continue what they had started. Bonnie shook her head. _Jesus Christ! what's wrong with me?_ A few minutes before she had been numb and now her emotions were all over the place.

Klaus gave her a knowing a looking, sensing her desire and need for him, which matched his own. "Later…" he promised with a heated look.

Bonnie nodded, her body trembling with anticipation. _Oh yes, Absolutely please!_

Klaus turned as he felt his pack approaching them.

"Klaus!" Alexa flew straight into his arms.

Bonnie growled next to him. The temperature dropped all of a sudden and magic filled the air once more.

The ire she felt in that moment shook her to the core. Bonnie had to close her eyes before she did something she would later regret.

* * *

Klaus forcibly pulled the girl away from him. He could feel Bonnie's anger and jealousy echo through the bond and knew his witch was seconds away from setting Alexa on fire.

Alexa seemed oblivious to the tension she had caused. The hybrid pack shifted nervously, their skins itching. They could all feel the power emanating from Bonnie, not to mention see the murderous look she was giving Alexa.

Klaus growled. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" he snapped. "You're supposed to be in Baton Rouge." He had given specific orders and she had disobeyed him.

"I came to help." Alexa was quick to respond. "The witches had taken you I just-"

"I will deal with you later." Klaus hissed a murderous look on his eyes. Alexa swallowed nervously. "Where is Brian?" he asked suddenly as his eyes scanned the pack.

Jesse and Riley exchanged nervous looks.

"He overindulged in witch blood." Riley informed him.

"The lunatic feeding on the dead corpses I presume," Rebekah said as she Matt, Ishmael, and Elijah made their way towards the group. "Really Nik, you must teach your minions some manners."

Klaus rolled his eyes before he looked her over, ensuring she had not been harmed by the witches.

Rebekah smiled noting his concern gaze and said something in a language the others didn't understand, Elijah joined in as well. The three siblings spoke briefly in their childhood tongue.

"Are you both alright?" Bonnie asked looking from Rebekah to Elijah. The spike of anger she had felt at Alexa had disappeared as quickly as it had come. Bonnie focused her attention on the Mikaelson siblings. Rebekah looked okay; there was a slight flush to her cheek. Elijah on the other hand seemed rather feverish and he was shirtless as Klaus was.

"Nothing a little rest won't cure." Rebekah replied a grin on her face as she turned to look at her friend. "Your majesty," She said in a teasing tone. From what she had heard Bonnie had taken charge during their kidnapping. Rebekah felt proud.

Bonnie smiled.

"Ishmael tells me you planned the whole thing." Elijah said as he crossed his arms over his chest hiding the name carved into his skin. "Thank-you." He told Bonnie sincerely. The witch nodded.

"It was a clever plan." Angelica said as she Lucy, Joanna, and Abby made their way towards the group. The werewolf pack stood a few feet away from them.

Elijah didn't miss the way Lucy's eyes moved over his naked chest. He raised an eyebrow and she winked in his direction a playful smirk on her lips.

Joanna handed the wool to Bonnie. It was now red and coiled into a sphere. All of the supernaturals felt the power radiating off it.

"What did you do exactly?" Rebekah asked curiously.

"I created a spell to strip the witches of their magic." Bonnie replied. Davina's blood had been the key. She was the last Harvest girl. She was connected to all the witches' of the French Quarter, is how she knew when they used magic and how to locate them. Joanna, Lucy, and Angelica had performed the spell, taking the witches magic and putting it into the wool which had been bathed with Davina's blood.

The magic they had taken from the witches was now in the wool. Bonnie could feel all that power as she held it.

"Thank-you." Bonnie looked at her cousins and Angelica. She had created the spell but they had been the ones to cast it.

"It was a brilliant spell." Joanna said smiling. Bonnie had clearly outdone herself.

"The idea wasn't mine." Bonnie smiled in Matt's direction. It had been Matt's suggestion that had turned the wheels in her head and helped her come up with the spell.

Matt beamed as he and Rebekah held hands. He felt happy that he had been able to help.

"Now what?" Charles asked the group.

"I think we all can use some rest." Ishmael suggested tuning towards Klaus.

"I quite agree." Klaus moved his gaze over the werewolf pack before looking at Ishmael and Cary. "Thank-you, all of you." He meant it. He had never anticipated that the wolves would show such loyalty.

"We're family." Cary told him with a smile. The other wolves nodded.

Klaus met Elijah's eyes. His brother smiled.

 _Family is power_ , he had told him once. Perhaps Elijah had been right all along. Klaus took Bonnie's hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Bonnie beamed. She could sense Klaus's surprise, gratitude, and happiness that his werewolf family had not reject him and had even helped him and his siblings.

"What are we going to do with the bodies?" Mila asked.

"And Brian?" Belle asked looking at Klaus. She didn't particularly like Brian but it was obvious that he wasn't himself.

"Chris is with him now," Jesse told Klaus. "He seems rabid." He shuddered. He had never seen a hybrid act like that. He had fed on a witch or two but he hadn't lost control like Brian had.

"He's high on witch blood." Alexa mumbled. She stared at Bonnie and Klaus's joined hands before looking away.

"Take him to the plantation," Klaus instructed Felix. "Snap his neck and chain him if necessary." The last thing they needed was a hybrid loose on the French Quarter.

Felix nodded and took off inside the Sanatorium where Chris and Brian were.

"We'll return to the camp." Ishmael shook Klaus's hand and met his eyes. "I expect to see you soon." Klaus had agreed to spend time with the pack and learn their ways after all.

The hybrid nodded. He intended to keep his word.

"As for the bodies…" Klaus and Elijah exchanged knowing looks. "I have an idea…"

* * *

Katie knocked frantically on Sophie's door. "Come one," she had run out of the Sanatorium the moment she had spotted the Seer and her coven on their knees in front of the Mikaelson witch. Klaus had gone straight towards his wife and Katie had disappeared into the night.

She wanted to go to Thierry but he was probably with Marcel. She needed to talk to someone. She didn't know if she had done right or made the worst mistake of her life.

"Katie!" Sophie opened the door startled by the frantic look on the other witch's face. "Come in."

"You are not going to believe what happened…" She stopped short when she spotted Father Kieran, sitting calmly in the living room.

"Hello Katie." The father greeted her kindly as he stood up.

Katie frowned. The priest wasn't exactly an enemy but he wasn't an ally of the witches either.

"Davina is missing." Sophie informed her. "Father Kieran thinks the coven has her." He had been interrogating Sophie nonstop about Davina's whereabouts.

"Do you know anything?" Kieran asked his eyes boring into Katie's.

Katie pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I don't think the coven took Davina." The Seer would've boasted about it. The coven and the Seer had only one thing in mind to kill Bonnie and her child. The Ancestors wanted the Mikaelson baby or so the Elders had said.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked with concern.

Katie shook her head. She wanted to talk to her but she didn't know how much she could say in front of the priest.

"I should get going." Father Kieran said sensing that Katie wanted to talk to Sophie alone. "Please let me know if you hear anything about Davina."

Sophie nodded and escorted him outside.

Katie flopped down on the couch feeling nervous and exhausted. _What kind of mess had she gotten herself into?_

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked coming back into the living room.

"I just sold my soul to the devil." Katie replied sadly. She shuddered remembering how easily Klaus had killed two witches from the coven.

"Something tells me you need a drink, come on."

Katie stood up and followed Sophie out of the living room. She accidentally bumped into the coffee table and a trinket felt to the ground, shattering to pieces. "I'm sorry."

Katie got down on her knees. "I'll fix it." She promised as Sophie got down on the floor too.

Katie waved her hand over the pieces using her magic to fix the damage but nothing happened. She frowned and tried again.

"Forgot the spell?" Sophie teased as she moved her own hand over the shattered ornament.

Nothing happened.

Sophie tried again but nothing. She stared at her hands trying to figure out what was wrong. She didn't feel any different. She moved her hand over the pieces once more and closed her eyes concentrating harder than before. But once again nothing happen. "What the hell?"

And that's when it hit them.

Katie and Sophie stared into each other's faces, fear and panic clearly visible in both of their eyes.

"Our magic is gone."


	26. Chapter 26

_A/N: Sorry you guys had to wait a bit longer for this chapter. This weekend was crazy busy for me. Enjoy!_

* * *

Bonnie moaned as Klaus pressed her against the door to their bedroom. Their lips met in a heated frenzy, kissing desperately. Her legs squeezed him as she wrapped them tightly around his waist, rubbing herself against the bulge in his jeans.

Everything was a blur after leaving the Sanatorium. Bonnie had said goodbye to her mom and cousins and Klaus had spoken some more with his pack but truth to be told Bonnie can't remember what was said.

The entire way to their home Bonnie had been consumed with thoughts of him. The need she had for Klaus had overpowered everything else. Even her magic seemed desperate for him. Klaus was the only thing Bonnie could focus on, the only thing she wanted. She wanted to feel his hands on her skin, his lips, to have him buried deep inside of her. She needed him desperately. It felt like she hadn't kissed him and touched him in years. She felt like she had been wandering the desert for days and had finally been given water.

Klaus fumbled with the door knob- never taking his lips away from hers-before he finally managed to open the door and carried Bonnie inside. Bonnie used her magic to shut the door and sealed it. If anyone valued their life they would not dare to interrupt.

They made quick work of their clothes and fell into the king size bed in a tangle of limbs. They were desperate, hungrily kissing and touching each other.

Bonnie's skin burned with desire, melting her flesh to the bones. His scent, his touch, his mouth, it was driving her crazy. She needed him inside of her. She couldn't wait any longer.

"Please…" Bonnie moaned as Klaus licked and teased her nipples into hard tips. He moved his head down her body, trailing kisses down her stomach, tormenting her with his tongue. As much as she was enjoying his mouth on her skin, she wanted something else. Maybe it was the magic swirling inside her, maybe she had simply enjoyed being in charge in the past day but Bonnie wanted to be in control.

She suddenly used her magic and flipped Klaus on his back.

The hybrid looked up completely caught by surprise. He had not been expecting that. He raised an eyebrow and his lips curved into a smirk. "Am I another hybrid for you to order around love?" he teased.

"Yes." Bonnie hissed as she crawled on top of him. She kissed his lips, his chin, his neck, before playfully biting his shoulder, her hard nipples brushing against his chest.

Klaus groaned when she rubbed herself against his length. She was hot and wet and more than ready for him. His greedy hands cupped her breasts. They felt bigger, fuller than before and were far more sensitive to his touch. He could definitely see the subtle changes in her body as her pregnancy progressed.

Bonnie closed her eyes and moaned. She continued to rub herself against him, creating a friction that sent bolts of pleasure over their bodies.

The blood rushed to her face as she grabbed him and positioned herself over the tip of his erection. Klaus's hands immediately went to her hips and their eyes locked as she lowered herself into him.

Bonnie bit her lower lip as she took in, inch by inch, until he was fully sheathed inside her. How wonderful it felt to have him inside of her once more.

Klaus groaned, hands digging into her hips at the feel of her tight heat surrounding him. She placed her hands on his chest and slowly started moving her hips back and forth, finding a rhythm.

Bonnie moaned loudly as her hips began picking up speed. How she had missed this, being connected to him in this way. The bond pulsed with happiness and their mutual pleasure.

Klaus was completely mesmerized by her. He was in awe as he laid on his back watching her and rolling his hips under her, letting her have control and set the pace. Bonnie looked beautiful on top of him. Her breasts bouncing as she moved faster and harder than before, her swollen lips parted as she moaned in reckless abandon when he met each of her thrusts with equal fervor. It was a glorious sight.

Bonnie was a goddess, a siren, a queen, his equal in every way.

Klaus's hands moved over her hips, her sides and her breasts. He sat up and took one dark nipple into his mouth. Bonnie gasped and shivered with delight as he licked and sucked the tip. Her moans grew louder, hands tangling in his curls and pulling his mouth closer.

Klaus moved to the other breast before Bonnie pushed him back down on the bed. It seemed his little witch wanted to have full control. Klaus didn't mind for _now_. He was usually the one to initiate things or to be in control but he enjoyed it when Bonnie decided to take the lead. There was nothing sexier than a woman who knew what she wanted and went for it. While Bonnie had been shy when they had first gotten together she had grown far more confident in the past few weeks.

The Alpha male in him felt thrilled that she had only experienced this with him, that he had been the only to see her like this. To know what her skin tasted like, what it felt to be buried deep inside her heat and what her face looked like as she came undone.

She was his, only his.

Klaus enjoyed the sight of her, throwing her head back and fingers digging into chest as she neared her climax.

"Oh god," It felt incredible. She was so close. "More…" she panted, rocking her hips, desperate to find that sweet release.

An explosion of light blinded Bonnie as the earth shattering orgasm wracked her body. She cried out his name before she slumped forward, falling on top of Klaus. Her whole body shook with the aftershocks of her pleasure.

She was still trying to catch her breath when Klaus rolled on top of her, pressing her back against the mattress. He pulled out before slamming inside her once more.

Bonnie screamed, feeling the heat coiling inside her belly once more. She opened her eyes and Klaus grinned mischievously down at her.

"We're only getting started love." He hooked one of her legs over his hip as he plunged in and out of her. His thrusts were hard and fast, nearing vampire speed.

Bonnie cried out in pleasure as she matched his thrusts. Her hands moved over his back, nails sinking into his flesh until she drew blood. The red lines that formed over his back healed immediately. Their mouths met once more with teeth and tongue, fiercely devouring each other.

Klaus was once again taken by surprise when she flipped him once more on his back. He growled eyes flashing gold as Bonnie pinned his arms over his head with her magic. He could feel the magic rolling of her in waves. His skin tingled as the currents of power touched him. It didn't hurt him. But he didn't like being in a submissive position.

Bonnie's fingers dug into his shoulders as she rode him hard and fast, her nails scratching down his chest. As much as Klaus enjoyed it, he wasn't planning on letting her have all the fun. He had allowed her to dominate the first time, now it was his turn. He was the Alpha male.

Klaus growled using all of his hybrid strength to break free from her magic.

Bonnie's eyes widened in surprise and a gasped escaped her lips when Klaus suddenly grabbed her hips in a painful grip and pulled himself on his knees on the bed, bouncing her on his lap. She clung to him, squeezing her eyes shut as he hit a certain spot that made her shake and scream.

There was another menacing growl as he pulled out of her and flipped her on her hands and knees. He moved so fast Bonnie didn't have time to react. She threw her head back in ecstasy as Klaus grabbed her hips and plunged into her from behind.

He slammed into her hard and fast, again and again, marking her, claiming her.

He pulled her back up against his chest, one hand wrapped around her waist. His hot breath tickled her ear as he sucked on her pulse point while the other hand moved to her front, finding that swollen nub and teasing her with his fingers.

Bonnie turned her head to the side, desperately seeking his mouth. Klaus kissed her hungrily as he continued to thrust deep and hard. She convulsed around him, crying out his name again and again. Bonnie screamed as the wave of pleasure slammed into her.

It shattered whatever self-control Klaus had left. She was so hot and tight, squeezing him, milking his own release. With one last hard thrust Klaus spilled his seed inside her. He buried his face in her neck-he didn't bite her- he simply nuzzled her neck and held her tight against his chest as the ripples of pleasure swept over him.

* * *

The next morning, Elijah-impeccably and elegantly dressed in a grey suit made his way downstairs and headed straight for the kitchen where he could hear his siblings.

He had spent most of the morning making phone calls. He was determined to find everything he could about Brynne Deveraux. The name was a clue he knew, a piece of the puzzle that was Sabine. Whatever game she was playing, Elijah was determined to win.

He had a busy day ahead of him. There was a lot to be done and he was on the tight schedule. The first order of business was to talk with Niklaus and Rebekah and plot their next move. While Bonnie had defeated the Seer and her coven the war was far from over. They had to use this victory to secure their grasp on the city and put their enemies on a tight leash before focusing on the growing threat that was the Navarro pack and the other side.

Elijah had not forgotten Ayana's warning. If Esther and Mikael were plotting on the other side then he and his siblings needed a plan of attack. If anyone could find a way to hurt them from the other side it was their mother. The spirits had already attacked Bonnie once, they could easily attack again. Elijah wanted to make sure they had all their bases covered.

Elijah stopped short at the sight that greeted him once he stepped inside the kitchen.

Rebekah was sitting on a stool in front of the kitchen counter. She was barefooted and clad in a silky light pink robe. Matt in jeans and white shirt stood in front of the stove making pancakes while a shirtless Niklaus moved around the kitchen filling a tray with food.

Elijah raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the room. It was quite the domestic scene and one he had never imagined he would come across.

"Come and join us brother," Rebekah kept her back to her elder brother as she brought a cup of coffee to her lips. Her eyes moving sensually over Matt's back. He had a nice butt.

Matt glanced briefly over his shoulder at the sound of her voice and nodded in Elijah's direction before continuing cooking.

Niklaus didn't even bother to acknowledge him; he was busy filling a bowl with fruit.

Matt placed two pancakes in front of Rebekah. She had barely grabbed her fork when Niklaus snatched the plate at hybrid speed and placed it on the tray.

"Nik!" Rebekah glared at him.

"Hey, those are for Rebekah!" Matt protested.

"I'm sure you can make more." Klaus muttered as he added some whip cream and syrup. "Bonnie is craving pancakes." _And who was he or anyone to deny her anything?_ Dropping Bonnie's name was all it took to stop any protests.

Matt sighed as he turned to the stove once more and began making more pancakes for Rebekah.

Rebekah shook her head before turning to Elijah. "And where are you going?"

"I was hoping to meet with the Mayor." Elijah replied coming to stand next to her. "News of what happened at the Sanatorium is going to spread like wildfire. The last thing we want is for Bonnie to be seen as a threat." He said the last part staring at Klaus.

"Why would anyone see Bonnie as a threat?" Matt asked curiously as he flipped the pancake.

"You mean apart from the fact that she led an army of werewolves and hybrids, single handedly defeated the Seer and her coven and took away the magic from the French Quarter witches." Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure the factions see her as a fluffy bunny." The vampires, the humans, the rest of the witches in New Orleans were probably trembling with fear or plotting Bonnie's demise or maybe even both.

"Isn't she magnificent?" Klaus grinned obviously proud by what Bonnie had accomplished. Bonnie had finally come into her own and acted like the queen she had been born to be. "Once she summons her coven, Bonnie is going to be unstoppable."

What a glorious thing it had been to see Bonnie set the Seer and her pathetic little group aflame. He could only imagine what she would be capable of doing with the Bennett coven by her side. That was the next order of business after indulging Bonnie in her little family get together idea. Klaus was not looking forward to sharing a meal with Abby but for Bonnie he was willing to try.

"It would be advantageous for us to have the human faction on our side." Elijah told them. The humans had a vast network of resources that had benefited Marcel greatly over the years. "The three of us could meet-"

"I'm sure you can take care of it." Klaus interrupted. _Translation: compel the bloody fools to do our bidding. I have more important things to do_. "Bonnie and I plan to spend the rest of the day in bed." And with that the hybrid picked the tray filled with food and sped out of the kitchen towards his bedroom.

Elijah sighed. Bonnie deserved some rest and to enjoy a day off after everything she had done to get them back. As much as he would appreciate his brother's support with the human faction he couldn't fault him for wanting to stay with Bonnie. He turned to Rebekah. It was time she took more of an active role in their plans after all.

"Matt and I have plans." Rebekah told him in a very serious tone and with a straight face. As if not accomplishing her plans would mean the end of the world. Elijah had the suspicion her plans were very similar to Bonnie and Klaus's.

He gave her a stern look.

"Don't look at me like that!" Rebekah exclaimed. "You could use a day off too you know. World domination can wait for twenty four hours at least." They all need a bit of rest after their ordeal. Okay, so she and Matt hadn't exactly rested the night before but still, Elijah needed to learn to relax and enjoy himself. Kol had always said Elijah had a stick up his arse.

Elijah opened his mouth no doubt to protest but Rebekah cut him off quickly.

"Sit down and join us for breakfast Elijah." Rebekah ordered. She was not going to take no for an answer. "You can meet with the Mayor later and do whatever you need to secure our control of the city." And tomorrow they could continue plotting and fighting all their enemies.

Elijah shook his head but took a seat next to her. He knew which battles to pick. "Am I to assume Matt is going to delight us with his culinary skills?" He glanced in the human's direction.

"I learned a thing or two working at the Grill," Matt told him as he placed two new pancakes in front of Rebekah.

Rebekah grinned and blew him a kiss. "His omelets are to die for." She told her brother.

Usually Angelica did the cooking but Klaus had ordered his pack to stay away from the mansion. They were staying at the guest house. Except for his inner circle which lived at the plantation but Elijah hadn't seen any of them either.

As Matt prepared the omelet, Elijah poured himself a cup of coffee. "Where is Angelica?" he asked suddenly. He needed a witch. He had to figure out Sabine's puzzle. An idea had taken root the night before but in order to confirm his suspicions he was in need of a witch to do a spell or two. Bonnie was out of the question but surely Angelica would be willing to help him.

"She went to look for some herbs," Matt said looking over his shoulder. "For the hybrid in the basement, Jesse is on guard duty right now."

"The minion crazed with bloodlust," Rebekah met Elijah's eyes. If they couldn't control the hybrid, Niklaus was going to have to put him down. They couldn't have a ripper hybrid running around. "Why do you need her for?"

Elijah stayed quiet for a few minutes. There was a part of him that didn't feel comfortable discussing his personal matters with Rebekah's human present. It was nothing against Matt but centuries of looking over one's shoulders and dealing with treachery had taught him not to trust so easily, especially with information that could potentially be used against him. But whether he and Niklaus liked it or not, Rebekah and Bonnie had made it clear that Matt was part of the family.

"Sophie's friend, the witch Sabine tattooed a name on my skin. It's a spell." Elijah finally said.

"Why would she do that?" His sister asked intrigued. "What does she have against you?"

"It's a puzzle." Elijah responded deep in thought. "I have a theory…" one that he hoped was proved wrong. He honestly didn't know what he would do if it turned out to be true. "But in order to know for sure I need a witch."

Rebekah frowned. "Who knows when Angelica will be back, you're going to have to find another witch."

"Yes…" Elijah agreed. He needed a trustworthy witch to help him. "I think I have someone in mind."

* * *

"I'm not going to ask you again." Marcel said as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the man tied to the chair. He was about twenty years old and a member of the French Quarter coven.

"I already told you I don't know." The young man replied. His eyes moved from Marcel to Diego before looking past their shoulders to the three other vampires in the room. He swallowed nervously. He was doomed.

From the moment he had woken up tied to a chair in the basement of the compound he had tried his best to escape but all of his attempts had failed. He couldn't access his magic. He didn't know why or how but he didn't seem to have his magic. _What the hell had the vampires done to me?_ He wondered in panic.

"Don't play games with me." Marcel snapped angrily. "The coven has been after Davina since the night the Harvest failed. I want to know where you have taken her."

"We don't have her!" The male witch replied angrily. He had told Marcel that at least three times now but the vampire king didn't believe him at all. "None of the witches from the Quarter have that stupid bitch-"

Marcel punched him before grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him up a couple of inches from the chair, bringing his face closer. "I'm not going to ask you again." He hissed vampire face flashing.

The poor guy almost peed in his pants as he saw the razor sharp fangs inches from his face.

"Marcel," Thierry's voice cut through the tension in the room.

Marcel turned to the vampire-still holding the young man in a tight grip. "Not now."

"It's important." Thierry said from the doorway, a serious look on his face.

Marcel forcibly threw the young witch back on the chair."Keep an eye on him." He instructed the other vampires in the room before he and Diego followed Thierry out of the basement. "This better be good." He had a couple of other witches he planned to interrogate about Davina's whereabouts.

"I just heard some disturbing news." Thierry told them as the three made it to the first floor.

"What's going on?" Marcel was not in a good mood.

Thierry licked his lips nervously. "I just heard that the Seer and her coven were killed last night." The Quarter had woken up to the surprising news which had shaken the witch community to the core.

Marcel was completely taken by surprise by the news. He had known the Seer for a while; he had his own dealings with her. And he hadn't forgotten that some of his guys had been killed by her stunt at the Mikaelson ball but this…he had not been expecting to hear news of her demise. "All of them?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

"All of them." Thierry confirmed.

"Who did it?" Diego questioned. The Seer had been a controversial figure in the Quarter for many years. Most of the witches hated her but they also feared and begrudgingly respected her. "How?"

"My sources tell me that a witch led an army of hybrids and werewolves. They slaughtered all the witches under the Seer's command." Thierry informed them. Katie had been frantic when she had called him earlier that morning. Thierry was going to meet her later in the day. It seemed Katie had a lot more to say.

"A witch…" Marcel repeated. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as an image of Bonnie in a red dress popped inside his head.

"What witch?" Diego asked. He, like Marcel had an idea of who it was but he needed to confirm his suspicions.

"Bonnie," Marcel said suddenly as he met Thierry's eyes. There was only one witch who could have hybrids at her disposal. "It was Bonnie wasn't it?" Bonnie leading Klaus's army and a pack of wolves, the wolves from the camp no doubt.

Thierry nodded. "Yes."

"Klaus's witch wife," Diego's hands balled into fists. He remembered what she had done that night at the werewolf camp. He also remembered how easily she had healed people at the ball. Klaus's wife was no ordinary witch.

"There is something else…" Thierry said nervously. He still couldn't believe it himself. Katie had been inconsolable when she had informed him.

"What else?" Marcel asked quietly. He did his best to remain calm but warning bells rang inside his head. He didn't like the look on Thierry's face.

"The witches of the Quarter," Thierry said before taking a deep breath. Instinctively he knew that this new turn of events had shifted the balance of power in the city overnight. "The witches of the Quarter have lost their magic." He said finally. "The whole community is in panic."

Marcel stayed quiet, his mind swirling as he processed the revelation. _The witches of the Quarter have lost their magic…_

"How is that possible?" Diego asked as he looked from Marcel to Thierry. "Can that even be done?"

 _Davina_ , Marcel thought. Davina was connected to all the witches of the Quarter. She was the last Harvest girl after all. It was how she knew when they practiced magic and informed him where to find them. Somehow Marcel knew Davina was involved with this. _Is that why they took you?_ He wondered.

Thierry and Diego watched their sire silently, waiting expectantly for Marcel to say something.

"Bonnie," Marcel finally said in a quiet and deathly voice. "Bonnie has Davina." Bonnie had fought the Seer and won, Bonnie had taken the witches' magic away and Bonnie had Davina. Deep down Marcel knew that to be the absolute truth.

All this time he had been worried that Davina had been taken by the witches or by Klaus or maybe even by the Navarro pack. This whole time he had assumed Klaus was the biggest threat to his rule. How wrong had he been?

The biggest threat not only to his kingdom but to the vampires and witches alike was not Klaus and his siblings but his wife. Even after what he had witnessed from her the night of the ball, Marcel had underestimated Bonnie. The Seer had also underestimated the young witch and paid the price.

 _What the fuck am I going to do now?_ Marcel thought. For the first time in years, Marcel Gerard, the king of New Orleans felt fear.

* * *

Bonnie sighed as she pushed the empty tray away. She had eaten everything Klaus had brought for her, she had been starving. Their activities in the past couple of hours had given her quite the appetite.

Klaus set the tray on top of the dresser before joining her on the bed. He leaned his back against the headboard as Bonnie snuggled against him. She was wearing one of his shirts and she threw her legs over his while Klaus held her close.

"That was delicious." Bonnie said resting her head on his shoulder. It was well past noon and she was feeling absolutely lazy. "I don't want to get up," she mumbled. If it were up to her, she would never leave their bed.

Klaus's arms tightened around her. "Who said anything about getting up?" he pulled her face up and leaned his head down. "I'm not done with you yet," he murmured seductively against her lips.

"You couldn't possibly want more…" Bonnie's eyes widened. She had lost count of how many times they had come together in the past few hours. And yet his words stirred something inside her once more. The wave of desire made her shiver and heat pooled low in her belly. With one look or one word, Klaus could ignite a firestorm inside her.

Klaus smirked noticing her reaction. "I'll never stop wanting you." He told her softly before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Bonnie's heart did flip flops. "Not even when I get as big as an elephant?" She had already stopped wearing some of her jeans; they had become too tight. She needed to shop for maternity clothes actually.

Klaus laughed. "You'll be the most desirable and beautiful elephant ever." His eyes seemed to shine with some strange emotion.

He meant it, Bonnie realized. She could feel his sincerity through the bond. She smiled snuggling even closer to him.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything. They were simply enjoying this little moment of peace and quiet. With the craziness of their lives, they hardly ever got to enjoy something so simple as a lazy morning in bed. It was a rare thing for them. Something other couples probably took for granted but that meant the world to Bonnie and made her deliriously happy. It was moments like this, that Bonnie cherished the most.

"Something troubles you…" Klaus said after a while.

Bonnie looked up and met his eyes. "I wish we could stay like this forever," she murmured. "I wish we could just shut the whole world out and stay in this room."

Klaus smiled softly. They couldn't do that of course, no matter how much they both wanted to. They had to brave the storm and come out victorious. There were still many more fights to come.

"There is a lot we have to do…" Bonnie began. There was a lot they needed to discuss. Davina was still locked up in the cabin and Marcel was probably going crazy looking for her. It was only a matter of time before he showed up at their doorstep and there was a hybrid high with witch blood in the basement not to mention the consequences Bonnie's defeat of the witches would bring. "The witches of the Quarter have lost their magic but…"

Klaus silenced her by placing his index finger over her lips. "Not today, sweetheart." There would be time for plotting and discussing things later.

Bonnie gave him a look.

"Today is just about you and me." Klaus told her. Everything else would have to wait. "We are going to stay in bed, fuck each other's brains out and forget the rest of the world."

"Don't be so crude!" Bonnie yelped when she suddenly found herself underneath him.

Klaus pinned both of her arms above her head and stared into her eyes, a lopsided grin on his face. "Have sex into oblivion then?"

Bonnie shook her head and pulled her right hand away from his grasp. She touched his cheek, lightly tracing his stubble with her fingers. "Make love…" she said in a whisper before pressing her mouth against his. Her lips were warm and soft as she moved them over his.

Bonnie kissed him slowly, gently coaxing his lips apart and dipping her tongue in to meet his. It was a slow and sweet kiss. She wanted to convey everything she felt for him into that kiss.

The desire, the hunger, the need was the same as the night before but this time there was no rush. The power swirling inside both of them was calmed, controlled, well locked in place.

Bonnie's fingertips traced his face, his cheek, his neck, his shoulders, and chest in slow patterns. She peppered his chest and belly with kisses and traced each of his tattoos with her tongue.

The night before their coupling had been hot, hard, and desperate. Bonnie had been on a magic high, Klaus had been on a blood high. They had fought for control, for dominance. They had been ravenous and completely consumed by their darker desires. This time it was different. There was no urgency, no desperation in their kisses and touches.

Their hands moved gently over each other's naked skins, exploring, teasing, and committing every inch to memory.

Bonnie took her time kissing, licking, and playfully nibbling. Klaus's body was perfect, strong and lean. There was not a single scar on his flesh. No, the scars were inside Bonnie knew as she placed a tender kiss to his heart.

She giggled playfully pinching one of his nipples before taking the other with her mouth, wondering if he would feel the same pleasure she did when he did it to her.

Klaus shivered when Bonnie's hot and soft mouth dipped down his navel. Her small hand moved over his hard length, stroking him. Her green eyes were hooded with lust as she touched the tip of his erection with her lips. She teased the head with her tongue before slowly taking him into her mouth. Klaus groaned. It was pure delicious torture. His hand caught in her dark hair as she took him deeper into her mouth, as she sucked and teased him with her tongue.

He returned the favor much later.

Exploring her body with the same gentleness she had his. He took his time touching, kissing, and stroking her heated skin. She was so responsive to his touch.

He played with her perky breasts, touching, sucking greedily and biting playfully into the tender flesh before moving to her stomach. He touched her belly with such tenderness, looked at her with such adoration that Bonnie felt a lump form in her throat. No one had ever looked at her life that before, like she was his world. Tears burned in her eyes when Klaus nuzzled her stomach and placed a loving kiss in her swelling belly before moving his head lower.

Incoherent sighs of pleasure escaped Bonnie's lips as Klaus lowered his head between her thighs and brushed his warm tongue through her core. Her hands tangled in his hair as Klaus teased her with long, gentle strokes. Bonnie arched her back murmuring in approval with each flick and lick of his tongue.

In that moment nothing else mattered. They lost themselves in each other, enjoying the sensations spreading throughout their bodies. Gradually building that pressure, slow, and without hurry until it exploded into pure all consuming bliss. Wave after wave of delicious ripples that washed over them, leaving them breathless, boneless.

There was an intimacy, a connection not only physically but emotionally which made the experienced a thousand times more powerful.

Klaus had certainly never shared something like this with anyone else. He had known lust and pleasure and had been with countless of women throughout the centuries. But none had made him feel what Bonnie did.

Their bond pulsed with joy. It had only become stronger since prom. The link between them had expanded and evolved. Bonnie and Klaus had no idea what they had forged. What their combined bloods had done.

Klaus buried his head on her neck as he filled her, sliding in and out of her. Bonnie sighed and kissed his shoulder as he went deeper and deeper. They moved in a sensual rhythm, connected in body and soul.

 _I love you,_ Klaus whispered in her ear as another wave of pleasure engulfed them again. He said it in his mother tongue. In the language he had spoken as a child, as a human. The words came naturally out of his mouth. It barely even registered in his brain. He was overcome with emotion and it had felt right to say the words out loud.

* * *

Elijah knocked on the door and waited patiently for the witch to open. After having breakfast with Rebekah and Matt he had called the Mayor and had scheduled a meeting with the human faction. Now, he needed to focus on the spell Sabine had put on his skin. He felt determined to uncover the truth.

"Mom! I already told you, I'm not going-" Lucy's words died on her throat as she opened the door and spotted the elegant figure standing on the other side. _Shit!_ She froze.

"Hello Lucy," Elijah greeted. There was an amused and pleased smile on his face as he stared at her make-up free face. Her hair was a wild mess and she was wearing a white tank top and matching panties. It was obvious she had just rolled out of bed.

Lucy recovered quickly from her shock. "What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped. Another man would have ogled her but Elijah kept his eyes straight on her face. Lucy didn't know whether to be offended that he didn't find her attractive enough to check her out or pleased that he wasn't like every other man she had encountered before. Elijah was an enigma and Lucy couldn't help but wonder what was hiding behind the perfect tailored suit mask.

He raised an eyebrow surprised by her attitude. She had been playful and flirty with him before but it was obvious she was in no mood this morning. "I am in need of a favor." Elijah said with his most charming smile. Niklaus liked to brag about his ability to charm witches but Elijah knew a thing or two as well.

Lucy frowned. She crossed her arms over her chest and stayed quiet, simply staring at him.

"I need a witch and I was hoping you could help me." Elijah said waiting for an answer.

Lucy sighed, _so much for spending the whole day in bed doing nothing_. First it had been her mother and now Elijah. Despite her shock and surprise and even irritation at his visit-because really she was in her pajamas and without a single drop of makeup on, that's not how a girl wants a sexy guy to see her- Lucy also felt pleased. "I need to shower and I would appreciate a nice breakfast with a French vanilla coffee before doing any favors for you. You interrupted my beauty sleep you know."

"Of course," Elijah agreed. "I'll meet you at the restaurant downstairs in fifteen minutes…"

"Are you kidding me?" Lucy exclaimed. Were guys even vampires so clueless to all the perils women had to endure in order to get ready every morning. "I'll need an hour at least." She needed to do her hair and makeup and find something sexy to wear. Because Lucy Bennett always dressed to impress.

"Very well." Elijah nodded. He didn't miss the mischievous glint in her eyes. Her annoyance at having her morning interrupted seemed to have passed.

"Don't worry Elijah, it will be worth it." She winked before shutting the door in his face.

Elijah stood in front of the closed door for a few seconds before shaking his head, lips twitching into a small smile.

Lucy Bennett was definitely something.

 _Legs,_ Elijah thought as he made his way towards the elevator. He had definitely noticed those long and sexy legs.

* * *

"This is nice…" Bonnie mumbled closing her eyes and resting her cheek on Klaus's chest. She snuggled closer to him, enjoying his warmth, her body practically melting against him. _This is how I want to spend the rest of my life_ , she thought dreamily.

Bonnie felt sated and pleasantly sore. Klaus had worshiped every inch of her skin and Bonnie had enjoyed every single moment of it. She had done the same to him. Her body still tingled with the aftermath of their pleasure. It had been amazing. Not only in the physical sense but the intimacy, the emotional connection between the two, there were no words to describe it.

"Just nice…" Klaus's fingers traced lightly down her spine before moving up once more.

"Better than nice…" Bonnie lifted her head slightly and peppered his chest with soft kisses before resting her head once more against him. She felt content. A yawn escaped her lips.

Klaus pulled her closer. She fit perfectly against him and he was convinced she had been made specifically for him.

"Tomorrow we have to…" Bonnie didn't get to finish as another yawn escaped her lips. Her eyelids grew heavy and she stubbornly tried to keep her eyes open. "We have to…"

"Sleep now, my love." Klaus kissed the top of her head. The world could wait.

Bonnie had saved him. Bonnie had fought fourteen witches and won. Bonnie had shown the witches what she was capable of. Not to mention the explosion of passion between them afterwards. She was no doubt exhausted physically and mentally. She deserved to rest and not worry about anything. Klaus himself felt like he could spend the rest of his immortal life in bed with her.

Bonnie sighed contently, closing her eyes and letting sleep claim her.

Klaus watched her, a soft smile on his face. She had fallen asleep rather quickly. His fingertips continued to move lazily up and down her back as he listened to the steady beating of her heart. He frowned suddenly, as his superior hearing caught another sound. Had he just heard-

Klaus's whole body went rigid as he became fully aware of what he was hearing. Not only the steady beating of Bonnie's heart but another…and its echo…

 _Thump thump thump thump thump..._

 _Thump thump thump thump thump..._

There was a moment of pure wonder as Klaus heard the other heart beat. A soft, tender smile curved his lips as he expanded his senses and heard the baby's heartbeat clearly for the first time.

He was hearing his child's heartbeat.

There were no words to describe the emotions Klaus felt in that moment. A lump formed in his throat as he realized he was hearing his son's heartbeat. He had noticed the slight changes in Bonnie's body earlier, he had explored and kissed her new curves but now he had the actual proof. The proof of the life he and Bonnie had created.

For one wild moment he thought of waking her up and tell her what he just heard but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not after seeing the serene look on her face as she slept peacefully in his arms.

As delighted as he was to share the news with Bonnie, he couldn't. He didn't want to disturb her. Not when she looked so beautiful, so delicate, so perfect. The swell of protectiveness and tenderness he felt in that moment was indescribable.

The _love_ he felt filling his heart was overwhelming.

The look of pure adoration on Klaus's face as he gazed at his sleeping witch was unmistakable. He had never looked at anyone like that before. He was utterly besotted with her. He was in love with her. It was frightening and exciting and completely uncharted territory for him.

Klaus grinned from ear to ear, feeling extremely happy. He gently traced the outline of Bonnie's cheek as he focused on that tiny beating heart. He counted the galloping heartbeats and used his senses to try and pin point exactly where it was coming from so he could rest his head on her belly and hear it better.

And then he froze.

 _Thump thump thump thump thump..._

 _Thump thump thump thump thump..._

There was that echo again…

 _No…no…_ Klaus realized deep in concentration, his senses zeroing in on Bonnie's belly. There was no echo but another heartbeat.

Klaus's eyes widened. He could distinguish Bonnie's heartbeat with ease; it was slower, calmer than the other two.

 _Two_

There were two other heartbeats apart from Bonnie's. Thanks to his hybrid senses, Klaus could hear them loud and clear, two tiny beating hearts coming from within her.

 _Twins_

Bonnie was pregnant with twins.


	27. Chapter 27

_A/N: Just a little recap: The last time Damon and Stefan showed up was in chapter 16, when they received a desperate call from Elena. The last we heard from Caroline (in chapter 19) she had been kidnapped by the Navarro wolves who also have Katherine. And the last we heard from Tyler he had been compelled by Klaus to spy for him (chapter 20) and was on his way to Baton Rouge. It's been a while so I hope this helps. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Caroline whimpered as she curled herself into the ball on the dirty stone floor. Her cell consisted of four walls. The room was bare, no bed, no furniture, no bathroom, not even a small window. There was no light except for the ones in the hall outside her cell. Caroline could see them from underneath the heavy metal door. She had completely lost track of the time. She didn't know how long she had been a prisoner of the werewolves.

 _Had it been days, weeks, or months maybe?_

She didn't even know what had happened to Katherine. She hadn't seen the other vampire after that first day when Isaac and his group had tortured her and taken pleasure recording her anguished screams.

After her ordeal, Caroline had been stripped to her underwear and thrown inside the cell. The nasty wounds on her body had not healed yet. She hadn't fed in…she didn't even know. Her throat felt dry and her body was weakened by the lack of nourishment. The hunger pains were unbearable. She was starving. She needed blood. Her mouth watered thinking of drinking warm rich blood, human or animal blood it didn't matter. She needed to feed.

Tears streamed down Caroline's pale cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut. She felt cold and scared and so tired and weak. She could hardly move. _I don't want to die_. She thought while crying silently. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone knew she was missing. Was her mom frantically searching for her? Did Damon and Stefan know? And what about Bonnie and Matt?

Did anyone even care?

 _Of course they don't,_ her treacherous mind whispered. _You're not Elena. No one is coming for you_. _No one cares about you. You are not important._

Caroline cried harder. She wanted her mom. She wanted her friends. She wanted Tyler. She would give anything in the world to see Bonnie, Elena, or Matt storming through that door, even Damon and Stefan. Heck, even Klaus would be welcomed with open arms. She didn't want to spend the rest of her immortal life stuck in a cell. Without blood she would desiccate and Caroline was terrified of what would become of her when that happened.

Caroline did her best to remain optimistic, to console herself, to reassure herself that her friend would come for her. They needed a plan of attack, they needed to regroup and assess the situation but once they had that under control they would come to her rescue.

 _They will come for me_. Caroline thought her heart filled with hope. _My friends will come for me._

But no one had come for her.

Caroline waited and waited and waited…but no one ever came.

No one was coming for her.

* * *

Sweat trickled down Tyler's body as he helped the other werewolf to his feet. "That was good, really good." They had been sparring together for the past few hours.

Luis Navarro had taken Tyler to a house in a secluded area. There were other wolves staying there, wolves that the Navarro brothers had recruited to their cause. Tyler had been under the impression that he was going to meet Franco Navarro right away but days later and that had yet to happen. In fact, none of the wolves in the house had met the leader of the Navarro clan. The only Navarro Tyler had seen and interacted with was Luis. And so far, the cunning wolf hadn't shared with him why Franco didn't want to meet with him yet.

When Tyler had first spoken with Luis, the wolf had pointed out the valuable information Tyler possessed on the Originals or more specifically on how to kill them. _So why hadn't they asked him yet? What were they waiting for?_ Tyler knew what he had to tell them, Klaus had given specific instructions the night he had compelled him. But so far, no one had asked anything. It felt like the Navarro's were playing a game and Tyler didn't like it.

"You've gotten stronger." Tyler said to his training partner.

"Thanks." The wolf replied. He was one of the few- apart from Tyler's own group- who talked to the hybrid. The others kept their distance. Some were curious and asked questions but others were guarded and cautious around him. They saw Tyler as an outsider. A wolf that had betrayed his own kind and become the thing they hated the most. They didn't know him but they had already judged him.

"So, when do you think we'll meet Franco?" Tyler asked casually as they grabbed a couple of ice cold water bottles from a nearby table. The basement of the house was equip with everything they could possible need.

"Who knows?" The guy shrugged. His name was Dwayne. He had joined the Navarro's on his own. He was a lone wolf and had never been part of a pack before but he shared some of the Navarro's ideals. "I suppose at the ceremony."

Franco Navarro liked a good party and he loved to have his wolves worship him like a god or so Tyler had heard. All the new comers had to swear fealty to Franco and the Navarro cause in a ceremony of initiation, which was set to take place on the night of the full moon. Tyler had no idea what to expect. He felt anxious and on edge about the whole thing.

 _A simple test_ , Luis Navarro had told him but hadn't given him any details. Tyler had the feeling that it was going to be much more than that.

"Yeah…I guess." He drank his bottle of water all the while feeling a strange sense of dread in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Lucy took her time enjoying her food. Elijah had ensured that she got what she wanted. As she ate, Elijah explained his predicament. He told her about Sabine and how she had kidnapped him the night of the ball, although he omitted a few details (the kiss he had shared with Sabine). Once Lucy had finished eating, Elijah showed her the name tattooed on his wrist.

"I've seen this type of spell work before," Lucy murmured. She pulled Elijah's wrist forward to take a better look at the name. No one who valued their life would've dared to touch an Original without their consent. Lucy however had absolutely no qualms about grabbing his wrist and tracing the name with her fingertips.

The moment her hand connected with his skin, Elijah felt a tingle run up his arm- a little current of power that had every nerve in his body on the alert. _Her magic,_ he realized with surprise. A silent warning of her power and he couldn't help but be impressed. The Bennett witches were without a doubt on a league of their own when it came to magic. A slight shiver ran down his body and he tensed visibly as she began tracing the tattoo with her fingers.

"Witches use it to teach their kids." Lucy continued. Her touch was soft, soothing, and despite the currents of power Elijah felt radiating off her, he felt the tension in his body begin to break and he began to relax under her calming touch. She looked up and stared into his eyes. "Does the name mean anything to you?"

"I know a witch by the name Sophie Deveraux. But I have no idea who Brynne is." Elijah responded. He felt surprised at how easily he had relaxed under her ministrations. "I have someone looking into it." It was obviously one of Sophie's relatives but Elijah had never met her but he had contacted someone to look into Sophie's family tree and find out. By the end of the day he was going to know everything there was to know about Brynne Deveraux.

Lucy nodded and let go of his arm. "It's a riddle. Once you figure it out, it will disappear." She regarded his face carefully. "But you know that already." Elijah was a smart man and from what she knew of the Original family they were well acquainted with witchcraft. "Why do you need my help, exactly?"

"I have a theory about the person who casted this spell." Elijah began. It was strange but he found himself missing her soothing touch. There was something about Lucy...

"Care to share?"

Elijah looked away for a moment. His gaze lost in the crowd of tourists that were passing by. They were sitting in the restaurant terrace. It was a very hot and humid day and Lucy had chosen a white summer dress and had pulled her long hair in a tight bun. A big hat protected her from the sun while her sunglasses lay on the table next to her cup of coffee. She looked radiant, like a movie star.

Many men had done a double take and offered her a flirty smile as they passed by. Even their waiter had gotten flustered when Lucy offered him a charming smile. The boy was in his late teens and Lucy with her beauty, elegance, and confidence had clearly made an impression. Elijah had not missed the glare the young man sent his way and the "lucky bastard," that came out of his lips after he took her order.

As he returned his gaze to the beautiful woman sitting across from him he felt a tingle on his left arm. There was a slight sting and he frowned. As he looked down at his arm he realized another name had appeared on his wrist, _Clara Summerlin_. "Another piece of the puzzle." He muttered as he showed Lucy the new name tattooed on his arm, an exact mirror of the other one. Elijah now had Brynne Deveraux tattooed on his right wrist and Clara Summerlin on his left.

"Are you sure those are not the names of women whose hearts you broke?" Lucy asked with a teasing smile.

"I don't know who they are." Elijah told her. If he had known them, if they had been his lovers, he would have remembered them.

"You still haven't told me your theory." Lucy waited expectantly. Whatever it was, Elijah was being cautious.

Elijah took a deep breath. It wasn't an easy subject to talk about. "A very long time ago I knew a witch." Memories of his time with Celeste flashed before his eyes. He had carried her memory with him and there was a part of him that hoped he was wrong. "Her name was Celeste Dubois. She was not only exquisitely beautiful but an extremely talented and powerful witch." He said with a soft smile. From the moment he had met her, he had been drawn to Celeste. She had captivated him.

"She was your lover." Lucy deduced. She had not missed the soft smile on his lips and the way his eyes shinned as he spoke of Celeste. The woman had meant a lot to him.

"Yes." Elijah confirmed. "It was a very difficult time to be a witch." He continued clearing his throat. "My brother has quite the temper and soon plenty of bodies were found in the city. The humans grew suspicious and he pointed his fingers to the witches. Those who were known practitioners were rounded up and killed. Celeste was among them."

Elijah had held her dead body for hours as the guilt and the pain ate away at his heart. Celeste had not only been his lover but his bonded. The grief had been overwhelming and the pain excruciating. He had only known that kind of pain once before and both times it had nearly destroyed him. Celeste's dead wounded him deeply and to this day he still felt guilty that he hadn't been able to save her.

"You loved her." Lucy could see the pain in his eyes. Even after all this time, Celeste still haunted him. She wondered what kind of woman Celeste had been. How had she captured and captivated a man like Elijah. She looked away briefly, feeling a strange hint of jealousy in her heart.

Elijah nodded before glancing away from her. He had never spoken to anyone about Celeste. Her memory was something he carried with him and kept closely guarded. But he needed Lucy's help and in order to understand what he needed from her, Lucy had to know.

Silence descended over them for a few minutes. Lucy understood that this was not an easy subject for him and she gave him the time he needed to gather his thoughts before continuing with his tale. She felt curious about Celeste and wanted to ask many questions but she bit her tongue. If Elijah wanted to tell her more, he would do it. Otherwise she would not push him.

"I think she might still be alive." Elijah said quietly. It was almost a whisper.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Alive….how?" and then it clicked. "The witch who put the spell on you…" _Did Elijah believe both women to be the same? Had Celeste found a way to cheat death?_

"Sabine," Elijah confirmed. "There is a spell that allows a person to jump into the body of another." His brother had been rather fond of it back in the day. "Celeste was killed but perhaps she found a way to jump into someone else's body and has lived as such for the past two centuries."

The idea had begun forming the moment Sabine had kissed him. Elijah had felt something that night when her lips had met his. There had been an echo of something, a sense of familiarity, of belonging. Something had resonated inside of him almost as if the bond that he and Celeste had forged had been momentarily revived. It had been brief, a split second, but he had not been able to stop thinking about it. Once the idea had taken root in his brain, Elijah knew he needed to find the truth.

"I need to know for sure." He told Lucy.

"Body jumping spells are not easy." Lucy said deep in thought. "There are not that many witches who can do them. I've heard that sometimes it might require more than one witch to perform the spell." She had never done one herself.

"Yes," Elijah confirmed. "Not only is it a complicated spell but it's also not that well known among the witches." It was indeed a very rare and complex spell. Few witches had succeeded in performing it. It had taken Niklaus years to find a competent witch to do it.

"Is Celeste that powerful?" Lucy asked. "Could she have known the spell?"

"I don't know." Elijah responded. More importantly, he wondered if Celeste had jumped into another body why had she not come to him. And where had she gotten the body jumping spell from? As far as Elijah knew there was only one spell-the one in his mother's grimoire. A sudden thought came to him. "She was always curious about my mother's grimoire." Elijah recalled. "She wanted to read it, to see it…" Celeste had asked him in more than one occasion to read Esther's grimoire.

"Did she?" The Original witch was well known among the witch community. Lucy knew that many witches would give anything to get their hands on Esther's grimoire.

"No." Elijah answered. "Niklaus has always been in possession of it. And my brother has never liked to share anything." He had always kept his collection of grimoires well hidden from anyone even his siblings. Kol had tried to take the grimoire once and had ended up daggered for a decade.

"Klaus was responsible for Celeste's death," Lucy said studying his face. "His actions caused her to die and yet you forgave him…" she was trying to understand what kind of relationship the Originals had. From the little bits and pieces she had heard about Klaus, he had chased Katherine for centuries, he also enjoyed killing Rebekah's lovers and tormented the people of Mystic Falls. And yet, Bonnie had fallen in love with him and was carrying his child. And both Elijah and Rebekah were loyal to him. _What kind of man was the hybrid really?_

"He's my brother." Elijah said simply. "He does not make it easy…" he never had and neither had Kol. But at the end of the day, family would always come first for Elijah. For all of them, really. "Celeste's death was my fault as well, I failed to protect her." To this day he still felt guilty.

There was another moment silence until Lucy finally asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"I need to find Sabine. I need to know if she is indeed Celeste and this…" Elijah looked down at his wrists. "This is the key to find her." _I need to know what she wants_ , he thought. She was clearly up to something, the question was what.

"Sabine or Celeste…" Lucy didn't care what her name was. "She helped the Seer," she reminded Elijah. "She didn't care that so many people were killed at the ball. My mom died because of them." Her voice broke. It was an image that would be forever engraved in her mind. Joanna had been lucky that Bonnie had been able to bring her back. Countless of others, of innocents, didn't have such luck that night. "Bonnie and her baby were put in danger, you and your siblings were taken, Matt was hurt…so many innocent people…"

"I know." Elijah met Lucy's gaze unflinchingly.

"I will help you find Sabine." Lucy told him. "I will help you figure out if she truly is your Celeste. But let me make one thing very clear to you Elijah."

There was a strong gust of wind all of a sudden and the sun disappeared underneath a dark cloud. Elijah felt a chill run down his spine as Lucy's magic came alive.

"Bonnie and her baby are my family," Lucy continued a determined look on her face. "I won't let anyone hurt them."

"You have nothing to worry about Lucy." Elijah never took his eyes away from her as he spoke. "Bonnie and her child are my family too. And you have my word that anyone who wishes them harm will die." He vowed.

"Good."

If Sabine was indeed Celeste, if she knew what was good for her, she would not dare to come after Bonnie.

* * *

The first thing Bonnie noticed when she opened her eyes was a head of blond curls. Klaus was resting his head on her stomach. The moment he sensed she was awake, he looked up and gave her a Cheshire grin before pulling himself up into a sitting position, next to her.

"Hi." Bonnie yawned and stretched, all the while conscious of the way Klaus stared at her. He was happy, extremely happy. She could feel his joy through the bond. Bonnie pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Klaus brushed a stray hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "I heard the baby's heartbeat." He told her with a smile, a very genuine and happy smile.

"Really?" Bonnie beamed. "Oh my god." Her hand immediately went to her stomach. "You heard our baby's heartbeat?" Her smile was contagious. She looked so beautiful and radiant.

Klaus nodded a mischievous glint in his bright blue eyes, as if he knew some sort of secret. "I did, both of them actually."

"That's amazing!" Bonnie continued happily. Klaus's words didn't register at first. "I mean you're a hybrid so obviously your hearing abilities are the best ever. Oh my god! You can probably hear it now. You'll be able to hear it all the time." She was kind of jealous of that to be honest. "That is so…" she stopped abruptly, brows furrowing in confusion as his words finally caught up with her brain. "Wait…" Bonnie frowned. "Did you just say both…" she must have heard wrong. Surely he didn't mean…

Klaus's grin widened. "I did. I heard two heartbeats." He happily confirmed.

"Two…you heard two…" She met his eyes, trying to figure out if he was pulling her leg or was actually being truthful. The bond told her that he was telling the truth.

"Yes." Klaus was immensely amused. She looked adorable. "You are carrying twins, my love." He placed his hand on top of hers while staring intensely at her face.

"Shut up." Bonnie couldn't believe it. "That can't…that…it's impossible!" she exclaimed. There was no way. She couldn't be expecting twins.

Klaus laughed. He was enjoying this. "A hybrid impregnating a witch is impossible and yet here we are."

"Oh my god!" Bonnie leaned back against the headboard a stunned look on her face. Klaus rubbed his hand against hers acutely aware of the two beating hearts inside her. "We're having twins." She was going to be a mom of not just one miracle baby but two. There were two lives growing inside of her.

"We're having twins." Klaus repeated. He was ecstatic, over the moon really.

"We're having twins." Bonnie said again, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry." Klaus moved his hand up to her face, lightly tracing her cheek. He felt her happiness, her anxiety, her fear, her wonder. "It's going to be alright sweetheart." Klaus pulled her into his arms and held her tenderly.

"I feel terrified and so happy." Bonnie whispered. It was hard to describe the emotions she was experiencing in that moment. On the one hand there was so much joy and on the other so much anxiety. There were two babies that she had to worry about now. Two lives that depended on her and that the witches and plenty of other supernaturals were going to see as a threat. Two amazing and beautiful miracles she and Klaus had created. Her heart swelled with joy and love, so much love.

"I know." Klaus kissed the top of her head.

The two sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.

 _Would it be two girls?_ Bonnie wondered, _or maybe two boys, or one of each?_ She couldn't believe it. It was exciting and terrifying. There were so many things they needed to get ready. She hadn't even bought anything for the baby yet, _babies,_ she corrected herself. She hadn't even been to the doctor.

"I need to find a witch doctor." Bonnie said. "I want to make sure that everything is going well with my pregnancy but I would feel more comfortable with a doctor who knows about the supernatural." She didn't want to take any chances. And she already felt bad that she hadn't seen a doctor yet. With everything that was going on she had completely forgotten about starting her prenatal care. "I should've done that sooner, what kind of mother-"

"Stop it." Klaus told her. "You are going to be an amazing mother." He felt certain of that.

"I'm scared." Bonnie admitted while shifting in his arms and looking up at his face. "I don't want to mess this up. I don't want to fail them… "

"You won't. We won't." Klaus vowed. He had his doubts and his fears as well. He would never voice them out loud of course. His demons were his to battle alone. But Klaus worried. There two precious lives he could potentially hurt and screw up. Two lives he could ruin easily. The one thing he knew for certain was that he would not be like Mikael. He felt determined to be a different kind of father, to be a better father.

"Do you think we can find a witch doctor here?" Bonnie had so many questions regarding her pregnancy. Her babies had been able to use magic from the womb; somehow she knew that was not normal, even by a witch pregnancy standard.

"Not someone we can trust." Klaus replied. "The city is under Marcel's thumb and the witches are unpredictable, especially after what happened at the Sanatorium, perhaps a human doctor?" He suggested.

Bonnie shook her head. "This pregnancy is not normal Klaus." She turned fully in his arms so that they could be face to face. "They have magic." Bonnie had felt it, seen it, in more than one occasion. "When I was fighting the Seer, Bastiana sent a nasty curse towards me. It got through my shield and went straight for my stomach and then it rebounded. It killed her." It had taken everyone by surprise even Bonnie.

"You think it was them?" A proud smile tugged at his lips.

"I know it was them."

Klaus placed his palm over her stomach, gently rubbing his thumb over her warm skin. "Magic from the womb…" The fact that there were two babies doubled the amount of power inside her.

"I need a doctor who is aware of the supernatural. I would prefer a witch but even a werewolf would be better than a human." Bonnie said.

"I'll find someone." Klaus promised. For Bonnie, he would go to the ends of the earth.

"I'll ask Joanna and my mom, maybe they know someone." Bonnie thought suddenly. Maybe they knew of a trustworthy witch doctor. "Speaking of which, I'm thinking we should have the dinner tomorrow night."

Klaus sighed. "I hate to say it sweetheart, but your plan for a nice family dinner is going to end in disaster. Your mother can't stand the sight of me." _I can't stand her either_. He thought. Abby got on his nerves.

"They're my family Klaus. And I want to summon the coven as soon as possible. Joanna said it's better to do it on the full moon and that's like a week away. I have to prepare for that." She couldn't keep wasting time. There was another storm coming their way she could feel it. "Besides, you said you were going to charm my family." Bonnie reminded him with a smile. "So, start with them. Having Joanna, Lucy, and yes even Abby on your corner will help to win the favor of the other Bennett witches that will come." She kissed his cheek. "And you should invite Ishmael and Cary, they're family too." And maybe they could help alleviate some of the tension that no doubt was going to be present. "We have to let Matt and Rebekah know and Elijah of course."After everything they had been through in the past few days it would be nice to have some family time.

"Fine." Klaus had a feeling that the dinner was not going to go the way Bonnie wanted it but he wanted to please her and make her happy. An idea suddenly came to his mind and he couldn't help but smirk. "It will be the perfect opportunity to tell our family the news." He could just picture Abby's face once she learned she was going to be a grandmother to twins. Perhaps the family dinner would not be so bad after all.

Bonnie shook her head knowing exactly what he was thinking. "Don't be too gleeful. Abby knows about the bond."

"You told her?" Klaus didn't look happy about that. The bond was something he wanted to keep a secret. The last thing he wanted was for someone to try and take advantage of that information and try and hurt Bonnie to get to him.

"I didn't mean to." Bonnie admitted. "I could feel your pain. I just…" it had overwhelmed her. "It just happened. She didn't like it. She thinks you trapped me with it."

"Of course she does." Klaus muttered."I suppose I should prepare myself for a confrontation." And he had just the perfect ammunition for it. If Abby continued with her attitude, Klaus would more than gladly start divulging her secrets. The only reason he hadn't so far was because of Bonnie. But his patience had its limits.

"She's trying." Bonnie said quietly. "She's not fully on board but I think she's coming around." She didn't want to get her hopes up but maybe one day Abby and Klaus could tolerate each other without throwing any insults. And once the babies were born Abby would see that they weren't evil and she would come to love them. "She could've left at any moment, she's done it before, but this time she's sticking around."

Klaus wasn't fully convinced but he kept his opinions to himself. He could feel Bonnie's hope and her desperate need to have her mother's love and acceptance. _Don't do you dare break her heart again Abby,_ Klaus thought. _If you do, nothing will save you from my wrath._

"I need to see Davina too." Bonnie mumbled. She had completely forgotten about the young witch. "I promised to let her know if the spell worked." She made a move to get out of Klaus's arms but he pulled her back.

"Marcel is going to have a fit once he learns his witch lost her magic." Oh it would be glorious. Klaus grinned from ear to ear. He couldn't wait to rub it in Marcel's face.

Bonnie's stomach sank. They hadn't had time to really talk about that. Klaus was not going to like what she had to say. "There is something you need to know." This time she did moved away from him much to Klaus's displeasure.

Bonnie got out of the bed and grabbed his discarded shirt from the floor. She put it on and sat down on the bed, facing him once more. "We have to talk about Davina. It's important."

Klaus frowned. He didn't like the sound of that.

* * *

 **California**

After taking a long hot shower and scrubbing the blood and grime off her body, Elena changed into the clothes Damon had bought for her. They were at some cheap little motel but Elena was glad to be free. Some stupid, crazy group of witches had kidnapped her. They had caught her by surprised while she had been in San Francisco having a blast. She had managed to call Damon and he and Stefan had come for her, like Elena knew they would. The Salvatore bothers were so predictable. She couldn't wait to get away from them and continue with her new life.

Stefan and Damon watched her warily as she stepped out of the bathroom. "Thanks." She said with a smile before moving at vampire speed towards the door. She wanted to get away from them as quickly as possible.

"You're not going anywhere." Damon said appearing in front of her and blocking the door.

She should've known it wasn't going to be easy to get rid of them. "Look," Elena began. "I appreciate that you saved me from that group of lunatics but I'm not going back to Mystic Falls. Get out of my way."

"Who were those people?" Stefan asked from behind her. "Why did they kidnap you?"

"I don't know." Elena shrugged. "I could care less." She said looking at him over her shoulder before focusing on Damon once more. "Can you get out of my way now?"

Damon crossed his arms over his chest and studied her face. "Turn in back on." He ordered. The time had come for Elena to come to her senses and turn her humanity switch back on.

Elena rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to turn it back on Damon. I'm happy the way I am. And it's all thanks to you." She gave him a sweet smile.

Damon growled. "We've been looking for you all over. I nearly got killed by a group of crazy witches trying to rescue you." He reminded her.

From the moment he had received her desperate call, Damon had left Mystic Falls and searched for Elena without a second thought. All he knew was that Elena was in trouble and that she needed him. He was not going to fail her. Stefan had come along with him while Caroline remained in Mystic Falls. It had taken them a while but they had finally found her. Damon and Stefan killed the six witches that had been holding her hostage and brought Elena to the motel. She had been weak, hardly able to move or say anything. The witches had been draining her of her blood and she had been near desiccation. Damon didn't even want to think what would have happened to her had they arrived a day or two later.

"Your days of rebellion are over princess," he told her. "We're going back home." He was not going to let Elena out of his sight ever again.

"What did those witches want with you?" Stefan asked. For a group of six they hadn't been that powerful. They had to channel together in order to do magic and even then they had not been that strong. Stefan felt curious to know more, who they were, what they wanted with Elena or more importantly why they needed her blood. "Why take your blood?"

"I don't know!" Elena yelled. "I was having a blast when those psychos showed up out of nowhere and kidnapped me." She had known that Damon would come for her, with or without her emotions he was in love with her. Elena had managed to call him before being taken away. "They kept me locked up and took my blood for days for some sort of spell or ritual." The bastards had nearly drained her, all because of her doppelganger blood. Even if she was a vampire now, her blood was still a hot commodity. "They called themselves the Travelers or something."

"The what-" Stefan began.

"Who cares!" Damon snapped giving his brother a look of annoyance. "We killed them, problem solved." He turned back to Elena. "Bonnie needs you to knock some sense into her." Now that he had found Elena, he needed to find Bonnie and Matt and get them out of the Originals clutches.

"That's why you want me to go back to Mystic Falls?" Elena laughed. "You're kidding right?" she looked at Stefan and when he didn't say anything Elena shook her head. "Why do I need to knock some sense into her?" She didn't care about Bonnie but she was rather curious to know what her _friends_ had gotten themselves into in the weeks she had been gone.

"Klaus has her under some sort of thrall. Bonnie actually thinks he cares about her. Bon-Bon doesn't know any better and has run off with him." Damon informed her. He still couldn't wrap his mind around it. The thought of Bonnie with Klaus made him sick. "And Rebekah took Matt as well."

If he expected any reaction from Elena he was disappointed. She only gave him a blank look.

"Bonnie will do anything for you, if you ask her-"

"I don't care." Elena interrupted him. "I'm going to find myself a handsome and sexy guy to feed from, because I'm still hungry." The blood bags they had fed her had not been enough. "And then I'm going to Europe." She continued. "I don't care about Bonnie or Matt or anyone really. So fuck off!" She tried to sneak out once more but Damon once again stopped her.

"You're really pissing me off." Elena hissed vampire face showing.

"Bonnie is your friend-" Damon tried again.

"Why do you even care about Bonnie?" Elena snapped. "Are you in love with her or something? You know what I don't care." Elena looked at Stefan and then back at Damon. "Let me make one thing clear to you. I'm free. For the first time in my life, I am free. From everything, from the pain, from the guilt, from _you_." she emphasized staring into Damon's eyes. "If Bonnie wants to screw Klaus, good for her, he's hot!"

Damon looked at Stefan with disbelief. Elena had clearly gone bonkers.

"I'm not going back. I'm done with Mystic Falls. Get that through your thick skull." Elena told them.

"What if more witches come for you?" Stefan asked quietly. "What are you going to do then?" did she expect them to be at her beck and call, for them to bail her out whenever she got in trouble?

"That's why I'm going to Europe." Elena told him with a smile. "Far away from any crazy witches and _you_."

"Elena…" Damon approached her slowly, trying a different tactic. "I know that you've been through a lot. I get it. You've lost your whole family." His face softened. "But avoiding that pain…it's not the answer. Sooner or later your switch is going to flick back on. Maybe not today or a year from now, but it will." He wanted to reach out and touch her –he had missed her-but he stopped himself. "You can't run away forever. The longer you wait the harder it will be to deal with your emotions when they return. And make no mistake, sooner or later they will come back on their own." A vampire couldn't remain emotionless for ever.

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and watched him silently.

Damon took that as a good sign. "Let me help you." He said sounding almost desperate. "I love you." Tentatively he reached out and touched her cheek. Elena remained rooted to the spot. "I love you." He repeated with emotion. He could bring her back. He had to. "I will be there for you. I will help you. Please, turn it back on." He pleaded.

Stefan watched silently wondering if Damon's words could snap Elena back from her emotionless state.

"Don't be afraid." Damon continued. "We can do this together, I promise you." He moved closer, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I love you Elena, I will always love you." He stared deeply into her eyes before moving his head down and touching her lips with his own. Desperately hoping that his words had somehow managed to get through and bring her back. He wanted _his_ Elena back, without her, Damon was nothing.

Elena remained standing still as a statue as Damon kissed her gently. It was a sweet brush of the lips and Damon pulled away wondering, hoping, trusting that her love for him would break through her clouded mind and snap her back to reality.

Elena smiled sweetly and took Damon's head in both of her hands.

"Elena?" There was a hopeful smile on Damon's face as she moved closer.

"You're an idiot." Elena said before snapping his neck. In the next second she sped out of the room. She didn't make it very far. Stefan was older and faster than she was and he grabbed her from behind.

"Let me go!" She screamed struggling to break free but Stefan kept a tight hold on her.

"You're done playing games with us." Stefan whispered against her ear before taking a dart from his pocket and stabbing her on the neck with it. He moved so fast, Elena didn't have time to react.

The effect was immediate and Elena was knocked unconscious within seconds.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"Davina still has her magic," Bonnie informed Klaus. There, just get it in the open.

"What do you mean the bloody bitch still has her magic?" Klaus practically growled. "You said you took the magic away from the French Quarter witches. Davina is one of them!"

His fury was unmistakable. Bonnie could feel his anger pulsing through the bond.

"Davina is the last Harvest girl. She's connected to every witch from her coven and her blood served as the anchor for the spell." Bonnie explained. Davina's blood had pulled the witches' magic into the wool. "Her own blood can't be used against her."

"Did you even try?" Klaus asked.

"No." Bonnie answered truthfully. There hadn't really been time to try anything else or to even test the spell. She had simply followed her instincts. "But Davina is not an average witch. She has her magic and the magic from the three other Harvest girls. That's a lot of power. The wool might not have been able to contain all of it." She supposed she could always tweak the spell, reinforced it, and adapted it to the circumstances but that required time. "Not to mention that I promised her that I wouldn't use the spell against her."

"Why would you do that?" Klaus couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I needed her blood, Klaus." Bonnie replied. "She wasn't just going to hand out a vial of her blood just like that. I had to explain the plan to her and give her my word that I was not going to use it on her." It was the least Bonnie could do. While Davina had something to gain from Bonnie's spell, she was under no obligation to help her. And Bonnie had been desperate to rescue Klaus and his siblings.

"You could have tricked her. She's trapped in a cabin where her magic is blocked. She wouldn't have known the difference." Klaus pointed out. "She's a threat and you had the opportunity to eliminate her." Bonnie could've easily taken her blood by force. But Klaus knew that Bonnie wouldn't do that. Not if there was another choice. His little witch was far too noble and good for such tricks.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to have your magic taken away?" Bonnie asked. "Our magic is tied to our blood, to our very existence, losing it is like losing a limb." The witches of the Quarter were probably desperate now that they had lost their connection to their magic. It was something they would never be able to recover from.

"Don't tell me you feel bad about stripping the witches of their magic." Klaus studied her face. "They deserved it."

"I did what I had to do in order to get you back. And I don't regret it." Bonnie's eyes bored into his. She didn't even feel guilty about the fact that she had easily burned an entire coven to death. It was almost scary how detached she felt about the whole thing. "You can't deny that my actions are going to have consequences for us….for our children." And that scared her. She didn't know what to expect from the witches now.

"There is no reason for you to be afraid, sweetheart." Klaus's face softened and he reached out and took her hand in his.

"Only a fool feels no fear Klaus." Bonnie squeezed his hand. It was amazing how a simple touch could give her so much support and reassurance. His presence alone made her stronger. With Klaus by her side Bonnie knew that she could face anything and anyone. "I just made a hundred more enemies." She murmured. _What if, what she had done to the witches had only made things worse?_

"No." Klaus told her cupping her cheek with his other hand. "You just showed the world what happens to those who dare defy you." If the witches knew what was best for them they wouldn't dare to come after Bonnie again and if they were foolish enough to try, Klaus would slaughter the lot of them. "The witches, the vampires, even the werewolves will tremble in fear at the sound of your name." The conviction in his voice was unwavering. "From this day forward, you are a legend Bonnie." He lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers.

Bonnie smiled against his mouth and kissed him back lightly. When Klaus's tongue traced the seam of her lips, she pushed him away. She couldn't get distracted now. "There is something else we need to discuss."

Klaus groaned. "We're supposed to be spending the whole day in bed sweetheart, _naked_." The last thing on his mind was talking.

"We are in bed." Bonnie pointed out with a smile. And he was naked, even if she wasn't.

"Very funny," Klaus pouted and he tugged at her shirt. "You know what would be more fun…" his hand moved to her thigh, lightly caressing her skin.

Bonnie shivered. The look he was giving her was positively sinful. He was five second away from ripping her shirt and having his wicked way with her, she knew it. "Klaus…" Bonnie pushed his hand away. She couldn't let him distract her. They needed to have this conversation. "This is important." She said in a very serious tone.

"What else is there to talk about?" Klaus questioned. He didn't understand what could be so important that she didn't want to wait for later.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Bonnie asked. "That you planned to kidnapped Davina," she clarified at Klaus's confused look.

"Would you have agreed?" Klaus challenged.

Bonnie pressed her lips together doing her best to keep her eyes on his face, not on that other part of his anatomy that seemed to be begging for attention. "I don't know." She answered truthfully. If Davina had not been kidnapped by Klaus, the spell she had created to take the witches magic might not had worked.

"Which is why I didn't say anything," Klaus told her. Because he knew that Bonnie had a good heart and would pity Davina.

"I don't want to be kept in the dark Klaus." Bonnie took a deep breath as she tried to put into words what she had been thinking about. "I know it's not easy for you trust people…but we're in this together. You can't keep things like this from me." They had to work as a team in order to defeat their enemies.

"Sweetheart-"

"Let me finish." Bonnie stopped his protest. "I feel like…I get the sense that you have all this plans. Like you are three steps ahead of everyone, even me, and…I want to know. I want to be included, not find out things later, after you've done them." If he could trust Felix and Angelica with his plans then he could trust her. "This is not just your fight. It's _our_ fight." She looked into his eyes. "You wanted me to start acting like a queen. You wanted me to embrace my legacy well, I have." She knew that there was no going back now. Her heart sped up as she said her next words, "I don't want to be a queen in name only. I don't want you to keep things from me because you think I might not agree or like your plans." Bonnie told him. "I'm not going to sit back and let you handle things. I am your equal, your wife in the eyes of the supernatural world and I want to be by your side every step of the way."

Klaus's lips twitched. _Did Bonnie have any idea how sexy she looked saying those words?_

"That's exactly where I want you to be." Klaus told her reaching out and taking her hand in his. "But I have a certain way of doing things Bonnie." She needed to know, to understand that he had a way of achieving his goals, methods that perhaps were not going to sit well with her. At the end of the day, Bonnie would always try to do the right thing and protect others. The only people Klaus cared to protect were his family. Everyone else could go to hell. "I won't keep my plans from you," he told her. He could and he wanted to include her. "But you are not going to like some of the things I will do."

"I know." Bonnie was no fool. She knew perfectly well who he was and what he was capable of. She knew it wasn't going to be easy and they were going to have their disagreements. "We'll figure it out." She knew they had different ways of approaching things but she also knew that they complimented each other well. Together they could face whatever enemy came their way.

"We do make quite a team." Klaus murmured pulling her hand towards his mouth. He nibbled on her fingers playfully and Bonnie couldn't help but giggle. "Do you trust me?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes." There was no hesitation in her response. A few months ago she would've responded, _hell no!_ So much had changed since then. She was no longer that girl that saw him as her worst enemy.

Klaus squeezed her hand. "Then know that whatever I do, no matter how cruel, how terrible it may seem is for you and our children." He said. "Even if you question my methods or disagree with my plans, believe that I have your best interest at heart. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe." Klaus promised looking into her eyes. "You are my life Bonnie. You and our children are the most precious thing I have in this world." _Do you have any idea how much power you have over me?_ He wondered. _Do you realize how easily you can destroy me?_ He was putting his trust in her, his heart.

Bonnie nodded. She leaned forward until her forehead was resting against his. "And you are the most important thing in my life." She touched his face with her other hand. "I never thought that I would feel like this about you…that I would be here with you…" she laughed nervously and heat spread to her cheeks. "Klaus I-"

He grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her face forward, smashing his lips against her. Bonnie immediately threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back hungrily.

In a flash Klaus had pulled her on top of him. She straddled him, dark hair falling over his face as they continued kissing passionately.

Bonnie pulled away breathless. "What are we going to do with Davina?" she asked suddenly.

"You're kidding me?" Klaus gave her an incredulous look.

"I just think-" she didn't get to finish. Klaus flipped her beneath him, caging her with his body.

"Who gives a fuck about Davina." He muttered lowering his head and going straight for her neck, kissing and nibbling playfully at her skin.

"Klaus…" Bonnie moaned as she felt his hands tugging at her shirt, well his shirt actually. He was desperate she could feel it. He ripped the shirt in half and Bonnie gasped. His eyes flashed gold for a moment and he gave her a wicked grin before his lips came crashing down on hers.

No more words were said for the rest of the day.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"Everything is ready for the initiation ceremony." Luis murmured as he handed his brother a glass of bourbon.

The four Navarro brothers were meeting in the study. Franco sat in a leather chair, like a king upon a throne. Isaac lay on the couch to his left, playing a game on his phone, while Victor dutifully sat to his right. Luis stood by his brother's side. He was Franco's second in command and his most trusted advisor.

"Excellent." Franco said taking the drink from his brother. More wolves would join their ever growing army. "Put that away." He ordered glancing in Isaac's direction.

Isaac sighed and placed his cell phone on his pocket. "So, are you going to tell us why we're having a family meeting? I got things to do you know." More specifically he had a sassy red hair in his bed. That was more important than any initiation ceremony in his book.

"I've received some very interesting news from New Orleans." Franco began. He took a sip of his bourbon and slowly moved his gaze over his brothers. What he had heard had left him shocked and intrigued. Very much intrigued.

"What kind of news?" Victor asked curiously. He didn't like the strange glint in Franco's eyes.

"Do you remember the witch that was shunned a few years ago, the so called Seer?" Luis asked his brother. Every supernatural in Louisiana had probably heard about the Seer. She had made quite a name for herself.

"I heard of her." Victor was not that well informed about the ins and outs of New Orleans like his two older brothers but Jane-Anne had talked about the Seer a few times.

"She's dead." Luis informed him.

"And we care about this because?" Isaac could care less about a stupid witch. The bored look on his face told his brothers he was more than ready bolt out of the room.

"She was killed by Bonnie Bennett." Franco informed them a wolfish grin on his face, "or Bonnie Mikaelson as she is known now." His eyes gleamed with some strange emotion. "She killed the Seer and her entire coven." No witch had single handedly taken down an entire coven in centuries. It was truly extraordinary and considering how young she was, Bonnie Bennett was indeed a rare gem.

Victor and Isaac exchanged worried looks.

"A Bennett witch is married to a fucking Mikaelson?" Isaac asked with incredulity. "You're kidding right?"

"She is Klaus Mikaelson's wife according to our spy." Luis said. That's how the hybrid had introduced her to society.

"A pity…" Franco muttered over the rim of his glass. It was a pity that the hybrid had sampled her first.

"You want Klaus's sloppy seconds?" Isaac laughed. "The alpha of the Navarro pack is lusting after a vampire's bitch. Whatever happened to wolves only mating with other wolves?"

Franco growled. "Watch your tongue." He hissed.

Victor flinched and Luis gave Isaac a reproachful look.

The smiled dropped from Isaac's face. "You can't be serious!"

"You haven't even met her." Victor said quietly. He had been the one to tell Franco about Bonnie and ever since that day his brother had been obsessing over the young witch. He had a file with all her information and even pictures that his detectives had managed to obtain.

"This witch is unlike any other we have encountered before…" Franco muttered. "She's special." He hadn't even met her face to face and he already wanted her.

"This new turn of events changes everything." Luis told them. "Our spy has informed us that the Mikaelsons not only have the Bennett witch on their side but also an army of werewolves."

"The Crescents as cursed." Victor pointed out. As much as they hated Marcel, the Crescent pack would never willingly join the vampires, not even the Mikaelsons.

"Not the Crescents." Luis told him as he and Franco exchanged knowing looks.

"Fenrir's pack." Franco hissed. His hand clenched around the glass as he thought of that pack. Their Alpha had not only killed their brother Armando but he had killed the patriarch of the Navarro clan. His eyes landed on the portrait hanging above the fire place. His father had been murdered by Ishmael and that was something none of the Navarro brothers had forgotten.

"That old man is still alive?" Isaac asked. He had been a child when his father had been killed but he hadn't forgotten the severed head they received. "Son of a bitch!" He stood up angrily. "What the hell are we waiting for? We have the biggest army ever. Let's kill that mother fucker once and for all!"

Victor had gone pale. He would never forget that horrible day when they had received their father's severed head. He had always believed that his father Juan was the strongest wolf to ever walk the earth. His father had been an imposing and intimidating man who had taught his sons to feel proud of their heritage, to embrace their nature, and to rise above all. Juan had acted like a king, just like Franco did now. Juan had been strong, fierce, cruel, ambitious, and determined and Juan had died after a failed attack against Ishmael and his people.

"We are not going to rush into anything." Luis's calm and controlled voice interrupted Isaac's outburst. "A big army does not equal a victory."

"That bastard murdered our father!" Isaac yelled. "We swore to avenge him. The opportunity has presented itself on a silver platter. That son of a bitch is a dead man walking." His hands clenched into fists. What he would give to rip that old bastard to pieces.

"Yes, he is." Franco agreed. "Ishmael will die, make no mistake of that." _I will personally rip him apart_ , Franco thought.

"Fenrir's pack is ancient. The last time they made their presence known was ten years ago." Victor said swallowing nervously and looking at his older brother. Fenrir's pack had always lived cautiously, always in the shadows. For centuries word had spread of their annihilation until their father had finally found them. "Why would they go to New Orleans? Why now. Why the hell would they even follow the Mikaelsons?" It didn't make any sense. _What the hell was he missing?_

"There is only one reason why Fenrir's wolves would join the fray." Luis muttered. It trouble him greatly.

"They are following _him_." Franco's eyes darkened. He stood up and made his way towards the bay window, keeping his back towards his brothers. "He is the reason they are in New Orleans." It was the only thing that made sense. Anger, jealousy, hatred…it filled his veins and a low growl escaped from his throat.

 _Fucking Klaus Mikaelson_ , the hatred he felt towards that son of a bitch was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Even his hatred of Ishamel did not compare to how much he hated the Original bastard.

"Who?" Isaac asked turning to Luis. His skin itched as he felt his brother's wolf surfacing for a brief moment. Franco was furious.

"The hybrid," Luis responded with an edge to his voice. "He's one of them." Their greatest enemy was not only a vampire but a descendant of Fenrir. Luis still couldn't believe it. Klaus had been born under a lucky star.

Isaac frowned while Victor's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "That's impossible!" There had to be a mistake, it couldn't be. "Do you realize what that means?"

"It means nothing!" Franco hissed turning to face his siblings. "This doesn't change anything." They had a plan, one which was coming along quite nicely. Nothing was going to get in the way of that and certainly not Klaus.

"Fenrir's line is the purest of all werewolf bloodlines," Victor said standing up. "If Klaus Mikaelson claims his birthright, he will crown himself as the king of the wolves." If the wolves learned Klaus was Fenrir's descendant they would rally behind him, Victor felt certain of that.

"He's nothing more than a half-breed!" Franco growled. "He might have Fenrir's blood, but that blood has been tainted by his vampirism. He could never be the King of the wolves." He would never allow that to happen.

"So what are we going to do?" Isaac asked.

"They all must die." Franco said. Fenrir's pack had to be eliminated once and for all. "Klaus Mikaelson will die and so will everyone who shares his blood." There could only be one king of the wolves, a Navarro king. _Me,_ Franco thought. He turned towards Luis. "Tell Tyler that I want to speak with him." The time had come for Tyler to prove that he was one of them.

Luis nodded. "We must also eliminate his siblings." He said. "Up until recently it was believed that the Originals were untouchable but that has been proven wrong. Three of them have died already. They can be killed." And Tyler was the key to that.

"We will kill them." Isaac was more than ready. The Originals's reign over the supernatural world was coming to an end.

"And the witch?" Victor asked curiously. "What do you plan to do with Bonnie?"

"Every king needs a queen by his side." Franco replied with a sinister smile. Everything he knew, everything he had heard about Bonnie Bennett intrigued him. He was fascinated. Who better to have by his side than a descendant of the first witch, together they would rule the world. "She's going to be mine." He proclaimed. Having Bonnie would be his greatest triumph over Klaus Mikaelson.

* * *

 _Davina and Klaus will come face to face in the next chapter and Bonnie's family dinner is going to take an unexpected turn. Thank-you so much for all your amazing support, see you next time!_


	28. Chapter 28

**Warning: the beginning scene has non-con elements. If you don't feel comfortable reading it, please skip the section in italics.**

* * *

 _Snow_

 _Bonnie gasped upon noticing the thick blanket of white that stretched for miles and miles in front of her. The branches of the trees hung low towards the ground with a heavy load of snow and countless snowflakes rained down from the sky, falling over her and melting against her face._

 _A wolf howled in the distance._

 _Bonnie shivered. She was cold and her fingers and toes felt numb. She looked down at her feet, she was bared footed and a gasped escaped her lips when she noticed her nakedness. The only thing she had on her was a thick wool red cloak, which she pulled closer to her body in an attempt to get some warmth._

 _Bonnie looked up into the winter sky and breathed the fresh cold air. The icy winds hit her face. It stung and tears burned in her eyes. She was cold, so cold._

 _There were some lights up in the distance. A house, Bonnie thought as she began walking towards it, her feet sinking into the snow and leaving fresh footprints behind. Everything was so eerily quiet. She didn't like it._

 _She heard another howl, this time closer. Bonnie quickened her pace. She needed to get to the house as soon as possible. It was hard walking in the snow, especially because she didn't have any shoes on. She pulled the crimson cloak tighter around her neck, wondering why she was naked underneath. She was going to freeze to death if she stayed out in the cold._

 _She heard a growl. This time it was right behind her. It startled her and Bonnie sprang towards the cabin, running as fast as her legs could carry her. She knew she would be safe inside. She had to get inside. Nothing could hurt her there._

 _When Bonnie dared to look over her shoulder she saw the creature that was following her. It was a great brown beast, with sharp teeth and sinister red eyes. A ferocious wolf it was and she was his prey._

 _The creature was fast, leaping through the snow with ease, following her, moving closer and closer. It wanted her, Bonnie knew. She had to get away. She couldn't let that beast catch up to her._

 _Bonnie screamed when the wolf tackled her to the ground. Her skin tingled as her face got buried in the snow. It was so cold, it hurt. She quickly rolled onto her back and tried to pull herself to her feet but a heavy body pinned her down. A gasp escaped her lips as she stared at the figure looming above her._

 _The ferocious wolf had turned into a man. He was wearing a mask, a black mask that covered his face except for his eyes-two red angry pools that stared hungrily down at her. His mouth and chin were covered in blood and a few drops fell down on Bonnie's face._

 _Bonnie turned her face away in disgust. She tried to move away but he didn't let her. His strong and hard body fell on top of her, crushing her with his weight and knocking the air from her lungs. He caged her against the cold and wet snow and with horror Bonnie realized he was naked. She could feel his hardness against her belly as he purposefully rubbed his body against hers. While strong and callous hands pinned her arms above her head._

" _Let me go!" Bonnie struggled and kicked underneath him but his hold was as strong as iron._

 _A hot and hungry mouth descended on her face. He licked her cheek, her chin, and down her neck._

" _No!" Bonnie squirmed, trying to pull away with all her strength. "Let me go!" She tried summoning her magic but nothing happened. She tried again and again but nothing. She had no magic. She was powerless against him._

 _A howl could be heard in the distance. It was another wolf. A wolf she knew._

 _Tears prickled Bonnie's eyes as she pushed and kicked and tried her best to break away from her captor. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself. She screamed when sharp teeth bit into the flesh of her neck and shoulder, marking her and licking her blood with greed. And then his hands tugged desperately at her cloak._

" _No…No…" Bonnie didn't want him touching her. All Bonnie wanted was to get away from him but she couldn't. He was stronger than her and without her magic she was at his mercy. "Klaus!" she screamed in desperation. "Klaus!" she screamed again. Where was her hybrid? Why wasn't he protecting her?_

 _The wolf in the distance howled again as if it were responding to her desperate cries._

 _The masked man ripped the cloak from her body and forced her legs apart._

" _No…please…no…" Bonnie begged as she felt one of his hands pinching her nipple while his hungry mouth planted unwanted kisses down her neck and chest, licking and sucking at her skin until he left angry marks behind. "Don't…please…" She screamed, she kicked, she begged but it was in vain._

" _You're mine now." A sinister voice whispered in her ear as he pushed between her legs._

 _ **X~**_

 _ **X~**_

 _ **X~**_

Bonnie woke up startled. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up in panic.

Her magic surfaced immediately, empowered by her distress. All the lights in the bedroom turned on and a small crack formed on the glass door that led to the balcony. She looked frantically around the bedroom half expecting to see the mask man from her dream. The vanity mirror shattered into pieces and every small object around the room flew into the air.

"Bonnie." Klaus placed a gentle hand on her arm. He could sense her fear, her confusion, and panic as if it were his own.

Bonnie screamed and leaped out of the bed. Her first instinct was to flee, to get to the door as fast as possible, to get away from anything that might hurt her.

Klaus appeared in front of her, blocking her way out. "Bonnie." He grabbed her arm. He was attempting to calm her down.

Bonnie flinched. It was an automatic response. Her body was pumped with fear and adrenaline and her magic reacted, it sent Klaus crashing against the bedroom door, paralyzing him completely.

The hybrid stared at her with confusion and shock.

Bonnie gasped. She blinked rapidly for a few seconds before closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around herself. It took a few seconds, a minute perhaps before her heartbeat returned to normal. The fear and the panic slowly began dissipating.

Klaus shivered as he felt her magic retract. He walked slowly towards her, approaching her gently as one would with a skittish animal. Slowly, very slowly he grabbed her upper arms and pulled her gently to his chest. "It's alright." He whispered soothingly. "You have nothing to fear love, you're safe."

Bonnie buried her face against his chest, her body shaking with each of her sobs. Klaus didn't know how long they stood like that. He simply held her and rubbed her back, doing his best to comfort her.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Bonnie pulled slightly away and looked up at his face. "It was just a dream…" she mumbled. Her tear stained face and the fear in her green orbs told him that it had been more than just a dream. "A stupid dream… I'm sorry."

"What did you dream about?" Klaus asked gently. He rubbed her arms in a soothing manner. She was shaking like a leaf still and he didn't like the fear he saw reflected in her eyes.

Bonnie shivered. "Some twisted version of little red riding hood," she responded. "It was snowing. I was being chased by a wolf and he turned into a masked man and then he…" she closed her eyes. It had been an unsettling dream, a nightmare really. Just thinking back on it, made the fear come back at full force.

"And then?" Klaus probed studying her face carefully.

Bonnie shook her head. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to remember the unwanted touches on her skin or how powerless she had felt. It had been terrifying. "It was a stupid dream." She mumbled. "I don't want to talk about it." She wanted to forget it.

"Sweetheart…" Klaus knew that there was more. She wouldn't be reacting this way if it had been a stupid dream as she claimed. He could sense through the bond that there was more to the dream than she was telling him.

"Please…" Bonnie closed her eyes again and hugged him. "I just want to forget it." She was still trembling and a few more tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Alright," Klaus wanted to ask more but he respected her wishes. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him. He whispered sweet words in her ear, doing his best to reassure her and make her feel safe. He hoped that his words, that his presence would be enough to chase away whatever terrible dreams plagued her mind.

Bonnie slowly relaxed in his arms. She kept her eyes shut and rested her head on his chest, the steady beating of his heart calming her. _It was just a dream_ , she told herself. _It wasn't real. It was just a dream…_

Klaus led her back towards the bed. He pulled the sheets over them as they settled in a comfortable position with her back against his chest. Neither of them said anything as they spooned in bed.

It took a while before Bonnie relaxed enough to fall asleep again.

Klaus held her and watched over her, making sure no more terrible dreams entered her mind.

* * *

 **The next morning…**

"Have you lost your mind?" Thierry questioned Katie. They were meeting at their secret place, an apartment outside the French Quarter. It was the only place where they could be together without anyone seeing them, where they could be safe from prying eyes.

"I know it sounds crazy but what if he could help us?" Katie said pacing nervously around the living room. Since the lost of her magic, her emotions were all over the place.

"Klaus Mikaelson is the most ruthless vampire in history. He's Marcel's enemy. My enemy and you helped him escape." He still couldn't believe it. When Katie had told him that she had something important to discuss with him, this had been the last thing on Thierry's mind.

"Helping him escape saved my life." Katie turned to face him. "All the other witches in the Sanatorium died, except for Sabine and me." Sabine had escaped somehow, but none of the other witches had been fortunate to share the same fate. "If I hadn't decided to help Klaus, I would be dead." She shivered just thinking about what had transpired inside the Sanatorium.

Thierry shook his head. "Marcel thinks Klaus's wife has Davina, he's more than ready to go to war." All the vampires were. Klaus was a threat to everything Marcel had achieved and by taking Davina he had openly declared war.

"Marcel is an idiot if he thinks he can kill an Original. If we help Klaus…"

"Marcel is my sire." Thierry reminded her. "I can't betray him!"

"Marcel has hunted and persecuted witches since he came to power. He cursed the Crescent pack and he's an enemy to the Navarro pack. He's surrounded by enemies." Katie said angrily. "Sooner or later those enemies will come for him. Do you really think he'll stand a chance?"

Thierry opened his mouth to respond but Katie cut him off. "The only advantage Marcel had over everyone was his secret weapon, Davina. But he doesn't have her anymore. What's to stop the witches from fighting back now? Or the Navarro's from attacking?"

As much as Thierry hated it, Katie had a point. Marcel greatest triumph over the witches was Davina and without her, Marcel had not only lost a powerful ally but an extremely powerful weapon.

Katie moved closer until she stood in front of her lover. She placed her hands on his chest and stared into his eyes. "The Seer is dead. Bastiana and Agnes are dead. The French Quarter Coven has lost their magic. I lost my magic." She was going crazy. It felt like a limb had been forcibly torn from her body. "All because of Bonnie, she did this." It was scary to think that a single witch had so much power, that a single witch had defeated them so easily. "I saw her fighting Thierry. She took an entire coven on her own." Katie had stayed hidden in the forest watching as Bonnie fought. It had been terrifying and fascinating to watch her. "If we side with Klaus, he'll protect us. He will let us be together. And Bonnie could give me my magic back."

"Katie…" Thierry protested.

"Klaus promised. I helped him and he promised to help us." She reached out and touched his cheek. "I'm tired of hiding Thierry. I'm tired of living in fear of what my coven will do to me if they find out that I'm with you. Or what Marcel could do to us. I don't want to live like this anymore." She was sick of it. Klaus could be many things but he wasn't persecuting witches like Marcel had and so far he had not betrayed her.

"I can't betray Marcel." Thierry said quietly. Marcel had turned him. He was his sire, his mentor, his friend. Thierry owed him and idolized him.

"Will Marcel return such loyalty?" Katie questioned. "If he finds out about us, will he spare me? Will he let us be together?"

Thierry looked away. He considered Marcel his friend but he knew Marcel would not approve of his relationship with Katie. It was the reason he kept it a secret. Neither the witches nor the vampires would ever let them be together. They were mortal enemies after all. Vampires and witches had been on opposite sides since the beginning of time. And yet, Klaus Mikaelson had married a witch. The hybrid had openly defied nature and he had not been punished for it. So if Klaus could be with a witch, why couldn't he? It was tempting, really tempting.

"Klaus maybe a ruthless vampire but he's not killing and terrorizing witches just because he feels like it." Katie continued. "If we are under his protection nothing, no one could hurt us. Not the witches, nor Marcel, no one…"

"You can't trust him." Thierry murmured.

"He kept his word." Katie said softly. "He could've killed me after I got him out but he didn't. He let me go." Klaus had made no move to stop her from leaving. Katie had seen what he had done with a magical dagger embedded inside his chest. She could only imagine what he would be capable of doing at his full strength. She had also seen his wife fighting an entire coven of powerful witches on her own. "I don't know what's going to happen. The coven is in chaos. Bastiana and Agnes were the last elders and without them…" It was a mess. The coven could not agree on what to do or who would be their new leaders would be. "We are at our weakest. We'll be easy prey."

"I won't let anything happen to you." Thierry swore while pulling her closer. "I will protect you." He loved her, he would gladly give his life for hers.

"We are at war Thierry." Katie said softly. "Everything is changing. And I don't know about you but I want to be on the winning side." She didn't want to die. She didn't want to end like the Seer or the other witches that helped her. "Right now, everything is pointing towards a Mikaelson victory."

"You've already made up your mind." Thierry realized studying the determined look on her face.

"I wasn't sure at first." Katie admitted. "I made a deal with the devil and you know what? I think that's what is going to keep me alive in the war to come."

Ever since the night she and Sophie had discovered that they had lost their magic, Katie had been thinking a lot. She had thought about her future, about what she wanted and had come to one conclusion. She was tired of living in fear and tired of hiding her love for Thierry. She wanted to be free. A freedom Klaus had promised her. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, everything came with a price, but in her mind, it was worth it.

"I am a witch Thierry. I was born a witch and I will die a witch." Katie said her voice filled with conviction. "I'm going to get my magic back and the easiest way to do that is through Bonnie." The witches who had dared to go after Bonnie had died. Katie was not going to make the same mistake as the Seer and her coven. "I'm going to side with the Mikaelsons." She told him.

Judging by the look on her face, Thierry knew he wouldn't be able to persuade her to change her mind. "You would side with them even if it means becoming my enemy?" he asked softly. His loyalty was to Marcel. It had always been like that. He didn't want to betray his friend.

Katie gave him a sad look. "It doesn't have to be like that." She brushed her lips against his. It was a soft and gentle kiss. She pulled away and stared into his eyes. "For decades you have fought for Marcel, you have bled for him, you have killed for him. The time has come to put yourself first, to fight for us, to fight for our future." She said. She was begging him with her eyes and her words to put their happiness, their love, above all else. "I know it is not an easy choice to make my love. But isn't it worth it?"

Thierry didn't know what to say.

* * *

Klaus reluctantly got out of bed, leaving a sleeping Bonnie behind. As much as he wanted to stay with her and spend another lazy day in bed there were lots of things he needed to take care of. He still wondered about the nightmare she had the night before. She had woken up absolutely terrified and he felt curious but Bonnie had refused to talk about it and he hadn't pushed her.

The first order of business was to check on Brian, the hybrid that had overindulged in witch blood at the Sanatorium. A ripper vampire was dangerous but manageable; a ripper hybrid was a threat to everyone. He needed to make sure Brian would not turn into one.

The house was quiet as Klaus walked towards the basement. The scent of herbs and spices hit his nose as he walked down the hall. Angelica was in the kitchen with Belle and two other hybrids. They were whispering but Klaus could hear their conversation clearly. They didn't even notice his presence.

He moved silently down the stairs that led to the basement and his senses immediately alerted him to a possible threat. He heard the growls before he saw Brian. The young man was chained to the back wall.

 _Magical chains,_ Klaus noted immediately. Angelica's handy work no doubt. The situation was worst than he had expected.

Brian looked up the moment he sensed Klaus's presence. His golden eyes were wild and cold. He snarled angrily in Klaus's direction. Growling and baring his fangs in a challenging manner. He struggled against the chains on his arms and tried to break free.

Klaus watched him for a few seconds before moving his gaze towards the hybrid girl sitting quietly on the opposite side of the room.

Alexa stood up immediately, her fingers clenching around the mug of coffee she had in her hands. She seemed nervous and uncertain in his presence. She had every reason to be nervous; she had disobeyed his orders after all.

Klaus regarded the hybrid girl, his expression neutral and his eyes unreadable. He didn't say anything he simply stared at her.

Alexa got even more nervous. "I'm sorry." She said. She didn't like the look he was giving her. "I was worried. You had been taken by the witches and I…I'm sorry I disobeyed your orders." She looked down at her mug, feeling foolish and so uncertain. _Why did she turn into a stupid mess when she was in his presence?_ She could be a cold and heartless bitch to everyone else in the pack but when it came to Klaus she turned into a silly teenager with a crush. She even blushed under his intense gaze.

"I have killed people for far less." Klaus said in a deathly serious tone.

Alexa gulped but she found the courage to look up into his face. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked. She appeared composed and in control but beneath the icy mask she was trembling with fear. She didn't want to die. She also knew him well enough to know that begging for her life would not help at all.

Klaus took a menacing step closer. "If I wanted you dead you would be dead." He hissed. As annoyed as he was with her attitude, he didn't want to kill her. Alexa was one of the best hybrids he had ever sired. He wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she didn't fall in line but he was willing to give her a chance.

"I-"

"This needs to stop." Klaus said harshly. "I don't know what illusions or dreams you conjured up in that silly little head of yours but they need to end. I fucked you once. I didn't make any promises, I didn't offer you anything, and I certainly didn't make you the Alpha female of the pack. " His voice was cold and his eyes cruel. "I won't tolerate any more of your attitude. I don't need you to worry over me. I don't need you giving orders to my pack or challenging _my wife_. You either fall in line or make no mistake Alexa, I will kill you."

Alexa's bottom lip trembled but she kept the tears at bay.

"Don't you dare disobey another order from me again." Klaus told her harshly. "And don't you dare question Bonnie's place again. If she gives you an order you will obey without question. Continue with your attitude and insubordination and I will end you." It was not in his nature to be merciful. He was willing to make an exception this time because she was a valuable asset to his pack but if she failed to obey him she would die.

Alexa stayed rooted to the spot. A dagger had just pierced her heart. "So it's true…" her voice broke and she hated herself for it. "She really is your wife…" Her vision blurred as the tears threatened to fall.

"Yes." Klaus didn't hesitate. The vampire in him had marked Bonnie as his. The werewolf in him had claimed Bonnie as his mate. In the eyes of the supernatural world Bonnie was his wife and Bonnie was his wife in his heart.

Alexa's shoulders shook but she refused to cry in front of him. She was doing her best to stay strong despite the fact that her heart had been broken into a million pieces. She had cherished the night they spent together. It had meant the world to her but to him, to Klaus it clearly meant nothing. And it hurt. It hurt so much. She should've known better then to harbor so many illusions in her heart but that night had forever changed her life.

It had been the first night she had turned into a wolf without the need of the moon. She had run wild and free through the forest. For the first time, she had been in control. She had felt invincible, powerful, and free. It had been intoxicating. The thrill, the rush, the freedom from the curse of the moon, it was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She had embraced her hybrid nature that night. It had been the start of a new life for her.

And Klaus had been there. When she had shifted back into her human form, Klaus had been waiting for her, watching her. The look he had given her was something she would never forget, the heat, the electricity, and his hot and hungry mouth on hers. It had happened so fast, she hadn't even been able to say anything. She had simply responded to his kisses, to his hands on her skin. Everything about him had been hypnotizing. It had been hot and intense, the pleasure all consuming. She had only had one other lover before Klaus and there was no comparison. Her experience with Klaus had stayed imprinted on her skin, on her mind, on her heart.

But while Alexa had cherished that memory and hoped and desperately wished for more, Klaus had found another, married another. Not even another werewolf but a witch.

 _What does she have that I don't?_ Alexa wanted to ask him. _What can she give you that I can't?_ But she didn't utter a word. What was the point?

It took all of her strength to keep herself together. Alexa felt determined not break down in front of Klaus. _Crying is for the weak_ , her father had said and Alexa had learned that weakness got you killed. So, even though her heart had been shattered she lifted her chin and stared into her sire's eyes. "I understand." She said with a slight tremble in her voice. What other choice did she have?

"Good." Klaus met her eyes. "I won't have this conversation with you again." This would be the only warning she would get.

The door to the basement opened and Riley stepped inside yawning. The moment he spotted Klaus he stood up straight and nodded. "It's time for my watch." He said looking quickly in Alexa's direction. The hybrids were taking turns watching over Brian. They didn't want to leave him alone in case he managed to get out and cause havoc.

"Should I leave for Baton Rouge today?" Alexa asked Klaus and ignoring Riley.

Riley frowned. Her voice sounded different, strained. She looked rather tense as well, like she was more than ready to bolt out of the room. _Since when did Alexa run away from Klaus?_ He wondered. It was no secret that she had a thing for him.

"Not yet. I will let you know." Klaus told her coldly. "You may go now."

Alexa nodded and sped out of the room. Riley couldn't help but wonder what had happened.

"He's not getting any better is he?" Klaus turned to Brian who continued to hiss and growl. He seemed more agitated than before. It was obvious he was still high on magic.

"No." Riley answered. "Angelica mixed some herbs that calmed him down but…" he cleared his throat. "There is something you need to know…"

Klaus turned back to face Riley. He didn't like the look on the young man's face. "What?" he hissed.

Riley took a deep breath. "Brian fed from Angelica last night. He attacked her while she was feeding him the herbs. She's fine." He was quick to inform his sire. "Felix was there. He knocked Brian out and healed her. She's fine."

Klaus turned back towards the chained hybrid. "Twenty four hours." He muttered. "He fed from a witch last night which means his blood high will continue. If in twenty four hours he isn't better..." he turned back towards Riley. "Kill him and dispose of the body." He ordered before exiting the basement.

Klaus had no patience for ripper vampires, the only one he had ever tolerated had been Stefan.

* * *

There was a smile on Joanna's face as she stepped inside the shop. The scent of cinnamon, apples, and roses greeted her. As she moved further inside she could smell lavender and rosemary as well. The shop had just opened and there were no costumers inside yet.

"Can I help you?" A beautiful dark skinned woman asked from behind the counter. She had a soft smile on her face and a few wrinkles. Her dark long hair cascaded down her back.

"Good morning." Joanna greeted smiling. "I have a dinner tonight and I wanted to give my hosts a little gift. Some candles, I thought."

"Of course," The woman smiled. "Do you have a particular scent in mind?"

"Lavender I think, perhaps some sage." Joanna moved around the shop curiously picking up different items. She picked a medium jar candle and smiled.

"Gardenia," the shop owner said walking towards her.

"They were always your favorite." Joanna murmured while putting the jar down and turning to face her. So many memories flashed before her mind as she stared at the other woman.

"Excuse me?" The woman frowned.

"You always loved Gardenias. Your garden was filled with them." Joanna told her. Her eyes shone with fondness while a warm smile graced her lips.

A strange look crossed over the shop owner's face. "Do I know you?" It was strange but she felt like they had met before.

"Has it been that long that you have forgotten me, cousin?" Joanna teased. "We used to play together as children. Aunt Vivian's summer parties were boring but you and I always found ways to amuse ourselves, more often than not, it got us in trouble."

"Joanna," the woman whispered. Her face broke into a beaming smile. "Joanna Bennett." She laughed. "I can't believe it. How long has it been since I last saw you?"

"Twenty years or more," Joanna replied before embracing her cousin. "It's good to see you again, Lenore Bennett."

"I don't go by that name anymore." Lenore told her as they pulled away. "It's Lenore Dampier now. That's how everyone in New Orleans knows me." It was the name she had taken upon her marriage. The name she had been living with for nearly thirty years.

"Nonsense," Joanna said. "You were born a Bennett witch and you will always be one of us."

Lenore sighed. "And something tells me, Bennett business it's what brings you here today." She had always known that sooner or later her name, her family, her legacy would catch up to her.

"It is." Joanna took a deep breath. "The Bennett coven will be summoned once more, cousin. Our family needs you Lenore. Our Queen needs you."

* * *

Davina stood up the moment the doors to the cabin opened. She was expecting to see Bonnie but it was not the witch that walked inside but a tall, blond haired man. It was a vampire. _No,_ Davina realized as her senses alerted her to the threatening aura. _He's much more than a vampire_. She thought.

"Davina Claire," he said walking closer towards her. "We meet at last."

"Klaus." Davina swallowed nervously. She never thought she would be at a disadvantage when meeting the infamous Hybrid. She had heard so much about him, from the witches who considered him a legend, from Marcel who viewed him as an enemy and even from the hybrids that had been taking turns checking on her. Klaus Mikaelson, his name alone seemed to inspire fear. Davina was definitely experiencing said fear. "What do you want?" she asked nervously. _Had he come to kill her?_

"I want many things." Klaus responded. He studied her face carefully. She looked really young indeed, far younger than he had expected. Davina was close in age to Bonnie and yet she seemed so childish compared to his little witch. He moved closer and Davina took an involuntary step back.

"There is no need to be afraid my dear." Klaus placed his hand behind his back and offered her his most charming smile. "I'm not here to hurt you. I simply want to thank-you."

"Thank…me?" Davina stuttered. That was the last thing she expected to hear from him.

"You helped Bonnie." Klaus told her, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And by helping Bonnie you helped me. I always reward those who help me."

"I didn't do it to help you." Davina snapped. She didn't know what to think, what to make of the hybrid.

Klaus chuckled. "Oh, I know that. You did it to help yourself. To be rid of the witches once and for all." He studied her face, tilting his head to the side and watching her under gold hued eyes. "What do you want Davina?" he asked suddenly.

The question caught her off guard. "What?"

"What do you want?" Klaus asked again. "Do you want power? Or do you want to be the next leader of the French Quarter Coven? Immortality perhaps?" he waited expectantly for her to answer. "What is your heart's desire?"

Davina licked her lips. No one had ever asked her such a question before. "I…" she honestly didn't know how to answer.

"What you want is to be free." Klaus answered for her. "Not just free from these four walls but free from all of it, the Harvest, the witches, the war." He gave her a knowing look. "Perhaps you might even like to go back to school and see your friends. See that boy who plays the violin…" he suggested in a friendly manner. "Timothy isn't he?"

Davina's breath hitched. "How do you know about him?" She asked. Her heart pounded in her ears. Tim was her friend, her first crush. She hadn't seen him in nearly a year. Marcel had never allowed her to get in contact with her school friends.

"I know many things." Klaus responded with a grin. "You see Davina, while Marcel wants to use you as his personal little weapon, while the witches want to kill you and complete the Harvest, all I want is to give you what you desire. To reward you for helping me."

"I won't betray Marcel." Davina snapped. "He's my family, so if you think-"

"I'm not asking you to betray Marcel." Klaus interrupted with small laugh. "I am offering you the change to get what you want. It's quite simple, Davina."

"You expect me to believe that?" Davina asked warily. She was young but she wasn't stupid.

"I want to grant you your freedom." Klaus told her, eyes boring into hers. "I will let you go in exchange of something…something very easy."

"In exchange of what?" Davina asked. Thinking of all the horrible things he could ask her to do. Her freedom was going to come at price, she knew it. She was in the wolf's den and she knew her way out wouldn't be so easy.

"A vow," Klaus said. His eyes were unreadable and his expression gave nothing away of his inner thoughts. "That's all I need from you, Davina."

"A vow?" Davina repeated. All Klaus wanted from her was a vow and he would let her go. "Are you serious?" she asked with incredulity. There had to be a catch. There was no way he was just going to let her walk away so easily.

"Very much so," Klaus responded. "I need a witch's oath from you Davina. Do it and you will be free."

Davina gasped and her eyes opened wide as his words sank in. A witch's oath was a sacred vow, bound by blood and magic. Breaking that vow meant death.

Klaus watched her, a devilish grin on his face. "Shall I give you my terms?"

Davina stared at him in shock.

* * *

Bonnie shared a late breakfast with Rebekah and Matt. She had called Abby, Joanna, and Lucy earlier to invite them to dinner and now she and Rebekah were getting everything ready. Thankfully, Bonnie didn't have to worry about cooking. Rebekah knew a catering company that would take care of everything.

"Who else is coming?" Matt asked as he finished his cup of coffee.

"Ishmael and Cary," Bonnie told him. There would be ten people in total.

"And your mom agreed to come to dinner?" Rebekah raised an eyebrow. It was no secret how much Abby hated Klaus.

"She did." In fact Abby hadn't protested at all. It made Bonnie nervous. She hoped Abby would not openly antagonize Klaus, that maybe they could have a nice few hours of peace and quiet. "I told her that it would be nice to spend some family time after all the craziness of the past few days." And Bonnie and Klaus had some very exciting news to share with their families as well. Bonnie was surprised that Rebekah's super hearing had not picked up the twin's heartbeat yet. But at the same time she was glad, that way she and Klaus could tell everyone together.

"Well, I suppose it's best if I wear red." Rebekah said nonchalantly. "For the blood that no doubt will be spilled tonight," she clarified at Matt and Bonnie's confused look.

"Don't say that." Bonnie told her friend. "There will be no blood spilling tonight." She felt determined to have a nice family dinner. Hopefully Abby and Klaus would cooperate.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up darling." Rebekah said with a smirk on her glossy lips. "The Mikaelson family dinners always end up in blood."

"That they do." Elijah muttered as he stepped inside the dining room. He had taken his suit jacket off and was impatiently tugging at his tie.

"We're having a family dinner tonight-" Bonnie began but the words died on her throat when Elijah practically ripped his shirt open. "What are you-"

Elijah threw the white garment on the table and that's when they all noticed the tattoos on his chest and arms.

"Bloody hell!" Rebekah stood up and went towards her brother. Her eyes scanning each name that had magically appeared on his skin.

"Are those names?" Matt moved closer as did Bonnie. All three of them openly stared at the Original.

"Yesterday I had a name on each of my wrists and today…" Elijah turned around so that they could see his back.

"Sabine Laurent…" Matt murmured reading a name on Elijah's shoulder. "Why does that name sound familiar?" He had heard it before, he was sure.

"Sophie's friend," Bonnie muttered. She had been at the ball. And if she wasn't mistaken Sabine had been the one to kidnapped Elijah.

"I had my suspicions but this seems to confirm it." Elijah told them. "Darling, would you mind writing the names down?" He looked over his shoulder to ask Rebekah.

The Original blonde nodded. She found a pen and a notepad and began witting all the names down.

"Confirm what?" Bonnie asked Elijah.

Elijah turned around to face her. "That Sabine is in fact Celeste Dubois. She was the one to put this spell on me."

"Who is Celeste?" Matt asked.

"Elijah's former lover," Rebekah answered without looking up from the notepad. She was practically writing at vampire speed. "These are a lot of names." She had written down over twenty names already and there were still more.

"Celeste found a way to cheat death and has been jumping into the bodies of all these witches." Elijah told them. There was absolutely no doubt now. Sabine's name on his skin had confirmed his suspicions. He needed to call Lucy. She had to know.

Bonnie took a step closer until she was standing just inches from Elijah. "This name…" She muttered pointing to a name on the side of his neck.

Elijah looked down. He couldn't see what name had caught her attention. "Which one?" he asked.

"Sarah…" Bonnie looked up and stared into his eyes. "Sarah Bennett."

Elijah stiffened and Rebekah looked up startled. The two of them shared surprised looks.

"Did you know her?" Matt asked curiously. He had not missed the way both Originals had reacted to the name.

"Did you?" Bonnie kept her eyes on Elijah's face. It was obvious by his reaction that both he and Rebekah were familiar with the name. Bonnie had seen that name before, in one of Klaus's grimoires. She felt sure that Klaus had a grimoire that had once belonged to a Sarah Bennett. _Had Celeste been bold enough to take over a Bennett witch's body?_

"We did." Elijah acknowledged. He couldn't believe it. Sarah Bennett had lived long before Celeste. _Why would her name be tattooed on his skin? How would Celeste even know of Sarah?_

"Who was she?" Bonnie asked intrigued.

"She was the first witch to succeed in casting the body jumping spell."

Bonnie turned around at the sound of Klaus's voice. The hybrid stood by the doorway a serious look on his face.

* * *

Sophie took a deep breath as she moved towards the man sitting in the terrace of a café just outside the Quarter. He was engrossed in a psychology book and didn't even seem to notice her presence.

He kept reading as Sophie flopped down on the seat in front of him. She was being very bold, especially without her magic, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

The man kept his eyes on his book as he calmly took a sip of his coffee. Sophie kept staring at him, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to her, he put the book down. "Can I help you?"

"You are part of the Tremé Coven," Sophie said staring into his eyes. The Tremé witches were perhaps the strongest out of all the witches in New Orleans. _And the most dangerous_ , Sophie thought.

"And you are from the French Quarter coven." He retorted while leaning back in his chair. "Rumor has it, you lot are without magic. What a pity." There was a mocking smile on his lips.

"Rumor has it, you are the future Regent of the nine covens." Sophie said staring deeply into his dark eyes. "I need your help."

The man laughed. "I can't give you your magic back. Sorry." He stood up and began picking his things.

"I need to speak with the Regent. She's the only one that can help us." Sophie told him. "Since the vampires took over no one has access to her and I-"

"The elders can communicate with the Regent." He told her. He tried to walk away but Sophie stepped in front of him. Another member of his coven would've hexed her for her audacity but he had more patience.

"The elders of my coven are dead!" Sophie snapped. "I have to see her."

"The Regent is in seclusion. She will see no one. I'm sorry but I can't help you." He sided stepped her and began walking out of the café.

"Bonnie Bennett killed the Seer and her entire coven." Sophie blurted out.

The man stop dead on his tracks and turned to Sophie with a frown. "Bennett?" he had heard about the witch that had faced the Seer and destroyed her. But he hadn't known she was a Bennett witch. "The witch that killed Cassandra was the hybrid's woman." or so the rumor went.

"Her name is Bonnie Bennett." Sophie told him moving closer to him. "She took our magic away, I'm sure she did it." She stopped walking until she was standing right in front of him. "And there is something else that the Regent has to know."

"And what is that?" he asked with suspicion. It was obvious that she wasn't going to give up trying to see the Regent.

"Bonnie Bennett is pregnant with Klaus Mikaelson's child." Sophie informed him. She was desperate and she knew that kind of information was extremely valuable. "I don't know why but the Ancestors want that baby." Jane-Anne had died in order to fulfill the ancestor's wishes. She had died in order to bring Klaus into the city to stop Marcel. In the end, it had all backfired. But Sophie knew there was a reason the Ancestors wanted that child. Bonnie's baby was a valuable bargain chip.

The man pressed his lips together and mulled over Sophie's words. A witch, a Bennett witch pregnant by a hybrid. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Sophie responded. "I have to see the Regent, please." She begged. "I need to talk to her. She's the only one who has the power to stand up to Bonnie, to help us get our magic back. Please Vincent, I'm begging you."

Vincent closed his eyes. The words the Regent had spoken to him on the last time he had seen her came to his mind. "The time has come…" he whispered more to himself. The moment he dreaded was getting closer and closer.

Sophie waited nervously for him to agree. He had to take her to see the Regent. She had the power to command all of the nine covens in the city. Sabine had given her the idea, actually. If all of the nine covens united as one, they could have a chance to win the war. The Regent was the key to that. And if she had to use the knowledge of Bonnie's baby in order to achieve that, so be it. She needed to complete the Harvest, for Jane-Anne and for Monique.

Vincent sighed. "I will speak to her." He told Sophie. "And if she agrees, I will take you to her." They were from different covens and Vincent knew better than to trust someone so easily. He knew better than trust a desperate witch-or former witch in this case. He was not going to take her to the Regent unless the supreme witch agreed to it.

"Thank-you." Sophie said. She felt certain that the Regent would agree to meet with her and Sabine. They would convince her to help them. Sabine had a great plan after all.

"May the Ancestors help us all." Vincent muttered.

* * *

Later that night, Klaus sat on the bed, looking in amusement as Bonnie moved around their bedroom. She was finishing the last touches on her attire. Their guests would be arriving shortly. She was also a bit nervous. She wanted the night to be perfect.

"So what did Davina say?" Bonnie asked him as she put on her earrings. She looked beautiful in a beaded mini gold dress that accentuated her new curves perfectly. He smiled softly as he spotted the slight swell of her belly. "Did she agree?"

Klaus licked his lips. He wondered how mad Bonnie would get if he were to rip that dress off and take her right there. "I gave her some time to think about my offer," he responded. His eyes stared unashamedly at her legs.

"Stop it." Bonnie said as she moved to the closet in search of her shoes. She could feel the echo of his desire and Bonnie knew that they didn't have time for that kind of activities. Her mother and cousins would be arriving soon. Klaus pouted. Bonnie did her best to ignore him and suppress the wave of her own desires. "And you really think that having Davina swear that oath is the best solution?" She needed to stay focus on the matter at hand, not get distracted by her incorrigible hybrid.

"The other option is to kill her." Klaus muttered enjoying a nice view of her backside.

Bonnie turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Don't joke about that."

"Who said I was joking."

Bonnie shook her head. "She's just a girl Klaus. A girl who has so much power inside of her and who's being used by everyone, she's just trying to survive."

 _She's a threat and should be eliminated_ , was Klaus's opinion but he kept it to himself. It was obvious that for whatever reason Bonnie sympathized with Davina and probably even wanted to help her. The only thing Klaus wanted was to ensure Davina would not be a threat to Bonnie or his children, which is why he had offered her a deal. It was up to Davina now.

"What happens if she doesn't agree?" Bonnie asked turning to face him once more.

 _I'll killed her_ , was at the tip of his tongue. "She'll spend the rest of her miserable life locked up in the cabin." Klaus responded with a straight face.

"You're a terrible liar." Bonnie told him.

"I'm an excellent liar." Klaus responded without shame. "But the bond works to your advantage."

"Klaus-"

"Davina is a smart girl. She will choose wisely." Klaus said. He didn't want to discuss Davina's fate right now. "You look absolutely beautiful." He said standing up and moving closer to her. "Absolutely ravishing."

Bonnie smiled before turning to stare at her reflection in the mirror. She rested her hands on her belly. There was a slight curve to her stomach now and the dress made it more visible. "I still can't believe there are two in there." She said catching Klaus's eyes through the mirror. She had repaired the mirror after shattering it with her magical outburst the night before.

The hybrid moved closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting both hands on her stomach. The steady beating of the twin's hearts was music to his ears. "There are." he murmured while nuzzling her neck.

"Klaus," Bonnie said softly while turning to face him. "I need you to promise me something."

"What?" Klaus asked. She looked deathly serious. "If this is about Dav-"

"Promise me you won't provoke my mom." Bonnie said almost at the same time.

Klaus groaned. Abby was sure to be the one to provoke him!

"I want to have a nice family dinner." Bonnie said placing her hands on his chest. "I don't want any fights. I don't want any insults. I just want a nice family meal to share the news of the twins, please." She begged him. "Just for tonight." In reality she wished they could get along always but she would be immensely happy if they could get along at least for one night.

"Have you told your mother that?" Klaus asked.

"Joanna promised to speak with her." Bonnie told him. When Bonnie had invited them to dinner, Joanna had promised to have a word with Abby. It was in the interest of both families to get along.

"Please…" Bonnie begged. "I know that you don't like her, but please."

Klaus sighed. "For you…" he whispered tracing her chin with his fingers. "I will be on my best behavior and I won't antagonize your mother, for you." He promised.

The smile Bonnie gave him could've overshadowed the sun itself. "Thank-you," she smiled before kissing him soundly. Klaus smiled against her lips and kissed her back. He was sorely tempted to push her back on the bed and forget the rest of the world but he knew how much this dinner meant to her. And because of that he was willing to try and get along with her obnoxious mother.

Bonnie was breathless when they pulled away.

There was a strange look on Klaus's face as he regarded her carefully. "Are you all right?" he asked suddenly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Bonnie was surprised by his question. She was more than all right. She was excited about sharing their news with the family, even if a bit nervous about her mother's reaction. She was also looking forward to having a nice semblance of a normal life. Even if it was just for one night.

"The nightmare you had…" Klaus said softly.

Bonnie stiffened. "It was just a dream." She said looking away from him. She didn't want to think about that. She wanted to forget it completely.

Klaus traced her cheek with his fingers and pulled her face towards his. "It frightened you."

"It was creepy." Bonnie said. It still lingered on her mind but she was doing her best to push it away. "I never had that kind of dream before." She rarely had dreams and if she did, she rarely remembered them. The thing that troubled her the most was that since she had learned she was a witch, all the dreams she had seemed to have a hidden meaning. It was the reason the dream had terrified her so. Because deep down, she couldn't help but feel that the dream was more than just a dream. That maybe it had been a warning that there was a wolf out there that wanted to devour her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Klaus asked gently. She had been reluctant to do so earlier that morning but he wondered.

"No." Bonnie answered quickly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her body closer to his. "I want to forget about it and focus on what's important." She kissed him on the lips once more, a quick peck before she pulled way smiling. "We have some very happy news to share with our families tonight. I want to focus on that."

"Very well." Klaus pulled her hips forward and stared down at her. "I do think we have a couple of minutes before they arrive."

"Don't get any ideas." Bonnie told him. She knew him well enough to know how he wanted to pass the time. If they did that, they wouldn't make it downstairs, she knew.

"You are one cruel woman, Bonnie." Klaus said in mock heartbreak.

Bonnie giggled before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling his face closer to hers. "If you behave...I might reward you later..." she whispered suggestively against his lips.

Klaus grinned. "Is that so?" his hands moved from her waist to her butt. "Do you promise?" he palmed her butt and ground his hips against hers.

Bonnie gasped. "Only if you behave." She managed to say.

Klaus gave her a heated look. "I'll hold you on to that."

* * *

Lucy was the first to arrive. Her mother was giving Abby a pep talk and so Lucy decided to head towards the plantation on her own. She also wanted to speak with Elijah. He had called her earlier and told her that he had something very important to share with her about Celeste but that he wanted to do it in person.

Bonnie opened the door and greeted her with a happy smile. "Lucy, come in please."

"Hello cuz." Lucy kissed her cheek and stepped inside. "Mon and Abby should be arriving soon." She said as they made their way towards the living room. "Mom is making her promise to behave." She whispered.

"I made Klaus promise the same thing." Bonnie whispered back conspiratorially.

"Let us hope it works then."

Elijah, Rebekah, Matt, and Klaus were in the living room. Klaus was nursing a glass of bourbon while Rebekah and Matt were sharing a bottle of wine.

Lucy smiled when she spotted Elijah. The elegant Original smiled back. He was always so serious but when he smiled he looked really handsome. Lucy even felt butterflies in her stomach when he looked at her. It was something she hadn't felt from a single look before. Bonnie looked back and forth between the two. She had clearly sensed something there.

"Lucy Bennett." Klaus stood up from his chair and offered her his most charming smile. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Wine is fine." Lucy answered with a polite smile. She greeted Matt and Rebekah before taking a seat across from them. Bonnie sat next to her while Elijah handed her a glass of red wine. His fingers brushed hers lightly as he handed her the glass and Lucy shivered. _Was it her or had it suddenly become really hot in the room?_

"My brother tells me you are helping him with his little predicament." Klaus said. He had not missed the way his brother's hand had linger just slightly while handing Lucy her drink. He gave Bonnie a questioning look. Bonnie shrugged.

"I am." Lucy took a sip of her wine as all eyes suddenly turned towards her.

"Well, you are going to have a lot more work to do." Rebekah told her while taking a sip from her glass.

"What do you mean?" Lucy frowned.

Elijah pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. "More names appeared tattooed on my skin."

Lucy gasped as she read the names on the list. "There are over twenty names on this list." She stared at Elijah in shock. It was horrible, to think that someone had possessed so many witches, used their bodies and then discarded them to find another. Two names had caught her attention. "Sabine's name is here, there is no doubt…"

"She is indeed Celeste Dubois." Deep down he had known but now it had truly been confirmed. _What are you playing at?_ Elijah wondered. And what part of the puzzle was he missing? The spell was still in place for a reason.

"Sarah Bennett," Lucy read the other name. It was obviously one of her ancestors.

"She was the first witch to cast the body switching spell since its original creator." Klaus informed her. He had spent years searching for a competent witch to perform the spell. The moment he had come across Sarah he had known that she would be the one to do it. Her ancestor had created the original spell after all.

"Do you think Sabine…Celeste," Lucy corrected herself. "Took over her body as well?" It was scary to think that Celeste had that much power. That she had succeeded in taking over the body of a Bennett witch. Lucy shivered. But she also felt determined to find her and to figure out what the hell she was playing at. Celeste was a mystery which Lucy wanted to figure out.

"That's the thing," Bonnie said. "Sarah Bennett lived and died two hundred years before Celeste." The Originals had met Sarah over two centuries before they had met Celeste. That's what Klaus had told her that morning. It was all very strange.

Lucy frowned. "So, why is her name on your skin?" she questioned Elijah. "What the hell is your ex playing at?"

"That's for you and my brother to figure out." Rebekah said smirking. She had never liked Celeste. Elijah had been blinded by her and thought her an innocent but Rebekah had always known better.

Lucy looked ready to say something else but the doorbell rang.

"Ishmael and Cary," Klaus said, sensing the presence of the two werewolves. "And your mother," he glanced at Bonnie. She gave him a look that clearly said, _you promised_. Klaus took a deep breath and walked towards the front door. _For you my love_ , he repeated in his mind before he opened the door and greeted everyone with a polite smile.

Abby chose to ignore him and move inside the house without saying a single word. That was more than fine with Klaus.

Abby made their way inside the living room followed by Joanna, Cary, Ishmael, and Klaus. She looked tense and offered her daughter a small smile and a kiss on the cheek before accepting the glass of wine Lucy offered. "Thanks."

"You look like you need it." Lucy told her.

"We brought some wine." Cary said as he greeted Bonnie. "Obviously you can't drink it but you know…" _it was the gesture that counted right?_

"Thank-you," Bonnie smiled.

Elijah took the bottle of wine Cary had brought and greeted him and Ishmael with a polite smile. "Welcome to our home." Bonnie had invited Ishmael and Cary inside while the Originals had been kidnapped but this was the first time they were all together inside the house.

"Hello," Rebekah said from her seat. Her senses were on high alert with the presence of three witches and two werewolves. Not to mention that she didn't know what to make of Klaus's werewolf family or how to interact with them. Werewolves were a vampire's natural enemies after all.

Matt gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Rebekah smiled. That was the point of this dinner, she told herself, to get to know each other better, for Bonnie's sake and for the child she carried.

"I got you some nice scented candles." Joanna told Bonnie. "And I have some very good news. I met with one of our cousins. Her name is Lenore, she lives here." Her conversation with Lenore had been interesting and Joanna felt certain that she would become part of the coven.

"There is a Bennett witch in New Orleans?" Klaus asked with interest as he came to stand next to Bonnie.

"There is." Joanna confirmed. "I have spoken with her and she wants to meet you." She said to Bonnie. "I think we can meet with her before summoning the coven."

"I would like that." Bonnie hadn't known they had a cousin in New Orleans. She felt curious and a bit nervous about meeting her relatives.

"I'll arrange it." Joanna smiled.

"What coven does she belong to?" Klaus asked with curiosity.

"She married an elder from the Algiers Coven." Joanna told him. "He died three years ago. No one in New Orleans knows she's a Bennett though. She goes by her married name. She's part of that coven because of him."

"Interesting," Klaus muttered sharing a look with Elijah who had heard their conversation.

"How many witch covens are in New Orleans?" Bonnie asked. She had heard that there was a Regent of the witches. Elijah had invited her to the ball but she hadn't showed up.

"There are nine covens," Elijah said walking towards them. "Each coven has a few elders to lead them. But the Regent is the supreme witch among them. She's the highest authority among the witches. The current Regent is a witch by the name of Josephine LaRue."

"Should we consider her a friend or foe?" Ishmael asked with interest.

"At the moment, that remains unknown." Elijah replied. The Regent had refused their invitation to the ball but she hadn't aided the Seer either. So far, the witch had stayed neutral. Perhaps Bonnie's cousin could help them reach out to her and to the rest of the covens in the city. Judging by the look on his brother's face, Klaus had been thinking the exact same thing.

"All right," Rebekah said standing up. "That's enough plotting for now. This is a family dinner after all." She smiled in Bonnie's direction. "So why don't we go head and enjoy a nice meal." She took Matt's hand in hers and was ready to head towards the dining room.

"Actually," Klaus voice stopped her. "There is something Bonnie and I would like to share before we continue with this lovely family dinner," he took Bonnie's hand in his and the two shared complicit smiles.

"What's going on?" Abby asked. She couldn't help but feel anxious. For a moment she wondered if they were going to announce that they had gotten married for real.

All eyes turned towards the couple.

Bonnie and Klaus stared into each other's eyes before turning towards the group. "We're having twins!" they said in unison.

* * *

There was a moment of absolute silence. A pin could've been dropped on the floor and everyone would've heard it. So stunned were they by news.

"Twins!" Rebekah practically ran towards Bonnie and Klaus a shocked look on her face. "Truly?" she asked wondering if perhaps she heard wrong.

"Oh my god!" Lucy's hand went to her mouth.

"Holy shit!" Matt placed his hands on his head as he stared at the couple. "You're having twins." He repeated. He still couldn't believe it. Bonnie was having two babies.

"How can you know?" Cary asked staring at Bonnie's stomach. He didn't think Bonnie was that far along.

"Congratulations." Ishmael offered them both a smile.

"Are you sure?" Rebekah asked after engulfing Bonnie in a big hug. She turned to her brother. "If this is a joke…"

"Why don't you hear for yourself?" Klaus told her with a grin.

Rebekah looked down at Bonnie's stomach. There was just a tiny little bump, made much more noticeable by her dress. She stared at Bonnie's belly and concentrated for a few seconds. She gasped. "Bloody hell!" she could hear them. Two tiny thumps beating in tune with their mother's heart. "I can hear them." She turned to look at Matt. "I can hear their heartbeat." Oh, how wonderful it was. A few tears formed in her eyes.

Elijah who had remained quiet until now moved closer until he was standing right next to Rebekah. "May I?" he said staring at Bonnie. She nodded. Gently, very gently he placed his hand on her stomach.

Lucy watched from across the room. First the look of concentration on his handsome face. Then the shock, his eyes widened for a second. It was just as fraction but she saw it perfectly. And then there was a look of pure wonder upon his face. His eyes shone with emotion and his lips curved into a smile. A real smile, which made him look far younger and carefree.

"It's incredible." He whispered. He looked from Bonnie to Klaus and back again to her stomach. He still couldn't believe he hadn't notice it before. He could hear the heartbeats perfectly now. Two new Mikaelsons. "Congratulations." He said before taking his hand away. "It is truly a wonderful miracle."

Once Elijah moved, Matt threw his arms around Bonnie, hugging her tightly. "That's crazy!" He said pulling away and standing next to Rebekah.

"I know." Bonnie said. It had been unexpected, but very happy news.

Lucy watched them. In that moment she saw a family. Not a group of ruthless and cruel vampires but a family who cared for each other deeply and embraced the news of their future members with immense joy. _It's what the Originals are_ , Lucy realized. A dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless.

Matt had his arm around Rebekah holding her against him as the girl wiped a few happy tears from her face. Elijah and Klaus shared knowing smiles and Bonnie beamed. She looked radiant and so happy. She was glowing.

"You are going to have your hands full." Joanna said as she congratulated the couple. She gave a nod in Klaus direction but embraced Bonnie warmly.

Lucy was next, moving across the room to embrace Bonnie tightly. "So what do you want?" She asked as she pulled away.

"I don't know. I don't care." Bonnie answered. "All I want is for them to be born healthy and to be happy." _And to be safe from all the dangers of this world_ , Bonnie thought.

"It's going to be two boys." Klaus declared proudly. Bonnie gave him a look, he only grinned. He was sure Bonnie would give him two sons.

"Two girls," Joanna was quick to correct him. "The Bennett bloodline is a matriarchy of witches." She reminded him. "I'm sure you'll have two beautiful daughters."

"Two little girls will be lovely," Rebekah said dreamily. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes as she looked at Klaus. "Hopefully they'll take after their mother in looks and temperament."

Klaus glared at both of them.

"Mother birthed five boys," Elijah commented. "Perhaps you shall get your wish." As always he took his brother's side.

Rebekah made a face.

"Twin boys would be cool." Cary said with a smile. "Two Alpha wolves for the pack," it was something to be celebrated. He turned to his grandfather. "What do you think?"

"Boys or girls it does not matter." Ishmael said. He was not going to take anyone's side. "What matters is that they are born healthy." He certainly agreed with Bonnie on that.

"Smart man," Joanna said smiling.

"What about you Donovan?" Klaus asked suddenly. "Care to place a bet." Since everyone seemed to be taking sides. It was the quarterback's turn to choose and Klaus wanted to put him on the spot too.

Matt eyes widened as he suddenly found himself the center of attention. "I…" Should he agree with his girlfriend or with her brother who seemed to be challenging him with his eyes? Matt gulped.

Rebekah arched an eyebrow. "Twin girls would be wonderful don't you think love?"

"Twin boys right mate?" Klaus gave him a stern look.

Matt looked at his girlfriend and then at Klaus who was waiting for him to answer. "A boy and a girl," He said quickly. That way he could please his girlfriend and still agree with his sort of brother in law. He would never call Klaus that to his face of course.

"Well played Matt." Bonnie said.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Coward," he muttered under his breath.

Bonnie nudged him on the ribs. Klaus only smirked. Both of them shared a laugh. The smile dropped from her face as she noticed who was missing. "Where is Abby?" she asked suddenly. Her mother was no longer in the room. She hadn't even noticed when Abby had left.

"She's on the porch." Klaus answered. He could sense her there. The bitch was probably sulking.

"I'll be right back." Bonnie said heading towards the front door.

Klaus grabbed her arm. "Dinner is ready remember?"

"I need to talk to her." Bonnie told him. She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You guys go head. I won't take long I promise." She kissed his cheek before heading outside.

Klaus reluctantly let her go. There was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach and he didn't like it.

* * *

 _A/N: The family dinner will continue in the next chapter. Originally, I planned to have all of it in this one but it was extremely long and it actually works better in the next one._

 _Vincent and Lenore are recurring characters in season two of TO. Very little information is given about Lenore. There is nothing really about her background or family history, so I decided to make her a Bennett witch in my story. If you recall in chapter 17, Joanna mentioned that there was a Bennett witch in New Orleans that no longer goes by Bennett. That's her. Get ready because the Bennett coven is coming!_

 _I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think!_


	29. Chapter 29

**The Other Side**

Kol was running.

The forest was surrounded with darkness and lightning flashed across the sky. The wind picked up and a blast of dark light swirled past his shoulder.

"Fuck," Kol cursed as he did his best to dodge. He had to get away. He spotted another vampire running as fast as he could and trying to get away from the void of darkness that swallowed everything in its path.

Things on the other side had gone from bad to worse in a short time. Everyone was confused, terrified, an above all desperate. No one wanted to get swallowed by the void. Even if they were all dead, no one wanted to find out what happened when you got swallowed by the darkness.

A young girl didn't even see it coming. On minute she had been standing near a grave and the next she had been lifted into the air by a dark tentacle that pulled her towards the black wave that was following Kol.

The girl's screams echoed around the forest, alerting others of what was coming their way.

There was another blast of dark light and Kol sank to the floor. The other vampire running close to him wasn't so lucky. He was hit right in the back. He screamed in agony and Kol watched horrified as the body disintegrated into a puff of black smoke, right before his eyes. He swallowed and pulled himself up, running once more.

He had barely started to run when he was hit.

It was like he had suddenly been thrown into a pool of lava. Kol screamed as his flesh burned and melted to the bones. He sank to his knees, tears blurring his vision as the pain viciously tore through his body.

The wave of darkness began to surround him.

Kol gasped and his entire body shook as an icy cold descended over his body. And the pain, it was like his flesh was being slowly peeled off his bones. He had never felt such excruciating pain before, not even when he died.

 _This is it._ He thought with anguish. A memory came to him then.

 _A forest…_

 _Leaves falling from the sky like rain…_

 _Rebekah giggling as she took his hand in hers._

 _Nik's laughter as he led the charge._

" _Wait for me!" Henrik's chubby little face as he ran after them._

 _Elijah always keeping a close eye on them, making sure they didn't get hurt._

 _Finn falling on his back as all of them tackled him to the ground._

 _Laughter…so much laughter…so much happiness and innocence..._

Kol's last thought was of his family as the darkness began to devour him.

And then it stopped.

The pain abruptly stopped and the attack on his body ceased immediately.

Kol's eyes snapped open just in time to see a blast of white light coming towards him. He gasped as the light blinded him and blasted the dark wave of power away from his body.

The shadows always hid from the light. The darkness that had swallowed countless of others feared the light and the witches who controlled it.

Ayana, Sheila, and Emily Bennett appeared in front of him.

While Ayana cradled his trembling body like when he had been a child and in need of comfort, Sheila and Emily kept sending blasts of light towards the void, chasing it away.

"It's getting stronger." Emily hissed. She and Sheila managed to destroy the darkness with their magic. It was temporary. The darkness would regenerate and continue to swallow the supernaturals that inhabited the other side. It was an endless battle but it was the duty of the Bennett witches to keep the other side from collapsing. They were the only ones the void could not touch and the only ones with the power to fight back.

"Is he going to be okay?" Sheila asked looking down at the vampire that trembled like a child in Ayana's arms. Kol was arrogant and annoying at best and the Bennett witches only tolerated him because he was like a son to Ayana. But Sheila couldn't help but pity him. He looked absolutely terrified. How could he not? He had been seconds away from disintegrating and ceasing to exist completely.

It was a strange thing, to live on the other side, to get hurt even when they were dead. Kol closed his eyes and clung to Ayana. Getting devoured by that thing was a worse fate than dead.

"He'll be fine." Ayana replied. She touched Kol's head and let her magic flow into him, healing him. "Nothing a bit of rest won't cure," lucky for Kol, he was under Ayana's protection. The other vampires on the other side weren't so lucky.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Bonnie took a deep breath as she stepped into the porch. Abby had her back towards her, leaning her elbows against the railing and staring at the frown lawn of the plantation home. The night was hot and quiet, far too quiet for Bonnie's liking.

There was something in the air. Something strange, that had her senses on the alert right away.

Bonnie moved closer until she was standing right next to Abby. She didn't say anything; she waited for her mother to acknowledge her presence. Her magic was on the lookout for any possible threats. She could feel it, just on the surface of her skin.

 _How strange_ , Bonnie thought as she scanned her surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for the fact that everything was deadly quiet. She couldn't hear a single cicada singing tonight.

"The first time I heard your heartbeat I cried." Abby's voice interrupted the silence.

Bonnie turned to face her mother but Abby kept her eyes on the lawn. "Rudy held my hand and we both stared at the baby monitor with big grins on our faces." How young and happy they had been then, newly married and with so much hope for the future, a future that had turned to ash rather quickly. "Hearing your children's heartbeat…" Abby turned to face her. "It makes it real."

"And that bothers you?" Bonnie questioned almost in a whisper. _Was that why her mother seemed so upset?_

"I feel so conflicted." Abby admitted. It was a rare moment of honesty but she felt tired, so tired of fighting.

Bonnie could see it reflected in her face, Abby almost looked in pain.

"As a witch I've been taught not to trust vampires, for they are our enemies but now I'm one of them and you…" she sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head as she tried to gathered her thoughts. In that moment she looked so much older, so tired, and so sad. "It hasn't been easy you know. Losing my magic and transitioning into the thing I hated the most." In her darkest hours she had thought of ending it, more than once she had contemplated taking her daylight ring off and putting an end to her immortal life. But she was a coward. She hadn't been able to do it.

"When a witch loses her magic there is a void, a sense of lost and despair. But there is always hope that one day you'll get your magic back." Abby continued. She grabbed the railings with her hands, holding on to it with dear life. "But when a witch becomes a vampire the connection with nature is severed. It's brutal, and the pain…" the transition had been excruciating. Many witches did not complete the transition to vampires. They chose to die rather than betray their kind and become the thing they hated. Abby hadn't.

"I'm sorry." Bonnie said gently. She could only imagine how terrible Abby's situation was. Not only that, but she felt guilty for bringing Abby into it. In many ways it had been her fault that her mother had been turned.

There was a moment of silence as mother and daughter got lost in their own thoughts.

"You seem so happy…" Abby studied her face carefully. "With Klaus, with his family…" the way Rebekah had run to embrace her, the tenderness in which Elijah had touched her belly, and the proud and happy look on Klaus's face. It was disconcerting. Those did not look like the monsters she had been taught to hate.

"I'm happy." Bonnie replied. "I know it's not easy for you to understand but I am happy with Klaus." She had never expected it. Never in a million years could she have imaged that she and Klaus would be together and expecting twins. That she would come to consider the Original family as her family.

"Even knowing what he is." Abby said. "The things he's done…"

"Yes." Bonnie answered honestly. "I know that you don't approve. I know that you hate his guts but he makes me happy. We're a family."

"You are so young." Abby told her with sadness. "You are not even twenty years old and here you are pregnant and living with a man-" That was an understatement, Klaus was much more than that. "-someone who is so much older, who has more experience than you, who has lived a thousand lives." _And who's an immortal creature that feasts on the blood of innocents,_ was left unsaid.

 _Here we go again_ , Bonnie thought. She felt determined not to get angry and have an honest conversation with her mother. It was easier said than done however, Abby always put her on the defensive. "I get it. You don't like Klaus and you probably never will."

"It's not just that Bonnie," there was serious look on Abby's face. "I'm worried about you. Not just for your safety but the seriousness of this relationship. He introduced you as his wife at the ball."

"Don't be! I know what I'm doing. I can take care of myself." Bonnie snapped. "In the eyes of the supernatural world that's what I am, his wife." A slight blush spread over her cheeks. She liked to be called his wife. It might not be considered legal under human law, but it was in her heart.

Abby shook her head. "What happens if one day you wake up and realize this is not what you want?" she asked. "Do you really believe he will let you go?"

"I'm not a prisoner." Bonnie said angrily. "I'm with Klaus because I want to, not because he's forcing me."

"You are bonded to him. He will always know where you are, how you are feeling. His presence will always be inside you, in your blood. Doesn't that bother you?" Abby stared into her eyes. "Don't you realize how much control he has over you?"

Bonnie closed her eyes, doing her best to remain calm. Getting angry was not the solution to this. "The bond works both ways." She reminded her mother. "I will always know where Klaus is and what he's feeling. There is a link between the two of us. It's not something he's using to manipulate me or trapped me into a relationship." The bond could tell the truth of their feelings but it could not alter or manipulate them. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do you really?" Abby questioned.

"Look," Bonnie began exasperated. "I don't want to keep having this argument with you. And I'm not asking you to embrace Klaus with open arms and call him son. All I want is for the two of you to tolerate each other and accept the fact that you're both important to me." She locked eyes with her mother. "And please don't ask me to choose between you and him because you are not going to like my answer." She was not going to give up Klaus, not now, not ever. They were a family. And Bonnie was ready to go to hell and back to keep her family together.

Abby watched her silently, different emotions flickering across her eyes. She didn't want to keep having the same argument over and over either. What she wanted was for her daughter to be happy. And it was obvious that Klaus Mikaelson was that happiness. "Do you trust him?" she asked after a minute or two of silence.

"With my life," Bonnie was quick to reply.

Abby looked away. For a long time she didn't say anything she simply stared into the darkness. She thought of the conversation she had with Joanna earlier that night.

 _You can't control your daughter's life_ , Joanna had told her. _You have to accept and respect her choices even if you don't approve. If you keep with this attitude you will lose her._

Bonnie waited patiently by her side. When Abby finally turn back to her, she seemed defeated. "I don't think we'll ever get along." She said. "But I suppose I can try and learn to tolerate his presence." What other choice did she have? The last thing she wanted was for Bonnie to be in despair because of her.

Bonnie's face broke into a smile. "I know this isn't easy for you. But thank-you," She threw her arms around her mother, feeling ecstatic. It meant the world to her that at least Abby was willing to try.

Abby hugged her back. "I meant what I said Bonnie." She pulled away and stared into her daughter's face. "I want to protect you. I don't want to fail you again but above all I want you to be happy." In Abby's eyes, Klaus would never be good enough for her daughter but she was smart enough to realize that Bonnie had made her choice and Abby had to accept it or risk losing her daughter. That was the last thing she wanted.

Bonnie smiled.

Abby's gaze moved down to her stomach. "Twins," she murmured. "I'm going to be a grandmother to twins." It was hard to believe. Her baby was having two babies. She could hear them, the steady beating of their hearts right along with Bonnie's. The more she heard those tiny heartbeats the harder it was to consider them as monsters.

 _How could something that sounded so beautiful be evil?_

"They're not evil, mom." Bonnie said as if reading her thoughts. "They're not monsters. They're good. I can feel it." She pulled Abby's hand towards her stomach. "Can you feel that?"

"What?" Abby asked as her palm came in contact with Bonnie's stomach. There was jolt, a sizzling current of power that shocked her entire system to the core. She froze momentarily before pulling her hand away. Her mouth dropped open in shock. "They have magic." She gasped. Tentatively she reached out again and placed her hand on Bonnie's belly once more.

"They do." Bonnie confirmed with a wide grin.

"They're witches." Tears formed in Abby's eyes as she looked from Bonnie's stomach and back to her face. There was a tingling sensation on her hand before warmth spread from her fingertips to her arms, legs, and even her head. A sense of calm washed over her. A soothing sensation that made her feel happy and relaxed at once. It felt like she had suddenly been engulfed in a warm bubble of light. "Oh my god…Bonnie." Tears streamed down her cheeks as she embraced that wonderful feeling. That pure light magic that came from the twins.

In the moment she felt it. In that moment she knew. Abby finally understood and realized the truth.

Bonnie had been right all along.

* * *

Klaus waited for Bonnie to return. He could feel her on the porch along with Abby. And judging by the emotions coming from her side of the bond, the conversation was going in the right direction. It was the reason why Klaus remained inside.

Elijah handed him a glass of bourbon. Klaus took it and drank it in one gulp. He felt on edge and he didn't know why.

"You're in a mood." His brother commented while his eyes followed Lucy who was conversing happily with Rebekah and Matt. His eyes always seemed to be drawn to her.

"Something doesn't feel right." Klaus murmured. He felt a strange sensation, a feeling that had him on the alert. He caught Ishmael's gaze from across the room. The older man gave him a curious look before going back to his conversation with Cary and Joanna.

Elijah turned to face him, a curious look on his face. "I don't feel anything." Then again, Niklaus's senses were sharper and far better than his. The hybrid could detect a threat long before Elijah or Rebekah. Elijah also knew that as long as they were inside the property they were safe. The barrier prevented anyone from entering without their consent.

Klaus stayed silent, monitoring Bonnie's emotions through the bond. Knowing that she was content and near helped to calm some of the anxiousness in the pit of his stomach.

"My informant tells me that Brynne Deveraux was Marcel's lover and the one to put the curse on the Crescent Moon pack." Elijah informed him.

"What the hell does that bitch want?" Klaus snapped. Now that they knew Brynne had in fact been Celeste Dubois, he couldn't help but wonder what she was plotting.

"Revenge perhaps," Elijah gave him a knowing look. "You're actions precipitated her death."

Klaus rolled his eyes. He had never liked Celeste and he wasn't sorry about her death. "And she waited this long to get her revenge?" There was a reason Celeste had remained in the Quarter, a reason why she was only making a move now. And it had nothing to do with revenge against them, of that Klaus felt certain. Whatever she was plotting went beyond them.

"What troubles me greatly is how Sarah Bennett is involved in this." Elijah said. "Why her name appeared with the others. She lived two centuries before Celeste. Unless…" he trailed off.

"Unless what?"

"I just had a rather chilling thought," Elijah stared into his brother's eyes. "What if Celeste is not Celeste but Sarah…" it seemed impossible but he did wonder.

Klaus shook his head. "Sarah Bennett lived to be one hundred and thirty years old. She died in her sleep surrounded by her family." He had been there as well. He had paid his respects and given her a funeral befitting of a queen. "She was loyal to me to the very end." Besides, Sarah had no needs for such tricks. She had found a way to stop her body from aging and lived for as long as it had pleased her.

Klaus felt Bonnie's presence inside the house once more and turned his head just in time to see her and Abby stepping back inside the living room. Everyone turned to look at them. Something had change and all of them could sense it. It was as if the dark cloud that had always followed the two of them had suddenly disappeared. Whatever had transpired between Abby and Bonnie it had clearly changed things for the better.

Bonnie beamed as she made her way to Klaus's side.

"Everything all right?" Klaus asked reaching out for her hand.

"Everything is perfect." Bonnie responded. She looked happy. "I think we have made everyone wait long enough. Let's eat."

The group made their way towards the dining room.

* * *

Marcel sat quietly staring at the altar. Ever since the massacre, St. Anne's church was believed to be haunted and none dared to come inside except for a brave few. It was the reason Marcel had hid Davina in the attic. Now, here he sat contemplating his options. He felt like everything was spiraling out of control and he was powerless to stop it.

Father Kieran took a seat next to him. "I think this is the first time I've seen such a look on you face."

"I know where Davina is," Marcel told him without preamble while keeping his eyes on the altar.

Kieran stiffened. "Do the witches-"

"No," Marcel glanced quickly at the priest before returning his gaze to the altar once more. "If the witches had her things would be much easier."

"Where is she?"

"The Mikaelson's have her." Marcel informed him. He and Kieran had never been friends but there was respect there and both of them cared for Davina.

"What are you going to do?" Kieran asked watching him carefully. "How are you going to stop Klaus?"

Marcel shook his head and laughed. The sound echoed around the church, a bitter and hollowed sound. "That's the thing." He said. "It's not Klaus that worries me but his wife." Who would've ever thought that he would come to fear someone other than the infamous hybrid?

"There are rumors that she took the magic away from the French Quarter Coven and killed the Seer." The witches were going crazy and the coven was in pieces. No one could agree on what to do. For all intents and purposes the French Quarter Coven had been destroyed.

"She did." Marcel confirmed. Bonnie Mikaelson had taken everybody by surprise. "How can you stop someone that is that powerful?" he asked out loud.

Father Kieran stayed quiet. It was obvious that Bonnie was unlike any other witch they had ever come across.

"I have an army." Marcel muttered. "I could probably convince a couple of witches to help me out and come up with a great plan of attack." The vampires were more than ready; all he had to do was give the order.

"But you won't," Kieran said. Somehow he knew that. Marcel was smart. He knew that even with his army he didn't stand a chance against an all powerful witch.

Marcel stayed quiet, lost in thought. He needed to contemplate very single angle. He was not going to make the same mistake twice. He had rushed in the attack against the werewolf camp, he would not rush in an attack against the Mikaelson family.

For a long time, Kieran thought he wasn't going to say anything. He stood up and was ready to leave the vampire with his thoughts when Marcel's voice stopped him.

"I need your help." The vampire king finally said.

Kieran turned towards him, a frown on his face.

"You have always had Davina's best interest at heart." Marcel told him while standing up. "You're a good man Kieran and I need you to help me to get her back."

* * *

Bonnie would definitely say that the dinner was a success. Throughout the meal the conversation had been light and cheerful. Everyone had done their best to avoid the unpleasant subjects, the war, the witches, and the werewolves.

Ishmael and Cary talked about the places they had lived before coming to America. Joanna who was a published author had a very interesting conversation with Elijah about history and a few biographies. While Rebekah and Lucy hit it off quite nicely. Lucy wasn't as serious as her mother and she certainly didn't held Abby's prejudice against vampires which made things easier.

For her part, Abby kept mostly quiet, only talking at the appropriate times but she did not once antagonize Klaus or make any biting remarks. And Klaus kept his promise to Bonnie. He didn't provoke Abby in any way, he was more than happy to ignore her. Everything had worked out nicely and Bonnie couldn't be happier.

Once the meal was over they moved towards the drawing room for some coffee and dessert.

"We should have a girl's night out." Lucy suggested taking a seat next to Bonnie.

"Oh yes, we should." Rebekah was quite on board with the plan. "I know just the place. There is this Jazz club right outside the Quarter. Matt and I have been there a few times. You'll love it."

"I've never been to a Jazz club." Bonnie said. Truth to be told, she hadn't really been out to enjoy the city since her arrival.

"Well, we're definitely going." Lucy's eyes kept drifting towards Elijah who was deep in conversation with Ishmael and Klaus. Matt and Cary were on the other side of the room while Abby and Joanna sat together.

Bonnie caught Rebekah's eyes and the two friends shared a conspiratorial look. "Or we could always make it a triple date." She suggested in an innocent tone.

Lucy's eyes snapped back towards her cousin and the blonde Original sitting across from them. "I don't…" It was at the tip of her tongue to fake ignorance but judging by the looks on Rebekah and Bonnie's faces, it wouldn't work. She had been caught.

"So, another Bennett wants to sink her claws into one of my innocent and darling brothers. You lot are dangerous." Rebekah said it in such a serious tone that it almost sounded like a threat.

"Hey-" Lucy began not knowing what to make of that comment.

Bonnie burst out laughing. "If you could only see your face…" Lucy had it bad, really bad. And Elijah was not indifferent. Bonnie had noticed some of the looks he had sent Lucy throughout the dinner. The Original was not immune to Lucy's charm as he liked others to believe.

"You're practically undressing him with your eyes." Rebekah told her. "If you are planning to ravish him senseless please let us know so we can exit the room." She made a face of disgust.

Lucy's mouth dropped opened and then she burst out laughing. She liked Rebekah. She could see why Bonnie was friends with her.

Elijah, Klaus, and Ishmael turned to look in their direction. Lucy met Elijah's eyes before turning to his sister. "Don't tempt me." She said. She couldn't help it. There was something about Elijah that was driving her crazy. She couldn't keep her eyes off him. And Bonnie and Rebekah were clearly enjoying teasing her about it.

"I think a triple date would be lovely." Rebekah said with a smile. Lucy seemed nice, charming, and so carefree; she could be a breath of fresh air for her serious and sometimes melancholic brother.

"It's settled then." Bonnie told them, already looking forward to their date. She met Klaus's eyes across the room. The hybrid had clearly heard their conversation. He shook his head but his lips twitched into a small smile.

* * *

"The full moon is approaching." Ishmael commented as he and Cary exited the plantation later that night. They had a wonderful time with the Mikaelson's and the Bennett's. It had definitely been a nice family dinner.

"Are you joining us in the hunt?" Cary asked Klaus. The night of the full moon was a big deal for the pack, they all hunted together.

"We shall see." Klaus murmured. The only time he had ever shifted into his wolf form had been the night he broke his curse. The wolf inside him had always yearned to be free but Klaus had always kept that part of himself in check.

Ishmael's astute eyes studied the hybrid. "Suppressing that part of you is a dangerous thing Klaus." His grandson had commented on how he had never seen Klaus in his wolf form during the weeks he had been following the hybrid and his pack. "Sooner or later your wolf will find a way to break free."

Klaus's eyes narrowed. "I'm in control."

"Then what's stopping you from shifting?" Ishmael challenged. "You who can do so at will. What are you so afraid of?"

"Be careful Ishmael." Klaus warned in a dangerous tone. They might be family but he was not going to tolerate the old man giving him a lecture or questioning his actions.

"We hunt as a pack," Cary intervened sensing the tension between both men. "It would be cool if you could spend more time with our pack, hunt with us." He said to Klaus. If Klaus wanted to lead them one day he had to earn the pack's respect. In order to do that, he would have to shift eventually.

"You did promise." Ishmael reminded him.

"I promise to spend time with the pack not to hunt with you." Klaus snapped.

Ishmael opened his mouth but Cary beat him. "That's fine." He said giving his grandfather a look. Forcing Klaus to do something he didn't want was only going to make things worse. Klaus had his reasons for not shifting and they had to respect them. "Get to know us, all of us, and then decide if you want to hunt with us in wolf form or not."

Klaus nodded.

Ishmael seemed satisfied as well. He and Cary said their goodbyes and left.

A few feet away from them, Elijah escorted Lucy to her car. Abby and Joanna had already left.

"A jazz club…" he murmured.

"You heard that huh?" Lucy crossed her arms over her chest.

"Vampire hearing," Elijah told her.

"It would be nice don't you think?" Lucy took a quick peek at his face before looking ahead towards her car. "A night without worries, to dance and enjoy with friends, family..." She doubted Bonnie and the Originals had any of that in the past few weeks.

Elijah smiled softly, placing his hands inside his pockets. "I don't think I remember the last time I went dancing." He was certain it had been in the twenties.

"Don't you dare tell me that you can't dance to get out of this date, because I won't believe you!" Lucy told him firmly while dangling her car keys in one hand.

Elijah chuckled. "I happen to be an excellent dancer you know."

"Good." Lucy unlocked her car and turned towards the elegant Original. "It's a date then." she leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on Elijah's cheek.

He was surprised by the action and his lips parted slightly. He caught a swift of her perfume and locked eyes with her. The overwhelming desire to kiss her took him by surprise.

Lucy grinned. She had absolutely seen the desire in his eyes. She loved taking him by surprise. "Have a good night Elijah." She got on her car and drove away.

Elijah watched her go, lips curving into a grin. _A date indeed_ , he thought. _When was the last time he had been on a date?_ He wondered suddenly.

"You're practically drooling." His brother's voice startled him.

"I-"

"You're lusting after Bonnie's cousin, yes that much is obvious." Klaus said with a wave of his hand. "You two were acting like silly teenagers throughout the dinner. It was quite sickening really."

Elijah gave Klaus a reproachful look as they made their way inside the house. "Are you telling me you don't approve?" not that he needed his permission.

"Considering your taste in women as of late, Lucy is quite the improvement." There was a mischievous glint in Klaus's eyes. "Do be careful, if you hurt her feelings you'll have an entire coven out for blood."

"The same could be said for you, brother."

Klaus gave him a dimpled grin.

"She's very different from any other witch I've met." Elijah admitted softly. Lucy intrigued him.

"All Bennett's are." Klaus said thinking of his little Bennett witch.

Elijah smiled. "That they are."

* * *

Later…much later, once all of their guests had left the plantation, Bonnie and Klaus put the candles Joanna had brought them to good use. The bathroom was illuminated and the scent of Gardenias filled the air.

Bonnie sighed happily and leaned back against Klaus's chest as they relaxed in the tub. The water was the perfect temperature and she felt so giddy. She was telling Klaus all about her conversation with her mother. "She felt their magic. I think that's what finally convinced her." Bonnie said quietly. "She still doesn't like you but she's willing to try." It was a huge step for Abby and Bonnie appreciated it with all her heart. "You should have seen the look on her face when she felt the twins magic."

Klaus stayed quiet. He had one arm wrapped around her stomach while his other hand moved up and down her arm, gently tracing her skin with his fingertips. He hadn't said much. He had been content to let Bonnie talk.

Bonnie shifted so she could look into his face. "Something is bothering you." She had been chatting nonstop but Klaus had barely said anything.

"Nothing," Klaus murmured.

"Don't lie. I can tell." Bonnie said pointing her finger in his direction.

Klaus chuckled before a somber look crossed his features. "Something feels off…" he finally confessed. He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Bonnie looked away thinking about the dream she had. "I feel the same way." She admitted in a whisper. It was strange to feel so happy and yet have that looming feeling haunting her.

"What else happened in your dream Bonnie?" Klaus asked gently. He kept his eyes on her face, studying each of her reactions very carefully.

Bonnie stiffened before turning back to face him. "It was just a dream."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Klaus's eyes glued her to the spot. He had been around witches long enough to know that their dreams always had a meaning.

Bonnie got nervous. "I told you, I don't want to talk about it." All she wanted was to forget it. She had been doing a pretty good job until Klaus brought it up.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to!" Bonnie snapped. She stood up and got out of the tub. Klaus's eyes followed her as she grabbed her robe and exited the bathroom as quickly as possible.

"Why are you so defensive about it?" Klaus questioned as he wrapped a towel around his hips and followed her into the bedroom.

"Why do you keep insisting?" Bonnie asked in turn. "It was just a dream. I don't want to talk about it, end of the story." _Why couldn't he understand that?_ Klaus could be so stubborn sometimes.

"You're a witch, your dreams are not just dreams Bonnie. They could be visions of the future, a premonition of what's about to happen-"

"They're not!" Bonnie yelled. The thought that her dream had been a premonition of some sort terrified her. "What part of I don't want to talk about don't you get?" The more he pushed the angrier she felt.

"So you don't like it when I keep things from you but its okay for you to keep things from me." Klaus glared at her.

"That's different." Bonnie snapped. She was getting really annoyed with him. "You planning something behind my back it's very different than some stupid dream."

"But is not a stupid dream is it?" Klaus moved closer, his eyes daring her to challenge his assertion. "If it were a silly dream like you're so desperate to pretend, you wouldn't be acting this way." He knew her well enough to know that. There was reason the dream had her so terrified and Klaus was determined to find out.

"Look-" Bonnie began.

"Do you realize that your vision could hold the key to figure out what's coming our way?" Klaus cut her off. "I'm trying to help you Bonnie, we can figure out the meaning behind your dream-"

"I don't want to think about that dream. I don't want to talk about it. Why can't you understand that and leave me the hell alone!" Bonnie yelled angrily.

The lights in the room flickered on and off and the balcony doors flew open. Bonnie was breathing heavily and her heartbeat sky rocketed as did the twins.

It was for that reason alone, that Klaus reined his temper. He didn't want to agitate her and in turn cause harm to their children. He ripped the towel off his hips and started getting dressed.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked watching as he put his shirt on. "Klaus, what are you-"

"I'm giving you what you want." Klaus snapped. His jaw clenched and there was a hint of gold in his eyes as he gave her one last look before walking towards the door. He needed to get out of there before he said or did something that he would later regret.

"Wait!" Bonnie tried to stop him.

"Have a good night Bonnie." And with that the hybrid left their bedroom.

Bonnie flinched as the door slammed shut behind him. She flopped down on the bed and shivered as she felt his side of the bond shut down completely.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Katherine moaned in pain as another needle was stuck in her arm. They had been draining her of her blood for days. She felt so weak, she could hardly move.

Luis and Franco watched as the black haired woman filled the bag with blood. Her companion stood next to them.

"That's enough," Luis murmured. "If you take more, you'll kill her."

"We need more." The woman snapped. One bag of blood was not enough for all the spells and rituals they planned to do.

"Maybe if you hadn't lost the other doppelganger things would be much easier." Luis told her. "I said enough." He did not like repeating himself.

The couple shared a look but the woman complied with the wolf's wishes.

Katherine blinked. Her vision was blurry but her senses came alive when she smelled blood.

Luis handed her a plastic cup, half filled with animal blood.

 _Deer_ , Katherine thought wrinkling her nose. It was not enough. She was starving. The blood was enough to keep her alive but not to regain her full strength. She hated animal blood. _Beggars can't be choosers,_ she thought while drinking the blood with greed.

"How long?" Franco asked, speaking for the first time since they had entered the room.

"We're not sure." The man replied. "The veil has been lowered a few times but it always goes back up again." The Travelers felt certain that something or someone was interfering with their plans. "Make no mistake Mr. Navarro we will succeed."

"I sure hope that when you succeed in bringing back your leader, your people remembers whose generosity, support, and protection you all received." Franco told him in a serious tone.

"We are extremely grateful for all you have done for us." The woman said. "And make no mistake Markos will gladly reward you."

"I don't need his rewards." Franco snapped angrily. "There is only one thing that I want from him, nothing more."

"He will gladly do it." The woman said with a smile. "And we will all help him."

Franco nodded.

Long after the couple had left the room, Franco and Luis remained inside with Katherine. The vampire girl smirked, feeling slightly better thanks to the blood she had drunk. "You must be really desperate…" she murmured leaning her head back against the concrete wall. "The worst thing is you can't even find descent witches to do your bidding." She laughed or tried to at least. She still felt incredibly weak.

"Soon, I will have a very powerful witch by my side." Franco said cryptically before he approached Katherine and crouched down in front of her so that they could be at an eye level. "You ran from Klaus Mikaelson for half a millennia…tell me something Katherine would you rejoice knowing his days are numbered."

Katherine chuckled. "You're an idiot." She glared at him. "If there is one thing I know for a fact is that Klaus fucking Mikaelson always finds a way to win." The bastard had been born under a lucky star.

Franco only laughed. Katherine shivered at the sound. "Get some rest." He said standing up. His eyes gleamed with some sort of secret. "The Travelers will be back for more of your blood tomorrow."

Katherine turned her face away from him. The two brothers exited the room, leaving her alone in the darkness once more.

Elena had been rescued. Damon and Stefan had no doubt arrived like shinning knights in armor and saved her from the Travelers. Katherine did not have the luxury of waiting for a rescue team. Katherine Pierce had learned a long time ago that if she wanted things done she had to do them herself.

So, she sat back and waited. She had to wait for the right moment. One way or another she would escape those psychotic werewolves. But for now, she had to wait and be patient.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Bonnie opened her eyes with a gasp. Every instinct in her body alerted her to a dangerous presence nearby. "Witch," an unfamiliar voice growled. The only thing she managed to see were a pair of amber eyes before she was yanked up by the hair.

Bonnie screamed as sharp fangs tore her throat open. The air left her lungs as a heavy body fell on top of her, crushing her against the bed. The gurgling noises as he greedily drank from her echoed around the dark room.

Panic…shock…pain…confusion…

There was another stab of pain as the body was forcibly pulled away from her, a few seconds later. There were growls and something crashed and snapped against the furniture in the bedroom.

The lights turned on as Bonnie sat up gasping, rivers of blood streamed down her nightgown. She felt lightheaded and her eyes were wide with shock and fear. With shaky hands Bonnie touched the angry wound on her neck, it was healing. She closed her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt the skin of her neck rapidly mend itself.

Klaus appeared in front her. "Bonnie," he inspected the wound, probing the skin and making sure she wasn't bleeding to death. "You're healing." The relief he felt echoed through bond as did his anger and a sense of possessiveness that startled her.

"What the hell is going on?" Rebekah came into the room followed closely by Matt and Elijah.

Bonnie looked past Klaus's shoulder. Brian's unconscious body lay on the floor. Klaus had pulled him off Bonnie and snapped his neck.

"Bonnie!" Matt kneeled on the bed next to her. "Are you okay?"

Bonnie could see them and hear their voices but she couldn't seem to find her own voice. She was shaking like a leaf and her heart pounded loud and wild against her chest.

"She's in shock." Elijah said as he took one look at her face.

"How the hell did he get out?" Matt asked angrily. He took one of Bonnie's hands in his, her skin felt so cold.

"Sweetheart look at me," Klaus grabbed Bonnie's cheeks and pulled her face towards him. Bonnie blinked a few times but no sound came out of her mouth.

There was a growling noise and Brian stood up quickly. He growled and snarled baring his sharp fangs at all of them, his mouth and chin dripping with blood.

The scent of Bonnie's intoxicating blood lingered in the air.

Klaus growled. He let go of Bonnie's face and took a protective stance in front of her. His face shifted and his fingers elongating into claws. There was only one thing on his mind. The wolf in him wanted to tear Brian apart. He had dared to touch his mate; he had dared to sink his fangs into her precious flesh. No one had the right to touch her or to drink from her, except him. Bonnie was his. Brian would die in the most excruciating way imaginable. "Get Bonnie out of here." Klaus hissed keeping a close eye on the crazed hybrid.

Elijah sensing what Klaus intended moved quickly and lifted Bonnie in his arms while Rebekah ushered Matt out of the room.

Brian looked more than ready to jump at Klaus but then he coughed and spat blood. He looked down in confusion before lifting his gaze towards Klaus. His entire body began convulsing all of a sudden.

Elijah stopped at the doorway with Bonnie in his arms and turned to Klaus in confusion. "What's wrong with him?"

Brian sank to his knees, choking. It happened in a mattered of seconds, one moment he had looked ready to attack Klaus and the next he had dropped to the ground.

Everyone in the room watched as the hybrid's skin turned a black color. He looked like he had become infected with gangrene. It was a hideous sight.

Brian's eyes opened wide and more blood poured out of his mouth which had swollen considerably.

And then it stopped. The hybrid went completely still before he fell back.

Klaus moved closer and crouched down to inspect the body. "He's dead." There was a part of him that still couldn't believe what he had just seen. Brian had dropped dead in seconds, like he had been poisoned.

"How?" Rebekah asked quietly.

Klaus stood up and went straight towards Elijah. He took Bonnie from him and walked out of the room without saying a word. His mind swirling with possibilities.

Matt who had been standing outside took a peek inside the bedroom and gasped when he spotted the rotten body. "How is that even possible?" He had never seen anything like it. "Aren't vampires supposed to desiccate when they die?"

"A good question indeed," Elijah murmured as he stared at the body of the decayed hybrid.

* * *

Klaus took Bonnie to a different room and deposited her gently on the bed. Rebekah came in with a change of clothes and a glass of water, "here you go, darling."

Bonnie took the glass with shaking hands. It was surprising how quickly her neck had healed. She was thankful that she had not bled to death. She still couldn't believe what had just happened, not only the surprise attack but Brian's sudden death.

"Where the hell were you?" Rebekah demanded turning angrily towards Klaus. "How could you leave her alone?"

"I was in my study painting." He fired back. After his argument with Bonnie he had stormed out of their bedroom. For a moment he considered going to the Quarter and blowing some steam off but in the end he had angrily locked himself in his study to paint. He had stayed there until he had felt Bonnie's fear and heard her scream.

"He came out of nowhere…" Bonnie's voice sounded hoarse. She handed Rebekah the empty glass. "I didn't have time to react." Everything had happened so fast. "I don't understand." She looked from Klaus to Rebekah. "How did he die?" It had looked like Brian had been poisoned.

Klaus sat on the bed next to her. He put his arm around her trembling shoulders and pulled her against him. "Don't think about that now." He murmured holding her close.

"Your blood…" Rebekah said suddenly. "He drank from you, it was your blood." She regarded her friend carefully, "your blood is poison to hybrids." She concluded.

"That's impossible," Bonnie told her. "Klaus has drunk from me countless of times…" she flushed remembering how intimate those moments had been. If her blood was somehow poison to hybrids it would've affected Klaus a long time ago.

"The twins then," Rebekah suggested. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she thought of something else. "That's how you healed so fast! The babies have Nik's blood. Nik's blood can heal anything." Her eyes went wide with a realization. "And Nik's bite is lethal to vampires." Surely his children would take after him.

Klaus frowned. "To vampires not werewolves. A hybrid is not affected by a vampire bite." Not to mention that when vampires died from a werewolf bite they desiccated. Brian's flesh had turned black. His flesh had looked putrid.

"Think about it," Rebekah told them. "Your children are unique. What if somehow their blood is not only lethal to vampires but werewolves too?"

Bonnie gasped while a thoughtful look crossed Klaus's face. He had to concede that it was certainly possible.

"You're obviously immune because you're their father. Their blood is your blood." Rebekah continued while staring at her brother. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that the twins' blood had been what killed the hybrid.

"An interesting theory indeed," Elijah's voice came from the doorway.

Matt followed after him. "The hybrid that was guarding Brian is dead, torn to pieces." He informed them. He and Elijah had gone into the basement to check how Brian had escaped. It seemed that somehow Brian had managed to break out the magical chains holding him in place.

Bonnie turned to Klaus. "Who was supposed to keep watch tonight?" she thought of Belle, Riley, Jesse, and Felix, the hybrids she was most familiar with. She hoped it had not been one of them.

"Chris," Klaus answered. He had told the others to stay away while they had their family dinner. Only Chris had remained behind keeping watch over Brian.

Bonnie closed her eyes. _Poor Chris_ , she thought. She hadn't been as close to him as she was with the other hybrids but he had seemed nice.

"Bonnie needs to rest," Elijah said. She still looked rather pale and shaky. "I think it's best if we leave her to do just that."

Matt went towards Bonnie and hugged her. "If you need anything," he said as they pulled away. "We're right here okay." He stared at her now healed wound for a few seconds. Bonnie's neck and chest were bathed in blood.

"Thank-you," Bonnie offered him a weak smile.

Rebekah also gave her a reassuring hug and kiss on the cheek. "What about the dead hybrid in your bedroom?" she asked turning to her brother.

"I'll take care of it." Elijah told her. Niklaus would no doubt want to take care of Bonnie so it was up to him to get rid of the hybrid. He was also going to ensure the master bedroom was cleaned from top to bottom.

Klaus nodded. "Not a single word about this." He told them. "It's best if no one but us know what truly happened tonight."

The greatest advantage the werewolves had over the vampires was their venom. If they or the vampires learned that there was a witch carrying twins whose blood was lethal to both species they would hunt Bonnie, to kill her, to possess her, to use the children to their advantage. Whatever the case, Klaus was not going to let that happen.

"So what's the official story then?" Matt asked him.

"Brian attacked Bonnie and I killed him for it." Klaus said. Elijah would dispose of the body and no one would ever see it or know what had really happened.

They all nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Stefan, Damon, and an unconscious Elena had made it to Mystic Falls in record time. While his brother locked Elena in the basement of their home, Stefan made his way to Caroline's house. He wanted to let her know that they were back in town and that they had brought Elena with them.

Liz Forbes opened the door and greeted Stefan with a smile. "You're back!" she seemed really excited. "Where is Caroline?" she asked looking past Stefan. She had clearly expected to see her daughter with him.

"Actually that's why I'm here." Stefan told her. "We just arrived from visiting Elena and I thought Caroline would want to know. She hasn't answered any of my calls." The cover story Caroline and Bonnie had used to explain Elena's absence was that she was spending time with her extending family and dealing with all the tragedies that had happened to her in such a short time.

Liz frowned. "Caroline left with you to visit Elena." She hadn't been happy that Caroline had left without saying goodbye but she knew how much both girls loved each other. And Elena had been through so much, she couldn't fault Caroline for wanting to spend time with her friend and support her.

"No she didn't." Stefan told her with a strange look on his face. "Caroline stayed here." She had wanted to come with them but they had convinced her to stay in Mystic Falls.

"But she's been texting me…" Liz pulled her cell phone out. "I haven't been able to talk to her but she has been letting me know she's okay." She showed Stefan the messages she had received from Caroline's phone. "What the hell is going on Stefan?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly while a sinking feeling formed in the pit of his stomach.

"Where is my daughter?" Liz demanded to know, the fear and panic more than evident in her face and voice. "And who the hell has been texting me pretending to be her?"

"I don't know, Liz." Stefan replied softly. "I really don't know."

 _What had happened to Caroline?_

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Bonnie placed the bloody nightgown inside a plastic bag and threw it in the trash. She had taken a shower and changed into the clothes Rebekah had gotten her, a simple white shirt and sleeping shorts.

Klaus sat on the bed, waiting patiently for her. He stood up the moment she stepped out of the bathroom. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she didn't feel lightheaded anymore and the trembling had stopped. She walked until she was standing right in front of him.

The hybrid reached out and touched her neck, his fingers lightly tracing the soft caramel skin. It looked perfect; there was not a single scratch or scar on her neck. There was no trace left of the vicious attack. "I'm sorry." Klaus whispered. "I should've been there." If he hadn't stormed out of the room he would have been there to protect her from Brian. He had failed her.

"You came just in time." Bonnie murmured. The attack had completely caught her off guard. There had been so much confusion and fear that she didn't have time to fight back.

Klaus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. He felt guilty, for getting angry with her and leaving her alone, and for not being there to protect her.

Bonnie rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. "I think Rebekah is right," she murmured. "I have healed before, almost like a vampire."

Klaus remembered when he had fed from her at the Sanatorium; the bite mark had healed on its own. Rebekah's theory that it was the twins made complete sense.

"Now there is another reason for people to come after us." Bonnie muttered. "If the werewolves learn that our babies blood can kill them-"

"We'll keep it at secret." Klaus reassured her while rubbing her back. "We did learn something very important today." He said after a while in silence.

"What?" Bonnie lifted her face and gazed up at him.

"Our enemies see our children as a weakness Bonnie," Klaus gaze down at her and met her eyes. "But tonight and when you fought the Seer, and when the spirits attacked you…those moments proved that they are anything but." He told her. He smiled tenderly and cupped her cheek. "Our children might have inherited all of our enemies but they have also inherited all of our strengths and multiplied them tenfold."

 _They had,_ Bonnie realized. The twins had magic and could protect themselves against the witches and their blood was venom to vampires and werewolves alike. Their children were not defenseless or an easy prey as their enemies liked to believe. "We're going to be okay." Bonnie said.

"We will." Klaus got down on his knees in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked as he pulled her shirt up.

Klaus placed his hands on her hips and deposited a soft kiss on belly before resting his ear against it. Bonnie's fingers combed through his blond curls while she rested her other hand against his shoulder. A soft smiled formed on her lips as she looked down at her hybrid. "Are they okay?"

"They're perfect." Klaus whispered against her skin.

 _We will be okay_ , Bonnie thought. Whatever enemies came their way, whatever bad dreams plagued her mind, they would be fine.

Klaus smiled against her skin as he continued to listen to the steady rhythm of the twins' heartbeat.

* * *

"Here you go." Sabine said handing Hayley a jar filled with a green liquid. "Mixed this with water and have your pack drink it on the night of the full moon."

"And they will be free?" Hayley asked as she took the jar. It looked disgusting.

"They will be free." Sabine confirmed leaning back against a tree. They were meeting in the outskirts of the Bayou. A wolf howled in the distance. "Just like I promised."

Hayley nodded. "Thank-you." She studied the other woman's face in detail. "Why are you doing this?"

Sabine sniggered and shook her head. "I have my reasons."

 _Whatever,_ Hayley thought. They had both had fulfilled their ends of the bargain and now it was time to move on. She gave Sabine one last look before she took off deeper into the Bayou. She couldn't wait to share the news with her pack, soon they would be free.

Celeste watched her go. Once she couldn't feel Hayley's presence anymore she started walking in the opposite direction, out of the Bayou and towards the road, where her car was parked.

The Crescents had once ruled over New Orleans before Marcel had cursed them and taken over. Now they were about to be free of their curse and they were going to want revenge against Marcel and take the city back.

Celeste was counting on that. The war between the vampires and the werewolves for control of the city would escalate, giving the witches the time they needed to unite forces and finish whoever was left standing.

 _Soon_ , Celeste thought. She was so close to achieving what she had always wanted. Everything was going according to plan, what she needed now was to neutralize the Mikaelsons once and for all.

* * *

 _A/n: Thank-you so much for all your continued support with this story. The Bennett coven will be summoned in the next chapter. See you next time!_


	30. Chapter 30

"Remember to add two," Abby instructed looking over Bonnie's shoulder.

Bonnie added the two roots into the boiling water. "What else?"

"Turnips," Abby told her. "Remember that you have to double the amount."

"Right," Bonnie added the Turnips before stirring the pot lightly. Abby was showing her how to make an old family recipe. It was a special mixture which had all kinds of nutrients and vitamins for pregnant women. One that Abby and Joanna swore by and which had been passed down the family line for many years.

While Bonnie stirred, Abby added some spinach and lettuce leaves into the pot.

"You have to drink one cup a day until the babies are born." Abby told her. "Most of the ingredients you can buy at a local grocery store or grow in your own garden, the more magical ones you can get at one of the shops in the Quarter."

Bonnie nodded. "How bad is it going to taste?" she asked. The mixture was turning a light greenish color. It didn't look too appetizing and they hadn't added all the ingredients yet. No matter how horrible it tasted she was going to drink it anyway. It was the same thing her mother and grandmother had drunk while pregnant and according to Abby, it would ensure the babies got all the vitamins they needed.

Abby chuckled. "Don't worry. I modified mom's recipe and improved the taste." She added Raspberry leaves.

Bonnie smiled and looked down at the piece of paper Abby had brought with her. She had recognized her Grandmother's hand writing immediately. The modifications Abby had made were also visible.

"That's very good," Abby murmured when she noticed the thick white smoke coming from the pot.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"If the smoke is white it's good, it means you've done everything right." Abby explained to Bonnie. "A blue smoke means that the potion is slightly off but it's still usable." She lowered the heat, to bring the mixture to a simmer. "Not in your case though," Abby warned. "A pregnant woman should always drink a perfect potion."

"When I do this on my own if the smoke turns blue, I should throw it away." Bonnie said looking at her mother for confirmation.

"Absolutely," Abby confirmed. "You don't want to take any chances while pregnant or if it's a healing potion, those need to be perfect always." A healing potion could do more harm than good if not done properly.

"Got it," Bonnie was memorizing everything Abby was teaching her. She had never had a lesson in potion making before. It was nice and her mother had so much knowledge.

"Red smoke is bad, dangerous. Throw it away and start again before it blows up in your face." Abby continued. "Black smoke is poisonous, don't touch it. You don't even want to smell that, it could kill you."

"You're really good at this," Bonnie commented. "Brewing potions I mean…" in the past half hour they had been working on the mixture, her mother had shown an incredible knowledge and talked about different potions she had made throughout her life. It was fascinating to hear.

"Is my specialty," Abby admitted. "And since I became a vampire, this is the closest I can get to feeling like my old self. Like a witch," she added in a whisper. "I can teach you, if you want…" she seemed uncertain, even nervous at making the suggestion.

Since their conversation the night of the dinner, things between them had been great. It was like they had turned a new page in the chapter of their lives and Abby didn't want to ruin that.

"I would like that." Bonnie said with a happy smile. While she had incredible power inside of her, there was still a lot she had yet to learn. Potion making was not her forte. Having Abby teach her everything she knew seemed like a nice way to continue to build their relationship.

"There is something I want to give you." Abby said moving away from the stove. While they waited for the mixture to cool off, she would give Bonnie her gift.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked.

Abby went to the breakfast table and grabbed the parcel she had brought with her earlier that day. "Here you go." She handed it to Bonnie.

Bonnie took it and gave her mother a curious look as she unwrapped the gift. She gasped.

It was a leather bound journal filled with blank parchment paper. _A Grimoire_ , Bonnie realized.

"When I turned eighteen, my mother gave me a journal like this. She made it for me, just like her mother made one for her." Abby told her daughter. "It's a family tradition."

"You made this for me?" Bonnie looked up into her mother's eyes. She felt surprised and touched by the gesture.

Abby nodded. "Every witch has her own magical signature, that which makes every single one of her spells unique." She gave Bonnie as soft smile. "It's the reason every witch has a Grimoire." She explained. "The time has come for you to have your own Grimoire, Bonnie."

"It's beautiful." Bonnie murmured while running her fingers over the cover and flipping the pages. A dark blue feather quill was stuck between the pages. "And this?"

"I made you a magical writing quill too." Abby picked up the quill. "Give me your hand."

Bonnie held the Grimoire with her right hand while extending her left hand towards her mother.

Abby pricked her index finger with the tip of the quill. "There," the quill absorbed Bonnie's blood and it seemed to glow for a few seconds before returning to normal. "Now you can write all the spells you want."

"I don't need any ink?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"No," Abby replied. "Your magic will make the quill work forever." She still had the white quill her mother had made for her, just like she still had her Grimoire. She would treasure them always, just like she hoped Bonnie would do the same with hers.

"Wow…" Bonnie took the quill from Abby. She could feel the magic inside of it. She beamed. She had her very own Grimoire and her mother had made it for her. It was wonderful.

"When the time comes," Abby said taking her hand and in hers. "You will make a Grimoire and quill for your daughter or daughters…" she glanced briefly at Bonnie's stomach before moving up to look at her face. "You will continue the family tradition."

Tears formed in Bonnie's eyes. She felt happy, so happy to share a moment like this with her mother. It was what she had always wanted. "Thank-you, mom." She placed the Grimoire and quill on the table and threw her arms around her mother.

Abby hugged her back and kissed her head.

In that moment, for the very first time they truly felt like mother and daughter.

* * *

The hybrids took the news of Brian's death with stony silence. He had never been a favorite among the pack. Chris's death on the other hand was received with sadness.

"I'm so sorry." Angelica apologized again and again. She felt responsible for Brian escaping and attacking Bonnie. "If I had known he could escape I would've put a stronger spell on the chains. I'm sorry."

"What's done it's done." Klaus told her. There was no point in dwelling over it. Brian had dared to hurt Bonnie but he had died because of it.

Angelica nodded but the guilty look on her face was still visible.

"Is Bonnie okay?" Belle asked worriedly.

"She's fine." Klaus assured her. He had told the hybrids he had killed Brian because he had attacked Bonnie. It was the official version of events. He didn't want anyone to learn just how special his children were. "How's the witch doing?" he asked suddenly. He had not visited Davina since he offered her the terms of the oath. He was giving the young girl time to think it over.

"She's bored out of her mind." Belle replied. "I hope you don't mind but I gave her some books to read. And she likes to paint too maybe we can get her a canvas or something, a TV would be nice too…"

"Are you becoming friends with the prisoner?" one hybrid asked.

Riley shook his head and Jesse gave Belle an amused look.

"She seems like a nice girl." Belle replied defensively. They were about the same age and it had felt nice to talk to someone her age. Not to mention that Belle felt pity for the poor girl. She looked so sad and lonely.

"You're supposed to keep an eye on her not become friends with her." Alexa muttered.

"I'm not going to help her escape or anything!" Belle turned to Klaus in panic. "I was just trying to be nice." And maybe make a friend along the way, there was no crime in that!

Klaus gave her a stern look. "Be careful." He said simply. Belle's friendship with Davina could prove beneficial to him. He also knew the hybrid girl wouldn't betray him; she was sired to him after all. "Don't let your guard down." Davina could also be using her to try and escape.

Belle nodded. "I won't." She promised.

Klaus moved his gaze over each hybrid gathered in his study. "There is something you need to know." Something he and Bonnie couldn't keep hiding, especially now that any supernatural could pick up the twins' heartbeats. After Brian's attack, Klaus and Bonnie had agreed that the time had come for his pack to know about the twins. They were going to find out sooner or later, it was something that wouldn't remain a secret forever. It was best to get it out of the way now.

His pack stared at him, waiting expectantly to hear what he had to say.

"Bonnie is pregnant with twins." Klaus told them without preamble. "And before any of you are foolish enough to ask…yes, they're mine."

Silence.

Klaus smirked and leaned against the desk. The stunned looks on the hybrids faces were rather comical. He waited as they processed the news.

For a full minute no one said anything.

"Pregnant?" Felix was the first to find his voice.

"Oh my God!" Belle's eyes were wide and her mouth dropped open.

"Shit!" Jesse exchanged surprised and shocked looks with his pack mates. "Bonnie is pregnant with twins!" he couldn't believe it.

"How is that even possible?" Riley asked Klaus. "I thought hybrids couldn't procreate." The others nodded in agreement. Everyone had been under that assumption.

"Can all hybrids have children?" a hybrid girl asked.

"As far as we know…no." Klaus replied. He felt certain that there was more to his ability to father a child, not just because of his werewolf side. Not to mention the powerful bloodline Bonnie came from.

"That's why the witches wanted Bonnie dead." Angelica realized staring at Klaus. "That's why the huntress was trying to kill her." Suddenly everything made sense.

"Yes."

"Congratulations." Angelica smiled happily. "It's very wonderful news." It was a miracle really. And now more than ever she realized that the threats against Bonnie were far from over.

"Yeah," Jesse agreed. "Those hybrid/witch babies are going to be something else." He declared.

 _You have no idea_ , Klaus thought as he recalled Brian's death. His lips curved into a soft smile. He couldn't help but feel proud. His sons were unlike any other children in the world.

"When is she due?" Belle asked with excitement. "Have you done the nursery yet? Do you know the sex of the babies? Do you want them to be boys or girls, or maybe both? Can I babysit?"

"Jeez Belle, breathe." Riley told her. He was amused at her obvious excitement.

"This is all very exciting!" The young girl exclaimed. "I can't wait to meet the babies and-"

"I doubt they're going to let you babysit," one hybrid girl said.

"Why not?" Belle asked. "I can be a great babysitter."

"You're not even legally an adult," the girl pointed out.

"So?"

"If I had children I wouldn't trust you with them," the girl told her.

"Me neither," another hybrid mumbled under his breath.

"Hey!" Belle felt offended by that.

From then on, all the hybrids started talking, giving their opinions, asking more questions, and offering their congratulations to Klaus. For the most part, they all seemed excited. Their Sire was going to be a father and already the need to keep those babies safe had taken root inside them.

The only one who did not share the curiosity, excitement, and even joy at the news was Alexa. She stood by the corner, an aguishly sad look on her face.

* * *

After drinking the special mixture (which didn't taste as bad as Bonnie had thought) mother and daughter made their way to Lenore's apartment. It was located on the same building as her shop, right on the second floor. Lucy and Joanna met them there.

In the days since the dinner, Bonnie had been spending most of her time with her family, getting ready for the summoning of the Bennett witches. She had been studying the spell with Joanna and was ready to cast it. She was going to draw on the power of the full moon to enhance the spell and lessen the strain it might put on her body. Joanna had also given her some oils and herbs to bathe in and cleanse her body before the spell and a set of instructions to follow. She had to be clean in body, mind, and soul in order to do the spell.

Lenore greeted them with a smile and let them inside her apartment. After introductions were made and hugs and kisses exchanged they moved to the dining table.

"My husband and I had a house." She told Bonnie as she poured tea into mugs. "But after he died, I moved to this apartment." It made it easier for her to live in the same place she worked.

"Do you have any children?" Bonnie asked curiously, wondering if she had more cousins in New Orleans.

"No." Lenore replied with a sad smile. "We tried for many years but…" no amount of magic or spells had helped them. Her husband had been infertile and he had never wanted to adopt. Lenore had resigned herself to a life without children.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Lenore took a sit across from her and studied her face carefully. "I can't believe the Bennett coven will be summoned once more." The coven had not been summoned since Salem. And now there was less than a day left.

"Me either," Joanna agreed. They had grown up hearing the stories, learning about the family legacy and the queens of old, but now the time had come. At last, the Bennett coven would be active once more.

"Aunt Vivian is going to be over the moon." Lenore said with a smile, remembering her aunt.

"She's still alive!" Joanna couldn't believe it. She was probably over a hundred by now.

"Isn't she like ninety?" Abby had never really liked their aunt. She had hated her boring summer parties and snobbish attitude.

"More like a hundred." Lenore replied with a laugh. "But she doesn't look a day older than forty." Their aunt was quite vain.

"I haven't spoken to her in years." Joanna murmured. After her husband and daughter had died, Joanna had lived in seclusion.

"She stopped talking to me when she learned I decided to join the Algiers coven." Lenore told them. "She saw it as a betrayal." And the fact that she had no children, that she did not fulfill her duty to the Bennett bloodline had not helped matters either.

"I've never met this Aunt Vivian." Lucy commented taking a sip of her tea.

Neither had Bonnie, she had never even heard of her.

"A formidable and intimidating woman she is," Abby told them. As children they all had been terrified of her.

"Do you think she'll accept to be part of the coven?" Bonnie asked nervously. Summoning the coven was the first step, having all the Bennett witches accept her as their queen was another and perhaps the hardest part.

"She has been devoted to the family legacy her whole life." Lenore said in a gentle tone. She could sense Bonnie's anxiety and nervousness as the hour grew near. "She will follow you if she believes it's the right thing to do."

"And you?" Bonnie questioned. "What do you believe?" She wanted Lenore's honest opinion.

Lenore took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. "This pregnancy of yours is going to take the supernatural world by storm. Nothing like this has ever happened before. You are breaking the mold Bonnie, challenging millennia of beliefs…"

"I know." Bonnie murmured hands clenching around her mug. Witches and vampires were meant to be enemies.

Lenore took a sip of her tea and placed the mug back on the table before continuing. "I believe that family should protect each other. I don't know you as well as Joanna or Lucy do, but I would love to get to know you better." She reached out and took Bonnie's hand in hers. Their magic hummed in harmony.

Lucy and Joanna smiled as did Abby. Lenore was on their side.

"I joined the Algiers coven because of my husband. But as Joanna reminded me, I'm a Bennett witch." Her almond eyes bored into Bonnie's. "We protect our own, always. And I would love to be an aunt to those beautiful babies you carry." Lenore told her. She could feel their magic. She had felt it the moment Bonnie had stepped through the door. Any doubts, any concerns she felt after Joanna had told her of Bonnie's pregnancy died in that moment.

Bonnie's children may had been fathered by a vampire, a hybrid, but they were witches, Bennett witches and that changed everything. It made all the difference.

Bonnie squeezed her hand. "Thank-you." She hoped that this was the beginning and that the rest of her family would be as understanding and supportive as Lenore.

"You made her cry." Lucy noticed the tears in Bonnie's eyes.

"I can't help it." Bonnie wiped the tears away. "I cry over nothing these days." It was probably the pregnancy.

They all laughed.

"How is the witch community in the city?" Abby asked suddenly. "Since the Seer's demise…" It had been something she had wondered about. Something that worried her, she didn't want the witches to retaliate against her daughter.

"The French Coven is in chaos. Bastiana and Agnes were the last elders of the coven, without anyone to lead them they're lost." Lenore responded.

"What about the other covens?" Bonnie asked her. "What do they think?"

"I don't know." Lenore answered honestly. "The witches in New Orleans are divided into nine covens and while all follow the Ancestors, the covens operate on their own, practice different kinds of magic, and have different levels of power." More often than not, they had been rivals.

"But the Regent rules over all," Joanna intervened.

"The Regent is the Supreme witch, the one who keeps the peace and the living representation of the Ancestors will." Lenore explained. "She oversees all of the covens."

"What about the Algiers coven?" Lucy asked. "What's their take on everything that is going on in the city?"

"The Algiers coven is rather small compared to the other ones and we have always tried to fly under the radar." Lenore explained. "There have always been rivalries among the covens, many are happy about the French Quarter's demise. Others are worried, wondering who might be next."

"Do you think the other covens might try to hurt Bonnie?" Abby's worry was more than evident.

"Not that I'm aware of." Lenore answered honestly. She had not heard of any plots against Bonnie. She turned to Bonnie, a serious look on her face. "If you don't mind me asking…what do you and Klaus plan in regards to the city?"

"What do you mean?" Bonnie's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Are you and Klaus planning to take over New Orleans?" Lenore asked her.

Bonnie looked down at her mug. "I don't know." She answered truthfully. She and Klaus hadn't really talked about it. "We came here because of the Seer, she sent hunters after me and Sophie and her sister kidnapped me too." But the Seer was dead and the New Orleans coven had lost their magic. She looked up into Lenore's face. "Our main priority is to keep our children safe."

Lenore's gaze was scrutinizing. "Klaus ruled over this city once, he might want to take over again…" It was a rumor that had spread like wildfire throughout the Quarter. Since the ball everyone thought the Originals were back in town to take the city from Marcel. Many were eagerly waiting for that to happen.

"We haven't discussed that." Bonnie said quickly. Since the dinner they hadn't even spent that much together. They were both spending the majority of their time with their families.

"A word of advice," Lenore told her. "If you and Klaus do decide to take over, you should do everything in your power to get the witches on your side. The Tremé coven in particular."

"Why?" Lucy and Bonnie asked at the same time.

"The Tremé coven is the most powerful coven in New Orleans and one of their elders Vincent is also the future Regent," Lenore informed them. "Having them on your side would be very advantageous."

Bonnie nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." She and Klaus definitely needed to talk about that. _Did he want to take over New Orleans?_ Bonnie wondered.

A couple of minutes of silence followed as they all got lost in their own thoughts.

"Well," Lucy was the first to break the silence. "I think it's time we go over the details for tomorrow night.

* * *

Klaus walked with Mila as she showed him the cabins they had built around the Bayou. For the past few days he had been spending time with his werewolf family. Some of the wolves were still wary of him but they were slowly warming up to his presence. So far, his visits consisted of meeting the clan, their families, and learning about their daily lives. Nothing extraordinary.

"Wouldn't it be better to buy a house with land…" Klaus moved his gaze around the modest wood cabins. He didn't know how they could live like that, without the comforts of a modern home or any luxuries. While Klaus had known hardships growing up, since he became a vampire he had always lived like a king. With all the comforts and luxuries money could buy.

"We live simply," Mila told him. "And every time we have settled somewhere, we have to leave sooner or later. What's the point of buying houses when you can't grow old in them?"

"You've been persecuted."

"Our whole lives."

Klaus could relate to that. For a thousand years he had been hunted by his father, chased out of his favorite places again and again. "Anyone could attack you here." He muttered. Marcel had come after then already. He could come again as could others.

Mila walked towards the edge of the campsite. She got on her knees and dug her hands on the soil, right underneath one of the trees. She pulled a black crystal from the ground and showed it Klaus.

"Black Obsidian," the hybrid recognized.

"For protection," Mila told him. There were thirteen crystals scattered around the campsite. "A gift from a Gypsy witch." She buried the crystal once more on the ground before standing up. "When the vampires attacked we were still settling in. They caught us by surprise." A mistake that had cost them and that would not be repeated again. "Come on."

Klaus followed her.

He spotted Cary and a couple of other men arranging wooden tables in the center of the camp. Many of the women were gathered on another table chopping and preparing large quantities of food.

"Every full night we hunt as a pack," Mila said following his gaze. "But the night before is always a feast. We cook a nice meal, we drink, we laugh, share stories…" She watched him curiously. "It's family time."

"And you are more than welcome to join us, tonight." Ishmael said coming to stand beside him.

Klaus nodded. He wasn't particularly looking forward to it, but he had agreed to spend time with them.

"In the mean time," Ishmael spotted Charles coming towards them. "We need more ice."

"Excuse me?" Klaus raised an eyebrow when Charles pushed a portable cooler in his direction. _Who the hell did that fucking wolf think he was?_

"For the drinks," the wolf said. He glanced nervously in Ishmael's direction. He had warned him this was a bad idea.

"You're joking?" Klaus glared at both men.

"We don't have servants here." Ishmael told him. "We all do a bit of work every day and help each other out." There was a twinkle in his eyes. "Would you get us some ice please?"

Klaus's glare was lethal. "Is this your idea of spending time with the pack, ordering me around as if I were another lowly wolf?"

Mila and Charles took that as their cue to go.

Charles placed the portable cooler on the ground and followed Mila to the other side of the camp. Some of the other wolves turned their heads in Klaus's and Ishmael's direction, sensing the tension between both men.

"When I told you to come and spend time with us, I made it clear that you would be another wolf." Ishmael reminded him. "We all do our part. If you want to be one of us, you will do as we do."

"You're enjoying this." Klaus hissed.

Ishmael sighed. "Klaus-"

"I don't take orders from anyone." Klaus snapped. He turned ready to get the hell away from the stupid camp when Ishmael's laugh stopped him. Klaus turned back to look at the old man, a murderous look on his face. "If you think-"

"You remind me of me," Ishmael said with a smile. "That arrogance, that feeling of superiority, I was just like that." He shook his head. "When I was young, I used to feel like a king. I was the future Alpha of the pack. I deserved everyone's respect and adoration. Do you know what my father told me?"

"I suppose you are about to tell me," Klaus muttered angrily.

"He told me that if I wanted to lead one day, I had to learn how to follow orders first." His father had made sure to instill in him a sense of duty and humility. His father had taught him that he had to earn his place; that even Alphas had to prove themselves worthy of their pack. "I'm not trying to humiliate you Klaus."

"You could've fooled me." Klaus spat.

Ishmael shook his head. He grabbed the portable cooler from the ground. "Come on," he said. "We'll get the ice and then the drinks," he began walking without bothering to check if Klaus would follow. "And then we'll have a nice family time."

Klaus shook his head, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. And yet, despite not wanting to do any chores or follow anyone's orders, he found himself following the old Alpha. Deep down, Klaus wanted their approval and the cunning old man knew it.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Tyler's hand clenched around the wine glass, he had been invited to dine with Franco and his brother Luis. Finally, after days of waiting and wondering the moment had come. He was sitting right across from Franco Navarro.

The Alpha of the Navarro pack was intimidating. There was something in his dark eyes, something dangerous. He stared at Tyler as if he were trying to get inside his head and find out all his secrets.

Tyler felt on edge and yet he had not snapped or made a single biting remark. Klaus's compulsion was working smoothly and weirdly enough Tyler was glad. Without it, he didn't know how this dinner from hell would be going.

Franco had wasted no time. Before they had even been served; he had already started interrogating Tyler about his life in Mystic Falls and the Originals.

"So there is a weapon that can kill them," Franco muttered watching Tyler's face carefully from the rim of his glass.

"Yeah," Tyler looked at him directly in the eyes. "We found it and killed two of them with hit."

"And this weapon happened to be in Mystic Falls?" Luis asked with incredulity.

"It's where the family originated," Tyler told him.

"Do you have this weapon with you?" Franco asked intrigued.

"It was destroyed," Tyler lied with ease. "Turns out that Klaus is immune to it and when we tried to kill him it burst into flames and was destroyed." It was amazing how easy it was to lie. His face, his heartbeat, his body, it gave nothing away. Klaus had coached him perfectly. He knew exactly what he had to say.

"He's immune," Luis turned to his brother. They exchanged glances.

Franco stayed silent mulling over Tyler's words while Luis focused all of his attention back to the hybrid. "How did you even get close enough to try and kill, isn't he stronger than you?" his astute eyes bored into Tyler's.

 _A wolf can smell a lie a mile away_ , Klaus had told him. _You must believe every word that comes out of your mouth._

"I turned the pack against him." Tyler said. His voice was filled with sadness, regret, guilt. There had been no need to compel those emotions, those he felt every day. He had failed his pack. "I thought between all of us we could take him down…I wanted to be the Alpha…"

 _The best lies are those mixed with some truth_ …Klaus had said as he compelled Tyler to be his spy.

"He slaughtered the entire pack…" Tyler continued. "I ran like a coward…" his voice broke and he looked down ashamed of his actions. "I didn't want to die." He whispered.

"And you've been running ever since…" Franco concluded.

Tyler nodded.

"Klaus turned you into a monster like him. He murdered your mother and your friends…" Franco said studying Tyler's face. "Do you wish him dead Tyler?"

"If I could I would kill him with my bare hands." Tyler replied with conviction. In reality, he couldn't. Not only was the hybrid stronger but he had ensured that Tyler would not betray him.

"Good." Franco smiled.

It was a sinister kind of smile that put Tyler immediately on the alert. He waited for the wolf to say something else but instead Franco changed the subject.

"Tomorrow is the full moon," Franco said. "All the new wolves will be initiated and become members of our pack, yourself included."

Tyler nodded. "A simple test right?" He glanced briefly at Luis.

Luis chuckled. "Every wolf will have to prove his loyalty."

Tyler felt a strange sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, he didn't like the way both brothers were staring at him. They were planning something and Tyler knew he wasn't going to like it.

"I have a special mission for you Tyler," Franco said mysteriously. "I hope you are up to the challenge."

Tyler opened his mouth ready to ask more but Franco stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"You will know tomorrow." He said. His eyes gleamed with a strange kind of emotion. "Succeed in this mission Tyler and I promise you…you will be rewarded." _Fail and you will die_ was left unsaid.

Tyler swallowed nervously.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

It was well after midnight when Klaus returned to the plantation. He could begrudgingly admit he had a nice meal with the wolves. The food has been great, and they even had decent wine. But perhaps his favorite part had been afterwards, when they all had sat by the fire and Ishmael and the other elders told tales of ancient wolves. He was no stranger to werewolf lore but the tales Ishmael told were entertaining and different from anything he had ever heard before.

The children had sat eagerly listening, delighted by the stories of Fenrir, the mythical wolf that gave rise to their species. Klaus had felt like a child, remembering when they had done the same thing in their village.

It was strange but spending the day at the werewolf camp had given him a sense of calm. It was very peculiar considering the next day was a full moon. During this time, Klaus usually felt murderous and blood thirsty but instead he felt rather at peace. The wolf seemed calm, content. No doubt it felt happy to have spent the day among his own kind.

He was surprised to find the lights on when he stepped inside the bedroom. In the week since the dinner, he usually arrived by the time Bonnie was already sleep. She had been preparing with her cousins for the summoning spell and probably fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. But not tonight.

Bonnie was sitting on the bed writing furiously on a journal with a blue feather quill. There were other Grimoires scattered on their bed around her.

Klaus watched her from the doorway for a few seconds before making his way towards the bed and sitting right next to her legs.

"Oh my god!" Bonnie looked up startled. "I didn't feel you come in," she said with a nervous laugh.

"No, you were entranced by the journal." Klaus murmured. They had rarely spent any time together in the past few days. The few moments they had been together however, there had been some sort of tension between them, he couldn't really explain it. Since their fight, things between them had been slightly off.

"It's my Grimoire," Bonnie told him with a smile. "My mom made it for me, and she gave me this magic quill too." She showed him the blue feathered object. "It's amazing. The writing comes out perfect and neat and the best part, it doesn't need any ink." She gushed. She felt like a kid on Christmas morning after opening her presents.

Klaus smiled. She looked so beautiful and delicate in her light pink nightgown. Her eyes were bright and there was a softness to her features, a glow on her face and beaming smile. She radiated light. She looked otherworldly.

"You've seen this kind of things before haven't you?" Bonnie asked.

"I have."

Bonnie put the quill down. "Mom says it's a family tradition."

Klaus stared at the journal on her lap and read the first few sentences she had written. "A potion?" he asked curiously.

"A special mixture for the babies," Bonnie said sheepishly. "It's an old family recipe."

"Our children have vampire blood in their system I'm sure they'll be born healthy."

"This will help too." Bonnie took his hand in hers and studied his face. "How was your day with the wolves?"

"Ishmael thinks I need to learn how to follow orders before I can lead." Klaus muttered with a scowl. "He took perverse pleasure in ordering me around. I got ice and drinks and even helped set up the tables for the family meal."

"Awww you poor baby," Bonnie said with mock sympathy. "It must've been exhausting." She couldn't contain her giggles.

"Very funny," Klaus glared at her.

"You're the Original Hybrid," Bonnie pointed out. "Lifting a couple of tables or getting some drinks it's not going to kill you." When Klaus didn't say anything she told him about her day. "I mixed potions with my mom in the morning and met Lenore in the afternoon. She seems nice, she definitely wants to help, she actually mentioned something that I hadn't thought ab-"

Bonnie gasped when Klaus dip his head towards her neck and nibbled lightly on her skin. She moaned as sucked the sensitive flesh of her neck. It was like she was a candle who had suddenly been lit. The fire, the desire that exploded inside her was overpowering.

With one hand Klaus pushed the Grimoire off her lap and with the other he palmed her breast while pushing her body back against the pillows.

"Klaus-" Bonnie placed her hands on his shoulder, fingers digging into his shirt.

His lips sealed any protest from her.

It had been far too long since they kissed and touched like this. _God! How she had missed him_. Bonnie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back fiercely, their tongues meeting in an all too familiar dance.

One of Klaus's hand disappeared underneath he silky material of her nightgown. He caressed the soft skin of her thigh before moving to her most intimate place. His fingers brushed against her center. Bonnie shivered as he pressed his fingers against her already moist panties.

Klaus grinned breaking the kiss to take off his clothes. He threw his shirt somewhere on the floor and stood up to pull his pants off.

Bonnie's eyes flew open. "We can't." She bit her lip nervously, struggling to contain the heat inside her body and quench her growing desire.

Klaus gave her an incredulous look. "You're joking?"

Bonnie shook her head. She could feel his confusion, frustration, and his anger through the bond.

"It's been a week," Klaus groaned in frustration.

"I know." The last time they had tried to indulge in any sexy time they had ended up fighting. Bonnie was definitely not going to bring that up now. Her dream was still a source of tension between them.

"Why don't you want-" Klaus began.

"Trust me. I want to." Bonnie interrupted before he got any crazy ideas. "It's part of the summoning spell." She explained staring into his eyes. "My body, mind, and soul have to be clean for twenty-four hours before the spell." She had blushed like a school girl when Joanna had told her she couldn't have sex for at least twenty-four hours before doing the spell. "I must also do only earthly magic and take this bath with herbs and flowers to cleanse my body of any impurities."

"I'm surprised being a virgin is not one of the requirements." Klaus muttered.

Bonnie snorted and gave him a look. "It's so that my body and magic can be in harmony." It was the beliefs of her ancestors and Bonnie had to respect them. "According to Joanna, our ancestors believed that abstaining from sex made spell casting stronger. Some went as far as to believe that if a witch lost her virginity she would lose her magic completely." She had learned many interesting things about magic folklore from Joanna.

"I've heard of such tales," Klaus chuckled. For a time, Kol had made it his mission to deflower as many witches as he could and prove to them their mother's warnings were nothing more than rubbish. He took a seat on the edge of the bed and regarded Bonnie carefully. "Now that I think about it, if we have daughters that's exactly what I'm telling them."

"You wouldn't?" Bonnie laughed at the idea of telling their daughters those kinds of tales.

"Oh, I would." He seemed deathly serious. "But our twins are boys, so I won't have to worry about that." He seemed so certain about the twins gender.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Don't get your hopes up," she warned. She didn't want him to be disappointed if their twins turned out to be girls.

"The odds are in my favor love," Klaus smirked.

Bonnie only shook her head.

Silence descended over them.

"Tomorrow after the summoning spell..." Klaus murmured staring at her with intensity. It was a promise.

Bonnie had to look away. If she didn't, she would jump on him and throw Joanna's instructions to the wind. She gasped when she felt Klaus's fingertips on her cheek.

Klaus turned her face so she would face him once more. "I must warn you Bonnie," he whispered seductively. His touch was electrifying, his eyes mesmerizing. "I'm not going to let you out of this bed for a very long time."

"Yes," Bonnie agreed, remembering their passion on the last full moon. She was more than ready. She wanted it, as much as he did.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Long after Tyler had left. Franco and Luis remained seated in the dining room.

"Do you believe him?" Franco asked nursing a glass of scotch.

"He seemed sincere," Luis murmured taking a sip of his own drink. "But I don't trust him." He didn't know why but he felt like Tyler hadn't been completely honest with them.

"I don't trust him either," Franco replied. But he would know soon whether Tyler was being truthful or not. He had a plan ready to set in motion.

"We could use the vampire girl," Luis suggested. "If he knows we have her…"

"He'll find out soon enough," Franco told him. "Tyler will know that Caroline is in our possession before I sent him on his mission." Caroline was the leverage he would use to ensure Tyler did as he was told.

"Are you sure?" Luis questioned. "Not only is it a risky move but-"

"Are you questioning my authority?" Franco snapped. He didn't like it when people questioned him.

Luis sighed. "I'm your brother. It's my duty to let you know when I think your plan might not work."

"That's the only reason why I haven't ripped your head off." Franco muttered darkly. Anyone else who had dared questioned him would be dead. His brothers were the only exception, even though sometimes Isaac really tested that bond. "You have nothing to worry about brother. I know what I'm doing."

There was a knock on the door.

"Are we expecting more guests?" Luis asked with a frown.

Franco stood up, a wolfish grin on his face. "Come in."

The Traveler couple, Julian and Maria came inside the room. The woman was carrying a wooden box in her hands.

"You came just in time," Franco told them without bothering to greet them.

"We took more blood from the doppelganger," Maria said smiling. "And we also brought you what you asked."

"Excellent," Franco took the wooden box from her hands.

"These herbs are not easy to come by," Julian said as Franco deposited the box on the dining room table right in front of his brother. "Witches don't even sell them in the black market."

"And yet you found them in such short notice." Franco opened the box.

Luis stood up and stared at the open box with curiosity.

"We grow them," Maria explained. "They come in handy when battling witches." The herbs had saved their lives many times.

"What is it?" Luis asked. The herbs were blackish in color but the tips of the leaves had yellow. He had never seen such a strange plant.

"Magic muting herbs." Julian informed him.

Luis looked into his brother's face with a look of realization.

Franco smiled. "These are the only known herbs to suppress a witch's magic." Vampires were weakened by vervain, werewolves by wolfsbane and witches had these herbs to fear. They were extremely rare, not many people knew about them.

"Mixed them with moonflower and believe me, even the most cunning of witches will be rendered powerless." Maria said smirking.

"That is precisely what I want." Franco whispered as he inspected the herbs.

"Will it be permanent?" Luis asked them.

"The effect will last for as long as it's on her bloodstream," Julian answered.

"Who's the unlucky witch you plan to use this on?" Maria asked Franco. She felt genuinely curious.

"None of your business," Franco replied harshly. He shut the lid on the box and stared at the couple. "You can go now."

Maria and Julian nodded. They knew better than to anger the Alpha of Alphas. They exited the room quietly and quickly. They still had a lot more spells to do with the doppelganger's blood anyway.

Still, Maria couldn't help but wonder about the witch Franco planned to use the herbs on.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

 **The next night…**

Klaus arrived at the camp after sunset. He felt on edge and as much as he hated to admitted it, nervous. He had only shifted into a wolf twice in his life. The first time had been one thousand years ago, on the night of his first kill. The night the entire family discovered Esther's treachery.

His bones had started breaking and the shift happened before he could even understand what was happening.

Elijah had found Klaus the next morning, naked, shaking, and covered in blood. It had been horrible. To learn that he was the bastard of the family, that he was not Mikael's son. He had turned into a monster and murdered six villagers without even knowing while his siblings were not afflicted by the same curse.

It was devastating, humiliating, and the knowledge that he had turned into the thing that had murdered his younger brother Henrik…that had been the worst part. He had felt so much fear, shame, and guilt. One thousand years later, and Klaus still felt guilty and ashamed. Henrik had been innocent, Henrik had been murdered and he hadn't been able to save him.

Klaus never had the time to explore that side of him or to come to terms with it. For the next full moon his mother had cursed him, locking away his werewolf side for one thousand years. Over the centuries he had learned about werewolves, he had seen many, killed a bunch too. He had also learned that unlike his siblings he was immune to their venom. But he had never been able to explore that side of him.

The second time he had turned had been the night he broke his curse. It had happened without a thought. The shift had been automatic. His wolf had finally broken free. Once the spell had taken effect, there was no stopping it.

It had been such a different experience.

Klaus had stayed in wolf form for almost two days. He had run free. He had hunted, and taken his fill. But he had never dared to do that again.

Now that the sun had set, Klaus could feel it. The wolf inside him yearned to be free, it was fighting to take over and run wild with his pack mates.

The wolves went deeper into the Bayou, away from the campsite. There were many who had not broken their curse yet and many children as well who remained inside the camp.

"Remember we stick together and hunt as one," Ishmael's voice was loud and clear. "If you see one of the young ones stray, bring them back."

Klaus stood at the back, a few feet away from all of them. He watched silently, curiously. The last time he had witness people from this pack shift had been with Henrik, and that had ended in blood. He swallowed the lump on his throat and pushed down the memories of his younger brother's death.

There was strange energy in the air. There was excitement, anticipation, and even hints of fear.

The wolves began to undress. Some of the women moved behind the trees, to preserve their modesty, others undressed without shame alongside the men.

One dark haired girl in particular stared directly at Klaus as she got out of her dress. Her face was rather ordinary but the womanly curves had many of the men salivating with desire. Klaus ignored her.

"It's a invitation." Cary said as he came to stand beside him.

"An invitation?" Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"To find her tomorrow after shifting back and you know..." Cary trailed off, letting Klaus take the hint. "In our wolf forms we thirst for blood, once we shift back, there is only one thing in our minds."

Sex

Klaus knew that well. He thought of Bonnie and the way he had claimed her on the last full moon. His little witch was currently preparing for the summoning spell. The night before he had not been able to take her but tonight after the summoning...he felt the stirrings of desire inside him. The need to seek her out and claim her. He needed to put Bonnie out of his head if he wanted to keep the wolf in check.

"Are you going to shift?" Klaus asked turning to Cary.

Cary placed his hands inside the pockets of his jeans, the ring Esther had created for Ansel dangled around his neck. "I figure I would keep you company."

"I don't need a babysitter," Klaus snapped angrily.

"You could use a friend," Cary mumbled under his breath.

Klaus opened his mouth but Ishmael's voice stopped him.

"Are you going to join us?" The Alpha asked. All eyes turned to Klaus. The wolves waited to see what he would decide.

Before Klaus could answer, the wolves sank to their knees as their bones began breaking.

"It's time," Cary murmured as he looked up into the sky. The full moon was clearly visible against the cloudless sky.

There were some whimpers and moans of pain. The newer wolves in particular cried as the shift took place.

Klaus watched mesmerized as the bones broke and the human flesh turned to fur. It happened in a matter of seconds, a minute perhaps but for many of the wolves it was an eternity.

Klaus and Cary found themselves surrounded by wolves.

The vampire in him growled and felt threatened. The wolf in him wanted to break free, to join his pack mates. Once again, Klaus felt torn between both of his natures. It was a constant war, an endless struggle.

His eyes glowed amber and his nails elongated for a few seconds before he shuddered and locked that part of him again.

Cary watched him curiously. The hybrid's face was red and his body trembled uncontrollably. He was struggling.

Klaus opened his eyes when he heard a loud howl. It was Ishmael, he knew. The grey wolf with blue eyes gave him one last look before he took off deeper into the Bayou, the pack followed after their Alpha.

"They have more control than regular wolves," Klaus realized. His voice sounded strained. He was still struggling to control the beast inside of him.

"It has taken time but we have managed," Cary said softly. "Our elders made a promise to be different. They didn't want to continue to be savage killers, to hurt innocents…" he lost his gaze in the darkness. "We can't control the shift or most of our actions in wolf form. But when we hunt as a pack it's easier, we're connected somehow…it's hard to explain but it keeps us grounded."

They fell silent after that. From time to time they heard the wolves' howling in the distance.

Cary shifted nervously and regarded Klaus's face carefully. "Why don't you want to shift?" he asked in whisper.

Klaus shrugged. He could give a thousand reasons and plenty of excuses but the truth, the nasty, shameful truth was simple. Klaus was afraid. Klaus fucking Mikaelson, the vampire all others feared was terrified of that alien part of himself. That side of him he still distrusted and struggled with.

He was afraid of the beast inside him, afraid of what it would mean to unleash it. Klaus was afraid that he would lose himself in the wolf and never be the same again.

* * *

Half an hour before midnight Bonnie, Joanna, Lucy, and Lenore, gathered outside the forest surrounding the plantation house.

Joanna drew a pentagram with salt on the ground while Lucy placed a quartz crystal on each of the tips.

Lenore walked around the area, a bundle of burning sage in her hands. She was cleansing and purifying the place before Bonnie could begin the spell.

Bonnie for her part went over the spell in her head for the last time. She had been practicing with Joanna for the past week but she repeated the spell a few times in her head just to be safe.

She wore a white flowing Greek style gown and she was barefooted too. Her skin felt soft and new and it was engulfed with the scent of the herbs and flowers she had put in her bath.

"Are you ready?" Joanna asked.

"I am."

Taking a deep breath Bonnie walked towards the pentagram. She stood right in the middle. Joanna, Lucy, and Lenore stood outside of it, watching her.

Bonnie met Joanna's eyes.

"Remember what we talked about," Joanna murmured.

Bonnie nodded. She had to call upon the elements first. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

Lightning flashed across the sky and a strong gust of wind rustled the trees around them.

The ground trembled as a ripple of power moved underneath the soil.

The quartz crystals at the tip of the pentagram burst into flames.

"This is it," Lenore whispered. She, Joanna, and Lucy held hands and watched as Bonnie started the summoning spell. They felt nervous, excited, and even a little afraid. This was a defining moment.

Bonnie stared at her left hand. Her magic slashed a single line across her palm. She hissed in pain and had to use her magic to stop the skin from healing. She needed to drop her blood onto the salt.

"Witches of the Bennett bloodline," Bonnie said clearly as the drops of her blood began to fall onto the salt at her feet. "I call upon you on this the witching hour."

The wind increased, thunder rumbled across the sky, and the fire of the crystals shot up high.

"Mothers, daughters, sisters," Bonnie continued with her eyes closed as more blood dropped to the ground.

"I call upon you on this my darkest hour.

I seek thee,

I beseech thee,

I summon thee,

I command thee,

I, Bonnie Sheila Bennett, your leader, your queen, I order thee to come to me."

The pentagram of salt turned a crimson color, drenched with Bonnie's blood before it erupted in flames, engulfing her completely.

Lucy gasped and took a step forward, afraid for Bonnie's safety.

"She's fine." Joanna murmured squeezing her hand and stopping her. "She's fine."

Bonnie's green eyes opened and she stared at the moon. The flames covered her in a cocoon of power, but it did not burn her, her magic couldn't hurt her.

She could feel them, all of them.

The first Bennett witches she felt were the three women close to her, Joanna, Lucy, and Lenore. Bonnie could feel their presence, their magic, their blood singing to her, responding to her call.

But there were others, so many others. In that moment Bonnie was connected to all of them. She could feel them, she could see their faces, and see flashes of their lives. The women who shared her blood, her legacy, her power.

An elegantly dressed woman sitting inside a church in Rhode Island, a bible in her hands as she said her prayers …

 _Vivian,_ a voice whispered in Bonnie's head.

A nurse in the same city, using her magic to help her patients…

 _Adriane_

A young bride posing happily with her husband in an exotic beach resort…

 _Cecily_

A single mom living in New York with her two sons, working all day long and studying at night…

 _Marie_

A tall exotic beauty with gorgeous viridian eyes, a model who had taken Paris by storm…

 _Cleo_

A brave and determined young photographer risking her life in war torn Syria…

 _Scarlett_

A leather-clad femme fatale with fire in her hands, who just incinerated a group of five vampires with a wave of her power.

 _Kyra_

An orphan girl living in the streets of California, she knew how to fight with her hands and the little bit of magic she had learned on her own…

 _Sofia_

A determined and fierce lawyer walking inside a courtroom…

 _Octavia_

A dimpled, chubby little girl with messy brown curls and a missing tooth fighting furiously with her twin sister. The two wanted to play with the same toy.

 _Andrea & Sylvie _

A nun in Spain, praying softly and holding a rosary in her hands…

 _Teresa_

A beautiful and elegant lady wearing a yellow dress and matching headwrap, she held a snake in her hands as she chanted under her breath. The room was filled with magic and power, so much power.

 _Amina_

There were others, all women, all powerful...

Tears spilled down Bonnie's cheeks as she saw their faces, as she caught glimpses of their lives. Her relatives, her coven, her family…It was incredible, it was amazing, to be connected to all of them at once.

* * *

From the porch Abby watched the swirling of power in the forest. She couldn't see Bonnie, the trees obstructed her view but she could feel the magic in the air. She could feel the incredible power coming from the forest. The magic that surrounded the property was ancient, powerful, and familiar. Her heart constricted. She was so close and so out of reach.

Elijah stood a few feet away from her, his gaze lost in the thundering sky. His skin itched, his vampire instincts alerting him to the powerful display of magic close to him.

Matt sat on a bench, Rebekah on his lap. The two watched the sky which was illuminated every few seconds with lightning. The hairs on Matt's arms stood up and slight shiver ran down his spine. Even as a human he could feel the electric current of power in the air. He held Rebekah closer.

Not far from them, Angelica stood watching as well. The hybrid pack had gone hunting and Klaus was with his werewolf family. So the group waited together as Bonnie did the summoning spell.

"Why aren't you there?" Rebekah asked suddenly as she turned to face Abby. The vampire had been spending a lot of time with Bonnie recently. She had expected Abby to be with her daughter in this moment.

Abby was jolted out of her thoughts by the surprising question. She pressed her lips together and glanced at Rebekah before answering. "I can't be part of the coven." She murmured looking down at her hands.

"Why not?" Rebekah questioned. She was genuinely curious.

Elijah gave her a look. Rebekah shrugged. It's not like she was insulting the woman, she was just asking a question.

"I'm not a witch anymore," Abby replied in a small voice.

"But you're a Bennett," Matt said gently.

Abby smiled sadly. "My blood has been tainted by my vampirism…" a lump formed in her throat. "I can't be part of the coven, not now, not ever." She was the first Bennett witch to have been turned into a vampire. If she had chosen to die and gone to the other side, she would still be part of the coven in death but she had turned. From the moment she had transitioned into a vampire, she had ceased to be part of the Bennett coven. To many she had ceased to be part of their bloodline.

"I'm really sorry," Angelica murmured. Abby looked up startled. "I can only imagine how hard it must be for you." To not only lose her magic but to be shunned by her coven because of her new nature.

Abby nodded.

"I was a witch too," Rebekah said.

Angelica and Abby both turned to look at the blonde with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

"Did you know how to use your magic?" Matt asked his girlfriend.

"I knew many spells and enchantments," Rebekah told him with a grin and glint in her eyes. "I once threatened to turn Finn into a toad."

Elijah chuckled at the memory.

"Did you?" Matt could only imagine a younger human Rebekah threatening her older brother.

"No. But Kol did give him a rat tail once."

"You all had magic?" Angelica was rather intrigued. She had not known that the Originals had magic as humans.

"We did," Elijah murmured. "Father never allowed his sons to practice, he believed witchcraft to be a woman's art. He wanted his sons to be warriors not witches." There was a hint of anger and resentment as he spoke of his father.

"Kol found a way though," Rebekah added. "He was always fascinated by magic."

A strange look crossed Matt's face. He shivered.

"What's wrong?" Rebekah asked tracing his cheek.

"I don't know…" He muttered. "Hearing you talk about Kol gave a weird feeling."

Rebekah frowned. "What kind of feeling?"

Matt shrugged. "I don't know…like I'm forgetting something about him." It was very odd. He felt like he knew something important about Kol but he couldn't remember what it was.

Elijah and Angelica gave him curious looks while a thoughtful look crossed Abby's face. She stared a Matt's face for a few seconds before glancing at the ring on his finger.

* * *

Bonnie's entire body thrummed with power. Images of the different women who shared her blood flashed before her eyes. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

From the ground, shots of white light began emerging.

"What is that?" Lenore muttered as the white lights began to take shape.

Lucy's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open as she recognized one of those shadowy white figures. "Mama!" she squeezed her mother's hand.

Joanna cried upon seeing the ghostly figure of her daughter. "Natalie!"

She wasn't the only one; slowly one by one the shadowy lights took human form.

"It was about time."

Bonnie gasped as she stared at the ghostly figure of Emily Bennett. "What-" Bonnie wiped the tears from her face and looked around the forest.

Shock...surprise...disbelief...

The flames on the pentagram had died down, strong currents of power filled the air, and Bonnie found herself surrounded by the shadow white figures of dozens, no, hundreds of women.

"You summoned us," an elderly woman with a kind smile answered her unspoken question.

"You're Amelia Bennett," Bonnie recognized her immediately. She had seen her in Gram's photo album.

"I am." She was Bonnie's great grandmother.

Bonnie smiled before she looked desperately around the many faces, trying to find the one she wanted to see the most.

"I'm right here child."

Bonnie turned around startled. "Grams…" there she was. Her beloved grandmother.

Sheila Bennett walked closer, until she was standing right in front of Bonnie.

"You're here…you're really here…" Bonnie whispered. She could see her, even if she was a ghostly figure, Bonnie could see her.

"I am," Sheila smiled. "You did it Bonnie. You summoned the coven." After centuries it had finally happened. The Bennett coven being summoned was the first step and the beginning of a new era. "I'm so proud of you."

"We all are," The woman next to Sheila said.

Bonnie felt like she knew her, there was something so familiar about her. "Ayana," she breathed in awe. The woman the Originals considered a second mother.

Ayana smiled. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Bonnie."

"The honor is mine." Bonnie said. She looked around the many faces, women who had lived and died in different centuries, all sharing her blood and staring at her.

Bonnie spotted Lucy and Joanna tearfully talking to a teenage girl. Natalie was her name, she was Lucy's younger sister. While Lenore was whispering happily with three other women, her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother, Bonnie knew. She didn't know how she knew that. But she did. "All of you…" she whispered.

"We're your family," one of them said. "We are your blood, your coven."

"I wish I could hug you…" Bonnie said tearfully as she stared at her Grams again. She was desperate to hug her, to feel that warmth, that safety only her Grams could provide.

"Why don't you?" Sheila said, extending her ghostly hand towards Bonnie.

Bonnie reached out with her own hand. They placed their palms against each other and the moment they touched there was sizzling sound, a spark of power.

Bonnie's eyes went wide as her grandmother's ghostly figure took a solid form. "Oh my god!"

Her Grams grinned and opened her arms wide.

Bonnie wasted no time in embracing her.

She held her Grams in a tight and fierce hug. She was afraid to let her go. "How?" she whispered as she looked up into her face.

"It's temporary," Sheila didn't want her to get her hopes up. She cupped her cheek with one hand. "You are the queen of this coven Bonnie. You have the power to do this and more, so much more."

Bonnie cried and smiled. She felt so happy. She didn't want this moment to end.

"How lovely," a mocking voice said.

Bonnie pulled away from her grandmother and turned to see the figure that emerged from the crowd.

The spirits of her ancestors parted like the sea as a tall, beautiful woman wearing a flowing gown and a small crown on her head made her way towards them. "As much as I would like to continue with his charming reunion," she looked around the group with contempt. "I would like to go back now." She looked directly into Bonnie's eyes. "Send me back," she ordered in a cold and authoritarian voice.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lucy demanded, not liking the woman's tone or attitude.

The woman ignored her as she continued to stare at Bonnie.

Emily scowled and rolled her eyes while Ayana shook her head in disappointment.

"I am not going to ask you again Bonnie, send me back."

Bonnie glared at the woman and straightened her posture. "No."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Do you have any idea who you are dealing with _child_?" she hissed angrily.

Joanna, Lucy, and Lenore moved closer towards Bonnie. All the witches could feel the tension in the air.

"This is bad," one of them muttered.

"I know exactly who you are," Bonnie said to the witch as she walked towards her until they were standing face to face. She was taller than Bonnie and made quite the imposing figure but Bonnie was not going to be intimidated. "It's nice to meet you Qetsiyah."

The oldest known witch of the Bennett bloodline and the youngest witch of said bloodline stood face to face. Two thousand years apart, two very different women, two potent auras threatening to explode.

"Are you challenging me?" Qetsiyah spat, her eyes lit up with rage. She was used to getting her way. She was the oldest witch on the other side, the one who created it. She was used to giving orders and have people bent backwards for her.

"I summoned you here." Bonnie replied lifting her chin and staring at her ancestor without fear. "You will leave when I order you to."

There was only one leader in the Bennett family, one queen of the coven. The one who had power over the living and the dead Bennett witches. And her name was,

Bonnie Bennett.

* * *

 _A/N: The magic muting herbs have been used on the show before, I believe Abby used them on Bonnie once. Maria and Julian appeared in TVD season 5 with the other Travelers, they're husband and wife._

 _Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing, see you next time!_


	31. Chapter 31

**Thank-you so much for all your amazing and wonderful reviews! This chapter is a bit long but I hope you like it. Enjoy!**

* * *

"You have a lot of nerve," Qetsiyah spat angrily as she fulminated Bonnie with her gaze.

"I'm not sending you back, not yet." Bonnie stood her ground. She would not be intimated by her ancestor.

The Bennett witches gathered around her, looked back and forth between both women. They all felt the tension in the air. They felt the two powerful auras pressing against each other, ready to explode on command.

"She's the queen of our coven, Qetsiyah." Ayana reminded her softly. "Whether you like it or not, you have been summoned and you will obey our queen's command."

The other witches nodded. They all agreed with Ayana. Bonnie had summoned the Bennett coven, it was the reason they were here. They were bound to serve and obey their queen. Those were the sacred laws of their ancient line.

"The mighty Bennett coven," Qetsiyah laughed as she looked around the witches gathered in the forest. "What a pathetic lot you are."

"Such arrogance," Emily snapped. "You have spent two thousand years pinning after the man that betrayed you, locked away in that cave of yours. You are nothing more than a spiteful and bitter woman."

"Watch your tongue." Qetsiyah glared turning towards her. "You are no better than me. You spent your life as a servant to that doppelganger and what did you get out of it?" She laughed. "You were killed for your stupidity. What does it feel like to be burned?"

Emily took a step forward, a murderous look on her face.

"Don't listen to her," another witch got in the way. "She's saying that to provoke you."

Qetsiyah turned to her, "And what is your greatest accomplishment Ernestine?" her eyes glinted with malice, "you got yourself killed, another Bennett that met her end by her own doing."

Ernestine opened her mouth.

"That's enough!" Bonnie interrupted looking between Qetsiyah, Ernestine, and Emily. "I didn't bring you here to fight," she told them. "I summoned you here because the Bennett coven will be formed once more. We're family we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves."

"She's right," Ayana agreed. "We are at war and the only way we are going to win, is if we work together."

"Your war, not mine," Qetsiyah hissed. "All because of you." She turned to Bonnie then, looking her up and down with disdain, "pregnant by a hybrid. My, my, my, you have outdone us all."

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"You should at least try and help us with the darkness," Ernestine muttered angrily.

"What's the darkness?" Lucy asked curiously. She had not missed the way her sister had stiffened upon Ernestine's words.

Bonnie also noticed the strange looks and nervous postures of her family members. She turned to her grandmother, "what's going on, Grams?"

Sheila and Ayana exchanged looks.

"We don't know for sure," Grams told her. "For some time now there is this void, this darkness that sweeps through the other side sucking the supernaturals right into it." They didn't know how it came to be or why, the only thing they knew was that somehow the darkness could not hurt them.

"Is it a portal?" Lenore suggested. _Was the darkness sucking the dead supernaturals to another plane?_

"Much worst," Amelia replied. "It destroys them." She shuddered as she remembered the vampires and werewolves that had been destroyed by the darkness. Even a witch or two had fallen prey to it. The only exception so far had been the Bennett witches. They were not only left untouched by the void consuming the other side but they could also fight it.

"But you are dead," Lenore said softly. "How can it hurt you?" She turned to look at her mother and grandmother.

"It can't hurt us," Natalie was the one to reply. "The darkness can't touch the women of our line." She gave her mother a reassuring look.

Joanna and Lucy still looked worried though.

"For now at least," a tall and beautiful woman murmured. She was standing close to Ayana. Her long braided black hair hung over her left shoulder. She looked regal with her dark red dress. When she noticed Bonnie's eyes on her, she smiled and nodded.

"Alina," Bonnie whispered quietly. "You're Ayana's daughter." And she had three daughters of her own. Bonnie could name them all, as well as her granddaughters. Somehow she knew the names of all the witches gathered around her. Maybe it was because she was their queen and had summoned them here. She knew them. It felt like she had always known them.

"I am," Alina replied smiling.

"It feels like I've met you before…all of you," Bonnie said turning to look at women surrounding her, her family, her coven. It was almost like she knew everything about them.

"You summoned the Bennett coven and until the spell wears off, you are connected to all of us," Alina told her. "That's how you know us, even if you've never met us until now."

Bonnie nodded. That made sense. She smiled in the witch's direction before she turned to her Grams once more. "It can't hurt you but it's attacking the others." A gasp escaped her lips as she thought of something. "Matt's sister-"

"She's fine." Grams assured her. "I check on her from time to time." They had done their best to warn the supernaturals on the other side and of course to fight the darkness that seemed to grow with each passing day.

"Kol," Bonnie remembered as well. Klaus and his siblings would want to know if their brother was okay.

"He's fine. I'm keeping him safe," Ayana informed her. Kol had been attacked by the void but he was fine now. Ayana had healed him. She always kept a watchful eye on him.

Qetsiyah rolled her eyes. "Protecting vampires…" she shook her head. "Fools is what you all are."

"Why don't you tell us more about the other side," an elegantly dressed woman said. "You created it. You must know what's going on. What this darkness is, how it came to be?" She stared at Qetsiyah unflinchingly, challenging her to answer.

 _Pauline Bennett_ , Bonnie realized.

"I have no idea what's going on," Qetsiyah replied angrily.

"I find that hard to believe," Pauline muttered.

"You know more," Bonnie murmured staring at Qetsiyah. "You know more than you're telling." She felt certain that Qetsiyah was lying when she said she had no idea what was going on.

"Do I?" Qetsiyah raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Enough with your games!" Sheila exclaimed. "Why are you refusing to help us?" When the darkness had first appeared they had tried to contact Qetsiyah about it but the woman refused to speak with them, choosing to stay in her cave.

"Don't you care that your family is in danger?" Amelia asked.

Bonnie was struck by how similar Grams and her mother were. Their posture, their mannerisms, they were very much alike.

"All she cares about is that stupid Silas," Natalie muttered crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Qetsiyah.

Everyone knew that Qetsiyah spent her time in her cave with Silas. From the moment the once immortal had landed on the other side Qetsiyah had taken him there. What she did with him there, no one wanted to know but the few times they had ventured close enough to her dwell, they had heard Silas anguished screams.

"If you created the other side, then you must know a way to stop this darkness," Joanna said to Qetsiyah. "Don't you worry that it can turn against you?"

"I created the other side, nothing can hurt me there," Qetsiyah snapped with confidence. She truly believed she was immune to the darkness.

Bonnie studied her face carefully, "so you don't know what this darkness is or how it can be stopped?" She didn't want that thing to hurt her Grams.

"I don't."

"You're lying," Bonnie hissed. She was getting really tired of her ancestor's attitude.

"Listen," Qetsiyah began. "I-"

"You will tell us everything you know and you will do it now," Bonnie interrupted. She was not going to be playing her games. She knew she didn't have much time with them. The summoning spell would eventually wear off and the Bennett witches would have to return to the other side. She had to take advantage of the little time she had with them.

Qetsiyah's eyes narrowed. "If you think-"

"As your queen, I command you." Bonnie ordered pinning Qetsiyah with her gaze. The magic in the air crackled with electricity. "Start talking."

Qetsiyah gasped as she felt Bonnie's command resonate in her blood. She tried to fight it, she did, but she couldn't. She was a powerful witch, the oldest witch on the other side but at the end of the day, she was dead. She was bound by the ancient laws of their sacred line.

The queen had given an order and much to her displeasure, Qetsiyah had no choice but to obey.

* * *

Klaus and Cary followed the werewolf pack through the Bayou.

Klaus shuddered as another howl penetrated the silence of the night. It almost felt like a call, like each howl was an invitation to join them. The closer Klaus got to them, the stronger the need to shift was. It was a struggle to keep the wolf in check, to deny his instincts and lock the door on that part of him that was so desperate to get out. It was so tempting but he kept fighting the beast inside. He couldn't lose control. He didn't know what would happen if he gave into the wolf's desire.

And yet, he couldn't seem to stop following them. Klaus watched them as they ran together through the Bayou, seeking their prey. He had never seen a pack that was so in sync with each other.

Werewolves tended to get lost in the bloodlust, in the need to hunt, to devour. Ishmael and his pack however, seemed to be much more in control than any other wolves Klaus had seen before.

Far from the ferocious beasts that only thirsted for blood, these wolves were attuned to each other's presence and movements. It was almost as if they could understand and communicate with each other. When one of the young ones fell behind, two, three, sometimes four of the other wolves would help them get back in the fold. There was a sense of unity, a bond between all of them.

It was fascinated to see. Klaus had seen them in dreams, hunted with them in spirit, but to actually watch them… it was alluring, it was comforting, it was right. It felt right to be here with them.

 _Join them_ , his wolf urged. _They are your blood, your pack, join them_.

The vampire part of him did everything in its power to suppress the wolf, to continue with his dominance over Klaus's psyche. But the longer Klaus watched the wolves, the longer he remained in the Bayou, the stronger the need to shift and join his pack became.

Cary followed him at a much slower pace. He glanced in the hybrid's direction from time to time. He could feel it, the wolf inside Klaus was edging close, it was surfacing, slowly but surely. Klaus continued to be in denial but Cary could feel it. It was happening. The wolf inside the hybrid was breaking free. He couldn't help but feel excited and even a little fearful of what tonight would bring. Of what it would mean for the pack, if Klaus finally shifted and embraced his destiny.

Another howl was heard, this one was joined by two others, and then another, and another…

Klaus gasped slamming his shoulder against a nearby tree. His body trembled and his heart hammered against his chest. A cold sweat broke through his skin. Each of the howls was a pull, a strong enigmatic pull that threatened to destroy the last bit of self control he had left.

"I have to go," he muttered. He had made a mistake staying so close to the wolves. If he didn't get out now he would lose control. He could feel it. The need to shift was stronger than before, stronger than any other time actually. He was on the verge of letting the wolf free and that was a dangerous thing.

 _Get out!_ The vampire screamed. _Get away from here. Don't let him out. You must keep the beast under control._

But Klaus could not move. He was completely rooted to the spot.

 _The time has come_ , the wolf whispered. _It's now or never. You have to shift_.

Klaus groaned. The constant war between his two natures was tiresome. None of the hybrids seemed to have the same problem as him. It was arduous to keep both sides in check. He had always sided with his vampire nature. It was what he was most comfortable with, what he had been for one thousand years. But since he broke his curse however, the wolf became stronger with each full moon.

Cary stopped walking and waited silently a few feet away from him. He wanted to say so many things but he found himself tongue tied. It was happening, he could feel it. The time had come. He shivered with anticipation.

Klaus felt it too. In one last feeble attempt to deny and suppress the beast inside him, he took off at vampire speed, determined to get away from the Bayou. If he could make it out, he could lock the beast once more.

It was too late.

The pack howled in unison.

Klaus sank to his knees, gasping. Veins formed under his eyes as they turned a bright amber color.

There was fear, panic, uncertainty, as he remembered that terrible night one thousand years ago. The night when his life had changed completely, when he had first turned.

Crack

The bones on his left shoulder broke.

Klaus found himself on his hands and knees, struggling to breathe, fighting to control the transformation and return to normal. The vampire would not give up so easily. The vampire wanted to be in control always.

The wolf, the entity that had lain dormant for one thousand years and that had slowly regained control with each passing moon since he broke his curse was giving the fight of his life. He wanted to be free, he would be free.

The bones on his right shoulder broke.

Klaus cried out in pain. This was the moment, he realized. He had to decide whether to give the wolf a chance or let the vampire side continue to dominate. He had to make a choice.

 _Why?_ He wondered suddenly. He was the Original Hybrid, why should he have to choose a side? Why should one side dominate over the other? He was both. He was a vampire and he was a werewolf. That was his true nature, to be one and the same. There was no choice to make, he was both.

The moment he accepted that, everything felt into place.

In that moment of absolute clarity, there was a strange sense of peace, a calm that washed over him and soothed the fear. This is what he had always wanted, what he had spent a thousand years trying to achieve. There was no reason to be afraid. This is what he was meant to be.

Everything stopped.

The pain stopped.

The fear stopped.

Klaus looked up at the moon and accepted the simple truth.

 _I am both_ , he closed his eyes and he let go.

His clothes were torn apart as the shift took place. It happened in a matter of seconds.

The nails elongated into claws, the pale skin turned to fur, and a victorious howl echoed through the darkness.

Cary gasped and stumbled back as he found himself face to face with a fearsome huge black wolf. "Fenrir…" he whispered in awe. "Fenrir reborn…" he dropped to his knees in submission. He had never seen a wolf so big. Not even during the time they had been in Europe. _This is what Fenrir must've looked like._ He thought dimly sensing the powerful presence of this otherworldly beast.

Since he was a child, he had heard the stories of the mythical wolf but in that moment as he kneeled in front of Klaus's wolf form, he felt like he was seeing Fenrir himself.

The black wolf leaped into the air and howled. He was free at last.

Cary closed his eyes and shivered. He felt it in his blood. It was the call of his Alpha. Without a second thought he ripped the moonlight ring off his neck and threw it on the ground. In the next few seconds, he shifted. It happened without a thought; he barely even felt the pain. He did it because the order resonated in his blood.

The black wolf howled once more and took off running, deeper into the Bayou. Cary followed him.

The king of the wolves had finally embraced his true nature.

* * *

"I created the other side to force Silas to spend an eternity with me," Qetsiyah reluctantly began. She had no choice but to obey Bonnie's command and she hated it.

All the witches listened intensely to what she had to say. Many enjoyed seeing the arrogant witch finally be put in her place.

"And you finally got your wish because of my granddaughter," Sheila reminded her. "I don't remember hearing you say thank-you."

Qetsiyah glared and was more than ready to retort with a malicious comment.

"Don't you dare," Bonnie warned. She would not let Qetsiyah insult her Grams. "Keep talking."

"The other side allows supernaturals to stick around," Qetsiyah continued. Her jaw clenched as she bit back her retorts. "Some, those who find true peace are able to move on, but the majority still cling to the hope that one day they might return to the land of the living." She went quiet and there was a pensive look on her face.

"And?" Bonnie probed.

"All the witches that die go to the other side. Some have created their own little realms within the other side, the ancestral plane, the shadow lands, some of my descendants also created the dark plane, the prison worlds," she continued with a shrug.

"So, you are saying that the other side has spawned a bunch of other smaller realms," Joanna intervened trying to make sense of what Qetsiyah was saying.

Qetsiyah nodded. "The rivalries that existed in life also exist in death. Witches don't want to share the same living space as vampires, vampires hate werewolves and you would be amazed at how many witch covens hate each other." She had created the other side but her descendants had expanded it.

"What about this darkness?" Bonnie questioned. "How can it hurt the supernaturals on the other side?"

"Since the other side was created many supernaturals have been plotting to escape," Qetsiyah stared into Bonnie's eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if this darkness it's their doing."

"Can you stop it?" Bonnie asked softly.

"I'm dead." For the first time there was no arrogance, no spitefulness in her tone, just sadness. Qetsiyah looked away from Bonnie and stared into the dark forest. "My blood helped create the other side, that's the reason those who share my blood can do things from the other side that no one else can." Her eyes moved over all the women around her. "But our power is not even half of what it was in life."

The other Bennett witches nodded. The magic they had on the other side was limited. It was nothing compared to the power they had possessed when they had been alive. They were dead after all.

"Even I cannot stop this thing." It cost her to admit it. Qetsiyah was the oldest witch on the other side, believed to be the most powerful, perhaps even the most powerful of their line, but even with all her knowledge and power she could not stop the darkness. "You however…" she muttered while giving Bonnie a curious look.

"So," Lucy intervened. "This darkness may be the cause of someone trying to escape the other side. Do you know who?"

"Or how they are doing it?" Lenore asked deep in thought.

Ayana could think of a couple of people that would dare to do such a thing. She and her daughter exchanged knowing looks. Esther and Mikael were definitely the names at the top of the list. But Ayana knew that Esther did not have that kind of power. She couldn't destroy the other side from within.

Bonnie kept her eyes on Qetsiyah, "you have a different theory." She didn't know how but she knew that.

Qetsiyah frowned trying to determine if Bonnie could read her mind or she was simply that intuitive. "Perhaps I do…" She murmured.

Bonnie sighed. "Look, I get it. You want to go back to the other side and be with Silas and do whatever it is that you do there, but this is important." Her eyes bored into her ancestor's hoping that she could get through Qetsiyah's stubbornness. "This thing could end up hurting you, all of you."

"And you care about what happens to me?" Qetsiyah asked with incredulity and then she laughed. "Don't be ridiculous." She definitely didn't believe that.

"You're my family." Bonnie told her softly. "I care about what happens to all of you." She turned to look at the others. She moved her gaze over each and every one of the women gathered in the forest. "As your queen, I'm not just here to summon you and give you orders. I want to help you." They were her family; Bonnie didn't want anything bad to happen to them.

She received many smiles and looks of admiration from the Bennett witches.

"I will help you in any way I can," Bonnie promised. She didn't want the darkness to hurt her family. If there was any way Bonnie could stop it she would do it.

Sheila and Ayana had matching proud looks on their faces as they looked at Bonnie, while a soft smile graced Alina's face as well as Joanna's.

Lenore couldn't help but admire Bonnie's desire to protect her family even if they were dead.

Bonnie turned to Qetsiyah once more. "Tell me, so that I can help you. All of you."

Qetsiyah didn't know what to make of Bonnie. The young witch seemed sincere in her desire to help them. She pressed her lips together and for a long time it seemed like she would not say anything. But eventually she did. Bonnie could just order her to keep talking anyway, what was the point in making this more difficult than they had to be. And perhaps there was some truth to her words. The darkness could eventually turn against them and Qetsiyah did not want that.

"I think the darkness is the cause of someone trying to destroy the other side," Qetsiyah finally said. Since this whole thing started that thought had taken root inside her mind. The longer this went on, the more convinced she became that she was right.

There were murmurs and shocked gasps all around the group as her words sank in.

"None of the witches on the other side have that kind of power," Emily muttered. If they had, the other side would've been destroyed ages ago.

"Is that even possible?" Bonnie asked. Surely Qetsiyah had taken precautions to ensure the other side would not be destroyed.

"What would happen if the other side is destroyed?" Lucy asked nervously while glancing in her sister's direction.

"We would cease to exist," Ayana murmured.

"There is only one group of witches powerful enough to destroy the other side, apart from us of course," Qetsiyah did not take her eyes off Bonnie as she said her next words, "my coven, the ones who murdered me. They know the spells, the rituals, they have the knowledge and the power to do it."

"And who are they?" Bonnie asked.

"They are known as the Travelers."

* * *

Freedom

The moment after he shifted Klaus took off running in search of his pack.

It was incredible. It was exhilarating. The freedom, the power, the magic in the air, he could sense it all.

He could sense the other animals in the Bayou, from the lazy gator that nestled deep in the murky water, the snake slithering through the darkness, to the mosquitoes flying about and the wolves. Those he could sense above all. Those he could feel in his blood.

His blood, his pack, his family, he could sense every single one of them.

Ishmael, Mila, Charles, Cary, and all the others, he could feel them, he felt connected to them. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

The moment he spotted the pack he ran straight towards them. The closer he got to them, the more connected he felt with them. It was like they were all linked together.

He ran so fast that he surpassed the grey wolf that led the pack in no time.

Klaus ran until he was at the head of the pack. None of the wolves seemed to mind, not even Ishmael. They easily followed his lead. This is what they had been waiting after all.

As he ran, he howled, once, twice, three times. His pack mates howled back.

Freedom

Happiness

Acceptance

Klaus had finally let go of his fears and embraced the wolf in him.

* * *

Slowly, one by one, the Bennett witches disappeared. They couldn't stay for long. They had appeared because Bonnie had summoned the coven and that included all the witches of their bloodline but they had to return to the other side once the power of the spell passed. They couldn't stay, no matter how much many of them wanted to do so.

Qetsiyah had been the first to leave, disappearing like a quick bolt of lightning.

Joanna cried as she said goodbye to her daughter. Lucy cried as well and held her mother's hand as Natalie's ghostly figured disappeared from sight.

Lenore shared a tearful goodbye with her mother and grandmother and watched as the Bennett witches went back to the other side.

In the end, Grams was the last witch left. Understanding that Bonnie wanted to have some alone time with her grandmother, Joanna, Lucy, and Lenore said their goodbyes and began making their way back towards the house.

Bonnie and Grams sat on a log, talking quietly. It felt like old times, back when things had been so easy and so simple.

"I can't stay too long," Grams reminded Bonnie. In order to stay, she was borrowing Bonnie's energy; all the witches had in order to cross into the land of the living for the summoning ceremony. The longer they stayed, the more they took from Bonnie's strength. She didn't want to hurt Bonnie by prolonging her stay.

"I know, just a bit longer." Bonnie said holding her hand. "I wish mom were here. I'm sure she would love to see you."

Sheila didn't say anything. She only gave Bonnie a half smile.

"Oh my god!" Bonnie exclaimed suddenly. "I can't believe I didn't think about it before!" A light switch had been flipped in her brain. "There is a spell in Ayana's Grimoire. I can use it to contact you and that way you can see mom." Bonnie smiled feeling excited with the idea. She couldn't believe she had completely forgotten about that spell. "I'm so stupid. I can't believe I didn't think of that before." She could have contacted her grandmother ages ago. With everything that had happened since she had first tried to contact Qetsiyah in order to destroy Silas, Bonnie had completely forgotten about the spell. "What's wrong?"

Sheila did not look happy or excited with the idea. She looked so serious and so very sad.

"Don't you want to see mom?" Bonnie asked quietly. _Why wasn't her Grams excited about seeing and talking to her only daughter?_

Sheila looked down at their joined hands, "things between your mother and me did not end well," she said. "The last time we spoke…" she closed her eyes briefly as the painful memories of the last time she had seen her daughter crossed her mind. "It doesn't matter." She looked back into Bonnie's face. "I don't wish to talk about that."

"But Grams-"

"You're having twins," Grams interrupted with a happy smile on her face. She changed the subject with expert ease.

"I am." Bonnie's face broke into a happy smile at the thought of her babies. "They have magic Grams. Can you believe that? Magic from the womb!" It was amazing. Kind of scary but amazing nonetheless. While Bonnie felt a little nervous about what her babies were capable, Klaus was over the moon, proud of what they had accomplished without having been born yet.

"I would expect nothing less from the children of my prodigious granddaughter."

Bonnie laughed. "Klaus is convinced we're having boys."

"And what do you want?" Her Grams asked gently.

"I want them to be born healthy, to be safe and happy…" she touched her stomach with one hand. She had started to show a lot more now. "I want to be a good mom," she felt determined to give her children all the love and affection her mother had denied her growing up.

"You will be," of that Sheila felt certain.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Bonnie asked suddenly, "about the Bennett coven, the family legacy." A legacy that one day would be passed down to her children.

"Your father didn't want you to be involved in witch business," Sheila replied sadly. "After Abby left we agreed that it was best if you had a normal upbringing…a life away from the supernatural world."

They had made a deal. As much as Sheila hated that Bonnie grew up without learning magic or knowing about the family legacy she understood where Rudy was coming from. She didn't tell her that Rudy had threatened to take Bonnie away from Mystic Falls. After what had happened with Abby, Sheila didn't have the strength to fight her son in law. She had simply agreed not to tell Bonnie anything and let Rudy raised her. She had lost her daughter and she was determined not to lose her granddaughter even if it meant not telling her about the family legacy.

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"I planned to," but she had died. It was one of her greatest regrets that she had failed to prepare Bonnie for her destiny. "I'm sorry. If I had told you, if I had prepared you…" _how different things would be_ , Sheila thought. If, if… life was full of ifs it seemed.

"Don't be." Bonnie knew that if her Grams had lived longer things would be so much different. "I know about it now and the Bennett coven exists once more." She had not grown up knowing about the Bennett legacy but she had embraced that destiny now and that was what mattered.

"I'm so proud of you," Sheila said smiling. It was a privilege to see the woman Bonnie had become. Her baby girl all grown up, a woman, a future mother, a queen.

Bonnie smiled softly before staring at her grandmother with worry. "This darkness…"

"Don't worry about," Sheila told her. "It can't hurt us. Don't worry about the other side honey, we will be fine."

"But if Qetsiyah's theory proves to be true, if these Traveler people are trying to destroy the other side-"

"And you think we'll sit back and let that happen?" Grams interrupted. She, Ayana, Ernestine, and all the others were working on a plan in case things turned for the worst. "Unlike the rest of the witches on the other side we still have some of our magic." The Bennett witches had the advantage on the other side. "Whatever happens we will fine." The Bennett's on the other side were some of the most powerful, ingenious, and determined witches Sheila had ever met. They were going to find a way to keep themselves safe. "What you need to focus on now, are your children. They have to be your priority Bonnie."

Bonnie nodded. Still, she would ask Klaus and Elijah to use their resources and find out more about the Travelers.

They fell silent after that. Each lost in their own thoughts.

There was something else Bonnie wanted to discuss with her grandmother, something that troubled her greatly even if she had pretended otherwise. "Grams, I had a very scary dream," Bonnie confessed. It was easier to talk about it with her Grams. She had always been able to confide her dreams, her hopes, and all her troubles with her grandmother.

"What kind of dream?"

She took a deep breath. "A wolf, he turned into a masked man and he…" Bonnie's voice broke. A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled her nightmare. "He hurt me." It was said in a tiny whisper and she avoided her Grams's eyes. "He…" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Bonnie looked at me," still holding one of her hands, Grams's touched Bonnie's face with the other, lifting her chin so that she could look into her eyes, which were filled with fear. "How vivid was this dream?"

"Very…" Bonnie shuddered remembering what the mask man had done to her in her dream. It was too horrible to say out loud. It made her sick just thinking about it. She couldn't even bring herself to tell Klaus about it.

"Have you had more dreams since then?" Sheila asked gently.

Bonnie shook her head.

"Have you had strange feelings, visions maybe?"

"No." Her bottom lip trembled. "I'm scared Grams. I don't want that dream to be true. I-" The thought of that dream becoming true terrified her to the core. It was easier to pretend that it was just a dream because the alternative was too horrible to even think about. "If it's something that will happen-"

"Listen to me," Sheila said gently. "Nothing is set in stone. Just because you see something or dream of something happening doesn't mean it will come true." Prophecies, dreams, they were constantly changing. Even the worst of fates could be avoided if one paid attention to the clues. "For a witch, dreams serve as a warning. Your magic is warning you of the danger coming your way. You have to be careful, Bonnie."

Bonnie nodded.

"The more vivid the dream the more danger you are in," Sheila told her. "Do not take this dream lightly Bonnie. And if you have others…" She had to be careful, she had to take precautions and protect herself as best as she could. "You have to find out what your magic is trying to tell you through the dream."

"How can I do that?" Bonnie asked fearfully. She didn't know how to interpret dreams.

"Pay attention to the signs." Sheila recommended. "If you have more dreams look for a pattern, the things that repeat in each dream, those are the ones you have to be on the lookout for. If someone or something gives you a bad feeling don't shake it off, no matter who that person is." She studied Bonnie's face carefully, "think with your head, not your heart. Be cautious."

"And what if does come true?" Bonnie swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Oh child," Sheila let go of Bonnie's hand and pulled her towards her, enveloping her in a hug. She could see how terrified Bonnie was. "Don't think like that." She rubbed her back and held her close, doing her best to soothe her fears. "I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. I promise you." She would talk to Ayana. Maybe they could find out who this mask man was and destroy him before he even got the chance to get close to Bonnie. Sheila would keep Bonnie safe no matter what.

Bonnie clung to her grandmother like she used to do when she was a child. Her grandmother's arms had always been warm and safe. Bonnie knew she had nothing to fear with her Grams.

They stayed like that for a very long time, holding each other and enjoying the precious moments they had together.

* * *

As the first rays of the sun began streaming through the trees the wolves returned to the camp. They shifted back to their human form, ready to begin another day.

The mated couples sought each other out, disappearing through the trees, more than eager to consummate their desires. The others got dressed and talked excitedly about the night before. It had been different. They all had felt it.

Mila's hands shook as she buttoned her shirt. "That was amazing. It felt different this time." She could remember glimpses of the night before, flashes of what she had done in her wolf form. That had never happened before. Hunting as a pack calmed their thirst for blood but they had never been able to remember with such clarity.

"It was incredible," Charles commented pulling his pants up. "It almost felt like we were in control."

"Yes," another wolf agreed. "I remember the run through the Bayou." If he concentrated hard enough he could recall the gator they had torn to pieces. He shivered recalling the taste of the blood.

"How can that be?" Mila asked turning to Ishmael. She felt so happy. Her whole body was thrumming with excitement.

"It was him," Ishmael replied, eyes on the black wolf standing at the edge of the camp. It was morning and Klaus had not shifted back. Unlike them, Klaus could shift whenever he wanted to.

"Shit! He's huge." Billy's eyes widened as he spotted the black beast. He ran down the steps of his cabin wanting to get a closer look. He had not broken his curse yet, so he did not join the pack the night before.

"Billy don't you dare get any closer," his mother cautioned fearful of the dark wolf.

Charles took an involuntary step back as he spotted Klaus.

Mila placed her hands over her mouth while staring at the wolf with fascination. They had seen him the night before but their memory of him was a bit hazy.

The entire pack stared at the wolf with a mixture of fear, wonder, curiosity, and admiration. He was huge, far bigger than any wolf they had ever seen, his fur black as night, and those amber eyes seemed to glow with the morning sunlight, far too intelligent and observant in an animal.

The wolf in turn stared back at them. There was a gracefulness to his stance; the wolf carried himself with pride. He knew his worth. He was a king, their king.

"I used to wonder what Fenrir would look like in the flesh," Cary murmured coming to stand next to his grandfather. "Now I know."

"We were all connected last night," Ishmael told the pack. "Klaus's hybrid nature allowed us to have more control in our wolf forms." The emotion in his voice was palpable. He had never thought he would experience something like that. To be able to remember what they had done in their wolf form, to have felt a sense of control, it had been amazing. "Thank-you," he whispered nodding his head in the wolf's direction.

Without knowing it, Klaus had given them a gift the night before. For the first time, the pack had felt truly in control of their actions. It was something the pack would never forget, something that they would be eternally grateful for. It was what all wolves wanted to feel on the night of the full moon.

The black wolf lowered his head as well, acknowledging the older man and accepting his thanks before running out of the werewolf camp at an unnatural speed.

What the wolf wanted now was his mate.

* * *

"Are you sure Kol is alright?" Rebekah asked for the third time since Bonnie had shared with the group what had happened during the summoning ceremony.

Bonnie had returned to the plantation at sunrise. She had abused the summoning spell to spend as much time with her Grams as possible and it had been worth it. She felt at peace. She had seen her Grams, talked to her, and hugged her. It meant the world to Bonnie, even if later she felt absolutely exhausted.

She had flopped down on the living room couch and prop her feet on the coffee table as she recharged her batteries after the depleting spell. Joanna had taken Lenore home but Lucy and Abby had stayed.

"Ayana is looking after him," Bonnie once again reassured Rebekah. "And she's keeping an eye on Vicki too." She glanced at Matt.

Matt nodded feeling grateful for Grams's intervention. It was weird but when Bonnie told them about the darkness on the other side, he felt like he had already known.

"Ayana has always helped us," Elijah murmured with a soft smile on his lips. Ayana had saved him while he had been trapped inside the tomb. He knew Kol would be safe as long as he stayed with Ayana. He turned to look at Bonnie as he thought of something else, "Sarah Bennett…" he said meeting Bonnie's eyes. "Did you see her?"

Bonnie turned to Lucy with a questioning look. She didn't remember seeing Sarah Bennett with the rest of her ancestors maybe her cousin had?

"I don't know what she looks like." Lucy shrugged while taking a sip of her cup of coffee.

"I don't think she was there," Bonnie told him. She had been connected to all the Bennett witches, dead or alive, but she had not felt Sarah's presence nor seen her with the others.

"So what does that mean?" Rebekah asked looking back and forth between them.

"Is she not on the other side?" Matt asked quietly.

"My grandmother wasn't there either," Lucy mumbled. She turned to Bonnie, "remember what Qetsiyah said, she said those spirits that find peace do not stick on the other side. I'm sure there are plenty of Bennett witches that moved on." Sarah and her grandmother had probably been one of those lucky few.

"Klaus said that Sarah lived to be over a hundred," Bonnie said while staring at Elijah. "That she lived a long and fulfilling life. Maybe her spirit did find peace and that's why she didn't show up during the summoning." Klaus seemed certain of Sarah's loyalty.

"Perhaps…" Elijah muttered deep in thought.

"I was hoping we can find more about the Travelers, who they are, if they truly have something to do with the darkness attacking the other side," Bonnie told them. Qetsiyah seemed convinced that they were somehow responsible.

"I'll have my people look into it," Elijah promised her. "Speaking of which," he turned towards Lucy. "I have something to show you in regards to Celeste. Would you come with me please?"

Lucy nodded and stood up. She followed Elijah out of the living room. She had agreed to help in regards to Celeste. His skin was still covered in tattoos and they had yet to figure out the puzzle in order for the spell to disappear.

"I need to find a house," Bonnie murmured after Lucy and Elijah left.

"What for?" Matt asked her.

"The Bennett witches have been summoned, is only a matter of days before they get here. They need a place to stay. A hotel is not safe." Especially in the French Quarter and while the plantation was big, there were plenty of people already living there. The hybrids were in the guest house, Davina was in the cabin, and she doubted her family would want to live with vampires.

"I have a house," Rebekah told her. "It's about ten minutes away from here, fully furnished and with rooms to spare. Your family is more than welcome to stay there."

"Really?"

Rebekah nodded. "I never lived there." It had been the house she had bought for herself and Marcel, while she had foolishly believed they had a future. "I'll hire someone to clean it. Your cousins and mother can move there soon." She glanced in Abby's direction. The vampire was really quiet, staring at her mug of coffee. Ever since Bonnie had told them she had seen the dead Bennett witches, Abby had gone completely still and been lost in thought.

"That's great. Thank-you, Rebekah." Bonnie said smiling in her friend's direction.

"Any time darling," Rebekah winked.

Bonnie shifted her gaze towards her mother. There was a melancholic look on her face. She wanted to talk to her about Grams, ask about what had happened between them but she couldn't find the words. She had the strange feeling that whatever had happened between them was far worse than what Grams had made it out to be.

Abby looked up sensing Bonnie's eyes on her and gave her a small smile. It did not reach her eyes. Abby looked sad, so sad it made Bonnie's heart ache.

* * *

Elijah took Lucy to the study and showed her the files on all the women Celeste had possessed. He spread the papers on the mahogany desk and stood close to Lucy as she scanned the pages.

"How did you manage to compile all this information in such a short time?" Lucy asked curiously. There were pictures, bills, records, and personal tidbits of information that surprised her. This was not the ordinary work of a private detective.

"I have my sources," Elijah murmured next to her.

Her heart did flip flops at his close proximity. He was standing really close to her, improperly and deliciously close. She shivered.

"Brynne Deveraux," he said, his fingertips tracing over a picture. "She placed the curse on the Crescent Moon pack. She was Marcel's lover at that time."

"Jealous?" Lucy asked turning her face towards him.

Elijah turned to her as well. They were standing really close, so close he could smell the soft scent of her perfume and feel the faint of her warm breath on his face.

"No," he answered honestly. "Not at all."

The pleased smile on her sinful lips sent a slight shiver down his spine. Elijah cleared his throat and took a step away from her. He needed to put distance between them before he did something uncharacteristically of him. He turned his back towards her and proceeded to stare out of the window.

Lucy frowned before she looked down at the files once more. "There is something that I don't get," she said softly.

Elijah glanced back at her.

"Why wait?" Lucy asked turning to face him. "Celeste died because of Klaus. We're going through this under the assumption that she wants revenge."

Elijah nodded.

"So why wait over a hundred years to get her revenge. She has possessed over twenty witches all from the city. She has never left New Orleans, why?" Lucy shook her head. "Your family stayed in the Quarter long after her death is not like she was waiting for you guys to return."

"What are you saying?" Elijah took a step closer.

"Something doesn't feel right about this," Lucy murmured. She was a witch and as such her intuition was never wrong. "I feel like…"

"Like…" Elijah urged her to continue.

"Like this is a game, a distraction." Lucy said meeting his chocolate eyes. "I feel like she's sending us off on a wild goose chase with the names tattooed on your skin, Sarah's involvement, all to keep us distracted." She tangled her fingers through her long hair. "I don't know."

"Keeping us distracted so we don't figure out her true intentions," Elijah muttered following Lucy's train of thought. "What would you have done if you were Celeste?" he asked her suddenly.

Lucy pressed her lips together and tilted her head. "If I had been your lover and got killed by your brother." Now that was an interesting question.

Elijah nodded. "And you had the ability to continue living by jumping into other witches' bodies."

Lucy lifted her chin and stared at him unflinchingly. "I would've come back and lit your white ass on fire without waiting a single day."

Elijah chuckled. "You would have done that and much worst I'm sure," he stated as he stared into her eyes.

"You bet," Lucy was quick to retort. "And Klaus's too," she added with a smirk. Which is why she didn't understand why Celeste hadn't done that? Why had she waited so long to seek her revenge? Why had she stayed in the Quarter all this time?

"There is something more at play here," Elijah realized. Lucy's words made sense. He had arrogantly believed that this was all about him, Celeste seeking revenge against his family but what if that was just a ploy?

"So the question is; what does she truly want?" Lucy asked while crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the desk.

"I will ask her just that."

Lucy raised an eyebrow upon hearing Elijah's words.

"The time has come to confront Celeste once and for all," Elijah said answering Lucy's unspoken question. "I won't wait for her to make the first move. I will." He stated.

"So what's the plan?" Lucy asked with a grin.

* * *

The moment Bonnie felt Klaus approaching she stepped out of the house. She had worried when she arrived at the plantation and learned that Klaus had not returned yet. But the emotions coming from the bond told her that he was fine. More than fine actually, Klaus was deliriously happy.

She walked towards the woods surrounding the property, feeling the butterflies in her stomach the closer he got to her. She could feel him approaching. She could feel his desire, his need for her. Her own body thrummed with excitement and anticipation. Heat coiled low in her belly and she got wet just thinking about the last full moon.

Bonnie could hardly wait to feel his hands on her skin, and his lips. She shivered thinking of all the delicious things she was desperate to do with him.

The forest eventually gave away to a small clearing, right on the edge of the property.

Bonnie stood there, in her white gown and bathed in the morning light waiting for Klaus.

Her senses alerted her to _his_ presence long before she saw the wolf approaching.

Bonnie looked up and froze upon seeing the huge black wolf staring at her. He came from the woods, slowly moving closer. He was huge. No normal wolf could be that big. Bonnie's breath hitched.

He was beautiful, regal, and fearsome.

Yellow eyes watched her intensely as he trotted closer. Her senses alerted her to the predator making his way closer to her but the bond told her she had nothing to fear. The wolf meant her no harm.

"Klaus," Bonnie breathed in wonder. She couldn't believe it. She had never seen Klaus in his wolf form before. It was amazing. While he had the distinctive features of a wolf, there was something so human in his stance, in the intelligence in his eyes.

The wolf stopped right in front her and Bonnie tentatively reached out with her right hand. Her fingers trembled as she touched the black fur and marveled at its softness. She petted his ears and even scratched lightly behind them. The wolf purred in delight and Bonnie giggled.

She should be terrified of the creature standing in front of her but she wasn't. She knew this wolf would never hurt her. "You're so big," she said petting him gently. His head was nearly up to her chest, not that she was that tall but still.

She had wondered what Klaus would look like in his wolf form and now she knew. She smiled as she stared into his eyes. Even in his wolf form the bond was as strong as ever. She could feel his sense of accomplishment, his happiness, the freedom, the acceptance. There were so many emotions coming from him that tugged at her heart.

This was a big moment for him. She felt honored and happy that he was allowing her to see him like this. He didn't talk about it, Klaus didn't like to be perceived as weak but Bonnie knew he felt conflicted when it came to his wolf.

Not anymore, she realized. Klaus had finally accepted that part of himself. In a way, both of them had embraced their destiny the night before.

The wolf nuzzled her skin and licked her palm with his tongue. Bonnie yelped and pulled her hand away surprised by his actions.

 _I won't bite love..._

Bonnie froze. She had heard Klaus's voice clearly in her mind. "How?" she gasped. She was completely taken by surprise. She stared into his yellow eyes not daring to believe.

 _Telepathy…_

"Oh my god," she could feel his amusement and heard his chuckle inside her head. He was enjoying this.

 _The bond_ …

"Wow…" the bond allowed him to communicate with her in his wolf form. It was amazing. Completely unexpected but absolutely incredible and a testament of how intertwined they had become due to their bond.

"Do you think you could talk to other people?" She wondered. Or was he only able to communicate with her.

 _I don't know…_

It was such a surreal thing, to be staring at a ferocious wolf and hearing Klaus's familiar accented voice inside her head.

He stepped away from her then.

Bonnie frowned. "What are you-" the words died on her throat when she saw the wolf shaking. She watched mesmerized as the fur disappeared and turned into milky white skin. The sharp claws turned into fingers, the paws into hands, and the sharp white teeth returned to normal.

It was fascinating to see the transformation. Bonnie felt completely captivated as she watched Klaus return to his human form.

He was on his hands and knees and when the blond head of curls looked up into her face, it took Bonnie's breath away. He looked so happy. The smile he gave her outshined the sun bathing his skin. He was utterly and undeniably happy. She could see it on his face and feel it in her bones.

"Hi," Bonnie smiled softly, almost shyly.

"Hi," he greeted back as he stood up.

Bonnie bit her lip as her eyes moved down his naked body. Her mouth felt dry as she looked down at his chest, and stomach. Her heart stuttered in her chest as she stared at her favorite part of his anatomy. He was perfect and he was all her hers. Oh God, how she wanted him.

The wave of desire that invaded her body was overwhelming. She wanted to jump him and devour him and never let go.

Klaus smirked knowingly and licked his lips in anticipation. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Bonnie's lips parted unconsciously as she followed the movements of his tongue over his plump, red lips.

"Take off your clothes."

Bonnie shivered as she heard the commanding tone of his voice. She didn't need to be told twice. Her hands trembled as she tugged at her gown, letting the white flowing material fall down and pool at her feet. She reached for her panties next and slid them down her legs, before kicking them to the side; all the while conscious of his heated gaze on her exposed skin.

She didn't care that they were out in the open where anyone could walk in on them. She wanted him and he wanted her and that was all that mattered.

Green eyes locked with blue as she began walking towards him. She walked slowly but with confidence.

Klaus met her half way. There was hint of gold in his eyes as he slid his gaze down her body, paying particular attention to the swollen and fullness of her breasts and the small bump that was already showing. His heart swelled with emotion as he heard the distinctive beating of those beautiful tiny heartbeats, his children.

For one single moment they stood facing each other, naked as the day they were born. Their eyes met but no words were exchanged. And then, they were kissing.

Klaus's mouth came crashing down on hers hard. It felt like he hadn't kissed her properly in years. He could hardly contain himself.

Bonnie felt weak in the knees as their mouths met in a hungry kiss.

Klaus pulled her into his arms and molded their bodies together. She fitted perfectly against him.

Bonnie quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts against his chest, her fingers weaving through his blond hair as their tongues met in a heated frenzy.

The world spiraled out of control as they kissed, in that moment nothing else mattered.

Klaus lowered her into the grass and covered her body with his as he continued to devour her mouth. He settled between her legs as he continued to kiss her passionately before pulling away from her mouth and peppering her neck with soft kisses.

One of his hands found her breast, cupping her. Bonnie whimpered bucking her hips as she felt his hot breath over her other nipple. Klaus smirked against her skin before taking the dark tip into his mouth.

Bonnie moaned. Her body was on fire. She had missed this. She didn't know how much until now. The feel of his skin against her, his lips, his touch, she yearned for it. "Yes," she gasped with delight as he stimulated both of her swollen breasts.

She arched her back, moaning in reckless abandon as his other hand moved down to the place where she needed him the most.

Bonnie groaned in pleasure as he placed two fingers against her center. His stubble tickled her with the ghost of his smile as he discovered just how wet and ready she was for him.

Klaus took her mouth again and swallowed her cry as he slid his fingers inside her and began pumping in and out. His tongue teased hers, one hand tweaked her nipple, while the fingers of the other hand, hit that sweet spot inside her that made her toes curl with overwhelming pleasure.

He knew how to touch her and the right amount of pressure to apply in order to coax her release.

Bonnie moaned against his lips and squeezed her eyes shut, every muscle in her body tense, and sweat glistering over her skin as she tipped over the edge. She was so close.

And then Klaus stopped abruptly. He pulled his lips and hands away from her.

Bonnie gasped and blinked up at him in confusion.

Klaus gave her a wicked grin as he spread her legs apart and settled directly against her.

He slid inside her in one quick thrust.

Bonnie cried out as he filled her completely.

She barely had time to catch her breath as he pulled out before slamming back inside her. She winced slightly as he stretched her and buried himself to the hilt.

Klaus groaned and buried his face against her neck, her scent engulfing him. He moved in and out of her, hard, fast, nearing vampire speed.

Bonnie wrapped her legs around his waist and ground her hips against him. She met each of his thrusts with equal passion.

Sunlight streamed down over their naked bodies as they moved together as one. It was hard and fast, both were desperate. Their groans and moans of pleasure filled the air around the clearing.

Everything around them crackled with electricity. The energy released from their bodies mixing together.

One of Bonnie's hands moved up his shoulder, nails sinking into the flesh on the back of his neck while the other dug deep into the soil.

Wild flowers sprang from the earth due to the small sparks of magic that left her fingertips as she neared her release.

Neither of them noticed. They were far to consumed in each other.

Klaus buried his head on her chest, sucking greedily on one of her breasts. There was a sharp click that echoed around them as his fangs descended.

"Do it." Bonnie urged as she moved her hands down his back grabbing his butt and squeezing his flesh hard with her fingers as she matched each of his hard thrusts. She was so close.

There was a moment of hesitation; he had not fed from her since the night at the Sanatorium. The night he had been so hungry and weak by the dagger embedded inside his chest, he had lost control. He had been close to draining her. Klaus didn't want to hurt her. As much as he wanted to taste her rich and powerful blood, he didn't want to risk it.

"It's okay," Bonnie panted feeling his apprehension. "Do it. Please…" she begged. Her nails sunk into his butt with desperation, thin red lines formed on his skin before they healed immediately. "Please…"

Klaus growled and lifted his face. _Are you sure?_

Bonnie met his hybrid eyes unflinchingly. _Yes_.

Klaus bit the index finger of his right hand and placed it against her lips. Bonnie took the bloody digit into her mouth and sucked greedily. The moment his blood slid down her throat her skin burned, melting her bones like butter.

Klaus lowered his head and sank his fangs into the soft skin of her left breast as he continued to thrust at inhuman speed inside her.

The bond exploded with life as they drank each other's blood. In that moment, they were connected in body, mind, and soul.

Bonnie screamed in ecstasy. Images flashed before her eyes as well as the echo of his feelings but she was far to engulfed in the pleasure she was feeling to pay any attention. Her entire body shook violently as ripples of pleasure erupted inside her.

Klaus slammed inside her hard, once, twice, before he found his own release.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

The initiation ceremony had been rather boring and uneventful.

It had started in the late afternoon, Franco had given a grand speech about werewolf supremacy and went on and on about the power of the Navarro clan. Later, he had sat like a king upon a throne and all the new recruits had to bow down to him and make a pledge, swearing their fealty to the Alpha of Alphas. After the pledge, they had been given a ring with the Navarro crest to symbolize their new status as part of the Navarro clan.

After the ceremony, the wolves had shifted and ran together as a pack. That had probably been the best part of the night for Tyler. In his wolf form he had felt at peace, not only in control of his actions but he had felt like he belonged, being with the other wolves made him feel like he was truly one of them. Not a freak of nature because he was half vampire.

Tyler stared at the ring on his finger as he sat in Franco's study. He felt nervous and anxious. The initiation ceremony had been the first part, now came the test. Tyler had to prove his loyalty to the Navarro pack.

"Your mission is very simple," Franco said as he leaned back against his leather chair, a glass of bourbon in hand. The glint in his eyes was malevolent.

Tyler waited. For a moment he wondered if Franco wanted him to kill someone. It would be like Franco to order something like that. The words that came out of Franco's mouth however, completely pulled the rug from under Tyler's feet.

"I want you to bring me Bonnie Bennett," Franco stated simply.

"What?" Tyler's mouth dropped open. Out of all the things he had imagined, out of all the possibilities his mission could entail this had never been an option. "Why the hell would you want Bonnie?"

"I have my reasons," Franco muttered never taking his eyes of the hybrid. "You will prove your loyalty to me by bringing her here." He placed his glass on top of the desk and stood up. Moving around and walking towards Tyler.

Tyler watched him warily. He didn't know what to say or what to think. _Bonnie, why would Franco want Bonnie? Was it because she was a witch?_

"You must prove your loyalty." Franco placed his hand on Tyler's shoulder. The young hybrid flinched but lifted his head to stare into the wolf's dark eyes. "And in case this is all an act and you have an agenda of your own…" he pulled a cell phone from his pocket, one Tyler immediately recognized.

 _Caroline_

"No…" he whispered as fear took hold of his body. _Not Caroline…please, not Caroline._

"I have Caroline," Franco hissed near his ear, "pretty Caroline, the poor thing has already been subjected to my brother's games, Isaac loves pretty things to play with." He chuckled as he hit play on the video.

Tyler growled, his eyes flashed gold as he saw Caroline's tear stained faced and heard her anguished screams. Isaac and the other wolves torturing her laughed as they hurt her.

Klaus's compulsion was the only thing that kept him seated. The hybrid had compelled him to lie like a master manipulator, to keep his cool, and to not do anything foolish. Had he not been compelled, he would've tried to kill Franco right on the spot. The two wolves guarding the door would have no doubt killed him then.

"If you bring me Bonnie, I will give you Caroline," Franco told him simply. "If you fail, I will ensure Caroline dies in the most horrible and slow painful death a vampire can receive." It was a promise.

"You son of a-"

The door opened and a group of werewolves stepped inside. Tyler recognized two of them immediately, one was from his group of friends, from the pack he had been with when Luis found him and the other was Dwayne. The others, he had absolutely no idea who they were.

"This will be your team," Franco informed him. "They will help you and ensure that you complete your mission." And if Tyler tried to disobey his orders they had orders to kill him and continue with the plan to bring Bonnie to him. "You will leave for New Orleans tonight."

"New Orleans?" Tyler frowned.

"That's where Bonnie is," Franco informed him with a knowing smile.

"Why would she be in New Orleans?" It didn't make any sense, _what the hell was he missing?_

Franco laughed. "Your friend is apparently married to Klaus Mikaelson." He didn't know how real that marriage was nor did he care. He wanted Bonnie and he would stop at nothing to get her.

It was like a punch in the gut. Bonnie who hated vampires, Bonnie who had stood up to Klaus more than once, no, he couldn't believe it. Franco had to be wrong. Bonnie would never willingly marry Klaus of that Tyler was sure.

"Don't you see Tyler?" Franco said in a much calmer tone. "This is your chance. You told me that if you could you would kill Klaus Mikaelson with your bare hands. I'm giving you the opportunity to destroy him." He pinned Tyler with his cunning gaze. "What better way to destroy the monster who murdered your mother than by taking what is his from right under his nose."

Tyler's entire body shook as he processed Franco's words.

"Do you want to avenge your mother or not?" Franco asked. "Do you want Caroline to be safe or not?"

Tyler swallowed painfully and his hands balled into fists. There were so many conflicting emotions inside him in that moment, he didn't know how to feel or even what to say. He had not been expecting this from Franco.

"Don't tell me you still have loyalty to the son of a bitch who destroyed your life?" Franco continued watching him with keen interest.

Tyler closed his eyes.

 _What the hell was he supposed to do now?_

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Bonnie giggled as she came down from her high. A butterfly landed on her nose before it took off flying into the nearest flower.

She was still catching her breath as she looked around the clearing. It was now surrounded by wild flowers, a mixture of green, red, yellow, even a strange blue flower with yellow tips next to her head, while a soft cool breeze brushed against their heated skins. Bonnie could feel the magic, her magic flowing in the air.

Klaus's body lay on top of her, his head nestled against her chest. His body trembled as they both came down from their high. He licked the remains of her blood from his lips and pulled out of her gently.

Bonnie whimpered in protest. She wanted him to stay buried inside her forever.

The hybrid rolled onto his back pulling Bonnie on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He looked up into her flushed face and traced the outline of her cheek with his fingertips. The fang marks on her breast healed right before his eyes.

Bonnie smiled sweetly, her heart pounding in her ears and her body still trembling from the aftershocks of their found pleasure.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she whispered. There was a strange look on Klaus's face which Bonnie couldn't quite describe.

Klaus didn't say anything he simply watched her.

"We're surrounded by flowers," Bonnie whispered tracing his chin with her fingers and bringing her face closer to his. "I think I did that," she murmured against his lips. As she lay on his arms, all her problems, all her fears, and worries faded from her mind. In that moment she felt so happy she could fly high up into the sky.

"You did," Klaus whispered back.

There was something in the way he was looking at her, something in the way he was holding her. Maybe if she hadn't been so consumed by her own emotions she would have noticed that he had shut his side of the bond. That behind those shinning blue eyes there was hint of gold and simmering anger; and that the dark and intoxicating aura from the hybrid threatened to destroy the flowers that bloomed during their lovemaking.

Klaus was furious, Klaus was boiling with an all consuming rage that turned his blood to poison and Bonnie didn't noticed.

She laughed happily completely oblivious to the potent aura of her lover that threatened to explode and unleash hell on earth. She took his mouth and planted a scorching kiss on him, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing inside him.

And yet with her, he acted as sweet and gentle as a little lamb.

While she kissed him with need and desperation, he kissed her back with gentleness and infinite tenderness. While she was a thundering hurricane he was a gentle breeze. She took and he gave.

Bonnie kissed his cheek and his neck as she shifted on top of him and grinded her hips against his. Klaus closed his eyes as heat began to spread over his body once more. She ran one of her hands down his chest, tracing his ribs with her fingers while her mouth found his ear.

"Let's do that again," Bonnie breathed huskily as she nibbled on his earlobe. She wanted more. She couldn't get enough of him.

Her small hand moved down, stroking him, stirring his flesh with desire once more.

Bonnie met his eyes as she positioned herself on top of him. Her thighs were slick with his seed and she took him in easily.

They both gasped. Klaus's hands automatically moved to her hips as she took him in slowly, inch by glorious inch.

Bonnie's hand moved down his chest as he let her set the rhythm. Klaus let her have control of their lovemaking.

Bonnie closed her eyes and moaned as she moved above him.

Klaus kept his eyes on her face, watching her as he slowly canted his hips upwards and met each of her thrusts. She looked so beautiful on top of him. His body went through the motions but his mind, his mind was somewhere else, plotting, thinking ahead, and barely containing the boiling rage that boiled his blood like the hot lava of a volcano.

What Bonnie didn't know, what Klaus didn't tell her, was that while they had shared blood he had seen and felt flashes of her life. Just like the last time they had shared blood simultaneously, except this time there had been flashes of more recent events. The summoning ceremony, the happiness at being held by her Grams, and her dream…that terrible dream that terrified her and which she had refused to share with him. He knew why now. He had seen it, he had felt it.

Klaus had seen and felt everything she had in her dream.

Somewhere out there was a wolf, a man, and his days were numbered.


	32. Chapter 32

Angelica had her eyes closed as she chanted under her breath.

A map of the world was spread out on the table in front of her, a small pool of blood laid on the middle of the map which was surrounded by white burning candles.

Klaus stood across from her, watching and waiting silently for her to perform the spell. Alina's grimoire laid to the side of the table, the spell had been her ingenious creation after all.

Angelica whimpered, moving her head from side to side. "There are too many…" she murmured. "There are so many people who hold a grudge against you…" she opened her eyes and stared at the hybrid. "Even if they are not openly planning against you, I can still sense them, feel their hatred of you…"

"Keep trying," Klaus hissed.

Angelica sighed. "You have to be more specific."

"Try again," Klaus ordered. He was on edge, a wolf barely containing his rage, a vampire with the need for blood.

Angelica shivered. He seemed different. The potent aura that always accompanied him had tripled in power after spending the night of the full moon with his pack. Klaus had always been intimidating but now, he seemed far more dangerous and deadly than before.

"I think you want me to find a specific threat," Angelica began softly. "The only way I can do that, is if I know what I'm looking for." The spell was brilliant. It would allow Klaus to know who his enemies were and where they were. It would allow him to see any potential threats against him and those of his blood. The problem however, was that when Alina had created the spell, Klaus didn't have so many enemies as he did now.

Klaus looked away from Angelica, his jaw clenching. He placed his hands on the table and leaned over the map as he debated what to do. "A man," he murmured. "A wolf," he specified as he looked into Angelica's face. "He's a threat to Bonnie."

The dark haired witch frowned and looked down at the small pool of Klaus's blood. "Do you have Bonnie's blood in your system?"

"I fed from her this morning."

Angelica nodded. She grabbed the talisman hanging around her neck, a round turquoise stone attached to a gold chain. It had belonged to her grandmother and it was an extraordinary source of power. Closing her eyes and clutching the talisman with one hand, she began chanting once more.

 _Show me the wolf…show me the man…the one who is a threat to Bonnie…show me…_

Angelica used all of her strength and concentrated, chanting again and again.

Flashes came to her mind, distorted images that were far too quick for her to make any sense of them.

A few drops of blood began separating from the small pool and began moving around the map. Klaus watched intensely as the drops moved towards Louisiana, settling over Baton Rouge.

The Navarro pack lived in Baton Rouge. Klaus growled.

Angelica opened her eyes and stared at red dots before gazing at Klaus. One look; that was all it took for her to know that the hybrid needed more. She took a deep breath and moved her palm over the blood dots. Slowly, very slowly she touched the blood.

Pain

Angelica cried out in pain as the image burned through her mind. She pulled her hand away, pain spreading from her palm and all the way up to her wrist.

"What did you see?" Klaus asked.

Angelica whimpered. "The waters of the Bayou stained with red," her hand burned. It almost felt like she had placed her hand inside a bucket of hot burning oil. "The other images were too confusing I…"

"Try again," he ordered.

Angelica closed her eyes. It was at the tip of her tongue to tell him no, that it hurt too much, but she knew better. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for more pain. Very slowly, she moved her hand over the dots of blood and lowered it until she touched them once more.

Angelica screamed in agony as the images came to her mind, tears streamed down her cheeks and blood oozed out of her nose. It felt like her brain was melting. She pulled her hand away and stumbled back into the chair behind her. She sat down shaking like a leaf and gasping for air.

"What did you see?"

Angelica struggled for a few seconds trying to regain her composure and tolerate the excruciating pain in her hand and mind.

"An army of wolves," she said in a trembling voice. "Blood, so much blood, bodies scattered everywhere…" she shook her head, the images had been horrible. "I saw a brown beast with red eyes, a wolf howling with triumph." She wiped the blood from her nose with her left hand. Her right hand felt numb, the skin had burned to the bone.

"What else did you see?" Klaus asked.

Angelica shivered. His voice was completely devoid of emotion and had every nerve in her body on the alert. While Klaus's face gave nothing away, his eyes were filled with murderous rage. "That was it." She closed her eyes. "Please don't ask me to do that again…"

Silence

For a long a time the only sound in the room was the erratic beating of Angelica's heart and her labored breathing.

Angelica looked up startled when she felt Klaus move dangerously close to her.

The hybrid pushed a glass towards her, "drink."

Angelica took it with her left hand and wrinkled her nose. _His blood_ , she realized. She gulped it down in one go. The effect was immediate. The pain disappeared from her head and the burn on her palm healed completely. The skin mended until it was perfect and soft once more. Relief filled her body as the pain disappeared completely.

"Get some rest," Klaus ordered as he picked Alina's Grimoire and made his way towards the door. He stopped right on the threshold and turned towards the witch, "Thank-you, Angelica." He murmured before leaving.

Angelica nodded. She hugged herself thinking back to what she had seen. She hoped with all her heart that the scattered bodies she had seen were Klaus's enemies and no this pack.

* * *

Rebekah muttered angrily as she tossed another Grimoire out of the way. She picked another small black one and began scanning the pages, reading at vampire speed. She growled in frustration and threw it away.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked as he stepped inside their bedroom.

Rebekah grabbed another Grimoire from the pile. "Trying to see if I can find a way to help Kol," she muttered without looking up from the book on her lap.

Matt took a seat on the bed next to her, "how can you help him when he's on the other side?"

Rebekah looked up, "I'm going to find a way to bring him back."

Matt stared at her with shock for a few seconds. "Rebekah that's…" impossible, crazy, and extremely dangerous, he didn't know which one to pick.

"I know what you're thinking," Rebekah said staring into his eyes. "But what if there is a way? You died and came back because of the ring and Bonnie brought Joanna back from the dead." She had heard what had happed at the ball and how Bonnie had healed many people too. She felt certain there was a way to bring her brother back. From the moment Bonnie told her what was happening on the other side, Rebekah decided that Kol needed her help.

"That's different," Matt said softly. "The ring protects me and Joanna was only dead for a few minutes." Or so he had heard, he had been dead after all. "Kol has been dead for months Bekah. I don't think you can just pull people out of the other side."

"There is a darkness that is attacking the supernaturals over there. I'm not going to let my brother disappear into oblivion," Rebekah told Matt. She had not been able to save her brother from death but she would save his spirit.

"But Ayana is protecting him-"

"He's my brother!" Rebekah snapped. "For the first time in centuries our family is together once more, we're happy." Yes, they were fighting a war and were in constant danger but they were together and it felt so wonderful. She had never been so deliriously happy. And deep down, she knew that happiness would not be complete without her mischievous brother. "Kol is impulsive, incorrigible, and a trouble magnet but he's my brother. He's part of this family. I love him." She looked up into Matt's face. "Magic always has a loop hole, I'm sure there is a way to bring him back. And I owe it to him to at least try."

"Even if you could pull his spirit out of the other side," Mat began. He honestly didn't think that was possible. "How can you resurrect him? He burned. There is no body for him to come back to."

Rebekah bit her lip, "Nik has his ashes."

Matt gave her a weird look. "Klaus kept Kol's ashes?" He had heard that Klaus had been there when Jeremy and Elena killed Kol but he had never expected the hybrid to keep Kol's burned remains.

Rebekah nodded. "And Finn's, and Father's, he even has mother's body." Even after everything that had happened, Nik couldn't seem to let go of his family. "I just need to find a way to restore his body, pull him out of the other side, and bring him back to life."

That was easier said than done of course. But she was also in a city surrounded by magic. There were plenty of witches that could help her out. Not to mention that Nik had an incredible collection of Grimoires. She wasn't going to ask Bonnie, not yet. Bonnie had a lot on her plate at the moment. Asking her friend for help would be the last resort. "I'm trying to find a spell to restore his ashes to his original form and he's going to help me to find a way to pull him out of the other side." Her plan was rather simple really.

Matt frowned. "Who's going to help you, Kol?"

"Kol knows a lot about magic," Rebekah told him. "I'm going to communicate with his spirit and together we'll find away to bring him back." Kol had always been obsessed with magic and his knowledge was unrivaled.

Matt opened his mouth but Rebekah cut him off.

"Anaya created a spell to communicate with her ancestors and I'm going to use it to talk to Kol." She was going to use Kol's daylight ring to summon his spirit. She was going to ask Angelica to do the spell.

Judging by the determined look on her face, Matt knew that she was a woman on a mission. He looked down at the Grimoires on the bed. "Do you think…" he began nervously."Do you think I could talk to my sister with that spell too?" He would do anything to see and talk to his sister once more.

Rebekah took his hand in hers. "It's worth a try don't you think?"

Matt smiled. "Okay, how can I help you?"

Rebekah grinned.

Matt Donovan was the best boyfriend ever.

* * *

 _Four walls that's the first thing Bonnie noticed._

 _She was kneeling on the floor, a long metal chain attached to the stone floor held her hands together. Bonnie tugged at the metal trying to break free but she couldn't._

 _She was wearing a sleeveless white flowing nightgown and her feet were bare. She felt cold, so cold and afraid. She didn't want to be here. She was not supposed to be here._

 _There were no windows and the only light in the room came from a single lit candle in the corner. It burned brightly, casting sinister shadows against the stony walls. A sense of dread filled the pit of her stomach._

 _Bonnie concentrated on the metal holding her hands together. She tried to summon her magic and free herself but nothing happened. She didn't have her magic. She concentrated harder, willing her magic to come to her aid but nothing. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't use her magic._

 _The pounding of her heart resonated in her ears and a cold sweat began to form on her skin. She needed to get out of here._

 _The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she heard a low growl from behind her._

 _Bonnie gasped as she looked around the room and found herself face to face with a huge brown beast with red eyes._

 _It was the beast of her fears._

 _Bonnie stood nervously as the brown beast moved closer to her. His fiery eyes stared at her with hunger._

 _Fear and panic gripped at her heart. Bonnie tried to use her magic once more but again she was powerless. She didn't have her magic. She was at the mercy of the wolf._

 _The wolf's bones began to break, the cracking sounds echoing around the dark room._

 _Bonnie watched horrified as the wolf transformed into a man._

 _The masked man stood before her, naked, and hard._

 _The sinister smile on his face made her entire body tremble with fear. No, please not again. She took a step back feeling absolutely helpless and terrified._

 _He moved so fast. Pinning her against the wall and knocking the air out of her lungs._

 _Bonnie cried out in pain. It hurt. He was hurting her, he took pleasure in hurting her, that she knew._

" _Don't…" she turned her face away as he trapped her with his body against the cold surface. The chain holding her hands together rattled against the floor when Bonnie tried to push him away._

 _His hot breath tickled her ear as he pressed his naked body firmly against hers. His hands grabbed her upper arms, the sharp nails of his claws sinking painfully into her skin, drawing blood._

 _Tears burned in her eyes._

 _His touch was cold as ice and as he leaned forward, she could smell the stench of blood and decay on his skin. It made her sick._

" _You're mine now," he whispered triumphantly in her ear. His hands moved to her gown ripping the soft material apart, the sound echoed around the room, as did Bonnie's anguished screams._

Bonnie's eyes snapped opened.

She sat up immediately, shaking like a leaf. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and her whole body was covered in sweat.

The bedside lamp turned on by itself and Bonnie looked around the room in panic, half expecting the mask man to appear out of nowhere. But there was no one in the room, except for her.

She was alone. She was safe. She was not in that cold room with that horrible beast. She was at home, and she was safe.

 _I'm safe. The mask man is not here,_ she repeated it like a mantra. Maybe if she repeated it long enough she would actually believe it.

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal. While this dream had not been as explicit as the one before, it still left her shaking with fear. She hated it. She hated how powerless she felt inside the dreams, how she was at the mercy of that mask man with no way to fight back, with no way to stop him from hurting her.

 _Your magic is warning you of the danger coming your way. You have to be careful, Bonnie._ Grams's words echoed in Bonnie's mind.

It was more than a dream, it was a warning. She had tried to delude herself into thinking that it had been just a horrible dream but now she knew better. After talking to her Grams, after the new dream she just had, she couldn't keep pretending anymore. She was in danger. Somewhere out there was a wolf, a man, and he wanted her.

Bonnie shivered and her fists balled around the material of the bedding.

 _Where was Klaus?_

She needed Klaus. She wanted Klaus. But he wasn't in the room with her.

She moved her hand over his side of the bed, it was empty and cold. His scent still lingered on the sheets but he was long gone. She had fallen asleep in his arms, happy, thoroughly ravished, and satisfied but she had woken up terrified and alone.

The bond told her that he was close by, probably somewhere inside the house. But she couldn't sense his emotions; his side of the bond was closed. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't sensed his emotions at all throughout the day. He had kept his side of bond closed the whole time he had been with her. _Why?_ She wondered. _What was he keeping from her?_

Bonnie got out of bed. She grabbed the silky robe carelessly thrown on the Persian rug and wrapped it around herself before exiting the bedroom.

Her bare feet padded over the polished wood floor as she made her way to the third floor, where Klaus's study was located.

The hallway on the third floor was covered in darkness and everything was eerily quiet. Bonnie didn't bother to turn on the lights, she could see clearly as she walked.

She came to a stop right in front of the door. It was ajar. She slowly pushed it open, and poked her head inside.

Klaus had his back towards her as he worked feverishly over a canvas. He didn't seem to notice her presence. His sole focus was on the painting as his hand moved the brush in delicate strokes.

Bonnie tilted her head to the side trying to see what he was working on. She could see a full moon, the Bayou perhaps and black but nothing more. She couldn't help but admire the way his hand moved so effortlessly over the canvas. There was such finesse in his movements; he had obviously perfected his art for hundreds of years.

Unconsciously she stepped inside the room, drawn to the handsome artist completely submerged in his work. Klaus didn't react at all. He kept painting, fully focused on the work in front of him.

Bonnie stood nervously looking around the room. It was as big as their bedroom. The back wall was filled with large tall windows, they had no curtains. Everything was dark outside but the whole room was illuminated with candles, adding a soft and warming glow around Klaus.

 _How different from my dream_ , Bonnie thought. Whenever she thought about her dreams a sense of dread filled the pit of her stomach. It was like a dark cloud of doom settled over her. She did her best to clear her head and turned her attention back to Klaus.

He was standing close to the window. Next to him was a table filled with brushes and different paint color bottles. All around the walls were different paintings. Some had been finished and hung proudly over the wall to her right; others looked like works in progress, still on the easels and scattered around the room, while a few others had white cloths over them.

The wall to the left was filled with drawings and smaller oil paintings. Some of the drawings had clearly been done by pencil, simple sheets from his sketchpad. The charcoal drawings on the other hand were more refined, the details were exquisite.

Bonnie's breath caught in her throat and her heart skipped a beat when she saw her face. Not one or two, but at least a dozen different sketches of her hung on the wall. One oil painting in particular had her blushing from head to toe. It was her face, her eyes were closed, her lips parted, and her head thrown back, dark hair cascading down in luscious waves. The ecstasy on her face was unmistakable. The way he had captured her face on that painting made her look beautiful and sexy, a goddess in a sea of pleasure.

Heat spread from her cheeks and down her neck as she turned back to stare at Klaus. She felt a bit embarrassed that he had captured her in such intimate moment and yet, flattered that she had inspired such exquisite painting. She didn't know much about art but from what she had seen, it was obvious Klaus was extremely gifted and talented.

Bonnie waited to see if he would say something, if he would acknowledge her presence but he didn't. She didn't know if he was so consumed by his work that he hadn't noticed her presence or if he was deliberately ignoring her. Surely, he knew by now that she was inside his study.

As she looked at him, really looked at him, Bonnie noticed that Klaus was far from relaxed. His fingers held the brush in a tight grip, almost to the point of breaking it. She also noticed the tense set of his shoulders and the twitch of his jaw. His full lips were tight too. He looked like he was ready to go to battle.

Bonnie frowned. She wondered what troubled him. Once again she couldn't sense any of his emotions. She wondered how long he'd been here and why had he closed his side of the bond? _Why didn't Klaus want her to know what he was feeling?_

She wanted to tell him about her dream. She wanted desperately to feel his arms around her, to confide her fears, her troubles, and unleash the burden she carried on her shoulders. But she couldn't find the strength to move and go to him, nor could she find her voice to talk about it.

She hated the hold the dream had over her and how the fear could silence her so effortlessly.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, staring at Klaus's back. In that moment she felt so alone. She was so close to him and yet she felt so far away from him. _Were they standing on opposite sides of a road? Or had an ocean suddenly come in between them?_

Something was off.

She didn't like this. She hated not being able to talk about this. But above all, she hated having this distance between them.

Bonnie was keeping things from him and it seemed he was keeping things from her too. _Why else would he keep his side of the bond closed?_ She looked down at her feet, feeling anguished and distraught. Her heart ached and her dreams tormented her.

She didn't know what to do.

 _Should she talk to him? Should she wait for him to acknowledge her presence and talk to her? Or should she just leave him alone?_

She didn't want to go back to their bedroom. She didn't want to risk another dream but she didn't want to intrude either. _Maybe he wanted to be left alone? And that's why he was ignoring her._

Bonnie opened her mouth before clamping it shut once more. She didn't know how to approach him. She didn't know how to talk to him about this.

Klaus continued painting, oblivious to her struggles. It was obvious he wasn't going to acknowledge her. He didn't want to.

Bonnie bit her lip before a defeated look crossed her face. Her shoulders sagged as she turned around ready to leave the room.

She stopped abruptly, right in front of the open door.

 _No,_ she decided, finding a moment of courage and strength from within her. Bonnie couldn't let the fear win. She couldn't keep letting that dream control her. She had to face her fears. She had to confront them and defeat them. And the one person she trusted above all to watch her back, to help her, to fight with her, it was Klaus. They were a team.

Bonnie turned back towards the hybrid and took a deep breath. "We need to talk," she said before she lost her nerve. It was now or never. The time had come to let go of her fears and prepare for the storm coming her way.

The brush stopped midway.

Klaus turned his head to the side and stared at her. "Yes, we do."

* * *

Klaus had sensed Bonnie long before she came inside his studio. He hadn't said anything. He had deliberately ignored her because he didn't know how to talk her, how to approach the subject that had been weighing heavily on his mind since the morning.

After their passionate encounter in the clearing Klaus had taken Bonnie home and they had locked themselves in their bedroom for the better part of the day. While he had enjoyed his time with her, the dream was always in the back of his mind. As soon as Bonnie had fallen asleep, he had gone to Angelica with Alina's spell. A spell to seek out one's enemies, it had been a brilliant creation by his childhood playmate. After Angelica had confirmed his suspicious, he had come here, to paint, to think, and above all to calm the hurricane of emotions swirling inside of him. He needed a clear his head for what was to come.

Painting was a form of control. It was something Klaus did as a hobby but also a form of therapy. It helped to clear his head, to keep him focused, and to help him think. Some of his greatest machinations had begun while he painted. He needed his art to keep him grounded before he did something stupid, like going to Baton Rouge.

Klaus had no doubts now. The wolf from Bonnie's dream was a Navarro, Franco Navarro. He had his suspicious as soon as he saw her dream, a Navarro wolf seemed like the logical choice, but the spell had confirmed it.

Anger boiled his blood as he thought of that fucking bastard. He had never felt such rage, such need for blood as he did now. Not even against his father. It was the reason he had locked himself in his study. He needed to clear his head. He couldn't afford to make mistakes, not when so much was at stake.

For a mad second he had contemplated going to Baton Rouge to kill the son of a bitch. He was smarter than that; going into enemy territory with a hot head was a recipe for disaster. He was going to give Franco a slow and agonizing death. He was going to enjoy ripping him apart and destroying his little empire there was no doubt about that. But before he could go after Franco, he needed to set a good plan in motion, he needed to cover all his bases, to think ahead and calculate all the possibilities and above all, he needed to keep Bonnie and his children safe. Bonnie was his priority.

"We need to talk."

The moment he heard those words he knew the time had come.

Klaus placed the brush down and moved towards the table next to his easel. He grabbed a wet rag and cleaned his hands before turning to face Bonnie, giving her his full attention.

He leaned back against the table and crossed his arms over his chest, watching her. She looked beautiful standing in his candle lit studio in nothing but a silky robe. She was glowing. He could easily picture her standing just like that but naked, his hands itched for a pencil so he could draw those exquisite curves he knew so well. It was not the moment for such things however. He suppressed the urge and waited for her to say more.

There was a long moment of silence; neither of them knew how to start.

"I had another dream," Bonnie blurted out.

Klaus tensed immediately. He wanted to ask her so many things but he knew better than to push her. That hadn't end up well the last time. Bonnie seemed like she wanted to say more, that was good. He watched her face carefully, doing his best to contain he fury that laced his veins, "tell me."

Bonnie hugged herself and rubbed her hands over her arms. She looked away from him. She was struggling to find the words. It wasn't an easy subject to talk about. She wasn't sure how to tackle such conversation. The fear still gripped at her heart and clogged her throat.

"Sweetheart, please…"

Bonnie turned back to look at him, startled by the tone of his voice. He was begging her to trust him, to confide in him. His eyes were pleading with her to open up, to tell him what troubled her so deeply. "I…" her voiced croaked with emotion.

Klaus moved closer, stopping a few inches away from her. "Tell me," he said again as he placed his hand gently on her arm. He moved his hand up and down her arm, rubbing her robe clad skin in a soothing manner.

"It wasn't as bad as the first," Bonnie said watching the movement of his hand before looking up into his face. His touch was soothing, calming. It was what she needed. "I was in a room, it was so cold…" she shivered remembering how cold and afraid she had felt.

Klaus placed his other hand on her other arm and pulled her closer to him. He drew her firmly against his chest, wrapping his arms around her trembling frame.

Bonnie welcomed his embrace. She closed her eyes resting her head against his shoulder. Her small hands fisted on his dark blue shirt, holding on for dear life. This was what she had wanted, what she had needed from the moment she woke up.

"What else?" Klaus asked.

His voice was surprisingly calm but Bonnie could feel how tense and on edge he was.

"I was chained," Bonnie said while keeping her eyes closed. "I tried to use my magic but I didn't have it. No matter how hard I tried, I didn't have my magic." She hadn't had her magic in the first dream either. "I saw a wolf, a brown wolf with red eyes and he turned into the mask man…" her voice broke. She wanted to stop, she didn't want to keep going but she had to. "He was naked," she said in a tiny whisper.

"What did he do?" Klaus asked trying to keep the rage from his voice. He needed to know and yet he dreaded it. He had seen her first dream, felt what she had felt and the thought of her going through that again…his beautiful Bonnie subjected to such horror, it made him want to set the world aflame. He closed his eyes and steeled himself for the worst.

"He pushed me against the wall, he smelled of death, and he said I was his, and he ripped my dress, and then I woke up." The words came out of her mouth in a rush. She was afraid that if she didn't get them out she wouldn't be able to say anything at all.

Talking about it was like having a weight being lifted off her shoulders, like coming out for air after being underwater, drowning for what seemed like an eternity. She felt so relieved but she also knew this was the beginning. She took a deep breath, gathering her strength. There still more to say.

"I didn't have my magic in the first dream either," Bonnie continued softly. That was one of the things that repeated in both dreams. The signs her grandmother had alluded to. She let out a shaky breath. She had to keep going and get it out. She needed to talk about it before the fear paralyzed her and made her silent once more.

Klaus kept quiet, waiting for her to say more. He could feel how much she wanted and needed to say the words out loud.

"He said the same thing, y _ou're mine now._ " Her whole body trembled as she thought back to that horrible first dream. "It was the same wolf, a brown beast with red eyes and he turned into a masked man," a few tears spilled down her cheeks. "He…" _don't say anything. He doesn't need to know more,_ her mind told her. "He hurt me," she squeezed her eyes shut as the images of that horrible dream assaulted her brain. She couldn't say more than that, like with Grams that was as much as she could say out loud. "Don't ask me to tell you the details…I can't…I…"

"I know." Klaus murmured as he held her close. He knew how difficult it was for her to talk about it. He could feel her fear and her anguish as if it were his own. "I know sweetheart." He murmured rubbing her back and doing his best to comfort her and make all her fears disappear.

"No, you don't understand, it was horrible-"

"I know," Klaus said again.

Bonnie lifted her tear stained face from his chest and stared at him with confusion. "You know?" the way he was looking at her, the way he had said it. Alarm bells went off in her head and a sinking feeling began forming in the pit of her stomach. "How would you know?" she asked quietly.

"I saw your dream," Klaus told her simply. He had considered not telling her about it, keeping the knowledge to himself. It was easier but also stupid. In order to ensure that dream never came true he and Bonnie needed to be on the same page. If she couldn't bring herself to talk about it, then it was his responsibility to do so. They weren't children, or teenagers with silly little problems. They were two adults who had two precious tiny beings depending on them to survive. They were a team. They had to work together.

"You saw my dream," Bonnie repeated. _No, no, it couldn't be, she must've heard wrong_. "How would you…why…how?" she asked in disbelief. "Did you get inside my head?"

"When we shared blood this morning, in the clearing," Klaus clarified. While he had been tempted to try and get inside her head while she slept, in order to find out what she had dreamt about, he had never dared to do so. The mind was a precious thing. He would never violate her privacy in such a way. "I saw your first dream," he held her gaze as he said the next words. "I felt what you felt. I know what he did to you."

Bonnie pulled away from him as if she had been burned. She paled as Klaus's words sunk in.

Klaus had seen her dream. Klaus had felt what she had felt.

Klaus knew everything.

* * *

"This is all you got?" Marcel asked as Father Kieran handed him another box.

"Yes."

Marcel shook his head as he began searching through the boxes filled with dark objects. He had expected a bigger collection to be honest. Father Kieran's legacy was legendary.

"Where did you get all this stuff from?" Thierry asked curiously. He pulled a white sphere out the box he was searching and held it in his hand, contemplating the strange object.

"The O'Connell family has been collecting dark objects for over a century," Kieran informed them. He regarded the vampire king carefully. "Are you sure this is the way to get Davina back?"

"Klaus and his family have secluded themselves in their home. There is a barrier that prevents anyone from going inside," Marcel informed him. He had been able to find said property but the barrier had killed one of his guys when he had tried to go inside. The house and the land surrounding the property were clearly protected by powerful magic. "That's where he has Davina, I'm sure of it."

"And how do you plan to lure him out?" Kieran asked.

"You'll see," Marcel answered cryptically. He had a plan in mind, he just needed to work out a few details and hopefully find a witch that would help him.

Kieran nodded.

The leader of the human faction and the vampire king had formed a strange alliance of sorts in order to keep the peace in the city. Kieran did not agree with Marcel's methods and more often than not they butted heads but there was a begrudging respect between both men. In Kieran's eyes, Marcel was the lesser of the two evils. The human faction thought the same. They would rather deal with the vampire than with the Mikaelson family (except for Mayor de la Fontaine who seemed quite charmed by the ancient vampire family) and after what Bonnie Mikaelson had done to the witches of the Quarter, the human faction worried what would happen if the Mikaelson's decided to take over the city.

"Klaus has daggers that can neutralize his siblings," Marcel muttered as he looked over one of the boxes. "But Rebekah once told me that the daggers don't work on him. I need something, something to keep him down for good or at least for long enough until I get Davina."

Attacking Klaus with his army of vampires would just backfire like when he attacked the werewolf camp. Marcel knew he had to be smarter than Klaus. He needed something to neutralize the hybrid and his siblings. That's where Kieran's dark objects came into play. Of course, he still needed to find a way to ensure Bonnie would not interfere with his plans. That was probably going to be the hardest part but Marcel felt confident that he would find a way. He just needed to be patient and think things through. He had been taught by the best after all. The time had come for the student to surpass the teacher.

"And the siblings?" Kieran asked.

"And his wife?" Thierry asked at the same time.

Before Marcel could respond a voice interrupted them.

"It seems I came at the right time." Sabine said as she stepped inside the compound. Her lips curved into a smirk as she regarded all three men.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Marcel growled. He had never really liked Sophie's friend. There was something about her. Something that made his skin crawled and kept him on the alert. "How did you get through my guys?"

"I snapped their necks," Sabine smiled maliciously as she walked closer towards them. Vampires could be such easy targets sometimes. "What you need is a witch."

"Your entire coven lost their magic," Marcel muttered. Bonnie had actually done him a favor in that regard. The French Quarter coven had always been the one to give him the most trouble.

"I haven't." With a snap of her fingers all the doors and windows shut down and the lights turned on.

Thierry gasped. Marcel's body tensed as he kept his eyes on Sabine ready for an attack.

"You still have your magic," Thierry couldn't believe it. Katie had said that all of the witches from their coven had lost their magic. _So why hadn't Sabine?_ "What the hell!"

"How can that be?" Kieran asked with a frown.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sabine glanced at him before turning her attention back to Marcel. "I have a proposition for you."

"Is that so?" Marcel did not like the glint in her eyes. But he felt curious as to what she had to say.

"I know how to take down the Mikaelson's," Sabine told him with confidence. "You want them out of the way as much I do, so why don't we team up?"

Marcel crossed his arms over his chest and watched her carefully. "And what would you want in return?"

Sabine smirked moving even closer until she stood just a few inches from Marcel. "You can do whatever you want with Klaus and his siblings," she murmured, her eyes bored into his while her red lips curved into a wicked grin.

There was something about her. As their eyes locked, Marcel couldn't help but wondered who this woman truly was.

"The only one I want is Bonnie," Sabine told him. Her eyes and face gave nothing away of her inner thoughts. She had a good poker face. "We can both help each other Marcel. You get Klaus and I get Bonnie."

"Why do you want her?" Marcel asked intrigued. Sabine was a powerful witch in her own right; she had no need of Bonnie. _What was he missing?_

"That's for me to know," Sabine replied mysteriously.

Marcel contemplated her silently. _There had to be a catch right?_ It couldn't be so easy as Sabine was making it out to be. _Why did he feel like she was trying to set him up?_ "You seem so confident," he muttered. "You really think you can take Klaus and his sibling down."

"I will take them down," Sabine replied. She felt absolutely certain. "But in order for my plan to work, I'm going to need your help."

Thierry and father Kieran exchanged worried looks.

"So what do you say Marcel Gerard, Do you want to team up or not?"

 _Don't trust her_ , his instincts warned and yet, if she could take down the Mikaelsons, if she could help him get Davina, it would be worth the risk right?

"I don't have all day chérie," Sabine muttered darkly.

Marcel licked his lips and swallowed nervously.

 _What was that saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend…_

* * *

"Oh my god," Bonnie didn't know what to say or how to react. She stared at Klaus with dumb shock and placed a trembling hand on her stomach, she felt nauseous all of a sudden.

"Sweetheart," he touched her shoulder. Bonnie flinched and moved away from him. The closed bond prevented her from feeling the slash of hurt that cut through him.

Klaus watched her in that intense way of his, waiting for her to say something. He could feel so many mixed emotions from her end of the bond. When he felt the hints of anger, he prepared himself for a confrontation.

Bonnie closed her eyes mortified. _Of course_ , she had seen flashes of him in his wolf form, felt some things, but she had been so consumed by pleasure she hadn't paid much attention to it. He had and now he knew everything.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Klaus told her as he moved closer to her. It was probably what she was thinking.

Green eyes opened and stared back at him. "I know." There was a part of her that felt angry, that thought that he had invaded her privacy by seeing her dream but she also knew he had no control over it. She couldn't blame him for something neither of them could control. They had seen flashes of each other's lives the first full moon they were together. It really shouldn't surprise her that this time was the same. "I just never thought you would see that."

"I understand now why you were so reluctant to talk about it," Klaus told her gently. He thirsted for blood at the thought of that dream but he knew he had to keep his temper in check. "That's why I kept my side of the bond shut. I didn't know how to tell you what I saw." _And I was also planning the many different ways in which I'm going to kill him_ was left unsaid.

"I can't believe you saw that, I can't…" She closed her eyes again. Telling him about her dream was one thing but for him to actually see it, to have felt it, Bonnie couldn't believe it. She wished that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. "I didn't want for you to find out like that."

His fingertips traced her cheek, "Look at me Bonnie," his tone was soft, gentle, and so was his touch. It was surprising how the hot rage he felt inside could melt like a fleck of snow against the sun for her.

His voice was a siren's call because without wanting to, she found herself opening her eyes and looking up at him.

"I know it wasn't real," Bonnie whispered. "I know it was a dream, a warning, but the fear, the power it has over me…" it was hard to explain. She couldn't even make sense of it herself. "There is this sense of doom, this dread, I feel like…" Bonnie bit her lip and looked away from his face. "I feel like it's going to happen and I won't be able to stop it," she finally admitted. That's what terrified her most, the feeling that her dream was unavoidable.

"I swear to you, that dream will never come true." Klaus said holding one of her hands. Her skin was so cold. He rubbed his thumb over her icy hand, determined to give her some warmth.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Bonnie said sadly. She had to prepare herself, just in case…

Klaus dropped his hand from her face and regarded her with a frown. "Don't say things like that." He didn't like the resigned look he saw on her face.

"Grams said that the more vivid the dream, the more danger I'm in, it doesn't get more vivid than that." Bonnie told him. She looked down at their joined hands. "I feel like I'm heading straight into an abyss of darkness and I'm powerless to stop it."

Now that it was finally in the open, she not only felt relieved but it was easier to talk about it. The ocean she had felt come between them was slowly reducing. Instead of being on opposite roads she and Klaus seemed to be heading in the same direction again. She liked that.

"We will stop it," Klaus promised. He was not going to let anyone hurt her.

"How?" Bonnie looked back into his face. "The Bayou is crawling with wolves but we don't know who he is, where he is." The wolf could be anyone and that made it more terrifying.

"Franco Navarro," Klaus said with pure uncontained hatred.

Bonnie froze upon hearing that name. The murderous look on his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. He seemed so sure.

"He's the wolf from your dream, I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure?" Bonnie asked him.

"I asked Angelica to do a spell," Klaus informed her. "I didn't tell her about your dream," he was quick to reassure her when he saw the look on her face. "It's a spell Ayana's daughter created a very long time ago. Angelica saw an army of wolves all led by a brown beast with red eyes from Baton Rouge."

Bonnie gasped. A brown beast with red eyes which in her dream turned into the mask man. "Sophie and her sister had a deal with the Navarro's," she said remembering how those wolves had hurt her dad and how they had helped the witches kidnap her. Her heart sped up. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

"I will kill him," Klaus stated. "I won't let him touch you. I won't let him hurt you. I swear it." Franco was going to have to go through him first if he wanted to get to Bonnie. And Klaus was going to squash him like the insignificant cockroach he was.

Bonnie squeezed his hand. The mask man now had a name. For the first time since she had that horrible dream, the cloud of doom that she felt above her started to dissipate as a few rays of sunlight broke through. Hope started to fill her veins.

If they knew who he was, if they knew where he was, they could stop him. They could end him before he even had the chance to get close to her.

Klaus gave her a knowing look. "We have the advantage Bonnie. We can stop him. We will stop him."

"Why does he want me?" Bonnie asked softly. "I've never met him, why?" she honestly couldn't understand why Franco Navarro was lusting after her.

"He's insane." Klaus didn't care, he knew what Franco's intentions were and he would ensure they never came to fruition.

There was a moment of silence as each of them got lost in their own thoughts.

Bonnie moved closer to him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she murmured. She hadn't even tried to find out who the man in her dream was. She had been so terrified and she had wasted so much time pretending it was just a dream. _How could she have been so stupid? How could she have let her fears get the best of her?_ Klaus had figured it out. Klaus had identified the threat against her. How easier things would've been If she had confided in him earlier. "I'm so sorry..."

Klaus leaned his head down until his forehead rested against hers. They were standing so close, their breaths mingled and their bodies melted together. In that moment they were one and the same.

"I couldn't find the words," Bonnie continued. "I was so afraid that I thought pretending it was just a dream will make it go away. It was so stupid but I was so scared." It was the shameful truth. She could face a deathly huntress, she could face an entire coven of witches and be a queen to her own coven and yet that dream had turned her into a scared child. "I hate it," she admitted. "I hate how terrified that dream makes me feel, I hate how much power it has over me."

"I know," Klaus whispered. He had been so angry about her reluctance to talk about her dream but once he had seen and felt what she had, he understood. The dream had affected her more than she let on; it had left a traumatic imprint on her.

"I should've told you sooner, I…"

Klaus grabbed her face and stared deeply into his eyes. "Now it's not the time for regrets my love," he told her while holding her face tenderly. "What matters is that we can stop this from happening."

Bonnie stared into his eyes. A gasp escaped her lips as Klaus opened his side of the bond. A slight tremor rolled over her body as his emotions washed over her. "You already have plan," she realized.

Klaus's lips curved into a familiar smirk. "The hunt has begun," his eyes turned to pure gold. "I will bring you his head on a silver platter," he promised.

Bonnie shivered. There was a part of her that wondered if she was twisted for feeling aroused at his words.

* * *

 **Virginia**

Stefan and Damon waited patiently for the warlock to do the spell. His grandmother owed a favor to Damon and the vampire had come collecting.

The table was surrounded by white burning candles while a picture of Bonnie and Caroline in their cheerleading outfits lay in the middle.

The warlock murmured quietly, eyes closed in concentration as he held his hands above the picture.

The picture burst into flames and he hissed in pain. He opened his eyes, gasping while a few drops of blood came out of his nose.

"Did you find them?" Damon asked.

"The vampire girl is in Baton Rouge, in a cell inside a mansion." The warlock informed him as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. "Good luck trying to get there."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Stefan asked. He didn't like the tone of his voice.

"That's werewolf territory," the man informed them as he wiped the blood off his nose. "Any vampire that goes there dies. The Navarro brothers hate vampires."

Stefan and Damon exchanged worried looks. They had heard the name Navarro in passing, when they had been searching for Elena. Rumor had it, that the Navarro were the biggest pack of wolves in the world.

"What about Bonnie?" Damon asked turning to face the warlock once more. "Where is she?" he had tried calling her cell but every fucking time he had the only answer he got was a voicemail. He had even tried calling Matt, but again no one had answered. According to her dad, Bonnie, Matt, and Rebekah were in Europe for the summer. Damon hoped that wasn't true, they needed Bonnie, now more than ever.

"That girl is protected by powerful magic," the warlock told them with a frown. His head had exploded in pain trying to find her location. "I couldn't find her."

"Fucking fantastic," Damon muttered angrily as he stood up.

Stefan did the same. "At least we know where Caroline is," he said as they began making their way out of the shop without bothering to say thank-you.

"She's a Bennett witch, isn't she?"

The warlock's voice stopped both brothers. They both turned to face him.

"I heard rumors of a Bennett witch in New Orleans…" there was a strange look in his eyes as he studied both vampires. "You don't want to mess with her." The things he had heard sent a chill down his spine.

"New Orleans," Stefan whispered. The Originals had lived in New Orleans once upon a time; he knew that from the time he had spent with them in Chicago. C _ould Bonnie be there with them?_

Damon's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What have you heard?"

"She's the hybrid's bitch."

Damon took a menacing step forward ready to attack the man for insulting Bonnie but Stefan got in the way, stopping him from doing something stupid.

"Don't," he could feel the warlock's magic flaring, attacking him was not going to end up well for them.

"I have repaid my grandmother's debt to you. Get the hell out."

He didn't even give them a change to walk out of his shop. He used his magic to send them flying out of the door. They crashed straight into the car parked in front of the shop.

"Son of a bitch," Damon cursed.

"What are we going to do?" Stefan asked as the two pulled themselves to their feet.

Damon gave his younger brother a look. "We're going on a road trip baby bro." He began walking towards his car.

"And Elena?" Stefan asked walking next to him. They had left Elena locked in the basement of the boarding house.

"She'll be fine. I'll call Liz and ask her to give Elena some blood from time to time, we need to find Bonnie." Damon said as he pulled his car keys out. "We are going to get Bonnie, she's going to help us get Caroline, and use her witchy juju to knock some sense into Elena." That was his plan. It sounded like a good plan.

Stefan frowned as he got on the passenger seat of the car. Somehow he didn't think it was going to be as easy as Damon thought.

"New Orleans here we go," Damon muttered as he drove out of there.

* * *

 _A/N: The stage is set, the players are moving into place, and so it begins. I hope you liked this chapter. See you next time!_


	33. Chapter 33

Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah gathered in the study. They sat around a small round table close to the window. Elijah filled three glasses of whiskey as Klaus informed them of the things Angelica had seen while using Alina's spell.

The Originals were no strangers to war. In the thousand years they had lived, they had faced countless enemies and fought many battles. This war however, was going to change the supernatural world and they needed to be at the top of their game, not only to survive but to maintain their power.

"Are you certain the wolf is Franco?" Rebekah asked while crossing her legs.

"He's the leader of the Navarro pack, likes to call himself the Alpha of Alphas. Angelica saw a brown beast with red eyes leading an army of wolves." Klaus replied darkly as he leaned back in his chair. "Bonnie has been having dreams about a wolf with red eyes as well. I have no doubt it's him." He could barely contain the desire to shift and run straight to Baton Rouge and rip out Franco's throat. Every time he thought of Franco Navarro his blood boiled with rage. "Their men also helped Jane-Anne and Sophie to kidnap Bonnie, remember?"

Rebekah and Elijah exchanged worried looks. They knew that a witch's dreams were not to be taken lightly.

"What kind of dreams?" Elijah asked curiously. He had not missed the murderous look on his brother's face or the hint of anger in his voice.

"All you need to know is that he's a threat to Bonnie," Klaus replied while grabbing the glass of whiskey Elijah handed him. "He's a threat to all of us."

"Do you think he's going to make a move now?" Rebekah wondered.

"The Navarro pack has always wanted to have control of the city, they have amassed the biggest army of wolves ever but they have yet to make a move against Marcel and take New Orleans…" Elijah moved his fingers over the rim of his glass, a thoughtful look on his face. "What is he waiting for?"

"The hybrid I have in Baton Rouge keeping an eye on Tyler has informed me that there has been some strange activity at the Navarro mansion, he has seen a couple going in and out practically every day," Klaus informed them. "He thinks they might be witches." Nate wasn't sure but had promised to investigate.

"Bloody fantastic," Rebekah muttered. Franco and his pack were turning into a big headache. "If they have witches fighting in their corner things can turn nasty."

"We need to be prepared for an attack," Klaus told them. "Not only from Franco but Marcel as well, he's plotting with the leader of the human faction, that priest that was at the ball." One of Marcel's vampires had also turned to ash after trying to cross the barrier that protected their home. Marcel knew where they lived, it was only a matter of time before he tried to lure them out and get Davina.

"And you know this from another one of your spies?" Rebekah raised an eyebrow.

"Josh is quite the devoted and eager minion," Klaus told her. The boy had proven useful thus far. He wasn't part of Marcel's inner circle not yet, but he had gathered interesting information which he passed on to Klaus on a daily basis.

"Has Davina accepted your offer?" Elijah asked. The young witch was still locked inside the cabin. It seemed she wanted to take her time and think over Klaus's terms.

"Not yet," Davina was still undecided but Klaus felt confident he would have her eating out of the palm of his hand soon enough. Her growing friendship with Belle was something that worked in his favor too. "She will accept, make no mistake of that."

Elijah nodded. "Mayor de la Fontaine is on our side, other prominent families seem interested in a change of rule. Many are alarmed by the growing rate of vampires in the city. They won't be hard to sway to our side once we take over."

"So the main problem as always is the witches," Rebekah muttered looking at Klaus. "And Marcel and his army, and the Navarro clan of course," she then turned towards Elijah. "Not to mention your crazy psychotic ex. When are you going to get rid of her?" She had never liked Celeste Dubois; she had never liked any of her brother's lovers actually.

"Lucy and I are working on it," Elijah responded calmly. "I have a plan. I just need to work out a few details before setting it in motion." Elijah was not going to let Celeste continue to plot against his family. Her games had to end once and for all.

"You and Lucy are working on it," Rebekah repeated as she and Klaus shared complicit looks. "With your clothes on or off?" she asked innocently.

Elijah gave her a look. "I will not dignify that with a response."

Rebekah and Klaus burst out laughing.

"So you do like her," Rebekah said as she stared at her brother.

Elijah took a sip of his whisky instead of answering. _Yes,_ he liked Lucy very much but he was not going to admit that out loud and give more ammunition to his siblings.

"He's like a school boy with a crush," Klaus chuckled.

"You are one to talk," Elijah retorted. "You should see the look on your face every time Bonnie comes into the room."

Klaus only grinned. "At least I got the girl. You haven't even made the first move," he fired back with amusement. It was so obvious how much Elijah and Lucy liked each other. Klaus and Bonnie had actually made a bet on who would make the first move. Klaus was quite looking forward to winning of course.

"You're falling for her, admit it," Rebekah said bringing Elijah's attention back to her. "It might do wonders for the stick lodged up your stoic arse if you did." In Rebekah's opinion, Lucy was exactly what Elijah needed.

Elijah shook his head at her words but there was a hint of a smile on his lips. "I'm quite intrigued, I will admit to that." There was something happening between them that much was obvious. Elijah felt nervous and excited about the possibility of more but he was taking his time and going about it cautiously. The heart, even the heart of an Original was such a fragile organ, he didn't want to give it lightly and be burned again.

Rebekah grinned and even Klaus had a small smile tugging at his lips. No matter how much Elijah tried to play coy about it, they both knew he was falling for Lucy Bennett.

Silence descended over them afterwards as they drank quietly, each lost in their own thoughts.

In the weeks since their arrival in New Orleans the bond between the three siblings had become stronger than ever. There was a sense of peace, of harmony between them. It was something they hadn't had in years. For the first time in centuries they were in a good place.

"Bonnie has her first prenatal appointment tomorrow," Klaus spoke up suddenly. Lenore had called earlier that day to give them the information of an old friend of hers who was an obstetrician. Due to the special circumstances, she had agreed to see Bonnie right away.

Rebekah's eyes lit up with excitement.

"No, Rebekah you cannot come," Klaus told her before she could ask.

Rebekah pouted.

"Is it in the Quarter?" Elijah asked with concern. He knew they couldn't keep Bonnie's pregnancy a secret for ever but he didn't want Marcel or the other vampires to know about the Mikaelson's twins just yet.

"In Covington actually, the doctor is a witch," Klaus told him. He had met one of her ancestors about a century ago, powerful group of witches they were. Lenore had sworn to Bonnie she could be trusted and Klaus of course had already dug up everything about her.

"Sometimes I still can't believe you are going to be a father," Rebekah murmured quietly while studying her brother's face. "I was always the one who wanted to get married, have children…" there was such sadness in her face as she said it.

Those were the dreams she had as a human; dreams that throughout the centuries had stayed with her, even when she knew how impossible they were. She had always wanted someone to love her, someone to spend her life with. She bit her lip thinking of Matt, her heart soared with the happiness she felt with him. Children were out of the question of course but Rebekah felt like she had finally found what she had been looking for, and so had Klaus.

"Do you realize what a beautiful gift you've been given?" Rebekah asked unable to contain the emotion in her voice. "How precious those babies are?"

"I know," Klaus whispered. It was a miracle, a very terrifying and amazing miracle. Sometimes he still couldn't believe it either. Deep down, he knew he didn't deserve such gift. There were times when he couldn't help but wonder if Bonnie would realize one day what an undeserving monster he was and leave him, taking his children with her. He knew he didn't deserve them or her. He was terrified that he would ruin them like his father had ruined him. That he would lose them and it would all be his fault.

Rebekah could see all the conflicting emotions he felt reflected in his eyes. She reached out for his hand. "It's okay to care, Nik. It's okay to want this, to love them, to love her," she told him with a soft smile as she held his hand in hers. "That's what we have always wanted for you."

"My enemies will see them as a weakness," he said quietly. _Love is a vampire's greatest weakness,_ he had told Elijah. Klaus knew that his enemies would want to use his children and even Bonnie in order to destroy him.

Even thought he didn't show it, both Elijah and Rebekah could tell he was afraid. They knew him well. They knew he was terrified of losing them.

"They're anything but," Elijah murmured. "They shall be your greatest strength brother." Elijah had always believed in the power of family. It was an unbreakable bond and a source of immeasurable strength. If Klaus had been unstoppable when he had nothing to fight for, nothing to love, now that he did, now that he had Bonnie and his children to love and protect, he would be indestructible. Of that, Elijah felt certain.

"Family is power," Rebekah repeated the words Elijah always liked to say to them. "Which is why I'm going to bring Kol back from the dead," she blurted out. "We're at war and the only vampires we can trust are each other. We need our brother."

Elijah and Klaus stared at her with shock.

"Rebekah that's…" Elijah began, what she was saying was something that had never been done before.

"Do you think it's possible?" Klaus asked intrigued with the idea.

"If a hybrid can father miracle babies with a witch then I'm sure we can bring people back from the other side," Rebekah responded. "He's our brother. Our family won't be complete without him."

Elijah opened his mouth but Rebekah silenced him with a look, "this is what I'm going to do…" she said as she began explaining her plan to them.

* * *

 **The next morning…**

"Sophie, I'm serious you need to call me back. This is important." Katie said angrily into her cell phone as she made her way towards her shop. Since the night before she had been trying to reach Sophie and find out what the hell was going on. Thierry had informed her that Sabine still had her magic, Katie couldn't believe it. Bonnie had taken the magic from the entire French Quarter coven, there was no way Sabine could still have hers, something wasn't adding up. "Please, call me back. I need to talk to you."

She hung up and nearly had a heart attack when she spotted the vampire waiting for her outside her shop. He was definitely not one of Marcel's guys. Katie had not seen him before in the Quarter.

Tall, cool, and dangerous were the words that came to Katie's mind as she stared at the handsome stranger. She looked around trying to calculate if she could escape before he turned her into his morning meal.

The vampire's lips curved into a smirk. "Don't even think about it," he muttered as he took a menacing step closer.

"What do you want?" Katie snapped trying to portray a feeling of confidence she didn't possess, without her magic she knew she didn't stand a chance against him. But she was definitely going to try and make a run for it.

"My name is Felix," he told her. "I have a message for you from Klaus."

Katie gasped. She had been wondering when the hybrid would contact her. Her heart sped up. This was it, this was her chance. She had already made up her mind, now the time had come to finally take an active role. She prayed to her dead ancestors to guide her and protect her. It had begun.

"Okay," Katie said. Her hands shook as she unlocked the door. "Come in."

Felix moved swiftly inside.

Katie looked around the already busy streets of the Quarter, ensuring that they were not being spied on before closing the door and turning to face Klaus's messenger. "Tell me."

* * *

"Are you sure?" Ishmael questioned Cary. As he, Mila, and his grandson met at his cabin.

"I'm telling you there are no signs of any wolves in the area. The Crescents stayed human after the full moon."

"They broke the curse?" An incredulous Mila asked. They all knew that the Crescent pack had been cursed by Marcel. They were forced to remain in their wolf forms except on the night of the full moon when they turned human.

"I saw them around their camp," Cary liked to spy on them from time to time. He didn't like knowing that there was another pack so close to his; one never knew what could happen. Wolves were territorial and tempers flared in close proximity. He always kept an eye out. He didn't want any surprise attacks on his pack again. "I saw them in their human forms. They're free from the curse Marcel put on them. I'm sure of it."

"How can that be?" Ishmael asked. More importantly, _who had helped them to break their curse?_ A witch no doubt, but from which of the nine covens and why. He couldn't help but feel suspicious of the timing in which this occurred. There was bad blood between all supernatural species after all. No witch would help the Crescents unless she had something to gain.

"I'm going to go to the plantation and inform Klaus," Cary told his grandfather.

Ishmael nodded. "We need to pay them a visit." They needed to know if the Crescents would be friends or foes in the war. "Tell Klaus I will arrange a meeting with the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack, we need to talk to him." The Crescents needed to know that they had an alliance with the Mikaelson's, that Klaus was one of their own.

"Now that they are free from their curse, it's only a matter of time before they go after Marcel and try to claim the city for themselves. Things are about to turn ugly in the Quarter." Mila looked worried.

"That's good right?" Cary looked between his grandfather and Mila. "Marcel is our enemy, if the Crescents get rid of him that'll be good for us." He couldn't wait for that son of a bitch who had attacked his pack to meet his end.

"Perhaps…" Ishmael murmured. The Crescent pack could be a valuable ally in the war to come or turn into a big headache for them, whatever the case they were prepared to handle them.

* * *

Bonnie yawned and shifted nervously in her seat. According to the GPS they were five minutes away from their destination.

"Are you alright?" Klaus asked glancing in her direction before focusing on the road once more.

"Sleepy," Bonnie mumbled before staring out of the window. The closer they got the more anxious she felt.

A few drops of rain fell on the windshield while the low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. It was a cloudy and rather chilly morning. They had left the plantation shortly after breakfast and made the hour drive to Covington, where Bonnie was scheduled for her first prenatal appointment at the private clinic where Lenore's friend worked.

They had gotten lucky that Lenore knew a witch who was also an OBGYN, an old friend of hers who thankfully was not involved with any of the covens in New Orleans.

Bonnie felt really nervous about her appointment. She had hardly gotten any sleep the night before, tossing and turning until the early hours of the morning. She had ended up going to Klaus's study and watched him paint until she had fallen asleep. Even now, her mind was buzzing with all kinds of questions and worries.

"You're nervous," Klaus commented keeping his eyes on the road.

"What if something is wrong?" Bonnie asked suddenly.

Klaus frowned.

"I should've done this appointment the minute I found out I was pregnant. I shouldn't have waited this long and I've been using so much magic lately, what if that harmed the babies, what if-"

"Everything will be fine, love," Klaus interrupted her nervous rambling. He reached out with his right hand and held her left hand in his. "Don't worry." He gave her a gentle squeeze.

His touch was warm and reassuring and it helped to ease some of the tension in her body. Bonnie touched her small bump with her other hand. "You're right, I shouldn't be thinking like that." She would drive herself crazy if she kept thinking about all the things that could go wrong. But she couldn't help but feel anxious, her pregnancy was not normal. The twins had been able to heal her injuries and do magic from the womb, not to mention what they had done to Klaus's hybrid. Even by supernatural standards she knew this pregnancy was special. She was afraid that the doctor would tell them that there was something wrong or abnormal with their babies.

 _Everything is going to be fine_ , Bonnie thought doing her best to calm her nerves. She turned to look at Klaus. He looked calm and relaxed but Bonnie could feel a slight twinge of worry and nervousness coming from his side. Since their talk the other night, the bond between them was open on both ends. The cloud of tension that had been hanging above them had disappeared at last. Things between them were great, better than ever actually.

Bonnie smiled as she stared at him. The hand on her belly tingled and she couldn't help but giggle.

"What?" Klaus asked casting a quick look in her direction.

"I can feel their magic," Bonnie answered. Her mother had felt twins' magic too. She wondered if Klaus could feel it too. She let go his hand before pulling it towards her belly. She stared at his face, waiting to see if he would feel anything.

Klaus kept his eyes on the road, his palm resting upon her stomach. A second later, he gasped and turned to look at her with shock.

"You felt it didn't you?"

"A slight tingle," he murmured, a slight _magical_ tingle to be more specific. He couldn't help but feel proud. His children were undeniably powerful.

Bonnie grinned. "They're quite something aren't they?" she placed her own hand on top of Klaus's.

"Well considering who their parents are…" Klaus grinned from ear to ear as he said it.

Bonnie smiled.

They spend the rest of the drive in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. But Klaus kept his hand resting gently over her belly while Bonnie rubbed her hand over his. It was a moment of absolute peace, a wonderful feeling neither of them wanted to let go of.

A few minutes later, Klaus turned the ignition off.

"We're here," he muttered before opening the door and getting out of the car.

Bonnie jumped out of her seat when he suddenly appeared by her side, opening the passenger door for her. _Vampires and their super speed_ , Bonnie thought while getting out. She shivered and pulled her charcoal grey cardigan tighter around her body as a cold breeze blew through the parking lot.

"Are you ready?" Klaus asked taking her small hand in his.

Bonnie nodded while staring at the four story building. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and smiled nervously, "this is it."

Together they walked hand in hand inside the private clinic.

* * *

Dr. Regina Mayfair was an elegant woman in her early forties. She was about Bonnie's height. Her dark hair was pulled back in a tight bun while a soft smile graced her round face as she greeted them warmly. Bonnie could see the twinkle in her bright blue eyes even behind the frames of her glasses. There was something very calming and reassuring about her presence.

"Please have a sit," she told them as she let them inside her office.

Bonnie took a seat in the stiff leather chair in front of Dr. Mayfair's desk while Klaus took the seat next to her. They both looked around the office, seeing the different diplomas and awards hanging on the walls as well as the different posters of babies and pregnancy related information.

"Did Lenore tell you-" Bonnie began nervously.

"She told me you are expecting twins and that the father is a hybrid," Dr. Mayfair took a seat behind her desk and studied both of them carefully. Under different circumstances, the first question out of her mouth would be if Bonnie was sure about the father's identity. But Lenore had sworn Klaus Mikaelson was the father of Bonnie's twins and Regina had no reason to doubt her friend. "I've never had a case like this before," she admitted. "So, I'm going to start by asking you a lot of questions, okay?"

"Okay," Bonnie agreed. Abby had warned her that her first appointment was going to be the longest.

"You understand the need for discretion in this matter, don't you?" Klaus asked in a rather cold and intimating voice. The threat was very implicit.

Bonnie gave him a look. Only Klaus would threaten their doctor in such a subtle manner when the appointment had barely started. Klaus ignored her look and kept his eyes on the doctor.

Dr. Mayfair looked at him directly in the eyes, "you have my word that everything we discuss in this and the other appointments to come will stay between us. In the twenty plus years I have been doing this, I have dealt with many supernaturals and I have never divulged their secrets to anyone." It was part of her oath as a doctor to keep quiet in regards to her patients, human or not.

Klaus nodded. He knew of her reputation. The moment Lenore had recommended her to Bonnie; Klaus's informants had dug up all the dirt on the good old doctor, from her youth, to her short lived marriage, her two children and even the lover she had been living with for the past five years. She was one of the best in her field and was highly recommended by humans and supernaturals alike. She also came from a long line of powerful and respected witches.

Dr. Mayfair pulled out a notepad and a pen. "The first thing I want to ask you is, if this pregnancy was naturally conceived or if magic was involved?" She wanted to know exactly what she was dealing with.

"It wasn't planned," Bonnie admitted truthfully. Having sex with Klaus on prom night had been unexpected, completely unplanned on both of their parts. "There was no magic involved…" she paused as she remembered something. "Well, I did magic earlier that night." She had been on a magic high of sorts after Elena had attacked her.

Dr. Mayfair nodded and scribbled down some notes. "How often have you used magic since you found out you were pregnant?"

"A lot," Bonnie thought back to all the times she had to use magic in the past few weeks, especially since they arrived in New Orleans.

"How do you feel after using magic?"

"I feel fine," Bonnie glanced at Klaus before turning to face Dr. Mayfair once more. "I did a very complex spell two days ago and I felt tired afterwards but it passed rather quickly." By the time she had met Klaus in his wolf form at the clearing she was anything but tired.

"Any dizziness, nosebleeds, or cramps during or after practicing magic?"

"I felt lighted and a bit nauseous after doing some healing spells," she told the doctor, remembering the night of the ball. "Should I not be using magic?" she asked fearfully. Had she unknowingly been hurting her children by all the powerful magic she had performed. That was one of her fears. Her heart constricted at the thought of those fears coming true. She thought on how she had defeated the huntress, all the healing she had done at the ball, the fight at the sanatorium, the summoning spell. _Oh god, what have I done?_ She thought worriedly.

"Every pregnancy is different," Dr. Mayfair said looking up from her notes. "I had witches who are unable to perform any kind of magic while pregnant. Their powers are blocked while carrying their baby to term."

"Why is that?" Bonnie asked intrigued.

"We don't know why that happens," Dr. Mayfair told her. "Some witches on the other hand experience an increase in their magical powers while pregnant. For some it disappears after giving birth, for others that enhanced magic stays," she explained. "I also had a witch once, her baby was a siphoner, he was literally sucking the magic and the life out of her, a very complicated pregnancy that was." She had to deliver the baby early because it was killing his mother from inside the womb. "Like I said, every witch pregnancy is different. Sometimes it depends on the kind of magic you practice."

"What do you mean?" Bonnie and Klaus asked at the same time.

"Practicing extremely dark and malevolent magic while pregnant can put the baby at risk," Dr. Mayfair told them.

Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip. She was practicing Expression which was considered so dark and powerful that some witches even discredited as magic.

"You have to know your limits," Dr. Mayfair continued bringing Bonnie's attention back to her. "It seems your magic has not been affected by your pregnancy and that is really good."

"So I can keep doing magic?" Bonnie questioned.

"Yes," Dr. Mayfair responded. "However, as you move further along in your pregnancy things could change. I will advise you to be careful and to keep an eye out for any sudden changes that may occur during or after you practice magic. If it feels wrong, it's wrong. Don't push yourself when your body is telling you enough."

Bonnie nodded.

"Is there anything unusual that you have noticed since you became pregnant?" Dr. Mayfair asked gently, "anything that seems out of the ordinary?"

"I can heal really fast, or well the twins can heal me," Bonnie admitted.

"She heals at the rate of a vampire," Klaus added. _And not just any vampire but an Original vampire_ , he thought.

"I see," Dr. Mayfair murmured taking notes of everything. She studied Bonnie's face carefully. "Do you have any sudden cravings to drink blood?" She couldn't help but wonder how much of their father's vampire nature Bonnie's twins had inherited.

"No," Bonnie answered honestly. Well, truth to be told she liked drinking Klaus's blood. She had grown accustomed to the rich and powerful taste of his blood. Not to mention that the times they had shared blood had been mind-blowing. "I mean, sometimes I drink Klaus's blood."

"I assume you drink hers as well," Dr. Mayfair turned to Klaus.

The hybrid nodded. The sharing of blood was an intimate act for vampires. Blood and sex went hand in hand more often than not. In his case, sharing blood with Bonnie had forged their bond their first night together. It had created an unbreakable connection between them.

"Any side effects?" She asked curiously.

Bonnie and Klaus shared a look. There were no side effects on Klaus as far as they knew; he was perfectly fine after feeding from her. But they were both thinking about Brian, the hybrid that had been poisoned after attacking her.

"Not that we know of," Klaus lied easily. For now, it was something he would rather keep secret. It was the kind of information that could be dangerous if it fell on the wrong hands.

Dr. Mayfair put the pen down, "you are both adults, I won't presume to tell you what you should or should not do in the privacy of your bedroom." She looked back and forth between them. "I trust that you know better than to over indulge in risky behavior that can potentially harm your children." She was not ordering them to stop sharing blood but she was warning them to be careful.

Both of them nodded.

Bonnie trusted Klaus fully. When he fed from her he only took a small amount of her blood, the only exception had been at the Sanatorium when he had been weakened and starved by the dagger inside his chest. But even then, he had controlled himself.

"Now, let's get into more routine questions," Dr. Mayfair said with a smile. "When was your last menstrual period?"

"A few days before we…" Bonnie trailed off with a frown. "I can't remember the exact day. I'm sorry-"

"It's okay," Dr. Mayfair said while she continued to take notes. "Have you been pregnant before?"

"No."

And so it began a long list of questions regarding Bonnie's health.

Dr. Mayfair asked Bonnie about any habits that could affect her pregnancy, like drinking or smoking, her medical history, her family's medical history. She even asked Klaus a few questions about his family's health history. Klaus answered them as best as he could.

Dr. Mayfair also talked about their options in regards to genetic testing. There were many screening tests that would help determine if the babies were at risk for any birth defects, chromosomal problems, or genetic disorders.

Bonnie nodded nervously. She hadn't realized babies could be subjected to so many tests before they were even born. She kept one hand on her stomach while holding Klaus's hand with the other as she listened dutifully to everything Dr. Mayfair had to say.

After an hour or so of talking, they moved to the examining room right next door.

Samples of Bonnie's blood and urine were taken as well as measurements of her height, weight, and her blood pressure. Dr. Mayfair also examined her body, her eyes, throat, lungs, her breasts, and abdomen.

"Their magic is active," she murmured stunned as she touched Bonnie's stomach and felt the twins' power.

"Yeah…" Bonnie smiled sheepishly. The twins' magic was very active; she and Klaus had felt it before coming to the appointment.

"Is something wrong?" Klaus asked as he noticed the frown on Dr. Mayfair's face.

"It's a slight complication," Dr. Mayfair answered truthfully. Her fingers tingled from the incredible energy she felt radiating off Bonnie's stomach. In her many years as an OB she had only had one other patient whose baby showed signs of magic from the womb and that had been nearly ten years ago.

"Why?" Bonnie asked nervously.

"Magic from the womb is extremely rare," Dr. Mayfair answered. "Witch children begin to show signs of magic at about a year or so old. Having magic from the womb, it's risky because you might accidentally tap into their magic. The last thing you want is for your magic and your children's magic to mix," she explained. "Magic takes a toll on the body and unlike you; your children are still growing and developing." She looked from Bonnie to Klaus as she said her next words. "Channeling their magic can put them at risk. Depending on how strong or complicated the spell is, you can cause them severe harm."

Bonnie's stomach dropped and her face went pale.

"It's alright sweetheart," Klaus told he gently as he took her hand. He appeared calm but his whole body tensed with the doctor's words. He had felt so proud that their twins had magic from the womb; it hadn't even crossed his mind that it could be dangerous for them.

"You need to relax Bonnie," Dr. Mayfair said in a gentle tone while placing a hand on her shoulder.

Bonnie was surprised by the soothing calm that washed over her. Her worry disappeared in an instant. It was rather strange. One moment she had been panicking about Dr. Mayfair's words and in the next she felt so calm.

"You're an empath," Klaus realized seeing the calming effect Dr. Mayfair had on Bonnie.

"I am." Dr. Mayfair admitted glancing in his direction before turning back to Bonnie. "I don't want you to make yourself sick with worry. This can be an advantage for you."

"Really?" Bonnie didn't sound sure about that.

"Their magic is active and extremely powerful from what I can feel, that's good because it will make it easier to differentiate between your magic and theirs," Dr. Mayfair explained. "Each witch has a unique magical signature even those from the same bloodline. I can teach you a technique to make it easier to tell the difference."

Bonnie nodded.

"Would having vampire blood in their system help?" Klaus asked suddenly.

"Absolutely," Dr. Mayfair responded. "It will make them stronger and able to withstand more than a regular fetus would. Having vampire blood definitely works to their advantage."

"See?" Klaus told Bonnie. "Everything will be fine love."

Bonnie squeezed his hand hoping that he was right. She didn't want to put their children at risk.

Dr. Mayfair continued with her examination, which included a pelvic exam. It was uncomfortable and a bit embarrassing with Klaus present in the room. The hybrid took it all in stride and was extremely supportive. It also helped a lot that her doctor was a woman; it made both of them feel more comfortable during the whole process.

The moment Bonnie had been anticipating since she made the appointment finally came. She stretched out on the examining table, a hurricane of emotions swirling inside her as Dr. Mayfair set up all the equipment.

Klaus stood by her side holding her hand- a bit too tightly, which let Bonnie know just how nervous he truly was. She could also feel that nervousness echo through their bond even if he didn't show it.

Bonnie shivered as Dr. Mayfair spread a thin layer of gel gently over her abdomen. "It's cold," she murmured when Klaus looked at her with concern.

"Let's see the little ones," Dr. Mayfair picked up the scanning wand and placed it over Bonnie's abdomen.

The screen flickered on and they all turned their attention to the monitor. Bonnie squinted trying to make out the details on the grainy screen.

"Here is one," Dr. Mayfair said as she moved the wand over Bonnie's belly. "See the head," she pointed with her fingers as the images weren't that clear. "Here are the hands, feet…" She moved the wand over to the right. "And here is the other one," once again she pointed out the head, hands, and feet.

Bonnie stared at the monitor in stunned silence. She couldn't believe it. She was seeing them, her babies. There was a happy smile on her face as she turned to look at Klaus.

The hybrid was enthralled by the images on the monitor, it wasn't perfectly clear but he could see the two shapes. Sensing Bonnie's eyes on him he turned to her and smiled.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Bonnie whispered clutching his hand tightly and turning to stare back at the monitor.

Klaus nodded. He couldn't really say anything. His throat was clogged with emotion as he turned back to stare at the monitor as well.

"See this membrane in between," Dr. Mayfair pointed out and showed them on the screen. "This basically tells you that these are di-di twins, which means that each twin has their own placenta and amniotic sac. That's the best type of twins to have."

"So, they're not identical?" Bonnie asked.

"No. These are most likely fraternal." Dr. Mayfair told them. "That means that two eggs were released and fertilized by two sperms," She explained to them. "I can't tell you the gender yet, but I can tell you that they look great, shall we hear their hearts?" She clicked on the machine.

Tears blurred Bonnie's vision as she heard it. They heard one first and then the other. Bonnie couldn't say anything. She couldn't find the words to describe how incredible that moment was when she heard her babies' hearts for the very first time. To her ears, it was the most beautiful, the most amazing sound in the whole world.

Klaus smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. He heard their heartbeats every day so it was nothing new for him. But to hear those precious hearts and see them on the screen was an entirely different and incredible experience. He couldn't take his eyes away from the images.

"They're so tiny," Bonnie murmured. But they were beautiful and perfect and so loved. The look on Klaus's face was something she would always treasure and remember for many years to come. He was in awe. Bonnie couldn't help but smile, he looked so happy. She turned back to the monitor and gasped. "It moved!" she pointed out excitedly. She had clearly seen one of them move. "Did you see that?" she couldn't believe it. One of them had moved.

"It's wiggling yes," Dr. Mayfair said as she clicked on the machine and began taking measurements.

"They're both doing it!" Klaus said noticing that now both of the twins were wiggling. There was a happy smile on his face as he looked down at Bonnie. They both had matching grins.

"I don't feel them move," Bonnie said turning back to Dr. Mayfair.

"Babies start to move long before you can actually feel it." Dr. Mayfair said as she began printing the images. "You won't be able to feel them move, not yet." She still had more weeks to go before that happened.

"Oh," Bonnie watched mesmerized as the twins continued to wiggle. It was incredible, to finally see those two tiny beings growing inside her belly. Her heart swelled. They were so precious. She still couldn't believe that she and Klaus had created something so beautiful.

"Does everything look okay?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes, it does." Dr. Mayfair answered with a smile. "The heartbeats are strong, normal, and everything looks right. You have two beautiful and healthy babies Bonnie."

"See?" Klaus said squeezing her hand. "There was nothing to worry about." He had been confident that everything would be okay but hearing Dr. Mayfair confirm it, was a relief for both of them.

Bonnie smiled. She felt happy and relieved.

"You are eleven weeks pregnant. You are almost done with your first trimester," Dr. Mayfair informed them. "And your estimated due date is February fourteen. Since you are carrying twins they might be born a bit earlier than that though."

"Valentine's day!" Bonnie said with a goofy grin. She couldn't wait to tell Rebekah and Lucy. She felt so excited. She reached up and hooked her fingers on Klaus's dangling necklaces tugging at them and pulling him down for a kiss.

Klaus complied without question, kissing her back with infinite tenderness.

Dr. Mayfair smiled before moving to the other side of the room to get the pictures she had printed for them.

Klaus and Bonnie didn't notice as they continued to kiss. They were both so utterly happy.

In that moment, nothing else mattered.

* * *

Matt and Rebekah helped Angelica as she prepared to do the spell to contact Kol.

The dark haired witch sat on the floor, a circle of white candles surrounding her. She had spent the past few hours studying and memorizing the spell. It was going to take all of her concentration and energy in order for the spell to succeed and summon Kol's spirit from the other side.

"This was Kol's daylight ring," Rebekah said handing the ring to Angelica. "He wore it for a thousand years."

"Put some of your blood in it," Angelica instructed as she held the ring in both of her hands. Blood was the most powerful ingredient in any spell or ritual. "It will make it easier to contact his spirit."

Rebekah bit the side of her hand and let a few drops fall on Kol's ring.

Angelica closed her hands, holding the bloody ring inside and began chanting the spell.

The candles lit up immediately.

Rebekah took a deep breath and moved a few steps back. She held Matt's hand as the two waited for the spell to work. _Please let it work_ , Rebekah thought. _Please…_

The silence and Angelica's concentration were broken when Matt's cell phone rang. The sound echoed loudly around the living room.

Rebekah shot him a glare.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He frowned when he noticed the name on the screen.

 _Damon_

Matt hadn't seen or spoken to Damon since the vampire had kidnapped him. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, which was the reason he had ignored Damon's previous calls. But the vampire kept insisting. He sighed.

"Hello," Matt finally answered.

"About fucking time, do you know how long I've been trying to talk to you," Damon snapped. "I even sound like a clingy girlfriend."

"What do you want Damon?"

Rebekah made a face of disgust.

"I need to know where you and Bonnie are. And don't you dare tell me you're in Europe, cause I know that's a lie. I know you are in New Orleans," Damon said angrily.

"I'm not telling you anything," Matt responded. Bonnie had enough problems to deal with at the moment, not to mention that Klaus would probably murder him if he were to divulge where they were staying to the Salvatore brothers.

"Listen wonder boy, this is important."

"Go to hell," Matt snapped he was more than ready to hang up until he heard Damon's next words.

"Caroline has been kidnapped."

"What?" Matt froze.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Typical," she muttered under her breath. Caroline had always been the perfect bait.

"So unless you want Blondie to turn into the chewing toy of a nasty pack of wolves, I suggest you start talking now," Damon ordered.

"Caroline has been kidnapped by wolves?" Matt was trying to make sense of everything Damon had just told him. _What the hell had happened in Mystic Falls since he and Bonnie had left?_

"Yeah, the Navarro pack or something," Damon said dismissively. "We need Bonnie's help to find her."

Rebekah jerked her head in Matt's direction upon hearing the name Navarro. Her eyes locked with Matt's. Damon might not think much of the Navarro wolves but Rebekah and Matt knew of the threat they represented.

 _Oh shit_ , Matt thought.

* * *

"Klaus look at this!" Bonnie exclaimed as she held a pair of white knitted booties for him to see. "They're so cute."

After her appointment, she had been hungry so Klaus had driven them to a shopping mall a few blocks away from the clinic. After they ate, they had wandered around the mall and stopped at a baby clothing store.

A smile tugged at the corner of Klaus's lips as he watched with amusement as Bonnie moved around the store, picking different things and gushing about it. She looked so happy, so radiant. Her appointment had gone well, their twins were fine, and any worry or fear plaguing her mind was nonexistent in that moment.

"And look at this," she grabbed a hot pink onesie from the rack and showed it to him. "I'm cute. Mom is hot. Dad is lucky." Bonnie read with a laugh. "I like it!" She was definitely going to buy it.

"And look at this one," she said picking a blue one from the other side.

"I quite agree with that one," Klaus told her with a smirk.

"Handsome like daddy," Bonnie read with a giggle. "I'm taking it. I'm taking both of them," she declared. They had to buy lots of things for the twins and this seemed like a nice start.

The hybrid raised in eyebrow. "I think two blue ones are what we need."

Bonnie rolled her eyes before studying his face carefully. There was a hint of mischief in her green orbs. "I think we're having two girls," she told him proudly.

"Do you?" Klaus's lips twitched. "Or are you just saying it to annoy me?"

Bonnie only smiled before a serious look crossed her features. "You won't be angry will you?" she asked suddenly. "If we have two girls?" he seemed so convinced and determined to have sons, she couldn't help but worry that if they had two girls he would not only be disappointed but he might not want them.

Klaus's face softened. "While I undoubtedly would prefer two sons," he knew it would be easier to have two boys, he would have more things in common with boys. He would teach them how to fight and how to hunt, with two little girls he had no fucking clue what he would do or if he would be able to relate to them at all. "I wouldn't mind two little girls," he continued. And it was the truth, he realized as he stared at her face. His lips curved into a genuine smile. "Two mini Bonnie's with green eyes and pretty smiles." Despite his reservations about having girls he couldn't help but think how lovely two little girls who looked like Bonnie would be.

In that moment he realized something else as well, it didn't matter if their children were boys or girls, he loved them. He would cherish them and protect them always. He would gladly give his life for them and for Bonnie.

Bonnie beamed. Her heart melted at his words and the emotions coming from his side of the bond. "I'll take two of each then," she grabbed two blue onesies and two pink ones from the rack as well as two pairs of the white knitted booties. They were so tiny and soft. She couldn't help but feel emotional as she stared at all things in her arms.

"Why are you crying?" Klaus asked alarmed upon seeing the single tear that trailed down her cheek.

"Because…" Bonnie's bottom lip trembled. "This is the first time we're getting something for our twins. It's a big moment." And because she could also feel how much he loved their children. How much he wanted them.

Klaus reached out, gently wiping away the tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"Happy tears," Bonnie murmured.

"Are you happy?" He found himself asking. He wanted her to be happy, always. But in the darkest part of his mind he wondered if he could truly make her happy. The demons that had tormented him for a thousand years would not rest, not even now. "Despite everything…" he whispered, despite all the blood and death and darkness that surrounded them on a daily basis. Not to mention the war looming over their heads.

"Yes," Bonnie answered honestly as she moved closer to him. "I'm with you," she said as she reached out with one hand and touched his cheek. "You and our children are my happiness."

An emotion she wouldn't quite decipher flickered across his eyes.

Klaus hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He tenderly cradled her face with his other hand, lifting her chin slightly as he lowered his head and captured her lips in a sweet kiss.

Bonnie sighed enjoying the feel of his soft lips and the slight tickle of his stubble as they kissed slowly and deeply. She kept one hand on his face while holding the twins' clothes in the other. They kissed and kissed not caring where they were or who could be watching.

No matter how crazy their lives were, Bonnie wouldn't change it for the world.

* * *

Tyler watched warily as one of the werewolves Christian-the leader of the group- filled a syringe with a strange yellow liquid. They were inside a motel room, just outside of the French Quarter, as they prepared everything to complete the task Franco had assigned them.

"So what's the plan?" Tyler asked as he sat on one of the beds.

The wolf placed the syringe inside a small black box. "The plan is rather simple," Christian said as he moved his gaze over the group before settling on Tyler. "You will lure the witch to a location of our choosing, we will knock her out, and take her to Franco."

"Sounds rather simple," Dwayne murmured, standing near the window.

The wolf smirked. "It's a rather simple plan. Tyler is the key to its success." He studied the hybrid carefully. "You are her friend, I'm sure you can convince her to meet you alone, not that it matters, anyone protecting her will be eliminated."

Tyler swallowed painfully. "And if she doesn't agree to meet me?"

"In that case you should be preparing dear sweet Caroline's grave," the wolf snapped. "I heard she's quite the screamer."

Tyler growled and his eyes flashed yellow. He stood up immediately, more than ready to tear Christian apart. The wolf only chuckled clearly amused by Tyler's display.

"Don't do anything stupid," Sean said getting in between Tyler and Christian. He was Tyler's friend, from the pack he had been helping in Tennessee.

"Come on man," another wolf said. "You swore alliance to Franco, are you one of us or not?" Since this mission had started, Tyler had been reluctant, questioning everything, and acting just plain weird. The wolves had noticed his strange behavior and couldn't help but wonder what was going on with him.

"Shut up," Tyler glared at him. None of them could understand what he was going through. Caroline was his girlfriend, Bonnie was his friend. He had no fucking clue what he was going to do to get out of this mess.

"And if the hybrid is with her?" Dwayne asked getting everyone's attention. "What then?"

"Tyler will ensure that doesn't happen," Christian replied with confidence. "Like I said, the success of this plan depends on him."

"Our lives are at stake," another wolf, Christian's second in command spoke for the first time. "Franco has entrusted us with a very important mission, you swore loyalty to him and the time has come to prove it."

The wolves nodded. They all knew the risks they were taking by coming into vampire territory. But they also knew they had to prove their loyalty to their Alpha.

Tyler sat back on the bed and stared at his hands. He couldn't get the image of Caroline's torture out of his mind. Her screams, her pain, and the bruises on her body, it was something he would never forget. He could only imagine what Franco would do to her if he failed. And yet, how could he fulfill his mission when his mind was torn? He felt the desire and the need to protect and save Caroline but at the same time, Klaus's compulsion had taken hold over him.

The words the hybrid had said that night at the warehouse were burned inside Tyler's mind. A painful reminded of the hybrid's control over him.

 _From this moment on, your will is my own_ , the hybrid had said in that hypnotic voice of his as he stared into Tyler's eyes. _You will do exactly as I tell you to do. From this moment on, your loyalty is to me alone._

Tyler shivered. He knew what he _wanted_ to do but he also knew what he _had_ to do. He looked up and met Christian's eyes.

"You're not having second thoughts are you?" the wolf questioned. There was something in his gaze, a strange glint that made Tyler nervous.

"I don't have much of a choice do I," he snapped.

"No. You don't," Christian replied with a smirk. What no one knew (with the exception of Christian of course) was that there was another group of wolves and a group of Travelers following them, groups that had been entrusted with the same mission. Franco didn't have just one plan to snatch Bonnie, he had several. If one group failed, there was another one more than ready to continue with the mission.

In the end, Franco always got what he wanted. And what he wanted more than anything was Bonnie Bennett.

He was going to get the witch one way or another.

* * *

"I can't stop looking at them," Bonnie murmured tracing the sonogram pictures with her fingertips. "I can't wait to show Rebekah, and Lucy, and mom." They were making their way home after spending a lovely afternoon at the mall, shopping for their twins. The entire day had been great in Bonnie's opinion.

"Rebekah will frame them and hang them on the living room wall no doubt," Klaus murmured as he took a right turn, taking the road that would lead them straight home. "I'm surprised she's not blowing off your phone asking how the appointment went."

"My phone keeps dying, I think it's the battery," Bonnie told him. She was probably going to have to get a new one. "And she was going to see if Angelica could do the spell to talk to Kol." Bonnie had given Ayana's Grimoire to Rebekah earlier that morning. It had the spell the Original needed to contact her brother.

Klaus nodded. Rebekah had informed him and Elijah of her plan to resurrect their brother. "Do you think it's possible?" he asked quietly. Rebekah seemed so sure.

Bonnie studied his profile carefully, "Restoring his body will be the easiest part," she whispered. "It will take time, lots of earthly magic and blood but it can be done." She herself had resorted Klaus's partially burned body after Alaric had staked him with the white oak. "Pulling him out of the other side however," that was going to be the most difficult part. "I honestly don't know if it can be done."

"Then again, if the other side is indeed on the brink of collapsing it will be easier…" Klaus suggested. The spells protecting and separating the land of the living from the other side will be weaker, the barrier lowered, it could work to their advantage.

Bonnie nodded. "Qetsiyah is convinced that whoever is messing with the other side wants to destroy it," she mumbled. "The Traveler people, she sounded pretty sure."

"We haven't found anything substantial about them," Klaus said. He and Elijah had people looking into it, but what they had discovered so far were just rumors, nothing truly important.

Bonnie placed the sonogram pictures inside her purse. Lightning flashed across the sky as a few drops of rain hit the windshield of the car. It was so dark and she couldn't help but shiver. Her stomach knotted. She didn't know why but she felt anxious, worried. The closer they got to the plantation, the stronger that worry in the pit of her stomach became.

 _Something is not right_ , she thought.

"What the fuck?" Klaus hissed as the car came to a stop right at the gate of the property.

Matt stood nervously outside the gate but it wasn't him that Bonnie's eyes were drawn to. No, her green orbs focused on the two vampires standing next to him.

 _What were Damon and Stefan doing outside their home?_

Klaus got out of the car in a flash. "What the bloody hell are the two of you doing here?"

"We need to talk to Bonnie," Stefan replied calmly placing his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. The last thing he wanted was a confrontation with Klaus but they needed to talk to Bonnie.

Damon ignored Klaus's murderous glare and focused his blue eyes on the witch who was just getting out of the car.

Klaus turned to Matt. "You," he hissed.

"It's important," the human replied quickly. Klaus looked ready to kill him. "And I haven't invited them in," he promised. He knew better. He gulped.

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie asked as she walked towards them. She was shocked. She couldn't believe they were here. The last thing she expected upon returning home was to find Damon and Stefan waiting for her. "What happened?" she added immediately. She knew Damon and Stefan wouldn't be here just to check on her, they probably wanted her help with something.

"Hey, judgy! Long time no see," Damon greeted with a smirk. He moved closer to her.

Klaus materialized right next to Bonnie, a menacing growl escaping from his throat. The gold hue in his eyes told Damon that if he took another step, he would be dead.

 _Fucking possessive bastard_ , Damon thought angrily. But he could still remember the phantom fingers squeezing his heart and the words Klaus had said to him the last time they had seen each other. He knew better than to test the hybrid.

Bonnie automatically placed her hand on her stomach, an action that did not go unnoticed by both brothers.

Stefan frowned. "Are you-" he wasn't sure but there seemed to be a small bump. He turned to Matt wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him or something.

Matt nodded answering his unspoken question.

Stefan's mouth dropped open as he turned back to look at Bonnie with shock. "You're pregnant?" he blurted out.

Damon's head jerked in his direction, confusion written all over his face before he turned to stare at Bonnie once more. _Surely he heard wrong? There was no way._ His brows knitted together as his intense gaze moved over Bonnie's body.

Bonnie let go of her stomach and unconsciously took hold of Klaus's hand. She had left Mystic Falls without telling anyone about her pregnancy. Her secret was definitely out now.

Damon's gaze moved slowly over her nervous face, her breasts, (which looked bigger) and finally down to her stomach, where he could clearly see the small baby bump. It was a rare thing for Damon Salvatore to be rendered speechless, he always had a sarcastic or funny remark at the tip of his tongue but in that moment he couldn't utter a single word. His lips parted and his blue eyes pinned Bonnie to the spot.

Bonnie squeezed Klaus's hand as she looked at both brothers, "Yes, I am," she answered.

A pin could've been dropped and it would've been heard in the silence that ensued. For a long time, it seemed that the only sound around them was the low rumbling of thunder and the wild beating of Bonnie's heart accompanied by matching flutters inside her stomach.

No one moved. No one said anything.

Matt looked nervously between the Salvatore brothers and Bonnie and Klaus, not knowing what to do. He couldn't help but wonder who would make the first move.

Klaus's expression was unreadable.

Stefan looked back and forth between the couple and Damon. His mind was still processing the news.

Damon swallowed painfully. "Please tell me that's little Gilbert Jr. in there?" he pleaded as he looked deeply into Bonnie's eyes. That he could handle. The alternative on the other hand filled his stomach with dread.

Bonnie shook her head.

Damon closed his eyes. _Bonnie was carrying Klaus's child._ He didn't know why but he felt like he had just been punched in the gut.

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter was pretty much the calm before the storm. Let me know what you think and get ready for the next one!_


	34. Chapter 34

**Thank-you so much for all your amazing support, I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Damon's face was a poem.

Bonnie watched the different emotions that flickered across his face as he processed the news of her pregnancy. There was shock, disbelief, anger, and something else that she couldn't quite describe. She continued to hold Klaus's hand as she waited to see what Damon would say. The last time they had seen and talk to each other things had turned rather ugly and Bonnie hoped this would not be the case. There was a part of her that knew that she was probably being naïve with that hope.

"How is that even possible?" Stefan finally broke the silence. He looked from Bonnie to Klaus trying to understand how she could be pregnant. "You're a vampire…how?"

"He's a hybrid," Matt mumbled under his breath.

Stefan gave him a look before turning to the couple once more. "Still, you're technically dead."

"Well you see mate, when a man and a woman," Klaus began with a smirk. "Well, in this case when a hybrid and a witch met at a bar for a couple of drinks and-"

"It's a miracle," Bonnie interrupted and proceeded to shot the hybrid a glare. Now was really not the time for jokes.

Klaus gave her a dimpled smile.

"A miracle," Damon scoffed when he finally found his voice. "You're joking right?" He stared at Bonnie with disbelief. "Do you have any idea how fucking crazy this is?" He couldn't believe she was pregnant and by fucking Klaus no less. This had to be some sort of cosmic joke.

Bonnie sighed. "Look Damon, I-"

"Don't tell me you're happy about getting knocked up by _him_?" Damon interrupted her angrily. "What the hell were you thinking?" he yelled. "How could you be so stupid?"

"Watch your tongue," Klaus hissed. "Don't talk to her that way." _Who the hell did Damon think he was to speak to Bonnie that way?_ It enraged him how Damon spoke as if he had a right over Bonnie. He didn't. The fucking bastard should consider himself lucky that he was still breathing.

The younger vampire glared. An idea suddenly occurred to him. "That's why you want her isn't it? So she can be your incubator and help you create your army of hybrids. You bastard!"

"You're an idiot!" Bonnie snapped glaring at Damon. Lightning flashed across the dark sky as if reacting to her mood. She was about to lose her patience and it was not going to be pretty. "How can you possibly think…" she was not going to repeat his words. She took a deep breath instead. She was determined not to lose her patience. Today had been such a good day. She didn't want anything to ruin it.

"Damon-" Stefan grabbed his brother's shoulder. The last time Damon had provoked Klaus, the hybrid nearly killed him. Stefan did not want a repeat performance. His brother needed to be careful it he wanted to keep on living.

Matt sighed and closed his eyes knowing that this was not going to be pretty.

"You really are quite pathetic aren't you?" Klaus gave Damon a look of contempt.

"You're only using her, admit it!" Damon yelled as his hands balled into fists. He was itching for a fight. He wanted nothing more than punch that stupid arrogant hybrid. Even if deep down he knew Klaus could easily kill him.

"I'm not like you," Klaus fired back. He moved closer but Bonnie tugged at his hand and pulled him back. She knew better than to let Klaus get too close to Damon. As much as Damon was getting on her nerves she didn't want him dead.

"You and your pathetic little group have been using Bonnie from the moment she found out she was a witch," Klaus continued angrily. "She's been at your beck and call, putting herself at risk for that stupid doppelganger and that's exactly how you want her to continue being."

"That's not true!" Damon snapped, eyes narrowing into angry slits.

"Don't pretend that you're here because you care," Klaus snapped back. "You don't give a damn about Bonnie! All you care about is Elena and her magical vagina."

"Klaus!" Bonnie couldn't believe he just said that. Then again, she couldn't believe she was surprised that he said that. This was Klaus after all.

Damon growled, his vampire face surfacing for a few seconds. "Oh, and I'm supposed to believe _you_ actually care about Bonnie, give me a break!" he yelled. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. You are only using her and Bonnie is far too naïve to see you for the monster that you are!"

"Now is not the time to be fighting we have to-" Matt tried to intervened.

"Stay out of this prom king." Damon glanced in his direction. "The adults are talking."

"Yeah, you two are definitely acting like adults." Stefan muttered crossing his arms over his chest and watching both vampires.

Bonnie couldn't agree more. "You have no right to be angry Damon," she said suddenly cutting whatever remark was coming out of his and Klaus's mouth. "What I do with my life is none of your business."

"It's my business when you're being stupid."

Klaus growled and took a menacing step forward. Bonnie held him back.

"You know what?" Bonnie said angrily. "I'm not going to stand here and let you insult me or question my decisions. You're not my father or my brother." She let go of Klaus's hand and walked closer to Damon. "I don't owe you anything. I don't even know why you're so pissed."

"Oh I don't know maybe because you're carrying Klaus's demon spawn!" Damon said without thinking.

 _Snap_

Whatever little bit of patience Bonnie had left was completely dissolved with those words.

Before Klaus could even think to launch himself at Damon, the younger vampire sank to his knees screaming in agony as he felt the explosion of pure liquid fire inside his brain. Bonnie knew how to give one hell of an aneurysm.

"How dare you!" Bonnie hissed. She felt angry, so angry at his words and above all hurt. No mother wants to hear other people call her child a demon's spawn.

Damon opened his mouth but no sound came out. Bonnie silenced him with ease. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he felt Bonnie's magic angrily assaulting his brain once more. He squeezed his eyes shut as he was hit with another powerful aneurysm.

Stefan winced seeing the look of pain on his brother's face. "Bonnie-" he tried to intercede on his brother's behalf.

"Shut up." Bonnie glanced in Stefan's direction. One look was enough to let the vampire know that she wasn't kidding. Stefan wisely pressed his lips together and did as he was told. He shivered as he felt her magic floating all around them. It was a potent aura of incredible power that if it were unleashed, it would destroy everything in its path.

Klaus grinned from ear to ear, clearly enjoying the show.

Matt only shook his head. Once again, Damon had put his foot in his foot. _Was he ever going to learn?_

"I heard enough of your insults the last time I saw you." Bonnie said turning back to Damon. "I know how you feel about my relationship with Klaus. I get it. You don't like it. But you know what? I honestly don't care what you think." She looked directly into his eyes as she spoke. "Guess what Damon? I don't need your permission or approval in order to date, to sleep, or to have children with whoever I want."

Damon's eyes opened wide as he felt her magic take hold of his body. He tried to speak but he was voiceless. He tried to move but he was paralyzed. With a simple wave of her magic Bonnie had pretty much turned him to stone and melted his brain. He couldn't believe it. The power he felt coming from her was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had always known Bonnie was powerful but there was something about her, something different. Something had changed.

 _Who the hell was this chick and what had she done to the Bonnie he knew?_

"You want to insult me, fine. I can take your insults," Bonnie continued. "You want to be angry whatever, that's your problem. But don't you ever insult my children again." She was not going to let anyone insult her babies.

"Children?" Stefan whispered. He looked down at Bonnie's stomach and used his vampire hearing. A second later, he gasped as he heard the two heartbeats inside her. They were beating quite rapidly probably agitated by Bonnie's anger. "You're carrying twins." He looked back into Bonnie's face. He was completely floored by the news.

Damon was completely caught off guard by the revelation. He couldn't do or say anything. He simply stared at her in dumb shock. _Bonnie was pregnant with twins? There were two little monsters growing inside her belly?_

"I am," Bonnie confirmed as she looked into Stefan's shocked face. "I want you to go."

"Bonnie we need-" Stefan began taking a step closer.

"I don't care what you need. I want you to leave, both of you." Bonnie told them firmly. And then she ran inside the property without looking back or waiting for a response.

"Bonnie wait!" Matt ran after her.

Stefan tried to follow them, but the invisible barrier protecting the house prevented him from entering. He hissed when his skin began burning. He stumbled back, wincing in pain and turned to face Klaus, hoping to talk to him but the hybrid was gone as well. He had flashed inside the house before Damon and Stefan could notice.

The moment Bonnie got inside the house the spell on Damon lifted.

The vampire gasped, feeling relieved when his healing abilities kicked in and the pain disappeared from his brain. Holy shit! Bonnie had practically fried his brain. He stood up on shaky legs. "Now what?"

Stefan gave him a look as if to say, _are you kidding me? This is your fault._

* * *

Before Matt could get inside the house Klaus grabbed him and slammed his back against the wall of the front of the house.

"What the hell?" Matt gasped.

"Start talking," Klaus hissed looming over the human. "Why did you tell those two idiots where we live? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Caroline disappeared while they were searching for Elena," Matt explained nervously. Jesus Christ, Klaus was scary when he was pissed. "They didn't realize she was missing until they got back. They went to see this witch and he told them that Caroline is in Baton Rouge. Damon and Stefan know that's Navarro territory, they think they're the ones who took her."

Klaus let go of Matt and took a couple of steps back, the wheels in his head turning at Matt's revelation. The Navarro's had Caroline. He cursed under his breath with the realization that he had not considered the blonde vampire in his plans. He thought he had taken every precaution to ensure Tyler's loyalty and cooperation with his plans. But he hadn't factored Caroline in his equation, something Franco clearly had.

 _Son of a bitch_ , he thought angrily.

Matt breathed a sigh of relief when Klaus stepped away from him. "That's why I told them where we live. We have to help Caroline," he looked pleadingly at Klaus. "She's in danger."

"Not a single word about this to Bonnie," Klaus ordered.

"Caroline is our best friend. You're crazy if you think I'm going to keep this from Bonnie!"

"What do you think it's going to happen when Bonnie finds out that her best friend has been kidnapped?" Klaus inquired.

"She's going to do everything in her power to save her," Matt replied without missing a beat.

"Which is exactly what the Navarro's want," Klaus hissed angrily. _And what the stupid Salvatore brothers wanted as well._

"What are you talking about?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "You humans can be so stupid," he muttered. "Think about it mate, why would the Navarro wolves want Caroline. What do they gain by kidnapping a baby vampire?"

Matt scrunched his face in confusion, trying to figure out what Klaus was getting at. He thought of what he knew about the Navarro brothers. They were plotting to put the werewolves into power. They wanted to kill the Originals. They had helped the witches kidnap Bonnie. And then it dawned on him, "Tyler…" he murmured. Luis Navarro had recruited Tyler to their cause.

Klaus clapped his hands-mockingly congratulating Matt for his conclusion. "What better way to ensure Tyler's loyalty than by having his girl as leverage." As much as he hated it, Franco wasn't stupid.

"Shit," Matt cursed under his breath.

"Or even better," Klaus continued with a hint of gold in his eyes. "What better way for Franco to ensure he gets Bonnie than by having her best friend in his possession." His blood boiled. That fucking bastard had made some excellent moves right under his nose.

Matt felt like he had been punched in the gut. It hadn't occurred to him, he hadn't even thought why the Navarro's would want Caroline. _Shit, shit, shit,_ he thought with fear, worry, and uncertainty.

"I'm not going to let that son of a bitch get his filthy paws on Bonnie," Klaus growled. "You will not tell Bonnie that the Navarro's have Caroline, do you understand?"

"But-"

"It's for Bonnie's own safety," Elijah murmured as he suddenly appeared next to Klaus. He had heard the last part of their conversation.

Matt jumped back startled. _Damn vampires and their super moves_.

"I presume that's why I can sense the Salvatore brothers outside our home," Elijah turned to his brother. He had been about to head out when he had spotted Klaus and Matt and heard their conversation. He had also sensed the presence of the two younger vampires by the gate.

Klaus nodded. "They are probably under the assumption that Bonnie will drop everything and head with them to Baton Rouge in some miscalculated rescue mission."

Elijah pressed his lips together. Trust the Salvatore brothers to ruin everything and get everyone else into trouble.

"Not a single word," Klaus hissed looking back at the human.

Matt opened his mouth ready to protest but Elijah cut him off.

"Bonnie is pregnant, the last thing she needs is more stress. You don't want any harm to come to her or her children do you?"

"Of course not!" Matt felt offended that Elijah thought that he would put Bonnie and her babies at risk. She was his friend, practically his sister.

"Then you will keep quiet," Elijah commanded. Like Klaus he wasn't asking, he was ordering.

"And Caroline, do you two even care what happens to her?" Matt looked back and forth between both brothers. "She's been taken and-"

"We will ensure Ms. Forbes safety," Elijah responded quickly. He regarded Matt's face carefully. "We understand your worry, Matt. We know Caroline is your friend. We know how much she means to you and Bonnie. We will find a way to rescue her but we will do it our way. There is no need to burden Bonnie with this, not when we can handle it."

"You can't expect me to just sit back and-"

"You will do what we tell you to do," Klaus snapped. He was really irritated with the boy. For a moment he contemplated ripping the vervain watch he had on and compel him to do as he was told. It would be so much easier.

Elijah gave his brother a knowing look and shook his head. "You know we have a better chance at rescuing Caroline than Stefan and Damon don't you?" he asked as he turned to look at Matt once more.

"Those two idiots are only going to get her killed," Klaus added.

Matt glared at Klaus.

"We cannot rush into anything," Elijah said quietly. "We need to think things through and plan everything carefully."

"And if they kill Caroline?" Matt asked fearfully.

"They won't," Klaus answered with confidence.

"You don't know that."

"If the Navarro's wanted Caroline dead, she would be dead," Klaus told him. "She's the leverage, the carrot Franco will dangle to get to Tyler or Bonnie or both. He needs her alive."

Matt unconsciously rubbed the ring on his finger as he fidget nervously. "And you promise," he said looking between both brothers. "You promise you will rescue Caroline?"

"You have my word that we will do everything in our power to ensure Caroline's safety return," Elijah promised. Klaus nodded in agreement.

Matt swallowed nervously as he contemplated his choices, Damon and Stefan on one hand, Klaus and Elijah on the other. Damon and Stefan were counting on Bonnie to help them get Caroline; that was their big plan. Elijah and Klaus wanted Bonnie's safety above all. Not to mention that unlike the Salvatore's they were practically indestructible and could come up with a better plan of attack against the Navarro brothers.

"Okay," Matt reluctantly agreed. He didn't like the thought of lying to his best friend. "I won't tell Bonnie anything, _for now_." He made sure to emphasize.

Elijah nodded. "It's for the best Matt."

"And I want to know what you're planning," he said suddenly. "I don't want to be kept in the dark. I want to help."

"Someone is getting cocky," there was dangerous edge to Klaus's voice.

"I won't sit back and let you handle things," Matt told them bravely. "I know I'm not as strong or powerful as you. I know that you think I'm just a lowly pathetic human," he said meeting Klaus's eyes. "But I will fight to my dying breath. I will go to hell and back for the girls I love. I just want to be kept in the loop. We're in this together. We can help each other out. We are fighting on the same side," he reminded them.

"Yes. We are," Elijah agreed. He tilted his head to the side as he studied Matt's face carefully. It was almost as if he were seeing the human for the very first time.

"Let us hope you can fight with that same valor in the war to come," Klaus said with a smirk.

"I will," Matt replied with confidence.

* * *

Bonnie stormed angrily inside the plantation. She couldn't believe the nerve Damon had to act so angry about her pregnancy and to say such horrible things about her babies. _Who the hell did he think he was?_ He had no right to question her or to be so angry. She was free to do with her life as she pleased. She didn't need his or anyone's permission.

Rebekah was sitting on the living room couch, a glass of whiskey in one hand and a melancholic look on her face. She looked up the moment Bonnie stepped inside. "I take it you saw the Salvatore brothers." She had decided to stay inside, not wanting to deal with those two idiots.

"Damon is an ass," Bonnie grumbled as she flopped down on the couch across from the Original blonde.

"Tell me something I don't know," Rebekah mumbled before taking a sip of her whiskey.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked seeing the sad look on her face.

"Angelica spent hours trying to communicate with Kol but it didn't work," Rebekah replied in a sad and angry tone. "She couldn't contact him." The witch was currently resting after the exhausting afternoon she had trying to do the spell.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie said sincerely. She knew how excited Rebekah had been that morning. How happy she was at the thought of seeing her brother once more. Bonnie hadn't been able to contact Qetsiyah with that spell either. She couldn't help but wonder if they were missing something.

"I won't give up," Rebekah told her. She was determined to bring Kol back from the dead and she would do it no matter what.

Bonnie nodded. "I know you won't." She opened her mouth ready to offer her help.

"How was your appointment?" Rebekah changed the subject. She was feeling down but news about her nieces or nephews would cheer her up.

A happy smile formed on Bonnie's lips. "I saw them. I heard their hearts." It had been the happiest moment of her life. "It was amazing. My due date is Valentine's day."

Rebekah squealed with delight.

"Damn it," Bonnie cursed. "I left my purse in the car. I have the sonogram pictures there." She frowned. She didn't want to go get them and run into Damon and Stefan again. She could still sense them outside the property. She would just have to wait for them to leave.

"Let me guess tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum are still out there."

Bonnie nodded. "I don't even know what they're doing here," she had stormed off before asking them. Damon had made her so mad. It was better for her to leave than risk unleashing some more of her magic on him.

"You don't know?"

"Know what?" Bonnie asked.

"That Damon and Stefan found Elena," Matt said coming into the living room.

Rebekah frowned but kept quiet.

"They did?" Bonnie felt happy at the news before remembering that Elena had left because she had turned her motions off. "Is she still…"

"Without her emotions, yeah." Matt took a seat next to Rebekah. "Damon was hoping that you would use your magic to knock some sense into her." He looked down as he said it. He was lying, partially lying technically- Damon did hope Bonnie could use her magic and help Elena get her humanity back.

 _But it's still a lie_ , his guilty conscience supplied.

"It doesn't work that way," Rebekah muttered. She wondered why Matt was lying to Bonnie but decided that she would question her boyfriend about it later. "Sooner or later her emotions will catch up to her. You can't turn them off forever. It's only a matter of time, really." Elena was in for a rude awakening once her emotions finally caught up with her.

Bonnie hoped that was true.

* * *

"What we want is to complete the Harvest," Sophie said nervously. The Regent of the nine covens had agreed to meet with her and Sophie felt anxious and even intimidated by the regal woman seating in front of her.

Madame Josephine LaRue was a woman in her late sixties, her auburn hair was styled in a sleek up do and her striking blue eyes were eerily captivating. She was a woman that radiated power, authority, and who commanded respect.

"You believe that by completing the Harvest, you will get your magic back." Josephine's ice blue eyes studied Sophie's face carefully.

"I don't know. I hope so," Sophie answered. Sabine had said it was possible but Sophie didn't want to get her hopes up. "What I do know is that we have to complete the Harvest. We don't have much time left." They only had a few more weeks left actually.

"And how do you expect to achieve that when you are no longer a witch?" Vincent asked from his spot next to Josephine.

"My friend Sabine, she still has her magic," Sophie informed them. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake by divulging that little secret.

Vincent frowned. "How is that possible?"

"She placed a protective spell on herself and her magic was left intact," Sophie responded. "She had a vision and she did it as a safety precaution." And what a lucky vision it had been, otherwise they would've truly been screwed.

"Is that so?" Josephine turned to Vincent. The two seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes.

"In order to complete the Harvest we need an elder," Sophie brought their attention back to her. "As the Regent of the nine covens you have the power to bestow that right to any witch in the city."

"And you want me to make your friend Sabine an elder so she can complete the Harvest," Josephine finished for her.

"Exactly."

"Your niece was one of the Harvest girls wasn't she?" Vincent asked her.

"Yes, Monique." Sophie replied. Her heart hurt thinking about Jane-Anne and Monique. "She's the only family I have left and I will do anything to get her back." She had made a promise and she intended to keep it. "Which is why I'm reaching out to you." She said looking at Josephine, pleading with her eyes for the Regent's help.

"Tell me about the Mikaelson child," Josephine murmured. She felt quite intrigued by the existence of a child conceived by a witch and a hybrid. It was something that was going to bring unimaginable consequences to the supernatural world. "You told Vincent that the Ancestors want that child, why?" She tilted her head to the side and regarded Sophie with interest.

Sophie rubbed her hands nervously over her jean clad thighs. She couldn't help but shiver. There was something about Josephine's eyes. It was almost as if she were looking straight into her soul. "The Ancestors told my sister Jane-Anne that Klaus would defeat Marcel. That she had to bring Klaus and his child to the city. She never told me why they would want his child. He must be important I guess..." It was a very special baby after all.

Josephine's expression was unreadable as she regarded Sophie.

"You have to help us," Sophie pleaded. "You are the Regent, you can get all of the covens to fight together. You can command them. In order to win this war, we will have to fight together and you are the only one who can make that possible."

"What do you know of war, child?" Josephine questioned.

"Our city is crawling with vampires," Sophie said angrily. "Witches are killed every day, except for those who bow to Marcel and make deals with him." she gave Vincent a look. It was no secret the witches form his coven had done favors for Marcel on many occasions. "You are the Regent and you haven't done anything to help us, to protect us, to fight back against them."

"Watch your tone," Vincent's magic flared. He was not going to let anyone insult his mentor.

Sophie felt it and bit back the many remarks at the tip of her tongue. She knew pissing them off was not going to help matters.

Josephine remained calm, watching Sophie in silence. She was an ice queen, unperturbed by the young witch's outburst. "I shall take your request into consideration," she said in a cold and authoritarian voice. "You may leave now."

"That's it?" Sophie stood up angrily. "You-"

"I'll escort you out," Vincent stood up quickly. He grabbed Sophie's arm and dragged her out of the living room of Josephine's home before she could say anything else.

He returned a few minutes later.

Josephine was still seated, hands on her lap, eyes lost in thought.

"I want to know everything about Sabine," Josephine murmured.

"Will you make her an elder?" Vincent asked curiously as took the seat Sophie had previously occupied.

For a long time, Josephine didn't reply. She simply sat like a statue. "I want to meet her," she said after a long moment of silence.

"Sabine?" Vincent asked.

"I want to meet Bonnie Bennett," Josephine told him meeting his eyes. "What do the witches say of her?"

"It depends who you talk to." Vincent replied leaning back on the chair. "Some call her a queen, others prefer the hybrid's bitch, the devil incarnate, the blessed one," he shrugged. It seemed that everyone had a name for the now infamous Bonnie Bennett.

"And you?" Josephine asked curiously. "What do you make of her?"

"I haven't met her," Vincent answered. He was rather curious though. The Bennett named carried a lot of weight in the supernatural world. He had heard whispers that they descended from the first witch, if that was true then it meant that Bonnie's magic was unrivaled by any. The fact that she had managed to conceive a child with the Original Hybrid was proof of how powerful she was, not to mention what she had done to the Seer and her coven. "She's a wild card, I suppose."

"Is she?" Josephine raised an eyebrow.

Vincent shrugged. "She's a witch, that should make her our ally but she's married to a Mikaelson that means she's technically our enemy and the child she is expecting is going to upset the balance," he shook his head. "She's a contradiction, a rather fascinating contradiction."

"That's why I want to meet her and I want you to be present," Josephine said. "This war is going to change everything. I need to know what her intentions are. I need to know where she will stand."

"Is that wise, considering her alliance with the Mikaelson's?" For all intents and purposes Bonnie should be considered their enemy. She was married to the most infamous vampire in all of history after all.

"I need to look into her eyes," Josephine replied. "Only then, I will know the truth." Her tone left no room for argument.

Vincent nodded. "I'll arrange it." He regarded his mentor's face carefully, wondering what she would do if Bonnie were to declare war on them. He wanted to ask but he didn't.

"The eyes are the window to the soul," Josephine murmured. She needed to stare into Bonnie's eyes, only then she would discover the woman behind the name and the titles. Only then she would know who Bonnie Bennett truly was.

* * *

Bonnie bit her lip, brows knitted together in concentration. She was sitting on the couch, Ayana's grimoire on her lap. Matt and Rebekah had gone upstairs and Bonnie had decided to take another look at the spell. _What are we missing?_ she wondered. _Why hand't the spell worked?_

She looked up the moment she sensed Klaus coming into the living room. "Hey."

"Trying to find a way to turn Damon into a toad?" the hybrid teased.

Bonnie sniggered. "Don't tempt me."

Klaus sat down on the couch next to her and drew her into the crook of his arm. She fitted perfectly against him.

Bonnie sighed happily as she snuggled against him. "Today was such a good day. I'm not going to let Damon's words get to me," she murmured. She had decided to put her encounter with the Salvatore brothers as far away from her mind as possible. She was not going to let Damon ruin her happiness.

"Good." Klaus kissed the top of her head. He frowned when he sensed the melancholy and worry echoing through their bond. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Bonnie mumbled against chest. "I just have a weird feeling, like something bad is going to happen." Since they had returned from the doctor's appointment she felt a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Klaus's arms tightened around her. "Everything is going to be fine," he whispered against her hair.

"I wish we could stay like this forever," Bonnie whispered quietly. She placed one hand on her stomach. "There is a storm coming..." she lifted her head and stared into his eyes. "What if-"

Klaus silenced her with a kiss. He didn't want her to worry, he didn't want her to be afraid. He wanted to keep the darkness, the troubles, and the danger away from her. It was the reason he hadn't told her about Caroline. Bonnie had enough to worry about at the moment.

Bonnie immediately wound her arms around his neck and responded to his kiss with eagerness.

In his arms she could forget about everything. As long as she was with him, all her worries, all her fears turned to dust. When she told him that he and their children were her happiness she had meant it with all her heart. As long as they were together, as long as their little family was safe, nothing else mattered.

Klaus eased her back against the couch, exploring her mouth with his own, tongue slipping past her lips, tasting her. The world was reduced to that single moment as they kissed long and deep, their bodies melting together, their mouths urgently devouring each other. They lost themselves in that familiar dance their lips had perfected so well.

Bonnie moaned enjoying the feel of his mouth against hers. She could kiss Klaus all day every day. Sometimes she felt like their lips, like their bodies, their very souls were meant for each other, like two pieces of a puzzle. They fitted perfectly together.

She moved her hands to his shoulders enjoying the feel of his firm and solid chest pressed against her as they continued to explore and taste each other. She had to pull away from his mouth eventually, needing air. She felt breathless and lightheaded and so utterly happy. Her pulse soared and her body trembled with excitement, with desire, with that yearning only he could quench.

Klaus moved his mouth to her chin and to her ear, taking her earlobe between his teeth and nipping it. His hand moved to her side, cupping one of her breasts.

Bonnie groaned. She loved the feel of his hands on her. Her body came alive with his touch. He could set her skin on fire with one look, one touch.

Klaus moved his mouth down her neck, kissing, sucking, and nipping playfully on her throat. His teeth grazed the sensitive flesh, biting gently on her pulse point.

Bonnie shivered and shifted beneath him. His hand move underneath her shirt-

Klaus pulled away from her all of a sudden. Bonnie whimpered in protest.

"Cary is coming," Klaus muttered. He could sense the wolf's presence right outside their home. He couldn't help but feel angry that their time had been interrupted.

Bonnie pouted as he stood up. "What is he doing here?" Cary was not her favorite person at the moment. She raked a hand through her hair struggling to control her breathing. Damn it, they had been so close.

Klaus chuckled, feeling the echo of annoyance through the bond. "He wanted to talk to me about the Crescent pack." He had texted Klaus earlier that day to let him know he was coming over. "I won't take long," he gave her a knowing look.

Their bond pulsed with need and desire.

"You better not," Bonnie said standing up. She bit her lip and tilted her head to the side. "I'll wait for you upstairs." She gave him a heated look and a quick kiss on the lips.

Klaus grinned. He licked his lips as he slid his gaze over her retreating form. He was definitely enjoying those new curves.

If Cary knew what was good for him he wouldn't take much of Klaus's time.

* * *

 **Lafayette Cemetery**

Sabine was on her knees, chanting. She was inside a pentagram of salt, a cooper bowl laid in front of her on the ground, two voodoo dolls on each side. A row of thirteen candles had been set up right across from her, at the entrance to a mausoleum. The spell required every bit of her concentration and energy in order to succeed.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Marcel asked nervously as he paced behind her.

"Stop hovering over me and let me finish the spell," Sabine muttered angrily. She couldn't concentrate with his nervous presence so close to her.

"Look, I'm putting a lot on the line here if this doesn't work-"

Sabine opened her eyes and turned to face him. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No," Marcel replied quickly. He wasn't having second thoughts but he knew the risks they were taking, the success of his plan depended on her, on her magic to be more specific.

"Then shut up and let me finish," Sabine snapped as she turned back to continue with her spell. Marcel was getting on her nerves and she was seconds away from breaking his neck.

Marcel growled. He didn't like her attitude. If it weren't for the fact that he needed her help, he would've killed her already.

Sabine ignored the murderous glare the vampire king gave her and continued to chant under her breath. The spell was very complex and it was going to require a lot of power even for a seasoned witch like her. She couldn't afford to make mistakes.

* * *

"So, you buried Celeste between two lovely oak samplings huh?" Lucy crossed her arms over her chest as she and Elijah stared at the beautiful oak trees surrounding the park.

The park was empty. Thunder rumbled in the distance and a few drops of rain fell on their heads and faces from time to time. Night had fallen and they were more than ready to dig up Celeste's remains. They needed her bones in order to stop her once and for all.

Elijah nodded. "She didn't want to be buried and consecrated like the other witches of her coven. This seemed like the perfect and peaceful spot." Back in the day it had been a lovely and tranquil forest. He moved his gaze towards the trees in front of them. "I think it was there…" he pointed to an area between two oak trees near a bench. He frowned moving his gaze towards the left side, "or perhaps…" that other spot looked quite familiar too. _Had he buried Celeste there?_

Lucy snorted. "I thought vampires were supposed to have a perfect memory." It was obvious he had no idea where he had buried his ex lover. He of course would never admit it out loud.

"It was nearly two hundred years ago," the Original murmured in a defensive tone. He should know where he had buried Celeste's remains but the more he looked around the park, the more evident it became that he didn't. He had no clue.

"Well," Lucy said as she took a couple of steps forward. "It's a good thing you have a witch watching your back." She offered him a smile before she closed her eyes and cleared her head. "Celeste was a witch. I will be able to sense her remains without a problem." It would just require a bit of concentration.

Elijah watched quietly as Lucy concentrated and used her magic to locate Celeste's resting place. He felt a slight tingle run down his spine as her magic came alive around the park.

A soft breeze rustled the leaves around them.

Elijah watched as a small tornado of leaves began forming at Lucy's feet. It floated in front of her for a few seconds before moving around the park until eventually settling between two large oak trees.

"There," Lucy said opening her eyes and tuning to face Elijah. "That's where she's buried."

Elijah smiled as he met her eyes.

"I found the body, you do the digging," Lucy told him as she looked him up and down, taking note of his expensive dark blue suit and Italian shoes.

"Very well," Elijah kept his eyes on her as he slowly undid his tie and took his suit jacket off. "Would you be so kind?" he asked handing her both garments.

Lucy nodded taking them from him.

Their eyes locked as Elijah undid the first two buttons of his shirt.

Lucy bit her lip wondering if he was going to take his shirt off. He didn't. He rolled the sleeves up to his elbows and proceeded to get the shovel from the car. Lucy kept her eyes on him, watching his every move with keen interest.

Elijah started digging quietly, very much aware of her gaze on him.

 _Who would've thought digging up a grave would be so sexy?_ Lucy thought as she watched his arms flex and the concentrated look on his handsome face as he dug up Celeste's remains. She licked her lips. "Do you have any idea how ridiculously sexy you look right now?"

Elijah stopped and turned to face her, "is that so?" there was a smile tugging at his lips.

Lucy nodded and stared directly into his eyes. "Very sexy," she stated. "I like it."

"I aim to please," Elijah said holding her gaze.

Lucy grinned.

Elijah shook his head, breaking the moment. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Still, he couldn't help but feel pleased that Lucy found him attractive. She was direct and quite bold and he liked it. "You're one of a kind Lucy Bennett," he muttered before going back to digging. _One of a kind indeed_ , he thought.

"I know." Lucy replied as she continued to watch him.

She felt a chill run down her spine all of a sudden. She turned her head left and right using her magic to try and detect any threats around them.

There was nothing.

Everything was quiet and calm. The only thing disrupting the silence was the occasional flash of lightning.

Lucy frowned. Something wasn't right. She couldn't help but feel a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Elijah lifted his head. "I found her-" he stopped abruptly noticing the strange look on Lucy's face. "What's wrong?"

Lucy shook her head. Her entire body trembled as a sense of dread and despaired invaded her. She closed her eyes trying to focus on those feelings and figure out what the hell was going on. It was a warning she knew, but of what?

Elijah flashed to her side immediately. "Lucy," he said as he placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Tell me what's wrong?"

Lucy kept her eyes shut as she let her magic guide her and tell her what was wrong.

A single name came to her then. It was quick like the flash of lightning that illumined the sky a second later.

Her eyes snapped open. "Bonnie…" she gasped. "Bonnie is in danger."

* * *

Davina woke up with a gasp. Something was wrong. She had been sketching and she had ended up falling asleep. A bad feeling had woken her. A feeling of dread, something bad was going to happen.

"Sorry," Belle said stepping inside the cabin, believing she had woken Davina by turning the lights on. "I didn't know you were asleep." She placed the tray she was holding on the nearby table. "I brought you dinner and a movie," she said holding the DVD for Davina to see. " _The Notebook_ it's one of my favorites, Ryan Gosling is so hot!"

Davina sat up and smiled but it did not reach her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Belle asked as she sat on the edge of her bed.

"I have a bad feeling," Davina confessed. "Something bad is going to happen tonight." The fact that she was able to sense something spoke volumes of how dangerous the threat was. She was inside a cabin that was suppressing her magic after all.

A flash of lightning illuminated the sky before it started pouring down with rain.

Davina closed her eyes briefly as a slight tremble rolled over her body. The bad feeling intensified.

Belle frowned. "Do you know what it can be?"

Davina shook her head. "I just know it's bad." She looked down at the scattered pages on her bed. Klaus had brought her books, sketchpads, even an easel and a couple of canvas and paints for her to entertain herself. Most of the things she had drawn had to do with her cloudy and strange dreams.

"Who's that?" Belle asked curiously upon noticing the sketch papers on Davina's bed. It was the face of a woman. The same face in every single one of the pages.

"I've been dreaming about her for the past few days, just flashes," Davina told her. It was the reason she had made the drawings. Nothing in her dreams made sense, except for that face which she saw again and again.

"She reminds me of Rebekah," Belle mumbled as she studied the sketches in detail. She could definitely see some resemblance there.

"Klaus's sister?" Davina asked. She had heard about Rebekah from Marcel and from Belle but she had never seen the Original girl in the flesh.

Belle nodded. "You hungry?" she asked looking at Davina's face. "Angelica is resting. She did a complicated spell today so she didn't cook anything. Riley and I made some tomato soup and cheese sandwiches, that's as far as our culinary skills go."

"You and Riley huh?"

Belle flushed and bit her lip nervously. "We trained earlier today, he pinned me and his face was so close to mine. I thought he was going to kiss me," she gushed at the memory. "But he didn't." Her face fell. "I don't know what he's waiting for," she complained.

"At least you get to see your crush every day. I haven't seen Tim in months."

"I guess you're right."

Both girls continued to chat happily, blissfully unaware of the fog that began gathering outside the property, a thick blanket of white that moved silently towards the plantation house with a sole purpose in mind.

* * *

While Klaus and Cary talked, Bonnie lit up candles in their bedroom and contemplated what to wear. _Should she put on her nightgown or wait for him naked?_ She bit her lip trying to decide what to do. She hoped Klaus wouldn't take long. The desire she felt for her hybrid had only intensified. She needed him.

She wrinkled her nose when a strange smell hit her. Bonnie shivered feeling cold all of a sudden. Once again she was invaded with a sense of dread. Something felt very, very wrong.

The balcony doors burst opened.

Bonnie gasped and spun around, her magic surfacing immediately.

White thick fog slithered rapidly inside her bedroom. It was no ordinary fog. It was filled with dark and powerful magic.

 _What the hell?_ Bonnie extended her right hand, a spell at the tip of her tongue.

The air was suddenly cut off from her lungs. Her eyes opened wide as she found herself unable to breathe.

The room began spinning.

Bonnie struggled, gasping, choking, as she desperately tried to break the invisible hold on her body.

Expression lashed out, swirls of power flowing out of her and slamming angrily through the thick fog in an attempt to protect her and destroy whatever wanted to take her.

Bonnie sank to her knees. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. Something was happening, something she couldn't explain.

She felt a tug, a strong pull, it hurt.

A whimper of pain escaped Bonnie's lips as her body was suddenly lifted into the air. The fog enveloped her into a powerful sphere of power. She felt like she was being pulled to some unknown abyss.

But her magic was not going to back down without a fight. It forcibly tugged her back down to the ground, determined not to let the strange and dark magic take her away.

Tears streamed down Bonnie's cheeks as she felt the push and pull, the tug of war between her magic and the magic in the fog, each pulling her in different directions.

Angry red line's formed on her skin, on her face, her neck, and her arms. It hurt. Her skin was slashed open with each swirl of powerful magic.

The fog was trying to pull her to somewhere unknown while her magic kept her in place, determined not to let her go. It was a war between two super powers and Bonnie was caught right in the middle.

Her heart pounded loudly against her chest and her vision blurred with the lack of oxygen.

She was choking, she was dying. If the war between both powerful forces of magic continued, it would killed her.

 _Let go,_ her mind whispered. _Stop fighting it. You will die._

 _My babies,_ it was that thought that managed to penetrate her confused and terrified mind. The thought of her twins getting hurt was what tip the scale. As terrified as she was of where this strange power wanted to take her, she knew that her twins safety came above all else. She was going to keep her children safe at all cost.

With the last bit of strength and consciousness she had left, she forced Expression to back down. The moment her magic surrendered, the moment Bonnie yielded, the fog swallowed her completely.

There was one moment, a single moment of absolute and pure blissful relief that washed over body. It was a rare moment of clarity amidst the swirl of magic, danger, and fear.

The door burst opened and a frantic Klaus sped inside the room. He had felt her pain, her fear, and had come as quickly as possible. His eyes widened when he saw the fog surrounding Bonnie. He flashed to her side immediately.

His flesh burned and tore open as the fog angrily tried to keep him at bay. "Bonnie!" he reached towards her with every last bit of his superior strength.

As soon as their fingertips brushed against each other's, Klaus was thrown back against the wall and Bonnie disappeared in a swirl of white fog.

* * *

Her entire body was trembling, blood trickled down her nose, and her head felt like it had been smashed against a concrete wall.

Marcel helped her to her feet, her legs felt like jelly. She felt depleted, physically and mentally exhausted.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Sabine nodded. "Teleporting spells are a bitch," she mumbled keeping her eyes closed and wiping the blood from her nose. She felt nauseous and lightheaded. No spell had ever taken so much from her. Bonnie's magic had put up one hell of a fight. "But I did it."

"Yeah, about that…" Marcel began. "I don't think you did it right?"

Sabine's eyes flew open. She gasped as she looked towards the mausoleum, the place she had prepared to keep Bonnie trapped in. "Where is she?" she demanded turning towards Marcel and feeling another wave of dizziness.

"You tell me," Marcel let go of her.

Sabine stumbled back and nearly fell to the ground. "I managed to break through the protective barrier around the house. I felt her magic yield…" it was taking all of her strength and every bit of magic left in her to keep herself on her feet. She felt like she had been run over by a truck. "I pulled her out of that house. I know I did," she hissed, sweat trickling down her skin.

"So where is she?" Marcel asked crossing his arms over his chest. Sabine had been so confident that this would work.

Sabine pressed her lips together not knowing what to say. "It's impossible…" she whispered more to herself. It couldn't be. _Had Bonnie Bennett managed to tamper with her teleporting spell and avoided her trap?_

 _Could it be?_ Celeste was always one step ahead. She was moving the pieces of the game as she pleased. But this, she had not taken into account this. "We have to find her," she told Marcel. "She must be here somewhere, we have to find her."

Marcel shook his head and sighed. This was not turning out how either of them expected.

For the first time since she could remember, Celeste's confidence faltered. As she stared at the empty mausoleum, she felt a strange mixture of emotions, surprise, shock, and for the very first time in a long time, she felt fear.

 _Had Bonnie Bennett just bested her?_


	35. Chapter 35

Klaus blinked in confusion trying to come to grips with the surreal thing he had just witnessed. Bonnie had been taken from him, right under his nose. She had disappeared right in front of him and he had not been able to do anything to stop it. He had failed to protect her and their children.

 _Bonnie was gone._

 _Bonnie had been taken from him._

 _Bonnie and his children were gone_.

His blood boiled with rage. But there were other emotions as well, there was fear, uncertainty, and pain.

 _What the hell happened? Where had she been taken? Who did this?_

Klaus was angry with himself, if he hadn't left her alone, if he had arrived a few seconds before, if he had done something else, if, so many ifs. More than the anger, more than the thoughts of what he could have done different, Klaus felt empty inside. He felt like he was missing something. His chest hurt.

At first, he thought he had been hurt when the magic that took Bonnie repelled him, but he wasn't. He was fine physically. While his skin had been torn open when he had tried to grab Bonnie, it had completely healed by now. The unexpected pain came from inside him. From his heart, he realized.

He felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. There was a void inside him, a feeling of emptiness. He couldn't even stand up. Klaus pulled himself to his knees and stared at the spot where Bonnie had just been a few seconds before trying to figure out why he was feeling that way.

He frowned and brought his right hand up to his chest and unconsciously rubbed the spot where his heart was, where it hurt. That organ he had thought long dead and cold was aching for something, _for Bonnie_.

Klaus let out a shaky breath. He needed to find Bonnie, that's all that matter right now. He closed his eyes, using his superior senses to tap into the bond and locate Bonnie. He needed to find her. He needed to get her back. He needed to save her from whatever had taken her.

His eyes suddenly snapped open with a horrible realization. He couldn't feel her. He couldn't feel her at all. He had no idea where she was.

Klaus tried again, concentrating hard and practically begging his senses to find that connection, to tap into their bond and locate her. He expanded his senses to their limit in search of that unique connection between the two of them, in search of their bond which had allowed him to track her down countless of times before. It wasn't there. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find it.

A sudden cold descended over his body and a feeling of dread penetrated his skin.

Bonnie had become such a constant and soothing presence inside him, in his blood, and now she was no longer there. He couldn't feel her emotions, he didn't know what she was feeling in this moment and he couldn't sense where she was either.

 _Was she in New Orleans? Had she been taken somewhere else?_

There was nothing. He had grown so accustomed to feeling her, to sensing her emotions that it almost felt like she had always been a part of him. And now she wasn't there anymore. His bond with Bonnie was gone.

Klaus felt like a dagger had suddenly pierced his heart. He felt empty inside. Bonnie was gone and with her, their bond.

 _How was that even possible?_

When Bonnie had been tricked and attacked by the spirits, Klaus hadn't been able to sense her emotions. He had felt something off about their bond and realized she had closed her side. But the bond had still been there. Klaus had felt it. Klaus had used it to track her to the werewolf camp. Right now he couldn't feel it at all. The bond between them was gone. That cold and dreadful realization cut deeply into his heart, into his very soul.

 _Had the person that took Bonnie severed their bond?_ No, that was impossible. The only way a blood bond could be broken was if one of them died.

Klaus felt suddenly sick as that thought crossed his mind. _No, she couldn't be dead_.

Panic

Fear

Desperation

He squeezed his eyes shut, his entire body trembling. The pain was unbearable. The physical part he could withstand, he was strong enough, but the emotional impact upon that thought… that, he had not been prepared for.

Everything he cared for had been taken from him in a blink of an eye.

Bonnie and his children had been ripped away from him in a matter of seconds and he had done nothing. He had promise to keep them safe. He had failed her, he had failed them. Klaus could not imagine living in a world without them in it. They were his everything. He needed to find them. He needed to get them back.

 _And what if you can't? What if they are truly gone? You failed them. You were supposed to protect them. You failed them._

Klaus allowed himself one moment, one moment of despair, one moment of grief, one moment of anguish and fear. He allowed himself a moment of humanity, a moment in which he felt everything.

 _A moment of weakness_ , his father would've said with disappointment. But Klaus needed that moment. He needed that moment to feel. An Original did not have the luxury of shutting down his emotions and blocking the pain like the young ones did whenever the mood struck. No, he had to endure. He had to turn that pain into his weapon.

Klaus closed his eyes. He used every single one of the storm of emotions inside him and turned them into a single objective. If his enemies thought that this would break him, they were in for a rude awakening. A lesser man would cry and let the grief destroy him. Klaus had long ago perfected the art of using everything that hurt him to fuel the fire inside him, to awaken the beast his father had unsuccessfully tried to suppress. He was going to devour every single one of them. He was not going to rest until the ones responsible for this died in the most gruesome manner. He was going to find them and he was going to end them.

But first, he was going to find his wife and his children. He needed to get them back at all cost. He refused to believe that they were truly gone.

Klaus stood up.

He knew what he had to do.

* * *

 **Lafayette Cemetery**

Celeste didn't waste any time, as tired and lightheaded as she felt, she needed to find Bonnie. She kneeled on the ground and started chanting. When the locator spells she tried didn't work, she decided to do something else. She was going to communicate with the Ancestors. She needed their help in order to find Bonnie. The Ancestors had the power to find any living witch.

It didn't matter where Bonnie was or how powerful the magic protecting her was, the Ancestors would find her and Celeste would get her.

"I just spoke with my guys," Marcel said placing his cell phone inside the pocket of his jacket. "Every one of my vampires is searching for Bonnie. Wherever she landed we'll find her."

Celeste kept her eyes closed, blood oozing down her nose as she continued to furiously chant under her breath. _Come on_ , she pleaded. _Tell me where she is, show me where she is, find her…_

A cold wind swept through the cemetery. All the candles died out as the Ancestors answered Celeste's call.

Marcel moved closer. "Did you find her?"

Celeste's eyes snapped open and a gasp escaped her lips. The Ancestors couldn't find Bonnie. "None of the locator spells I've tried are working and the Ancestors…" It couldn't be. A sudden chill descended over her body as the realization of what that meant hit her like a bucket of ice water.

Marcel frowned. "She must be cloaked," he suggested.

"No," Celeste closed her eyes briefly, her hands were shaking. "I can't sense her at all." And neither could the Ancestors and that could only mean one thing.

"What the hell is going on Sabine?" Marcel asked. He didn't like the look on her face. Sabine looked afraid. It was so strange to see that fear reflected in her eyes and face. She had seemed so confident and on top of her game earlier that night but now, she had turned into a shaking mess.

Celeste couldn't believe it. She stared down at her left wrist. It hurt. The mark had turned an angry red, slowly eating away at her skin. "It can't be…" she whispered. _What had she done?_

Marcel grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her up. "Look at me," he hissed, searching her face for answers. "Tell me what the hell is going on, Sabine?" He needed to know why she was so afraid.

"Every time I look for her, every time I try to find her, it doesn't work," Celeste murmured. "It's almost as if…" she trailed off.

 _Your ambition shall be your undoing…_

Celeste swallowed painfully, recalling those words spoken so long ago. She had been warned.

"As if what?" Marcel asked bringing her attention back to him. His strong grip on her arms prevented her from falling to the ground.

"As if I were looking for someone who is dead," Celeste replied in a whisper.

"What are you saying?" Marcel asked. He must have heard wrong. There was no way Sabine was implying what he was thinking. That was not the plan. He had not signed up for that.

"Bonnie is dead." Celeste said as she met Marcel's eyes. "I can't find her and the Ancestors can't find her either, the only thing that can prevent the Ancestors from reaching a witch is death."

Marcel gasped and pulled away from her as if he had been burned. "No…" he said. "That wasn't the plan. What did you do?"

"It wasn't me," Celeste replied with sincerity while her mind raced with different possibilities. "Someone must have tampered with my spell and got to her." It was the only explanation. She looked down at the mark on her wrist; an angry red burn the size of a quarter stared back at her. She had broken her oath and now she was going to pay the price. She was running out of time.

"You have to be wrong," Marcel said refusing to believe what Sabine was saying.

If Bonnie was truly dead, they were fucked.

* * *

"I have to go," Thierry said putting his cell phone on the nightstand before getting out of bed. He had just received a call from Diego with instructions from Marcel.

"Why?" Katie sat up and leaned against the headboard watching as Thierry pulled his clothes on. They had been having such a great time, a much needed time between them.

"Marcel wants us to search for Bonnie," he told her while getting dressed.

Katie frowned. "Why would he do that?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her lover. "What's going on Thierry?"

Thierry pulled his shirt on before sitting down on the bed once more and turning to face her. "Marcel and Sabine made a deal," he began nervously. He had not told Katie about it yet.

"What kind of deal?"

"They teamed up to take down the Originals but it seems the plan backfired."

"And you didn't tell me about this." Katie snapped. "How can you keep something like this from me?" she stood up and put her robe on before turning to him, an angry look on her face. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Thierry sighed and stood up as well. "You made it clear that you will side with the Mikaelsons." Marcel had asked him and Father Kieran to keep quiet about his deal with Sabine. Thierry had kept his word.

"And you're definitely sticking by Marcel's side?" Katie scoffed. Despite her anger that he hadn't told her anything, there was also a hint of guilt. She hadn't told Thierry about her talk with Felix earlier that morning. He was keeping things from her, and she was doing the same. "Where is Bonnie?" she asked suddenly. "What did they do to her?"

"That's the thing," Thierry said quietly. "They don't know. Sabine was going to do a spell and lock Bonne in the cemetery, keep her out of the game while Marcel made his move. But they don't know where Bonnie ended up. The spell didn't take her to the mausoleum like they planned."

Katie closed her eyes. "A teleporting spell," she realized. _What the hell was Sabine playing at?_

"She's probably somewhere in the Quarter, Marcel gave orders for all of us to look for her." And he really needed to get going.

Katie opened her eyes and stared at him. "Do you have any idea how complex, how rarely successful teleporting spells are?" there was a reason few witches even attempted to try them. "Teleporting yourself takes a lot, on your body, on your magic and the chances of killing yourself in the process are really high." Many witches had died after attempting a teleporting spell, including one of her ancestors. In many covens those kinds of spells were forbidden, they were certainly forbidden in the French Quarter Coven. "Teleporting someone else, a witch like Bonnie…" _Jesus Christ! What the hell had Sabine done?_

"Sabine seemed confident she could do it." Thierry moved around the bed until he came to stand next to her.

Katie shook her head. "I grew up with her and Sophie, she's not that powerful." There was no way Sabine had that kind of power. Someone like the Regent could attempt to do it, but Sabine, no. Not only that, but from where could she have learned such rare and complex spell.

"It's going to be okay." Thierry took her hand in his. "Don't worry."

"Do you realize that this spell could've killed Bonnie?" Katie snapped. Did Thierry have any idea what kind of mess Marcel had gotten them into?

Thierry opened his mouth but she cut him off.

"Klaus is going to kill Sabine for this," Katie murmured. "And if something happened to Bonnie, Klaus is going to burn this city to the ground. He'll come for Marcel and his guys, he'll come for you." Tears burned in her eyes as she stared at Thierry. "Are you really willing to die for Marcel?"

"Everything I am is because of him," Thierry answered with conviction. "I have to go." He didn't want to have this conversation now. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left at vampire speed, without saying another word.

Katie wiped the tears from her eyes and allowed herself a moment before grabbing her purse and pulling her cell phone out. She dialed the number she had saved that morning. "Felix, its Katie…" she took a deep breath. _Forgive me, Thierry._ She thought. She had made her choice and she was sticking with it. "There is something Klaus needs to know…"

* * *

By the time Elijah had tried to warn Klaus about the danger Bonnie was in, it was too late. She had already been taken. Klaus briefly explained the situation to Elijah before hanging up.

"He said she was taken in a cloud of magic, dark magic he thinks," Elijah finished informing Lucy about what had transpired back at the plantation house a few minutes before.

Lucy closed her eyes. Her warning had come too late. "Only someone really powerful could've done such a thing." She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach; a single name came to her mind. _I am going to end you_ , Lucy promised.

Elijah nodded. "Klaus called your mother and Abby, they're on their way to the house and Angelica is already working on a locator spell."

"Good," Lucy murmured. _Please let Bonnie be okay, wherever she is. Please God, let her be okay_. She thought. Her mother and Angelica could locate Bonnie; they were both very powerful witches. They would find her, Lucy felt certain of that. "Come on, we have work to do."

"We should go back to the house, we need to figure out who is behind this-"

"Give me a break!" Lucy interrupted angrily. "I think it's pretty obvious who did this, your bitch of an ex is behind this."

"We don't know that for sure."

"Who else could've been Elijah?" Lucy snapped. "The French Quarter Coven is powerless, Marcel maybe, but he would need one heck of a witch or an entire coven to pull this off. Bonnie was taken by magic and there is only one witch who is really powerful and really pissed at your family at the moment," she said. "That we know of," she added the last part as an afterthought.

Elijah pressed his lips together knowing that Lucy was right. Celeste was the only witch that fit the bill.

"It was Celeste, something inside me tells me she's behind this." Lucy moved closer until she was standing right in front of Elijah. She stared into his eyes. "We need to end this tonight Elijah. If you still have feelings for her and that's why you are hesitating-"

"I don't," Elijah interrupted. "I loved her once but…it's over." He stared into her eyes as he said it. He and Celeste had a history, a past that had been wonderful and tragic but Elijah had moved on. And even if he hadn't, he had always put his family first. He had done it two hundred years ago and he was more than willing to do it again. "Bonnie's safety is my priority," because Bonnie was part of his family now, Elijah would do anything to keep her and her children safe. "And if Celeste has her, nothing and no one," he said in a dangerously low tone. "Nothing on this earth shall protect her from my wrath," he vowed.

"Let's go then."

Lucy was more than ready to take down Celeste Dubois. That bitch was going to regret coming after her family.

* * *

Klaus was pacing like a lion inside a cage. He was agitated. The longer he spent without sensing Bonnie, the stronger the anxiety was. He couldn't stand it. Matt and Rebekah stood nervously on the opposite side of the dining room while Angelica chanted under her breath, deep in concentration. Across from her, Cary leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets as he watched the witch perform the locator spell.

A map of the world, with a few drops of Klaus's blood laid on top of the dining room table, surrounded by a bunch of white candles. Angelica moved her hands over it, as she repeated the locator spell again and again.

"What the bloody hell is taking so long?" Klaus muttered darkly.

"Nik," Rebekah shot him a look.

Klaus ignored her.

"It's not working," Angelica opened her eyes and stared down at the map. The spell hadn't worked at all. She didn't understand it. She could do this kind of spell with her eyes closed and half asleep.

"Try again," Klaus ordered. He felt on edge, he felt like the walls were closing in on him. He was desperate and Angelica's failure at finding Bonnie only made his temper flare. He was about to take it out on the first poor soul that walked in.

"She must be cloaked," Rebekah suggested.

"Maybe she's not in New Orleans," Matt proposed almost at the same time.

Angelica bit her lip. Even if Bonnie were cloaked, or somewhere around the world, the spell should have worked but it hadn't at all.

"The spell didn't work at all," Cary murmured. All eyes turned to him. "The blood didn't move in any direction." He had been staring at it. He knew how locator spells worked and Angelica's hadn't worked at all. If it had, Klaus's blood would've moved over the map in search of Bonnie's whereabouts.

Klaus and Rebekah stared at each other, silently having a conversation with their eyes.

"What does that mean?" Matt asked curiously. He looked at Cary before turning to Angelica. "Is Bonnie under a cloaking spell, is that why the blood didn't move cause it doesn't know where she is?"

"When someone is cloaked you can still sense them," Angelica said. "The magic prevents you from knowing exactly where they are but you can feel that person somewhere out there. In that case the blood would move aimlessly over the map trying to find the location." She explained nervously. "In this case, the locator spell isn't working at all. It's almost as if…"

"As if what?" Klaus asked. His expression was unreadable but Angelica could have sworn she saw a hint of gold in his eyes.

They all waited for her to say something.

Angelica took a deep breath and steeled herself. She knew the impact her words would have on everyone. "As if I was trying to locate someone who doesn't exist." She swallowed thickly and looked away from the hybrid as she said the rest. "Or someone who's dead."

Silence

Absolute silence followed Angelica's words. No one knew what to say or how to react to such statement.

Klaus was a statute. He didn't move, he didn't say anything.

Matt felt his stomach drop and he grabbed Rebekah's hand in a tight grip. Cary looked nervously at Klaus while Rebekah closed her eyes.

The moment was broken by the ringing of Klaus's cell phone. "Right now it's not a good time Felix," he muttered upon picking up. _Don't think about Angelica's words, it can't be true. She's wrong_ , Klaus's mind was a hurricane. It took every bit of self control not to explode.

"Katie informed me that Sabine and Marcel have a deal," Felix didn't waste any time and went straight to the point. "Sabine took Bonnie but the spell backfired."

Klaus growled.

Felix had just given him the perfect outlet for his rage.

* * *

"She's not answering," Tyler said as he hung up. He had been trying to contact Bonnie but every single time he called her, he got her voicemail.

Christian's eyes narrowed. "Try again," he ordered. He didn't seem to believe Tyler.

Tyler shook his head. "I've called Bonnie a bunch of times now and she hasn't answered any of my calls. Maybe she doesn't want to talk to me."

"If you're playing games," Christian began as he took a step closer.

"Here, you try." Tyler handed him his phone.

Christina took it and dialed Bonnie's number.

Tyler kept his eyes on Christian's face the whole time. He did his best to keep a neutral face. The last thing he wanted was for Christian to see how relieved he felt that he couldn't get in touch with Bonnie. He didn't know why Bonnie wasn't answering any of his calls but he felt glad.

 _Hey, this is Bonnie I'm not able to answer your call right now, please-_

Christian hung up.

Everyone was staring at him, waiting to see what he would do. He was in charge of the operation after all.

All the wolves felt on edge, they were waiting to make a move. It felt like they had been waiting for ages and the truth was that they were starting to lose their patience. This was supposed to be a mission to prove their loyalty to Franco and yet it was starting to turn into an odyssey.

"So much for a simple plan," Dwayne muttered under his breath. He was sitting casually in front of the table near the window, Sean was across from him. They had been playing cards to keep themselves entertained while they waited cooped up in the motel room.

Two other wolves paced around the hotel room nervously, while Christian's second in command sat on one of the beds, a laptop on his knees.

Christian's jaw clenched as he handed back Tyler's phone before pulling out his own cell phone. He dialed a number. It didn't take long for someone to pick up. "We can't reach the witch. I need you to do a locator spell and find her." That was all he said before hanging up.

"You have witches on speed dial?" Tyler asked visibly tensed.

"Franco has unlimited resources," Christian replied. "Once they find Bonnie, you will distract the hybrid and we will snatch the witch. It's quite simple."

Tyler didn't respond. He knew what his orders were. _Shit!_ He thought panicking. _Franco had witches working for him. Fuck!_

Dwayne chuckled causing all the wolves in the group to turn to look at him.

"Care to enlighten us as to what is so funny?" Christian asked focusing on the young man.

Dwayne leaned back on his chair and placed his feet up on the table. "You keep saying this is a rather simple plan and yet every day it seems to be getting more complicated." He shrugged.

"And you have a problem with that?"

"Maybe I'm just wondering what's so special about this girl that Franco wants her so much." Dwayne responded staring at Christian. "I mean, aren't we supposed to be working to put the werewolves into power, to finally end the vampires' reign of terror and instead Franco is obsessed with some witch. What's the deal with her?"

The other wolves stood nervously looking back and forth between both men. They could all feel the tension in the room. No one had dared to question Christian before. The only one who looked like he didn't agree with the status quo was Tyler, but Dwayne had dared to ask the question in everyone's mind. As loyal as they were, as determined as they were to prove themselves to Franco, they had all wondered what the deal with Bonnie Bennett was. Why had Franco given them the mission to kidnap her?

 _There had to be something special about her right?_

Tyler studied Dwayne's profile carefully. He wondered why the wolf was provoking Christian. There was something in the way Dwayne was looking at Christian, with some hidden emotion, Tyler couldn't quite catch. There was more to the wolf than met the eye. Tyler had spent a lot of time training with Dwayne after his arrival at the Navarro camp and for all intents and purposes, Dwayne seemed to worship Franco and to be in complete agreement with the Navarro cause. _So why ask such questions now?_

"You are here to prove your loyalty to Franco," Christian's second in command reminded them."You are to do as you are told, no questions asked."

"You can't blame a man for being curious." Dwayne said turning to him. "We're in Marcel's territory, you think they can't sniff a wolf a mile away?" he moved his eyes around the room as he said it. "And we're not here to kill Marcel or advance our species into power. We're going to kidnap the hybrid's woman." He shook his head. "Something just doesn't add up you know."

"What do you mean?" another werewolf asked.

"I don't know," Dwayne replied with a shrug. "Is this mission for the benefit of the werewolf cause, the cause that inspired and attracted us to join the Navarro clan in the first place?" There was a glint in his eyes as he looked at the group. "Or is this mission for Franco's own personal gain and if so, is it worth the risk?"

Silence

There was a moment of absolute silence.

"Be careful Dwayne," a low growl escaped Christian's throat. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the younger man with anger. "I don't think I need to remind you of the oath you made."

Christian met his eyes unflinchingly."I swore loyalty to the Navarro cause. I swore to help Franco restore our species to power," he said calmly, never taking his eyes off Christian's. "So you tell me, in what way does kidnapping Bonnie Bennett benefit the Navarro cause?" There almost seemed to be a challenge in his eyes and voice.

"She must be a really powerful witch." Sean spoke up for the first time. "That's why Franco wants her right?" he turned to Christian who was glaring daggers at Dwayne.

"But Franco has unlimited resources and witches already working for him," Tyler found himself saying without thinking. Franco didn't need another witch.

Christian turned to him and glared.

"Are we going to start a war with the Mikaelson's first?" another wolf asked.

"Is that the plan?"

"Is that a good idea?"

"Enough!" Christian yelled. "Not another word," he ordered. "You are here to complete a mission not to question our leader's orders. End of discussion." He glared at Dwayne. The wolf didn't seem to care.

Silence descended over the room again.

Tyler moved his gaze over every single one of the wolves inside the motel before his eyes finally landed on Dwayne who continued to calmly sit by the window. The seeds of doubt had been planted, Tyler was startled to realize.

Christian had ordered them to keep quiet and they were. But in their minds, they were also questioning Franco's motivations and actions. Most of the wolves had sworn loyalty because they believed in what Franco sold them, a supernatural world dominated by the werewolf species. That was the Navarro goal. That was the Navarro cause, not kidnapping another man's wife.

Tyler met Dwayne's eyes, the other wolf only grinned as if he knew some secret the hybrid didn't. He was very much aware of the seeds he had just planted in their minds. _Who are you?_ Tyler wondered. _What are you playing at?_

Dwayne met his questioning gaze and smiled. _Wouldn't you like to know?_ His eyes seemed to say back.

* * *

Celeste hurried out of Lafayette cemetery. _Who?_ She wondered as she walked down the dark New Orleans streets. It would be morning soon and Marcel's vampires had yet to find Bonnie. The witch was nowhere to be found.

 _Who had tampered with her teleporting spell? Who had gotten to Bonnie?_

At first, Celeste had assumed the witch had somehow teleported herself somewhere else but the Ancestors could not sense her in the word of the living, which meant that Bonnie had to be dead. The painful burned mark on her wrist was proof that the oath she made had been broken.

 _But who had done it?_

Carrying Klaus Mikaelson's child definitely put a target on Bonnie's back. The hybrid had countless enemies; it was no stretch to imagine that one of them had managed to get to Bonnie and killed her. And yet, something didn't add up. Celeste couldn't help but feel something else was at play here. She rubbed her wrist again, what was she missing?

She stopped abruptly as she rounded the corner. "Following me again, Elijah?" her lips curved into a smirk as she turned around and came face to face with her ex-lover.

"Where is she?" Elijah hissed taking a menacing step closer.

Celeste grinned. "I have no idea-"

Elijah grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up a couple of inches from the ground. "Where is Bonnie?" he snarled. His vampire face surfaced. He was furious.

Celeste gasped and her eyes opened wide, not because of the choking hold he had on her but because she had never seen his vampire face. Elijah always prided himself in being in control. He had never once showed his true face to her, not even the times he had fed from her, until now.

There was a twinge of jealousy at the thought of Bonnie inspiring such devotion. With a wave of her magic Celeste broke Elijah's arm and pushed him away from her.

Elijah growled as he stumbled back by the force of Celeste's magic.

Celeste lifted her right hand and broke both of his legs. "Your arrogance is unbelievable."

Elijah sunk to the ground hissing angrily at her.

"I'm more powerful than you Elijah. Do you really think you stand a chance against me?" Celeste laughed. The Mikaelson's were on a league of their own when it came to their arrogance. "You're not as smart as you think you are." She stared him down and twisted her hand, her magic boiled his blood from the inside.

Elijah gasped as he began sweating and coughing blood. The pain was excruciating.

"I bet you and your brother weren't expecting this move from me." Celeste smiled viciously. She wished she were able to see Klaus's face at the moment, to enjoy seeing his pain, to enjoy telling him that his precious Bonnie was gone for good. "You should have known better darling Elijah," she continued angrily. "But as always you chose your brother's side." To this day, it still hurt. Despite his love and adoration of her, at the end of the day, Elijah's loyalty and love for Klaus had won. "Always and forever was the biggest mistake of your life. You-"

WHACK

Celeste's word's died in her throat as she fell to the ground unconscious.

"And you made the biggest mistake of your life coming after my cousin," Lucy hissed standing over the unconscious body, a shovel in hand. She had been under a cloaking spell, securing the place where they were going to take Celeste.

Elijah breathed a sigh of relief now that Celeste's hold on him had been broken. He stood up and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the blood off his chin.

"I was going to use magic to knock her out," Lucy told him, looking him up and down and ensuring he wasn't badly hurt. "But I figure a good whack in the head might do her some good." She had definitely enjoyed taking Celeste by surprise.

"You won't hear any complaints from me." Elijah smiled at her before he bent down, picking Celeste's unconscious body in his arms. "Is everything ready?"

Lucy nodded. "She dies tonight." She said meeting Elijah's eyes. Lucy knew what she had to do, she had been studying the spell for the past few days.

The Original nodded. "But first, we are going to get all the information that we can from her."

Lucy agreed with that. Celeste had the key to what happened with Bonnie. They would get their answers and then they would get rid of her for good.

Celeste was going to die and Lucy was going to make sure her spirit would never know peace.

* * *

Marcel drank straight from the bottle. None of his vampires had found Bonnie, they had looked everywhere but there was no sign of her in the city. He couldn't get Sabine's words out of his mind.

 _Bonnie is dead._

 _What the hell was he going to do now?_ He had made a deal with Sabine. He had been on board with the plan to kidnap Bonnie and lock her inside a mausoleum. The plan had failed and Marcel knew the minute Klaus found out, he was dead. He regretted making that deal with Sabine.

He had failed to protect Davina, he had failed to get her back and now he was a marked man. _Fucking great_ , he thought bitterly as he took another gulp from the bottle.

"You okay?" Josh, one of the newbies asked. He didn't have a daylight ring so he had returned to the compound before sunrise caught him unaware. He wasn't the only one, all of Marcel's nightwalkers had returned to the compound.

"I've had better days," Marcel muttered. Everything was going wrong. It seemed for the past few weeks every single one of his plans failed. One way or another he ended on the losing side. Everything was going hell and he felt powerless to stop it.

The vampires inside the compound watched him. They were all waiting for further instructions. They were prepared; they had been prepared for the take down. But now it seemed there was a change of plans.

"Marcel," one of them said nervously.

Marcel turned to look at the vampire and took another gulp of the bottle of whiskey. He didn't say anything.

"Are we still following the plan?" the young vampire asked.

"You said we were going to take the Originals down," another one pointed out. "What are we waiting for?"

Marcel sighed, moving his gaze over each and every one of his guys. They were ready, he knew.

"We have father Kieran's objects," Diego said as he came inside the compound. "Let's finish this Marcel, we're ready." The Mikaelson's were probably searching for Bonnie. They would never see an attack coming. Now was the perfect time for a surprise attack. "Let's destroy those fuckers for good." With the dark objects Father Kieran had provided they could take the Originals down, of that Diego felt confident.

One by one all of the vampires began gathering on the first floor, all waiting expectantly for Marcel to give the order. They were excited, they were pumped for battle.

"Let's not wait. They're not expecting an attack," one vampire said twisting his knuckles. "Let's teach that arrogant son of a bitch a lesson."

Before Marcel could say anything, a cold sinister laugh echoed around them.

"You are going to teach me a lesson?"

All the vampires turned towards the front entrance at the sound of that accented voice.

Klaus stepped inside the compound, his usual smirk in place. "Young vampires are quite arrogant these days." He moved his gaze over the group gathered with Marcel. There was quite a large group of vampires inside the compound, at least half of Marcel's army.

Marcel swallowed nervously. Klaus appeared so calm and composed but Marcel knew him enough to see beyond the air of calmness he projected. Behind those bright blue eyes there was a storm brewing. He placed the bottle down on a nearby table and walked closer towards his sire. "What do you want Klaus?"

"Don't play the fool Marcellus, it does not suit you," Klaus replied coldly. "You know why I'm here. You know what you've done. What you took from me." Bloodshed was the way Klaus dealt with pain. And the pain he was feeling in that moment was excruciating. Everything he cared for had been taken from him and he was going to ensure all of New Orleans knew of his grief.

Marcel nodded. _Klaus knew_ , he realized. Klaus knew he had been involved in the plan to take Bonnie. "Leave my guys out of this," he said. "This is between you and me." His men looked ready to protest but Marcel silenced them with a look.

Klaus seemed amused at Marcel's words. "You should've thought of that before coming after my wife," he hissed as his eyes turned gold.

Bonnie was gone, they couldn't find her anywhere and rather than let his grief, his pain destroy him, Klaus was using it to fuel his anger. He wanted vengeance, he wanted blood. He was going to get them both before sunrise.

The vampires around them tensed but they were also more than ready to take him on. They were loyal to Marcel to the very end. This was what they had been waiting for after all. Faces shifted and they all moved closer ready to pounce on the Original at any given moment.

"I never meant her any harm," Marcel said looking at him directly in the eyes.

"Oh Marcel, I taught you how to lie." Klaus tilted his head to the side watching him with those hybrid eyes of his. His face gave nothing away of his inner feelings or thoughts. He had an icy mask on. "You would think you would be better at it?"

Marcel growled.

Klaus moved further inside the compound, lazily moving his eyes over the vampires surrounding Marcel. "How would all of you pathetic lot like to die?" He asked out loud. "I'm feeling quite generous." His lips curved into a wicked grin. "Werewolf venom, ripping you limb from limb, crushing your puny little hearts out of your chest perhaps? Begging for mercy?" he taunted.

"Get out!" Marcel ordered turning to his men. "Leave us." He was smart enough to know that it the mood Klaus was in, there was no escaping. But he would try and spare as many as his guys as possible. He had made a mistake trusting Sabine but he was man enough to not only admit it, but to deal with the consequences too. He would not run, he wasn't a coward but that didn't mean his guys had to share his fate or pay for his mistakes.

"We're not leaving you." Diego said, hands balling into fists. "There is only one of him and over a hundred of us. We can take him." He hissed staring defiantly at Klaus. Since the moment the Original arrived in town, Diego had been itching to kill him.

"You think you can subdue me with this!" Klaus laughed, clearly unimpressed by their bravado. "You're all pathetic. Come on then!" He yelled. He wanted to fight. He wanted to let out all the anger, all the frustration, and pain he felt. He needed to. "What are you waiting for?" he extended his arms in clear invitation. "Come and get me!" he challenged.

The vampires didn't wait for Marcel's orders, they threw themselves at Klaus.

All hell broke loose.

* * *

Those first few moments were confusing. She felt disoriented, almost as if she were having an out of body experience.

She was on the ground that was her first conscious thought. Bonnie kept her eyes closed, feeling tired, almost in a dreamlike state. She didn't know how long she stayed like that; in many ways she was afraid to open her eyes. A wave of nausea hit her and she fought to keep it down.

In the next moment, Bonnie rolled to her side and pulled herself on her hands and knees as she proceeded to empty her stomach. Slight tremors rolled over her body and she shivered feeling suddenly cold. She left her cardigan in the living room and the thin white and sleeveless cotton blouse she was wearing did not help to keep the cold at bay.

Slowly very slowly, Bonnie blinked her eyes open. The first thing she noticed was that the cuts on her arms had healed completely. _Thank god!_ She could still remember the pain as her skin had been viciously cut open while her magic fought not to let her be taken away. She breathed in and out, her arms shook, and her stomach felt queasy.

Another wave of nausea hit her and she vomited once more. She shivered and closed her eyes for a few moments hoping that it would pass. She didn't know how long she stayed like that but eventually she felt slightly better.

When Bonnie lifted her head she finally took notice of her surroundings.

The first rays of the morning sun were peeking through the leafless trees. Wisps of fog crept over the forest while a mantle of withered leaves covered the ground.

Bonnie winced when she felt a cold breeze hit her cheeks. She stood up on shaky legs, using a nearby tree to support herself.

 _Where am I?_ She wondered bewildered by the scenery. The forest was eerily quiet. There was nothing familiar about this place. She didn't recognize it at all. _Am I still in New Orleans?_ She wondered as she looked around. All she could see were trees devoid of foliage. Out of all the scenarios she could've imagined this was the most unexpected ever. _How did I get here?_

Something felt wrong. There was something about this place, something dark and sinister. She felt uncomfortable. She didn't like it, just like she didn't like the dull pain in her heart.

Bonnie kept her right hand on the tree, using it as support while she touched her heart with her left. It hurt. She felt empty. There was a strange void inside her. Something was missing. She closed her eyes letting her senses guide her.

Her eyes opened wide as a cold realization suddenly hit her.

 _I can't feel Klaus_.

It was a punch to the stomach which cut the air from her lungs. Bonnie tried again, doing her best to tap into their bond and locate Klaus but nothing. She couldn't feel him at all. She couldn't feel his emotions, she couldn't sense his presence. She couldn't feel their bond, only a strange emptiness that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

It was not like when he closed his side of the bond so she wouldn't be able to sense his emotions. No, this was different. This was ten times worse than that. When he did that, she could still feel him inside her; she could still feel his presence in her blood. Right now, she couldn't feel him at all. He was gone.

 _Oh god, oh god, no, please…_ She panicked. This couldn't be happening.

A gasp escaped Bonnie's lips and her entire body shook uncontrollably. The pain in her chest seemed to intensify and tears spilled down her cheeks. The bond was gone. She could no longer feel her connection to Klaus. _Why? How?_ She felt like something had died inside her or as if a limb had been forcibly ripped from her without her notice.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. Her knees sagged and if it weren't for the fact that she was holding to the tree she would have sunk to the ground.

Her left hand moved from her heart and down to her stomach as a storm of emotions and terrifying thoughts moved inside her. She felt a slight tingle against her fingertips. Despite the anguish, despite the terror that had taken root inside of her, she managed a small smile. The twins were okay.

The knowledge that her children were fine gave her strength, the strength to pull herself together and figure out what to do. There was no time to dwell on her pain or her fear.

Bonnie took a deep breath and soldiered on. She wiped the tears from her face and pulled herself together. She needed to figure out what the hell was going on and make her way back to Klaus. She took a deep breath and did her best not think about the painful hole in her heart. That pain that was slowly eating way her insides had to be pushed aside. She needed to think and focus on what she had to do.

 _I need to find a way back home_ , she thought as she slowly began walking. All she could see were trees. Her breathing and the fallen leaves crunching under her shoes were the only sounds that reached her ears. She couldn't hear anything or sense anyone around her. _What is this place?_

Bonnie walked and walked aimlessly through the forest, trying to find anything, anyone that could give her a clue as to where she was. She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered from the cold. Goose bumps formed on her skin and she moved her hands up and down her arms trying to find some sort of heat.

She came to an abrupt stop when she spotted a man sitting on a rock a few feet away to her left. "Excuse me, sir?" she made her way quickly towards him. "Can you tell me where we are?"

He was rather old, his face was covered in wrinkles and he had white hair and glasses. He was wearing a grey cashmere sweater and dark pants. There was something about him. When Bonnie looked at him she couldn't help but think of death and decay. It was disturbing and she chided herself for such thoughts.

"Excuse me?" Bonnie tried again but nothing. He didn't acknowledge her, he didn't respond at all.

The older gentleman had his hands on his lap as he stared into nothing. He seemed sad, so sad and lonely. The closer she got to him, the stronger the smell of decay became.

Bonnie wrinkled her nose and fought another wave of nausea as she stopped right in front of him. He didn't look up. "Hello," she said. The man did not react at all. M _aybe he was deaf and blind?_ She was tempted to reach out but that would be rude. "Excuse me," she tried again, nothing. The man was completely oblivious to her presence.

A giggle had her turning her head to the right.

A head of dark blonde curls popped out from behind a tree.

Bonnie frowned.

"He can't see you or hear you silly," a little girl with light caramel skin said as she stepped from behind the tree. She had a heart shape face, bright green eyes and a dust of freckles covered her nose. She was beautiful.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"He's not one of us," the little girl replied as she began making her way towards Bonnie. She was wearing a white lace dress with a matching bow on her hair. There was something about her, something familiar. Bonnie felt like she knew her.

"One of us…" Bonnie repeated feeling confused by the girl's words. "What does that mean? Who are you?"

"I'm Charlotte." She dipped into a graceful curtsy and bowed her head in Bonnie's direction before breaking into a fit of giggles. "I always wanted to do that." She extended her right hand. "How lovely to meet you."

There was something so enchanting about her. She radiated light and warmth and a sense of familiarity. Bonnie couldn't help but smile. "I'm Bonnie." The moment she took the girl's hand she felt a jolt. She felt her magic.

Bonnie gasped. "You're a Bennett witch."

The girl nodded. "As are you," she beamed.

"What is this place?" Bonnie asked suddenly. "Why am I here?" there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. A terrifying thought was beginning to form in her head and Bonnie hoped and prayed that she was wrong. She had to be wrong.

The little girl tilted her head to the side and placed her hands behind her back. "Don't you know?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Tell me where we are, please."

"The shadow lands," the little girl replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're in big trouble missy. You shouldn't be here." She bit her lip nervously. "I shouldn't be here either," she confessed nervously. "Mama will be furious when she finds out."

"Shadow lands," Bonnie repeated. The name sounded familiar. She remembered the night of the summoning and how Qetsiyah had talked about the other side and the different realms within.

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her stomach tightly with both of her hands. Her entire body trembled. "Oh god…" _No. Please no, her babies._ This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be real. Klaus's words about the bond suddenly came to her mind as a cold sweat broke through her skin.

 _A blood bond can only be broken by death…_

 _No, please, no._ She thought with anguish. It could't be true. There had to be a mistake.

"Am I dead?" Bonnie asked in a tiny whisper. _Had the swirling white fog that took her, killed her?_ She had given up fighting in order to protect her children and now she was here. _Oh god! What have I done?_ Her bottom lip trembled and tears blurred her vision. She thought of her children, she thought of Klaus, and of her mom, her dad, and her friends. This had to be a dream, a crazy nightmare more likely. She was going to wake up and Klaus would be there and everything was going to be okay. This had to be a dream. This couldn't be real. She couldn't be dead.

 _If she had died she would've felt it right?_

"It's okay," Charlotte said gently. "It can be a very dramatic experience, I know."

"Traumatic," a cold and disturbing voice corrected.

Bonnie's eyes flew open.

Charlotte glared at the newcomer.

The shadow of a woman stood next to a tree. She had long thick hair, swirling robes and her eyes were two cold and intimidating black pools. There was an air of doom about her, the stench of dead and decay radiated off her in waves. From behind her more shadowy figure emerged, sinister familiar shadows that sprung from the ground. One by one they began surrounding Bonnie and Charlotte.

The fog thickened and the temperature dropped even more as dangerous sparks of dark magic floated all around them.

Charlotte whimpered and moved closer to Bonnie, grabbing her hand in a painful grip. "This is bad," she murmured. "This is really bad."

The old man kept sitting on the rock completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

Bonnie's heart sped up, her whole body tensing with fear. She knew those shadowy figures, she had faced them before. They were the same vile and vicious creatures that pretended to be her grandmother and who had lured her into a trap in order to kill her children. Her body shook as she remembered their attack. "The spirits…" she murmured. Something finally clicked into place.

"Do you have any idea how long we have waited for this moment, Bonnie Bennett." The shadow woman's lips curved into a sinister smile. Since their failed attempt at killing the creature Bonnie carried, the spirits had been waiting for the right moment to strike again and the opportunity had presented itself on a silver platter with the teleporting spell. Celeste Dubois had unknowingly done them a great service.

"You brought me here," Bonnie realized. "I'm not dead," the moment of happiness she felt at realizing that she was alive and that she was on the other side because of the spirit's maneuverings was short lived as she realized the dangerous situation she was facing.

"We tampered with the teleporting spell." The shadow woman smirked as she walked closer, her flowing robes creating a small tornado of dried leaves in her wake.

The others followed her lead closing in on Bonnie and Charlotte-who was gripping Bonnie's hand so hard it actually hurt. The little girl was terrified and so was Bonnie. There were so many of them, far more than when they had attacked her in New Orleans. They were surrounded by the spirits and Bonnie had no idea what she was going do to in order to get out of this. Her magic felt different, she didn't know if she was going to be able to fight at her full potential or if the spirits were once again blocking her powers. She swallowed painfully. The spirits had the advantage and they knew it.

"You made it so much easier," the shadow woman laughed. By allowing herself to be taken Bonnie had rendered the magic protecting her null and the spirits had taken great advantage of it. "You were quite the easy prey," the shadow woman's eyes gleamed with triumph and the sound of her horrible and twisted laughter echoed around the forest, she was mocking Bonnie. She felt confident in the outcome of this meeting.

Charlotte's bottom lip trembled as the shadows moved closer.

"I'm not your prey," Bonnie hissed. She was afraid. She had no idea what the spirits had in store for her or if she was going to be able to use her magic against them. But the one thing she knew was that she was not going to give them the satisfaction of cowering in their presence. She was a witch, a Bennett witch. She was the queen of her coven but above all, she was a mother.

Bonnie would go to hell and back to keep her children safe, no matter what. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and prepared herself. If the spirits wanted war, she would give them war. She would end them once and for all.

Bonnie was determined to give them one hell of a fight.

* * *

 _A/N: The mark on Celeste's wrist is first mentioned in chapter 21. Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing, let know what you thought of this chapter. See you next time!_


	36. Chapter 36

_A/N: I want to give a BIG thank-you to everyone who has favored, followed, and reviewed this story. You guys are amazing and I'm extremely grateful for all your support. Also, a big shout-out to klonnett who wrote review number two thousand. I still can't believe it! Thank-you so much for all your amazing reviews. I'm not able to respond to every single one but I want you to know how much I treasure them and how grateful I am. Thank-you!_

 _Also, I didn't mean to keep you waiting this long for the new chapter but I'm sick. I have bronchitis and I've been feeling really miserable the past few days, that's why I wasn't able to update like I usually do. But anyway, here it is._ _I hope you like it!_

* * *

 **Two years ago**

Celeste walked out of the cemetery and breathed the crisp cool autumn air. Her lips curled into a grin as she began making her way home. She had been in the body of Sabine Laurent for about a week and so far everything had worked according to plan. She had picked the right body. She was quite happy with her new identity.

Sabine was a loner and while she was part of the French Quarter Coven, she was an outsider in many ways. She had no family, a small group of acquaintances, and only one real friend Sophie Deveraux. All of which worked in Celeste's favor. The thing about possessing another person's body was not just taking over their physical appearance but pretending to be them, for a time at least. It was why Celeste had always chosen people no one would miss if they were to disappear one day.

Sabine was a tour guide which Celeste was going to have no problem continuing to do. She knew the city by heart. She had been in the Quarter for two centuries and knew every corner, stone, building, and every little secret of the Crescent city. This was her home. The place she refused to leave. The place she wanted to claim as her own.

Keeping the charade of being Sabine was going to be easy and maybe even fun.

Celeste pulled the keys from her pocket and dangled them in her hand as she made her way towards Sabine's apartment. It was located right in the heart of the Quarter. She liked it. She was just about to unlock the door when an unfamiliar voice reached her ears.

"Sabine Laurent."

Celeste turned around startled. The woman had sneaked up on her without her notice. "Can I help you?"

A tall, dark haired woman with light caramel skin stood proudly in front of her. "I saved your life and you have already forgotten me?" her green eyes glinted with malice.

Celeste didn't know how to respond to that. She simply stared at the woman wondering who she was. She had never seen her in the Quarter before. There was something about her, something that immediately put her on edge. Something inside her told her that this was a woman one should not mess with.

"Had it not been for my intervention, that vampire would've killed you."

"I'm deeply grateful for what you did for me," Celeste responded, trying to sound as sincere as possible. She had no idea a vampire had tried to kill Sabine but she had a part to play. In many ways, this was a first test to fool others into thinking she was Sabine.

The woman smiled and tilted her head to the side, studying Sabine's face in detail. "Now, you must do something for me," she said never taking her calculating gaze away from Sabine's face.

Celeste tensed at those words. She didn't like the look on the woman's green eyes. There was an air of arrogance, of cunning that she didn't like. "What can I do?" she asked in a gentle voice. The last thing she wanted was for the woman to notice she wasn't really Sabine, she had to keep up the charade. "How can I repay you?" She had a feeling as to what the woman would want.

"I demand a witch's oath," the woman said with a smirk.

Celeste swallowed nervously. A witch's oath was sacred. She knew better than to make such a vow especially with a stranger that gave her such a weird vibe.

"I will gladly pay my debt to you but I will not make such an oath, I-" the words died in her throat as she was suddenly pushed to her knees by a dark and strange kind of power. The attack caught her completely by surprise.

Celeste gasped. Her magic flared ready to defend her but it was in vain. The strange dark power that engulfed her was too strong. No matter how hard she tried to break free, she couldn't. _How can this be?_ She wondered in panic. She possessed an incredible amount of magic, unrivaled by any, but this woman had her completely under her control.

"I don't think you understand. I am not asking you. I am telling you how I wish to be repaid." The woman did not move at all, she kept standing a few feet away from Celeste, hands inside the pockets of her black coat. "You will do it, won't you?"

Celeste gasped struggling to breathe as invisible hands cut the air from her lungs. She was going to die and she had not prepared a new body to jump into yet. She nodded. She had no choice and she hated it.

The woman smiled before releasing her. Once again she didn't move, she commanded her magic with her mind. She had no need to utter a spell or wave her hands to channel her power. One like her had no need for such tricks, just her will. "Now, that wasn't so hard was it?"

Celeste glared at her, summoning her magic and more than ready to set the bitch on fire except she couldn't, somehow the other woman had blocked her magic. She hadn't even noticed. "Who are you?" she whispered. She had never encountered such a powerful witch before. It was frightening.

The woman ignored her question. "Sometime from now you are going to meet a young witch, a very powerful witch," she told Celeste. "You must swear to me that you will not harm her, that you will not do anything to put her in danger."

"What witch? What's her name?" Celeste asked. _What the hell was this woman playing at?_ This was such a surreal encounter. She honestly didn't know what to think.

"You will know who she is when you meet her," the woman replied simply. Her lips curled into a knowing smile.

"That's it?" Celeste asked incredulous. "That's all you want from me. To swear that I won't harm some witch whose name I don't even know?" This had to be some sort of joke.

The woman nodded, watching her with those vibrant green eyes that seemed to see beyond. "What I ask is rather simple."

"Fine," Celeste stood up on shaky legs. A simple oath made in Sabine's name. It was no problem. Breaking a witch's oath meant death, whatever, she would die and jump into another body. The stupid woman was powerful but she clearly had no idea who she was dealing with. She had no idea she wasn't Sabine.

 _This can work to my advantage_ , Celeste thought as she extended her left arm and prepared to make the sacred oath.

Ten minutes later, Celeste had made her oath and a strange mark had appeared on her left wrist, the symbol she had made a sacred vow. It was a reminder that she had given her word and that there was a price to pay should she break it.

"It's done," Celeste murmured more than ready to get this over with. Her wrist throbbed.

The woman looked at the mark on Celeste's wrist before looking into her serious face. Her eyes gleamed with triumph and her lips curved into a satisfied smile. "Your ambition shall be your undoing, Celeste Dubois."

Celeste froze. Her mouth parted in shock. The woman knew. "How did you..."

"You think you can fool me?" the woman laughed. A cold and hollow sound that sent shivers down Celeste's spine. "Remember this night Celeste. On your last day on this earth, remember that tonight was the night that changed it all," the woman said in a rather cryptic tone.

And with those mysterious words she was gone. She had disappeared with a blink of an eye, leaving a confused and shaken Celeste behind.

 _What the hell was that about?_ Celeste leaned against her front door, heart pounding loudly in her ears. _Had she imagined it?_

No. The throbbing mark on her left wrist was a reminder that she had indeed made an oath, that the woman was real.

 _But who was she?_

 _What did I get myself into?_ She wondered.

That strange encounter would forever haunt Celeste.

* * *

 **Present time**

Celeste's eyes snapped open. She sat up immediately. Her eyes moved down towards the metal chain on her wrists. She tried to use her magic to break free, it didn't work. She tried again but nothing. She couldn't break free. She hissed in pain as her skin burned with each attempt. _Magical chains_ , she realized. They were blocking her powers.

 _For now,_ she thought with a smirk. She knew she could break them.

"Those chains are part of my brother's collection," Elijah murmured.

Celeste's head jerked to the side.

Elijah was sitting on a wooden chair in the corner of the room. The expression on his face was unreadable as he gazed at her.

She stared at her ex-lover for a few seconds before moving her eyes around the room. She was in a basement of some sort.

"Why?" Elijah asked as he stood up.

"Really Elijah, you brought me here to interrogate me?" Celeste laughed and rolled her eyes. "Don't you have anything better to do?" her eyes moved from his face and down to the collar of his shirt. She could see the names tattooed on his skin peeking through. "You haven't figure out my puzzle," she noted.

"Your distraction you mean." Elijah placed one hand inside the pocket of his pants as he regarded her carefully. "How did you do it?" he asked intrigued. "Where did you get the body jumping spell?"

"So many questions, so little time…" Celeste murmured with a mocking smile. "Are you going to torture me, chérie?"

Despite the fact that the odds were not in her favor she still had that smug look about her. Elijah pressed his lips together doing his best to contain the rage he felt inside of him.

"You couldn't have gotten the spell from mother's grimoire," Elijah reasoned. "If you had, you would've taken it."

"Klaus always guarded that thing as if it were a precious diamond," Celeste muttered bitterly. Oh, she had tried to get the Original witch's grimoire but she hadn't been able to. "He never let it out of his sight." Not to mention the protective spells he had placed on his collection. The bastard knew their worth.

"And yet you got the spell, how?"

"Shouldn't you be out there, looking for Bonnie?" Celeste taunted.

Elijah growled and his eyes darkened. "If any harm comes to Bonnie, I swear-"

"So protective of her," Celeste interrupted with a hateful look. She hated that Bonnie could inspire such protectiveness from Elijah. "A pity that it's in vain." Her lips curled into a grin. "She's dead Elijah. You failed her, like you failed me," she hissed.

"She's not dead," Elijah snapped taking a couple of menacing steps closer. It was taking every bit of self control he had not to grab her by the throat and squeeze the life out of her. He needed to keep calm. He needed to give Lucy the time she needed to finish her spell; getting angry and falling for Celeste's bait was not going to help matters.

Celeste stood up. "I don't think I've ever seen you this angry," she murmured.

"Why are you doing this?"

"You ask me why?" Celeste gave him a look of disbelief. "I died Elijah! I was murdered for being a witch and all because of your brother!" she yelled angrily. "And what did you do?" she moved closer. "You stood by him. Did you even care? Did you even grieve for me?"

"Of course I did," Elijah snapped. He could still remember that horrible day and the way he had cradled her dead body in his arms. And the pain, that pain that tore through his chest as if someone had ripped his heart out. "We were bonded Celeste," he reminded her in a much gentler tone. "When you died, I felt like a part of me had died as well." His eyes softened as a wave of memories invaded him. She had brought joy into his life. She had made him happy. It had been brief but it had been wonderful. "I loved you," he confessed in a whisper. "I mourned you and I carried your memory with me." He had thought of her often. Much to his shame, Celeste's memory had lingered.

"And I loved you," Celeste admitted. She hated herself for it. "I believed in you. I believed you when you told me no harm would come to me. I believed you when you said you would protect me and you didn't."

The anger, the pain, the disappointment she felt towards him showed on her face. She had trusted him, she had loved him, and he had betrayed her.

"I meant every single word," Elijah said with sincerity.

"They killed my brother," Celeste reminded him. Her sweet Antoine butchered like an animal, how it hurt still. "They killed my mother, my sister." She said walking until she stood inches away from him, until they were practically breathing the same air. "They killed me, all because of him." She spat as she stared into his eyes. "You claim that you loved me but we both know that you love Klaus more." It had always been so. "You will always choose him."

Elijah stared into her eyes, a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry," he said. He had failed her. She was right in that regard. He had promised that no harm would ever come to her but it had and right under his nose. He had foolishly believed that being with him would mean she would be untouched. And he had protected her from everyone, except his brother.

"Are you?" she obviously didn't believe him.

"Celeste-" Elijah began.

"Oh stop playing the victim," a new voice said.

Both Elijah and Celeste turned at the sound of that voice. Lucy descended the basement stairs with an angry look on her face. "Was your end tragic?" Lucy asked walking closer towards them. "I suppose it was." She kept her eyes on Celeste as she spoke. "But you knew it was coming."

Celeste's eyes narrowed. "Who the hell are you?" she remembered seeing the tall and voluptuous woman at the ball dancing in Elijah's arms as if she belonged there. She was a witch there was no doubt about that, but Celeste knew she didn't belong to any coven in New Orleans.

"I'm Lucy Bennett."

 _Ah, of course. Another Bennett witch_ , Celeste thought. Soon all of New Orleans would be infested with them. "And what do you know of my life?" she challenged.

"You knew you were going to die," Lucy responded meeting her eyes unflinchingly. "You had everything ready to jump into another witch's body so don't play the victim," she hissed. "Stop trying to guilt trip Elijah into feeling sorry for you. You knew you were going to die and you were ready."

Both witches stared at one another, measuring each other up. The air around them crackled with electricity as their magic surfaced.

"You teleported Bonnie out of her own home," Lucy said coming to stand next to Elijah. "I want to know why?"

Celeste chuckled. "And what makes you think I'm going to answer your questions?"

"Were you planning on taking over her body?" Lucy's eyes were filled with fury. "Is that what this is about? You want to claim a Bennett witch's body as your own?"

Celeste laughed. She was clearly amused by Lucy's accusations. "While I admit that taking over a Bennett body is tempting. I wouldn't want to take over Bonnie's body."

"Why?" Elijah asked curiously.

"Taking over someone's body is not easy," Celeste admitted. "In many ways you have to fight for it, you have to destroy their consciousness and claim their body as your own. A pregnant body would never be able to handle such struggle for control. It would kill the child." She moved her gaze from Lucy to Elijah. "I've done many questionable things," she said in a quiet tone. She was not ashamed of any of the things she had done but there were still lines even she did not dare to cross. "But I would never destroy a new life."

"But you had no trouble teleporting her out of her home and putting her at risk," Lucy reminded her. "Do you have any idea how complicated teleporting spells are, how dangerous they are especially in Bonnie's condition." Her hands balled into fists and her magic flared as she looked at Celeste. "Because of you, we don't know where Bonnie is, if we can get her back or even if she's hurt."

The lights flickered on and off and the house seemed to shake as Lucy's magic surfaced. Her power was fueled by her anger, by her fear, by her hatred of the woman standing in front of her.

"Believe it or not, I wasn't planning to hurt Bonnie." She had made that stupid vow after all. And she needed to stay in Sabine's body to carry out her plans. That was out of the question now. Sabine's body was dead. She had broken the vow made in her name; it was only a matter of time before said body started decaying. As much as Celeste wanted to stay in Sabine's body she couldn't. And she had already prepared the body of another witch, a body that was ready for her to jump into.

"You really expect us to believe that?" Lucy arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. Her hands were itching to unleash her magic on Celeste. But she needed to stick to her plan.

"Why did you take Bonnie?" Elijah asked. It was obvious he wasn't inclined to believe her either.

"I was going to lock her inside the mausoleum and put her under a sleeping spell," Celeste admitted without shame. "You know, get her out of the way while I destroyed you and your siblings." And continue with her plan to take over the city of course. "The world does not revolve around you Elijah," she said seeing the incredulous look on the Original's face. "Getting my revenge on you and your family is just a sweet dessert." What Celeste had always wanted, her ultimate goal was to take over New Orleans.

"Where is Bonnie?" Lucy demanded.

"She's dead," Celeste replied with glee. "I tried locating her you know, but not even the Ancestors could find her." She smiled. She felt such pleasure knowing that she had won over Klaus. While yes, her actions had caused her to lose this body at the end of the day, she had destroyed Klaus and that gave her much satisfaction. "Bonnie is dead." The smile dropped from her face when Lucy's magic assaulted her brain without mercy.

Celeste hissed and her knees buckled by the unexpected attack. She clutched her head in her hands. Her brain felt like it was melting from the inside out. She blocked the pain and retaliated by summoning a powerful surge of her power.

"What are you playing at Celeste?" Elijah asked sensing the powerful magic that radiated off her.

Celeste broke the chain holding her wrists.

Lucy gasped and was more than ready to paralyzed Celeste but she anticipated her moves and sent her crashing against the back wall with a single flick of her wrist. She paralyzed Elijah with her other hand.

They were both caught by surprise.

"Here is my little secret," Celeste said with a smug look as she pinned both of them in place. "You want to know how I got the body jumping spell?" she looked down at Elijah who was growling and struggling against her magic.

The Original sent her a murderous glare.

Lucy wasn't fighting. She was pinned to the wall and sending hateful looks at Celeste but she stayed still as a statue.

"I stole Sarah Bennett's remains," Celeste confessed. "Well my brother did before he died. I read your journal my love, that's how I knew where Klaus buried her." She sent another wave of her power at Elijah causing thin red lines to form on his skin, cuts that healed immediately only to open again. "I absorbed her power, her knowledge, her strength, and that famous Bennett legacy." She laughed, her dark eyes gleaming. "Sarah wasn't just another Bennett witch. She was the queen of her coven. I have that power flowing inside me, Elijah." How glorious it was, how incredibly sweet and intoxicating it felt to have such magic flowing inside her.

It was the reason no matter what body she possessed, she was still incredibly powerful. Sabine was an average witch; Celeste with Sarah's power was anything but.

"I've enjoy my time with this body," Celeste said. "I'm kind of sad to let go of it. I had big plans for her you know." But she didn't have much of a choice. Sabine's body was going to die anyway. She had broken the oath made in her name after all. "Time is up." She kept Elijah on his knees while turning to Lucy.

The young witch was not fighting her. Celeste frowned as she stared at her, wondering why she wasn't trying to break free. Lucy only glared but she didn't say or do anything. Oh well, Celeste didn't have time for games.

"Every woman you meet from now on," Celeste said turning back to Elijah. "You will wonder if it's me. I will always haunt you my darling." Maybe she could even take over Lucy's body, now that was a wicked idea. "I always find a way to win Elijah."

Celeste met his eyes and winked before she moved her index finger over her throat. With a single burst of her magic she slit her throat open.

Elijah looked away as Sabine's body crumbled to the ground bleeding to dead.

The moment Celeste's spirit jumped out of Sabine's body the magic keeping him and Lucy in place disappeared, releasing them.

* * *

Bonnie took a protective stance in front of Charlotte who continued to clutch her hand in a tight grip. The spirits surrounded them, dark and sister shadows that slithered closer to them with each passing second. They were like sharks smelling blood and ready to attack their prey.

The wisps of fog grew around Bonnie and Charlotte.

The wind picked up while the sun seemed to disappear behind dark and threatening clouds. It was so cold, it hurt.

Bonnie summoned her magic or she tried to, for something seemed different about it. She could feel it, her magic was there but it seemed muted, like something was keeping it out of her reach. She tried again, urging expression to come to the surface, to attack, to defend her, but no matter how hard she tried to tap into her magic she couldn't use it.

The determination, the confidence she felt, faltered in that moment. _How was she supposed to fight the spirits without her magic?_

It was a horrible feeling, to know that her magic was there, to be able to sense it but be unable to use it. _Why? How could the spirits have so much power_? It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. She hated the control they had over everything.

Charlotte whimpered fearfully when a shadow got particularly close to her. The swirl of dark power crackled as it got really close to the side of her face. A thin red line formed on Charlotte's cheek, a slight cut that bled from a single tip of the dark magic that touched her.

Tear's blurred the little girl's vision as she pressed her tiny body closer to Bonnie.

"Leave her alone!" Bonnie hissed wrapping an arm around Charlotte's shoulder and pulling her closer to her body. "She has nothing to do with this. You want me. Let her go." Charlotte was innocent; she didn't have to get caught in the middle of this. "Please, just let her go."

The shadow woman (the leader of the sinister group) smirked. Her dark eyes glinted as she stared down at Charlotte. "We will enjoy ripping you apart little one," she promised.

Charlotte's bottom lip trembled and two fat tears rolled down her cheeks, but she managed to give the shadow woman one evil glare.

Bonnie gasped as the air around her thinned all of a sudden. She couldn't breathe.

The dark magic that engulfed them began to coil tightly around their bodies.

Charlotte cried.

 _I need you_ , Bonnie thought as she once again called upon her magic. _I need you now more than ever_. Without magic she couldn't fight the spirits. She needed to destroy them. She had to.

 _Come on_ , Bonnie thought struggling not to let the panic get to her. She needed a clear head. She couldn't let the spirits win. She had to find away to access her magic. _Break free_ , she urged her magic. _Whatever it's keeping you away from me, break it, destroy it, and come to me._

 _Come to me,_ she ordered as the shadows moved closer.

They slithered towards Bonnie and Charlotte, twisting tightly around them with their dark power, sucking the life and energy out of them.

Charlotte closed her eyes in fear.

Bonnie closed her eyes in concentration. She focused on summoning her magic. She used all of her strength to call her magic to her. She hissed when a current of dark magic touched her skin. Blood slid down her arms as the dark magic slashed her skin open.

It was the only warning she got as the spirits jumped on both of them at once.

Charlotte screamed.

Bonnie cried out.

What happened next came as a surprise to all of them.

A blast of white light exploded out of Bonnie and flung the spirits away from them.

There was a moment of silence before a horrible screeching sound echoed around the forest. It was a sound of surprise, of pain, and of anguish as the spirits were viciously attacked and destroyed by the white light.

A sphere of light kept Bonnie and Charlotte in a protective cocoon of magic. Smaller blasts of light shot out and penetrated the shadows that surrounded them. One by one each of the spirits were destroyed by the light.

The attack was so swift, so sudden, they had no time to react and fight back. And even if they had, the powerful magic that was unleashed from Bonnie's petite body was unstoppable. It destroyed them without mercy.

The shadow woman and her lackeys evaporated into nothing in a matter of seconds.

"Wow…" Charlotte opened her eyes and all she saw was light.

The entire forest was illuminated by a beautiful and warm light. It was precious and different from anything she had ever seen before. It gave her a sense of calm, a feeling of protection, it was amazing.

All of a sudden green leaves erupted from the branches of the once leafless trees while flowers and small shrubs sprung from the ground.

The dead leaves that covered the forest ground changed color, going from a dull brown to a vibrant green.

The forest which had been previously dead, came to life with the rays of light.

The fog disappeared immediately as did the wind and the cold.

The sun came back bringing warmth and elevating the temperature to normal.

The spirits disappeared as well.

They had been completely annihilated by a single wave of pure and incredible magic.

Bonnie's eyes snapped open. Her entire body shook by the force of the power that erupted from her body. She gasped feeling a strange heat spread from the top of her head and all the way down to her toes. Her body felt on fire. She sank to the ground as a wave of nausea and dizziness followed. Slight tremors rolled over her body and a few drops of blood trailed down her nose.

Bonnie's hand shook as she touched her bloodied nose. _When was the last time she had bled while doing magic?_

"Bonnie!" Charlotte got on her knees next to her. "Are you okay?" she asked touching Bonnie's cheek. Her skin felt hot, burning hot actually.

"I don't know," Bonnie whispered. She felt dazed. She still wasn't sure how she had managed to do that.

"We need to get out of here," Charlotte said suddenly. "Before they come back, look!" she pointed to a tree. The only tree in the forest that had not sprung leaves or come to life with Bonnie's magic. A tree that had turned a hideous black and which was surrounded by surges of dark magic. It was where the shadow woman had first appeared.

Bonnie nodded. She could see the sparks of dark magic slowly shooting up from the ground, killing the grass and the flowers that had appeared with her magic. The spirits were in their turf. The shadow lands were their domain; in here they had the power to do what they wanted. They were regenerating, Bonnie realized with horror. It was only a matter of time before they regained enough strength to come for them again.

Despite Bonnie's desire to fight them, despite her determination to give them one hell of a fight and end them for good, deep down she knew the truth. She couldn't do it. Not right now, not when the heat in her body was making her sweat and tremble uncontrollably, not when she felt out of breath and so tired that she just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep.

Something was terribly wrong with her magic.

There was something in the back of her mind, a warning, but the adrenaline of the moment pushed it aside.

"Come on," Charlotte tugged at Bonnie's blouse. "We have to go," the little witch urged.

Bonnie felt dizzy as she stood up. There was another wave of nausea. She clamped her mouth shut and forced it down. _What's wrong with me?_

Charlotte grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. "I know where to go, come on." She knew a safe place.

Bonnie started following her but stopped abruptly. She touched her lower back, her brows furrowing in confusion. She had felt a strange pain there. It had been brief, a fleeting thing but she had felt it. She was sure. She rubbed her hand over the area before moving it to her stomach, feeling a spike of fear take hold of her.

Bonnie breathed in and out, waiting nervously to see if she would feel it again. _It's okay, we're going to be okay_ , she thought rubbing her small bump. She waited, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Her body was on high alert as she thought of her twins. She was worried about them. She waited but there was no pain again. For a moment, she wondered if she had imagined it.

Charlotte pulled her arm again. "We have to go."

Bonnie nodded, feeling relieved.

The two ran away from there.

A few minutes later, the spirits materialized again and began to chase them.

* * *

The moment the vampires jumped on him, Klaus let all of his anger out. He unleashed all the rage, all the pain, all the grief he felt on the army that surrounded him. He embraced his hybrid nature to the fullest of his capabilities and proceeded to destroy everything in his path.

Klaus moved so fast, the vampire never saw him coming. He used his superior strength to punch, throw, kick, and rip apart anyone that stood in his way. He used his superior speed to avoid their blows and move practically at the speed of light, delivering his own.

Under different circumstances he would've played with them. Elijah had always reproached him that tactic, the taunting, the way he would sometimes allow his enemies to think and feel like they had the advantage, before he proved them wrong. But not tonight, he was not in the mood for games.

He wanted to kill, to destroy, to burn the world to the ground and release all of the grief and pain he was feeling. Klaus wanted blood and death and above all he wanted to forget the pain, and seal the hole in his heart.

Klaus bit a vampire on the neck and threw him to the side; his venom would do the rest.

He avoided a punch from another vampire before disappearing and reappearing behind him in a matter of seconds. Klaus cut the vampire's head off with his left hand while catching the fist of another vampire in his other hand. He ripped said vampire's arm from his body, the tearing sound echoing around them.

Someone jumped on him from behind attempting to rip his head off. Klaus shook him off as if he were a fly.

Both of his arms tore through the chests of the two vampires in front of him and he ripped their hearts out before squeezing the organs with his fingers.

Klaus hissed when a chain was suddenly thrown around his neck. He felt the dark magic in the chain, it was meant to restrain, to contain, and hold him down. Two vampires took the opportunity to punch and kick him repeatedly.

Klaus snarled. His eyes gleamed gold while a roar erupted deep within his throat. With one hand he grabbed the head of the vampire who held the chain around his neck and broke his neck. His claws cut through the chain with surprising ease, his hands burned for a few second before they healed rapidly.

Everything was a blur after that.

Klaus viciously kicked, bit, punched, and tore through the vampires' bodies. He didn't stop to think, analyze, or strategize anything. He was a beast who thirsted for blood. He was beast that thrived in the heat of the moment and enjoyed devouring everything in his path.

His hybrid face was enraged, his blood was on fire, and his body moved with expert ease and far too fast for anyone to truly stand a chance against him.

When one vampire threw vervain water in his face, Klaus didn't even flinch. Much to the young vampire's shock, the water didn't burn the hybrid at all. Why? Klaus didn't stop to think why that was, he simply grabbed the guy by the neck and tore his head from his body.

Marcel gasped. He was a few feet away. In the chaos and confusion that followed after his men jumped on Klaus, he had been attempting to get to the hybrid only to be roughly pushed away by the mob which were determined to get their hands on the hybrid first.

Everything was chaos.

The scent of blood filled the air, the groans and moans of pain echoed around the compound, while the limbs and corpses of the many vampires dropped to the floor every other second or so.

Klaus was completely surrounded but with each passing second the crowd around him thinned. One by one, the vampires were slaughtered with ease.

Marcel had never seen anything like it. He watched horrified as Klaus tore through his army with ease.

He was rooted to the spot. He could only watch in shock and horror as his sire sped around, ripping and killing vampires apart. Marcel had seen Klaus fight, he had even trained with him from time to time but he had never seen the Original fight like this.

Klaus was fighting as if there was no tomorrow.

"MARCEL," The hybrid yelled as he split a vampire in half with his claws. "COME AND FINISH THIS YOU COWARD!"

Marcel growled and his face shifted. He was about to jump in and face Klaus when he was stopped by Thierry. Where had the vampire come from, Marcel didn't know and he didn't care either, the time had come to face his sire.

"You need to leave," Thierry urged him. The fear in his eyes and the panic in his voice were more than evident. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Klaus was fighting half of Marcel's army and he was winning.

Rivers of blood streamed down the floor with each falling corpse.

Klaus kept on fighting determined to kill every single vampire in the room.

"I'm not going anywhere," Marcel snapped. He was not going to abandon his guys. He was not a coward. Klaus had come for him and Marcel felt ready to face him. _What kind of leader would he be if he were to run like a coward?_

"He's unstoppable Marcel."

"I'm not leaving my guys." Marcel tried to walk past him but Thierry stopped him once more.

There were more snapping and tearing sounds as Klaus continued his slaughter fest.

"Live today and fight tomorrow," Thierry said. He glanced briefly at the group. There were only about thirty vampires left. They were running out of time. "You have to go, he will kill you."

"No," Marcel growled. He was determined to die with his guys if he had to. He sped away from Thierry and moved towards Klaus. The hybrid had his back towards the vampire. He was busy continuing to destroy the vampires in front of him that he didn't notice Marcel's approaching presence.

Before Marcel could reach Klaus however, a vampire sneaked behind him and broke his neck. The vampire king fell to the ground unconscious.

"Take him away," Thierry ordered. "Warn the others."

The other daywalker that had come with Thierry nodded. He picked Marcel up and threw him over his shoulder before he sped out of the compound.

Thierry turned just in time to see Klaus crush the skull of the last vampire left standing. The headless corpse fell to the ground on top of a pile of limbs and blood.

The hybrid turned to Thierry. He was covered in blood and guts, from head to toe. His amber eyes glowed with murderous rage. It was the only thing visible in the sea of crimson that was his face. He focused those murderous eyes on the younger vampire. "And what do we have here?" he asked in a cold and emotionless voice. He walked closer, stepping without care over the body parts on the floor.

Thierry dropped to his knees and bowed his head in submission. He had to be smart about this if he wanted to live. His knees got stained with blood as he kneeled on the floor. The blood of his friends. It made him sick.

Klaus smirked. "You are not going to fight me?" he asked in a detached voice. His blood was pumping with adrenaline and itching for more violence. No matter how many vampires he killed, he couldn't fill the void inside him.

Thierry swallowed painfully and plucked the courage to look into the hybrid's face. It was now or never. He had to play it right.

"I, Thierry Vanchure swear fealty to you, Klaus Mikaelson. King of New Orleans!" he proclaimed. There was a slight tremble to his voice, had he been alive he would be shitting his pants but he got the words out. He had to do this and buy Marcel and the others time.

Klaus's bloodied lips curved into a disturbing grin.

* * *

Celeste expected to wake up in the new body she had chosen but instead she woke up inside a circle of white candles. She stood up immediately. This wasn't right. She looked down at her ghostly hands and with horror realized that her spirit had been trapped inside the circle of magic.

"You didn't think it was going to be that easy did you?" Lucy asked stepping inside the living room followed closely by Elijah.

There was a moment in which the Original's breath caught in his throat as he stared at the spirit of Celeste Dubois. It was one thing to know she was Celeste and talk to her while inside someone else's body but it was a completely different thing to see her real face after so long.

Celeste met his eyes, a storm of emotions passing in between them as they stared at one another. The moment only lasted for a few seconds however. They had each chosen their own path.

"What did you do?" Celeste was furious. She tried to get out of the circle of candles but an invisible barrier kept her trapped. She summoned Sarah's magic; with her power she could break free but once again nothing. Something was blocking her magic.

"We knew you were going to try and pull a stunt like this," Lucy said as she walked closer to the circle of candles. "Luckily for us, the witch who created the body jumping spell also created a counter spell. The spell brought your spirit here instead of letting it jump inside a new victim." It was a circle designed to contain a jumping spirit. _Thank-you Alina,_ Lucy thought. It was the spell Lucy had been doing while Elijah talked to Celeste.

"You little-"

"You're not as smart as you think you are," Elijah threw her words back at her with a grin.

Celeste's eyes narrowed. "What are you going to do, keep me trap here forever?" It wouldn't work and they knew it. "Sooner or later the magic in the circle will fade and my spirit will jump into any of the designated _bodies_ ," she made sure to emphasize the last word. "You can't stop me."

"On the contrary, we are going to do much more than that," Elijah said motioning with his head to the floor.

Celeste followed his gaze. Her eyes landed to the pile of ashes surrounding the candles. Her remains, she realized. She felt certain those were her bones. She looked up confused by it.

"I thought of putting your spirit back in your original body," Lucy said staring down at the ashes that were once Celeste's bones. "Or inside your bones and then kill you for good."

"That's your plan?" Celeste asked. She kept calm, her face and voice did not betray any of her feelings.

"The problem with that, is that your spirit will go to the other side." Lucy continued shifting her gaze back to Celeste. "Consecrated witches go to the Ancestral plane, every other supernatural goes to the other side."

"Naturally, we cannot allow you to join forces with the witches on the other side," Elijah added.

"So, you will keep my spirit trap somewhere." Celeste chuckled. "I will find a way out." It was a promise. It was a threat.

"There is another option," Elijah revealed.

Celeste frowned and looked from one to the other, wondering what the hell they were plotting.

"Did you know my grandfather was murdered," Lucy said suddenly. "A warlock killed him." She had never met her grandfather, he had died long before she had been born but she had heard the story.

"And I should care about this, because?" Celeste scowled.

"My grandmother in her grief created a rather vicious spell," Lucy continued unperturbed by Celeste's tone and hard gaze. "You see, she hunted the warlock down but she didn't just want to kill him." _A scorned Bennett witch is a force to be reckon with_ , her grandmother had told a young Lucy once. "She wanted him to suffer, to never know peace," She continued. "So she created a horrible spell, a soul shattering spell."

Fear flickered across Celeste's eyes. She had not been anticipating this move from them. "That's impossible…"

"Nothing is impossible for a Bennett witch," Lucy declared with confidence. There was a reason their name inspired fear and respect in the witch community. "You are going to pay for stealing and using the bodies of innocent witches as your own," she said angrily. "You will pay for defiling the resting place of a Bennett queen and stealing her magic for your own gain," she hissed. "And above all you will pay for coming after Bonnie."

"It's over Celeste," Elijah whispered.

Lucy closed her eyes and began chanting. She had been studying the spell for days. She had found it in her grandmother's grimoire. It was a horrible spell and one she never thought she would use but Celeste deserved it. The first part of the plan had worked. They had trapped Celeste's spirit using her remains as the anchor to keep her inside the circle of magic but now came the hardest part. Now, Lucy had to destroy her soul.

"You can't do this to me, mon amour," Celeste pleaded with Elijah. "My soul will never know peace, I will cease to exist." She would not go to the ancestral plane or the other side, her soul would be destroyed forever with no possibility to come back. "My darling Elijah, you can't do this to me." This could not be her end, there had to be another way.

She pushed against the barrier trapping her spirit but it was in vain. The harder she tried to break free, the stronger the magical barrier seemed to get.

Elijah sped in front of her, stopping right against the barrier of her ashes and candles and met her eyes. "You came after my family and for that you will pay." He had loved her once, he had mourned her, and cherished her memory but he would never forgive her for coming after Bonnie.

The candles flickered with a sudden gust of wind.

Lucy continued chanting under her breath, a few drops of sweat forming on her forehead. The spell required incredible power and concentration.

A sudden sense of dread invaded the abandoned house.

"I can help you find Bonnie," Celeste tried again. She could feel it, it was happening. She needed to buy herself time, she needed to find a way out. "If you put me in another body, I swear I will bring her back to you. I will find a way." She was desperate. She had never anticipated this and she had no idea what to do, except appeal to the love Elijah once had for her. "Elijah, please…" she begged. "Don't do this..."

 _This cannot be my end_ , she thought. She tried once more to break free but it was impossible. She couldn't break free, not even with Sarah's magic. "Don't do this to me my love…"

 _Your ambition shall be your own undoing Celeste Dubois,_ the strange woman's words echoed in her ears.

 _No…No…it can't end like this,_ Celeste thought. Everything she had worked for, only to end like this. It couldn't be.

"Au revoir Celeste." Elijah gave her one last look and stood still as a statue as the candles died out.

Celeste gasped as she felt an excruciating pain. How could she feel such pain when she was nothing more than a spirit she didn't know but it hurt. It hurt so much she screamed.

Lucy opened her eyes and extended her right hand. The surge of power that left her body was overwhelming. She said the final words in Latin and shattered Celeste's soul with a single powerful blast of magic.

Celeste screamed as her spirit was destroyed by the spell. Her soul was shattered into a million tiny pieces. There was a cloud of black that surrounded her as she exploded into nothing. The whole house shook by the force of it.

The moment Celeste's spirit ceased to exist, the names tattooed on Elijah's body disappeared.

Lucy let out a shaky breath, her entire body shaking uncontrollably. She had never released so much magic from within her.

Elijah moved to her side in an instant.

With her left hand, Lucy grabbed his arm to steady herself. "It's over," she whispered. She had done it.

Elijah turned to the circle of candles. There was nothing. The only thing left were the ashes of Celeste's burned bones. "It is."

"Thank-you," a soft voice was heard.

Lucy and Elijah turned to the corner of the room where a white shadow suddenly materialized out of nothing.

"Sarah…" Elijah breathed in awe as he stared at the beautiful woman that he had once known.

The spirit of Sarah Bennett smiled at him before turning to Lucy. "I was at peace," she murmured. "A peace she disturbed but I am free now." Her smile was filled with warmth and happiness. "Thank-you."

Lucy nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at the spirit of her ancestor.

"Blessed it be." Sarah smiled brightly before she was lifted up into the air. She disappeared with a blinding white light just as the first rays of the morning sun streamed through the open windows.

Lucy's knees gave out.

"I got you." Elijah caught her in his arms. "I got you," he murmured while picking her up bridal style and carrying her out of there.

* * *

Klaus stared at Thierry, an unreadable expression on his face. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Diego and another vampire slowly walking towards him. They both got down on their knees next to the nervous Thierry.

Diego had been bitten on his shoulder while the other vampire had a nasty bite mark on his neck. The werewolf venom in their bodies was killing them slowly.

"We also swear fealty to you," Diego said in a shaky voice. He was sweating and it was taking all of his strength not to pass out. He knew he didn't have much time.

"How easily you change your tune," Klaus said staring at the three vampires prostrated at his feet. He had to admit he enjoyed the sight.

Diego swallowed nervously. "We were wrong…" not really, he wanted the bastard dead but he also wanted to live. If pretending to be on the hybrid's side and swearing loyalty to him was the way to save his ass he would do it. He didn't want to die.

"Of course you were," Klaus muttered darkly.

The other vampire nodded. He could barely stay on his knees. His skin started to desiccate when the veins in his body stopped pumping blood. "Please…" he begged staring at Klaus with pleading eyes.

Klaus chuckled. He didn't move at all, he simply watched as the vampire's skin turned a grayish color. It was said that dying by a werewolf bite was the worst kind of death for a vampire.

A gasped escaped the vampire's lips before his body collapsed. He was dead in a matter of seconds.

Diego and Thierry exchanged nervous glances.

"Why should I heal you?" Klaus asked out loud. "Why should I believe either of you?" he said looking from Thierry to Diego.

"I…" whatever Diego was about to say died on his lips as Klaus's arm tore through his chest in one quick move.

Thierry watched horrified. He was completely frozen by the scene next to him.

"I have no use for you," Klaus said to Diego as he tugged at his heart.

Blood trailed down Diego's chin as he gasped and gagged. With horror he realized there was no escaping death. There would be no mercy for him, he could see it in Klaus's murderous hybrid eyes.

Klaus wasted no time and ripped Diego's heart out. He held the organ in his right hand as Diego's lifeless body slumped to the ground. He had lost count of how many hearts he had ripped out in the past hour.

Thierry felt sick as he watched how Klaus squeezed Diego's heart until the organ burst, coating the hybrid's hand with more blood. His friend was dead and he had done nothing to help him.

Klaus dropped the gooey pieces on the floor and grabbed Thierry's chin, forcing his head up and smearing his pale skin with his friend's blood.

Thierry gasped. _This is it,_ he thought fearfully.

"Katie has proven to be very loyal thus far," the hybrid said staring into Thierry's frightened eyes. "That is the only reason I shall allow you to live today." He lowered his head over Thierry's shoulder. "Betray me, and you both shall pay the price." He hissed in his ear before moving his hand to Thierry's neck and breaking it.

The vampire fell to the ground unconscious.

Klaus stood proudly over the dismembered corpses and the pool of blood that covered the first floor of the compound. "You can come out now, Joshua."

Josh's dark haired head peeked from behind one pillar. Slowly, very slowly the young vampire came out of his hiding spot. "Hey," he said nervously. His stomach turned at the gory scene that greeted him. "I didn't know," he said rapidly while trying to contain the bile that rose in his throat. His knees felt weak and he felt dizzy and nauseous as he tried to make his way closer to Klaus.

 _Jesus Christ was that an eyeball at his feet?_

"I swear I didn't know what Marcel was planning I-" he placed his hand over his mouth and swallowed the vomit that rose in his throat as he saw the body of a vampire or the upper torso of a vampire, the legs had been torn out and were scattered a couple of feet away. Josh was going to have nightmares about this for years to come.

Footsteps penetrated the silence as a group of hybrids made its way inside the compound.

Klaus's inner circle had arrived. Felix had gathered the hybrids closest to Klaus; in case their sire needed their help. Not that he didn't have faith in his sire's ability but they were here should he need them. Judging by the carnage that laid at their feet, Klaus had no need for them.

Felix led the way, followed closely by Riley, Jesse, and Alexa. Belle had stayed at the plantation with the other hybrids waiting for further instructions.

"Josh, this is part of my pack," Klaus said gesturing to the four hybrids gathered near the door. Everyone this is my newest minion Josh."

"Hi." Josh waved nervously before putting his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. The hybrids barely even glanced at him.

"Start cleaning this mess," Klaus ordered Josh. He turned to Riley, "This is Thierry." He pointed to the unconscious vampire. "Keep an eye on him, he let Marcel escape and he'll probably be his spy from now on." If the young vampire thought he could get away with fooling him he had another thing coming. "From now on you will be his shadow. If he falls out of line kill him."

"Yes," Riley nodded.

"Felix," Klaus turned to his second in command. "Call the others, we need to secure the Quarter and let everyone know that I have claimed this city as my own. The vampires that remain will swear fealty to me if they wish to live, those who refuse shall die." There would be no middle ground. The vampires in New Orleans would either be with him or die.

"As you wish," Felix said pulling his cell phone out.

"I shall call Ishmael and Cary. My wolf pack will help us secure the city," Klaus told them. "Are the Bennett witches at the plantation?"

"They are," Jesse confirmed. "They haven't been able to locate Bonnie," he said in a sad tone. Felix had informed them of what had happen with Bonnie.

 _Bonnie_

The wound in his heart tore open once more at the mention of her name.

Klaus didn't say anything. His jaw clenched and his eyes remained two golden pools. That was the only indication of the torment inside him. Killing had only taken the pain away for a few moments. It had been a sweet and short relief. Now it was back to reality, a reality in which Bonnie and his children were gone. All Klaus felt now was that emptiness, that hollow feeling in his chest that was a constant reminder that his mate was gone.

The bond was gone. He couldn't feel Bonnie at all and that wounded him in ways he had not expected. He felt lost, empty inside, and above all he was terrified that he would never see Bonnie again. _Would he ever get to meet or hold his children in his arms?_ He wondered. He forced such thoughts out of his head immediately. He would get them back, one way or another he would find them.

"There is something you need to know," Alexa's voice pulled Klaus out of his anguished thoughts.

"What now?" he barked.

"Nate called me, he said he tried to reach you but since you didn't answer..." Alexa moved closer making a face when she noticed the blood stain on her favorite pair of boots.

"Get to the point Alexa," Klaus muttered. He had no patience at the moment. He had to find a way to get Bonnie and his children back.

"Tyler was supposed to contact him," Alexa said nervously. "It's been three days and he hasn't. Nate thinks Tyler betrayed us."

Klaus cursed under his breath. Fucking Tyler Lockwood, just what he needed at this moment, more problems.

"Say the word," Felix's eyes gleamed as he looked at Klaus. "I will gladly bring you his head."

"I need you here," Klaus told him. He would personally deal with Tyler. The boy couldn't have broken his compulsion. _He broke the sire bond,_ his treacherous mind reminded him. A growl left his chest as he remembered Tyler's betrayal with his first hybrid pack. "You two," he said pointing to Alexa and Jesse. "You will go to Baton Rouge. I have a mission for you and Nate." He had to set his plan in motion.

"I can go on my own," Alexa was quick to protest.

"Can I stay here?" Jesse asked almost at the same time.

One look from Klaus was enough to shut them up and let them know not to protest. They knew better than to disobey or question their sire's orders.

"What do you want us to do?" Jesse asked resigned.

Alexa glared at him before turning to Klaus. "Whatever you wish of us, we will do it," she said filled with determination. She wasn't particularly fond of Jesse but if Klaus ordered her to work with him, she would do it.

Klaus smirked, thinking of the plan he had in mind.

* * *

The sun rose and there was no sign of Bonnie. Abby paced nervously around the living room of the plantation while Joanna and Angelica continued to try and locate Bonnie. By this time, Lenore had also arrived at the house. She had a deck of tarot cards and was doing her best to contact the spirits of the dead in order to find more information. Rebekah and Matt were on the floor flipping through the piles of grimoires that were in Klaus's possession, as well as the ones that belonged to Bonnie. They were doing their best to help in the search for their friend.

"It's not working," Joanna murmured opening her eyes. None of the spells she had tried had worked at all. It was like Bonnie had suddenly vanished from earth, it didn't make any sense.

"Try again," Abby pleaded as she turned to face her cousin. "She has to be somewhere, she can't just disappear." The worry and the fear she felt was more than evident on her face. She was terrified of what had happened to her daughter. The fear that griped her heart was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Angelica stared down at the map in front of her, a serious look on her face. They had tried countless of locator spells, with Klaus's blood, with Abby's blood, not to mention a bunch of other spell from many different grimoires but nothing. Bonnie was nowhere to be found. She had vanished without a trace.

"It's almost as if she is no longer in this world," Lenore murmured as she stared at her tarot cards. She hadn't found any useful information.

"Don't say that!" Abby snapped. She knew what they were thinking. She could see it in their faces, in the sad looks they gave her. "She's not dead."

"Abby," Joanna began, out of all of them she knew what Abby was feeling in that moment. She walked closer to her cousin trying to offer her some comfort.

"My daughter is not dead!"

Angelica looked away sadly while Lenore continued to stare at her cards. She couldn't even begin to imagine what Abby was feeling. She couldn't even believe it herself.

"We've tried everything," Joanna said sadly. "We can't find her Abby, nothing it's working, this only happens when someone is…" she trailed off, she couldn't say the words. She hated herself for the sense of defeat and helplessness that invaded her. She wanted to be wrong but rationally she knew there was only one reason why none of the spells were working.

"Bonnie is not dead!" Abby yelled angrily. She refused to believe such a horrible thing. "She can't be dead." The anguish in her voice got to all of them. She was trying to be strong but with each passing hour, Abby was close to a nervous breakdown. Her little girl, the only thing she had left in this world. "Please…" she begged them. "Find another spell, anything…just please keep trying…" tears burned in her eyes but she did her best to hold them back. If she started crying now, she would never be able to stop.

"She was teleported out of her own home," Rebekah spoke up for the first time. All eyes turned towards her. "Can you teleport her back?"

"It's not that simple," Joanna replied sadly. She had thought about it, but it was too dangerous and complicated to do. "We don't know where she is, without a clear knowledge of her whereabouts a teleporting spell won't work." And it looked like Bonnie was no longer in the world of the living.

"Not to mention how complex and difficult that kind of spell is," Lenore added. It was not an easy spell to accomplish on oneself and on another person it was nearly impossible. "Even if we succeeded in doing it, in her condition it's too risky." They couldn't put Bonnie's twins at risk.

"There has to be a way to get her back," Matt said looking at all of them, pleading with them with his eyes to find away. "Even if you can't locate her, there has to be something you can do." His stomach was in knots thinking of the danger Bonnie could be in. He refused to believe she was gone for good. In his mind there was a reason why the Bennett witches couldn't find her or sense her. Something was hiding her from them. That was Matt's hope.

The wheels in Abby's head began turning. Years and years of studying magic under her mother's tutelage came to her mind as well as that dark period in her life when she pushed the limits of modern witchcraft. Suddenly, a light bulb went on inside her head. "A teleporting spell is too dangerous but what about a summoning spell?"

Joanna and Lenore turned towards her.

"Bonnie summoned the Bennett coven," Lenore said following Abby's train of thought. "As her family maybe we could try and summon her." her heart sped up with the possibility.

That had been Abby's thought as well. A summoning spell worked through time and space, if they could pull it off they could get Bonnie from wherever she was. "Could you do it?" she asked in a hopeful tone. "Can you summon Bonnie back to us?"

"In theory." A thoughtful look crossed Joanna's face. "Bonnie was able to summon the coven because she is our queen," she explained. "We can't just summon her to us. That kind of spell requires a binding force." During the summoning ritual Bonnie had been the binding force of the spell, as the queen she had that kind of power, they didn't.

"Our blood," Abby suggested. Blood was the most powerful ingredient in any spell or ritual.

"An object?" Rebekah proposed almost at the same time. There was a hopeful look on her face.

"Blood is good," Joanna said looking at Abby. "But we need more than just blood."

"It has to be stronger than a simple object," Lenore murmured.

"Like a magical object or a talisman?" Angelica asked clutching her necklace.

"The moonstone," Matt said with desperation. "It bound Klaus's curse didn't it?"

"We need an anchor," Joanna said suddenly. "We need something strong and durable, something that can withstand the force of the spell. Something indestructible..." the stronger the anchor the higher chance the spell had of working.

"What about an Original hybrid?"

They all turned at the sound of that accented voice.

"Nik!" Rebekah gasped upon seeing her brother stepping inside the living room.

Matt blinked and moved his gaze over Klaus's blood coated appearance. _Holy shit!_ He looked like he had gone to hell and back, or to war, or something. "What happened?" he asked.

Lenore placed her hand over her mouth as she stared at the hybrid in shock.

Joanna and Angelica were speechless as well. Klaus was a terrifying sight to behold. Every instinct in their bodies alerted them to the dangerous predator in close proximity.

"What did you do?" Abby whispered horrified.

Klaus was covered in blood from head to toe. His hands were dripping with blood as well. His face and neck were hardly visible under the crimson color. The only thing that was unmistakable in the sea of red was his eyes, two cold and empty amber eyes. They seemed so devoid of emotion, of life, it was terrifying.

"You can use me as the anchor to bring Bonnie back," Klaus told them.

He was willing to do whatever it was necessary to bring Bonnie and his children back.

* * *

Bonnie leaned against a tree as she struggled to catch her breath.

Charlotte did the same, she was out of breath too. They had been literally running for their lives for the past few minutes or so. Or had it been hours? Time was hard to tell.

Bonnie didn't know how long they had been running but her legs hurt. She felt really tired and nauseous as well.

"We're almost there," Charlotte told her looking around their surroundings.

"Where are we going?" Bonnie looked down at the little witch. "Are you taking me to the other Bennett witches?" if she could only find her Grams, heck even Qetsiyah would be a welcoming face at the moment. She needed to return home before the spirits were to catch up with them again.

Charlotte frowned but stayed silent.

"Where are we going?" Bonnie asked again.

"A safe place," Charlotte replied. "You'll see." She gave Bonnie a sweet smile.

Bonnie closed her eyes. She shivered when a cold breeze hit her cheeks. _Not again_ , she thought as she opened her eyes.

"They're coming," Charlotte whispered fearfully.

"Come on," Bonnie took her hand and the two began running once more. She had a feeling that they were no longer in the shadow lands. They were surrounded by pine trees instead of the leafless trees from before, even the grass was green. This place seemed more alive, more real than the one before.

The shadows swirled, following their trail. They wanted Bonnie and they would not stop until they could get her and destroy the abomination growing inside her.

Bonnie and Charlotte ran as fast as their legs could carry them, which wasn't really that fast to be honest. _If I could only tap into my magic again,_ Bonnie thought. For whatever reason her magic still felt different, muted somehow. Even thought she had been able to repel the spirits just a few minutes before. She still couldn't access it with ease. There was something at the back of her mind, alarm bells that went off inside her head, but she was far too worried about the spirits chasing after her to put much thought into it.

Bonnie hissed when a strange dark shot of magic flew past her head. _Damn it!_ The spirits were relentless. She glanced over her shoulder briefly. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the sea of darkness that was following them. So caught up was she in the dark cloud chasing after them, she didn't see the blur coming her way.

Bonnie screamed when she collided with a solid brick wall.

Charlotte cried out when she fell on her butt, Bonnie had dragged the little girl with her as she fell down too.

"What the bloody hell?"

Bonnie gasped and looked up startled at the sound of that accented voice.

Kol Mikaelson stood in front her. His eyes widened when he realized who he had just bumped into.

"What are you doing here?" they both said at the same time.

"Bonnie," Charlotte whimpered seeing the sea of darkness approaching them. "We have to go!" She tugged at her blouse.

"Who is the mini you?" Kol asked looking from Bonnie to Charlotte a look of confusion on his face. "When did you die?" he asked in a much quieter tone. He didn't even want to think what Nik was going through at the moment.

"I'm not dead!" Bonnie snapped. She stood up as quickly as possible and helped Charlotte to her feet too.

Kol opened his mouth but he clamped it shut when he noticed what was coming for them. "Fuck!" he cursed. He had been running from the void that was chasing after him and now he had come face to face with a fucking sea of dark magic. _The spirits_ , he realized with horror.

Bonnie could already see the shadow woman forming ahead of the group and swirling closer towards them.

"I hate them," Charlotte spat angrily.

"You're not the only one," Kol muttered. _Why did he always end up like this?_ He thought bitterly. For once in his life he was trying to stay away from trouble but it seemed to follow him like a magnet.

"I need to find my Grams and Ayana," Bonnie said turning towards Kol. "We need their help."

"What we need is to get the hell out of here now. Come on, run!" Kol said as he led the way.

Bonnie grabbed Charlotte's hand and proceeded to follow him.

A ring of fire suddenly erupted around them, blocking their path.

Charlotte's eyes went wide in surprise as the flames sprung from the ground and shot up high in the air.

"Did you do that?" Kol asked nervously.

Bonnie shook her head.

"Fuck, we're screwed." Kol moved unconsciously closer to Bonnie.

Charlotte wormed her way in between them, shoving the Original with her elbow, so she would be the one standing next to Bonnie and not the vampire.

Kol glared down at the rude little girl. She glared back and stuck her tongue out at him before wrapping her arms around Bonnie, in a rather possessive hold.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around Charlotte's trembling body, pulling her closer. "It's okay," she said in a soothing voice. "I won't let them hurt you." Even though she had no idea how they were going to get out of this.

"And I won't let them hurt you."

The flames parted and a single figure emerged inside the protective ring of fire.

"Grams!"

The relief Bonnie felt in that moment was overwhelming.


	37. Chapter 37

_A/N: I know you guys have been wondering how Bonnie and Klaus first came together. So, I finally decided to publish it as a prologue to this story rather than to put it as a flashback. It's called Prom Night and the first chapter it's already posted. It's going to be a mini story of sorts about three chapters long. If you are interested check it out and let me know if you like it._

 _Anyway, here it's chapter 37. This was a tough one. Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing!_

* * *

While the Bennett witches prepared everything for the summoning spell, Rebekah ordered Klaus to get himself cleaned up. According to her, he was ruining the expensive rug in his bloodied state.

Klaus didn't say anything as he headed up the stairs.

Belle jumped out of her skin and her mouth dropped open when she nearly bumped into him in the hallway.

Klaus ignored her as he headed towards the master bedroom.

A bedroom should be a sanctuary, for Klaus stepping inside _their_ bedroom was torture.

The minute he stepped inside, he was engulfed by her scent which still lingered in the room; a mixture of lavender, honey, magic, and his own scent which had imprinted itself on her skin since their first night together.

Everywhere he looked there was a reminder of Bonnie. From the vase filled with pink roses near the window, to the armchair in the corner with her favorite teddy bear sitting on it. The vanity table with her beauty products and the stack of pregnancy related books she had by the nightstand alongside her grimoire.

He avoided looking at the bed. It would bring too many memories of their passionate nights together.

Klaus ripped his blood soaked clothes off and headed for the bathroom. Under different circumstance he would be feeling relaxed, sated. He had just slaughter an army of vampires. He should be relishing in his triumph. He wasn't. He didn't feel triumphant. He didn't feel relaxed. He felt empty.

In the one thousand years he had walked this earth, he had known anger, he had known pain, loneliness, betrayal, fear-courtesy of his father, but not this void, this hole in his heart. He had never experienced anything like this before.

It was unbearable. He wanted to claw his eyes out. He wanted to set his body on fire. He wanted to use his own hand and rip his heart out from his chest. He wanted to die, plain and simple.

 _Is this what my siblings felt when their bonded were killed?_ He wondered as he stepped inside the shower.

Klaus closed his eyes as the hot water cascaded down his skin. He scrubbed himself raw, washing the blood from his skin. The water at his feet going from a deep crimson to a light pink until it eventually ran clear once more. Even inside the shower he was reminded of Bonnie. Her shampoo was next to his, as well as her herbal scented soap. The one she had bought at one of the shops in the Quarter, on the day he had showed her his city.

She had been so happy that day, tapping into the magic that moved freely over the city. _Our first date_ , she had called it later that night as they laid in bed.

Other memories came to him suddenly, of the day before in particular. He could still remember Bonnie's sighs of pleasure as he rubbed his hands over skin. She had been worried about the appointment, anxious of what the doctor would say to them. Klaus had successfully chased those worries away with his kisses and touches before they left for Covington. He had pressed her against the shower wall and tenderly eased away her fears. For a while, the world had been reduced to the two of them. The nerves and the worry had returned as they made their way to Dr. Mayfair's clinic of course.

Had it been just twenty four hours ago when they were nervous first time parents at their first prenatal appointment? It seemed like a lifetime ago, a world away. How everything could have changed so drastically in such a short amount of time. It seemed surreal.

Klaus remembered her words at the shopping mall as well. Such simple words but which had meant the world to him.

" _Are you happy?" he had dared to asked. It was something that ate away at him, the fear that he couldn't make her happy. That one day she would walk away from him._

" _Yes," Bonnie had answered honestly._

 _He knew the truth of her words through their bond. He felt the sincerity of her answer and his heart leaped out of his chest with the joy he felt._

" _I'm with you," she said as she reached out and touched his cheek. "You and our children are my happiness."_

It had been such a simple statement but it had meant everything to him. As long as she was happy, as long as he could make her happy, nothing else mattered. A few months ago, what he desired the most was power, an army, what he desired the most now was to make Bonnie happy.

Showering, getting dressed, Klaus went through the motions but he was like shell of his old self. To the outside world, he was the same old Klaus but inside something had died. The fire inside him had turned to ash.

Long after he stepped out of the shower and got dressed he sat on the bed. Someone had brought Bonnie's purse-the one she left inside the car- and placed it on their bed.

Klaus reached inside and pulled the sonogram pictures. Baby A and baby B, that's how Dr. Mayfair had named them. His fingers traced the images and a lump formed in his throat. He remembered the tears in Bonnie's face, the happiness, the giddiness at seeing their children for the first time, and the way her small and warm hand had squeezed his. In that moment, they had been so deliriously happy.

 _Where are you?_ Klaus wondered. _Why can't I feel you?_

It was not just the not knowing where she was. It was the fear that whoever took her could be hurting her, hurting them. His mind was plagued with horrible images. His Bonnie at the mercy of some unknown foe, it tormented him greatly. With each passing hour she could be subjected to all kinds of horrors. And what had he done? How had he protected her?

" _I won't let anything happen to you, either of you."_

He had promised to keep her safe and he had failed her. He had failed them. _What kind of father was he?_ He couldn't protect his own family.

Klaus closed his eyes. He had never felt such anguish, such fear, such feeling of impotence before. He felt like a small child again, helpless and vulnerable. He hated it. There was a part of him that wanted to hate Bonnie for making him feel like this, for making him care.

What would he do if the spell failed? What would he do if he were never to see her again?

The answer was surprisingly easy. It came to him so suddenly, so effortlessly. He already knew what he would do if the spell failed. He knew what he had to do if Bonnie and the twins were not found. The solemn realization of what he was thinking of doing, the finality of his decision, was accepted with surprising calmness.

Without Bonnie, his life had no meaning. He couldn't imagine living in a world without her in it. He couldn't imagine going on with his life without her and their children.

He, who for a thousand years had evaded death, would gladly welcome it now.

* * *

"Grams!" Bonnie wasted no time to run straight into her grandmother's waiting arms. The ring of fire kept all of them inside, protecting them from the spirits. They hissed and cried out when they got too close and the fire burned them.

Sheila embraced her warmly. "Oh child, you should not be here." She had been terrified when she had been told that the Bennett queen was in the shadow lands.

"The spirits," Bonnie murmured while pulling away. "They pulled me here." The adrenaline was still pumping her veins, her body felt tense and was on the alert, ready to fight. Even with her Grams, she couldn't relax. Bonnie actually looked over her shoulder to ensure the spirits were not breaking through the ring of fire and trying to attack them by surprise.

"Don't you worry about them," Sheila caressed her cheek tenderly. She frowned as she felt the heat on her skin. "Are you alright?" she asked with alarm. Her eyes slid over Bonnie's body, noting the shaky frame, the dried blood on her arms and the tensed look on her face. "Do you feel well?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie gave her a weak smile. She felt tired, really tired, and she was still battling a horrible case of nausea but she could manage. She had to find her way back home. "I need to go back Grams."

"I know," Sheila studied her face carefully. She wasn't fully convinced that Bonnie was fine. "Kol," she turned to the Original vampire. "Get Bonnie out of here."

"No, Grams I won't leave you. I-" Bonnie protested.

"I will take care of this," her grandmother interrupted. Her tone left no room for argument. "You will go with Kol. He can take you to the other Bennett witches. The longer you stay here, the harder it will be to go back." She finally noticed the little girl standing by Bonnie's side. "And who may you be?" she asked curiously.

Charlotte only smiled shyly and moved closer to Bonnie.

"This is Charlotte," Bonnie told her. "She's one of us." She looked down at Charlotte before looking up at her grandmother. "Don't you know her?" surely Grams had met every Bennett witch on the other side.

Sheila shook her head and stared down at the little girl with keen interest. "There is something about you," she murmured as she met her vibrant green eyes. She was definitely a witch, a Bennett witch there was no doubt. Sheila could sense that invisible link that tied her to them; a shared link that all Bennett witches possessed. But she felt certain she had never seen this little girl before now.

Charlotte looked at Sheila with those big innocent eyes of hers. Sheila gasped when their eyes locked, when she felt it, the girl's _power._

"Grams?" Bonnie tried to get her attention. It was strange but Bonnie felt like they were having a conversation with their eyes.

"I see," Sheila murmured after a while. She nodded in Charlotte's direction before she turned towards Bonnie. She offered her granddaughter a small smile but there was a hint of worry in her eyes.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked. She felt like she was missing something.

"Hello! There is a sea of spirits circling us, maybe we can hurry up and get the hell out of here," Kol interrupted. "Like now." He really did not want to get caught in the crossfire.

Bonnie, Sheila, and Charlotte all glared at him at the same time. Kol actually took a step back and blinked in confusion. It was scary how similar they all looked.

"Kol will take you to the other Bennett witches. You'll be safe with them, I promise." Sheila told Bonnie while placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "They are going to help you find a way back, you can't be here Bonnie. You must return."

"I won't leave you. The spirits are ruthless Grams. They will hurt you-"

"I can handle them," Sheila reassured her.

Bonnie was more than ready to protest but Sheila gave her a knowing look. "I was once the queen of the coven child. Believe me, I can handle the spirits."

Bonnie opened her mouth.

"Go," Sheila ordered before turning to Kol. "I am trusting you with the most important person in my life Kol, don't let anything happen to her." _If you do, you will wish the void had taken you_. Her dark eyes seemed to say as she stared at the Original vampire.

Kol gulped and nodded. He knew better than to pissed off a Bennett witch.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around her grandmother, hugging her tightly and kissing her cheek. "Be careful." She felt bad. She wanted to stay and fight with her, but Grams would not let her. Bonnie had seen that look in her eyes plenty of times before. Once Sheila Bennett made her mind there was no changing it.

"Don't worry about me. I will be fine." Grams kissed her forehead and moved away from them, ready to face the spirits. She was not going to let them get close to Bonnie again.

"Come on," Kol grabbed Bonnie's arm. "We have to go." He pulled her in the opposite direction, away from Grams.

The ring of fire died down.

The flames sunk back to the ground, allowing Kol, Bonnie, and Charlotte to leave.

The moment the fire disappeared, the spirits jumped on them. They had been circling the ring, waiting for the perfect opportunity which had now presented itself.

They didn't make it very far.

Bonnie gasped, watching in awe as every single one of the spirits erupted in flames before they could get close to them. They were burned to crisps with a single command from Sheila's powerful magic.

"They'll regenerate," Sheila said turning to look at them over her shoulder. "What are you still doing here, go!" she urged them. "You must go, now!"

"Thank-you Grams," Bonnie smiled and nodded.

Grams smiled back.

Kol, Bonnie, and Charlotte took off running into the forest.

Sheila Bennett turned back to face the spirits, a determined look on her face.

From the ground, sparks of dark magic shot up as the spirits began to reform once more.

One of them tried to swirl past her, only to be flung back by a wall of fire that erupted behind her. She was not going to let them pass. She was not going to give the chance to get close to her granddaughter again.

The shadow woman regenerated faster than the rest. She hissed and glared in Sheila's direction. "You can keep doing this forever if you want, but no matter how many times you attack, we will come back."

 _I only need to hold you back until Bonnie escapes from here,_ Sheila thought as she met the spirit's sinister eyes. "You can come back all you want. I'll just keep burning you." Fire was her element after all.

Five more shadows sprung towards her, they were incinerated before they could even reach her.

A wave of shadows materialized out of nowhere, a hurricane of dark power heading straight for Sheila. They were angry, their plans to hurt Bonnie had failed, and they wanted revenge.

"Is that the best you got?" Sheila said as she met the shadow woman's gaze unflinchingly. She was unimpressed by the hurricane coming her way.

"I'm going to end you," the shadow woman spat. "You can't fight all of us alone."

More and more shadows sprung from the ground, sinister figures that took blurry shapes and began to surround Sheila. They hissed and snarled trying to make her flinch or back away in fear. She didn't move at all.

"She won't be doing it alone," a shot of white light swirled in the shadow woman's direction. She screeched as the light destroyed her completely.

"She will come back," Sheila said quietly as five figures came to stand next to her.

"And I will gladly crush her again!" Her mother, Amelia replied. She was accompanied by Pauline, Emily, Alina, and Ernestine.

"Six against an entire army," Alina murmured. With a wave of her hand, her magic destroyed at least a dozen spirits.

"The odds are in our favor," Ernestine said with a grin as she began shooting balls of lights from each of her hands. Ernestine was always ready for a good fight, she thrived in it.

"You know what to do, don't you?" Pauline asked them before disintegrating a couple more spirits with her own magic.

"Prison world 38 is more than ready for this lot," Emily told them with a smirk. She blasted a couple more shadows to pieces.

"Let's get to work ladies," Sheila told them. The time had come to stop the spirits for good.

They couldn't destroy the spirits fully as they were already dead. Every time they were destroyed, they came back aided by the magic that thrived on the other side. But that didn't mean they couldn't lock them for good inside another realm within the other side, like a prison world where they would be trapped forever.

The spirits were going to pay dearly for trying to hurt the queen of the Bennett coven. Her coven would see to it.

* * *

The Travelers stood forming a circle. Their hands outstretched, their heads bowed, and their lips moving furiously as they chanted together. They had gathered in a small and empty park in New Orleans. They were the other group that had been sent by Franco to kidnap the Bennett witch.

A woman stood to the side, watching them with curiosity. Next to her was a man. His face was hard and serious as he stood with his hands behind his back.

"Are you sure this time it will work?" She asked. The Travelers hadn't been able to locate the witch and they had been trying for a long time now. This whole mission seemed rather pointless to her. The last thing she wanted was to get involved in werewolf politics.

"We have a special ingredient," the man replied as he stared at the drops of doppelganger blood inside the circle. "This will work. Christian ordered us to find her and we will." They were going to teleport the Bennett witch to them.

The woman made a face at the mention of Christian's name. "So we do all the hard work and he gets the credit."

"We need the alliance with Franco and his pack," the man reminded her. "We need their protection."

"For now." The woman crossed her arms over her chest. She kept her gaze on the group. "I hope we don't come to regret this."

* * *

Bonnie didn't know how long they kept running. She and Charlotte simply did their best to keep up with Kol.

Eventually, the Original vampire came to an abrupt stop.

Bonnie nearly bumped into him. "Are we close?" she asked looking around the forest. All she saw were pine trees and rocks. There were lots of rocks everywhere. She was surprised she hadn't tripped.

A strong wind moved her hair over her face as she struggled to catch her breath. She was thirsty and her legs hurt. She shivered feeling suddenly cold. She rubbed her stomach. There was a strange feeling that invaded her. She didn't like it.

Kol frowned. Something definitely didn't feel right about this. He knew how to get to the Bennett camp-that's what he called the area where most of the Bennett witches stayed the majority of the time. He was certain they had been running in the right direction but none of the scenery surrounding them seemed familiar.

 _Too many rocks_ , he thought. _Had he taken the wrong turn?_ No, he was pretty sure he hadn't. The wind grew stronger and he could've sworn he heard the sea in the distance which was ridiculous because as far as he knew there was no beach on the other side. _What the hell is going on?_ He wondered bewildered by all of it. He had never gotten lost while on the other side, except for now.

Bonnie waited expectantly, one hand still over her small bump.

Kol pressed his lips together as he thought of the best way to find their way to the Bennett witches. He would never admit that they were lost, never in a million years. He turned to Bonnie and smirked in his usual devil-may-care way.

He was going to reassure her that everything was fine and then he would find a way to the Bennett camp. Stress was bad for pregnant women or so he had heard and he would be damn if he were to unnecessarily worry Bonnie over this. Sheila would kill him, and Ayana, and Alina, and Natalie, and Emily and well, all of them really. He was going to tell her everything was fine and then they would go on their way. Hopefully, he would know which way. Of course, he wasn't counting on the annoying little Bennett to open her mouth and ruin his plans.

"We're lost," Charlotte proclaimed before Kol could say anything to Bonnie.

The Original glared at the annoying creature.

"Are we lost?" Bonnie turned towards Kol. She had never been to the other side. She had no idea if Charlotte was right or not. She had no idea where they were going either. Her Grams had told Kol to take her to the other Bennett witches and Bonnie trusted her judgment.

"We're not lost!" Kol snapped indignantly.

"He doesn't know where we are," Charlotte said turning to look at Bonnie. "But I can take you to a safe place before he gets us killed," she said in a rather serious tone.

"I know where we are!" Kol hissed. Okay, he didn't technically, but he would find the camp, eventually. "And you can't die when you are already dead!" he pointed out the obvious. _Children could be so stupid_ , he thought.

"We're going in the wrong direction," Charlotte snapped. "You don't know where we are, admit it!"

"I do too!"

"Na ah," Charlotte stuck her tongue out at him.

"You little-" Kol took a menacing step closer.

Charlotte immediately scurried off behind Bonnie.

"That's enough!" Bonnie intervened as she got in Kol's way. She glared at the Original before grabbing Charlotte's hand and pulling her next to her. "Kol, don't you dare scare her."

"She started it," Kol yelled.

"I did not!" Charlotte looked offended by the accusation.

"Annoying little twit."

Charlotte looked up into Bonnie's face, her bottom lip trembling. "Bonnie, he's mean!" she accused on the verge of fake tears.

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"That's it!" Bonnie practically screamed. She was getting a headache. She had no time for this. She was desperate to get to the other Bennett witches so she could figure out a way home. Not to mention that she was worried about her Grams. As powerful as she was, the spirits could be really tricky. She turned to Kol. "Do you know where we are yes or not? And don't you dare lie to me!"

"No," Kol admitted through gritted teeth.

"I told you." Charlotte made a face at him.

The Original growled.

"Stop it," Bonnie ordered him. She couldn't believe Kol was arguing with a child, for Christ sake! "You need to stop this right now. We have to find the other Bennett witches." She glared at Kol. "Stop antagonizing her. I mean it Kol." She turned to Charlotte. "Sweetie, do you know how to get to them?" she asked in a gentle tone.

Charlotte nodded eagerly. "Follow me," she took Bonnie's hand and dragged her in the opposite direction where Kol was taking them. She was more than happy to lead the way.

"Are we seriously going to follow a child?" Kol couldn't believe it. "You are going to trust that tiny creature over me?" He was offended. "Sheila told me to take you to the other Bennett witches. You should trust me not her!"

Bonnie sighed. "The last time I saw you, you tried to kill me," she reminded him. He didn't exactly have a trustworthiness record to speak off. "Besides you don't even know where we are and she does."

Kol rolled his eyes, "water under the bridge," he muttered as he followed them. "You don't even know who she is," he pointed out. "She could be an evil little nymph or a demon leading us to a trap." He didn't like the tiny human. There was something about her that had him on edge.

"Don't call her that."

"I'm not a demon." Charlotte turned and gave him an evil glare. "You're a pig!"

"That's the best insult you can come up with?" Kol couldn't help but laugh.

"Stop it, Kol." Bonnie's tone let him know that she was not going to let him keep antagonizing Charlotte. "We can trust her." She didn't know why but her gut was telling her that she could trust Charlotte.

Charlotte gave her hand a gentle squeezed and beamed upon hearing her words. Bonnie smiled down at her. She was so cute. She couldn't help but think that she wanted a daughter just like her.

Kol growled but wisely kept his mouth shut.

The three of them made their way deeper into the thick pine forest. The wind grew stronger and colder with each of their steps as did the sound of waves crashing against rocks.

"I hope we don't regret this," Kol mumbled. He couldn't help but shudder.

He didn't know why but he had a very bad feeling about this.

* * *

By the time Klaus returned downstairs, Elijah and Lucy had arrived at the plantation. The witch didn't waste any time and began helping her mother and cousins prepare everything for the summoning spell.

Klaus locked himself in the study with Elijah.

"Celeste is dead," were the first words that Elijah said to him before he proceeded to explain to Klaus what he and Lucy had done. "Sarah's spirit can now rest in peace," he finished. He felt relieved.

Klaus nodded. Sarah deserved to rest in peace. "I slaughtered half of Marcel's army and took back the city," he said in turn. He felt indifferent by Celeste's demise. Something that at another time would've caused great joy had no affect on him at all. In many ways he was numb.

"So I've heard." Elijah took a step closer and placed a hand on Klaus's tensed shoulder. "The spell will work," he said giving him a gentle squeeze. He could see how worried his brother was, even if was doing one hell of a job not showing it. Elijah knew him best, however. "We will get Bonnie back." They had to get her back. Elijah didn't want to think what would happen if they didn't.

Niklaus was barely holding it together, he was tense, on edge, and that hollowed look in his eyes made Elijah nervous. He could deal with a raging Klaus, he could deal with a vengeful Klaus, he could deal with a sullen Klaus, but he had never dealt with a broken Klaus.

No matter what hardship life threw in his brother's way, Niklaus had always risen to the challenge. He was the fiercest out of all of them. But without Bonnie and the children, without the bond to keep him grounded, Elijah shuddered. He didn't know if his brother would ever be able to recover if he were to lose them.

Klaus moved away from him and headed towards the liquor cabinet and drank straight from the bottle of whiskey. The waiting was killing him. The longer he waited for the Bennett witches to prepare everything the more his mind was plagued with doubts and unrelenting fears.

"Niklaus-" Elijah began.

"I don't need a pep talk Elijah," Klaus muttered darkly. "Leave me alone."

"If you don't want to talk that's fine," Elijah told him. "But I'm not going anywhere." He took a seat on the leather chair near the window.

Klaus didn't say anything. He continued to drink. One bottle of whiskey did nothing to him. He was going to need another one or maybe a couple more. While he didn't show it, he appreciated Elijah's silent company.

"The hybrid I have in Baton Rouge thinks Tyler has betrayed me," Klaus found himself saying. "He didn't report to him like he is supposed to."

"You compelled him," Elijah said. "No vampire has ever broken our compulsion," unless the Original was desiccated but Klaus had never truly experienced that.

"No hybrid is supposed to break the sire bond," Klaus hissed. Tyler had proven to be stronger than Klaus had first anticipated. He couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with being the first sired. At that thought, he couldn't help but remember the first vampire he had sired. Klaus could never have imagined what a big headache his first creations would turn out to be.

"If he knows the Navarro's have Caroline, he might be trying to save her." Elijah suggested as he stood up. Now, he was the one who needed a drink. The Navarro pack was proving to be a challenge. Their war against them was not going to be as easy as they first believed.

"It's only a matter of time before word spreads that I have taken over New Orleans," Klaus told him as he turned to face him. "The Navarro's will no doubt see it as a threat, they might even attack."

"What do you want to do?"

"Alexa and Jesse are carrying out a mission for me," Klaus informed him. The two hybrids were on their way to Baton Rouge as he spoke. "Once they succeed, I will make my move against Franco." He had to end Franco, the sooner the better.

Elijah opened his mouth ready to say something but a knock on the door interrupted them.

Rebekah stepped inside. She offered a small smile in Elijah's direction before focusing on Klaus. She felt so worried and sad. She didn't like the look in his eyes. Her brother was devastated even if he tried to pretend otherwise. "Everything is ready," she told him nervously. It was now or never.

Klaus placed the bottle of whiskey on his desk and nodded.

The time to do the spell had finally come.

* * *

The forest gave away to a clearing. The pine trees parted to a wide grass area, with a series of strange rocks on either side. A row of seven rocks to the left and a row of seven rocks to the right, at the very end there was a cliff. A single rock carved in the shape of a woman stood proudly over it.

Bonnie could see the foam behind her, the wind was stronger here, the clouds white and puffy and the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff rocks resonated all around them. It was a breathtaking sight to behold.

There was also magic in the air, she could feel it; a strong, ancient, and alluring kind of magic that called out to her.

"Come on," Charlotte tugged at her hand and pulled her forward. "She's been waiting for you."

"What the bloody hell?" in all his time on the other side Kol had never seen anything like this before. He followed after them, looking with curiosity at the strange rocks. _How come he had never come across this before?_

Bonnie shivered when they passed the first two rocks. Her body tingled as she felt the powerful magic surrounding the area, protecting it. Sacred ground, she realized. They were entering sacred territory.

Kol wasn't able to step through. The moment his body came close to the rocks he was flung back by an invisible force.

Bonnie spun around at the sound of his scream.

"Vampires are not allowed," Charlotte said. Her lips curved into a smirk when she saw Kol on the ground hissing in pain.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie asked.

Small cuts had formed on Kol's skin, thin red lines that healed immediately. "Fine," he said as he pulled himself to his feet. He glared at Charlotte when he saw her smirk. "You knew this was going to happen didn't you?"

Charlotte only smiled. She clearly saw it as payback for his insults.

"What is this place?" Bonnie asked turning to her. "Who is she?" she asked turning to the statue near the cliff's edge. It seemed surreal. She felt like they had stepped into another world.

"Mother," Charlotte replied simply.

"That's your mother?" Bonnie asked incredulous.

"Silly Bonnie," Charlotte said with a giggle. "She's _our_ mother, the mother of all witches." There was a proud smile on her face as she said it.

Something resonated inside of Bonnie at those words. There was a strange kind of knowledge embedded deep within her. Somehow she knew. "The first witch," Bonnie murmured as she stared at the statue with wonder. She had heard about the first witch, the progenitor of the Bennett bloodline. "I thought Qetsiyah was the first witch." She was the oldest witch Bonnie knew, a legend in her own right. For whatever reason, she had associated the first witch with Qetsiyah.

Charlotte snorted. "Qetsey is not as great as she thinks," she said haughtily.

"Qetsey?" a smile tugged at Bonnie's lips.

Charlotte shrugged. "I had another name for her but mama said it was too naughty," she admitted sheepishly. She turned to stare at the statue. "She's been waiting for you, she knew you were coming. She told me so." It was the reason she had gone wandering without her mother's permission, trying to see if she would find Bonnie, which she had in the shadow lands. "Come on, we must hurry before they summon you back, it's starting."

"Summon me back?" Bonnie asked confused as she let Charlotte guide her towards the statue. "Who's summoning me back?"

"Your family," Charlotte told her as they stopped right in front of the statue. A sad look crossed her delicate features. "I wish you could stay," she mumbled.

Bonnie felt a lump form in her throat. "That's not possible sweetie." She got on her knees in front of Charlotte, feeling a strange ache in her heart at the thought of leaving her behind. "I'm sorry." Her heart went out to the poor little girl stuck in this place. _She shouldn't be here_ , Bonnie thought.

"It's okay," Charlotte said sadly. "I'm going to miss you, Bonnie." She threw her arms around Bonnie's neck, hugging her tightly. Bonnie returned the fierce hug and held her close, kissing the side of her head. Maybe it was her maternal instincts kicking in but she wished she could take her with her. She was so young, sweet, and spunky, no child should die young. No child deserved to be stuck on the other side.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't want to leave Charlotte in here. She was going to ask her Grams or Ayana if there was a way Charlotte could be in a safer place, away from the spirits and the void that threatened the supernaturals on the other side. She wanted Charlotte to be safe.

"Is she really your mother?" Bonnie asked once they pulled apart. She felt very curious about Charlotte. She wondered how she had died, where her immediate family was, if she had any siblings. Why hadn't Grams known her?

"The only one I know," Charlotte replied.

Bonnie's heart broke. "How long have you been here, Charlotte?" _Had she been here so long that she had forgotten her real mother? The life she had before?_

"I don't know," she answered quietly.

Bonnie took both of her small hands in hers. "Do you remember how you came here, to the other side?"

Charlotte looked down at their joined hands. She shook her head. "Not really," she looked into Bonnie's eyes. "There was a light, someone screamed I think," her face scrunched up in confusion. "I woke up here. Not here," she said moving her head to the side. "But another place in here, I didn't like it. It was cold and scary so I ran, and ran, and ran-" she took a deep breath. "And then I found mother."

Bonnie frowned. "And she told you that I was coming? You can communicate with her?" she was trying to understand. Charlotte had said the first witch, or mother as she called her knew Bonnie was coming. Why? How?

Charlotte nodded. "She tells me many things."

"How?"

"In my head," Charlotte said pointing to the side of her head with her index finger. "You must touch her," she said in a serious tone as she turned to stare at the statue. "It's how she will speak to you. You have to do it now." She moved to stand next to the statute. "You must, before you go back. Hurry!"

Bonnie took a deep breath as she pulled herself to her feet and walked towards the statue. She felt a moment of uncertainty as she stood nervously in front of the rock.

The grey rock had been carved into an exquisite silhouette. She was beautiful, her features perfectly carved upon the rock. Bonnie felt a sense of familiarity, of belonging, of peace as she stared at her face. On the surface she seemed pretty and delicate but there was an edge to her features as well. The longer Bonnie stared at her, the more she could see the knowledge, the wisdom in her eyes. This was no common woman, Bonnie realized. She was a warrior, a queen, a mother, a goddess.

Kol watched from the edge of the first two rocks. He couldn't step inside. He looked nervously as Bonnie moved closer to the rocky statue. He didn't like any of this.

Bonnie's heart pounded loudly in her ears and small trembles rolled over her body.

"Go on," Charlotte urged. "We're running out of time."

Bonnie looked at her for a few seconds before glancing back to the statue in front of her. She took a deep breath. Slowly, very slowly she lifted her right hand and placed her trembling fingers over the statue's face.

A gasp escaped her lips the moment her skin touched rock. It was cold. A second later, images flashed before her eyes, some of them were far too fast for her to get them fully but there were others, vivid images that assaulted her brain while a strange and warm voice whispered inside her mind.

 **You must see,** the voice said.

 _An army of ferocious wolves running through the French Quarter._

 _Rivers of blood covering the street, bodies scattered all over, witches, vampires, werewolves, and humans alike._

 _Blood so much blood…_

 _The Originals standing together, leading an army of their own._

 _Death...pain...blood...always blood..._

 **You must know.**

 _The brown wolf of her dreams running through the Bayou, a loyal pack following behind him. They were hunting. They were killing._

 _The wolf suddenly shifted and turned into a man. This time there was no mask but a face, cold, cruel, and very arrogant. Blood dripped from his chin and slid down his neck, he smiled right at her._

 _He was triumphant. He was proud._

Bonnie shuddered.

 _Franco Navarro._

 _He wants you. He's close, closer than you think, you need to be careful, he's coming for you._

 **You must beware**.

The images changed, flashing at rapid speed over Bonnie's eyes.

 _Sophie chanting inside the cemetery, she was calling to the Ancestors. There were three clothed bodies on the floor and Davina was standing in front of her, a fearful but determined look on her face._

 _It was the Harvest ritual._

 _A strange group of people forming a circle, chanting with their hands outstretched and their heads bowed._

 _Blood, a bucket with blood. It was doppelganger blood, the key ingredient for their spells._

 _Elena or was it Katherine? She was chained to a wall, a sad look on her face as a man and a woman took more and more of her blood. In the corner of the room stood a man watching, a Navarro brother._

 _There was thunder and a hurricane of darkness sweeping through a forest, destroying everything in its path. It was the void, eating the other side from within._

 _The Travelers were doing this, with the help of the doppelganger blood._

 _A ring of fire and three faceless shadows standing inside._

 _They will come for you, not yet but in time._

 _A purple dahlia in full bloom._

 _The first born._

Bonnie's knees gave out and she sunk to the ground gasping for air.

There were so many images. Her brain was overloaded with them.

* * *

Klaus took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He stood inside a circle of candles. Lucy, Lenore, and Joanna stood in front of him, holding hands. They were ready to begin chanting.

Abby placed a small copper bowl filled with blood at his feet. "Bennett blood," she murmured standing up. She was supposed to get out of the circle so the others could begin chanting but she didn't. Instead, she stared at the hybrid.

Klaus opened his eyes upon feeling her gaze on him.

Abby watched him with uncertainty. It looked like she wanted to say something. She opened her mouth but then she closed it again.

"What?" Klaus snapped annoyed by her presence. They had to do the spell, they couldn't keep wasting time. She needed to get out of the way.

Abby cleared her throat. "You are bonded to Bonnie," she began nervously. "You need to think of her, of that bond, that link between you is the key." She took a deep breath. "You must call her to you. Call her with all of your strength, please…" she begged, her voice breaking with emotion. "This spell is complex. We might only have one shot at doing it," she swallowed the lump in her throat. "You must concentrate. You have to think of her and use your connection in order to bring her back to us." As the anchor of the spell, Klaus had to make it work.

Klaus looked away from her, staring at the wall behind her head. "I can't feel the bond," he confessed in a hardly audible whisper.

Abby was stunned for a moment. Not by what he said, but by the look on his face, in his eyes, as he turned to face her. The pain reflected in his eyes was something she never thought she would see in the usually arrogant hybrid. It was replaced quickly with a mask of indifference.

 _You really care for her don't you?_ Abby thought sadly. As much as she wanted to hate him, to blame him for Bonnie's disappearing, for the danger that being with him and having his children brought her, she couldn't. Specially after seeing that anguished look, it had been brief but he had allowed her to see his pain, to know that he cared.

"It doesn't mean it's not there," Abby murmured softly. "You may not feel the bond for whatever reason but she's carrying your children, she has your blood in her system as you have hers. With or without the bond, you are connected. You are united by blood, your children's blood. Nothing can break that. Nothing can take that from you."

Klaus frowned. She sounded so certain. He found himself desperately wanting to believe her.

"Call her to you. Summon her. Bring her back," Abby urged him. "She will come. For you, she would go to the deepest of hell." _Because she loves you_ , Abby thought as she stared into his eyes. _She loves you_ _and that love will bring her back._ "The anchor is the key to the success of the spell. Bring her back, Klaus."

Klaus nodded. This was perhaps the most civil conversation they had ever had. They would never be friends but a sense of understanding passed between them in that moment. They both loved Bonnie and that was all that mattered.

Abby got out of the circle and moved to stand next to Angelica. She took a deep breath and prayed to her dead ancestors this would work.

Elijah, Rebekah, Matt, and Belle waited nervously near them, on the other side of the room.

The Bennett witches began chanting.

Everyone held their breath as they waited and watched.

The circle of candles around Klaus lit up at once.

He closed his eyes and thought of Bonnie. _Come to me, my love._ Klaus thought. He lost himself in the countless of memories he had of her, the first time he saw her, their first kiss, their first night together, the first time he heard the twins' heartbeat, their last kiss, so many memories, so many moments together. He used all of them to fuel his determination, his will to bring her back. _Come back to me_ , he thought as he felt the powerful surge of power inside the circle.

Elijah's eyes were glued to Lucy's face. He could see a frown on her flushed face. He knew the soul shattering spell had taken a toll on her and this spell was going to put an ever higher strain on her body. He couldn't help but feel worried.

"It's going to work right?" Belle murmured. She was biting her nails from all the anxiousness she felt.

Angelica nodded and offered her a small smile. She couldn't help but feel worried. There was no guarantee the spell would work, they could only hope it would.

Matt squeezed Rebekah's hand. "I feel so useless," he muttered. He wished he could do something more than just stand there and wait for the spell to work.

"You're not the only one love," Rebekah said as she kept her eyes on Klaus. _Please let it work_ , Rebekah thought. The spell had to work.

Abby frowned when she noticed one of the candles die out. "Something is not right," she murmured. That should not be happening.

Elijah and Rebekah turned to look at her, they had heard her clearly.

"What do you mean?" Elijah asked, looking from Abby to the three Bennett witches outside the circle. They kept on chanting, everything looked normal.

Another candle burned down.

"That's not supposed to happen," Abby said as she pointed towards it.

"What's going on?" Rebekah asked nervously.

For a long time, it seemed that Abby was not going to say anything. She looked deep in thought.

A third candle died out.

Abby's eyes widened with a horrible realization, "someone is tampering with the spell."

Not a second later, all the candles burned out at once.

Lucy, Joanna, and Lenore stumbled back as the spell was broken by an unexpected force.

Klaus's eyes snapped open. His face shifted. "Where is she?" he hissed.

No one dared to utter a word.

* * *

Bonnie gasped as the images stop abruptly. Her entire body shook uncontrollably. She was still trying to process what she had seen when she felt a strange pull.

Bonnie blinked in confusion. Something was wrong. She felt another pull. It was like something or someone was calling her.

 _Come to me, my love._

 _Klaus_ , the voice she heard in her head sounded just like Klaus. Bonnie stood up on shaky legs. She looked around half expecting Klaus to appear out of nowhere. He didn't, of course.

A strange light appeared above her head, nearly blinding her. It cascaded down her body, enveloping her in a soothing and gentle cocoon of magic.

 _Home,_ Bonnie thought suddenly. It was pulling her home. To Klaus, she grinned like a fool and her heart sped up, her entire body thrummed with happiness. Her family was summoning her home, she could feel it.

"It's time," Charlotte said sadly.

Bonnie turned to her, an anguished look on her face. How she wished she could take Charlotte with her. She opened her mouth but didn't get the chance to say anything because a strong wind knocked her down on her knees.

 _What the hell?_

A chill went down her spine, something felt wrong. Her senses were alerting her to the danger surrounding her.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the wind picked up.

The light above her, that had seemed warm and friendly was suddenly engulfed by a dark and sinister cloud. The strange magic pushed the light away from Bonnie.

There was another pull. This one was stronger than the last. It yanked her body upwards. It hurt her.

Bonnie screamed, taken completely by surprised. It reminded her of the strange and dark magic that had abducted her from her home.

 _No,_ Bonnie thought fearfully. She had to be taken by the light, not the dark cloud of magic. The light was her ticket home.

"Bonnie!" Kol yelled as he noticed what was happening. He tried to get to her but the rocks once again flung him back.

"Uh-oh," Charlotte said watching in horror as Bonnie's body contorted in pain. "That's not supposed to be happening." She turned to the statue, the one she called mother. "Help her," she pleaded. "Mama you have to help Bonnie, please." She begged as tears streamed down her face. The dark cloud was not supposed to be there. "It's hurting her, mama please!"

Bonnie screamed. On the one hand, she felt the pull, the call of the light magic which wanted to take her home. On the other, her body burned in agony as the dark magic latched itself at her, tugging her in the opposite direction.

It was like two different spells had come for her at once. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Once again her body found itself in a tug of war between two powerful forces. Except, this time it was not her magic. This time the tug of war was between the light magic summoning her home and the dark magic trying to teleport her to somewhere unknown.

 _Not again, please no._ Bonnie closed her eyes, doing her best to withstand the two powerful forces pulling her in different directions. She did her best to block everything out and concentrate on her own magic. She had to summon her magic. She needed her magic to help her. She was not going to let herself be taken again.

 _I just want to go home,_ Bonnie thought as she pushed herself to hold on, to fight the magic pulling at her.

"Bonnie!" Charlotte screamed in desperation. "I'm going to help you Bonnie, hold on."

Kol's voice could be heard in the distance.

Bonnie paid no attention to them. She closed her eyes and used every last bit of her strength to call upon her magic. It took longer than she expected or wanted to, for whatever reason her magic seemed blocked at first but she pushed through it, forcing her magic to come to the surface.

The pain she felt when she did that was unexpected but she had no time to dwell on it.

The blast of power that left her body shook the entire clearing. It blasted the dark magic away from her and destroyed it completely.

There was a scream.

A hand grabbed her arm.

Bonnie disappeared in a whirl of her own magic.

* * *

Pain shot up her back as she hit a hard surface. Bonnie blinked in confusion, gasping for air, and shaking uncontrollably.

She didn't land where the Travelers tried to teleport her to.

She didn't land at the plantation home either.

She landed somewhere, alone, confused, and in pain.

Bonnie was so disoriented. She had no idea where she was or how exactly she got there. Only that somehow, she had manged to use her magic and prevented the dark magic from taking her.

The sun was setting, that was the first thing she noticed as she struggled to catch her breath. Her vision was blurry and her skin felt on fire. She was burning from the inside out. It hurt.

Bonnie rolled to her side and whimpered as she felt a small cramp in her stomach. It reminded her of the ones she got before her period. _Oh god, the twins,_ she thought fearfully. _Please don't let anything happen to my babies, please…_

"Bonnie."

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of that voice.

Kol was sitting next to her, a stunned look on his face. "What the bloody hell was that?" The last thing he remembered was Charlotte lowering the barrier that surrounded the rocks and ordering him to help Bonnie. He had sped towards the witch and managed to grab her arm before being pulled into a magical cloud.

He was still shaking.

Bonnie opened her mouth but the only sound that came out was a cry of pain. She felt another cramp. _No, please…no…_ tears rolled down her cheeks. She was in so much pain she could hardly move.

"What's wrong?" Kol asked with concern. He tried to touch her shoulder but his hands went through her body. He gasped in shock. It suddenly dawned on him. They were no longer on the other side. They were in the land of the living. Somehow Bonnie's magic had pulled his spirits out and brought him with her. "Oh shit!" Bonnie had pulled his spirit out of the other side. He felt so happy he could cry.

Bonnie clutched her stomach and curled herself into a fetal position.

"Bonnie," Kol looked frantically around their surroundings trying to figure out where they were. It looked like a cemetery. It seemed familiar. He was pretty sure they were in New Orleans. "What do I do?" he asked turning back to her. She looked so tiny, so fragile. "How can I help you?" he was a fucking spirit, he couldn't exactly carry her out of there but he would do his best to help her. He had to. His stomach sank and the happiness he felt at being out of the other side turned into guilt. "Tell me what to do?" he asked with desperation.

Bonnie couldn't utter a single word. The look on her face was one of pure fear. She cried out when she felt another cramp, this one was stronger than the ones before. She felt a sudden gush of liquid between her legs, dampening her underwear and jeans.

With pure agonizing horror, Bonnie realized she was bleeding.


	38. Chapter 38

Klaus felt it.

The moment Bonnie returned to the land of the living, he knew.

The bond came alive once more, pulsing with strength and conflicting emotions. It hit him so suddenly. He gasped and clutched his chest by the unexpected emotions that slammed through him. He had been pacing around the living room, feeling enraged and cursing under his breath after the failed summoning spell. And now, he could feel Bonnie once more.

"Nik, are you alright?" it was Rebekah who suddenly noticed his change in demeanor.

"Brother," Elijah moved closer, noticing that something was wrong.

Klaus closed his eyes and tuned everything out, focusing solely on the bond. Bonnie's emotions cut through his very soul. There was uncertainty, fear, and pain. So much pain, that Klaus's heart ached for her.

 _Where are you?_

The image came to his mind almost immediately.

 _A cemetery in the French Quarter, Bonnie curled into a ball, tears streaming down her terrified face_.

He knew where she was, he knew where to find her. Klaus took off at vampire speed without saying anything or giving anyone an explanation. His only desire was to get to Bonnie as soon as possible.

Bonnie was back. Bonnie was close. Bonnie was scared and in pain. Bonnie needed him. That was all that matter. That was all he cared about.

"What's going on?" Angelica asked.

"Niklaus!" Elijah called after him.

"Where are you-" Rebekah didn't even get to finish, in the next second Klaus was gone. She and Elijah shared a look and the two siblings proceeded to follow the Original hybrid out of the house.

"Wait!" Matt's plea fell on deaf ears. The three Original siblings disappeared as quickly as lightning.

"What the hell was that?" Lucy asked confused about the whole thing.

Everyone was confused.

"He knows where Bonnie is," Abby murmured. The hope she felt in her heart was sweet as honey. Klaus had sensed Bonnie once more, it was the only explanation. _Please let my daughter me okay,_ she pleaded to her dead ancestors. _Please let Bonnie and her children be safe_.

* * *

Bonnie's dreams were strange and confusing.

At first, she was flying. She was so high up in the sky, she was practically one with the clouds. The wind blew her hair over her face but she didn't care. She felt free. There was no fear, there was no pain, only a strange kind of freedom. She felt at peace, she felt safe. Oh how wonderful it was, to feel that way. She continued to fly and fly and wander aimlessly through the white and puffy clouds. There was no destination, no stopping, she simply floated about, in a reality all of her own.

Then she was drowning. Her body fought to stay afloat, to push herself to the surface so she could breathe once more. It was in vain. Her muscles cramped as she struggled to swim up. Every time she tried to go up, a hand clamped around her ankle and pulled her down into the dark and cold water. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. She sunk helplessly to the bottom.

Then came the fire. Bonnie was inside a ring of fire. There were so many faceless figures surrounding her, chanting in a strange language she didn't recognize or understand. They had powerful magic. Different from her own magic, from any traditional form of magic actually. They were burning her, they were hurting her. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't escape the ring of fire. Her magic was useless, it was blocked by them. She couldn't use it to defend herself. She cried for help but no one heard her.

Then Bonnie was running, her feet digging painfully on the swampy ground. She was in the bayou; barefooted, confused, alone, and so cold her bones hurt. A wolf howled in the distance. It was the brown beast with sharp teeth and bloodied fur from her dreams. He was chasing her. He wanted her. He longed to devour her.

She kept running even when she felt cramps on her legs. Her body was covered in sweat and her chest hurt with each of her breaths.

The mud on her feet became more slippery. She stumbled once, twice, three times before she finally looked down. To her horror, she realized she wasn't stepping over mud but over blood; warm, rich crimson color blood that went up to her knees.

"What is this?" she wondered to no one in particular for she was alone. She didn't understand where all this blood was coming from.

There was an ugly red stain on her white nightgown. The blood was not coming from the ground but from her, she was bleeding.

Bonnie cried out when she felt a strong pain in her bulging belly. "No…" There was another wave of pain that rolled over her body. She fell to her knees, shaking with fear.

The wolf trotted to her side. He stopped a few inches away from her and began to shift.

Bonnie closed her eyes and clutched her stomach. She felt a hot liquid gush out of her. It was more blood. She touched herself, feeling afraid and confused. This wasn't supposed to be happening. This couldn't be happening.

She looked down at her shaky fingers and screamed when she saw the clots of blood. Her babies, her sweet innocent babies, it couldn't be. "No, please…no…"

"It's for the best," the wolf had become a man. Not a mask man, no, not anymore. Bonnie knew his face now.

Franco was naked, hard, and watching her with unwavering lust. He got down on his knees in front of her. His hand reached out towards her face, touching her cheek.

Bonnie flinched and turned her face away in disgust. She couldn't do much more, it hurt.

"Don't worry my sweet," Franco whispered leaning his face closer. "Once you purge these abominations out of you, we shall make more babies, true wolf pups, you will see."

Bonnie screamed when she felt another wave of pain and Franco's hot and horrible breath on her skin. He licked her cheek before he claimed her lips in a possessive kiss.

It was the kiss of death.

Klaus

Where was Klaus?

* * *

A moan slipped past her lips as she slowly came out of the darkness. She heard a slight beeping sound. Her ears buzzed, her body felt heavy, and she was hot, so hot she felt like she was suffocating.

As she slowly came awake she realized she was lying on a bed and something was hooked to her arm. She wrinkled her nose as she was invaded with a strange and unfamiliar scent. There was a strong antiseptic smell that mixed with another more familiar one.

Blood

The scent of blood lingered in the room. There was something else too, a strong and powerful presence near her. It moved closer.

Confusion

Panic

Fear

Bonnie gasped. Her body jerked and her eyes flew open in alarm. She sat up immediately. It was an involuntary reaction, an adrenaline rush that had her body on high alert and ready to go. All of a sudden the heaviness in her body and the tiredness she felt were replaced by the fear that laced her veins and the need to run, to escape, to fight whatever foe came her way.

In that moment, her only thought was to get as far away as possible. She was in danger, she needed to escape. She had to get away. Her feverish dreams haunted her.

The spirits, the darkness, they wanted to hurt her. The ring of fire with the strange and faceless group, Franco and his lust for her, she had to get away from them. She had to run.

There was a wave of dizziness as she tried to get out of the bed and run out of the room. Her vision blurred. Her eyes were wild, unfocused, she couldn't really see anything just shapes and colors. Her muscles protested by the suddenness of her movements. It hurt. Despite the adrenaline rush, her body was too tired to do as her mind wanted.

The wave of pain that invaded her body halted her movements.

"It's alright, you're alright." An all too familiar voice said quietly from her side. Strong hands touched her shoulders and pushed her gently back on the bed. "You're safe sweetheart."

She knew that voice. That voice was familiar. It was a voice she had missed, a voice she had longed to hear. It was a voice that made her feels safe.

 _Klaus_

She could feel him once more. He was there, standing close to her. She could feel his presence in the room. She could feel him in her blood. She could feel his hands on her skin. Klaus was with her.

The bond was back. It pulsed with life and strength. In the darkness that invaded her mind, the bond was a beacon of light that brought a sense of reassurance and comfort. She knew that with Klaus she was safe.

Bonnie blinked up in confusion. She felt so disoriented, so out of it, she could hardly make up his face. She shivered as she struggled to understand what was going on.

Klaus's face loomed over her. It was blurry. She couldn't really see any of his features. But he was there, the knowledge that Klaus was there with her put her at ease. The tension that rolled over her body since the moment she woke up slowly began to dissipate.

 _What's wrong with me?_

She tried to speak but no sound came out of her mouth. Her right arm shot up and her hand balled into his shirt. It hurt. Doing that hurt, but she needed to touch him, she needed to make sure that this was real, that she wasn't dreaming or imagining his presence.

Tears blurred her vision. _Why did it hurt? What's going on?_

"It's okay," Klaus murmured. He touched her forehead with one hand while the other moved to the hand clamped on his shirt. "You need to rest, love. You've been through a lot."

There was so much pain in his voice, so much anguish and fear echoing through the bond. _Why?_

"You're safe," Klaus whispered. His hand moved from her forehead to her cheek. "You're safe now."

His hand was cold. Not ice cold, but it was colder than she remembered. It felt nice. His touch was cool and welcoming on her heated skin. She had missed his hands on her skin. Klaus's touch was always welcomed.

Bonnie swallowed thickly, her throat was parched. She stared up at him, not knowing where she was or what had happened. Her eyelids fluttered close but she forced herself to keep them open, so she could stare into his blurry face.

She whimpered. She didn't want to go back to that abyss of darkness. She didn't want to be there. She wanted to stay here with him. _Don't let me go_ , she wanted to plead but once again, no sound came out of her mouth. She couldn't speak. _Please don't leave me_ , Bonnie felt afraid. She felt like she was about to fall into a precipice and there would be no way out. She didn't want that. She was so tired of running for her life.

Bonnie tried once more to speak but only a strange sound came out, it didn't make any sense. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to ask, but she didn't. She couldn't. Her body hurt and it felt so hot, she was burning.

"You need to rest," Klaus said gently. "Everything is going to be fine. I promise." He continued to caress her cheek and Bonnie did her best to lean into his touch. She needed it. His touch was soothing and his presence made her feel safe.

She could hear his voice clearly. He sounded so sure. But underneath it all, she could feel the worry, the fear and uncertainty coming from him. She could it feel now, because the bond was back. She should feel happy about that, but all she felt was the pain and the heat on her skin. That was the only thing at the forefront of her mind.

 _Don't be scared_ , Bonnie wanted to say to him. _I'm fine._ But she couldn't utter a word. She felt so tired, so weak, she couldn't think straight. There was something. Something she should be asking, something she was worried about but in her hazy and feverish state she couldn't remember what it was.

Her eyelids fluttered close once more. She tried to fight the darkness, she did, but she was so tired.

Klaus said something else but Bonnie didn't hear it.

Her eyes closed again and her head slumped to the side as the darkness invaded her once more.

The last thing she felt before she lost consciousness, was Klaus's gentle hand on her belly and the soft kiss he deposited on her forehead.

 _The twins._

* * *

"I hate this," Lucy murmured as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. She and Elijah were sitting outside Bonnie's room. They had been waiting for hours and they had yet to receive good news.

"She's going to be fine," Elijah reassured her. He studied her face. Lucy looked so tense, she was ready to bolt out of there really.

"I hate hospitals," Lucy mumbled as she felt his gaze on her skin. "I haven't been in one since Natalie…" she trailed off. Thinking of her sister always hurt.

Elijah nodded in understanding. He reached out with his hand and brushed his fingers against hers. He wasn't sure if she would allow him to take her hand but he wanted to give her some sort of comfort.

Lucy surprised him however, by taking his hand in hers. Elijah gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"What do you think happened to her?" Lucy asked keeping her eyes closed and holding his hand. It felt nice. His hand was warm, strong, and his touch helped calm the nerves and chased away the fears that plagued her. Who knew one simple touch could help so much.

"I don't know." Elijah would like to know so he could go find them and rip them apart. Whoever had hurt Bonnie was going to pay dearly.

Klaus hadn't said much. Elijah and Rebekah had tracked him down to a cemetery in the French Quarter. The powerful scent of Bonnie's blood had hit them the moment they arrived. Bonnie had been in Klaus's arms by then. She was pale, shaking, and clutching her stomach as she whimpered in pain. And the blood, her jeans had been coated with blood.

It was a sight Elijah would never forget. Nor would he ever forget the fear in his brother's eyes as he forced his blood down Bonnie's throat. Klaus had picked up Bonnie in his arms and carried her at hybrid speed to Dr. Mayfair's clinic, where Bonnie had been for the past few hours.

Rebekah had called Matt and the others to inform them that they had found Bonnie. The human had arrived at the private clinic with Abby and Lucy in tow an hour later, after breaking every traffic law possible.

The five of them waited outside the room Bonnie was in. They had been waiting for hours and the only thing they had been told, was that Bonnie was fighting some sort of infection.

Abby was pacing up and down the hall, muttering to herself. Every time there was a little noise or the sound of the door opening she would look up, hopeful that it would be good news. There had been no luck so far. Only the nurses moved in and out of the room and every time one of them asked for news they answered the same thing. They had work to do and they didn't like to be stopped every time they ventured out of the room. Compulsion didn't work either. Abby and Rebekah had tried only to receive deathly glares. The nurses working for Dr. Mayfair were witches and they were not intimidated by vampires.

Dr. Mayfair had only allowed Klaus inside the room. She hadn't wanted anyone inside while she tended to Bonnie but Klaus had insisted and barged his way in. The wise doctor knew better than to protest.

Lucy continued to hold Elijah's hand as they waited.

Matt and Rebekah sat across from them, holding hands as well.

Abby continued to pace up and down the hall.

No one said anything.

With every hour that went by, the fear that the worst would happen became stronger.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"Remind me again why we're here?" Jesse asked Alexa as he took a sip of his beer. They sat on a booth in the corner of a dim lit bar on the outskirts of the city. Nate sat next to Alexa while Jesse sat across from them. They had arrived before sundown and Jesse was losing his mind. Nate and Alexa had their own plan and they had yet to share it with him.

Alexa ignored him as she finished the last touches of make-up on her pretty face. She wanted to look her best.

Jesse turned to Nate. "Come on man, Klaus gave us a mission and instead of wasting our time here drinking we should be trying to find a way inside the Navarro mansion."

"Wait and see," Nate replied. He was in his early twenties with light brown hair and bright blue eyes. He and Alexa shared knowing looks.

"You guys are planning something and I want to know what," Jesse said angrily. It was obvious Alexa and Nate were friends, it was obvious the blonde trusted the other hybrid more than she did Jesse. It was fine by him, he didn't give a damn about her but Klaus had given them orders and Jesse wanted to fulfill them, not waste time at some fucking bar.

Alexa's red lips curved as she shared a complicit look with Nate. "Watch and learn," she told Jesse with a smirk.

The hybrid was about to protest when Nate cut him off. "He's here."

"Who?"

All three of them turned towards the door, a man dressed casually in black stepped inside the bar as if he owned the place. Five men followed after him, surveying the patrons inside the bar. Werewolves, Jesse realized. All six men were without a doubt werewolves.

The young man smirked and gave flirty smiles to a group of college girls in the corner. There was something about him, an air of arrogance, of self importance. _Pompous ass_ , Jesse thought, deciding in that moment that he didn't like him at all.

"You got this," Nate turned to look at Alexa.

"I'll be fine." Alexa muttered standing up and taking her black leather jacket off. She was wearing a dark green top with a low cut v-neck that proudly displayed her cleavage.

"What are you doing?" Jesse asked.

Alexa pulled her long blonde hair out of her ponytail and smiled. "Doing what our sire ordered." She turned around and headed for the bar.

Jesse watched her. She was a bitch, he couldn't really stand her, but damn did she have a nice ass.

He wasn't the only one watching. Plenty of men took notice of the pretty blonde that ordered a drink with a flirty smile on her lips- including pompous ass who immediately did a double take and strolled up to her.

Jesse rolled his eyes.

"Hello beautiful," pompous ass greeted.

"Hi," Alexa giggled and played with a strand of her hair. She was definitely playing the part of the dumb blonde well.

Pompous ass waved his bodyguards away. Two of them moved to the back of the bar, the other stood by the entrance while the last one kept a watchful eye on his charge from a nearby table.

"Who the fuck is this idiot?" Jesse wondered out loud. He couldn't help but feel annoyed by him.

Nate snorted. "You haven't done your homework have you?"

Jesse glared. "Care to give me some notes?"

"He comes to this bar almost every night, leaving with a different girl each time, sometimes more than one girl," Nate informed him. "Arrogant, spoiled, thinks he has the world at his feet, gives endless headaches to his bodyguards."

 _Yeah that sounds about right_ , Jesse thought as he turned back to Alexa.

"I'm Allie," she introduced herself.

"Isaac," pompous ass replied kissing the back of her hand.

She giggled like an idiot. "You're so charming."

Jesse turned to Nate as everything suddenly clicked into place once he heard that name. Pompous ass was Isaac Navarro, Franco's youngest brother. He opened his mouth.

Nate nodded before Jesse could ask out loud.

"This was your plan all along," Jesse murmured as he watched as Isaac and Alexa continued to flirt.

"Not my plan," Nate said. He had suggested burning the Navarro mansion in order to lure the brothers out and rescue the baby vampire. "This was Alexa's plan."

They both looked at the couple. Isaac was lightly touching Alexa's arm, the lust in his eyes was unmistakable. Alexa smiled and leaned into him pretending to be fully engrossed in what he was saying. The look on her eyes told Jesse she was not impressed at all by the idiot trying to take her to bed.

Jesse shook his head but he found himself smiling.

"The minute they step out, we take the bodyguards out," Nate said in a whisper. "Alexa will knock him out. If everything goes well, we'll be in New Orleans by sunrise."

Jesse nodded. He kept his eyes on the blonde girl. There was more to Alexa than met the eye, he realized. He had always judged her based on her cringe worthy crush on Klaus but for the first time he was seeing another side to her, a very cunning side.

Isaac continued to think he was charming her pants off.

"He really has no idea of the danger he's in," Jesse murmured. He was even surprised he hadn't sense Alexa's supernatural nature. _What kind of werewolf was Isaac Navarro?_ Then again not many wolves could sense their hybrid natures.

"He's not exactly known for his brains," Nate muttered.

"That I believe," Jesse said with a snort.

The wolf had just become the prey.

* * *

The next time Bonnie opened her eyes, it was morning. She blinked a few times as she slowly became aware of her surroundings. She was in a hospital room. The walls were a dull white as was the ceiling.

She turned her head to the side, her eyes immediately connecting with Klaus's. He was sitting on a chair next to the bed. He stood up and moved closer.

"Hi," Bonnie said. Her voice sounded raspy. Her throat felt really dry.

"Hi," Klaus greeted back. He touched her forehead and he breathed a sigh of relief. "The fever is gone," he smiled down at her.

"Water…"

Klaus used his vampire speed and moved to the other side of the room where there was a pitcher of water and two small cups.

Bonnie slowly pulled the bed into a sitting position. Her hands immediately moved down to her belly. Her bump was still there. She closed her eyes, remembering the pain, the horror, the anguish she felt when she realized she was bleeding. Everything was a blur after that. _Had she been flying? Running maybe, or had it all just been a dream?_

Her brain felt cloudy. Had she imagined being on the other side and seeing the spirits? No, that part was real. She rubbed her hand over her stomach. _Where the twins okay?_ A sense of dread penetrated her skin. The fear she felt made her bones hurt.

"Here you go, love."

Bonnie's eyes snapped open. She stared at Klaus's outstretch hand with the cup of water before moving her gaze up into his face. "Tell me they're okay…" she swallowed the lump on her throat. Her heart constricted with the thought that something was wrong. She would never forgive herself if her babies were not okay. She couldn't bear the thought of losing them.

"They're fine," Klaus said softly.

Bonnie choked back a sob as a wave of relief washed over her body. The twins were okay, her babies were fine. "You can hear their heartbeats?" she asked, she just wanted to make sure.

"Two strong heartbeats'," Klaus replied with a soft smile. He had monitored the twins' heartbeats throughout the whole night. While Bonnie had been mumbling under her breath, fighting the fever and infection that had plagued her body, Klaus had held her hand, murmuring words of comfort as he concentrated on those two tiny beating hearts.

Bonnie smiled weakly. Now that she knew her children were fine, she could breathe a sigh of relief once more. She took the cup of water with shaky fingers and drank all of it. She was so thirsty. "Thank-you," she murmured handing it back.

Klaus placed the cup back on the table before flashing back to her side and sitting on the bed next to her. He took her hand in his.

For a moment neither of them said anything. They simply stared at each other. It seemed surreal, to be here holding hands, after the hell they had been through. There was so much they wanted to say, so much that had happened, but neither could find their voices.

The door opened and Dr. Mayfair stepped inside the room, followed by a nurse. "Good morning Bonnie," she smiled seeing that she was awake and sitting.

"Morning," Bonnie mumbled. She kept holding Klaus's hand. She did not want to let go, ever.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Mayfair moved to the other side of the bed and touched her forehead. "The fever is gone, that's very good."

"Tired," Bonnie answered. "What happened?" she looked from Dr. Mayfair to Klaus. She was pretty certain she had landed in a cemetery.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Dr. Mayfair questioned.

"The pain," Bonnie whispered. "I was bleeding." She shivered as she remembered the cramps and the blood that gushed out her.

"You had what we medically call, a threatened miscarriage," Dr. Mayfair informed her gently. "Which basically means, that you had some vaginal bleeding and some abdominal pain but the pregnancy still continues."

Bonnie's hand clutched Klaus's in a tight grip as she heard the Doctor's words.

"Bleeding during the first trimester of pregnancy happens far more often than people think," Dr. Mayfair continued. She regarded Bonnie's face carefully as she said her next words. "When you came in, the bleeding had stopped. But you had a high fever and your body seemed to be battling a strange infection."

"I gave you my blood when I found you," Klaus told her as he sat back next to her on the bed and wrapped his left arm around her shaky shoulders. He continued to hold Bonnie's hand with his right.

"That combined with the twins' own hybrid blood stopped the bleeding," Dr. Mayfair said. "The twins were in distress for a bit but Klaus's blood helped stabilize them and it also helped the infection in your body."

"What kind of infection?" Bonnie asked quietly.

"We're not sure," Dr. Mayfair admitted. "I ran some blood test but I have never seen this type of virus before. I sent a sample to a special lab in Virginia to do some further testing." She looked at Bonnie's arm. "I believe the infection was caused by a magical virus that entered your system through a slight cut you had in your arm. You had cuts on both of your arms actually."

Bonnie gasped, remembering that the spirits had attacked her. She remembered the swirl of dark magic that had slashed her skin open while she had encountered them on the other side. "Do I still have that virus?" she asked fearfully.

"The hybrid blood in your system aided your own magic to destroy the virus, that's what caused the fever." Dr. Mayfair told her. "I'm going to run more test and I'm keeping you over night just in case but it looks like it's gone."

Bonnie nodded. "I didn't know magical viruses could exist," she mumbled more to herself. _Had the spirits done it on purpose?_ She wondered. _Had that been part of their plan?_

"They're extremely rare but it happens," Dr. Mayfair said.

"The twins," Bonnie looked into Dr. Mayfair's eyes. "They're okay, the virus didn't hurt them?"

"Your twins are extraordinary, Bonnie." Dr. Mayfair stared at her, an astonished look on her face. "While your magic fought the infection in your body, the twins were protected by their own magic." She had never seen anything like it. She had monitored the twins throughout the whole night, giving Bonnie doses of Klaus's blood to help her fight the infection. There was nothing else that she could do given Bonnie's condition. She had just made sure Bonnie was comfortable as her immune system took care of the rest. Throughout the whole thing the twins had been protected in their own little cocoon of magic.

"But," Bonnie could see it in her eyes. There was something more she wanted to say.

Dr. Mayfair took a deep breath and adjusted her glasses. "You know that I am an empath," she began.

Bonnie nodded.

"I'm pretty good at keeping everyone's emotions out," Dr. Mayfair said. "But it helps with my patients." She paused for a few seconds, considering her words. "The levels of stress, of anxiety, and fear I feel coming from you are through the roof." She met Bonnie's eyes. "That's not good, for you or for the well-being of your children."

Bonnie looked down at her bump. Klaus gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"In the past twenty four hours or more, your body has been put through the wringer," Dr. Mayfair continued. "You are exhausted Bonnie, physically and magically. Your body was put under so much strain it caused the twins distress," she explained.

Bonnie's eyes watered as she looked up. "I tapped into their magic didn't I?" She had felt pain. When she had forced her magic out to stop the dark cloud that wanted to take her, she had used their magic, Bonnie felt sure now.

Everything had happened so fast. She had been so desperate to fight the spirits, to get away from the cloud of darkness that was threatening to take her away and the teleporting she did in and out of the other side. She had never stopped to think how all of that could affect her children. She had been on a rush to escape, she hadn't thought of their well-being at all. Now, that she was no longer running for her life, now that she could think of everything she had been through, she couldn't believe it. _How could she have been so careless?_

"Yes, you did." Dr. Mayfair confirmed.

"That's what caused the bleeding," Bonnie bit her lip, the guilt ate her up inside. "It was my fault." She had put her babies at risk. She had nearly lost them and it had all been because of her carelessness. She was a terrible mother. She had endangered her twins. In her desperation to return home, to use her magic to protect herself she had used theirs instead and nearly lost them for it.

"Don't say that," Klaus muttered pulling her closer. "It wasn't your fault, sweetheart."

"Yes, it was." A few tears spilled down her cheeks as she glanced at Klaus. "She told me it could happen, I should have known. I should've been careful." She turned back to Dr. Mayfair. "I didn't mean to."

"I know." Dr. Mayfair placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Bonnie visibly relaxed under her soothing touch. "Don't blame yourself, what happened, happened. Your twins are fine. What we need to do now, it's to make sure this never happens again."

"I'll do anything to keep them safe." Bonnie told her.

Dr. Mayfair nodded. "You were very lucky Bonnie," she said with sincerity. "But just because your twins have magic from the womb and hybrid blood in their system does not mean that they are invincible." She looked from Bonnie to Klaus as she said it. "And you are not invincible either," she turned back to Bonnie. "You need to take care of yourself Bonnie. You must, if you want to carry this pregnancy to term and deliver healthy children." Her tone was soft, gentle, but also firm. She needed Bonnie to understand the severity of the situation.

"What can we do?" Klaus asked.

"Right now, Bonnie needs to recuperate." Dr. Mayfair told them. "Which is why, I'm ordering you two weeks of bed rest."

"Okay," Bonnie was going to do everything she needed to ensure the twins safety.

"No lifting or carrying anything heavy or running down the stairs. I want you to get as much rest, peace, and quiet as you possibly can." Dr. Mayfair said. "You can get up to shower, eat, walk around the house for a bit, maybe take a nice stroll in the garden now that the temperatures are cooling off," she suggested with a smile. "Just no strenuous activities for the next two weeks, no sex, and no magic," she made sure to emphasized.

Bonnie and Klaus nodded.

"After the ordeal you've been put through, your body needs to heal," Dr. Mayfair continued. "You need to rest and recharge those batteries before you can resume your normal life." She turned to the nurse and made a motion with her head. "I think you will feel much better if you were able to see the little ones."

"Can I?" Bonnie asked in a tiny whisper.

In that moment Dr. Mayfair's heart went out to her. She was struck by how young Bonnie truly was. Such a young girl and she seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. "Absolutely," she said with a smile.

A few minutes later,

Bonnie was finally able to smile, a true genuine smile as she gazed at the monitor and saw the twins. They were fine, they were wiggling and their heartbeats were normal. She and Klaus shared a loving smile before turning back to stare at the monitor, where all their happiness was reflected.

Knowing that they were okay helped but seeing them, actually looking at them with her own eyes and seeing the proof that they were fine made all the difference. Only when Bonnie finally saw them did the fear left her body.

Their children were fine and that was all that mattered.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"The Travelers have not been able to locate her sir," Christian's voice could be heard through the speaker.

Franco Navarro stood by the window, glass of whiskey in one hand. He contemplated the garden as he listened to everything Christian had to say.

"I expected better from you," Franco said turning towards the phone on the desk. "Your failure in this mission is disappointing Christian."

"We will get her, I promise you."

Franco didn't say anything. He simply ended the call. He was in no mood to deal with incompetents like Christian. It was supposed to be a simple mission but everything was going wrong. He felt on edge, as if his control were slipping through his fingers, he didn't like it.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. "Come in."

His brother Luis stepped inside. "I have some very important news."

"Good news, I hope."

Luis pressed his lips together as he closed the door and moved further inside the room. It was anything but good news. "Klaus Mikaelson has single handedly defeated Marcel Gerard's army," Luis informed him. "Klaus is once again the King of New Orleans."

Franco growled. His fingers tightened so hard on the glass that it shattered, splashing his hand with whiskey and cutting his palm with the shards. He hissed. _Fucking Klaus Mikaelson_ , he thought angrily.

"We cannot keep waiting for them to make the first move," Luis said studying his brother's angry face carefully. "The time has come, we must act now." They couldn't keep letting Klaus's power to continue to grow. "We have to stop him, it's now or never, brother."

Franco pressed his lips together and contemplated his brother. He nodded. "The time has come indeed." War was unavoidable. The time had come to fight and restore their species to power, to fulfill his father's dreams.

The door burst open and a frantic Victor stepped inside. "We have a problem."

"What's going on?" Luis asked as he saw the worried look on his face.

"It's Isaac," Victor replied still trying to catch his breath.

"What has he done this time?" Franco was getting really tired of his younger brother's antics.

"He didn't come home last night, he's not answering his cell, he's missing," Victor informed them.

"He's probably with one of his whores," Franco said dismissively. "It's all he does these days, drink until sunrise and spent his inheritance on lecherous women." He had even had the audacity to bring them to the mansion, something that Franco had forbidden. His younger brother was always giving him a headache.

Luis frowned.

"The five wolves you had protecting him were found dead in an alley this morning," Victor snapped angrily. "Isaac is nowhere to be found. He's missing."

Luis pulled his cell phone out. "I'll have my people look for him," he said before giving instructions to the person on the other end.

Franco went to the liquor cabinet and served himself another glass of whiskey. While Victor was visibly worried and Luis ordered a search party for their missing brother, Franco calmly took a seat behind his desk and drank his whiskey.

"Franco-" Victor began seeing the unimpressed look on his face.

"I'm sure he's fine," Franco snapped. He had bigger problems to deal with than his stupid brother.

"And how do you explain the five dead wolves?" Victor asked. "Do you care so little for him?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Franco glared at him. "Whatever trouble he's in, I will fix it. Like I always do," he muttered under his breath. He was always cleaning up after Isaac and Victor to an extent. He was getting quite tired of it, to be honest.

"We'll find him," Luis reassured Victor. "And make no mistake if anyone has been stupid enough to hurt our brother, we will end them. I promise you that."

Victor nodded. He could see the bit of worry in Luis's face, Franco on the other hand looked rather bored.

Victor didn't know why but he felt a sudden chill go down his spine.

There were times when Franco's coldness and ruthlessness scared him.

* * *

Dr. Mayfair allowed Bonnie's family and friends to come inside her room for a bit. Abby was the first one to approach Bonnie, hugging her tightly and kissing her forehead.

"I was so scared," she whispered taking Bonnie's face in her hands. "I'm so happy you are safe, all three of you." she smiled before hugging her again. She almost seemed afraid to let go.

Lucy, Rebekah, and Matt followed. Elijah remained at a respectable distance in front of the bed but nodded and smiled softly in her direction.

"I'm glad you're okay," Matt said clutching her hand and sitting next to her on the bed.

"We are going to take care of you," Rebekah promised standing next to him. "You are not going to need for anything during your bed rest. We are going to pamper you to no end."

"Thank-you," Bonnie smiled.

"Here," Lucy handed her a small mojo bag. "Anise seeds to keep nightmares away," she explained. She had brought it with her from the mansion. "Put it under your pillow so that you can get a goodnight sleep." There was a sad look on her face. "My sister couldn't sleep when she was in the hospital. She said that hospitals were plagued by the dead and my mom made something like this for her, so she could rest." She shook her head. Dr. Mayfair's clinic was smaller than a hospital but still. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you uneasy. I just thought it could help since you're staying here over night."

"I know." Bonnie grabbed her hand. "Thank-you, Lucy." She squeezed her cousin's hand before she moved her eyes around the room as if searching for someone.

"Is everything okay?" Elijah asked seeing her wandering gaze.

"Where is Kol?" Bonnie asked. She felt pretty certain the Original vampire had come with her.

Everyone gave her a look of confusion.

"What are you talking about sweetheart?" Klaus asked.

"He came with me," Bonnie told them. "I brought him with me from the other side." But now Kol was nowhere to be seen. _Where was he? What had happened to him?_

"What?" Abby couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"You were on the other side?" Lucy's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Our brother is back." Rebekah's entire face lit up with happiness. "You brought Kol back, where is he?"

"How is that possible?" Matt asked.

All of them started talking at once, asking more questions and wondering how it was possible to have gone to the other side.

"Silence all of you," Klaus snapped. Bonnie needed to rest not be bombarded with questions. Everyone fell quiet once more. He turned to Bonnie. "What do you mean you brought Kol with you?" he asked in a gentle tone.

Bonnie took a deep breath. "Let me start from the beginning," she said before she began telling them what happened from the moment she was taken from her bedroom by the teleporting spell.

Everyone kept their mouth shut as Bonnie told them everything.

* * *

 **Later that night…**

A tiny head popped up from behind a grave. She looked around, eyes wide and uncertain. She was fearful of this unknown and strange place. It was dark, so dark she could hardly see. Not only that, but there was a sense of dread and decay all around.

She walked on shaky legs and rubbed her head. It hurt. The bow on her dark blonde hair had fallen off, she was missing a shoe, and she had a nasty gash on her forehead. She sniffled as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

 _Mama, can you hear me?_

Charlotte waited to hear that soothing and calming voice inside her head. The voice which had always been there, offering her words of comfort and reassurance. _Mama, are you there?_

There was no answer. Mama was gone.

She whimpered and then she burst into sobs. She couldn't hear her. She was alone, in a strange place and she wasn't even sure what had happened.

Charlotte continued to cry as she made her way through the graves. She shivered, feeling cold and confused. She wasn't supposed to be here. She had woken up in the dark and had immediately realized this was not where she was supposed to be.

The last thing she remembered was the light, an explosion of magic that had engulfed her and pulled her here. _What is this place?_ She wondered as she looked around.

A frown crossed her face as she got out of the cemetery. She didn't recognize any of this. _Mama, are you there?_ She tried again. There was no answer. She was alone. She didn't like it.

So distraught was she by her new circumstances, she didn't see the shadow following her.

She rubbed her eyes and wiped away the tears, she needed to find a way back to mother. She suddenly bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry." she looked up into the dark figure looming over her.

"Hello little girl," the man gave her a sinister smile which showed his sharp teeth. Half of his face was covered in darkness as he stepped closer to her.

No, not teeth, Charlotte realized, fangs. The air left her lungs and she gasped in shock. The man was a vampire.

"Pretty, pretty child," the vampire cooed as he leaned down to her eye level.

Charlotte took a fearful step back only to bump into another vampire. "Oh-oh," she swallowed nervously and looked between both of them. "This is bad." She tried to use her magic. Nothing happened.

The vampire behind her touched her curls. "Sweet child," he murmured while sniffling her hair.

Charlotte tried to tap into her magic again, mama had taught her many things, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't use her magic. _Why?_ Something felt different. She felt the vampire lean down over her shoulder and the ghost of his cold breath on the side of her neck.

She cried but she couldn't move. Her entire body was frozen in fear. A cold and wet tongue licked the side of her neck and she whimpered fearfully.

The vampire in front of her kneeled on the ground and grabbed her by the shoulder. "This won't hurt much, pretty girl. I promise." He chuckled.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the worst.

It never came.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," a new feminine voice said. "Trying to feed from an innocent child, savage beasts you are."

Charlotte opened her eyes and gasped when she noticed that both of the vampires were now a few meters away from her. They were both on their knees, completely immobilized.

A leathered clad woman with dark hair stood on top of the red shinny car parked in the curb. She had come out of nowhere; neither of the vampires had sensed her arrival. "Close your eyes sweetheart." She extended her right hand and a ball of fire erupted from her palm.

Charlotte did as she was told. She closed her eyes just as the woman sent the fire ball in the vampires' direction.

There was an eerie silence that followed.

There were no screams. There were no sounds or scent of burning flesh. There was nothing at all, only a cool wind that hit her cheeks.

When Charlotte opened her eyes the vampires were nothing more than a pile of ash. They had been completely incinerated in a matter of seconds.

"Wow…" she whispered. She watched the woman with awe.

"You shouldn't be wandering alone at night," the woman said. "Especially in this city, it's crawling with vampires."

"I'm lost," Charlotte admitted. "I'm not supposed to be here." The woman was a witch, she could feel her power. They were of the same family. "I need to find my friend. She brought me here, I think."

"Bonnie Bennett, I presume." The woman jumped down from the car and walked closer.

"How did you know?" Charlotte asked with surprise.

"Because she brought me here as well," the woman admitted. "She summoned us."

Charlotte frowned. No, Bonnie hadn't summoned her, just swallowed her with her powerful magic. "Can you take me to her?"

The woman tilted her head to the side, studying her face carefully. "What's your name?"

"I'm Charlotte," she answered with a smile. "And you are?"

"I'm Kyra," the woman replied. "I must admit, I expected more from the Bennett coven," she said in a rather disappointed tone. "But I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures and even children have to fight."

Charlotte frowned. She had no idea what Kyra was talking about. _Fight who?_ _The Bennett coven was a thing?_

"Tell me something." Kyra took her hand. She stumbled back as she felt a jolt of her power. "You're not so helpless after all," she murmured before her lips broke into a smile. "Do you know many spell?"

"Plenty," Charlotte said clutching her hand and following her lead. Not really, she had never been good with spells; mother had complained once and said she was lazy. "Why?"

"Because there is a war coming," Kyra told her in a serious tone. "Our queen is going to need all of our help in order to win it."

"Oh," Charlotte said. She looked up into Kyra's face, "Do you know many spells?" she asked.

"I think the better question is, what spells don't I know?" there was glint in her eyes as she said it. "My mother always said I was born fighting."

"We have to fight?"

Kyra could sense Charlotte's apprehension. "Don't worry," she said in a much gentler tone. "Whatever happens, I can promise you, the Bennett witches will win this war."

That was an absolute truth.

* * *

Bonnie woke up with a gasp. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the bright light inside the room. From what she could see out of the window, the sky was dark. Night had fallen by now.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked as she pulled herself up. The last thing she remembered was telling everyone about her time on the other side, meeting Charlotte, the spirits attack, seeing Grams, and bringing Kol back with her.

"You fell asleep," Klaus as always was there. He had never left her side, not once. "Dr. Mayfair kicked everyone out of the room. Said they were making too much noise and causing too much excitement. You needed to rest." No one had protested and had silently left the room as Bonnie drifted back to sleep.

Bonnie smiled as she tried to get into a comfortable position. She still felt kind of tired; despite the fact that she was sure she had slept for hours. She pulled her dark hair behind her ears and caught Klaus staring at her.

There was something in the way he was looking at her.

She flushed in embarrassment. The heat on her cheeks moved down to her neck. She felt self conscious under his intense gaze. She probably looked horrible at the moment.

"You look beautiful," Klaus murmured as if reading her thoughts. She would always look beautiful to him, even if she were covered in mud.

Bonnie smiled softly. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he was making her nervous. Her stomach was currently doing flip flops. The emotions she felt coming from the bond were all over the place. She felt a sense of anticipation building inside her.

"I thought I lost you," Klaus whispered. His features darkened upon remembering the anguish and the fear he had felt when she had been missing. "I couldn't feel the bond."

"I know," Bonnie had felt the same while on the other side. "For a moment, I thought was dead." It had been terrifying.

"I couldn't bear it," Klaus admitted. "I realized…" he looked away briefly, so many different emotions flickering across his handsome face, it was hard to pinpoint just one. "I can't live in a world without you in it, Bonnie. Without you, I'm nothing."

"Don't say that," Bonnie said. She reached out and took his hand in hers. She pulled him down, so he would sit on the bed with her. "I'm here. We're here and we're safe." Her ordeal had been terrifying but it was over. From now on, she was going to do everything in her power to ensure her life and the twins' life would never be at risk again. "We're together again."

"Do you realize the power you have over me?" Klaus asked as he studied her face. "I thought I knew what it was to care, to lose someone, and have my heart broken." He thought of Tatia and Aurora. How feeble, how brief, his feelings for them had been in comparison to Bonnie. "But nothing prepared me for the reality of a world without you."

"Klaus-" he silenced her by placing his index finger over her lips. He needed to get the words out. He wanted her to know. He needed her to know.

"I have never known so much anguish, so much pain, and so much fear, as the one I felt in the hours you were gone," Klaus continued. "I'm lost without you Bonnie. You are my anchor, my heart, my soul, my life." He stared into her eyes as he said it.

He meant every single word that was coming out of his mouth. Bonnie could feel it in her bones. She trembled, overwhelmed by the power of his emotions.

"You are my everything Bonnie," Klaus moved his index finger away from her lips and cupped her cheek tenderly. "My love," he leaned forward until their faces were just inches apart.

"What are you saying?" Bonnie whispered, not daring to believe. Her heart was in her throat as she waited for the words. The words she knew were coming.

"I love you," Klaus said.

"Oh," Bonnie felt the tears in her eyes as she heard it. The warmth that spread over her body, the happiness she felt at hearing those words was nothing compared to the powerful impact his emotions had on her. Klaus hadn't just told her that he loved her. She could feel it through their bond. She had heard the words come out of his mouth but she had felt the meaning behind them, the adoration, the devotion, and the love he felt towards her. She felt it all. His love for her was beautiful.

"I am madly and undoubtedly in love with you, Bonnie." Klaus confessed.

She felt lightheaded. She felt so utterly and undeniably happy in that moment, she felt like she could fly. Bonnie was smiling through her tears. The joy in her heart was all consuming. It was an explosion of happiness, of hopes, and dreams.

But if his love confession had her in the clouds, his next words left her breathless, giddy, and took her completely by surprise.

"I want to be with you always, forever," Klaus told her. He never took his eyes away from her face. He was pouring his heart out and watching her all the while, seeing and feeling every single one of her reactions. "I want to spend my immortal life with you," he said it with such certainty. There was no room for doubts and fears any more, only love. So much love, it seemed endless. "Loving you, only you," he promised.

Bonnie gasped.

"Marry me, Bonnie."

* * *

 _A/n: What will Bonnie answer?_

 _More Bennett witches will be arriving in the next chapter. Thank-you for reading and reviewing. See you next time!_


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: I don't think I'll ever get tired of thanking-you for all your amazing support with this story. Thank-you! I hope you like this one.**

* * *

For a single moment, Bonnie's mind went blank and she stared dumbly at Klaus. She had been rendered completely speechless. Her heart skyrocketed and her mouth dropped open when her brain finally processed his words.

 _Marry me, Bonnie_

 _Marry me_

His words echoed in her mind.

Klaus had proposed. Klaus had just asked her to marry him, to be his wife, for real, officially.

 _Oh my god!_

Klaus waited with his heart in his throat. He had never felt so vulnerable. He had never willingly put himself in such position before. When Bonnie didn't say anything right away, he became more nervous, uncertain, and even afraid that he had made a mistake by asking her to marry him. She was going to say no, he knew it. The anguish he felt when he thought he lost her, prompted him to tell her that he loved her. He hadn't stopped to think, to second guess himself, he had simply spoken from the heart. It was something that he had never done with anyone before. He always found himself doing and feeling things for Bonnie that he had never experienced with anyone else.

But now, as the seconds went by and Bonnie didn't say anything, the fear and doubts plagued him once more. _What if she did not want to spend her life with him? What if she didn't want to make their relationship official?_

The moment Bonnie opened her mouth Klaus prepared himself to hear her refusal. He looked away and steeled himself for the words that would cut through him like a knife. He should've known better.

"I love you," Bonnie whispered.

Klaus froze.

Bonnie reached out with her right arm and touched his chin with her hand. Her fingers gently moved to his cheek, pulling his face towards her. "I love you so much," she said as she stared into his wide blue eyes.

Klaus gasped. Not only because of her words but because of the wave of emotions that came from her as she said them. Just like Bonnie before, he could feel her love echoing through their bond.

Bonnie smiled at the shocked look on his face, before it was replaced by wonder and happiness. So much happiness it made his entire face lit up with it. He looked so handsome, so carefree, and so much younger. She knew that he was feeling the sincerity of her words, that like her, Klaus was feeling all her love. If his words had meant so much to her, she could only imagine what her words meant to him.

They stared into each other's eyes, feeling their bond pulse with all their love. In that moment their emotions were the same. The love he felt for her mixed with the love she felt for him. They were fused together. They were one and the same.

"I've never felt this way before," Bonnie admitted, her eyes brimming with tears. Her smile was soft, loving, and could've outshined the sun itself. "I've never loved anyone the way I love you." Not even Jeremy. Her feelings for him were nothing compared to what she felt for Klaus. Never in a million years could she have imagined that she would be here, like this, with her once enemy. Who would've thought that the person she had been so ready and willing to kill would turn out to be one of the most important in her life.

Klaus watched her, completely mesmerized and electrified by her words. _Who knew that three little words could've so much impact upon a person?_ But how could they not, when he couldn't even remember if anyone had ever said them to him before.

"I will never love anyone the way I love you," Bonnie vowed. She was young, but she knew her heart and her mind. She knew that what she was feeling, what she had with Klaus, was the real thing. "I love you." It felt so amazing to say those words out loud, to finally tell him how she felt.

Klaus smiled upon hearing her words of love. It was a true, genuine smile, the kind only she could get out of him. The warmth that spread throughout his entire body made him tingle. He had never experienced anything like this before. It was overwhelming. He felt like he had just conquered the world.

And then, Bonnie's lips were on his, soft and firm and so much missed. She grabbed his face with both of her hands and pulled him forward, kissing him soundly.

It felt like they hadn't kissed in years. The hunger, the longing they had for each other was unlike anything they had ever experienced before.

They put everything in that kiss, all their love, all their passion, and desire. It was a kiss that sealed their words, a kiss that was a declaration of their feelings and an eternal promise.

Klaus was the first one to pull away.

Bonnie whimpered in protest and even stayed with her eyes closed and her lips apart as the air slowly returned to her lungs. She could feel Klaus's intense gaze on her skin. She shivered and goose bumps formed in her arms.

When her eyelids fluttered open, Klaus was still staring at her. The hunger in his eyes was evident as was the hint of gold. The heated took he gave Bonnie took her breath away and had heat coiling low in her belly.

"You haven't given me an answer, love." His voice was husky, sinful. It was the kind of voice he used when he whispered naughty things in her ear as he made her come apart with his fingers.

Bonnie felt a shiver run down her spine. The room felt really hot and stuffy all of a sudden. _Had someone turned the heat up?_

Klaus waited patiently, never taking his eyes away from her face. She looked so beautiful. It didn't matter that she was without any make up, in a hospital gown, and had spent the night fighting off a magical virus, she still looked stunning and perfect in his eyes.

"How could you possibly doubt my answer?" A soft smile graced Bonnie's lips. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward.

He let her of course, bringing his body closer to hers, until their faces were merely inches apart.

"Ask me again," Bonnie whispered against his lips.

"Marry me, Bonnie." Klaus said as he locked eyes with her.

"Yes." She smiled before she kissed his lips. She pulled away rather quickly, before Klaus could deepen the kiss. "Absolutely," she murmured before she kissed him again. It was another quick brush of the lips and she giggled when she saw the pout Klaus gave her. "I will marry you." Her eyes were bright, filled with so much happiness, and love, so much love for him that it could fill an entire stadium or better yet, the whole world. She had never been this happy. All the fears, all the worries and the nightmares that haunted her were suddenly swallowed by the overwhelming joy that spread throughout her body.

She went to kiss him again but Klaus was quicker, he turned his face to the side so her soft lips landed on his cheek instead. Bonnie frowned.

Klaus turned his face back to hers and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. The quickness of his movements caught her by surprise and he wasted no time plunging his tongue inside her mouth, kissing her like he wanted to, long and hard. He didn't want quick kisses; he wanted kisses that would last a lifetime.

Klaus pushed her back against the pillows as they kissed and kissed, again and again. Their mouths fitted perfectly together. It felt like they had been kissing for years rather than the few precious moths of their relationship.

Bonnie moaned and threw her arms around his neck, finger twining in his hair as she pressed herself closer to him. Or as close as one can, with a growing bump and sitting on a hospital bed. She had missed kissing him, touching him. She had missed everything about him. His heated looks, the stubble that tickled her soft skin, the plum lips that devoured her, his scent which always clung to her like a second skin, and his hands which brought her intense pleasure on a nightly basis.

Klaus had missed everything about her too. He felt like a man starved as he kissed her. And the love that surged inside his chest felt so natural, so right. Any doubts he had, any fears that plagued him were completely forgotten as he poured everything he had into that kiss.

In that moment all he could focus on was Bonnie, on her scent, on the feel of her lips against his, the sweetness of her tongue, and the warmth of her body as she melted against him. She was soft and plaint against him and so responsive. It was like she had been made just for him.

She was his and he was hers.

They were meant for each other.

* * *

While Klaus spent another night at the clinic with Bonnie, Elijah did some damage control. By now, rumors of Klaus slaughtering Marcel's men had spread throughout the city. Elijah had spoken with Mayor de la Fontaine, Father Kieran, many important people like Francesca Correa and a number of other business owners and prominent citizens. His phone had not stopped buzzing with questions and concerns. All of them wanted to know more and were curious about the change of rule in New Orleans.

Elijah politely addressed all of them and promised to meet with them as soon as possible. Marcel had deals with all, long term agreements that benefited both of them and Klaus was going to have to do the same if he wanted to keep the peace in the city. Of course, his brother's only concern at the moment was Bonnie. Elijah couldn't fault him for that, so it was up to him to keep the peace. Which was easier said than done.

What was left of Marcel's army which mainly consisted of nightwalkers were at the compound, growling and ready to tear apart the werewolves that had also arrived there. Klaus had asked his pack to secure the city and naturally the presence of so many werewolves created conflict with the vampires. Not only that, but some of the newer recruits, the ones that were still in training had decided that since Marcel had been kicked out, they could do as they pleased.

The bodies-or parts of the bodies- had been removed and burned from the first floor but the scent of blood still lingered in the air. It made the group of vampires gathered at the compound feel on edge. It made them angry to know that their comrades had been slaughtered in the very room they were standing now.

One vampire in particular had decided to challenge the new rule in the city.

"Who the fuck do you think you are to give me orders?" He was rather tall and intimidating looking. A string of tattoos adorned his left arm while his nose and ears were pierced. "I'm not following anyone but Marcel," he hissed.

The vampires gathered around them nodded. They all felt the same way, even if they were scared to admit it. Most of them had sworn fealty to the new king knowing they didn't have a choice. Self preservation came first.

Elijah arched an eyebrow. "What is your name again?"

"Fuck off!"

There were a couple of vampires who chuckled and sniggered at the colorful response.

Cary frowned. None of the vampires seemed ready to listen, let alone follow orders. The wolves next to him clenched their fists and looked more than ready to start handing out venomous bites.

Thierry and Riley watched from the corner. The young vampire looked nervously around the room. He had already received many death glares and mumbled insults for betraying their king. He couldn't help but wonder if the crowd planned to attack the elegant Original.

A sardonic smile formed on Elijah's lips. He moved so fast, no one saw him.

The next thing everyone knew the vampire fell to the floor with a loud thud, a cavity on his chest. The chuckles turned to gasps and somber looks in an instant.

Elijah dropped the heart on the ground and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. "My brother has claimed this city as his own." He began while cleaning his hand. "You have two very simple choices. You either obey the new king or you die." He moved his gaze over the crowed. "I do hate to repeat myself but is this in any way unclear?"

No one said anything.

The vampires remained silent; a mixture of anger, shock, and fear flickered across their faces. Josh who was near the same pillar he had hidden during Klaus's slaughter fest, swallowed thickly. He hoped Elijah wouldn't follow in his brother's footsteps and slaughter what remained of Marcel's army. Josh didn't think he could stomach that. Luckily for him, this group was smarted than the other one.

No one dared to challenge Elijah.

* * *

"How exactly does one marry a vampire?" Bonnie asked Klaus a while later. He was sitting next to her on the bed, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. Bonnie nestled her head on his shoulder and snuggled against him. Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears, her lips were swollen from his kisses and she felt so excited and joyful that she was tempted to jump out of the bed and start dancing. Klaus had proposed and she had said yes. She was engaged, they were getting married and she was over the moon. But she did have a couple of questions. "Are you going to have to compel a priest? Get a vampire lawyer or something?"

Klaus chuckled at her ideas. "I was thinking more along the lines of a supernatural marriage."

Bonnie lifted her head so she could see his face better. "A supernatural marriage," she repeated. She had never heard of that before.

"A binding ceremony usually preformed by an Elder or a Shaman," Klaus explained. "Each supernatural species has their own variation of the ritual. We're probably going to have to get three Elders to bless our union."

"Three?" Bonnie asked incredulous. A supernatural marriage was starting to sound more complicated than a regular marriage.

"Marriage between two different species is extremely rare. The wolves are going to want me to marry in a traditional mating ceremony. The witches no doubt will prefer a handfasting ceremony, while the vampires will only consider a marriage valid after a blood vow." Klaus explained. "The best way to do it, other than having three different marriage ceremonies, is to have an Elder from each supernatural community bless our union."

"Oh." That made sense.

"Unless you would like to have three different weddings," Klaus said looking down at her. Because whatever she wanted he would make sure she got. He wanted her to have the wedding of her dreams.

"I think one is good," Bonnie replied with a smile. She linked her fingers with his, locking their hands together in her lap. "We're engaged," she said suddenly. "We're getting married." It seemed so surreal and yet, just thinking about it had her feeling giddy and giggly.

He had to get her a ring, Klaus thought as he stared at their joined hands. He had the perfect diamond in mind. He just had to get it set. "When do you want to get married?" He still couldn't believe she had said yes.

"Honestly," Bonnie shifted on the bed, trying to get a more comfortable position against him. "I would like to wait. I love you and I want to marry you. I do. But with this war, I think the best thing is to wait for now." she thought of the visions she had while touching the statue of the first witch. War was inevitable and they had to prepare for it. She wanted to marry him but she would prefer to do it when they didn't have a war looming over their heads. "Do you mind?"

"No," Klaus replied quietly. As much as he wanted to make their union official and spend his immortal life with her, he understood her reservations. There were so many things going on in their lives at the moment, things that required their immediate attention. Speaking of which, "there is something you need to know."

"What is it?" Bonnie began to feel nervous all of a sudden.

"It's nothing bad sweetheart, not for us anyway. Don't worry." Klaus gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I took back the city."

"What?"

"Marcel and Celeste were the ones responsible for the teleporting spell," Klaus told her. The anger in his voice was palpable. Because of them, Bonnie and his children had been at risk. "Lucy and Elijah got rid of her. Your cousin shattered her soul, I heard."

Bonnie's eyes went wide. "Really?" _Go Lucy!_ She thought. "And Marcel?"

"I went after him," Klaus muttered. "His pathetic little army thought they could defeat me. I slaughtered the lot of them. But the coward fled." Thierry had helped him escape. He was probably still in the city, licking his wounds.

Bonnie touched her stomach as she mulled over Klaus's words. His clamming of the city was a game changer. It shifted the balance of power in their favor and it would also make them new enemies. "Does this mean you are the king of the city now?" he had been the king of New Orleans once, he had told her.

Klaus nodded. "And you my love," he caressed her cheek and stared into her eyes. "You are the queen. My queen," he murmured before kissing her lightly on the lips.

Bonnie smiled but it did not reach her eyes. "When the Navarros find out," her voice was filled with fear. She hated the fear she felt when she thought of Franco. "Klaus, they will see this as a threat. They will attack-"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Klaus assured her. He knew the root of her fear. Her dreams still haunted her and for that alone Franco was going to suffer an excruciating death. "When the Navarros attack we will be ready." He pulled her body even closer to his, enveloping her with his warmth. "I promise you, Franco won't get near you." He would rip him apart before he could get close to her.

Bonnie rested her head on his shoulder once more. "Remember earlier today when I told you about going to the other side."

"Yes."

Bonnie had told them about being on the other side because of the spirits, seeing her Grams, and Kol and even bringing him back with her. Rebekah was home now, tying to contact their brother's spirit once more.

"Charlotte took me to this bunch of rocks," Bonnie began telling him. She felt a pang in her heart at the thought of Charlotte. Such a sweet little girl, stuck on the other side without anyone. How she wished she had been able to bring Charlotte back as well. "There was a statue of a woman," she continued. "Charlotte calls her mother because she's the mother of all witches, the first witch." She hesitated. "She talks to Charlotte, in her head I mean. And she spoke to me too, in my head." It sounded crazy but it was the truth.

"What did she say?" Klaus felt curious. He had heard tales, rumors about the first witch. But he had never thought Bonnie would ever encounter her.

"She showed me visions of things to come. There were so many, I couldn't make sense of all of them." Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut as the images came to her mind once more. "But the ones I did see were of New Orleans." She looked up into his face. "I saw the streets covered in blood, bodies scattered everywhere, an army of wolves in the Quarter. And Franco in his wolf form running through the Bayou, leading his pack, killing other wolves. You have to get your family out of the Bayou, he's going to attack. You have to warn them."

"I will," Klaus promised. Many of them were already in the Quarter, securing the city for him. But he would ask Ishmael to move all of the pack out of the Bayou.

"I saw Sophie. I think she was completing the Harvest. Davina was with her, she looked afraid." There was a thoughtful look on her face. "Didn't Elijah mention she had visions as well, of what's to come to the city?"

"He did."

"I have to talk to her, compare notes." Maybe her visions and Davina's were the same or pieces of a puzzle that needed to be put together. "There is something else, something that wasn't specific but now that the idea it's in my head, I can't get it out."

"What is it?"

"I saw the Travelers," Bonnie told him. "I saw them chanting in a circle, inside there was a bucket with doppelganger blood. And then, I saw the void attacking the other side."

"What are you saying, love?"

"Qetsiyah was right. The Travelers are destroying the other side and they're using doppelganger blood. That's the key ingredient." Bonnie explained. "I saw Katherine, I'm pretty sure it was her. They were taking her blood and there was man, he's a Navarro."

Klaus's mind swirled with all the information Bonnie was giving him.

"I think the Travelers and the Navarro brothers are working together." Bonnie felt certain of it. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became.

"They have witches fighting on their side," Klaus muttered angrily. It made sense. Witches were more often than not, the decisive factor in a conflict. It also made them more dangerous. A pack of wolves was a threat, a pack of wolves aided by witches was an even greater threat.

"They are going to attack," Bonnie whispered. It wasn't a matter of if anymore but of when. Now that she knew that New Orleans was once more under Klaus's control, the visions made more sense. "I saw you too," she said quietly. "I saw you, Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol leading an army."

"We will win this war, Bonnie." Klaus was willing to do whatever was necessary to win the war against the Navarro brothers. He had to.

"It makes me wonder," Bonnie murmured. "What other allies do they have?" She met his eyes. If it hadn't been for her visions they wouldn't know that the Navarros and the Travelers were working together. "What other things are they hiding?" It made her nervous to think that they might have some secret weapon or a hidden card up their sleeves.

"It doesn't matter." Klaus didn't care if Franco had a legion of supporters. "We will destroy them all," he promised.

Anyone who stood against him and his family would die.

* * *

Kol cursed under his breath as his ghostly figure emerged from the concrete wall of the hospital. He had lost count of how many hospitals he had been at in the past couple of hours, or day, he wasn't even sure. He had not been able to find Bonnie at any of the hospitals he had visited.

Nik had showed up out of nowhere, feeding Bonnie his blood and speeding her out of the cemetery where they had landed. By the time Kol got over his shock at seeing his siblings they were gone. They hadn't seen him, they hadn't heard his voice. They hadn't even known he was there with Bonnie. He had tried to follow after them, but it turns out that as a spirit he didn't have his super speed. So here he was, walking through the streets of New Orleans and going from hospital to hospital in search of Bonnie and his siblings.

There was a part of him that couldn't help but feel envious of Bonnie.

The concern, the care, the worry he had seen in his siblings faces when they had found her made him jealous. It was silly, he knew, but he couldn't help it. His siblings hadn't even shown that much concern for him when he had died.

Ayana had told him that Bonnie was pregnant with Nik's child. _Children_ , he corrected himself. Bonnie was carrying twins. Ayana had said that Nik and Bonnie were bonded, practically married in the eyes of the supernatural world. Kol had found it hard to believe it at first. His brother, the one who was always going on about love being a vampire's weakness was now technically a married man and a father. He had laughed and made a couple of jokes about Nik changing diapers until Ayana had pulled his ear and ordered him to stop acting childish.

Ayana had sworn that Nik cared for Bonnie deeply. _He loves her_ , Ayana had said. Kol didn't really believe it was possible but he had wisely kept his mouth shut.

Any doubts Kol had about his brother's feelings for Bonnie were thrown out of the window when he saw the terrified look on Nik's face as he cradled Bonnie's bleeding and shaking body to his chest. He had done it with such tenderness and devotion, Kol had to do a double take. There was no doubt that his cruel, selfish, and vindictive bastard of a brother was madly in love with Bonnie Bennett.

Kol didn't know whether to laugh at his brother's predicament or feel sorry for the girl that was now wrapped up in the crazy Mikaelson family saga. He didn't know what to make of Bonnie Bennett, to be honest. He had tried to kill her so that she wouldn't unleash hell on earth when the whole Silas debacle happened. She had in turn broken his bones and escaped. Kol had to admit he was impressed. And then he had died and her family had kept him safe. Not because they liked him but because they respected and trusted Anaya. Dear Ayana, who had cared for them and raised them as if they were her own.

Kol owed the Bennett witches his life, had they not intervened he would've been swallowed by the void and ceased to exist. And now, thanks to Bonnie he was back in the land of the living. In spirit form but still, he was out of the other side and safe from the void. He was safe from the spirits and all the other creeps that were now crawling over there, not to mention all the crazy things that were happening on a daily basis.

He also felt guilty. He hoped that the magic Bonnie used to bring them back from the other side was not the cause of her bleeding. He did not want to be responsible if something happened to her kids, to his brother's kids. They were his nephews or nieces after all, his blood. Which is why he was going to every hospital in sight in search for them, he had to find them and make sure they were okay.

Kol made a face as a punk on a skateboard went right through him. He didn't even feel a thing and the boy didn't even bat an eyelash either. Being a fucking spirit sucked.

 _Weren't people supposed to feel the presence of ghosts or something?_

Clearly not, because people easily walked through him, it was creepy.

Kol stopped next to a group of tourist that were taking pictures and chatting happily. He looked around the all too familiar buildings. The Quarter hadn't changed much since the last time he was here, one hundred years ago. If he wasn't mistaken, the house they had lived in while in the city was just a few blocks away. He was thinking of making his way over there; see if his siblings were living there now, when he felt it.

There was a strange pull.

It was a weird sensation that reminded him of the time when Bonnie had taken him with her from the other side. He had felt something just like that, right before they had appeared at the cemetery.

 _No,_ Kol panicked. He didn't want to return to the other side. He couldn't. He tried to fight the strange pull but it was impossible, it only became stronger. He closed his eyes as his body was suddenly jolted to another place.

In a blink of an eye, Kol's spirit had vanished from sight.

* * *

After seeing and talking to Bonnie and making sure she and the twins were safe, Rebekah and Matt had returned to New Orleans. Elijah had taken Lucy home. The only ones who had remained at the clinic were Abby and Klaus.

Rebekah had wasted no time asking Angelica to try the spell to contact Kol's spirit again. Bonnie had seemed so sure when she told them Kol had come with her from the other side. She thought he was a spirit but she wasn't sure. She hadn't seen him since they landed in the cemetery. When Elijah and Rebekah had arrived, Nik had Bonnie in his arms but there had been so sign of Kol being there. Then again if he was a spirit, he wasn't visible to them.

"You think it will work this time?" Matt asked quietly as the two stood holding hands.

A circle of candles had been arranged in the middle of the room while Angelica chanted the spell.

"We couldn't bring his spirit when he was on the other side but if he's here already, it should be easier." That was the logical thing. Bonnie had done the hard part. She had taken Kol's spirit out of the other side. Bringing his spirit to the plantation should be easier now. Or so she hoped. "Come on," she murmured. "Please, let it work." Her hopes had been crushed the last time Angelica had tried the spell. She hoped that wasn't the case this time. It had to work.

She felt really anxious as she waited.

Matt gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. He knew how excited she was at the possibility of having her brother back for good. For her sake, Matt hoped the spell would work.

Sparks of white light began to form inside the circle.

"Something is happening," Rebekah's heart nearly burst out of her chest as the light took the shape of a body, a ghostly figure that slowly appeared inside the magic circle.

"It worked," Matt whispered. He knew better than anyone how much Rebekah was anticipating this moment.

"Kol," Rebekah breathed. Her entire face exploded with happiness as she saw her rascal of a brother again.

Kol had his eyes shut. One moment he was standing in the French Quarter and the next, he was in a completely different place. For the first terrifying few seconds, he had been sure he had landed back on the other side. And then he heard the voices.

Kol opened one eye, and then the other, a gasped escaped his lips.

He was standing inside a circle of white candles. A dark haired woman stood in front of him, a Grimoire in hand. Behind her was the Quarterback who was looking at him in shock and next to him was his sister.

"Bekah," Kol breathed not daring to believe what he was seeing. He blinked, hoping that this was not some sort of dream.

"You're here. You really are here," Rebekah moved closer. She had been so afraid. When she had asked Angelica to perform the spell she had been a nervous wreck fearing that it wouldn't work like the last time. "The last time we tried to contact your spirit, it didn't work." She moved her eyes over his body. He looked the same. He was even wearing the same clothes as the day he died. "Bonnie said you came with her, so I asked Angelica to try the spell again." Tears blurred her vision as she stared at her brother. "It worked." She couldn't stop smiling.

Angelica and Matt silently left the living room, giving the siblings some privacy. Neither of them noticed.

"You tried contacting me?" Kol asked incredulous.

Rebekah nodded. "With a spell from Ayana's Grimoire but it didn't work." She was standing in front of him now, they were face to face. So many different emotions flickered across both of their faces. So many months had passed since his death and so many things had changed since then.

"How is she?" Kol whispered. He didn't need to specify who the 'she' was.

"She's fine," Rebekah assured him. "Resting, but she and the babies are fine. She'll have to stay the night as a precaution." Dr. Mayfair had told them that Bonnie and the twins were fine; she just needed lots of rest.

Kol was surprised by the tension that left his body and the relief that washed over him. He hadn't realized how worried he had felt for the young witch until the moment when all that worry and anxiety passed as Rebekah informed him she was fine. "That's good."

"I'm going to put you back in your body Kol," Rebekah told him filled with determination. She had been gathering information on the ways she could restore his body. The hardest part had been getting his spirit out of the other side and Bonnie had done that. Now, came the easiest part.

Kol didn't dare to hope. That was what he wanted the most but he didn't know if it could even be possible. As happy as he felt upon hearing those words, he knew better than to get his hopes up. "My body burned Bekah." Maybe he could jump into someone else's body. It would suck being in another body but it was better than being dead or a spirit roaming the earth.

"Nik has your ashes," Rebekah informed him.

That took him by surprise. "He does?" As far as he knew, Nik hadn't given a damn about his death. None of his brothers had avenged him. They hadn't avenged Finn either. Then again, they hadn't been close to Finn. But it hurt, it hurt Kol to think that his siblings hadn't cared that he died.

"He loves you," Rebekah whispered. Kol had always felt left out, she knew. He had always felt unappreciated by his family. It didn't help that Nik had daggered him more than any other of his siblings. "We all do." Oh, how she had regretted not letting her brother know how much she loved him. After his death, Rebekah had been consumed with guilt because of it.

Kol didn't say anything but a small smile tugged at his lips. "You think you can do it?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

"I will do it," Rebekah promised. She extended her hand and touched the barrier. Kol mimicked her movements until their palms were resting against each other. They could see their palms touching but neither felt it. He was a ghost after all.

"How long do I have?" Kol asked.

"A few more minutes," Rebekah replied sadly. Once the spell wore off, she wouldn't be able to see his spirit anymore. "We can do the spell at least once a day," she said trying to cheer him up. "We'll do it tomorrow so you can talk to Nik and Elijah and soon you'll be in your own body. I promise."

Kol nodded. "I missed you, you know." It was said in a whisper and he looked away as the words left his lips. Almost as if he was ashamed to admit it out loud. He had never been good at expressing his feelings, except his anger of course. But his time on the other side had changed him.

"I missed you too, we all have." Rebekah beamed. "And Kol," she waited until he turned his face and met her eyes once more. "Despite what you may believe, always and forever includes you." The vow she, Elijah, and Klaus had made a thousand years ago had also extended to Kol and Finn. "We're a family and we will always stick together as one."

The two shared a smile.

* * *

 **The next day**

Abby helped Bonnie change into comfortable sweatpants and shirt. She was dying to take a shower but she was going to wait until they got home. Dr. Mayfair had released her with a set of recommendations for her bed rest. Bonnie had promised to follow them to a tee. She wasn't going to take any chances with her children's well being.

"I still feel kind of tired," Bonnie mumbled as she sat back down on the bed. She had a peaceful sleep the night before. She and Klaus had stayed talking most of the night, planning their future and sharing the joy of their engagement. Bonnie couldn't keep the smile from her face as she thought back to his words and his romantic proposal. Because it had been romantic, his words had made her feel like the luckiest girl in the world. She had fallen asleep in his arms, with a happy smile and a clear mind. There had been no feverish dreams this time. The mojo bag Lucy had given her had worked like a charm. She had a peaceful and dreamless sleep but she still felt sluggish.

"You've been through a lot," Abby said quietly as she handed her a clear plastic bag. A nurse had brought two bags with Bonnie's clothes and personal items in them, the ones she had been wearing when she had been admitted to the clinic.

"That's not mine," Bonnie told her as she eyed the bag.

"Are you sure?" Abby asked, looking down at the necklace inside the bag. "The nurse brought it with the clothes you were wearing that day."

Bonnie frowned. The only jewelry she had worn that day were her earrings, the ones Grams had given her for her birthday. She took the plastic bag from Abby's hand and studied the strange necklace. It was a medallion attached to a silver chain, about the size of a quarter. It had some strange swirling patterns that kind of looked like snakes surrounding a spinning wheel.

"What a strange symbol," Abby commented. She felt like she had seen it somewhere before but she couldn't remember where.

Bonnie tore the bag open and took the medallion out. The moment her hand connected with the silver object she felt a sense of peace, a soothing calm washed over her. Her body tingled and she felt suddenly re-energized. It was like a jolt of energy had been injected inside her.

 _It's yours_ , a voice whispered inside her head. _Keep it with you always. It is my gift to you, my child._

Bonnie gasped as the first witch's voice resonated inside her head. She looked down at the silver medallion in her hand. There was magic inside of it, she could feel it. It was ancient, powerful, and filled with light.

"Are you okay?" Abby asked noticing the strange look on her face.

"Yeah," Bonnie smiled as she threw the empty bag on the bed and put the medallion around her neck.

Abby raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said it wasn't yours."

"It's a gift," Bonnie replied, touching it with her hand. "I'm meant to have it." It felt right having it around her neck. She felt protected.

Abby gave her a weird look.

Klaus stepped inside the room a second later. "Are you ready?" He asked coming to stand in front of her.

Bonnie nodded. She made a move to stand up but Klaus stopped her and picked her up in his arms.

"Are you going to carry me all the way to the car?" A giggle escaped her lips.

"Unless you prefer a wheelchair," Klaus said as he carried her bridal style out of the room. One of the nurses had offered one but Klaus had refused.

Bonnie hooked her arms around his neck. "I can walk you know." Dr. Mayfair had said that she could walk around the house as long as she didn't put any unnecessary strain on her body. She just had to take it easy and get as much rest as possible.

"You better get used to it love, I'll carry you everywhere if I have to."

"Even to the bathroom?"

"Of course," Klaus replied in a serious tone. If he had his way, he was not going to let her lift a finger at all during her bed rest.

"Are you going to help me shower too?"

"What do you think?"

Her mind conjured up some sexy and very much x-rated images. Bonnie bit her lip wondering how they were going to restrain themselves. Dr. Mayfair had forbidden her from having sex for the next two weeks. It felt like an eternity to be honest. She didn't know how they were going to get through it. Her pregnancy hormones had only increased her sexual appetite. She had never imagined she would be so wanton and that she would be thinking about sex so much. Then again, with a guy like Klaus how could she not. The man was sex on a stick.

But they could still kiss and hold each other close. Her cheeks burned as she remembered the night before, their heated kisses and loving touches. They had agreed to keep their engagement a secret for now. But maybe after her bed rest they could host another family dinner and tell them their news. That sounded lovely.

Bonnie gave him a loving smile as she stared at his face. It was a look Klaus reciprocated.

People stared at them as Klaus carried her down the hall. An elderly nurse smiled in their direction while a younger one sighed- a dreamy look on her face. She was no doubt wishing she had a handsome guy to carry her like a princess.

"Spoon feed me?" She was joking on that one. She hoped he wouldn't take it that far.

"Naturally." The look Klaus gave her told her that he was not joking on anything. He intended to pamper her left and right.

Bonnie made a face.

Klaus offered her a dimpled smile before leaning down and placing a quick kiss on the tip of her nose.

Bonnie giggled. She felt so happy. Since the night before she had been smiling like a loon. She couldn't help it. He loved her and she loved him.

Abby followed them quietly, listening to their banter and seeing the loving looks exchanged between them. Despite her fears and reservations she couldn't deny the obvious. They looked happy together.

Klaus cared for Bonnie and did she dare think it, he loved her.

A small smile formed at the corner of her mouth as she continued to listen to them.

Her daughter was happy and that was all that mattered; that was all Abby wanted.

* * *

Lucy flipped the pages of her old photo album, smiling at the memories that surfaced as she stared at each picture. There were so many family outings, funny faces, smiling poses, so many special moments that had been captured through the lens. Natalie had always wanted to be a photographer; she had been really good too. Lucy had saved all the pictures she had taken.

Tears formed in her eyes as she traced the last picture with her fingers. The last picture they had taken as a family, on the night of Lucy's high school graduation. A few short days before her father's accident, before Natalie's sickness, before Lucy's life had come crashing down. Seeing Bonnie at the clinic had brought all those painful memories back, that year of hell that had nearly destroyed her and her mother.

She had been lost in thought as Elijah drove her home, thinking of the past, thinking of her father and her baby sister. Elijah had glanced at her from time to time but had said nothing, respecting her melancholic silence.

It wasn't easy to talk about. It hurt too much still.

"I miss you Nat," Lucy murmured as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Most times it was easy to pretend that the pain wasn't there. It was easier to bury it deep down rather than let it out. That painful hole in her heart had eased a bit after seeing her the night of the summoning. It had certainly brought her mother some comfort. At least now they knew that Natalie was not alone on the other side.

The front door opening and strange voices carrying through the old house brought Lucy out of her thoughts. She wiped the tear from her face and made her out of her room. They had finally left the hotel and moved into a mansion close to the plantation house where Bonnie lived. Lenore had stayed at her apartment so it was just Lucy, her mother, and Abby until the other Bennett witches arrived.

As she made her way down the spiral staircase she caught snippets of the conversation.

"I'm so sorry," the voice of a woman echoed around the first floor. "We should've called. We didn't mean to barge in on you."

"Don't worry Adriane," Joanna told her with a soft smile. "It's fine. We've been expecting you, all of you."

The first thing Lucy noted was the luggage. A row of suit cases had been lined up on the shiny wooden floor of the parlor. A man and a woman dressed in black pants and white long sleeved shirts were bringing them inside the house.

A young and casually dressed woman was with her mother near the door.

"Mom, what's going on?" Lucy made her way towards her mother and the stranger. Adriane, she had heard her name was. She was a witch without a doubt, a Bennett witch.

Joanna was about to answer when a black Mercedes pulled up at front of the house. The chauffeur hurried out of the car and went around, opening the door.

A delicate gloved hand was the first thing Lucy noticed, before an elegant statuesque woman stepped out of the car. She was wearing a dark purple skirt suit with a wide black belt which accentuated her small waist. Her diamond brooch shinned brightly with the afternoon sunlight. She had a black channel clutch on her right hand which matched the black pillbox hat and veil she wore.

 _Stunning,_ was the only word that came to Lucy's mind as she watched her. There was an aura of power and authority emanating from her. This was a woman you did not mess with.

Her heels clicked on the wood floor as she gracefully stepped inside the house. She glanced around the parlor before focusing on Joanna.

Joanna straightened her posture immediately. "Aunt Vivian," she greeted with a smile. "How lovely to see you again."

"Joanna," was the curtly greeting she received in turn. Her viridian eyes slid from Joanna to Lucy. Her features were striking. There was a youthful look to her. And she radiated so much poise and confidence.

"This is my daughter Lucy," Joanna introduced. "Lucy, this is Aunt Vivian and her granddaughter, Adriane."

"It's nice to meet-" Lucy began.

"How old are you girl?" Aunt Vivian interrupted her greeting.

 _How rude_ , Lucy thought. "Twenty-eight," she replied meeting her scrutinizing gaze.

"Are you married?"

"No."

"Betrothed?"

"No." _What the hell?_ Lucy thought.

Vivian shook her head. "You became a recluse and raised a spinster daughter," she said turning to Joanna. "I expected better from you, Joanna."

"Grand-mère please," Adriane tried to intervene. One look was all it took to shut her up.

"I had such high hopes for you," Vivian continued as if Adriane had not spoken. "First you married that useless man-"

"Wait it a minute," Lucy shot her a glare. "You have no right-" whatever she was going to say was cut short as her mouth was clamped shut by an invisible force. Her eyes went wide as her lips were magically sealed.

"Let's see how long it takes you to break my spell." Vivian smirked in Lucy's direction. "I want a room facing the garden," she said turning to Joanna once more. "I will take an hour to freshen up and then we shall have some tea. I trust that you can call Lenore and Abigail to join us." As usual, Vivian Bennett did not ask, she demanded.

"Of course," Joanna knew better than to argue. She felt like a school girl again under the authoritarian gaze of her aunt.

"Once they get here, I want you to explain to me why the queen of our coven is in a private clinic in Covington, after suffering a threatened miscarriage."

Lucy who had been struggling to break free from the spell turned to her in shock.

Joanna's mouth dropped open. "How could you possibly know?"

"I made it my business to know," Vivian snapped. "Just like I know that there are two other Bennett witches in New Orleans already."

"What-" Joanna stammered. She had expected the summoned witches to come to Bonnie.

" _You_ of course had no idea," Vivian continued. "Time is of the essence, there is a war coming and you all have failed to prepare for it."

Joanna opened her mouth.

Vivian raised her gloved hand and silenced her. "I will deal with your incompetence later." She was going to give an earful to Joanna, Lenore, and Abby. The three of them had been raised to be better.

Joanna mentally counted up to ten, she needed to be patient.

Lucy gave her mother a pleading look. She hadn't been able to break the spell.

Joanna shook her head. Lucy had to break out of Aunt Vivian's spell on her own. It was a test.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Vivian snapped. "Show me to my room."

"Of course," Joanna used her best polite smile and led the way.

Lucy watched them go; angrily thinking of every counter spell she knew in order to break free. No matter how hard she tried her lips remained shut. They were glued together.

Adriane walked up to her. "A word of advice, don't get angry." She gave Lucy a knowing look. "The angrier you get, the harder it is to fight the spell." Her grandmother was quite clever and excellent at adapting spells to suit her needs.

Lucy frowned.

"Depending how strong the wave of power she sent was, you could be like this for the next couple of hours," Adriane informed her. "Or days," she mumbled.

Lucy's eyes went wide.

"I know," Adriane said in a sympathetic tone. "The last time she put me under a silencing spell, it lasted a day and a half."

 _How long ago was that?_ Lucy wanted to ask.

"It was two weeks ago," Adriane replied as if reading her mind. "She can be very vicious."

 _Shit!_ Lucy thought.

* * *

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Stefan questioned his brother.

"Do you have a better one?" Damon challenged.

After their confrontation with Bonnie, Damon had gotten really drunk. Now that he had finally sobered up he had decided that they needed to go to Baton Rouge and rescue Caroline. That was pretty much the extent of his plan.

"The things I've heard about this werewolf clan," Stefan began. While Damon had been busy getting drunk, Stefan had done some research. "We need a plan Damon. These wolves have an army. Rumor has it that they're planning to take New Orleans." As much as he wanted to rescue Caroline, Stefan knew it wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded. The odds were against them. They couldn't face an army of wolves on their own.

Damon opened his mouth with a retort that got cut short by the ringing of his cell phone. "Liz, now it's not a good time." He snapped more than ready to hang up.

"They took her," Liz Forbes informed them.

"What?" Damon and Stefan stared at each other. Both of them listened carefully as Liz explained what had happened.

"A group of people stormed into the boarding house. They were witches I think. They knocked me out." Liz told them. "I'm sorry Damon, they took Elena."

Damon closed his eyes, his body trembling. "I'll call you back." He hung up.

"Do you think it was the same group that took her before?" Stefan wondered. Elena had been kidnapped before by a group of witches that wanted her blood.

"Maybe," Damon's jaw clenched. "We need Bonnie."

"Damon, she made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want to see us."

"I don't give a damn what she wants!" Damon snapped angrily. "They took Elena and she's the only that can help us get her back." As always when it came to Elena, Damon listened to no reason. He stormed out of the motel room before Stefan could say anything else.

Stefan pulled his cell phone out and dialed one of his contacts. When no one answered, he tried again. He called three consecutive times before an exasperated voice finally answered.

"I need to talk to you, it's important." Stefan told the person on the other end. Damon wasn't thinking and it was up to Stefan to make sure he didn't get himself killed. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake but he didn't know what else to do.


	40. Chapter 40

The house was surrounded by trees and well protected by countless spells. Christian got as close as he could, right on the edge of the barrier.

"She's inside," Carl, the Traveler leading the other team sent to get the Bennett witch told him. Their group was the one who found the witch's location.

"Have you tried getting her?" Christian asked while keeping his eyes on the property. He couldn't see much of it, just the trees and a few rooms in which the lights were on.

"We did. She fought off the first spell we tried," Carl informed him. "The other two," he paused thinking back to the past couple of hours in which his group had been trying to teleport the witch to their location. "She's protected."

"By the spells inside the house," Christian wondered turning to look at him.

"No. The spells on the property are very powerful but we can break them." Carl had no doubts about that. The bigger the group, the stronger the power in the spell was. "It's something else, a protective spell or charm of some sort. Every time we try getting her, we're completely blocked. All we were able to do is track her here." Their magic was different than traditional magic but it was also very powerful and the doppelganger blood they used helped to enhance it even more. It was the reason they had been able to find out Bonnie Bennett's exact location. But for some reason, whatever protective spell she had on her had easily blocked their attempts at teleporting her to them.

"Franco is tired of waiting," Christian murmured. "We have to complete this mission. It's now or never." By now, the Navarro's and their supporters knew that the Mikaelson's were in control of the city. They had to act quickly. Franco wanted the Bennett witch and he was determined to get her, one way or another. The sooner they could get her, the better.

"Do you have a plan?" Carl asked.

"I think the best way to succeed is to combine forces." The glint in Christian's eyes was unmistakable. "Your group and mine can work together and get her."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"The first thing we need to do is ensure that the Originals are out of the house. The less people we have inside the easier it's going to be to take her," Christian responded.

Carl looked thoughtful. "And I suppose your team will be in charge of said distraction?"

"Yes," Christian confirmed. "While they keep the hybrid and his siblings distracted, your people will be in charge of breaking the spells protecting the house."

"What about her magic, she's said to be extremely powerful?" Carl had heard the rumors about the Bennett witch. He knew what she was capable of. She had taken an entire coven and won.

"Don't worry about that," Christian grinned. "Her magic won't be any trouble at all. I will ensure it." He planned to lead the attack on the plantation house after all. All he needed to do was inject Bonnie with the special syringe and her magic would be completely blocked for hours.

For the first time since the mission started, Christian felt elated. He could already taste the sweet victory on his lips. Franco was going to be extremely pleased.

"So when do we do it?" Carl asked.

Christian's lips curved into a twisted smile as he gave him the answer.

* * *

The first thing Bonnie did upon arriving home was to take a shower, with Klaus's help because the hybrid was deadly serious about tending to every single one of her needs. Her heart constricted when she spotted some dried blood between her legs. They had cleaned most of it at the clinic but there were a few spots left, a painful reminder that she had nearly lost her babies. Klaus tenderly helped her wash her body. His hands were soft and gentle on her skin, he was treating her as if she were made of glass. It was amazing what a gentle touch could do to relax and make someone feel cherished and loved. Afterwards they stood naked under the hot water, simply holding each other and feeling happy that they were together once more. The nightmare was over.

While Bonnie showered, Abby made dinner. She also made the special mixture for the twins, a batch that would last for a week, so Bonnie wouldn't have to worry about making it herself. She had been ordered to abstain from magic for the next two weeks and that included potion making.

Bonnie had dinner in bed and Abby informed her and Klaus of Aunt Vivian's arrival and that there were also two other Bennett witches in the city, although they didn't know who they were. Bonnie felt nervous and excited about meeting them. She had seen what was coming and she knew that her coven was going to be decisive in the war to come. She hoped that the Bennett witches would not only accept her as their queen and leader but that they would also stay and fight at her side.

Abby described Aunt Vivian as a formidable and intimidating woman. Someone who liked having things done her way but also someone who was fierce, determined, and dedicated to the Bennett legacy.

"She's going to want to meet you as soon as possible," Abby told her. "Don't be nervous. Juts be yourself and don't let her intimidate you."

Bonnie nodded. She wanted to make a good impression; something told her that Aunt Vivian's support was going to be essential. "When do you think I can meet her?"

"I'm going to see her tonight," Abby informed her. Aunt Vivian was staying with them after all. She had wanted to have tea with Abby, Joanna, and Lenore but Abby had refused, choosing to stay with Bonnie instead. "I'll see what she has to say. But believe me you are going to need all your strength and energy while dealing with her." She didn't want to make her anxious but she also knew how intimidating Aunt Vivian could be, she wanted Bonnie to be prepared. "Don't worry. She has dedicated her whole life to the Bennett legacy, she'll support you."

Bonnie hoped that was true.

Mother and daughter chatted for a couple of more minutes before Abby finally decided to go home. She hugged Bonnie and kissed her cheek before leaving.

"I hope Aunt Vivian likes me," Bonnie said to Klaus as they sat in bed later that night.

"She will," Klaus assured her. "And even if she doesn't. You are the queen of the coven, your word is law. Put her in her place and make her listen or send her back with her tail between her legs." He didn't look up from his phone as he spoke.

Bonnie had noticed that ever since they left the clinic his phone was constantly ringing, either with a call he refused to take or the 'ding' of an incoming text message. "Is something wrong?" When she had been chatting with Abby, Klaus had left the room as he answered a call. After he returned, he continued to text at vampire speed. "Who are you texting so much?" there was an edge to her voice. And she leaned over, trying to see if she could read anything. She had never been the snooping kind but she was curious to know who he could possibly be in constant communication with. She refused to admit that she was bit jealous.

Klaus's lips curled into a small smile. "Don't worry love, it's not another woman." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek while secretly feeling pleased at the hint of jealousy and possessiveness he felt coming from her side of the bond.

"So, who are you texting then?" She absolutely wanted to know.

"I'm just giving instructions to the pack. I need to make sure that the city is secure," Klaus told her. "I asked Ishmael and the wolf pack to help the hybrids control the city and naturally there are some vampires who feel threatened by their presence."

"Is it bad?" Bonnie asked hoping that there wouldn't be too much chaos or opposition in light of Klaus taking back New Orleans.

"Elijah made sure to remind them who is in charge." Klaus hit send on his last text and placed his phone on the night stand. He usually slept naked but tonight he had opted for some sleeping pants, although he was shirtless. Bonnie certainly didn't mind the sight of his naked chest. She bit her lip. There were moments when she still couldn't believe he was hers.

"I have to meet with the Mayor and the human faction," he muttered. He wasn't looking forward to playing nice with them but Elijah insisted. "They all had deals with Marcel and if I want to keep the peace I have to do the same, _for now_ anyway. Ishmael is also arranging a meeting with the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack, now that they are no longer cursed, they might try to claim the city as their own. They were the ones in control before Marcel took over."

"Do you think Marcel will try to take back the city?" Bonnie asked nervously. They had enough enemies to worry about.

"I'll happily rip his head off and put it on a spike if he dares," Klaus growled.

Bonnie placed her hands over her growing belly. She doubted Klaus would actually kill Marcel. He had raised him as a son after all. She knew the conflicted feelings Klaus had in regards to his former protégé. If Marcel was smart, he would keep himself far away from Klaus and his family.

Klaus placed his hand on top of hers. "Don't worry," he murmured, gently rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand. "Everything is going to be fine." He didn't want her to be stressing over anything. She needed to rest and relax.

Bonnie shifted closer and rested her head on his shoulder. She knew she had to relax and recover after her ordeal but it was hard to do once she started thinking about all their enemies or the potential threats against their family.

For a couple of minutes they sat in silence, simply enjoying the moment, each lost in their own thoughts.

Klaus pulled his hand away from hers and moved it down to the hem of her shirt-Bonnie had chosen a large school t-shirt to wear to bed, along with some comfy fluffy socks. He pulled her shirt up, exposing her belly to his gaze. He placed his warm palm against her bare skin, gently rubbing her bump.

Bonnie smiled fondly, "According to what I've been reading, they're about the size of a lime."

"Soon to be a plum," Klaus added with a chuckle. She had a day or two left, before her second trimester officially started. And yes, he had read everything she had.

It was amazing, seeing her stomach stretch and grow bigger each week, hearing those precious beating hearts, and knowing that his children were growing inside her. He had to admit that a human's body, a woman's body was a marvel. "Have you felt them move?" he asked suddenly.

"Not yet," Bonnie replied. "It's too soon for that. I can't wait though."

"When mother was pregnant with Henrik, I felt him kick," Klaus found himself saying as he continued to caress her. "When he was born, Rebekah declared him her baby and demanded that everyone asked her permission before holding him." He laughed at the memory. They all had been enthralled by their baby brother. Even Kol, who was usually the one to want all the attention had been fascinated by baby Henrik.

Bonnie watched him sadly. There was so much sadness, so much regret, and so much pain coming from his side of the bond. She knew how much he had loved his brother and what his death had brought upon his family.

"I don't remember when Kol was born or Rebekah, not really." Klaus continued. He had vague recollections but with Henrik he remembered it clearly. He stared at her belly as he spoke. "But I do remember Henrik as a baby. Mother always called him her sweet boy." He had been sweet and kind, a gentle soul that had been taken far too soon.

Bonnie placed one hand on his shoulder, gently running her hand up and down his arm. Her heart hurt as she felt all the pain and guilt Klaus felt.

"I couldn't save him," he whispered, a lump forming in his throat. "I killed him."

"Klaus don't-"

"I took him to see the wolves shift, I did nothing while they mauled him to dead, I-" his own blood, the wolves of his true father's clan had murdered his little brother. Rationally he knew the wolves had no control during the full moon. He understood now that they were not just the savage, vicious beasts his father made them out to be, but that didn't mean he could forget what they had done to his brother, what he had witnessed that night. "They never attacked me." The wolves had sensed that he was one of their own, even if he hadn't triggered his wolf side yet, and they had spared him because of it. "Father never forgave me."

Bonnie placed a gentle kiss on his shoulder, "why do you still call him father?" she asked quietly. "After everything he has done." Mikael was a touchy subject for all of the Originals, Klaus in particular. She didn't know all of the details but she knew that Mikael had been abusive. Mikael had hurt him.

"He has done damage only a father can do," Klaus replied quietly. "He's the only father I know." He had seen his biological father once, as a corpse after Mikael had slaughter most of the werewolf village. But Klaus didn't really know anything about him, except for a few details. Mikael had always been his father.

"Sometimes I wonder if he somehow knew," Klaus murmured. "If he sensed that I wasn't his son, maybe…" he trailed off. A thousand years later and he still wanted to know why his father had never loved him. There was also a part of him that wondered if he would ultimately ruin his children's lives the same way Mikael had ruined his. He didn't want his children to hate him. "I was the evidence of mother's adultery, his greatest shame."

"That doesn't excuse his behavior," Bonnie told him gently. "You were innocent, a child, and _his son_ in every way that mattered."

"I was not his blood." He avoided her eyes. He felt ashamed.

"Blood isn't everything, Klaus." She took his hand in hers. "I don't know what happened between Esther, Mikael, and Ansel but you should not feel ashamed. A child should never pay for his parents' sins."

"My father ruined me Bonnie," Klaus swallowed painfully. It was difficult to open up about his traumas, his demons, but he found himself wanting to. Somehow he knew Bonnie wouldn't judge him. "One day, I might ruin our children too." That was perhaps his biggest fear.

"No, you won't." She didn't hesitate to reply. "You are going to be a great dad," Bonnie said with conviction. She could sense his fears, his doubts, as clear as her own. She understood them because she was afraid as well. She didn't want to fail her children in the same way her mother had failed her.

Klaus met her eyes. "How can you be so sure?" She believed in him, he could feel it. That knowledge made his heart swell with joy and love her even more.

Bonnie smiled and touched his cheek. "You know exactly what kind of father you don't want to be." She leaned her head forward and Klaus mimicked her movements, leaning down until their foreheads were resting against each other. "I'm scared too you know," she whispered against his lips. "And that's okay. We can do this. We can learn together." There was no book, no manual to teach them how to be good parents, it was something that they had to learn and they would do it together.

Neither of them had an idyllic childhood, he had been starved for his father's love, she had been starved for her mother's love. But, Klaus wasn't Mikael and Bonnie wasn't Abby. They didn't have to repeat their parents' mistakes. Together they would work to be better for their children, they would give them all the affection, all the protection, all the tenderness, and love they had been denied.

Bonnie felt absolutely certain of that.

* * *

"Teleported to the other side," Aunt Vivian said. She sat at the head of the dining table, like a queen upon a throne. "And what did you do to get her back, to protect her?" She still couldn't believe the spirits had dared to do such a thing to the Bennett queen.

Abby, Joanna, and Lenore were three grown women but under their aunt's gaze they felt like three little school girls inside the principal's office. Neither of them could find their voice and speak up. From the moment Aunt Vivian ordered them into the dining room they knew she was going to pull their ears and point out their faults. She had vanished Ariadne and Lucy to their rooms. Poor Lucy who had nothing for dinner because her lips were still sealed shut.

As soon as the doors leading to the dining room were shut, Aunt Vivian had wasted no time interrogating them and criticizing everything they had done. Their failure to protect Bonnie was at the top of the list.

"What have you done to prepare for this war?" Aunt Vivian asked them. "What weapons do you have in your arsenal, what allies do you have on your side?" She moved her gaze from one to the other as she spoke. "How many covens have you convinced to fight on your side?"

Abby's fingers clenched around the mug she was holding. Joanna looked down at her lap and Lenore cleared her throat and shifted nervously in her seat.

"I can excuse Bonnie's inexperience," Aunt Vivian muttered. "But the three of you were raised to be better than this." She was disappointed in all of them and it showed on her face. "The time you have wasted waiting for the Bennett witches to arrive, should've been used to recruit allies, to prepare, to strategize." She couldn't believe how careless they had been, they were fighting a war for god's sake!

"Bonnie has powerful allies, the Mikaelson's and Fenrir's pack," Lenore spoke up. "She's not alone in this."

"And you think that is going to be enough?" Aunt Vivian challenged. "For two powerful allies that Bonnie has there are at least five enemies waiting in the wings."

"What do you suggest then?" Abby snapped. She had never liked Aunt Vivian's sense of entitlement.

"The first thing is to secure the city. This is going to be Bonnie's camp, so it must be purge of all her enemies. The worst thing any army can have is a traitor in their mist." Aunt Vivian responded without hesitation. "The Mikaelson's no doubt will focus on the vampires and werewolves but we must focus on the witches." She turned to Lenore. "You are still part of the coven here?"

"The Algiers coven yes," she responded.

"Good. You will ensure that they fight for us," Aunt Vivian ordered. "If they don't want to fight, they must remain neutral. We must also talk with the other covens in the city and get them on our side."

"And if they don't?" Lenore questioned.

"As long as they remain neutral they won't be a problem. If they chose to fight against us, we will kill them," Aunt Vivian responded simply.

"You can't be serious!" Joanna stared at her wide eyed. "We can't go around killing people just because they're against us. You are talking about entire covens."

"We are at war," Aunt Vivian reminded her. "You think your enemies are going to show any mercy to you, to Bonnie? They won't hesitate to kill in order to accomplish their goals and neither will we." Her green eyes darkened. "The Bennett witches have not earned their reputation by letting people walk over them and acting with kindness and tenderness. You hurt one of us and we will hurt you a thousand times worse." Those who throughout the centuries had been foolish enough to stand against them had been destroyed. "Our family has not survived this long by being nice and playing fair, and certainly not in times of war."

"You want to sink to our enemies' level then?" Abby questioned.

Aunt Vivian stared at her, an unreadable expression on her face, "don't pretend to be a good little witch Abigail. Not with all the blood you have on your hands."

Abby flinched. There was a stunned look on her face as she stared at her aunt. Her mouth opened for a second or two before she forcibly shut it. She couldn't believe Aunt Vivian knew.

"What are you talking about?" Joanna looked from Abby who had gone rather pale to Aunt Vivian who was pinning her with an icy stare.

"I don't know-" Abby began nervously.

Aunt Vivian's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare treat me like a fool girl," she interrupted angrily. "I know very well what you have done."

Abby gulped and looked away. Her entire body trembled. Her past, the one she had spent years trying to forget and erase from her life, would always come back to haunt her. She felt ashamed but also fearful. _What if Aunt Vivian decided to tell the others? Or worst tell Bonnie?_ In that moment, Abby felt absolutely terrified of the woman sitting at the head of the table.

Lenore and Joanna shared curious looks. They had no idea what Aunt Vivian was talking about. _Whose blood did Abby had on her hands?_

"Bonnie needs to rest," Aunt Vivian continued, changing the subject and allowing Abby to let out a sigh of relief, for now at least. "But while she does, we will prepare and ensure this coven is ready for war." She would personally ensure the Bennett witches would be ready for any enemy that came their way. "This is what we need to do," she began.

* * *

The next day, the Mikaelson family gathered in the living room after breakfast. Klaus carried Bonnie in his arms downstairs. He had wanted her to have breakfast in bed but Bonnie insisted on coming down and joining them. Klaus of course didn't let her walk down the stairs.

She was currently sitting on the couch. Klaus was sitting next to her. Matt stood behind them while Elijah was pacing near the window. They were all waiting as Angelica chanted the spell under her breath. She was contacting Kol's spirit once more.

"I have the next two weeks planned. You are not going to get bored." Rebekah told Bonnie with excitement as she placed a blanket over her legs.

"Rebekah-" Klaus began, Bonnie was supposed to rest not suffer through Rebekah's endless planned activities. He gave his sister a look.

"I have a manicure and pedicure planned," Rebekah continued ignoring her brother. "We're going to watch movies, play a couple of games, and do some online shopping obviously. We need to plan the nursery, I have some great catalogs and color pallets for you to look at and we can also look into some birthing classes and videos-"

Elijah seemed rather amused as Rebekah continued with her long list of activities for Bonnie. Klaus rolled his eyes and shook his head. Matt placed his hands inside the pockets of his jeans and smiled softly in Rebekah's direction while Bonnie nodded and smiled at Rebekah's enthusiasm.

"You'll have time to sleep, rest, and relax of course," Rebekah continued. "I'm also going to schedule visits, so people won't be barging in on you whenever they feel like it. They must call and let you know ahead of time."

"Blood hell Rebekah! She's a human, not your doll."

Bonnie's head snapped to the corner of the room upon hearing that voice. "Kol!" she greeted. Rebekah had already told them that she had spoken with his spirit but this was the first time Bonnie was seeing him since they landed in the cemetery.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"You can see him?" They all asked practically at the same time. Except Angelica of course, she was busy chanting.

"Yeah," Bonnie replied. She pointed to the corner of the room. "He's standing by the corner." To her he looked the same as he did on the other side.

They all turned towards the corner of the living room but there was no one there. Only Bonnie could see Kol's spirit.

"How is that possible?" Matt asked. Rebekah had only been able to see and talk to Kol after Angelica had done the spell to contact him.

"Maybe because you pulled me from the other side," Kol suggested as he stared at Bonnie.

He had been walking around the house since the day before, going from room to room and getting acquainted with his surroundings. No one had sensed his presence. He had spied on Nik and Bonnie the night before but they had been asleep. Angelica and the hybrid girl, Bella or something hadn't sensed him either when he had entered their rooms. The witch locked up in the cabin outside had stopped painting when he curiously walked inside her little prison. She had glanced in his direction briefly, frowned, and then continued with her rather dark and sinister work of art. She probably had sensed something but dismissed it quickly. Bonnie was the only one who could clearly see his spirit.

"Is it a witch thing?" Matt asked curiously.

"Kol thinks it's because I pulled him from the other side," Bonnie told them. "I think he might be right."

"I'm always right, darling."

Bonnie snorted and rolled her eyes. The Mikaelson men weren't exactly known for their humbleness.

Kol's spirit began to disappear. He closed his eyes as his spirit was pulled once more by the spell. Bonnie watched as his spirit blinked away before it suddenly appeared inside the circle of white candles. _So that's how the spell works_ , she thought. It was rather fascinating to see it. The spell obviously worked now that he was in the land of the living once more. _So why hadn't it worked when he had been on the other side?_ It was weird. She needed to study that spell once more and figure out why it didn't work properly.

Klaus stood up and watched as his brother's spirit suddenly appeared inside the circle of candles. He moved closer as did Elijah. It was one thing to know his spirit was around but a completely different thing to actually see him.

"Kol," Klaus couldn't help but smile upon seeing his younger brother. The last time he had seen him would forever be engraved in his mind. Watching his body burn was one of the worst memories he had.

Kol smiled back. "I wish I could say in the flesh but," he shrugged. Being a spirit and roaming the earth was certainly better than being stuck on the other side. That definitely helped to cheer him up. He didn't want to go back to the other side, never again.

Elijah smiled as well, "you haven't aged a day."

"I'm an Original. We Mikaelsons are forever young and eternally handsome," Kol said with a smirk.

"That we are," Klaus agreed with a lopsided grin. "It's good to have you back, brother."

"It is indeed," Elijah agreed.

"Soon, you'll be with us in the flesh." Rebekah promised. She felt so happy, she couldn't stop smiling.

Kol smiled, hoping with all his heart that her promise would come true soon. His eyes landed on Bonnie. If anyone could bring him back it was her, that much he knew.

* * *

After Klaus thanked her for the spell, Angelica exited the room quietly. Matt was going to follow her but Rebekah grabbed his hand and with a subtle shake of her head, she let him know that he was part of their family and had every right to stay. Matt smiled and squeezed her hand.

"So, not to be rude because I'm anything but," Kol grinned mischievously. "When can you put me back in my body?" he looked expectantly at Bonnie. As much as he loved his sister and had seen how powerful Nik's witch was, Kol knew Bonnie had a higher chance at succeeding in restoring his body than any other witch in the planet.

"Bonnie can't do any magic," Klaus was quick to point out.

The hopeful look on Kol's face vanished immediately.

"Not for another two weeks at least," Bonnie informed him. And even then, if Dr. Mayfair didn't give her the green light she wouldn't do any magic at all, or ever if necessary. Her children's safety came first. "The hardest part is over you know, putting you back in your body is going to be rather easy."

"How exactly would that work?" Elijah questioned her. He knew she had placed Klaus's spirit in Tyler's body and switched him back after restoring his burned flesh but Kol was a different case.

"I'm going to give you guys a list of ingredients. I used them to restore Klaus's burned body after Alaric staked him," Bonnie told them as she looked in Elijah's direction. "Earthly magic is the best way to do it. We'll use mud and the earth's natural minerals and nutrients to restore his ashes to flesh and your blood as well to help speed up the process." She turned to Kol. "It will take a couple of days. But once your body is restored all we have to do is shove your spirit inside."

"You're going to need a spell for that," Kol said. He had traveled with countless of witches throughout the centuries. He had heard of necromancers and those forbidden spells they used to bring back the dead or to help dead spirits posses the bodies of the living. A spirit couldn't just jump into a body it needed to be conducted by magic.

"I know the body switching spell," she had used it before. "I'm going to have to tweak it or even create a new spell to put you back in your body," Bonnie shrugged. "It's not that complicated."

There was a moment of silence in which everyone stared at her.

"What?" Bonnie didn't understand why they were giving her weird looks. She turned to Klaus. He was smirking.

"You are going to create a new spell," Rebekah repeated, a look of disbelief on her face.

Matt couldn't understand what the fuss was about, Bonnie had created other spells before.

"It's not as hard as it sounds," Bonnie responded. "I created the spell to take the witches' magic away and put it in the wool. Most spells have the same components, in order to make a new one you try different components, re-arrange them, and play with them until you come up with the one you want." She had been reading a lot about it in the Grimoires Klaus had. It was a very interesting subject, she loved it actually.

"You are-" Elijah began.

"I probably sound like a nerd, I know." Bonnie interrupted. "But it's very interesting. I've been reading a lot on the subject and learning everything I can." She could do it. She knew it.

"I was going to say extraordinary," Elijah murmured, keeping his eyes on her face. He couldn't help but smile.

"Oh," Bonnie flushed in embarrassment at the compliment.

"Creating spells, even re-arranging already existing ones, it takes special talent, Bonnie." Elijah said almost in awe. "You are a prodigy." It shouldn't surprise him really; she was a Bennett after all.

"Thanks," Bonnie felt a bit embarrassed but also proud at the compliment Elijah had just given her. He wasn't the type to do that on a regular basis. The fact that he had her in such high regard meant a lot to her.

Klaus linked his fingers with hers and brought her hand up to his lips, gently placing a kiss on her knuckles. "You are magnificent, my love." He felt very proud of her.

Bonnie's heart did flip flops, like it always did with him. She smiled and on an impulse gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She didn't care that his siblings were looking, she loved him and she felt so happy to be with him. Her fiancé, she was dying to say the word out loud.

Klaus smiled as he stared into her eyes. _I know,_ his eyes seemed to say. It was almost as if he had read her thoughts.

"While we work on getting Kol back into his body, we also need to prepare for the Navarro's attack," Elijah said after a few moments of silence. "The first thing to do is to secure the city."

"By playing nice with everybody," Rebekah mumbled. Elijah had already briefly discussed his plan to ensure things in the city remained peaceful. The last thing they needed was to have inner conflicts for the Navarro pack to exploit.

"For now," Klaus said almost at the same time. He and Marcel were completely different rulers and while he was willing to keep the status quo for now, things were going to change, sooner or later.

"Mayor de la Fontaine is having a charity fundraising event tomorrow night," Elijah informed them. "We shall attend and make friends with everyone." The Mayor himself had extended the invitation to their family.

"I'm sure you and Rebekah will have a lovely time," Klaus commented. He had no intention of going to that stupid event.

"I'm not going anywhere," Rebekah declared. "I'm Bonnie's nurse, I have to stay here and take care of her."

Bonnie frowned. She didn't know Rebekah was a nurse.

"Just because you volunteered as a nurse one hundred years ago, doesn't mean you are actually one," Kol told her with a roll of his eyes. "You're not even qualified to take care of a dog."

Rebekah made a face at him. "Don't be an ass."

Klaus chuckled.

The corner of Elijah's lips twitched as well, it felt like all times. "All three of us will be in attendance," He told them in his most authoritarian voice. "We need to ensure that we do not make any more unnecessary enemies in this city."

"I'm not going." Klaus protested. He didn't want to leave Bonnie alone, not to mention that he had a certain captive wolf he needed to pay a visit to.

"Yes, you are." Bonnie placed her hand on his thigh and turned to face him. "The Mayor has been nice and willing to work with us, you are the new king of the city, you have to meet with him, show him that you care and that you are willing to listen and work with him too." They needed the human faction to work with them, not against them in the war to come.

Elijah wholeheartedly agreed. "La crème de la crème of New Orleans society will be in attendance," he said. "This is the perfect opportunity to play nice, listen to their concerns, and present a united front."

Klaus groaned. "I'm not leaving you alone," he said to Bonnie. He couldn't stop the hint of fear that echoed through the bond. _What if something happened to her while he wasn't there?_ He couldn't go through that again.

"I'm not a child, Klaus. I'll be fine." Bonnie was touched by his concern and as much as she enjoyed spending time with him, a few hours apart were not going to hurt. She knew how important it was to keep the peace in the city.

"I'll be here with Bonnie," Matt spoke up for the first time. "Belle and Angelica will be here too." The rest of the hybrids were in the Quarter, keeping the vampires in check.

Klaus looked ready to protest.

"I'll be fine," Bonnie cut him off. "Matt and I are going to have lots of fun watching movies and eating junk food." She smiled in Matt's direction, thinking back to their high school days, before the supernatural had taken precedence in their lives.

"I'll be here too," Kol muttered. It's not like he could go anywhere and interact with other people. He was a spirit and was going to remain as such for the next few days. At least he could bug Bonnie.

"You are going too," Bonnie told Rebekah. Her tone left no room for arguments. "You all have to go."

"Fine," Rebekah sighed. She wasn't really looking forward to it.

Klaus reluctantly agreed as well.

* * *

 **The next night…**

Stefan fidgeted nervously with his tie. He couldn't believe he had agreed to come to this stupid party. _The things I do to keep you safe Damon_ , he thought. Since Damon had stormed off from their motel, he had refused to answer Stefan's calls. The vampire had no idea what Damon had decided to do or where he was. For his brother's sake, Stefan hoped he wasn't stupid enough to try and get to Bonnie.

Klaus had spared his life once, Stefan didn't think he would be merciful a second time, which was the reason he had called the hybrid and asked to talk to him. Klaus had told him they could meet later, and the day before Stefan had received the invitation to the charity fundraising.

He had no idea why Klaus wanted to meet here but Stefan had come anyway. He felt a sudden chill go down his spine and he turned just in time to see the three Original siblings entering the ballroom. The event was being held at a prominent hotel and casino in the city, owned by the Correa family.

All heads turned in their direction, everyone invited knew who they were, knew that they were in charge of the city now. Everyone focused on Klaus of course. They all had heard the stories but this was the first time they were seeing the hybrid since he had claimed the city as his own.

The king of New Orleans stepped inside the room as if he owned the place, his sister on his arm. "Two hours," he told his siblings. "That's how long I'm staying." He gave a pointed look to Elijah.

"Why do you have to make this so difficult?" Elijah questioned.

"I'm your younger brother. I will always make your life difficult."

Rebekah giggled. The smiled dropped from her face when she spotted the figure by the bar. "What the bloody hell is he doing here?" she turned to Klaus angrily.

"I invited him," was the simple reply from her brother.

"You-"

Mayor de la Fontaine chose that moment to come with his wife and greet them. And soon there were other businessmen and politicians all wanting to speak with them.

Rebekah was fuming inside, but she put on a smile on her face and greeted everyone happily. She had a part to play. Judging by the look on Elijah's face, he hadn't known Klaus had invited Stefan either.

 _What the hell was their brother playing at?_

Klaus ignored both of them and greeted everyone with a charming smile. He didn't want to be there, he knew these people only cared about increasing their fortunes. As long as their pockets were filled they would turn a blind eye to any atrocities the vampires committed.

Stefan watched them from the bar. He had heard that Klaus had claimed the city as his own. He hadn't really understood what that meant until he saw how everyone practically bowed down to him. He spotted two of Klaus's hybrids and another vampire he didn't recognized following him, acting like body guards. He shook his head.

 _What the hell was going on in New Orleans?_ Stefan thought. He kept his eyes on Klaus, waiting for the moment they could speak.

* * *

Damon parked close to the gate. He could see the lights inside the plantation house but he couldn't get any closer than where he was. The barrier protecting the house prevented him from going further. He had no fucking clue what to do. Caroline had been kidnapped by werewolves and now Elena was also kidnapped. _Were both kidnappings connected?_ He wondered. Whatever the case, he knew he needed Bonnie in order to get them back.

He had tried getting one of the witches from the Quarter to help him with a locator spell for Elena. Only to find out that the witches in the French Quarter had no magic and the cause? Bonnie freaking Bennett, Damon couldn't believe it. Bonnie had taken their magic and not only that; apparently Bonnie had fought and destroyed an entire coven of witches on her own.

Bonnie's name was whispered with fear, respect, and curiosity in the French Quarter. Some thought of her as a queen, other's as the hybrid's bitch. But everyone he had heard speaking of Bonnie was in awe of her.

Damon didn't know what to make of it.

 _How to reconcile the girl he knew in Mystic Falls with the woman everyone spoke of?_

 _What had Klaus done to her? How could he have changed her so much?_

Not only that, everyone in the Quarter seemed to be aware of the supernatural world and all anyone could talk about was the new king. Thanks to his vampire hearing, Damon had heard plenty of conversations in the Quarter, most of them revolved around the latest supernatural gossip.

King Klaus fucking Mikaelson, the fucking bastard was now the king of the city.

According to the terrified witch, Damon had corner and threatened to help him, Klaus had single handedly defeated an army of vampires and kicked the old king out of the city. This had also been confirmed by the snippets of conversation he had heard during the day.

Damon had no idea what to think about this new development. _Did that mean Bonnie was a queen? As if in, Klaus's queen or was she just another pawn in his game?_

As he sat inside his car, watching the home Bonnie was now residing in, Damon couldn't help but feel like everything was spiraling out of control. Everything was fucked up. And if the other things he heard were true, then war was coming to the city.

 _Everyone knows that the Navarro's want New Orleans,_ the scared witch told him. _It's only a matter of time before they attack._

 _This all had to be connected somehow_ , Damon thought. The Navarro's army and their growing power, Caroline's kidnapping, the group of witches that took Elena. Those were the pieces of the puzzle, he had to put them together and figure it out. What was the Navarro's ultimate aim?

But more importantly how did Bonnie fit into all of it?

He needed to talk to her. And that was the reason he was outside her home, waiting for her to come out. Sooner or later, Bonnie would have to come out and Damon would be there to speak with her. As much as he wanted to go and find Elena, Damon knew that without Bonnie, he was screwed.

* * *

It took a long time but Klaus eventually made his way to Stefan, after politely talking to every important person in the ballroom and pretending to care about what was coming out of their mouths. These people were so arrogant and annoying and he just wanted to go home to Bonnie. He knew she was at home watching a move with Belle and Matt. Bonnie had used Belle's phone to sent him a picture of the three of them and to order him to stop worrying. It wasn't going to happen of course. Every minute he spent apart from her, he felt on edge and irritated.

Stefan was leaning against a column, an uncomfortable look on his face. "Why did you invite me to this?" He asked as soon as he felt Klaus's presence next to him.

Elijah and Rebekah watched them from across the room. They were speaking with Francesca Correa and her brothers.

"Why did you call me asking for help?" Klaus asked instead of answering.

"Elena has been kidnapped," Stefan responded. "Damon is determined to get Bonnie's help," he admitted in a whisper.

"And you don't want me to kill him?" Klaus shook his head. Damon Salvatore was the most insufferable vampire he had ever met. Klaus was going to enjoy ripping him to pieces.

"He's my brother," Stefan replied. "I'm not going to let him get killed. He loves Elena he's not thinking clearly-"

Klaus snorted. "Damon never thinks," he muttered darkly. "And no amount of begging on your part is going to stop me from murdering him if he puts Bonnie and my children in danger," he hissed. His eyes flashed gold for a second or two.

Stefan swallowed nervously. "I know that." It was the reason he had called him after all. "I don't want to put Bonnie in danger in her condition either." There were a couple of seconds of silence before he finally found the courage to continue speaking. "As much as I hate to ask, you could help us get Caroline and Elena back. You have resources, a pack of hybrids, and Bonnie doesn't have to be involved at all."

Klaus didn't say anything. He took a sip of his champagne and moved his eyes across the ballroom. "So Elena has been kidnapped yet again," he murmured. He couldn't help but think of Bonnie's visions. She had seen the Traveler's draining Katherine of her blood. _Did they have something to do with Elena's kidnapping as well?_ He had a sinking feeling that they did. "How was she taken?" not that he cared about that stupid girl.

"Liz said it was a group of witches," Stefan told him. "She was kidnapped before by a group of witches as well. She managed to calls us and that's how we found her. They were different from other witches though."

"Different how?" Klaus asked intrigued by that bit of information.

"They could only do magic as a group," Stefan informed him. "Damon and I killed them. We took her back to Mystic Falls and locked her up at the boarding house. That's where they took her from this time. I think they might be from the same group, they were taking her blood," he revealed. "I don't know what for."

Klaus met Elijah's eyes across the room. His brother was hearing his conversation with Stefan while pretending to listen to the group of people surrounding him. Klaus had told him about Bonnie's visions, about the Travelers and the Navarro pack working together and the use of doppelganger blood. "Do you know anything else about them?"

"No."

Silence descended over them.

Klaus slid gaze from Elijah to Rebekah who has frowning, she had heard his conversation with Stefan as well. If the Travelers could cause so much damage with the blood of one doppelganger? What could they do if they had two of them?

"What the hell is going on Klaus?" Stefan asked. "You're the king of the city," he still couldn't believe it. "There are rumors that Bonnie destroyed an entire coven on her own, that the Navarro pack wants New Orleans and why do I have the feeling that Elena's kidnapping has to do with them as well?" Stefan didn't know what to think or what to make of all the things he had been hearing in the past few days.

"Because it does," Klaus said. "Everything is connected." The time had come for Stefan to realize that the world did not revolved around Elena Gilbert. There was a bigger picture and bigger problems to deal with.

Stefan frowned.

"There is a war coming Stefan," Klaus met his eyes. "And it's going to involve all the supernatural species. The Navarro brothers don't want just New Orleans, they want the world."

Stefan opened his mouth just as the lights in the ballroom flickered on and off.

Klaus frowned as his senses suddenly began screaming _danger_ inside his head. Something felt off. It took a second or two before Rebekah and Elijah recognized the danger as well. All three siblings shared knowing looks.

Felix, Riley, and Thierry had come with Klaus and were currently scanning the ballroom, trying to identify any potential threats to the hybrid.

"What's going on?" Stefan asked. He was far younger than Klaus but even he could feel that something wasn't quite right. He had barely gotten the words out when the entire hotel shook by an unexplained force.

The last thing Stefan felt before the world went black was a burning sensation that engulfed his entire body. He screamed in agony.

All of New Orleans shook as a bomb exploded inside the hotel and casino.

* * *

"Why do they always do that?" Bonnie asked as she munched on some popcorn. "They always check the noises in the basement and never turn the lights on," she complained, her eyes were fixed on the TV screen. Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah had left about an hour or so ago. Bonnie, Matt, and Belle had decided to watch a movie. Bonnie had used Belle's phone (she needed to get a new cell phone as hers refused to work) to text Klaus and sent a picture so he wouldn't be worried about her.

They had spent the past half an hour criticizing the slasher film they had decided to watch.

"And they always say hello, as if the killer is going to answer back," Belle mumbled next to her. "How can they be so dumb?"

"Cause that's what it says on the script," Matt nibbled on his chocolate. "If they were smart, there would be no movie. And we wouldn't have anything to make fun of."

"Good point," Bonnie said.

A loud scream was heard from the TV, as another victim felt to the masked killer.

"And she's dead," Belle grabbed more popcorn form the bowl Bonnie had on her lap.

"Told you the blonde one would be the first one to die," Matt told Bonnie.

"Lesson of the day, never go to investigate the basement if you hear loud noises. Just run and get the hell out." Bonnie grabbed more popcorn. They were going to have to make more because the bowl was nearly empty. She suddenly pushed the bowl of popcorn in Belle's direction and touched her stomach.

"What's wrong?" Belle and Matt asked at the same time. The two of them were immediately on the alert.

"Does something hurt?" Matt asked worriedly.

"Should I call the doctor?" Belle stared nervously at Bonnie's belly. She knew Bonnie had a miscarriage scare and was ordered bed rest. She hoped she wouldn't have another one.

"I have a weird feeling," Bonnie mumbled. "Something it's not right." There was a strange sensation inside her, it didn't hurt, but it felt weird.

The lights went out.

"What the hell?" Belle stood up. Her hybrid eyes could see clearly in the darkness. "A storm must be coming or something." She didn't like it.

"I think I have a flashlight in my room." Matt stood up as well. He was about to head up the stairs when the fire place suddenly erupted in flames, illuminating the family room. He turned to Bonnie.

"I didn't do it," Bonnie said quickly. She had wanted to but she knew she wasn't allowed to do magic.

Angelica came running into the family room. "The barrier," she said fearfully. "It's coming down. Someone is breaking the protective spells around the house." she looked really scared.

Bonnie stood up. "Can you put them back up?"

"I already tried," Angelica answered. The fear and the panic in her voice were more than evident. "It's not working."

Bonnie was about to open her mouth when a strange noise reached her ears. "Do you hear that?" she turned to Belle who had the best hearing out of all of them.

"I don't hear anything," the hybrid girl answered. She closed her eyes and focused on her hearing, trying to pick up whatever noise Bonnie had heard.

"I can hear chanting," Bonnie whispered. The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach intensified. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel her magic bubbling to the surface. Bonnie concentrated and pushed it back. She could not do any magic. She had to calm herself before she accidentally tapped into it. It wouldn't be good for the twins.

The lights came back up.

In the next second, every window in the house suddenly shattered.

Matt moved closer to Bonnie, taking a protective stance in front of her. So did Belle while Angelica began murmuring under her breath. She chanted furiously as she clutched her talisman in one hand, she was doing her best to create a protective circle around them.

"We have a problem," Kol's spirit suddenly appeared next to Bonnie. "You need to get out now."

His warning came too late.

The front door was thrown open and a group of people stormed inside the house.

"Oh shit," Matt and Kol said at the same time.

Bonnie's heart leaped to her throat. They were under attack and she couldn't use her magic to protect herself.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. See you next time!_


	41. Chapter 41

**I hope you like this one. Enjoy!**

* * *

Those first few moments were confusing and chaotic. One minute Stefan felt like his entire body was burning and the next he was dump unceremoniously on the ground. He groaned in pain and blinked up in confusion, not knowing what had happened. His ears were ringing but he could hear the unmistakable sound of sirens in the distance. He could also hear the moans of pain and the cries for help coming from the people inside the building.

"What-" Stefan coughed. Everything hurt. The only reason he was still alive was because Klaus had gotten him out before he had been consumed in the flames. He had been very lucky.

A thick dark blanket of smoke surrounded the area. Stefan blinked a couple of times as he lay on the concrete, his body slowly beginning to heal. It was taking longer than expected though. He saw Klaus standing next to him on the sidewalk, the expression on his face was unreadable.

Some of the guest had been lucky enough not to have been hurt that much during the explosion and had managed to get themselves out as quickly as possible. The police and the emergency services arrived on the scene rather quickly, doing their best to tend to all the victims, many which were still inside.

Rebekah slumped down on the sidewalk next to Stefan. Her shaky hands were red. She had been burned and her body was taking its sweet time healing.

"Something is not right," Stefan managed to say as he rolled to his side. It hurt, his insides were melting. "It almost feels like-"

"Vervain," Rebekah hissed. "We were sprayed with vervain."

The fire had activated the alarms and water sprinkler system inside the hotel and casino, vervain water raining down on everyone almost immediately. It was the reason their healing abilities were not kicking in properly, they were being slowed down by the vervain that had fallen over their bodies.

A few feet away from Rebekah and Stefan, Riley coughed and sat on the curb. He rubbed his forehead as he tried to process what had happened and waited for his healing abilities to mend the wounds on his skin.

"What the hell was that?" Thierry gasped. _Holy shit!_ They had been lucky not to have been burned to death by the explosion. He still felt shaky and nervous about the whole thing. It had reminded him of the Mikaelson ball. He had been very lucky that night too.

Felix was already on his feet, his face covered in burns. "The building is still standing." It showed that whatever caused the explosion had not been strong enough to bring the entire building down. He glanced briefly in Thierry's direction wondering if Marcel's loyal followers had been behind this attack. _Was this a show of rebellion on their part?_ He turned from Thierry and searched for his sire, finding him just a few feet away. Klaus looked deep in thought.

Elijah came out of the building next, he was carrying an unconscious Mayor de la Fontaine in his arms, the Mayor's wife following closely behind. She was frantically screaming for the paramedics to come and help. Her dress was torn and she was limping. Elijah deposited the Mayor on the sidewalk, bit into his wrist and fed him his blood. It wouldn't look good on their family to have the Mayor of the city die on their watch.

"He'll be fine," he reassured the Mayor's wife. The usually elegant Original looked terrible just like the other guests that were lucky enough to exit the hotel with their own feet. His hair was a mess, he had a nasty gash on half of his face which was healing rather slowly and his black tux was covered in debris, blood, smoke, and water. His gaze moved over his siblings and the other vampires that had been at the event, ensuring that they were unharmed.

Rebekah was complaining about her ruined dress and the redness of her skin, she was still healing from the burns caused during the explosion. Stefan was on the ground next to her, staring up at the dark sky and groaning in pain from time to time. Unlike them, Stefan's vampire body was not indestructible.

Riley, Thierry, and Felix were no better. The only one with no visible burning marks on his skin was Niklaus.

As if sensing his eyes on him, Niklaus turned to stare at him. There was not a single scratch on his pale skin. If he had been hurt during the explosion it was all healed now. Elijah frowned. _Had his brother not been sprayed with vervain?_

Klaus looked down at his hands, they were wet. He and Stefan had been sprayed with the vervain that rained down as soon as the alarms went off, yet Klaus felt no pain. He frowned, wondering why the vervain had not affected him at all. Rebekah and Elijah's healing abilities had slowed down considerably due to the vervain water clinging to their skins. To Klaus, it felt like regular water. _Why is that?_

He was still staring at his hands when his senses picked up a familiar presence nearby. Every nerve in his body went immediately on the alert. That son of a bitch was here.

Klaus scanned his surroundings. The paramedics and police were working furiously to save as many lives as they could. The hotel was surprisingly still standing and plenty of people had managed to get out alive, albeit hurt. He slid his gaze over the crowd that had formed outside the hotel, he saw father Kieran helping a woman to her feet, Francesca Correa speaking to a police officer, and curious onlookers standing on the other side of the street. There was even a news crew already on the scene.

Klaus moved his gaze to the building right in front of the hotel and looked up at the rooftop. That's when he saw him. Tyler Lockwood was standing there, looking down at him. The moment their eyes met, Tyler took off at vampire speed.

Klaus growled and wasted no time to go after his renegade hybrid. He had a feeling that Tyler was behind what had happened.

"Nik!" Rebekah screamed as she saw the blur of movement that was her brother. "Where are you going?"

Elijah stood up and took off after him. Felix, who had been watching Klaus, followed him as well.

Rebekah was going to follow after them but Stefan's groans of pain stopped her. "Bloody hell," she murmured getting down on her knees and helping the younger vampire to his feet. "You owe me."

* * *

The plan was simple, get Klaus's attention and lead him to the alley behind the hotel, where a group of Travelers was waiting for him. Tyler and Christian's second in command had the mission to get Klaus's attention and draw him straight to the trap they had set up for him. The bomb had been a distraction. Their intention had been to cause damage and even hurt the Originals before taking down the hybrid. They were planning to use the confusion and panic the explosion caused to get out of the city without notice.

Their original plan was simply to get Bonnie and take her to Franco. That was their mission. But Christian had decided to combine forces with the groups of Travelers that Franco had sent and take the Mikaelson's by surprise in a combined attack. He had also decided that handing the Original Hybrid to Franco was going to be the icing on the cake. Most of the wolves were excited at the idea of bringing the new king of the city to his knees. Tyler had kept his mouth shut, his mind replaying that horrible Christmas scene where he had found the mutilated bodies of his friends and pack mates after they had betrayed Klaus.

Christian had seemed so confident. He really believed that with the witches Franco had at his disposal their plan would succeed without any trouble.

Tyler still couldn't believe that Franco had other teams ready to take Bonnie, teams composed of witches known as the Travelers. Since Christian had met with one of the leaders, he had come back elated, he really felt like they were going to get away with everything they had planned. Tyler had felt sick when he learned of the plan. When he realized that innocent people were going to be murdered just so that Franco could get what he wanted. The poor people inside the hotel, humans who were innocent and had nothing to do with the stuff that was happening in the supernatural world had paid the price for Franco's greed. Christian didn't care, all he cared about, all he wanted was to fulfill Franco's mission. The other wolves in the team didn't care either. The only one who felt any guilt, who was constantly second guessing himself, and trying to do the right thing despite the fact that the odds were not in his favor was Tyler.

As he stood on the roof top of the building across the hotel, he watched sadly as the injured were taken out of the hotel, some corpses had already been piled up on the side, while the paramedics struggled to help everyone.

 _You helped do this_ , his guilty conscience said. He had blood on his hands. _How many more innocents will you sent to their graves Tyler? Wasn't your pack enough?_

He would never stopped feeling guilty about that, Tyler thought as he focused his eyes on the hybrid as he exited the hotel. The man he hated with all his guts, the monster that had destroyed his life, the monster that had compelled him and ordered him to be his spy.

Klaus stepped out of the hotel calmly. He dropped Stefan like a sack of potatoes on the sidewalk and stood amid the chaos like a statue. There was not a single burn on his skin, the only sign he had been inside the hotel was the debris on his suit and the dampness of his hair.

Tyler frowned. _What the hell was Stefan Salvatore doing in New Orleans?_ He wondered. He kept his eyes on Klaus, waiting for the hybrid senses to pick his presence and come after him. That was the plan after all.

 _You are going to lead the hybrid into our trap_. Christian had ordered him a couple of hours ago. _You will ensure we capture him for Franco._

While Christian went after Bonnie, Tyler had no choice but to stay and follow the plan. He hated it. He had volunteered to go with Christian but the wolf had refused, claiming that Tyler was the perfect distraction to keep Klaus entertained while they got the witch. Tyler had no clue where Bonnie lived. Christian had refused to tell him. He had no choice but to stay and feel helpless and useless at his circumstances.

Tyler swallowed thickly, knowing that this was it. This was the moment where he had to decide. Since his arrival in New Orleans he had been going back and forth, debating what to do, and changing his mind, from doing what Franco wanted to following Klaus's orders, to maybe doing all on his own. It was driving him crazy.

Bu the moment of truth had come. What he decided to do right now, what he chose to do in this moment would change everything. It would affect him and it would also determined Caroline's survival. His Caroline, who was at the mercy of the Navarro brothers, she was locked up and had been tortured in order to keep him in check.

 _Will you ever forgive me?_ Tyler wondered. _Will we ever be the same?_

Klaus looked up in that moment. His eyes met Tyler's and the young hybrid's heart froze.

Klaus's jaw clenched and his eyes turned a gold hue.

Tyler took off running at hybrid speed. He was supposed to go right, to the alley right behind the hotel, that's where the Travelers were waiting, ready to capture the hybrid. But Tyler chose to go left, to the other alley down the street.

He didn't even make it that far.

Klaus caught up to him with ease. He was faster, older, and he was out for blood.

Before Tyler even realized it, he was pressed against the concrete wall of an old building. Klaus's hand was in his throat.

"You," Klaus hissed, hybrid face surfacing, his golden eyes promising a terrible end.

Tyler gasped as he felt the hybrid's fingers digging painfully into the skin of his neck. "It's a trap," he managed to let out before Klaus squeezed his throat and knocked him out. Black spots were already forming behind his eyelids and he was lifted a couple of inches from the ground. "…B…Bonnie…" he rasped out, hoping that Klaus would get the message.

There was a flicker of surprise in Klaus's eyes. It was quick and it disappeared like lighting. But Tyler had seen it.

Klaus dropped him as if he had been burned. In the next second, he took off at vampire speed.

 _Who knew that saying Bonnie's name could have such an effect on the murderous hybrid?_

Tyler stood up on shaky legs and was more than ready to run back to the team and lie to them. He couldn't risk them knowing that he had warned Klaus. His plan was to tell them that Klaus had not come out of the building and bide his time so he could get to Bonnie. However, before Tyler could take off running, Elijah appeared behind him and broke his neck. The young hybrid fell to the ground unconscious. He had never anticipated the other Original to be there.

Felix, who had seen Klaus and Elijah take off and had followed after them- arrived a second or two later. He looked from the Original to the unconscious hybrid.

"Take him to the compound and chain him up," Elijah ordered. There was no way at the moment to know for sure whether Tyler was a friend or foe but there was no doubt he was an important piece in the game the Navarros were playing. "Keep an eye on him and tell my sister and Riley to go the plantation, Bonnie is in danger." With those words, Elijah disappeared and headed straight to the plantation house.

* * *

The strangers stormed inside the house ready to complete their mission. Bonnie watched them nervously. She couldn't believe they had managed to break the protective spells around the property. _How on earth had they done it?_

Angelica's quick thinking bought them some time. Her magic created a protective circle around her, Bonnie, Matt, and Belle. It was the four of them versus a group of at least twenty people.

They moved around the family room, which was spacious for all of them and began chanting in a language Bonnie didn't understand. It reminded her of her dream, of the ring of fire she had been engulfed in. _The Travelers,_ Bonnie realized. She was pretty certain that the men that had stormed inside her home were the Travelers.

Bonnie's eyes were drawn to the man at the front of the group. He was a werewolf and the glint in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. He was staring at her, his eyes trailing over her body with an intensity that had her skin prickling with fear. She noticed the flicker of surprise and confusion when his eyes landed on her small baby bump but it was gone in an instant.

"What do we do?" Belle whispered. She was tense and ready to leap into action. Her eyes flickered between Bonnie and the men that now circled them. She waited for Bonnie to say something.

Bonne didn't. She had no idea what to say or how to offer reassurance to the hybrid girl.

Matt's hands balled into fists as he stared the group in front of them, wondering how the hell they were going to get out this.

The men surrounding them kept chanting, their voices low, and their heads bowed. They were trying to break through the protective barrier Angelica had created. Judging by the sweat prickling her skin and the twitches of pain visible on her face, she wasn't going to be able to handle it for much longer.

Bonnie watched her sadly. Angelica was doing her best to keep the barrier of protection around them but the Travelers were all channeling together, their magic twice as strong. As powerful as Angelica was, she wasn't going to be able to handle fighting all of them at once. Bonnie realized that she was going to have to use her magic. She had to do whatever was necessary to protect herself and her friends.

Bonnie knew the Travelers and the Navarros were working together, she had seen it in her visions. The first witch had warned her. This group was not here to kill her; they were here to take her to Franco. That she knew in her heart.

The fear that laced her veins at the thought of Franco Navarro had her trembling from head to toe. She was terrified of him. She knew what he wanted to do to her. He made her sick, angry, and fearful. The horrible nightmares that tormented her had been a warning of his plans for her. She couldn't allow herself to be taken, not again. She had done that with the teleporting spell and nearly had a miscarriage because of it.

Bonnie couldn't afford to do that now. She had to protect herself. But in order to protect herself, she was going to have to use her magic. And doing so came at a cost, her children. She didn't want to put them at risk. Doing magic would take a toll on her body, her body that was still recovering from her ordeal, her body that still needed to heal fully. _But what other choice did she have?_ Deep down she knew that being taken to Franco was going to be a lot worse, not only for her, but for her children. As much as it pained her, as much as it terrified her, she knew that she had to fight back.

"Get the witch to knock them out," Kol's voice startled her.

Bonnie turned to stare at him. In her panic she had almost forgotten that Kol's spirit was there with her.

"Blast them off their asses and run away from here," Kol gave her an idea. "Through the window if you have to." He was looking nervously at the group surrounding them. "Their magic is too powerful. She won't be able to resist keeping the barrier until my siblings get back. But she can buy you some time and give you the chance to escape." It was better to flee than to stay and fight, especially given her circumstances.

Bonnie nodded. _But how was she going to warn Angelica without the Travelers hearing them?_ Before Bonnie could even decide what to do, Angelica started choking.

"Angelica!" Belle immediately rushed to her side.

Angelica's eyes snapped open, blood began trailing down her nose, as she gasped and convulsed. Her body began twisting uncontrollably and loud whimpers of pain escaped her lips.

"What are they doing to her?" Matt asked fearfully. Their magic had been able to attack her even through the protective barrier she had placed. They were screwed.

"Stop it!" Bonnie turned to look at the Travelers, they were hurting her. They were attacking and weakening her so the barrier would come down fully. Their magic was stronger than she first anticipated.

Angelica fell down on her knees, weakened by the Traveler's magic, but even then, she forced herself to keep on chanting, if not with her lips then in her head. She used every bit of strength she had to keep the barrier in place. That was the only thing standing in their way, the only thing keeping Bonnie safe.

"She won't last much longer," the wolf at the front of the group commented. He almost seemed amused at Angelica's attempts to keep on fighting. "Kill her and be done with it." His eyes were fixed on Bonnie as he spoke. _I got you, there is nowhere to run. There is nowhere to hide. I got you._ His eyes seemed to say to her.

Anger, fear, and the strong desire to keep herself and her friends safe bubbled to the surface. Bonnie's fingers itched. She could feel it, her magic coming alive inside her, fueled by her emotions.

 _Be careful, Bonnie_. A part of her thought in warning. _You need to be careful._

Matt said something, so did Kol, but Bonnie didn't hear them. Her eyes were focused on the wolf, the one leading the group, the one who kept looking at her as if she were a scared little lamb ready to be sacrificed.

 _I am a wolf and you are my prey. I got you._ His eyes mocked her as did the evil curl of his lips. He was enjoying seeing them cornered. He felt superior. He felt triumphant in the knowledge that with the Travelers by his side, he had the upper hand.

It infuriated Bonnie. That arrogant posture and smirk, that mocking look in his eyes, _who_ _the hell did he think he was?_

A small crack formed on the window behind them, no one noticed.

By this point the barrier was slowly coming down and Bonnie, Matt, and Belle had no choice but to move closer together. They were all huddled together, as the space of protection was being reduced with each passing minute.

"Hurry up," the wolf said, urging the Travelers to break it completely. Despite their great power, Angelica was giving them one hell of a fight.

"Give her some of your blood," Bonnie told Belle. She kept her eyes on the wolf. She refused to cower in fear under his intense gaze.

"What?" Belle turned to her in confusion.

"Feed her your blood," Bonnie ordered.

"Oh!" Belle exclaimed, her eyes opening wide. She bit into her wrist and shoved it down Angelica's throat without another question. The effect was immediate. With the hybrid blood in her system, Angelica regained some of her strength and she was able to keep the barrier in place.

It was temporary. Bonnie knew that sooner or later the barrier would come down. The Travelers were determined and their magic was very strong. Bonnie could feel their power surging around the family room, engulfing the barrier and breaking it little by little. She had never felt magic like this before. It felt very different from any other magic she had encountered before. She wasn't sure but she felt like there was something, a powerful ingredient enhancing the Traveler's magic. _Where they using doppelganger blood? Is that why they were so powerful?_

The wolf's eyes narrowed as he stared at Bonnie with fulminating anger. Bonnie did not look away. She stared him down, her mind swirling with different scenarios as she calculated the risk she was about to take.

"What are you planning?" Kol questioned. He could see the look of determination on her face. Bonnie was about to do something, he knew it.

Bonnie ignored him. She didn't have much time. She knew she had to act. _Please forgive me_ , Bonnie thought anguishly _. I have to do this. I have to keep you safe._

She breathed in and out, trying to calm the erratic beating of her heart. She thought of Klaus then, _can you feel my fear?_ She wondered. _Are you coming?_ She hoped with all her heart that he was on his way. _Come to me my love_ , she thought. _I need you._ She prayed that their bond had alerted him to the danger she was in.

Bonnie was so tense, so ready to bolt, to attack, to unleash all her power on the group inside her home, to destroy them, and burn them in the same way she had done with the Seer and her coven. But she had to be smart about it. She couldn't just unleash her magic in an abrupt manner, that would be too dangerous. She had to tap into her magic gently, coax it out, so as to cause as little trouble as possible for her twins.

It felt like hours went by but the truth was that it was only a minute or two. For Bonnie, for Matt and Belle, and even Angelica it felt like a lifetime since the Travelers stormed inside the room. It wasn't really. They were just simply seeing and feeling everything in slow motion.

Bonnie took a deep breath as she tap into her magic. Small tendrils of power surfaced and coiled inside her. Expression which had lain dormant since her return from the other side was slowly awakened. The magic slowly building inside her, small currents of power that twisted and curled together, waiting for the right moment to pounce, waiting for her command to attack. Warmth spread throughout her body as her magic surged to life.

Angelica cried out as her knees gave out once more.

"Shit!" Matt cursed as he realized what was happening.

The barrier broke.

Belle's face shifted as she prepared to attack.

The wolf and Travelers went straight for their prey.

Bonnie was ready for them. She flicked her right hand, sending a wave of her power towards the group. They were all lifted into the air before they crashed against the wall, the furniture, and even on the TV which was still playing the slasher film they had been watching before the attack. Every single one of them was blasted off their feet by her magic and knocked out of the way.

"Get Angelica," Bonnie ordered as she ran straight for the front door, her entire body pumped with adrenaline. Her fingers still tingling from the magic she had just used.

Matt followed her without a second thought.

Belle picked Angelica in her arms and rushed after them.

Kol's spirit followed as well.

* * *

Damon's ears perked up as his senses suddenly alerted him to danger. He was still inside his car, parked outside Bonnie's house. Something was wrong. He couldn't exactly describe what it was but there was a change in the air. He was still a relatively new vampire in the grand schemes of things but his enhanced senses were alerting him that something was not right.

He used his enhanced hearing, trying to detect anything out of the ordinary, any sudden shift in the atmosphere. That's when the sound of chanting reached him. There were people chanting, his ears picked up different voices, and they were all coming from the plantation house.

Damon got out the car and headed straight towards the gate. To his surprise he was able to cross the protective barrier around the property. Or more like the barrier had vanished completely. _What the hell?_ Damon thought. Just about an hour or two ago, he had tried to find a way to sneak inside in order to talk to Bonnie but had been stopped by the barrier and now it was gone. _How did that happened?_

There was a scream that echoed in the darkness. A scream that sounded rather familiar.

Bonnie

Damon didn't think twice. He used his vampire speed and headed inside the property.

Bonnie was in danger.

Bonnie needed his help.

* * *

They made it down the front steps of the house and stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing what awaited them.

"Oh fuck," Kol mumbled as he saw the group on the front lawn.

"You got to be kidding me," Matt moved closer to Bonnie, unconsciously rubbing the ring she had made for him with his fingers.

There were over a dozen Travelers scattered around the front lawn, all chanting, all ready to stop them. The air crackled with their combined power, the magic in the air was without a doubt extremely powerful and dangerous.

Matt and Belle were suddenly lifted into the air.

"No!" Bonnie screamed as she watched in horror as the two of them were lifted up high, suspended in mid air, like puppets on a string. "Let them go!"

Belle dropped Angelica when she was lifted. The witch whimpered upon falling on the grass, she had her eyes closed and she was having trouble breathing.

Belle and Matt stared at one another, matching looks of panic and shock on their faces.

The Travelers broke their necks and their lifeless bodies fell to the ground with a thud.

The Travelers then turned towards Bonnie, chanting, channeling their magic against her.

Bonnie's magic flared in response. She was afraid but she was not going to let them hurt her. She prepared herself for their attack.

There was a blur of movement that seemed to come out of nowhere, it moved so fast, Bonnie barely saw it. In the next second, one of the Travelers was on the ground dead, his neck broken.

"Damon?" Bonnie stared in disbelief as Damon killed one Traveler before quickly moving towards the next one, killing him as well. He was about to kill a third one when the Travelers snapped into action.

Damon screamed and clutched his head when he felt fire exploding inside his brain. He sank to his knees, groaning in pain as the Travelers attacked him with their magic.

The moment of distraction Damon presented aided the werewolf who was just exiting the house. He grabbed Bonnie from behind, one arm wrapped around her neck in a chokehold, while the other circled her waist. Bonnie gasped and struggled against the tight iron grip. She had been caught off guard.

"Let me go!" She tried to use her magic but something blocked her. _What the hell?_

That's when she noticed three men coming out of the house. They were chanting, hands out stretched in her direction. They were blocking her magic. The Travelers she had knocked out inside the house came out as well, joining the group on the front lawn.

Bonnie struggled harder trying to break free but the wolf kept holding her down. She tried to summon her magic but again she was blocked. There was a moment in which she realized that while they were blocking her, she could break free, and push her magic to the surface. The thought of her children, of what had happened when she did that against the spirits, had her hesitating. The fear of hurting them prevented her from unleashing all her power against her enemies.

"Son of a bitch." Kol furiously tried to push the wolf off her, to no avail of course; he was a spirit. His hands went right through the wolf's body much to Kol's anger. "Damn it!" he hated being a freaking ghost.

The wolf kept the chokehold he had around her neck but the arm on her waist disappeared, there was some rustle of clothing before she caught sight of the syringe through her peripheral vision. He was going to inject her with that strange yellow liquid.

Bonnie screamed when she felt the prickle on the side of her neck and then she bit down hard on the wolf's arm. She acted on instinct, sinking her teeth into his flesh. She bit so hard that she broke the skin and tasted his blood. It was a shock to her system. It was a shock to him as well.

 _The wolf's name was Christian. He was a loyal follower, a believer of the Navarro cause._

" _Bring me Bonnie Bennett," Franco ordered him days before. "There is more than one group going after her, yours will be the first." The malice in Franco's eyes was unmistakable._

 _A motel room in the Quarter, inside there was a group of werewolves waiting nervously for further instructions. They had all sworn loyalty to the Navarro cause. They all had come for her._

 _Tyler was part of that group as well. The look on his face was one of pure anguish._

The flashes came to her mind so suddenly and unexpectedly, she barely had time to react before Christian forcibly yanked his arm away from her. "You fucking bitch!" he hissed, he was stunned that her human teeth had managed to bite him so hard. He looked at the nasty bite; the bitch had torn some of his flesh off. He growled before he struck her with all his strength.

Bonnie saw stars behind her eyelids as he punched her in the face. She fell to the ground as he hit her. She felt something warm trickle down her nose and chin. Her vision was blurry and she felt disoriented by the blow that nearly knocked her unconscious. It hurt.

Christian yanked her up by the hair. Her scalp hurt. Tears blurred her vision and she whimpered in pain as he forcibly pulled her up.

"Let her go!" A small voice yelled.

Christian who was trying to drag Bonnie way was suddenly flung away from her by an invincible force. Bonnie stumbled and sank to the ground in shock.

The three travelers blocking her magic were decapitated in the next second, blood spilling everywhere as their heads fell and rolled on the grass, a few feet away from her.

A ball of fire hit three of the travelers on the lawn at once.

Four more fell to their knees clutching their heads, the power of a thousand aneurysms hitting them at the same time.

There was a growl as a blur sped towards the group, followed by another blur. Necks were snapped, hearts were ripped from chests and plenty more Travelers were set aflame.

Bonnie blinked in astonishment as she spotted Davina paralyzing two Travelers. _When had Davina been freed from the cabin?_

She caught a glimpse of messy dark blonde curls before she found herself engulfed in a fierce hug.

"Oh Bonnie, I missed you," a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"Charlotte…" Bonnie couldn't believe it. Charlotte was here. Charlotte was in her arms. And she wasn't the only Bennett witch there.

"Bonnie!" Abby sped towards her. She kneeled on the ground next to her. Behind her, Bonnie caught sight of Lucy and Joanna handing aneurysms left and right.

A leather clad woman was throwing fireballs, a couple of feet away from them. Kyra, that was her name. Bonnie recognized her from the glimpses she had seen the night of the summoning.

An elegantly dressed woman in a red suit lifted five Travelers in the air as if they weighted nothing. With a flick of her left hand, their bodies twisted at a weird angle and they dropped to the ground dead. Aunt Vivian, Bonnie recognized her immediately.

Another younger woman was kneeling over Angelica, murmuring a healing spell, Adriane. She was a nurse; Bonnie had seen her during the summoning ceremony too.

She saw Elijah and Rebekah ripping hearts out with ease. Riley had come as well.

The Travelers tried to use their magic against them but Joanna and Lucy had their backs, ensuring the Travelers' powers were blocked. She caught sight of another familiar face, moving at a much slower pace than the Originals but faster than a human. Stefan had joined the fray.

Bonnie's eyes were suddenly drawn to Klaus. He had been the one to decapitate the three Travelers blocking her magic. He was standing close to her, watching her. He raised an eyebrow at the tiny girl that had gotten to her first and was hugging her with all her strength.

Bonnie smiled as she met his eyes. Klaus was here. Her family was here. Charlotte was here. Her coven was here. The Bennett coven was together at last. They had all come for her.

The cavalry had arrived within seconds of each other. They had all acted on instinct and attacked the Travelers at once. There had been no hesitation. There had been no second thoughts. In that moment it didn't matter if they were witches, vampires, Originals, or a hybrid, they were all united by a common goal, the need to protect Bonnie.

Bonnie couldn't believe it. She never thought that so many people would fight for her.

* * *

A few minutes later, after everything was said and done, Charlotte was still clinging to Bonnie. The little girl refused to be parted from her, much to Klaus's annoyance. He was desperate to pull Bonnie into his arms but he couldn't just wretch the tiny witch away, no matter how much he may want to.

"Sweetie, I'm happy to see you too but you're squishing me," Bonnie murmured. Charlotte was holding her so tight that Bonnie was starting to feel a bit lightheaded. Her body felt really sluggish too. She was feeling tired, like if she had just run a marathon or something. She couldn't help but wonder if it was because of the magic she had used.

"Sorry," Charlotte pulled away immediately. She was smiling, she felt so happy to be reunited with Bonnie.

"How are you here?" Bonnie whispered. She couldn't believe it, Charlotte in the land of the living and she was flesh and blood too. It was amazing. She felt so happy that Charlotte was there, that she was no longer stuck on the other side. She had missed her so much.

"That's what I would like to know," Kol muttered while glaring daggers at the insufferable little girl. He couldn't understand how she could be alive while he wasn't. It didn't make any sense. It wasn't fair.

Both Bonnie and Charlotte turned to look in his direction.

"You can see me?" Kol asked in disbelief as he noted Charlotte looking straight at him.

Charlotte looked away immediately.

Bonnie frowned. She had also noticed Charlotte staring directly at Kol.

"She saw me!" Kol accused. "She heard me, she can see me!" he tried to pinch Charlotte but his hands went straight through her, she didn't even feel a thing.

"Can you see him?" Bonnie asked her gently.

"See who?" Charlotte asked while giving her an innocent look.

"What's going on?" Abby asked confused by the whole thing. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," Kol hissed angrily at Charlotte. "I know that you can see me."

Charlotte refused to look at him again and kept staring at Bonnie with those big green eyes of her.

"Never mind," Bonnie muttered. Kol looked ready to protest but Bonnie ignored him. She had no time for his complains.

Abby helped Bonnie to her feet before embracing her in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry we didn't arrive sooner," she whispered.

"You came just in time," Bonnie told her as they pulled away. "How did you know?" _Had her coven sensed that she was in trouble? Is that why they all had showed up at once?_

"Klaus called," Abby said glancing briefly in the hybrid's direction. "He told us about the charity event and asked us to keep an eye on you."

"He did?" Bonnie turned to him, smiling in his direction. The smile dropped from her face at the angry look Klaus was giving Abby, he looked ready to attack.

"You were supposed to keep an eye on her. Where the bloody hell were you?" he questioned angrily. It was taking every bit of self control he possessed not to act out on that anger. He hadn't asked, he had ordered Abby to head to the plantation with Lucy and keep Bonnie company while he attended the event with his siblings. Abby had assured him that they would. The Bennett witches had arrived almost at the same time as him. It infuriated him. The Bennett witches were supposed to protect Bonnie, not leave her defenseless. More than anything, Klaus was angry at himself. Once again, he had failed Bonnie. He had failed to protect her and she had been hurt because it. The dry blood on her nose was proof of it.

"Klaus," Bonnie said gently, she could feel his anger through their bond.

Abby actually looked guilty. "We were on our way but Adriane sensed two Bennett witches and we decided to look for them first," she looked down at Charlotte before looking back at Bonnie. "I'm so sorry. We never thought you'd be attacked." They should've known. But they had arrogantly believed that the spells around the property would keep Bonnie safe. Their arrogance, their confidence, it had played in their enemies favor. She winced, thinking of the talk Aunt Vivian would have with them later that night or morning.

"You came just in time," Bonnie reassured her mother. She turned towards Klaus. She could feel how angry he was but above all she could feel the hint of fear. For the second time in less than a week she had been in danger, nearly kidnapped again. Mixed with the fear she felt his guilt. He felt responsible.

Bonnie walked in his direction or she tried to because she stumbled, her knees felt weak. She would've fallen on the ground but strong arms caught her and crushed her against his solid chest. She was suddenly engulfed in his scent, his warmth, and strength.

Bonnie threw her arms around him and clung to him as if her life depended on it. Small tremors rolled over her body and she squeezed her eyes shut. The nightmare was over. The relief she felt at being in his arms again was overwhelming. She knew she was safe with him.

"I got you love," Klaus murmured against her ear. "I got you." He rubbed her back and held her even closer to him. He had nearly lost her, again. He was not letting her out of his sight ever.

For a couple of seconds they simply stood like that, holding each other. Bonnie pulled away eventually. Klaus had noticed the blood on her nose and chin but now he could also see the swelling on her face. He growled a murderous look in his eyes, which had remained a gold hue since his arrival. His head turned to the side in the direction where Christian was.

The wolf was pulling himself to his feet. The smile dropped from his face when he realized that the Travelers he had led to try and kidnap Bonnie were all dead. His eyes moved from the couple standing a couple of feet away from him, to the witches behind them, and the scattered corpses on the front lawn.

This turn of events was something he had not been expecting. None of his carefully thought plans could've prepared him for this.

Abby took a protective stance in front of Charlotte, Joanna and Lucy moved closer as well. Kyra had her hand ready to throw a fireball in his direction. All the witches focused their attention on the wolf. He was the last one standing.

Christian watched them with a hateful look on his face, his eyes darted towards the woods surrounding the property. He debated on whether he could make a run for it.

"Don't even think about it," Elijah hissed as he and Rebekah moved closer to him.

The wolf that had stared at Bonnie and mocked her earlier that night, the leader of the attack, the one who had felt so sure and triumphant, was now reduced to feeling like prey. In other words, Christian was fucked. The only thing left to figure out was who would be delivering the final blow, the witches gathering closer to Bonnie or the two angry Originals inching closer to him, not to mention the murderous hybrid right in front of him. They all wanted to be the ones to end his miserable existence.

He swallowed nervously. _How the fuck had everything gone so wrong?_ No one had anticipated that Bonnie Bennett had a fucking coven by her side.

Bonnie's hands dug into the lapels of Klaus's suit, preventing him from heading straight to the wolf and ripping him to pieces.

"He's going to die," Bonnie whispered. She felt really tired but she managed to send a glare in Christian's direction. As if on cue, Christian started coughing. He took a step forward and coughed again. He hissed when he felt an intense pain on his arm, where Bonnie bit him. He lifted said arm and noticed the bite had not healed yet.

"I bit him," Bonnie said.

Klaus and his siblings realized immediately what that meant. They still remembered what happened with Brian.

"So?" Kol asked. He didn't know that the twins' blood was lethal to vampires and werewolves alike. He was in for quite the show.

"You'll see," Bonnie whispered keeping her eyes on Christian. She didn't feel any pity for him. She knew what was coming, she knew he was about to die, and she was waiting for it.

* * *

Davina was on her knees next to Belle who was still unconscious. She watched with interest as the wolf began to look sickly. She didn't know who the witches that had come to help Bonnie were or even who the witches that attacked her were. What she did know however, was that the scene on the front lawn was reminiscent of one of her dreams. In that moment, she realized that it had begun. Her dreams had started to come true. The war had come to New Orleans.

Now that she was free from being locked up in the cabin, she could escape and run away. There was a part of her that wanted to but the city was now under Klaus's control or so Belle had informed her. She had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. She didn't even know where Marcel was. And she also felt curious about the strange group of women that had come to Bonnie's rescue. They were powerful witches, Davina could feel it. Despite her better judgment, she stayed. Something inside of her told her she needed to stay.

Davina glanced briefly in Bonnie's direction before looking back at the wolf, waiting to see what would happen.

Stefan had no idea what was going either. He was standing next to Damon's unconscious body. The Travelers had knocked him out after frying his brain and he had yet to wake up. Stefan was still a bit weak after the explosion but he had followed Rebekah after she had taken off when Felix informed them that Bonnie was in danger. Now he stared at the wolf, wondering what was about to happen. He looked sicker by the minute, it was almost as if he had been poisoned. Stefan couldn't help but remember how sickly Damon had look after getting scratched by Tyler. The wolf was looking like that.

Stefan had heard what Bonnie said. _Since when was a witch's blood poison to werewolves?_ He wondered.

Riley was standing a few feet away from him, eyes on the wolf as well, ready to attack should he tried to escape. He was also very curious about what was happening to Christian.

Everyone had their eyes on Christian actually. If he tried to escape, they would all be ready to attack.

* * *

Christian glared at Bonnie. He tried to take another step but stopped abruptly as the wave of pain spread from his arm and all throughout his body. Everyone watched as he gasped. His body began convulsing involuntarily. "What-" with horror he realized his skin was turning black, he could feel it, something inside him was burning, eating away at his flesh. It was happening far too fast for him to fully comprehend what was wrong with him.

Bonnie and Klaus watched. The same thing that was happening to Christian had happened to Brian, after he attacked her. While Brian had drunk straight from the source and died almost instantly, Christian's case was slightly different. It had taken a few minutes for the venom to kick in but once it had, there was no stopping it.

Once she realized what was happening, Abby ordered Charlotte to turn around and close her eyes. The little girl did it without question.

"You've been poisoned," Klaus's lips curved into his trademark smirk as he stared at Christian. As much as he wanted to rip the son of a bitch apart for hurting Bonnie, it seemed only fitting that he were to die by Bonnie's hand or her teeth in this case. It served him right. His death was going to be far more painful that way.

Christian's eyes widened. He gasped one last time as his body turned a hideous black color. He let out an anguished scream before his putrid flesh slumped to the ground. The arrogant wolf was finally dead.

Bonnie let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She hadn't even flinched when Christian died. There was a second in which she wondered if this war was turning her into a cold hearted killer. This was not the first person she had killed since she arrived in New Orleans and something told her, he wouldn't be the last. She felt suddenly sick.

"What's wrong?" Klaus asked tracing her cheek with his finger. The swelling on her face had disappeared. The twins' healing had kicked in but he didn't like the look on her face. There was something off about her.

"I…" Bonnie swallowed thickly. She felt tired and she was also feeling lightheaded and nauseous. The sight of Christian's decaying corpse did nothing for her upset stomach. She placed a hand on her belly as another wave of nausea invaded her.

"Bonnie," Abby placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Does anything hurt?" Rebekah asked. She left a still dead Matt on the ground and rushed to her friend's side.

"No, I just…" Bonnie staggered.

Klaus wrapped one arm around her waist, steadying her. "Sweetheart look at me," he traced her chin with his left hand and lifted her face towards him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm tired…sleepy…" Bonnie mumbled struggling to keep her eyes open. Not to mention, the nausea she had. She did her best to push it down. The last thing she wanted was to vomit in front of everyone.

"Maybe you should sit down," Elijah suggested as he looked at her with worry.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" Charlotte asked fearfully. She still had her back towards Christian.

"I'm fine, sweetie." Bonnie touched her head, trying to be reassuring but failing quite miserably. She was starting to feel hot and out of breath.

"Let her breathe," an authoritarian voice said suddenly. "All of you, let the poor girl catch her breath and rest, she's pregnant for god's sake." Aunt Vivian moved closer, finally being able to look at Bonnie properly.

Bonnie looked in Aunt Vivian's direction, despite her tiredness, she straightened her posture and offered her a small smile, but it did not reach her eyes. "This is not how I planned to meet you." Not when she was about to pass out. She could only imagine what kind of impression she was making on her coven. She moved her eyes from Aunt Vivian to Adriane who was walking closer to them, and to Kyra who kept herself at a respectable distance, a look of curiosity on her face. "Thank-you, all of you," she said glancing at Joanna and Lucy before moving her gaze to Davina. They had all helped her.

Aunt Vivian reached out and took Bonnie's hand in hers. Her touch was warm, gentle. "What you need to focus on right now it's taking care of yourself and your children." She looked down at Bonnie's belly. "For they are the future of this coven and the future of the Bennett line," she said in a soft voice.

Bonnie nodded. Aunt Vivian didn't seem so bad. She didn't know why her mom had seemed almost afraid of her. She was very elegant, powerful, and she was smiling at her as she spoke. She seemed like a very nice lady.

"Besides," Aunt Vivian continued glaring at the other witches gathered near Bonnie, with the exception of Kyra-that one had made quite an impression. "It's not your fault that you are surrounded by incompetent fools who can't protect you properly."

Bonnie frowned. "Aunt Vivian-"

"But don't worry," Aunt Vivian interrupted with a smile. "I'm here now," she told Bonnie in a reassuring voice and giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm going to take care of you. And make no mistake this won't happen again. I will personally ensure that you are cared for, protected, and treated like you deserve as the queen of our coven."

Rebekah glared at the older woman and even Elijah seemed offended by Aunt Vivian's words. She had just alluded to the fact that they were incompetent at keeping Bonnie safe.

Klaus's hand on Bonnie's hip tightened as he heard Aunt Vivian's words and a menacing growl escaped his throat. He didn't like the presumptuousness of the woman.

Bonnie opened her mouth but Joanna beat her to it.

"Aunt Vivian please," Joanna intervened. "Now it's not the time."

"Now it's the perfect time," Aunt Vivian snapped. "Do you realize what would've happened had we not arrived on time? They would've taken Bonnie right from under your noses." She hissed angrily. "But this wouldn't be the first time would it?" she threw back in their faces. "How many more times are you going to keep failing your queen?"

"This woman is insane," Kol muttered.

Bonnie let go of Aunt Vivian's hand and rubbed her forehead. She was starting to get a headache. Her eyes felt really heavy, she was fighting to keep herself awake. Aunt Vivian said something else but Bonnie couldn't focus enough to listen. She was feeling so out of it, she slumped forward. Klaus pulled her closer, so she could rest her head against his chest. _Don't fall asleep_ , Bonnie thought as she struggled to keep her eyes open. _The syringe,_ she thought suddenly. Christian must have injected her with a sedative.

"And you-" Aunt Vivian said turning to Abby. "Why did you neglect to tell me that the people protecting our queen were a human, a hybrid girl, and two useless witches?" If she had known how vulnerable Bonnie had been to an attack, she wouldn't have agreed for them to go looking for Kyra and Charlotte. Bonnie's safety was a priority after all.

Abby had the decency to look ashamed, for she felt extremely guilty. Joanna sighed, knowing this was the beginning of an endless reproach from their aunt.

"We came on time, we saved her, its over," Lucy said angrily. She had still not forgiven Aunt Vivian for the silencing spell she had placed on her. It had taken her over a day to break it. She glared at the woman as she spoke.

"It's not."

All eyes turned to Adriane. She was kneeling next to Christian's dead body. She had seen what had happened with him, the way his flesh had turned black as if he were covered in gangrene, she had been curious, so she had touched him.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy and Elijah asked at the same time.

Bonnie lifted her head and stared at her cousin.

"What did you see Adriane?" Aunt Vivian questioned. She knew of her granddaughter's gift. Any scolding she was planning to give her nieces was all but forgotten.

Adriane looked up.

Bonnie gasped when she saw her eyes. Her pupils had turned white.

"What the hell?" Stefan spoke up for the first time as he saw her face.

"What's wrong with her eyes?" Rebekah asked.

"She's a clairvoyant," Abby informed them.

Charlotte, who had curiously turned to look at Adriane, flinched upon seeing her eyes and moved closer to Bonnie.

"There are more Travelers coming for you," Adriane said staring at Bonnie with those creepy white eyes of hers. "Many more, scattered all over the city, hiding, waiting, watching," she shivered and a whimper escaped her lips. "They won't stop, this is just the beginning." Her eyes bored into Bonnie's, her breathing ragged as different images flashed insider her mind. "There are two more groups coming right now," she warned everyone. "They were in the Quarter, they had a trap set up, but they are making their way here."

"We need to get Bonnie out of here," Klaus muttered.

Everyone sprung into action.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"There is no sign of him. My people have looked everywhere," Luis informed Franco. "They can't find him." The worry, the anxiety Luis was feeling was palpable. "Victor himself is patrolling the streets trying to find him." They were both worried for their younger brother.

Franco sat on the living room couch, a glass of bourbon in one hand. He didn't say anything at first; he simply listened to what Luis had to say in regards to their missing brother. The truth was he wasn't particularly worried about Isaac; the only thing on Franco's mind at the moment was Bonnie. Christian had called him the night before to let him know of his plans and Franco had been waiting anxiously for the past couple of hours to hear the good news. "And you are certain he is not in the city?" he finally asked.

 _When were they going to call him? When would he know if Bonnie was on her way to Baton Rouge, to him?_ He could hardly contain himself at the thought of finally having her. He felt nervous, excited, and eager. He was finally going to have her. Bonnie would finally be his.

"Every one of his usual hangouts has been searched, the women he's been with have been questioned," Luis shook his head. "No one has seen or heard anything. The last time he was seen was at a bar flirting with a girl but no one knows who she is or even if she's from here." Isaac had vanished without a trace. For all they knew he could be lying in a ditch dead. Luis shuddered, hoping that was not the case.

Franco pressed his lips together, deep in thought. The sound of his cell phone ringing interrupted the silence that had befallen over both brothers.

"Good news I hope," Franco answered with a smirk. He felt a thrill run down his spine. He was anticipating to hear good news. What he had anxiously been waiting for was finally going to come true.

"The plan failed," Carl informed him without preamble. "We underestimated them."

Franco growled, his fingers tightening on his glass. He cursed under his breath. "Christian said-"

"I barely managed to escape the carnage that followed," Carl interrupted as he trekked through the woods. The reason he had escaped was because he had run into the safety of the woods the moment the hybrid and the witches had showed up. "Nearly fifty of my men are dead and so it's Christian. Turns out the Bennett witch has a coven of her own." He paused to catch his breath. "There is something else you need to know…" something none of them had known until they had seen her.

"What?" Franco hissed. He could barely contain his anger. Christian had called him the night before and reassured him that everything was going according to plan. Christian had been certain of his success and now he was dead. The anger Franco felt in that moment was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had been so close to getting Bonnie. But that anger would be nothing compared to the rage he felt upon hearing Carl's next words.

"She's pregnant," Carl murmured. The disbelief in his voice was evident. "Bonnie Bennett is pregnant and by the looks of it, the hybrid is the proud father."

The glass shattered.

The explosion of rage that followed shook all of Baton Rouge.


	42. Chapter 42

**Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Enjoy ;)**

* * *

Her hands were shaking as she stood in front of the sink and turned the faucet on. The water was cold but it felt wonderful on her heated skin. She splashed water on her face and drank some of it, trying to get the horrible acid taste out of her mouth. She could still feel the burning sensation on her throat.

Bonnie stared at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes were red and her cheeks were damp from her tears. She had been lucky that she made it to the bathroom in time. She had managed to get inside and got on her knees, face on the toilet as she emptied her stomach. Once she started she hadn't been able to stop. The nausea that had built up had culminated with a shaking and crying Bonnie inside a dirty bathroom of a gas station somewhere outside the city.

Everything had happened so fast. After Adriane told them that there were other Travelers coming for Bonnie, everyone had started talking at once. There had been heated arguments over the best course of action. The Mikaelson's and the Bennett's had different ways of dealing with the threat coming her way.

Bonnie had sat on the porch steps, feeling lightheaded and nauseous. She hadn't even heard what had been said, she had been feeling so out of it. Charlotte had sat quietly next to her, gently rubbing her hand over Bonnie's arm and giving her a gentle comfort.

In the end, Klaus had won. He barked orders to Riley, his sibling, and even her own coven and got everyone moving. Bonnie didn't remember much of it. She had been so tired, sleepy, and nauseous that all she had wanted was to curl into a ball and never open her eyes again.

The Originals had moved at the speed of light and packed the necessary things Bonnie would need before Klaus carried her to one of the cars and sped out of there. Bonnie hadn't even been able to say goodbye to anyone. Klaus told her that he knew of a place where she would be safe. A place the Traveler's wouldn't be able to find her.

"Bonnie," Klaus knocked on the door. "Sweetheart, are you alright?"

He had been pumping gas on the car when Bonnie had jumped out and headed straight for the bathroom. She had locked the door and asked him not to come in while she puked nonstop. Bonnie felt mortified that he stood by the door, listening as she retched. But he had respected her wishes not to come inside.

Bonnie flushed the toilet. Most of what she had vomited had been a strange yellow liquid. She felt certain that it was what Christian had injected her with earlier that night. Now that it was out of her system, she was starting to feel much better. A little tired still but not as disoriented as before.

She opened the door and offered Klaus a weak smile. "I'm feeling much better now."

Klaus pulled her into his arms, holding her close.

"Where are Charlotte and Davina?" Bonnie asked looking up into his face. The two girls had come with them. Klaus had ordered Davina to get inside the car with them and Charlotte had tagged along without anyone having to tell her.

"They're in the diner across the street," Klaus told her. "Do you think you can handle eating something?" he asked worriedly. They still had a long drive ahead of them.

"Maybe some fruit," Bonnie mumbled. "I threw up the sedative Christian injected me with." She was pretty certain that was what the yellow liquid in the syringe had been.

Klaus frowned. "The twins healing abilities didn't flush it out of your system?" he asked curiously. The twins' blood could heal practically anything.

"I guess the best way they thought to flush it out of my system was to vomit it," Bonnie responded with a shrug. "How far are we from the safe house?"

"About five more hours," Klaus answered. It was why he had stopped for gas and to get them to stretch their limbs before continuing their journey. They were far enough from New Orleans now that the Travelers wouldn't be able to locate them. The Bennett witches had all taken turns placing cloaking spells on all four of them. And they were currently hunting down the Travelers. Klaus wished he were the one to personally rip them to pieces but he didn't trust anyone to keep Bonnie safe, no one but himself.

"What was Stefan doing at the house?" Bonnie asked suddenly. She had told Damon and Stefan to leave her alone but they had come to her rescue. She hadn't been able to talk to Stefan, not only because she was feeling sick but because Klaus had rushed her out of the plantation.

"He was at the charity event," Klaus answered. "I invited him."

"Why?" Bonnie felt surprised by that. "Since when are you two friends?"

"As it happens, we were quite good friends in the twenties," Klaus replied.

Bonnie gave him a look. She waited for him to elaborate.

"The Salvatores stayed in the city. I figured they should know what's heading our way. I don't particularly care about them but I know you do," he shrugged.

Bonnie studied his face carefully. He wasn't lying but he wasn't telling her everything. She had the feeling that there was something Klaus was keeping from her.

"The girls are waiting," Klaus said. "We should get going."

Bonnie nodded and stepped out of the bathroom. She gave Klaus a strange look upon noticing the duffel bag he picked from the floor. "Why didn't you leave that in the car?" there was no need for him to carry it with him.

"I got too many important things inside love," was the cryptic response Klaus gave her. He carried the bag with one hand and took Bonnie's hand with the other.

The two made their way towards the diner where Charlotte and Davina waited.

* * *

The lights inside the diner were bright and the place was practically empty saved for a man in the corner drinking coffee. An elderly waitress greeted them with a happy smile and sat them down in a booth on the opposite side from gruff looking man.

The waitress's name was Betty. She brought their menus, giving Charlotte a small bag with four crayons and a kid's menu with some drawings she could color.

"For me?" Charlotte asked surprised that she was given something.

"For you to color honey," the waitress told her with a smile.

"Thank-you!" Charlotte wasted no time tearing the bag open and coloring the animals on the menu. There was an alligator, a monkey on a swing, and a snake curled around the corner of the page.

The waitress gave them a moment to look at the menu.

Davina looked out of the window, waiting for Klaus and Bonnie to join them. She still didn't know what the hell she was doing following Klaus's orders and venturing out with him and Bonnie and the strange little girl that had come out of nowhere and had glued herself to Bonnie.

Klaus had ordered her to get in the car and Davina had done it without question. It's not like she had anywhere else to go after all. She didn't know where Marcel was and her family...just thinking about them made her heart hurt. Davina shook her head. She could never go back to her mother.

The thing was that when Klaus Mikaelson started giving out orders everyone followed them without question. Except for the older lady with the red suit who had called him rude and had protested that she could protect Bonnie better than him. From the bits and pieces of conversation Davina had heard while everyone had been arguing, the women that had come to Bonnie's rescue were her family, witches from the Bennett bloodline.

Her coven, the elder witch had said. Davina had heard about the Bennett coven, she knew there was a reason the witch community as a whole respected them and even feared them. Her grandmother had said the Bennett coven was no longer active but it seemed Bonnie had activated it once more. And with good reason, judging by the number of witches that had come for her, they were called Travelers or so Davina had heard. And there had been a werewolf too. They were all dead now and the ones that remained in the city were being hunted down by Klaus's siblings and Bonnie's witches.

Davina didn't know what to think or what to do. The only thing she knew for certain was that some sort of gut feeling told her that she needed to stick to Bonnie's side. She couldn't explain it really. Since she was a little girl, Davina got strange feelings from time to time, like the time she woke up feeling scared and reluctant to go on a field trip in sixth grade. She had been looking forward to it for days, but on the day of the trip something inside her told her that she shouldn't go. She ended up staying home. The bus her classmates had been traveling in crashed and two of them had died. From that day forward, Davina always trusted her gut. Her grandmother had told her once that a witch's dreams and feelings were not ordinary but warnings.

 _Always listen to them_ , her grandmother had advised. Davina had and she had never been wrong.

"Bonnie look!" Charlotte exclaimed happily as soon as she saw Bonnie and Klaus approaching. "A nice lady gave them to me," she said showing Bonnie the crayons and the paper menu with the animal drawings.

Bonnie smiled. "You colored that?"

Charlotte nodded showing off her coloring skills proudly. She had colored the monkey red or she had attempted to, because half of the color was not inside the drawing but on the side of the page.

"Have you guys ordered anything?" Bonnie asked as she took a seat across from them. Klaus placed the duffel bag he carried on the floor and sat down as well.

"Not yet," Davina answered. She hadn't even looked at the menu. She took the time to study the couple, the energy surrounding them was powerful, ancient, and different from anything Davina had ever felt before. There was something else too. They almost seemed intertwined, like there was an invisible string pulling them together. They were like two pieces of a puzzle that fitted perfectly.

"You're pregnant," Davina blurted out. She had seen Bonnie's small baby bump. She didn't have to ask to realize that the baby was Klaus's. The interest the Seer and the witches of the Quarter had in Bonnie suddenly made more sense now. That baby represented everything the witches stood against.

"I am," Bonnie answered as she stared into her eyes.

"Is that why they're after you, those witches that attacked the house tonight?" Davina questioned. "Do they want to kill you because of your baby?"

"Babies," Charlotte interrupted. All eyes turned to the little girl next to Davina. "She's having two!" she declared happily.

Davina's eyes went wide.

Bonnie looked surprised that Charlotte knew she was having twins. She didn't recall ever telling her that or even telling her she was pregnant for that matter.

Klaus stared at the tiny witch with interest. There was something about her; he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Twins," Davina repeated shocked by the revelation.

"Twins," Bonnie confirmed with a small smile. "I know that you have a lot of questions Davina. But the most important thing that you need to know right now it's that we're fighting a war. The witches that attacked tonight are working for the Navarro pack," Bonnie informed her. "And this is only the beginning."

"Marcel always worried that they would attack," Davina murmured. It had been one of Marcel's greatest fears, Franco's ever growing army was a constant source of worry not just for him but for every vampire in the city.

"And for good reason," Klaus spoke for the first time since he and Bonnie stepped inside the diner. "They don't want just New Orleans."

"What do you mean?" Davina turned to him.

"They want to take over the entire supernatural world," Klaus answered watching her face carefully. "And the only thing standing in their way is us." By us, he meant his family of course.

Davina swallowed nervously. She had heard about the Navarro pack and the things they had done to those who stood in the way of their power. There was a reason Marcel feared them.

"Luckily for you my dear," Klaus said to her with a smirk. "You seem to have chosen the winning side." _As long as you stay on our side, nothing bad will happen to you,_ his eyes seemed to tell her.

Davina didn't know how to respond to that.

The waitress chose that moment to come and check on them. "Good evening folks, are you ready to order?"

Klaus didn't order anything but Davina and Bonnie did. Bonnie also ordered for Charlotte who seemed more interested in coloring than on food.

"What a beautiful family you have," the elderly waitress commented looking at Bonnie and Klaus.

They all froze, expect for Charlotte. She continued to color, happily oblivious to what was going on.

"Your daughters are gorgeous, they take after their mama," Betty continued with a happy and friendly smile.

Bonnie flushed in embarrassment, not knowing what to say or even if she should correct her assumption.

"They're not my par..." Davina began. She was like a deer caught in the headlights. The waitress's comment had caught them all completely off guard.

"Actually," Klaus began almost at the same time. He cleared his throat.

"What's the third baby going to be boy or girl?" Betty continued, oblivious to the discomfort she had created. "I bet you want a boy!" she said winking conspiratorially at Klaus.

"They're twins!" Charlotte said beaming.

"Oh my goodness, congratulations," Betty clapped her hands and smiled at Bonnie. "You are going to have your hands full."

Bonnie gave her a weak smile, feeling the heat on her face. _Did she even look old enough to have a daughter like Davina?_ She wondered suddenly.

Klaus seemed ready to start explaining their complicated situation but Bonnie placed her hand on his thigh. When Klaus turned to face her, she subtly shook her head. It was obvious that the kind elderly lady had made a genuine mistake. There was no need to correct her.

To any outsider looking in, the four of them did look like a family.

* * *

The werewolves waited for Tyler to bring the hybrid. He was the one in charge of luring Klaus Mikaelson into a trap. They had teamed up with another group of Travelers, sent by Franco to get the witch. The Travelers were going to use their magic and capture Klaus.

Christian's plan was brilliant, delivering not only the Bennett witch but the hybrid as well. The wolves could hardly contain their excitement. Franco no doubt was going to reward them graciously.

The only one that didn't seem fully convinced was Dwayne. In his opinion Christian was an idiot who was going to get them killed. He paced around the dark alley where they were waiting for Tyler to show up. He had a bad feeling about this. With each minute that ticked by, he became more agitated.

"He's taking too long," Sean, Tyler's friend muttered. "Where is he?"

They could hear the sirens in the distance. The French Quarter was in chaos after the explosion. They had been waiting for a good number of minutes and Tyler had yet to show up.

"Something is not right," Dwayne murmured. "Tyler should be here by now." He turned to Christian's second in command. He had been left in charge while Christian went with the other Traveler group to get the Bennett witch.

The wolf's eyes narrowed. He didn't want to admit it but he knew something had gone wrong. It was far too good of a plan for it to come true.

All the werewolves and the Travelers were tense. They didn't know what to expect or what had gone wrong. They turned to their leaders, waiting for their orders on how best to proceed.

"You shouldn't have let him go alone," the leader of the Traveler group muttered angrily. "I told you he was not to be trusted." His cell phone rang then. It was Carl, the leader of the group with Christian. The Traveler picked up the call right away. "Do you have her?" he asked.

Everyone waited expectantly to hear the good news. As long as they had the witch and could deliver her to Franco, the mission would be considered successful.

"I see." The Traveler hung up, an angry look on his face. He moved his eyes over the group of wolves and Travelers gathered in the alley. "Christian is dead," he informed them. "So are the Travelers that went with him. Carl was the only survivor. We need to get out of here before they come for us." He turned to his people. "The Bennett bitch has a coven of her own and they are out for blood."

They needed to get the hell out before they became their prey.

The simple plan had just become a thousand times more complicated.

* * *

Bonnie's eyes fluttered open when the car hit a slight bump on the road. She blinked a couple of times feeling slightly confused. It took her a couple of seconds to remember where she was. Klaus was taking her to a safe house, far away from the chaos that had descended over the French Quarter with the arrival of the Travelers. He hadn't told her exactly where they were going only that it was far away from New Orleans.

She had closed her eyes as soon as she got inside the car, after they left the diner. She thought that she was just going to take a nap but judging by the small rays of sunlight that were breaking through the morning fog, her nap had lasted a couple of hours.

A yawn escaped her lips as she stretched her arms up in the air. She felt well rested.

"So," a familiar voice said from the back seat of the car.

Bonnie turned her head and looked back, startled to find Kol casually sitting in between Davina and Charlotte.

"Have you and Nik decided to adopt every stray witch you find?" Kol asked as he looked from side to side, staring at both sleeping witches. "At the rate you're going you'll have a litter of witch children before yours are even born."

Bonnie frowned. "What are you doing here?" She hadn't seen Kol since the night before at the plantation. _How the hell had he gotten inside the car?_

Klaus glanced at her, a questioning look on his face.

"Kol is in the backseat," Bonnie informed him.

Klaus nodded and turned back to face the road.

Bonnie turned back to Kol. "You weren't here before." He had not been at the diner with them. At least she didn't remember seeing him.

"Did you know that as a ghost, I don't have my super strength or speed," Kol told her in an annoyed tone. "I was running like a maniac trying to locate you lot." Klaus had taken off at such speed, Kol had not been able to follow.

"How did you find us?" Bonnie felt curious about that.

"This one is like a beacon of magic," Kol responded as he pointed to Davina. "I was able to track you that way." The girl's magic seemed to have a life of its own. Kol had follow it until he found them.

 _Interesting,_ Bonnie thought. "You could've stayed with the others."

"You're the only one that can see me darling," Kol reminded her. "You're stuck with me until I get my body back." He turned to his right and stared at Davina's sleeping face. "Do you think we can ask this one to restore my ashes?"

Bonnie arched an eyebrow. "Her name is Davina." She didn't like the way Kol had referred to her as _this one_ , it was very rude.

"Since we're going to be stuck in whatever safe house Nik is taking us, for the next two weeks until you can do magic again," Kol continued. "I figured that would be the perfect time to restore my ashes and put me back in my body." He grinned.

"I don't know," Bonnie mumbled. She shifted in her seat and stared out of the window. She and Davina weren't exactly friends, she didn't know if she could ask her for such favor.

Silence descended over them for the next couple of minutes.

All Bonnie could see were trees on each side of the two way road. Fog surrounded them but a few streaks of sunlight where visible. It seemed like a rather chilly morning.

Klaus took a right turn on a winding dirt road with leafy green trees on either side. It led straight to the house.

"We're here," Klaus whispered as he turned the ignition off.

It was a two story white house with a green door. The front porch had luscious ferns hanging on each side and Adirondack white chairs. A huge live oak tree stood to the side, casting its shadow over the house. It was rather small compared to the plantation but charming. It looked cozy. Bonnie instantly fell in love with it.

Klaus flashed to the passenger side and opened the door for her. He helped her get out of the car. Bonnie's eyes were glued to the house.

"Do you like it?" Klaus asked quietly. "I know it's not as big as the plantation-"

"It's beautiful," Bonnie turned to him and smiled. "Who lives here?"

"I did," Klaus told her. He glanced at the house before turning back to her. "After I daggered Rebekah in the twenties, I was…" Lost, angry, it had been a rather dark period in his life. "I didn't know where to go, what to do. I couldn't return to New Orleans but this was close enough. I lived here for a few years before returning to Europe." He took her hand in his. "It's my sanctuary," he whispered. He had come back a couple of times after, the last time being just weeks before he traveled to Mystic Falls to break his curse.

Judging by the emotions coming from his side of the bond, Bonnie knew the house had a special place in Klaus's heart.

They stood hand in hand, watching the house for a few minutes. There was magic all around, Bonnie could feel it.

"The land is protected," Klaus said turning to face her. He knew she could sense the magic in the air. "No one will be able to locate the house. As long as you are inside the property, no locator spell, no magic on this earth will be able to find you." Even if the Travelers were somehow able to break the different cloaking spells on her, they wouldn't be able to locate the house, let alone destroy the barrier protecting the land.

"How can that be?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Because the land is sacred," Klaus answered mysteriously. Places like this were hard to find, Klaus had paid a hefty price in order to obtain it, but it had been worth it. "Come on, let's go inside."

Bonnie nodded.

Klaus opened the back seat of the car.

Davina yawned and stretched as she slowly came awake.

"We're here," Klaus told her.

Davina nodded and got out of the car, staring at the house with curiosity. Another yawned escaped her lips and then she shuddered. She felt a cold sensation next to her; she had felt it in the car as well. It was weird but she could've sworn she felt the presence of someone next to her.

Kol, who was standing next to her, watched her with curiosity. It was obvious the girl could sense him; she had done it before, when he had curiously wandered inside the cabin. She was a powerful witch, there was no doubt. He was hoping she could help with the restoration of his body. Or maybe Bonnie's hot cousin would do it too. He was desperate to get his body back.

Bonnie went to the other side of the car to wake Charlotte. She gently touched her cheek, hoping that the little girl would wake up but Charlotte was sleeping like a log. She was even snoring lightly. Bonnie didn't have the heart to shake her and interrupt her sleep. She looked so peaceful. She couldn't help but wonder when was the last time Charlotte had been able to sleep. She took her seat belt off before looking at Klaus for help. If she could, she would lift Charlotte in her arms and carry her inside the house.

Klaus sighed. Bonnie didn't need to verbalize what she wanted. He moved towards her and lifted Charlotte in his arms. The little girl weighted nothing. She was as light as a feather. He wrinkled his nose and frowned when he took notice of the dirty white dress she was wearing and the boy shoes on her feet which were at least two sizes too big. There was a smudge of syrup on her left cheek as well, courtesy of the pancakes she had devoured. _She could definitely use a bath_ , he thought as he began walking towards the house.

Bonnie heart skipped a beat as she watched Klaus carry Charlotte in his arms. He was pretending to be annoyed but she didn't missed the gentle way in which he cradled the little girl's body to his chest. There was such tenderness in the way he held her. He probably hadn't even realized it but he was carrying her as if she were precious porcelain. In that moment, Bonnie could easily picture him holding their children. Her heart swelled with so much love for him. He was going to be a great dad.

Bonnie gave him a loving smile before they all made their way inside the house, Kol's spirit following closely behind.

* * *

Damon woke up with a groan. The memories of the night before flashed to his mind immediately. He sat up looking around and half expecting the group of witches to fry his brain once more.

The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer on the frown lawn of the plantation house but on a spacious living room of some sort.

"Finally awake," Stefan muttered from across the room. He was surprised that it had taken Damon this long to wake up. The Travelers' magic was without a doubt powerful.

"Where are we? Where is Bonnie? What the hell happened?" Damon fired at once. He couldn't remember much except that the witches had burned his brain. It hurt like a bitch still.

"We're at the Mikaelson's house in the French Quarter," Stefan informed him as he walked to stand next to him."They called it the compound. Bonnie's safe, and the Travelers-the witches who came for her are mostly dead." The hybrids, Bonnie's family, and Elijah and Rebekah had gone on a hunt the night before. Stefan had stayed with Damon and Matt who was dead and had come back to life a couple of hours ago. Stefan still couldn't believe it. Matt had a ring like the Gilbert ring. There were a lot of important things Stefan had learned in the past couple of hours.

Damon rubbed his head as he stood up. "Where is Bonnie? I need to talk to her." He needed Bonnie's help in order to get Elena back.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Elijah said strolling into the living room. After spending most of the night hunting Travelers he had showered, changed, and had some coffee before deciding to speak with the Salvatore brothers. It was obvious they had no plans to leave the city, so he needed to make sure they got with the program. The Originals couldn't afford to have Damon and Stefan messing their plans.

"Do we need your permission now?" Damon scoffed. He hated how arrogant Elijah was, always looking down his nose at everyone.

Elijah pressed his lips together. Damon Salvatore had a way of getting on his nerves. "The two of you should consider yourselves lucky that Bonnie considers you her friends. It's the only reason you still live." Something that could be rectified at any given moment, Elijah was in a terrible mood. His patience was running very thin at the moment. With Niklaus gone, it was up to him to keep everything under control.

Damon growled." Where is she?" he demanded.

"You are going to sit down, be quiet, and pay attention to everything I have to say," Elijah took a menacing step forward. "We are at war and despite the pressing matters I must attend to in my busy schedule, I am going to take the time to inform you of the situation at hand."

Damon opened his mouth ready to protest.

"Sit down," Elijah hissed.

His compulsion took effect in no time.

Damon and Stefan found themselves moving automatically, their bodies sank down on the sofa behind them, guided by some invincible force.

"Let's begin, shall we." Elijah took a deep breath before he began.

The Salvatores were two loose cannons, two rather uncomfortable pebbles in the Originals' shoes. Elijah was going to brief them on the most important details of the war. The last thing they needed was for Damon and Stefan to go on some rescue mission and get themselves abducted by the Navarro pack or killed. Not that he particularly cared about their fate but he knew that Bonnie would. For Bonnie's sake, he was going to take the time and school them in the art of war. With any luck and a few prayers to some ancient deities the Salvatores would fall in line and do as they were told.

Bonnie was the reason he was going to attempt to get Damon and Stefan to cooperate or at least to stay out of their business while they fought against the Navarro pack.

The pieces of the game had to be in place now that the war had begun. Damon and Stefan had the potential to be valuable pawns, as long as they stuck to the status quo, of course.

* * *

Charlotte's giggles could be heard in the hallway as Bonnie bathed her. She chatted nonstop about her adventures after landing in the cemetery. She told Bonnie about the vampires that tried to eat her, "it was so scary Bonnie, my magic didn't work."

Bonnie scrubbed her skin with the sponge and listened intently as Charlotte described her ordeal, Kyra's timely arrival and the demise of the two vampires. Kyra had taken her to an abandoned house and given her the boy shoes she had been wearing because Charlotte had lost one shoe during her landing.

The human compelled to take care of the house had brought toys, clothes, and shoes for Charlotte as well as packed their pantry and fridge with groceries. It had all been done before their arrival. The house was also clean and the sheets on the beds were new.

"I'm happy I found you," Charlotte told her softly, turning to look at her over her shoulder.

"I'm happy too," Bonnie said as she washed her soapy skin. She had missed her so much and had worried about leaving her on the other side. There was a part of her that still couldn't believe that she was here and unlike Kol, she wasn't a spirit but flesh and blood. It seemed surreal.

Charlotte turned back, happily splashing water around the clawfoot tub. She was having fun getting a bath. She couldn't remember the last time she had one, if ever. The water was warm and Bonnie's hands were soft and gentle. With Bonnie she felt safe. Bonnie was the mom she always wanted to have.

Bonnie moved the messy wet curls to the side and noticed the strange mark on Charlotte's left shoulder. "What is this?" she asked curiously. At glance it looked like a birthmark but upon closer inspection, Bonnie realized it was a scar. It looked like an X. _How strange_ , she thought as she stared at it. She gently traced the white scar tissue with her fingers. The moment her fingers touched the ridged skin, different images came to her mind.

 _Candles_

 _A pentagram of blood_

 _A child crying_

 _A hooded figure wearing a white mask_

 _Pain_

Bonnie gasped, feeling disturbed by the images she had just seen. They flashed before her eyes rather quickly but the sensations they left behind were disturbing. "What was that?" Bonnie asked as Charlotte turned around to face her.

"What?" Charlotte asked. While Bonnie's mind had been assaulted by those quick flashes, Charlotte hadn't felt a thing.

"The scar on your shoulder," Bonnie's hands were shaking. The images had left her with a sense of dread, of fear, and pain. "Where did you get it?"

Charlotte looked confused. She turned her head and tried to look down at her shoulder. "I don't see it," she mumbled. She used her right hand to touch her shoulder blade. "I feel it now," she exclaimed as her fingertips managed to touch the scar.

"Where did you get that scar?" Bonnie asked again, watching her face carefully.

"I don't know," Charlotte shrugged. "I didn't know I had it," she admitted. It felt weird touching it so she stopped and pulled her hand away.

"Does it hurt?"

"No," Charlotte replied.

Bonnie rested her arms on the rim of the tub and stared directly into Charlotte's eyes. "Do you remember anything, anything at all before you were on the other side?" She asked quietly.

"The light," Charlotte answered honestly. "I remember the light." She had told Bonnie that before, when they had been near the statue of the first witch.

"Anything else?" Bonnie probed gently. _Why couldn't Charlotte remember her life before the other side?_ It didn't make sense. Everyone else over there did, Kol, her Grams, the other Bennett witches. She found it weird that Charlotte didn't seem to have any memories.

Charlotte shook her head. All she remembered was the light. It was similar to the light that had engulfed her and brought her to the cemetery actually.

"Do you remember your parents?"

Charlotte shook her head. Her face fell and a sad look crossed her features. It was something she didn't like to think about.

"But you remember your name," Bonnie continued in a gentle voice. "You know that your name is Charlotte."

Charlotte nodded. "Mama said so," she whispered. _Little Charlotte,_ that's how mama had greeted her the first time they talked. "She said I was a special little girl." She smiled proudly.

"What else did the first witch tell you?" Bonnie asked. She knew that Charlotte always referred to the first witch as 'mama' even thought she wasn't her real mother. Bonnie didn't have to be a genius to know why she did it; Charlotte longed to have a mother. Bonnie could understand that desire all too well.

"That I was safe with her," Charlotte replied. "That I had nothing to fear. She showed me how to use my magic too," she told Bonnie. "She wanted me to learn a ton and I tried but it was boring." She made a face. "Mother said I was lazy."

"Did she ever tell you anything about your family?"

"Nope."

"Did you ever ask?"

"Nope."

"Aren't you curious?" Bonnie kept watching her, trying to figure out the mystery that was Charlotte. "Don't you want to know who your mom and your dad were?" she asked gently. _Where they alive?_ Bonnie wondered suddenly. _Where they looking for her? Just how long had Charlotte been on the other side?_

Charlotte looked down, finding the soapy water and bubbles in the tub suddenly very interesting. "They're dead." she whispered, her voice breaking.

"How do you know?"

Charlotte looked up, her bottom lip trembling. "I just do." Two fat tears rolled down her cheeks. "I know in here," she said pointing to her heart. She whimpered and a few more tears began rolling down her cheeks. She had no one.

Bonnie's heart broke, she wrapped her arms around Charlotte's trembling little body and pulled her against her chest, not caring that she got her shirt and jeans wet in the process."I'm sorry," Bonnie whispered doing her best to comfort her. "I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm so sorry." She had been curious, wanting to find out more about Charlotte's past. She hadn't meant to hurt her or make her feel bad.

Charlotte buried her head against Bonnie's chest, her drenched hair soaking her shirt wet. She was shaking and crying softly but she clung to Bonnie as if her life depended on it.

 _It doesn't matter_ , Charlotte thought as she cried. _I have you now, you can be my mom._

Bonnie rubbed her back and held her close while whispering soothing words in her ear.

* * *

Matt stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had died and come back to life again. It was weird. He should be feeling some kind of way about it but the truth was that he felt like he had gone to sleep and woke up hours later, in a different house and after the fight had ended but still, it didn't feel like he had died.

He stepped back inside the bedroom. Rebekah was sitting on the bed, she stood up the moment she saw him and went straight into his arms.

"You gave quite the scare," she whispered against his ear. She pressed a soft kiss on his neck before pulling away and staring into his blue eyes.

"How long was I out?"

"A good number of hours," Rebekah responded. "Ten I think, perhaps more."

"Jesus Christ," Matt muttered.

"I was scared that you weren't going to wake up," Rebekah admitted in a whispered.

Klaus had taken Bonnie to another safe house by then. Elijah, Lucy, and Riley had teamed up to go in search for the Travelers. Aunt Vivian, Kyra, and Adriane waited for another group at the mansion setting a trap for them there. Rebekah had gone with Felix and Joanna. Killing the Travelers they had found had distracted her for a bit but after returning to the compound-where Belle had taken Matt and seeing that he had yet to come back to life had given her the scare of her immortal life.

"I don't remember anything," Matt told her. "It almost feels like I went to sleep and just woke up."

"You don't have to do this," Rebekah said touching his cheek. "If you want to rest, take a couple of hours-"

"I'm fine," Matt interrupted her. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "This is to help Bonnie and Caroline right?"

Rebekah nodded.

The two of them walked hand in hand out of the room.

"The hybrids and Bonnie's coven are still searching for more Travelers," Rebekah told him as the two made their way down the stairs. "The city is crawling with them apparently."

"But Bonnie is safe."

"Nik took her to another safe house," Rebekah assured him. "Elijah spoke with the Salvatores, let's us hope his talk knocked some sense into them. Unfortunately, he and Felix haven't been so successful with Tyler."

They took the stairs down to the basement.

"Tyler refuses to cooperate and answer my brother's questions," Rebekah continued. "Elijah tried to compel him but Nik compelled him not to be compelled by anyone but him," she made a face. "The only thing coming out of Tyler's mouth is insults and growls." She stopped right in front of the door.

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Matt asked nervously. He heard the menacing growls from behind the door.

"Get him to cooperate," Elijah said coming down the basement stairs. "We need information on the group of Travelers that came for Bonnie, on the Navarro pack; anything that you can get out of him is extremely useful."

"What are you going to do with him after?" Matt questioned, his eyes narrowing. "Are you going to kill him?" his hands balled into fists. He knew that the hybrids detested Tyler for his betrayal of Klaus. He also knew that the Originals didn't think much of him either. The only person who could truly protect Tyler against them was Bonnie and she had conveniently been taken far away. Matt knew that it was for her safety but he wasn't stupid. Klaus wanted Bonnie far away from Damon and Stefan and possibly Tyler too if he wanted to get rid of him.

"Don't do anything stupid," Elijah warned. "I know he's your friend but make no mistake, if Tyler is a traitor he will die." His dark chocolate eyes bored into Matt's. "And so will anyone that tries to help him."

"Elijah," Rebekah couldn't believe her brother was threatening Matt and right in front of her.

Elijah gave her a single look which told her he was deadly serious. "We are at war," he reminded both of them. "Those who stand against us will die, no matter who they are." They couldn't afford to be lenient, not in times of war.

Matt glared at him. It was at the tip of his tongue to tell him to go to hell and that he wasn't going to help them at all. But he knew he had to cooperate, the same with Tyler, they had to in order to get Caroline back.

"No one is going to kill him," Angelica's voice interrupted the silence that had descended over them. She came down the stairs carrying a tray with food and a bag of blood which she planned to give to Tyler. She looked well rested and healthy. Adriane's healing spell had done wonders for her weaken state after the fight with the Travelers. "Tyler is Klaus's hybrid and only he will decide his fate." She gave a pointed look to Elijah. "You have been antagonizing Tyler with your interrogation when we need him to cooperate. He could be of great help."

Elijah didn't look convinced. "I didn't know you were such good friends with Tyler." As far as he knew Klaus's pack hated the boy. "And I don't think I need to remind you that while my brother is away, I am in charge." Any threat to his family had to be eliminated and right now, Elijah considered Tyler a threat.

Tyler's attitude and refusal to answer his questions had infuriated him. Elijah didn't have time for such insubordination. Not to mention, that Niklaus didn't trust Tyler either.

Angelica didn't even flinch under Elijah's hard and scrutinizing gaze. "You're in charge of this city and the vampires, not the hybrids," she reminded him. The only one who had control over the hybrids was Klaus and to an extent Bonnie, no one else. With those words she walked past him and proceeded to walk inside the room where Tyler was being held.

Rebekah could hardly hide her smile. It was not every day that people stood up to Elijah. Angelica might not look it, but she was a tough cookie.

Matt was quick to follow Angelica inside.

Tyler was held by magical chains. His hybrid face had surfaced and he was growling and hissing angrily. His skin looked red, like he had been burned.

"What did you do to him?" Angelica questioned Felix who was the one standing over the hybrid. She placed the tray on a nearby table and moved closer.

"I gave him a bath of vervain," Felix replied nonchalantly. His lips curled into a sinister smirk.

"You son of a bitch," Matt sent daggers in Felix's direction. He was more than ready to jump on him, never mind the fact that Felix could probably kill him with one hand. "You have no right to torture him."

Angelica's hand on Matt's arm prevented the human from launching himself at the hybrid in defense of his friend.

"He's a traitor," Felix hissed. "His lucky he still has his head on his shoulders." And that was only because Klaus had yet to give the order to end him. He crouched down towards the bucket of vervain he had by his feet and picked it up, ready to throw more on Tyler.

Angelica stopped him, grabbing his wrist. "A word," she said in a stern voice. She and Felix seemed to have a battle of wills with their eyes as they stared at each other. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Felix placed the bucket back on the ground.

Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Out of all the hybrids Felix had always been the scariest one. Thank-god he listened to Klaus and Angelica.

"Give him the blood," Angelica told Matt as she dragged Felix out of there. The hybrid let her.

Matt was just about to pick the blood bag when Tyler's voice stopped him.

"Matt?"

Matt turned around and faced his friend. "Hey," was his lame greeting. It felt like ages since the last time he had seen Tyler. He wished he could take the chains off but only the person who placed them could do it.

Tyler's face returned to normal, his skin had not healed yet. Felix had dumped buckets upon buckets of vervain on him. He swallowed. His body hurt, and the chains holding him captive were unbreakable. "What are you doing here?" he asked. His voiced was strained. He felt so tired and weak.

"I'm going to give you some blood okay," Matt said tuning to grab the bag of blood Angelica had brought. "Then we need to talk. I promise I'm going to help you." Tyler was his friend and Matt was going to help him even if it meant going against Elijah and Klaus.

Tyler groaned. He had so many questions, he had no fucking clue what the hell was going on, or why Matt was even there but he was starving, and he felt relieved to see a familiar face. He reluctantly nodded.

The minute the warm blood touched his lips, Tyler felt a sweet relief.

* * *

After endless phone calls with his hybrids, with the Mayor, with his siblings, Klaus finally made his way to the bedroom. He had spent the whole afternoon planning a counter attack against the Navarro pack. Franco clearly had no idea that he had Isaac and Klaus planned to exploit that to the limit. In fact, he was going to use Isaac to free Caroline, if everything worked according to plan, he would have the vampire back without Bonnie ever learning that she had been kidnapped.

He felt a hint of guilt. Klaus knew he shouldn't be keeping something so important from Bonnie. But how to tell her that her best friend was in the hands of the man who wanted to hurt her. He knew Bonnie well enough to know that she would worry herself sick and that she might even feel guilty for Caroline's predicament. That worry, that anxiety, and that fear that Franco evoked in her was not good. Bonnie needed to be calm and to get as much rest as possible. Dr. Mayfair had ordered her to.

Klaus felt determined to ensure that Bonnie would spend the next two weeks without any worries or stress. This was the perfect place for her to rest.

Elijah wanted him back in the Quarter, not only to deal with the ever growing problems in the city but also to deal with Tyler who refused to divulge any information. Klaus was going to return and handle the hybrid himself. He just needed to ensure Bonnie was safe first. He hoped she wouldn't be too upset when he informed her that he had to return to New Orleans. As much as he wanted to stay with her every hour of every day, he couldn't. The Navarro's had thrown the first punch and now it was his turn to retaliate. It was something he couldn't do from this house. He had to be back in the city and destroy their enemies once and for all.

As he made his way to the master bedroom, he peeked his head inside the spare bedroom, Davina was fast asleep. He was surprised that the girl had not put up a fight when he ordered her to come with them or even tried to escape. Then again, she had nowhere to go. Marcel was hiding somewhere and as far as Klaus knew, Davina's mother had turned her back on her, something that ultimately worked in his favor. Davina was the Harvest girl and as such, she was a valuable asset for the witch community in the city. Klaus had big plans for her.

He pushed the door to the master bedroom open and stepped inside. Bonnie was already in bed but much to Klaus's surprise and annoyance, Charlotte was there as well. The girl was on her stomach, snoring softly, her face pressed against _his_ pillow. He couldn't help but scowl. Charlotte had glued herself to Bonnie since the night before. Perhaps it was silly to feel jealous but he didn't like that since their arrival at the house, Bonnie had been more concerned about Charlotte and her needs than anything else. She had barely even talked to him since he showed her around the house.

Bonnie opened her eyes and smiled in his direction.

"Did I wake you?" he asked coming to sit on her side of the bed.

Bonnie shook her head. She had been awake the whole time. She sat up carefully-she didn't want to disturb Charlotte-and leaned back against the headboard of the bed.

"I've been replaced I see," Klaus muttered as he spared a glance at the girl slobbering all over his pillow.

"I gave her a bath," Bonnie said sadly. "I made her upset asking her about her parents. I didn't have the heart to send her to sleep on her own." Not after she made her cry. "She's been through a lot you know. If Kyra hadn't found her, she would've been killed by two vampires."

Klaus took her hand in his. Bonnie was always worrying about everyone, always taking care of others, sometimes even before taking care of herself. It shouldn't surprised him that she wanted to look after Charlotte. Bonnie was the kind of person who would protect and defend those who didn't have anyone to fight for them. Not to mention, the maternal instincts her pregnancy no doubt brought afloat. Charlotte had won the lottery finding Bonnie.

"You really care for her don't you?" He asked while studying her face carefully. He was trying to judge just how acquainted he would have to become with the little girl that seemed to have taken a piece of Bonnie's heart in such a short amount of time. Something told him that Bonnie had no intention of letting her go.

"She's all alone, Klaus." Bonnie laced her fingers with his. "She's so little and she doesn't have anyone." Her heart ached at the thought of Charlotte being stuck on the other side, thinking how lonely she must have been. And if the first witch hadn't been there to help her…Bonnie shuddered just thinking of what would have become of her. And now she was in a whole different world, with no immediate family. But Bonnie knew that Charlotte was a Bennett witch, and the Bennett's took care of their own. Bonnie was going to care of her now.

It was strange. Bonnie was still considered a teenager; she wasn't even twenty years old, although she felt much older than her years. She should be freaking out at the thought of taking a little girl in, she should be terrified of the responsibility that would entail but she wasn't. She felt so calm about the whole thing. Because it felt right, because she knew what it was like to be in Charlotte's shoes, to want desperately for a mother to hug her and kiss her and protect her. Unlike Charlotte she had been lucky enough to have her Grams. All the poor girl had was a statue and a voice inside her head.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" Bonnie asked him suddenly. "For wanting to do this, for wanting to take care of her…she doesn't have anyone else Klaus, I think her parents are dead." She hadn't even stopped to ask if he would be okay with bringing this little girl into their family. Now that she thought about it, Klaus might not be so inclined to welcome her. Bonnie bit her lip nervously. She hoped that he would. But even if he didn't, Bonnie had made up her mind. Charlotte was not going anywhere and Klaus would have to accept that.

Klaus let go of her hand and reached out to touch her cheek. "You have a big heart Bonnie, a very pure and loving heart." Such a beautiful and precious heart that was big enough to accept and love a monster like him. He traced her cheek with his knuckles with infinite tenderness.

He could understand her desire to protect and take care of Charlotte. Klaus had taken a boy once under his protection and raised him as a son. Now Bonnie was going to do the same. In many ways, Charlotte was Bonnie's kindred spirit, the same way Marcellus had been his.

How could he deny her? Not that she needed his permission. It was obvious that Bonnie had made up her mind in regards to Charlotte and Klaus would support her no matter what. If Bonnie wanted a house filled with children, Klaus would give it to her. He would give her the moon and the stars if she so desired. In order to make her happy, Klaus would give her the world.

"She's not going to sleep with us every night is she?" Klaus asked, because he was definitely putting his foot down on that.

Bonnie threw her head back and laughed. And then she clamped a hand over her mouth when Charlotte shifted next to her. Thankfully, Charlotte only mumbled something incomprehensible and continued to sleep.

"Just for tonight," Bonnie whispered as she hooked her arms around his neck. "Have I told you how much I love you?" she asked pulling his face closer to her.

Klaus pretended to think about her question. "Not today," he said in a serious voice. He would never get tired of hearing her say those words.

"I love you," Bonnie said before kissing him.

Klaus smiled against her lips before he claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss.

Charlotte continued to snore softly.

* * *

"Moving to the Quarter could be a challenge," one of the elders of the clan spoke after Ishmael informed them of the necessity to move out of the Bayou. Although Ishmael was the Alpha of the pack and had the final say when making important decisions, he always made it a point to include the elders and get their opinions. "There are many vampires still around and they all hate us."

"Are this visions absolute truth?" Mila questioned. "Or something that might happen?"

"One should never take a witch's dreams lightly," Ishmael reminded them. "Bonnie is a powerful witch, her dreams are not ordinary and this vision is of a foreseeable future, we must be prepared." Klaus seemed convinced that the Navarro's were going to attack them. It wasn't a matter of if but of when.

"Some members of our pack are already in the Quarter, helping the hybrids secure the city in Klaus's name," Charles said. "But I don't know how I feel about moving the entire pack over there. The women and the children would be the most vulnerable." In the Bayou it was easier to hide, to run, and protect themselves better. In the city they would be exposed to any attack.

"Klaus has told me he will personally ensure the pack's safety," Ishmael informed them. "But he has also warned me that we are going to have to learn to tolerate and even work with the vampires." Klaus was in a difficult spot, Ishmael knew it. He understood enough about politics to know that Klaus had to appease the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty the humans, the vampires, and even the witches had in regards to the new turn of events in the city.

When the witches had ruled they had oppressed vampires and werewolves alike. When the Crescents had ruled the city, vampires were persecuted and driven out. When Marcel took over it was the turn of the witches and werewolves to live in fear, in the shadows, and being constantly hunted and even cursed. Now, Klaus was king once more and he was going to have to find the perfect balance among all three species, four actually as humans were still the majority. He had to do it, in order to ensure a long and successful reign, all the while preparing for the war against the Navarros. It wasn't going to be an easy feat and Ishmael knew Klaus needed their help for a successful and peaceful transition.

"What about Marcel?" Another elder asked. "What if he retaliates?"

"And Franco's ever growing army?" Someone else pointed out. "We will be pigs for the slaughter when he attacks the Quarter."

"It doesn't matter where we are," Mila turned to him. "In order to legitimize his rule, Franco needs us out of the way. He'll come for us either way."

"Not all of us," the same elder pointed out. "He only needs to eliminate Fenrir's direct descendants." He said staring at Ishmael. "You, Cary, Klaus, and his children are the last left." While they all had Fenrir's blood to an extent, only the Alpha line descended directly from the ancient wolf.

"Watch your tongue, Maurice." Charles glared at the man.

"You think Franco will be satisfied with eliminating only us?" Ishmael questioned, his face was hard, his eyes unreadable. "His ambition knows no limits. He will kill all of us if given the chance."

"He can try and he will fail," Mila said fiercely. "We have survived countless enemies, persecutions, attacks, wars, we thrive in it and we will continue to do so." They had never surrendered. They had never bowed down to anyone but their Alpha. They had never known defeat, no matter how great the cost, or how close they had come to become extinguished, they had always found ways to survive.

"We will be moving into the French Quarter in the next few days," Ishmael said. The tone of his voice left no room for argument. All the elders nodded, even Maurice who didn't look too happy. Their Alpha had made a decision and they would follow it.

"You guys need to come quick," Billy stormed inside the cabin. "There is a group of wolves by the barrier, come. They're not from here."

Ishmael rushed out of the cabin, followed closely by the others. The moment he reached the edge of the campsite he saw them. A group of about thirty wolves were standing there. He recognized the leader immediately.

"Kilian," Ishmael greeted with surprise. It had been many years since they had last seen each other.

"Hello Ishmael," the other Alpha greeted with a smirk. He was about six foot tall, long dark hair up to his shoulders and eyes the color of honey.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Charles snapped angrily. "You don't belong here."

Kilian grinned. "This is exactly where I need to be," his eyes moved around the campsite before landing on Ishmael once more. "Is it true?" he asked with a tilt of the head. He had no time for chit chat; he went straight to the point.

"Is what true?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Ishmael." Kilian stared directly into his eyes. "Rumors have spread like wildfire. They say that the wolves are planning to take over."

"That's not why you are here," Ishmael retorted. He hadn't seen Kilian in about ten years but he had known him since he was a child. He probably knew him better than anyone.

"I want to meet her," Kilian said with a glint in his eyes. "I want to meet the witch carrying the miracle child." It was the reason he had left Europe with his pack and traveled to New Orleans upon hearing the news. It was the reason many wolves would be descending in New Orleans soon.

Ishmael pressed his lips together and regarded the younger man carefully. Mila and Charles exchanged nervous looks while the other elders sent glares in his direction. Kilian didn't seem affected by the hostility of the pack.

"Why?" Ishmael asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I'm curious," Kilian shrugged. "I want to see for myself the miracle all the wolves speak of." News had spread far about the miracle baby. Many supernaturals all over the world were learning of the existence of said child.

"I'll happily arrange a meeting between you and Klaus," Ishmael told him. "It will be up to him if you can meet his wife or not."

Kilian chuckled. "So you have accepted that half breed as part of the pack?" he shook his head. "You really think he'll fight for us?" he questioned. "You think he will put the needs of our species first. He's a vampire. He will always side with them," he spat. In his eyes all vampires were the same.

"At least he's not a traitor," Charles hissed.

"Are you so sure about that?" Kilian challenged. His lips curled into a Cheshire grin, as if he knew a secret they didn't.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mila asked.

Kilian waited for Ishmael to say something, to ask, but the old man didn't. Ishmael did not take the bait. He remained quiet, calm, a neutral look on his face. "Why don't you ask the hybrid about the vampire army gathering in Shreveport?" He said. "They are planning a counter attack against the Navarro pack. They want to ensure the wolves remain at the bottom of the hierarchy, your clan included. Don't be stupid," he told them angrily. "If you really think that vampires and werewolves can stand as equals you're fools. The hybrid is playing you. He's using you."

Ishmael frowned, _an army of vampires in Shreveport?_ As far as he knew the only army of vampires was Marcel's, which was now under Klaus's control. Klaus had never mentioned they were planning a vampire attack against the Navarros.

"Who's leading that army?" Charles asked intrigued. He glanced nervously at Ishmael, his mind racing. _Was Klaus planning to attack without them?_

"Rumor has it that an Original is leading the attack," Kilian responded. "One by the name of Elijah Mikaelson."


	43. Chapter 43

Matt took a seat next to Tyler, leaning his back against the concrete wall of the basement. Tyler had devoured the blood bag. He had been in desperate need of nourishment after the torture Felix had subjected him to. He now sat next to Matt, looking much better than before. His hybrid face had disappeared and he appeared calm and in control.

For a long time neither of them said anything. It had been months since the last time they had seen each other. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago. There was so much that needed to be said but neither of them knew exactly how to begin.

It was Tyler who eventually broke the ice. "Is it true?" he asked quietly, moving his head to the side and staring at Matt. The heavy magical chains rattled as he moved. They were long enough that he was able to sit comfortably against the wall, but he couldn't do much more than that. The chains kept him in place. "Is it true that Bonnie is married to Klaus?" that's what Franco had told him. Tyler still couldn't wrap his head around that. It had to be a lie. He couldn't imagine someone like Bonnie married to Klaus. He couldn't imagine anyone marrying that bastard period.

Matt took a deep breath as he shifted next to the hybrid. "Not exactly," he finally answered. "I guess it's easier to say they're married and the wolves definitely see her as Klaus's wife."

"So it's true, they're together?" Tyler probed. Bonnie and Klaus, he couldn't believe it. _How the hell had that happened? What could Bonnie had possibly seen in Klaus?_ It was insane. But he did remember how quickly Klaus had reacted when Tyler warned him about the trap to get Bonnie. As weird as it was, it seemed Klaus cared about Bonnie's safety. It made sense if they were together. Tyler felt relieved. If Klaus was with Bonnie then that meant he wouldn't be going after Caroline and Tyler felt glad for that. He had always hated the attention the hybrid gave Caroline. He couldn't help but feel jealous.

"Yeah," Matt swallowed nervously. "There is something you need to know too, something that ties in with all of this and the reason I think the Navarro pack wants Bonnie." He wasn't one hundred percent sure but it seemed to be the reason everyone was after Bonnie.

Tyler frowned. "What is it?"

"Bonnie is pregnant," Matt said without preamble. Tyler was going to find out eventually and if the Originals wanted Tyler to talk and cooperate then he needed to know the truth. Besides, it's not like Bonnie could keep her pregnancy a secret forever.

Tyler's mouth dropped open. There was a bewildered look on his face as he stared at Matt. At first, he was sure he heard wrong. "You're kidding right?" He must have heard wrong. He waited for Matt to say that it was just a joke but his friend didn't.

"Bonnie is pregnant," Matt repeated.

"How the hell is that even possible?" Tyler asked with disbelief. "Isn't Klaus supposed to be dead or half dead anyway…how…" It was crazy. Bonnie and Klaus were together. Bonnie and Klaus were going to have a baby. For one second he imagined Klaus changing diapers and a small laugh escaped him. He sobered up immediately though as the reality of the situation began to sink in. Holy shit! Bonnie was going to be a mom. "I can't believe it," he whispered. "Are you serious? Bonnie is really pregnant?" that was the last thing he could have expected. "I guess Klaus is the dad…" he looked at Matt for confirmation.

Matt nodded.

Tyler was still trying to process the news when Matt dropped another bomb on him. "She's having twins actually."

That left Tyler completely speechless. Under different circumstances, the comical look on his face would have Matt laughing his ass off and making a joke or two. But instead, Matt waited patiently for Tyler to come to grips with the revelation.

"We have a lot of catching up to do," Matt said in a serious voice.

"Yeah, we do." Tyler agreed.

* * *

The moment he stepped inside the compound, Elijah knew something was wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he made his way inside. Everything was quiet, far too quiet and that immediately put him on edge. For the past few days vampires and werewolves alike had been going in and out of the compound carrying out his orders. But not today, everyone seemed to have suddenly disappeared for there was not a single vampire on sight, no werewolves either, even the hybrids were gone.

He felt a tingle run down his spine as he stepped inside the spacious family room on the second floor. He immediately noticed the solitary figure standing by the balcony, hands on the railing, eyes lost on the lively and crowded street below. The jazz music from a restaurant down below carried inside, as did the sweet perfume of magnolias and gardenias adorning the neighboring terraces.

"Brother," Elijah greeted. He was surprised that Niklaus was back in the city so soon. He had expected his brother to stay a couple of extra days with Bonnie.

Klaus didn't say anything. He didn't acknowledge Elijah at all.

Warning bells went off inside his head. Judging by the tense set of his brother's shoulders and the dark aura surrounding him, Elijah knew Klaus was upset. He kept his distance, watching and waiting for his brother to make the first move. He had learned a very long time ago that it was best to remain calm and let Klaus rage first.

Klaus turned around to face him. "Not even a day away and everything is in chaos," he muttered darkly. His eyes gleamed with some strange emotion.

 _Anger_ , every instinct inside Elijah warned him that the hybrid standing before him was furious. His vampire instincts sensed the threat standing close. His instincts were on high alert. Another vampire would have run away from there, Elijah remained where he was.

Klaus watched him carefully, his face neutral and his eyes unreadable.

"I have been doing my best to ensure the city is under control while you ensured Bonnie's safety," Elijah said as he took a step closer.

He was no stranger to Niklaus's fits of anger. He had been enduring them for the past one thousand years. But Elijah felt wary. Everything between the Original siblings had been going rather smoothly in the past few weeks, for the first time in a century they were truly acting and living like a family. Niklaus himself had looked very happy. Despite all the enemies and the constant attacks their family had endured in the past few weeks, his brother had been happier than ever. It didn't take a genius to know that Bonnie made him happy. Bonnie was the anchor that had calmed the raging beast and brought out the best in Klaus.

Elijah didn't understand this sudden change in mood. _What had happened?_ He wondered. _What had gone wrong?_ He doubted this rage had to do with Bonnie. No, this was something else, something to do with them. _I should have known this peace was too good to last,_ Elijah thought sadly.

Niklaus was angry with him, Elijah realized as he met his brother's eyes. Those bright and electric blue eyes had dulled into two icicles that promised bloody murder. It was an anger that was directed right at Elijah. A lesser vampire would have cowered in fear, Elijah simply watched his younger brother with an impassive face, waiting. He was letting Niklaus dictate how he wished to handle the situation at hand.

Elijah didn't have to wait long.

He avoided the punch by a millisecond. Years of perfecting this particular dance had allowed him to anticipate his brother's quick movements. But while Elijah avoided the blow to his face, he was not able to stop the claws that grabbed his neck almost at the same time the punch was thrown. The long nails dug deep into his pale flesh, squeezing him with all their strength. Small rivers of blood poured down his pristine blue suit.

In the next second, his back was slammed hard against the wall. The small table propped against it toppled over and the antique lamp sitting on it crashed to the floor.

"Tell me my dear brother," Klaus hissed as he squeezed his neck with one hand. "How dare you _betray_ me?" He growled, although his face retained its human form.

Elijah hissed and used every bit of his strength to rip his brother's arm away and pushed him back.

Klaus stumbled back a step or two. His eyes shifted to a gold hue but his face stayed human.

The two Originals circled each other, both of them tense and ready for what was coming. They both knew how this would end.

"Would you please enlighten me as to how I have betrayed you?" Elijah demanded angrily. The nerve of him, after everything he had been doing to secure the city in his name, to help him, to protect his children.

 _How could Niklaus possibly think he had betrayed him?_ _Had he not proven his loyalty time and time again?_ Then again, it shouldn't surprise him really. Niklaus's paranoia knew no limits.

"When where you going to tell me about _your_ army," Klaus demanded to know. His tone was cold and the glint in his eyes was murderous. "Do you think I wasn't going to find out? Do you think that I would be easily fooled?" He took a menacing step closer.

Elijah frowned, taken by surprise. "I don't know what-"

"Playing the fool does not suit you Elijah," Klaus interrupted angrily. "You have been plotting behind my back, admit it!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Elijah snapped. "What army?" He was utterly confused about his brother's accusations. _Plotting against him?_ It was ridiculous. Elijah had been doing everything in his power to help him.

"Stop lying," Klaus growled. "You are leading an army of vampires against the Navarro pack. They are in Shreveport waiting your orders to attack. You are a traitor!"

"That is preposterous!" Elijah exclaimed feeling offended. "If I wanted to lead an army against the Navarro pack, I would call upon the Strix. Why in the world would I lead an army of vampires form Shreveport?"

"You tell me."

Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose, "do you think I would be stupid enough to keep such a thing from you?" his eyes bored into his brothers. "If I had a vampire army at my disposal you would know it."

"Unless you are conspiring to take over behind my back," Klaus snarled face shifting.

"Don't be ridiculous," Elijah snapped angrily.

Klaus didn't waste any time saying anything else. He simply launched himself at his brother.

Elijah was more than ready. He had been expecting the attack actually. It was amazing that they had managed to talk a bit before going straight for the blows. Somehow all their arguments tended to end in bloody fights. He was already lamenting the lost of his pristine and expensive suit.

The two blurs met and crashed against one another. They kicked and they punched each other with all of their strength. Neither was holding back. They never had. They had been trading blows for a thousand years and by the looks of it, the tradition was going to continue.

The entire house shook as the two Original siblings fought.

* * *

Lucy arrived at the compound late in the afternoon, Klaus was going to take her to the safe house were Bonnie was. Abby had wanted to come but Aunt Vivian had ordered her to stay put. According to Aunt Vivian, she was going to whip the Bennett witches into shape and prepared them for the war. Lucy was glad that she was going to be far away from her crazy aunt. That woman was insufferable.

The moment she stepped inside, she noticed that something was very wrong. It wasn't just the dried stains of blood on the first floor-those had been there for a while now. It was the quietness. Everything was surrounded in darkness and time seemed to stand still.

Her senses alerted her to the presence of the Originals on the second floor. Lucy dropped her duffel bag near the stairs as she quickly made her way up.

The wreckage that greeted her in family room had her gasping while her eyes moved frantically around the room. Her first thought was that the Travelers had somehow gotten inside the house and attacked. That idea was quickly discarded as she spotted the two Originals sitting casually on the floor sharing a bottle of whiskey. It was one of the most surreal things Lucy had ever seen.

"What in the world…" Lucy blinked in confusion, trying to figure out what had happened.

The room was a mess, the furniture was in disarray, one table had lost a wooden leg which laid discarded a couple of feet away and was covered in blood. There was a huge crack on one of the walls and a beautiful antique lamp laid shattered into tiny pieces on the floor. The only thing that had been spared was the nude painting hanging over the fireplace.

Elijah and Klaus didn't look any better. Their clothes were torn and bloody, although there were no visible bruises on their faces.

"What happened?" Lucy asked stepping inside the living room and nearly stepping on the shattered glass of the antique lamp. She glanced in Klaus's direction for a second or two before focusing all her attention on his handsome brother.

Elijah's face looked perfect as always, his suit however was a mess and there was a nasty bite on his neck that was not healing. The skin looked red and a small trail of blood slid down his neck. Lucy couldn't help but wonder why the bite hadn't healed yet. She was just about to ask when a feminine voice reached her ears.

"Bloody idiots."

Lucy's head snapped to the corner of the room where she spotted Rebekah on her knees. Her hands were covered with plastic yellow gloves, as she meticulously tried to clean a blood stain from the rug.

"This is a two hundred year old carpet." Rebekah looked pissed as she furiously scrubbed it clean. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to remove blood stains?"

Klaus and Elijah ignored her, quietly continuing to share the bottle of whiskey.

"I'm not a bloody maid, you know." Rebekah proceeded to mutter a string of insults in a language Lucy didn't know.

Klaus took a sip of the bottle of whiskey before passing it off to Elijah.

"Can anybody tell me what the hell happened here?" Lucy asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked between both brothers.

"Oh nothing much darling," Rebekah stood up. "Simply my two stupid brothers, who as usual throw blows first and ask questions later," she glared at them as she ripped the gloves off her hands and threw them on the floor. "I can't believe I spent the past twenty minutes cleaning your mess." She put her hands on her hips. "What the bloody hell are the two of you thinking?"

Elijah sighed before sipping some more of the whiskey. He was in no hurry to answer his sister's question. He took another gulp of the alcohol before passing the bottle back to his brother.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "A little misunderstanding that's all," he muttered taking the bottle from Elijah's hand.

"A little?" Lucy arched an eyebrow. "You call this mess a little?" they had ruined the living room. The only thing left intact was a painting.

"I'm sure it will be fixed by tomorrow," Klaus toasted in her direction before taking another gulp of the whiskey.

"Actually," Elijah cleared his throat. "There is a crew coming tomorrow to start renovating this place, the walls could use some repairs and a fresh coat of paint, not to mention a new décor." He looked around the room with disdain. Marcel hadn't bothered to fix anything around the house; it was in desperate need of some repairs. "I'll have them bring our things from the plantation as well." By the time Bonnie returned to the Quarter, the Abattoir or the compound as it was commonly known would be ready to live in. Elijah was going to make sure of it.

"Leave the painting," Klaus said pointing to the painting hanging above the fireplace. "It's a Renoir." He had been the one to place it there nearly one hundred years ago.

"I always liked that painting," Elijah murmured as he contemplated the vibrant colors surrounding the nude girl. The brush strokes on the red hair were exquisite.

Lucy scoffed. "What kind of misunderstanding?" She asked bringing their attention back to her. She couldn't believe that after nearly destroying the room they were peacefully contemplating a painting and calmly sitting and drinking like two old friends. _What the hell was wrong with them?_

Elijah stared at her and opened his mouth about to say something but he stopped at the last minute, pressing his lips together and groaning in pain.

Lucy frowned when she notice the sweat in his forehead. Elijah looked rather sickly. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern. She took a couple of steps closer, her eyes contemplating the angry red mark on his neck. It looked bigger then when she first came inside the room. It did not looked to be healing at all.

"I'll live," Elijah replied. He tried to smile at her but it turned into a grimace. Klaus had bitten him and the werewolf venom had spread rapidly. It was strange but the venom felt stronger somehow. He had been bitten before but this bite was more ferocious than any other. It was almost as if the venom was ten times more potent.

"Elijah you look sick," Lucy crouched down in front of him and touched his forehead. "You're burning up." She had no idea vampires could get sick. The worry on her face was more than evident as she gazed at him.

"Once the werewolf venom leaves my system, I will be fine," Elijah reassured her. He felt touched by her concern and he found that he didn't mind feeling her gentle hand on his heated skin. It was soothing actually.

Lucy inspected his face before her eyes were drawn to the nasty bite mark on his neck. She glared at Klaus. "Heal him," she ordered.

Klaus raised an eyebrow and stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "I don't take orders from anyone, witch." He stood up feeling rather annoyed. Lucy and Elijah needed to stop dancing around each other and make a move. "We have an important meeting to attend," he glanced at Elijah before turning to Lucy once more. "Wait for me here. Once I finish, I'll come to collect you and take you to the safe house." He turned to Rebekah, "is your paramour still with Tyler?"

Rebekah glared at him. "He has a name you know and yes, Matt is still with him." If they were lucky, Matt would be able to get through Tyler's thick skull and convince him to do the right thing or in other words do what _they_ wanted him to do.

"I'll see him later then." Tyler could wait a couple more hours in the basement. Klaus had other problems to take care of at the moment. The one concerning the rumors his pack had heard was at the top of the list. "I will call Ishmael, we leave in an hour." He told Elijah before he flashed out of the room.

Lucy turned to Elijah a look of disbelief on her face. "He's not going to heal you and yet he expects you to go to this meeting with him. Is he serious?" She felt offended on Elijah's behalf.

"Very much so," Elijah murmured as he stood up. Another groan escaped his lips. Yes, the venom spreading throughout his system was definitely stronger than before. "I suppose I should consider myself lucky that he didn't dagger me." Even thought he hadn't done anything wrong.

"That's an improvement I'll say," Rebekah commented, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're kidding right?" Lucy looked back and forth between them. "He bit you!" she reminded Elijah.

"Like I said, I'll be fine." Elijah offered her a small smile."Don't worry about me," he grabbed Lucy's hand and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to change." He gave her one last lingering look before exiting the room.

Lucy let out a shaky breath as she watched him go. _Who would have thought that a simple kiss on her knuckles could turn her legs to jelly?_

"Someone is quite flustered," Rebekah gave her a knowing look. The tension between the two of them was sizzling. She couldn't help but wonder as to when they would finally give in.

"So they fight, kiss, and make up just like that?" Lucy asked ignoring Rebekah's comment.

"Oh get used to it darling," Rebekah told her with a smile. At least they were on speaking terms and Elijah hadn't ended up in a coffin. In Rebekah's mind that was a huge improvement. "It's been like this for a thousand years."

"This family is weird," Lucy mumbled. She unconsciously touched her hand. The ghost of Elijah's lips was still imprinted on her skin.

 _Oh boy,_ she thought.

* * *

Later that night, Klaus and Elijah met with Ishmael and the elders of the clan. Klaus had eventually given Elijah his blood in order to heal him from the werewolf venom he had injected him with when they had fought. Now that the little misunderstanding was cleared up they needed to talk to the wolves to ensure their continued alliance.

Klaus was not going to tolerate any misunderstandings or allow his pack to feel left out. They had proven loyal thus far and had aided Klaus when he needed it. He wanted to make sure things would continue to be the same. Not only because they were a valuable asset but because they were _his family_ as well.

"You have my word that I am not leading an army of vampires against the Navarro pack," Elijah said to Ishmael and the elders of the clan. He didn't want any misunderstandings nor did he want to risk having the pack distrust or worse turn against his brother. "I do not know where these rumors started but I can assure I will find out."

Ishmael nodded. He and the elders definitely appreciated that Elijah and Klaus had come to speak with them personally. "You understand of course, that things like this can antagonize the pack. It's not in our nature to be trusting vampires," he explained. While the pack had accepted Klaus as one of their own, there were many who still distrusted his vampire siblings, some who even saw them as potential threats. It was the way things had been for a thousand years since the vampires and werewolves had been at war. "But we are willing to try and get along with them, with _you_ ," he emphasized the word.

"I understand," Elijah murmured. He knew better than anyone how important the alliance with the werewolves was. Under different circumstances he wouldn't even bother to reassure them of anything. Elijah had never been one to explain his actions to anyone, let alone a group of werewolves. In this case however, he wanted the wolves to understand that the rumors were completely false. He wanted to reassure them that when they attacked the Navarros, Fenrir's clan would be included. They were allies in this war.

"So there is no vampire army," Charles asked looking between both Originals brothers. He seemed suspicious still.

"The only vampire army is the one in the Quarter. The vampires that were once under Marcel's control," Klaus informed them. "And my pack of hybrids," he added.

"Did this werewolf tell you anything more?" Elijah asked them. He felt curious how this wolf who had come from Europe had heard about such rumors while they, who had been living in the city for weeks had not. It was rather suspicious in his opinion.

"Nothing more," Mila responded. "Just what we told Klaus." As soon as Kilian left the camp, Ishmael had called Klaus right away to ask him about it.

Elijah looked deep in thought.

"Could someone be pretending to be you?" Ishmael asked Elijah. "Do you think that's how these rumors might have started?"

"It's possible," Elijah whispered. He and Klaus shared knowing looks. It wouldn't be the first time a vampire pretended to be an Original. Few vampires had actually met them face to face, particularly in the past century. While plenty of vampires knew of their existence, few actually knew what they looked like. It wasn't so farfetched to think that someone was pretending to be one of them. "In any case, I will find out who is behind this rumor and deal with it accordingly."

"Tell me more about this Kilian fellow," Klaus said turning to Ishmael. "Is he a friend or foe and how did he find out about Bonnie's pregnancy?" That was one of the things that worried him, how the news of Bonnie's pregnancy was spreading throughout the supernatural world.

"He didn't say," Ishmael answered. "But he seemed very interested in meeting her. We don't know how the news of Bonnie's pregnancy has spread throughout the werewolf community."

Klaus didn't like the sound of that. "Do you know him well?"

"He's a Poldark," Charles revealed.

Klaus and Elijah had blank looks on their faces at the revelation. The name clearly meant nothing to them.

"The Poldark clan is one of the original wolf bloodlines," Mila explained immediately. "Kilian is the last of his line. His pack was engaged in a long and bloody war with another rival pack until eventually all of the Poldark line was extinguished."

"All except for Kilian," Charles added. "We found him, took him, fed him, protected him." He shook his head. "Son of a bitch," he cursed. "We should have left him to die."

There was a sad look on Ishmael's face. Klaus watched him carefully but the old Alpha did not say anything. There was more to the story.

"Original wolf bloodlines," Elijah repeated turning to face Mila. "Isn't your clan supposed to be the first?"

"We are," Mila answered. "We are the descendants of Fenrir. Legend has it that he sired over twenty sons." She shrugged. "Our clan is composed of all those who were born from them." It was the reason they were known as Fenrir's pack, because they had his blood. But only Ishmael, Cary, and Klaus could claim direct descent from the ancient king of the wolves.

"Fenrir was the first werewolf. A creature so great and so powerful that even the gods themselves feared him," Ishmael begun explaining. While had had told Klaus plenty of stories about Fenrir he had not told him about the other bloodlines. "According to wolf lore, seven warriors from different villages came together, all determined to capture Fenrir and kill him. He had grown so big, so ferocious, he was practically unstoppable. They tried to take him down but they failed of course. Fenrir bit all of them but instead of dying from his bite, they became sick. For days they were consumed with a strange sickness and on the night of the full moon they turned into beasts just like him."

"Beasts he commanded and had under his absolute control," Mila said. "His first pack if you will." As a child, she had been fascinated about the ancient and mythical wolf. Fenrir was a legend. All the wolves felt a deep sense of respect and admiration for the progenitor of their race. Their clan in particular was proud to be of his line.

"He turned them into werewolves," Klaus realized.

Ishmael nodded."That's how the first werewolves came to be, they were created not born." He met Klaus's eyes. "It was a curse that was passed down from those first seven warriors to their sons and their sons, thus giving rise to the seven original werewolf bloodlines and the werewolf species as a whole. Malrux, Deep water, Paxton, Crescent, Basroq, Barry, and Poldark," he named them all.

"What about Fenrir's sons?" Elijah asked curiously.

"They were born werewolves, inheriting the wolf gene from their father," Ishmael told him. "It's one of the reasons our bloodline is the purest out of all the others. Our ancestors were born wolves not created. Fenrir's sons became the ruling pack over the other seven," He continued. "Maintaining the purity and the continuity of the bloodline is extremely important to every wolf clan but particularly to those seven ancient clans. It's one of the reasons the most important duty for any Alpha is to sire sons." He turned to Klaus. "Bonnie's pregnancy is of great interest for the werewolf community. It is the proof that you are a _true_ werewolf and it is also the continuation of Fenrir's bloodline."

"The blood of the first witch and the blood of the first werewolf…" Klaus whispered. Cary had said something similar on the day they had met. The three original bloodlines had come together in his and Bonnie's children. It was something extraordinary, something no one could have thought possible until now. It was the reason many wanted them dead and others would be curious to meet them.

"Having Kilian's support could be beneficial," Ishmael said to Klaus. "It would even help to sway more werewolves to your side. You should meet with him and see what else he has to say."

Mila looked nervous while Charles looked furious, mumbling something under his breath. They clearly did not agree with what Ishmael was saying. It was obvious they detested Kilian, Charles in particular.

"But," Klaus could see the reluctance, the distrust in Ishmael's eyes.

"Kilian is ruthless, ambitious, and cunning," Ishmael warned him. "If given the opportunity, he will take the wolf crown for himself." He hesitated, debating over something.

"What else?" Klaus ordered.

"Don't let him near Bonnie," Ishmael said in a serious voice. "He claimed to be curious about the miracle pregnancy but," the glint he had seen in Kilian's eyes. Ishmael knew him well enough to know that there was more. He hadn't liked Kilian's interest in Bonnie. "He's hiding something. Whatever he wants with Bonnie, I can assure you it's not mere curiosity."

"You should kill him," Charles looked at Klaus almost pleadingly. "Kill him and his wolves. They're only here to cause more problems. He already started by planting seeds of doubts in our heads. Kill him before he becomes a bigger threat."

"You really dislike him," Elijah commented.

"I hate him," Charles corrected. "I have my reasons and I do not wish to speak of it," he was quick to say before Klaus and Elijah could question him further.

"Killing a wolf without provocation is a crime," Mila reminded them. "Killing the Alpha of an ancient bloodline just because he might be a threat could be a fatal mistake." She turned to Klaus. "Things in the werewolf community are tense, everyone is afraid. The war has begun and we cannot afford to make any mistakes. You must be careful on how you present yourself to the wolf community as a whole."

Klaus's reputation was already tarnished by virtue of the fact that he was part vampire. He couldn't afford to be reckless and go killing werewolves without a legitimate reason. He had to be careful on how he presented himself to the wolves.

There were a couple of minutes of silence following Mila's words. Everyone waited for Klaus to say something. The hybrid mulled over everything he had learned. As much as he hated it, Mila's words rang true. He couldn't afford to make mistakes, he needed to be careful.

"I will meet with Kilian," Klaus said finally. He felt curious about this new arrival and he also wanted to know what exactly Kilian wanted with Bonnie. "But first I will meet with the Crescents."

"Cary is already in talks with them," Ishmael informed him. "They seem interested, just tell me when and where and we can arrange a meeting with them."

"Excellent," Klaus muttered. If he could get the Crescents on his side, the size of his army would double. And that's exactly what he needed.

* * *

 **Lafayette Cemetery**

The night was hot and humid.

Sophie was on her knees, inside a circle of white candles. Her eyes were closed as she chanted with determination. She didn't know what else to do. There was not much time left to complete the Harvest. She had to do it before it was too late.

She had no family, no friends, and no allies left in the Quarter. She had no one to help her. Sabine had disappeared and it looked like she was dead. The Regent had not given an answer to her pleas for help. Her sister was gone, her coven was without magic, and time was running out. Sophie was desperate.

"Please…" she begged. "I need your help." She kept her eyes closed as she pleaded with the Ancestors. "I don't know what to do, I want to complete the Harvest but I don't know how. Please…you have to help me…please…"

On and on she continued chanting, begging the Ancestors for their help, asking for a sign, anything that would help her complete the Harvest and get her niece back.

"I don't have my magic anymore," she continued. "I don't know if you can hear me or not. I need you. I'm begging you, please…help me…"

There was a part of her that thought this was useless, that there was no point in trying to communicate with the Ancestors when her magic was gone _. But what else could she do?_ The Ancestors were the only ones that could help her. They were the only ones that had enough power to restore her magic, to help her complete the Harvest, to do something.

She had made a promise to Jane-Anne, she needed to complete the Harvest and get Monique back. She would die trying if she had to.

Sophie didn't know how long she was on her knees praying to the Ancestors. She cried, she begged, she raged. She prayed with all her strength. It was a prayer that came from her heart, from her very soul.

"Please…I need your help, please…"

Minutes, hours, Sophie wasn't sure how much time had passed since she started praying to the Ancestors but her pleas eventually died out. She stayed on her knees, crying. Rivers of tears streamed down her cheeks as she let out all her fears, frustrations, and anger. All of the emotions she kept locked inside finally came out as she sobbed.

 _We can hear you child…_

Sophie gasped and her eyes snapped open upon hearing that voice in her head.

 _We will help you…_

The candles suddenly died out as a strong breeze moved through the cemetery.

 _We are here…_

Sophie couldn't believe it. She could hear them, the Ancestors' voices were inside her head. She could feel them. She could feel their power surrounding her. The Ancestors had heard her. It worked.

 _This is what you must do…_

"Anything," Sophie whispered as she wiped the tears from her face. "I will do anything you ask of me."

For the first time in a very long time, Sophie Deveraux smiled. Her prayers had been answered at last.

* * *

"What are you going to do with Isaac Navarro?" Elijah asked turning to face Klaus.

The hybrid was driving. They were going to the abandoned building where Isaac was currently locked in. Alexa, Nate, and Jesse were taking turns keeping watch. Isaac was in a very secluded area, hidden from everyone. Klaus didn't want to risk people seeing him. Isaac was a valuable bargaining chip.

"I need Isaac in order to get Caroline back," Klaus muttered. "I need to get her back before Bonnie returns to the Quarter." It was best if Bonnie learned that Caroline had been kidnapped after her rescue. That way, Bonnie wouldn't have to live with the worry and the fear of knowing her best friend was in Franco's clutches. That was the last thing Bonnie needed in her condition. Dr. Mayfair had been firm about Bonnie getting all the rest and tranquility she possibly could. Klaus was going to ensure she got it, one way or another. If it meant keeping unpleasant things from her, so be it.

Elijah gave him a look.

"She needs to rest Elijah." Klaus knew he shouldn't be keeping things from her but this was different. It's not that he didn't trust Bonnie or didn't want her to know of his plans. He was keeping things from her in order to protect her and their children. The image of Bonnie feverish, moaning in pain and fighting the strange virus the spirits had infected her with would be forever engraved in his mind. Just like he would never forget the way he found her bloody and shaking in the cemetery. She could have lost their children and even thought she was better now, the danger was ever present. "The pregnancy is still at risk."

Elijah nodded. They needed to ensure that Bonnie got all the rest the doctor had ordered. He looked out of the window, thinking over a couple of things. "I think in order to get his brother back Franco will be willing to trade." It was the reasonable thing to do, trade one valuable hostage for another.

Klaus's lips twitched into a smirk. "You really think that?"

There was something in the way he said it which had Elijah turning his head in his direction. "You don't?"

"Franco doesn't give a damn about his brother," Klaus muttered, keeping his eyes on the road. "My spies tell me that while Victor is frantically searching for his brother and Luis has half of his men combing the city for any clues on Isaac's whereabouts, Franco hasn't done shit."

Elijah frowned. Something like that did not help their plans to get Caroline back. If Franco didn't give a damn about his brother then he wouldn't be willing to trade. Klaus however, looked pleased. He looked far too pleased. "What are you planning?"

"Our little squabble this morning gave me an idea," Klaus said glancing at his brother. "We will destroy Franco's empire from the _inside_ and we will start by approaching Victor and Luis about Isaac. We will negotiate with them, not with Franco."

"Turn brother against brother," Elijah followed his train of thought. "Make Franco believe his brothers are conspiring against him."

"How do you think Franco would react if he heard rumors of his own blood keeping things from him, _betraying_ him?"

"I suppose in the same way you reacted this morning," Elijah responded. Their fight had been vicious but it had also helped to clear the air between them. Klaus now had no doubts about Elijah's loyalty.

Klaus grinned. "Unfortunately for our dear Navarro wolves, they don't have the luxury of being immortal like us."

That was the thing about being mortal, they could be killed easily. The hardest part was to get close enough to deliver the final blow. Franco was practically in seclusion at his mansion, they couldn't just waltz in there to kill him. Actually they could, Klaus was very tempted to do so. He had been more than ready especially after finding out about Bonnie's dreams. But he felt wary of the Navarro-Traveler alliance. He had a feeling that Franco was expecting an open attack like that. A show of brutal force, and Klaus was not going to fall for that trap. He was smarter than Franco. He had a far better and brilliant plan.

"How can we ensure Victor and Luis do what we want?" Elijah asked. "How can we keep them from informing Franco?"

"We don't have to. All we need is to plant the seed of doubt." Klaus answered. "The same way this bloody wolf planted a seed of doubt in my pack," he growled. Kilian had another thing coming if he thought Klaus was going to lose the loyalty of his pack so easily. The bastard had no idea who he was messing with. Klaus was going to be teaching him a lesson or two pretty soon.

"One of the biggest advantages the Navarro brothers have is their ever growing numbers," Elijah said. "If we can split their army it would make things easier."

Klaus nodded in agreement. Luis, Victor, and Isaac had wolves of their own, wolves that were loyal to them. While all had accepted Franco as the alpha and leader of their combined packs, if they could create enough discord among them, they could break the entire Navarro pack apart.

"Perhaps we could even tempt some of the wolves in their ranks to join us," Elijah suggested. He definitely liked Klaus's idea.

"Tyler could be useful in that regard," Klaus whispered. Tyler had a better understanding of the Navarro pack and the way they operated. "He might even know of some wolves that could be persuaded to betray Franco." First he needed to make sure Tyler was still compelled to do his bidding and ensure he got in line with their plans. "With any luck, Matt paved the way to get him to cooperate."

Elijah didn't seem fully convinced. Tyler had refused to answer his questions. Then again, Klaus was Tyler's sire. He probably would have better luck getting the answers they needed form the young hybrid. "With luck, the Salvatores will fall in line as well." Damon, Stefan, Tyler, they were all pawns in a very complex and complicated game. Pawns Elijah and Klaus were more than willing to use and sacrifice in order to protect the most important player in the game.

"Stranger things have happened."

Elijah chuckled. "I need to go to Shreveport as well. I need to know who's using my name and if it's true there is an army in the city."

"And what will you do if it's true?" Klaus asked curiously.

Elijah gave him a look as if to say, _do you really have to ask?_ Klaus knew dam well what Elijah planned to do, the older Original indulged him nonetheless. "Take over said army and use it to our own advantage of course."

Klaus grinned. He clearly approved of Elijah's plan.

"When do you wish to contact Victor and Luis?" Elijah asked suddenly.

"First, I shall send a very special message to Franco and then we will start tearing his mighty empire apart. What do you say brother?" Klaus asked with a dimpled smile.

"I do like the way you think brother," Elijah grinned.

The two brothers shared conspiratorial looks.

That was the thing about Elijah and Klaus, no matter how much they argued, distrusted, and even hurt one another at the end of the day, they were as thick as thieves. And nothing united them more than the need to protect their family and the desire to destroy their enemies.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Franco wrapped the silky robe over his body and gave one last look at the girl on the bed. Her hands and feet were bound to the bed posts. Her caramel skin was covered in sweat, bruises, blood, and burn marks. Her pretty and youthful face was frozen in fear, her grey eyes empty. He had gouged her eyes out. She had the wrong eye color. He hadn't liked that.

Franco served himself a glass of bourbon which helped to wash the taste of the girl's blood from his mouth. He had spent the past twenty something hours or so with her, letting his anger, his frustration, and his fantasies come to life with her flesh. She had been a pretty thing but she had not been able to handle him. No woman seemed to be able to handle him.

 _Bonnie will_ , his mind whispered. _Bonnie has been made for you. She belongs to you._

After ripping the abomination she carried inside her belly of course.

Franco growled. It was bad enough that he had to live with the knowledge that Klaus had fucked her first. Now, he had learned his seed had taken root inside of her. _How could that half breed that was supposed to be dead father a child? Had it been her magic?_

 _It doesn't matter_ , Franco thought. He was going to purge it out of her, one way or another. And then he would sire sons with her. His seed would take root inside her and she would give him heirs.

 _A wolf can only mate with another wolf_ , a voice that sounded suspiciously like his father whispered inside his mind. _She's not a wolf. You need an Alpha bitch to have your sons, not a witch._

 _Exceptions can be made,_ Franco argued with the imaginary voice that sounded like his father. _She's a Bennett, a queen._

 _She's not a wolf._

 _Shut up._

Franco moved his gaze over the room, successfully silencing the voice in his head.

This was the room he used every time he needed an outlet for his anger. It had been his father's idea, after he had killed a playmate at the age of twelve and triggered his wolf curse. Since then, Franco used the room to let out the rage he felt. He had learned from a young age that taking his anger out on others gave him incredible pleasure and it also helped to keep his temper in check. Running wild and free on the nights of the full moon was not enough to calm his moods, to release all the energy inside him, all that anger that boiled as hot as lava. Inside the four walls of his room however, he could do it on a daily basis if he so desired.

After finishing his drink, Franco opened the door and got out. The werewolf posted outside the door nodded in his direction.

"Get rid of the body and have the maids change the sheets," Franco ordered.

"Yes sir."

"And next time," Franco said, his eyes dark with malice. "Bring me a girl with green eyes." He had been in desperate need to release his anger so he had to make do with the girl they brought him, but he wouldn't tolerate another mistake like that. He had given specific instructions about the girls he wanted.

The wolf nodded and proceeded to do as he was told. He didn't even flinch as he carried the girl's corpse in his arms. He was used to it, more so as of late. He didn't even feel any remorse when he stared at the young face.

He passed Luis in the hallway.

"Did she have to be so young?" Luis said coming to stand next to Franco. The girl couldn't have been older than twenty and that was being generous.

"She's Bonnie's age," Franco replied. For a few precious moments he had allowed himself to think he was with Bonnie. The fantasy hadn't lasted as long as he had wanted it. That put him in a foul mood.

Luis shook his head. "Your obsession with the Bennett witch it's becoming quite dangerous brother." Since Franco had become interested in the Bennett girl, he wasn't thinking clearly. He was thinking through his lust. Luis didn't like that.

Franco rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for your lectures." He walked away. Sometimes it seemed Luis tended to forget he wasn't the eldest brother.

"There is a package waiting for you in the study, it arrived earlier this morning." Luis's voice stopped him.

Franco frowned, heading in that direction instead of going to his bedroom like he first intended. The package was a black leather box, rather big. It sat neatly on top of his desk. "What is this?" he was not expecting any deliveries that day.

"I don't know," Luis replied. It smelled like gardenias. The security guards posted outside the gate had cleared the package so they knew it wasn't something dangerous.

Franco opened the box carefully, not knowing what he would find inside. "What the hell is this?" he gagged. The smell that reached his nose upon opening the box was awful and mixed with the gardenias, it made it worst.

Inside the box was a black severed head, it looked like the person- whoever he was- had been infected with gangrene. The features were unrecognizable, hideous. Franco had never seen anything so disgusting.

Luis covered his mouth and nose with his hand, as the putrid decay mixed with the white gardenias surrounding the head penetrated the study. The ringing of a cell phone surprised both brothers. For a few seconds they stared at each other, wondering where it was coming from.

The device was tucked between two flowers.

Franco picked it up-careful not to touch the head. "Hello?" he answered, keeping his voice calm and controlled. He didn't know what kind of game this was. He didn't like it.

Luis watched him carefully.

"Did you like my gift?" An accented voice asked from the other end.

Franco met Luis's questioning gaze. His brother moved closer trying to listen to the conversation.

"Who is this?" Franco asked. "What is the meaning of this gift?" _Who had the audacity to play games with him?_ Franco would make them pay.

"I'm disappointed mate," the accented voice said. "You would think you would recognize your own minion, then again Christian had a rough night." There was a chuckle. "I'm also disappointed you don't recognize my voice considering how obsessed you are with _my wife,_ " the accented voice hissed. The possessive way in which he said _wife,_ did not go unnoticed.

"Klaus Mikaelson," Franco said through gritted teeth. He involuntarily tensed. This was not what he had been expecting. There so many mixed emotions flowing through him in that moment. He was talking to Klaus.

"Your men came into my city," Klaus snapped. "They stormed into my home and tried to take _my wife_ ," he let the word roll off his tongue in a possessive hiss. "They failed."

Franco's jaw clenched. There was a look of pure fury on his face as he listened to Klaus.

"You failed miserably," Klaus taunted. "And this marks the beginning of many more defeats coming your way, Franco." He sounded extremely confident as he spoke. It enraged Franco even more.

"If you think-" Franco began.

"I know who you are," Klaus interrupted. "I know where you live. I know what you want. Enjoy your last days on this earth for you made the biggest mistake of your life coming after what's mine. I am going to end you," he vowed.

"I'm not afraid of you," Franco hissed, steeling his voice and ensuring not to let any emotion through.

Klaus laughed. "The fear in your voice tells me otherwise. It's quite amusing really," he was clearly pleased. "You wanted war. I will give you war. The next head I take will be yours." The hybrid snarled before hanging up.

Despite his bravado, Franco's hand shook as he put the cell phone down.

* * *

 _A/N: The names of the seven original wolf packs are in TO wiki page. I put my own twist into how they came to be though. Bonnie is at the safe house resting but don't worry she'll be back in the next chapter. Thank-you so much for all your continued support. See you next time!_


	44. Chapter 44

**New Orleans**

He felt his presence long before the hybrid walked down the steps that led to the basement and came inside his cell.

A low growl escaped Tyler's chest as he stared at his sire, at the man, the monster that ruined his life. He watched him with angry eyes tinted with gold. He watched and waited.

Klaus didn't say anything at first. He walked further into the room, standing right across from Tyler. He leaned back against the concrete wall, crossed his arms over his chest and propped one foot against the wall.

Tyler watched him nervously, knowing that there was nowhere to escape. The magical chains on his arms prevented him from going anywhere; they would even prevent any attempt to defend himself, should the hybrid decide to attack.

Klaus watched him with an expressionless face and indifferent eyes. There was no way to know what he was thinking, to predict what he would do and that made Tyler even more nervous than before.

As the seconds turned to minutes, he felt on edge and much to his shame scared. He wished he had allowed Matt to stay like he wanted to. But Tyler had told him to leave, he needed time to think, to process everything he had learned from his friend and he needed to do it alone. He was regretting that decision now.

When the silence became too much, Tyler caved. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked, he stared right into Klaus's eyes. If he was going to die, he would do it with his head held high. He had been a coward long enough.

"If I wanted you dead, you would be dead."

Tyler watched him warily.

"You warned me about Bonnie," Klaus tilted his head to the side, speaking as calmly as if they were discussing the weather. "You did not answer my brother's questions, which means you still are compelled to do as I please."

Tyler looked away, feeling angry, so angry at being nothing more than a pawn once more.

"Matt has informed you of everything going on, I presume."

"Yeah," Tyler mumbled. "Is he compelled too?" he asked angrily. "He spent hours making campaign in your favor." He still couldn't believe that Matt of all people thought Tyler should help Klaus defeat the Navarros. It was crazy.

"Well, if he wishes to be my brother in law he has to get on my good side first, I suppose." Klaus chuckled.

Tyler frowned. _Had Klaus just made a joke? Where they actually talking, like having a civil conversation? Was this real?_

"I'm not fighting for you." Tyler hissed. "You turned me into a monster, you murdered my mom," his voice broke as he thought of his mother. His heart bled with guilt, with anger, and above all pain. So much pain he could fill an ocean. "I will never fight for you." Refusing was the only real power Tyler had, a small piece of agency he had left. He was doomed. He was a marked man. Klaus or Franco, it didn't matter, they both considered him a traitor and were planning on killing him. He also knew Klaus could just compel him to do whatever he wanted, but at least he felt a bit of satisfaction knowing that he could say no. That even for a moment, he could spoil the hybrid's plans.

"I don't need you to fight for me, Tyler." Klaus pulled himself away from the wall and moved closer. "I have no use for you to be honest. You are a traitor, a terrible spy, and a big nuisance."

Tyler growled.

"Killing you would be the best thing to do," Klaus continued in a dismissive tone. "But I can't."

That took Tyler by surprise.

"No matter how much you may wish it, you can't kill me," Klaus told him. He didn't need to explain the reasons why Tyler would never be able to kill him, they were obvious. "And I can't kill you either." He pouted. "It's a stalemate I suppose."

Tyler stayed silent. He had no fucking clue where this conversation was heading. _What the hell was Klaus on?_

"Do you know why I can't kill you?" Klaus asked.

Tyler shook his head.

"Because it will hurt Bonnie," Klaus answered his own question. "Because you are her friend and she wants to protect you. I made a promise to her that I would try and help you." He intended to keep all of his promises to Bonnie.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tyler didn't know what to think; out of all the scenarios he could have imagined this was not one of them.

"It means that I am setting you free," Klaus replied simply.

Tyler's eyes opened wide in shock, his lips parted- a bewildered look on his face. _Was he imagining this?_

"Once I set you free you will have a choice to make," Klaus continued in that calm and controlled voice of his. "You can continue to try and get revenge against me, knowing that it's a foolish quest, for you will never succeed." He looked down at him. "And make no mistake I will kill you if you come after me again." He didn't want to hurt Bonnie, but if Tyler continued to be a bloody idiot he would end him for good. He had given him enough chances already.

Tyler glared at him.

"You can run away, you are very good at that," Klaus taunted with a sadistic smile. "You can go far away and never come back, or you can stay." He crouched down in front of Tyler, until they were at an eye level. "You can stay and fight."

Tyler opened his mouth with a retort that was cut short.

"Not for me," Klaus continued, knowing what he was thinking. "Fight for Caroline, for Bonnie, for Matt," he emphasized each name. He knew how to get to him, how to manipulate and exploit Tyler's emotions. "Fight for the only three people on this earth that actually give a damn about you. Fight to get the girl you love back, fight so that humans like Matt can have a chance in this new world that is being forged. Fight to repay Bonnie the debt you owe her."

"What debt?" Tyler asked in a whisper.

"I am allowing you to live because of her," Klaus snarled, a hint of gold slipping through in his eyes. "You live because Bonnie wishes so. She is the reason I am letting you free, she is the reason I am offering you another chance. Therefore, you are in her debt."

Tyler could hardly breathe as Klaus's words sunk in. _Klaus was willing to show him mercy because of Bonnie, had he heard that right?_

Klaus stood up, towering over the young hybrid sitting on the floor. "The choice is yours, Tyler."

Tyler looked down at the floor. His mind racing with what Klaus had just said to him. There was a long pause, until finally Tyler found his voice. "What if he killed her already," he whispered. The fear in his voice was more than evident. He was terrified.

"Franco won't kill Caroline."

"You don't know that! He could be torturing her, he could be-" He couldn't even bring himself to finish. Caroline was paying the price of his betrayal. Because of him, Franco would hurt her.

"Franco wants Bonnie," Klaus interrupted with an angry hiss.

Tyler flinched at the murderous rage he saw in Klaus's eyes.

"You know that, as well as I do," the hybrid continued. "He knows Caroline is Bonnie's best friend, he's going to use her to get to Bonnie. All his other plans have failed, Caroline is the ace he has up his sleeve and he's going to exploit that." Klaus felt certain of that. "Caroline is worth more to him alive than dead."

"How can you be so sure?" Tyler hoped he was right. He was terrified of what Franco could be doing to Caroline.

"Because that's what I would do if I were in his place." He pinned Tyler in place with his gaze. "So what's it going to be Tyler? What will you choose?" Klaus asked.

Tyler gulped.

* * *

 **The next day...**

While the rest of her family prepared for the war under the tutelage of Aunt Vivian or were out on the streets hunting the Travelers and the werewolves sent to get Bonnie, Lenore had a clandestine meeting with three elders.

Francis, the elder from Algiers and a long time friend had sent a distressful message the previous day, asking her to accompany him to meet with the elders of two other covens in the city. And now, here she was, in an abandoned house outside the city. They met with Marguerite Lescheres, elder of the Garden District coven and Kara Nguyen, elder of the Ninth Ward coven.

Kara was tall, dark haired, and was wearing a black cloak over her clothes. Marguerite was of medium height, light brown hair, almost blonde and bright blue eyes. They both radiated power, confidence, and could easily intimidate many.

Introductions were short and to the point.

"We told you to come alone," Kara Nguyen said. They all knew Lenore was not a New Orleans witch, to many she was considered an outsider, even if she had been living in New Orleans for over twenty years.

"Lenore is a dear friend and one of the most senior witches in our coven," Francis told them. "I asked her to come with me."

"She's not an elder," Marguerite Lescheres pointed out.

"My husband was," Lenore told her. "I have been a member of the Algiers coven for nearly thirty years." After her husband's death she had remained as part of the coven and had always offered her council to Francis, who had been her husband's best friend. She was a respectable and valued member of their coven.

"Whatever you want to say you can say it freely," Francis told them. "I trust Lenore and I value her council." It was the reason he had asked her to come with him.

Marguerite and Kara reluctantly nodded.

"We need to protect ourselves," Marguerite began. "Klaus Mikaelson is once more the king of the city, the Crescent moon pack is no longer cursed and the Navarro pack is a constant threat to our borders. We have to do something."

"It's only a matter of time before the Navarro wolves try to take over," Kara continued. "The city will once again be at war."

"The Navarro have always wanted New Orleans. For years their power has grown and they have yet to make a move," Francis reminded them.

"Are you saying we shouldn't consider them a threat?" Marguerite asked him.

"They are a threat, there is no mistake about that," Francis replied. "But if they didn't dare to attack the city when Marcel was king, why would they attack when the Hybrid is now the new ruler? Klaus is older and stronger than Marcel." If anything, having Klaus as the new king could work to their advantage. His name alone could deter many from trying to come into New Orleans.

"Another vampire who won't give a damn about us," Kara spat. "First came the Crescents killing us for sport, then came Marcel oppressing and murdering us for defying his rules. You think this time is going to be any different? You think Klaus Mikaelson gives a damn about the witches of this city?"

Francis stayed silent. Deep down he knew Kara had a valid point.

Lenore bit her tongue. There was a lot she wanted to say but she kept her lips shut. Aunt Vivian had told her that for the time being, it was best to keep her identity a secret. For all intents and purposes, Lenore was now a spy for the Bennett coven.

"We can no longer stay on the sidelines watching as this city crumbles," Marguerite told them. "It's time for the witches to do something. We must, if we want to survive."

"What are you proposing?" Lenore asked them with curiosity.

"To unite all of the nine covens in New Orleans," Kara replied fiercely. "To fight together as one, to take back what is rightfully ours."

"If you want to unite the nine covens, shouldn't you be speaking with the Regent?" Francis asked them. The Regent was the highest witch authority in the city.

"What has the Regent done for us in the past ten years, Francis?" Kara challenged.

"She was an elder from the Garden District coven," Marguerite reminded them. "Our people were proud the day she was chosen as the Regent, but she has done nothing for us. She has done nothing for any of the witches in the city." Her eyes gleamed with barely controlled anger. "She's a recluse who prefers to live in her own world rather than face the reality of our circumstances and take a stand against our enemies." Along with the anger, there was a hint of hate in her voice.

"There are rumors," Kara lowered her voice to an almost whisper, almost as if she were afraid to say it. "Whispers among many witches that the Regent no longer has the Ancestors' favor, they no longer speak to her and that's why she has secluded herself inside her home."

"That's ridiculous," Francis had always dismissed such nonsense. "If the Ancestors had turned their backs on her, she would no longer be the Regent."

"She did nothing when Marcel took over, she did nothing when Klaus claimed this city as his own," Marguerite said. "Do you really think she'll protect us against the Navarro clan? And what about Klaus's witch wife. You think she'll keep us safe from the Mikaelson witch?"

Lenore's eyes narrowed at the mention of Bonnie. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"She's married to Klaus," Kara responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "She incinerated an entire coven and took the magic away from the French Quarter Coven. She's a threat to all witches."

"The Seer was no friend of ours," Lenore reminded them. "She was shunned from her coven, she did horrible things. Don't tell me you feel sorry for her death?"

Francis nodded. "If anything she did all of us a favor by getting rid of the Seer."

"She had no right to take matters into her own hands," Kara snapped.

"She had every right to defend herself," Lenore fired back. Bonnie had destroyed the Seer and her coven in order to protect her family. The Seer had attacked her first.

Kara's eyes narrowed. "Why are you defending her?"

"You don't know her," Lenore said as she looked back and forth between the two elder witches. "You don't know anything about her, except for the rumors that are flying around the city. You haven't even talked to her and see if-"

"Actions speak louder than words," Marguerite interrupted in a cold tone. "The French Quarter coven was the beginning of her reign of terror. She'll come for us next, mark my words." She sounded so sure, she truly believed Bonnie was some wicked witch hell bent of destroying all the covens in the city.

Lenore shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. They didn't know Bonnie at all. There was so much she wanted to say in Bonnie's defense but she didn't want to risk giving away the fact that they were related.

"You can't be sure of that," Francis intervened. "Maybe if we speak with her-"

"What else could you expect from someone married to a monster?" Kara asked him. "What kind of witch forsakes everything and marries an abomination of nature? She's just like him, a monster, a murderer."

"You haven't even met her and you have already judged her," Lenore realized sadly. "Are you going to pass a sentence too?"

"As a matter of fact we are," Marguerite replied with a grin.

Lenore's stomach sank. She didn't like the glint that she saw in the other witch's eyes, nor the curl of her lips. "What have you done?" she hissed.

"Why do you care so much about the hybrid's whore?" Kara asked curiously. She watched Lenore with interest, staring deeply into her eyes. With a single look, her magic slowly slipped inside the other witch's mind.

In the next second, Kara hissed and grabbed her head with one hand as a burning pain exploded inside her brain. It happened so fast, it took her completely by surprise.

"Stay out of my head," Lenore hissed. She sent another wave of her magic that had Kara stumbling and sinking to her knees in pain.

The elder witch gasped trying to get some air into her lungs, a look of pure shock on her face. She had perfected the art of getting inside someone's head. She could do it as easily as breathing. It was something she had been doing since she was a child. _Her special gift,_ her mother had told her once. She had done it to countless of other witches before and none had sensed her, none had rebuked her probing, until now.

Francis pressed his lips together trying and failing to suppress the grin from his face. Lenore was one of the most powerful witches he had ever had the honor of meeting. Kara had no idea who she was messing with.

Marguerite looked impressed and was staring at Lenore with keen interest.

"What have you done?" Lenore asked again, her hands balled into fists as she struggled to contain the anger she felt.

Kara stood up on shaky legs, glaring at Lenore. "We asked the Kindred to take a closer look at her actions and determine if she's a danger to the witches in the city."

Lenore gasped. "How could you?"

Francis cursed. "Have you lost your mind?" The Kindred were the worst of the nine covens.

"The Kindred are the coven in charge of policing the actions of the witches in the city," Kara snapped. "If they believe a witch is a threat they will deal with her accordingly."

"The Kindred play by their own rules, they have put witches in the Asylum without even giving them a chance to defend themselves, without proof of doing anything wrong." Francis was visibly agitated. "They are not going to review anything. All they need is a name to begin their hunt. They are going to persecute her." He shook his head. If the Kindred attacked the hybrid's woman, he would no doubt retaliate against them, against all witches. "You just started a war."

"The war is already here," Marguerite retorted angrily. She looked at Francis and then at Lenore. "And you are going to have to pick a side."

"We are going to get all of the elders together by the next full moon," Kara informed them. "A witch summit to determine our future, you are more than welcome to join us."

And with those words the two witches left.

Francis turned towards Lenore who was visibly trembling. "Are you okay?"

"I have to go." Lenore practically ran out of there.

* * *

 _His paws dug in the mud as he ran fast, much faster than the rest. He was the leader, the Alpha, the king leading his army into battle. The wolves followed him, running after him, and obeying each of his commands. They were ready for war._

 _A howl penetrated the darkness._

 _The full moon illuminated the way._

 _The other wolf, the impostor, the enemy, led his own army. It was a bigger and more ferocious pack of wolves. They clearly outnumbered their enemies five to one._

 _The two armies met on a clearing._

 _They clashed together, with a single objective in mind, to destroy the other and claim the ancient crown._

 _There was no fear. There were no second thoughts, only the thirst for blood. They thrived in it. They were beasts who could unleash a sea of destruction if they so desired. Together they could conquer the world._

 _While one army fought with anger, with arrogance, united by hatred and with the desire to destroy everything. The other fought together. They were a unit, a family. They were connected by blood, by loyalty, by the desire to protect and above all, the desire to survive._

 _Their howls mixed with their growls, with the roars as they tore viciously into their enemies' flesh. They attacked each other again and again, vicious attacks that went straight for the kill._

 _Wolf versus wolf, it was a fight to the death._

 _When the sun rose the next morning and the fog cleared up, there was only one wolf left standing. A black fearsome beast coated with blood. His sharp fangs and yellow eyes focused solely on her._

 _Bonnie stood amid the destruction the battle left behind, a single tiny figure dressed in white. She was rooted to the spot, eyes on the black beast that began making his way towards her. She swallowed nervously, debating if she should run away from him or stay and face his wrath. She shivered feeling those yellow eyes on her skin and noticing the thirst, the lust, the need in him._

 _And then her back was pressed against the wet grass. She shivered and tingled all over as his body crushed her beneath his._

 _The sun disappeared behind a cloud of black._

 _The wind picked up._

 _The moon came back, a beautiful full moon that bled red._

 _Bonnie had never seen a red moon before._

 _She gasped, one hand digging painfully in the earth, while the other clutched at his shoulder, fingers sinking deep and drawing blood._

 _He was no longer a beast but a man, a handsome devil of a man. He was on top of her, buried deep inside her heat. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh filled her ears. Their bodies tangled, their cries mixing together as they both hovered over the edge. They were so close._

 _Bonnie moaned, arching her back and meeting each of his thrusts. "More," she urged him with delirious abandon. She didn't care that they were surrounded by corpses and that the blood of their allies and their foes had spilled in the very same grass they were fucking on. It didn't matter._

 _Nothing else mattered, except for them._

 _His head was buried against the curve of her neck, licking and kissing that sweet spot of flesh, feeling her thundering heartbeat against his lips. He growled deep in his chest as he took her hard and fast, marking her, claiming her, possessing her with every fiber of his being._

 _Her legs were wrapped around him, squeezing him tighter, matching each of his hard thrusts with her own. Ripples of pleasure spread throughout her body and she clung to him, desperate to find that sweet release._

 _A growling sound to their left had her opening her eyes. She gasped upon noticing the figures watching them. Wolves, they were surrounded by wolves, where had they come from? She wondered suddenly. Why were they watching them? Who were they?_

 _One…two…three…there were at least a dozen wolves watching the two of them._

" _Klaus…" Bonnie tried to get his attention. There was a hint of panic in her voice; they were surrounded by wolves and she wasn't sure if they were friends or foes. "Klaus…" She let out a cry as he drove himself deeper inside her. She squeezed her eyes shut, forgetting the audience she had just discovered and enjoying the intense pleasure she felt with each of his hard thrusts. It felt so good. So, so good, she couldn't get enough._

 _Bonnie lost herself in the sea of pleasure, she forgot about the wolves, that strange audience bearing witness to their coupling. They were nothing more than a distant echo as her entire body burned with pleasure._

 _Klaus let out a loud feral cry, slamming himself inside her harder and faster, practically at vampire speed. His fingers which had elongated into sharp claws were buried deep in the flesh of her hip, snapping her hips against his, again and again._

 _And then she felt his fangs tearing the soft skin of her neck open. His mouth sucked hard, drinking her essence, her power, her blood._

 _Bonnie cried out in pain and pleasure as he pushed her over the edge. Light exploded behind her eyes, her brain turned to mush, and her entire body shook as wave after wave of pleasure crashed into her._

 _Her brutal scream echoed in the darkness, his name erupting from her lips like a prayer._

 _As her body convulsed and came apart, she caught sight of the moon once more, that strange full moon which was the color of blood._

 _The wolves circling them howled in unison._

Bonnie's eyes snapped open. Her lips parted in a soft gasp as she spotted the figure next to her on the bed. Her heart skipped a beat as it always did when it came to him.

The room was semi dark, the sun had yet to rise fully, but there was enough soft light for her to make out his features fully.

He was resting on his side, shirtless, eyes watching her with infinite tenderness.

"Hi," Bonnie whispered. Her cheeks felt suddenly hot and her temperature rose as the echo of her dream lingered in her mind.

"Hi," Klaus whispered back. He pushed back a few strands of dark hair that had fallen over her face, gently caressing her skin.

"When did you get here?" Bonnie asked as she shifted closer. She froze suddenly remembering that she had not gone to bed alone the night before. She spun around in panic, hoping that they hadn't accidentally pushed Charlotte out of the bed and onto the floor. Unlike their bed at the mansion, this one was rather small.

Charlotte was gone. The small space next to her was empty and cold.

"She's in the spare bedroom," Klaus informed her quietly.

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief and move back on her side, facing him. "You moved her?"

"I did," Klaus reached out, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her closer towards his body. They laid on the bed side by side, their faces almost touching. "This bed is not big enough for the three of us," he muttered.

The first thing he did upon arriving a few hours before, was stare at Bonnie as she slept. She had looked so peaceful, so beautiful, like a fairy princess on one of those tales mothers told their children. Watching her, knowing that she was safe, knowing that their children were safe and far away from all the chaos that had descended on the French Quarter gave him peace. It validated everything he was doing.

Once he finally slid his gaze away from sleeping beauty, he scowled when he noticed the tiny creature sleeping next to his Bonnie. Charlotte was curled against Bonnie, a small plush elephant in her arms.

The second thing Klaus did after arriving at the safe house was to pick the tiny girl in his arms and take her to the spare bedroom where Davina was sleeping peacefully. There were two twin beds on the room and Klaus placed Charlotte in one of them. The little girl had murmured something unintelligible and shivered, curling herself into a fetal position, the plush toy squished against her body.

As annoyed as he was with her, Klaus was not going to let her catch a cold so he had gone to the hallway and grabbed a blanket from the closet to cover Charlotte with. Then he had returned to the master bedroom, stripped himself off his clothes and got in the bed with Bonnie, watching her sleep and counting those two precious beating hearts that pounded in tune with her own.

And now here they were, staring into each other's eyes and enjoying a quiet and peaceful morning. A rarity it was in the hectic lives they led.

Klaus smiled, tracing his index finger over her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her heart rate had increased with his close proximity. His little witch was soft and beautiful and he could stare at her face until the end of days. He smiled softly, tracing his fingers down her chin, her neck, and down her shoulder, leaving goose bumps in his wake. The strap of her silky nightgown fell down her shoulder, exposing more of that gorgeous skin to his hungry gaze.

Bonnie sighed contently, enjoying his soft touches and basking in the happiness of having him back with her. Their bond pulsed with happiness as well. It was moments like this that she cherished the most, simple precious moments were they could forget about the outside world, were they could pretend they were just a guy and a girl in love.

She shivered with delight as his fingers moved down the ridge of her collarbone and down her chest, cupping one breast through the thin fabric of her nightgown. Bonnie closed her eyes, moaning. Her entire body came alive with his sinful touch.

Klaus was enjoying the moment, basking in the peacefulness of it, touching her and marveling at her beauty when Bonnie's next words broke the magic.

"I had a weird dream."

The smile dropped from his face, his fingers stilled on her chest and his entire body went rigid. "Franco," he hissed, eyes turning gold for a brief moment. One name, a single fucking name and he went from feeling content to a raging monster who thirsted for blood and death.

"Not exactly," Bonnie placed her hands on his naked chest. The rage, the lust for blood he felt and which echoed through their bond gave her quite the jolt. "I think it had to do with him but I'm not exactly sure." She moved one hand gently over his shoulder and arm while the other stood still against his heart.

"Tell me."

"There was an army of wolves, well, two armies that met at a clearing," Bonnie began. She looked into his face before glancing down at his lean and hard chest. Her fingers traced his skin, marveling at how handsome he was. She felt happy and giddy at the thought that he was all hers. "There was a vicious fight and when the sun rose you were standing there. Well, your wolf, or you in your wolf form, I guess." She felt pretty sure it was Klaus in his wolf form. "And then…" she flushed and bit her lip nervously.

"And then," Klaus tilted her chin up so that he could stare into her pretty flushed face. Her heart rate had increased once more.

"We had sex," Bonnie said, her heart pounding. She felt embarrassed to think of how turned on she felt upon remembering that dream. She unconsciously rubbed her thighs together, feeling a slight dampness between her legs.

Klaus smirked. The scent of her arousal invaded the room and he felt its echo through their bond. "Is that so?" He pulled her closer, forcing her thighs apart and nestling his hard length between her legs.

Bonnie's eyes widened, shivering in pleasure as he rubbed himself against her heat. "Klaus…" it was a moan and a plea. "You know we can't," her fingers dug painfully on his shoulder, the nails sinking into his pale flesh until a small trail of blood surged. The wounds healed instantly of course.

Much to his regret, Klaus pulled away. Bonnie was supposed to be resting. It was best not to tempt fate. "Why do you say it was a weird dream?" he cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable. He needed a cold shower.

"There were wolves watching us," Bonnie said. She was breathing heavily, her body still aflame with the desire she felt for him. A desire she had to extinguish, they couldn't be together like that, not yet.

That revelation helped to cool him down, he looked into her face. "What wolves?"

"I don't know," she wasn't sure if they were friends or foes, or even if she knew the wolves at all. "They were in their wolf forms, circling us as we…you know…" That was the weird part. She didn't understand where those wolves had come from or why they were watching them. "You won the battle though." That gave her comfort, she had seen his victory. "When morning came, you were the only wolf left standing." Okay, so that wasn't a good thing if it meant all the wolves that fought for him died but at least he was victorious in her dream. It was a much better dream that the ones she usually had.

"That's good," Klaus muttered. But while he felt pleased that she had seen his victory, he couldn't help but wonder about the rest of her dream. He was no stranger to adventurous sex, but he was definitely not going to invite his pack or any other wolf pack to watch him and Bonnie.

"What are you thinking?" Bonnie's fingers traced his jaw, bringing his attention back to her.

Klaus smiled. "That I'm not planning to have any voyeurs in our relationship." He moved closer and bumped his nose against her. "I'm not sharing you with anyone."

Bonnie giggled. "I'm not sharing you with anyone either." She hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the lips.

They couldn't have sex, not until Dr. Mayfair gave them the green light after Bonnie completed her best rest but that didn't mean they couldn't kiss.

That's exactly what they did.

They kissed and kissed, forgetting about everything else except for the glorious feeling of their bodies pressed together and their mouths moving in perfect harmony.

A loud bang on the door broke them apart a few minutes later.

Klaus growled against Bonnie's mouth. He even cursed in a different language.

"Breakfast is almost ready!" Rebekah yelled through the closed door. "I know you are awake so hurry up and make yourselves presentable, there are children in this house."

"I already regret bringing her here." Klaus's arms tightened around Bonnie, keeping her close against him.

Bonnie giggled at his annoyed face before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Come on, if we don't hurry she's capable of bursting through that door and dragging us out of bed." She playfully kissed his shoulder before pulling herself into a sitting position.

Klaus however had other ideas, he pulled her down for another kiss.

Bonnie giggled against his lips and kissed him back.

They could steal a couple for minutes for themselves.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Bonnie said as she struggled to put a pair of jeans on. "There is a new pack in the Bayou, they're curious about my pregnancy and you are going to meet with them."

"Yes." Klaus sat on the edge of the bed, already dressed and blatantly staring at her chest. He was enjoying the bouncing of her breasts which nearly spilled out of the tight white bra she was wearing. "After I meet with the Crescents, I will see what this Kilian has to say. It would be beneficial to have them on our side."

Bonnie groaned, frustrated that she couldn't button her jeans. "Damn it." She couldn't do it and they felt too tight as well. She was going to have to wear a dress. "Are you planning on turning them into hybrids?" she asked Klaus as she took her pants off.

"It depends, according to Ishmael they seemed interested and willing to talk, so that's a good sign." But there was also the possibility that they wanted New Orleans for themselves. "The Crescents are proud of their linage, they're one of the ancient wolf bloodlines I doubt they would want to become hybrids, but I am toying with the idea." It would be beneficial, turning them into a loyal pack of followers, and army of immortals sired to him, it was tempting. "Speaking of hybrids," Klaus said, his eyes trailing over her back and ass as she walked towards the closet. "You'll be happy to know that Tyler is in the city."

"What?" Bonnie spun around in surprise.

"He came with one of the groups of Travelers and wolves that came for you. Elijah snapped his neck and locked him in the basement of the compound. We weren't sure if he had betrayed us or not," Klaus informed her.

Bonnie opened her mouth.

"Don't worry," Klaus silenced her. "He's fine." He of course didn't tell her that Felix had tortured Tyler- that was water under the bridge now. "Matt spoke with him and I offered Tyler his freedom in exchange for his help."

"You took away the compulsion?" Bonnie asked with a warm smile.

"Not yet," Klaus wasn't going to give Tyler his freedom so easily. "I will do it once he helps us track down the remaining Travelers and werewolves hiding in the city." Most of them were dead but there was one particular group that had managed to evade death so far. But Klaus was going to find them; one way or another he was going to get them. "The most important thing is that the boy has seen reason and joined the right side." Reluctantly and out of desperation to get Caroline back but Tyler had finally seen the light. "He wants to keep his friends safe."

Bonnie interpreted that as Tyler wanting to keep the wolves he had been training with when Luis recruited him safe. There was some of that, Tyler had expressed as much, but the friends Klaus was referring to were Caroline, Bonnie, and Matt. He didn't say anything of course. There were certain things he didn't want Bonnie to know, not yet.

"I'm glad he's with us," Bonnie murmured. Tyler had been in a dangerous situation by spying on the Navarro pack and she felt glad he was out of that danger now. "Does he know about us?" she asked nervously.

"Yes." Klaus stood up and walked towards her.

"I guess it's safe to assume he had a similar reaction like Damon, huh?" not that Bonnie could blame Tyler. After what had happened between him and Klaus, she couldn't expect him to accept her pregnancy just like that.

"Don't worry about him sweetheart, Tyler might surprise you yet." The young hybrid hated his guts; there was no doubt about that. But he had never once made a horrible remark about Bonnie and her pregnancy, unlike Damon.

There was a worried look on Bonnie's face as she stared at him. "Your hybrids," she said nervously. "Are they going to be okay working with him. They are not going to try anything right," The pack considered Tyler a traitor and Bonnie worried that they might try to hurt him.

"I've already talked to them," Klaus assured her. "They will learn to work together, don't worry about that."

Bonnie hoped so. Not only for Tyler's safety but for the pack itself, they all had to work together in order to win the war. She was grateful that Tyler was putting aside his hatred of Klaus in order to help them fight the Navarro pack. She couldn't wait to get back to the Quarter and talk to him.

She smiled at Klaus before she moved to the closet, hoping that she had a dress to wear. They had left the mansion in such a hurry, Klaus had just thrown a bunch of her clothes in a bag, she was lucky that he remembered her underwear but he did forget her cell phone. "I need to buy some maternity clothes," she mumbled as she looked through the clothes she had at the safe house. "None of my clothes fit anymore," she sniffled, suddenly feeling really sad. She didn't have anything to wear.

Klaus placed his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging her skin with his fingers. "Are you crying?"

"I'm not," she denied it even though a single tear was already rolling down her cheek. "I'm fat." Her clothes didn't fit anymore, everything was too tight and she felt like she was gaining pounds by the minute. "I'm really fat."

Klaus pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and resting his hands on her belly. "You're pregnant." He kissed the top of her head and caressed her small bump.

"I don't feel pregnant, I feel fat." Bonnie pouted. "I don't have anything to wear." She spun around to face him. "You didn't pack me enough clothes," she poked his chest before staring up at his face with watery eyes. "And you forgot my cell phone too."

There was a strange look on Klaus's face as he stared at her. "Bonnie," He had never seen her acting this way before.

"And you just got here but you are going to leave again," she cried then. She hated the thought of him leaving. She wanted him with her, always.

"I don't have a choice sweetheart. I have to return to the Quarter." Klaus gently brushed the tears away from her cheeks. "Don't cry." He hated seeing her so sad and vulnerable. And he certainly didn't like to see her cry.

"I can't seem to stop," Bonnie hiccupped. "I couldn't stop crying yesterday either. I felt so sad after Mufasa died." Just remembering that scene brought more tears to her eyes. She, Davina, and Charlotte had all cried watching the movie and had comforted themselves by eating ice cream afterwards, which is why she was getting fat. She was eating too much.

Klaus had no fucking clue who Mufasa was, and what kind of name was that anyway? "Was he your friend?" he asked quietly, thinking that perhaps he was an old classmate from back home.

"What?" Bonnie frowned. "No. He's not real. He's from an animated film, you know from _The_ _Lion King_ movie."

Klaus gave her a blank look. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"Oh my god, you haven't seen The Lion King!" Bonnie couldn't believe it. "Klaus, that's a classic."

"If you say so," he muttered. Bonnie had cried over an animated character, her hormones must really be all over the place. He didn't know whether to be amused or feel some trepidation at how her hormones would change over the next couple of months.

It took a couple more minutes before she pulled herself together and found something to wear.

"Did you know Charlotte had never seen TV until yesterday," Bonnie told Klaus, after finally finding a pale yellow dress to wear. "She didn't know what cartoons were or seen a movie before. Davina and I explained to her how the TV works. We had a Disney marathon before going to sleep actually." A soft smile graced her lips at the memory.

Charlotte had been entranced by the images on the screen. The look of wonder on her face had been incredible. She had been in awe of it all. She was so innocent. It made Bonnie's heart ache to think of all the things Charlotte had missed while on the other side. Speaking of Charlotte, "I need to ask you something."

"Ask and it shall be yours?" Klaus placed his hands on her hips and pulled forwards until their bodies were pressed together.

"Just like that?" Bonnie hooked her arms around his neck, playing with the hairs on the back of his head. A few minutes before she had been crying and now she was feeling flirty and happy to be in his arms. Her hormones were definitely all over the place.

"I could never deny you anything my love." Klaus kissed her lips sweetly. "Whatever your heart desires shall be yours."

Bonnie melted against him, her heart thundering inside her chest. _Dear lord, could this man be more perfect?_ He made her swoon with his words.

"I was hoping we could hire a private detective or someone to look into Charlotte's family," Bonnie told him. "She doesn't remember anything about her life before the other side. I don't know how long she was there. She thinks her parents are dead but I don't know." There was no way to know for sure. "They could be looking for her. I just want to make sure that we are not keeping someone's little girl." As much as it would pain her to part with Charlotte, if her parents were alive and not dead like she believed, Bonnie knew the right thing was to find them.

"I have people who can do that," Klaus told her, giving her another quick kiss on the lips. "She wasn't dead while on the other side, was she?" It was something he had thought about. Why Charlotte had come back as flesh and blood while his brother had not. There could only be one reason for that.

"No." Bonnie felt certain of that. "She was taken to the other side while still alive. Otherwise she would be a ghost like Kol." She suddenly remembered the scar and the vision she had upon touching it. "Charlotte has a strange mark, you know. A scar on her left shoulder, it looks like an X." She shuddered."I saw some weird images when I touched it, a masked figure, a pentagram of blood, I heard a child crying. I don't know what it means."

"We'll find out." Klaus promised. Whatever mysteries Charlotte's past held, they would uncover them.

Bonnie smiled and moved one of her hands to touch his face. "You can't stay can you?" she whispered, her voice breaking a bit. Her pregnancy was making her very emotional lately.

"I just came back to bring Rebekah and Lucy to keep you company but I must return." Klaus did not want to be parted from her again but he didn't have a choice. "We still need to hunt the Travelers, deal with the tension between the factions in the city, and now there is even a vampire usurping my brother." He had told her about that as well. The only thing Bonnie didn't know was that Caroline was a prisoner to the Navarro pack and that he planned to use Isaac to get her back. Elijah was currently working on that, getting in touch with Luis Navarro to start negotiations.

"Every time you leave me something bad happens." When he left her at the ball he was taken by the witches, when he left her to go to that charity event, she had nearly been kidnapped.

Klaus flinched at the accusing tone in her voice.

"I didn't mean it like that I just-" She hadn't meant for it to sound like she was blaming him for it. She wasn't. "I don't like being away from you." Whenever he was away she felt uneasy. There was a hole in her heart.

"I know." Klaus lowered his head until his forehead was resting against hers. "I don't like it either," he confessed as he pulled her even closer. "Nothing bad will happen this time," he swore. "Before you know it, we'll be together in the Quarter." He cupped her cheek and brushed his lips against hers.

It was a soft kiss, a promise that things would be different this time.

"Breakfast!" Rebekah yelled banging on the door once more. "Hurry up."

"Fucking hell," Klaus growled. There were times when Rebekah really got on his nerves. Sometimes she could be as bad as Kol.

Bonnie gave him a peck on the lips and grabbed his hand in hers. "Come on," she said pulling him towards the door. "We can't keep them waiting."

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Riley had to run an errand for Klaus and Thierry took the opportunity to sneak out of the compound and went to see Marcel. Since he had sworn his fealty to the new king, Riley followed him like a shadow, watching, waiting for him to mess up probably, but Thierry had kept his cool and done everything that was asked of him.

He had helped cleaned up the compound, he had helped organized the vampires, he had even hunted down some Travelers and learned valuable information in the process, information he shared with Marcel over a glass of bourbon.

"Do you know where they are?" Marcel asked refilling his glass. He was staying in a studio apartment, on top of an old building in Algiers. He had allies there that were keeping him safe and off the Mikaelson's radar.

"No."

"And you are sure Davina went with them?" Marcel interrogated him.

"Yeah, Klaus didn't want her in the Quarter, so he took her and Bonnie to a safe house," Thierry responded. "He hasn't told anyone where the house is, I don't even think his siblings know." He stared at the glass in his hands and mulled over the most valuable piece of information he had learned by being in the compound. "There is something you need to know," he began nervously.

"What?"

"Bonnie is pregnant," Thierry blurted out. "Franco Navarro wants her, I think it's because of the baby…babies…" he corrected. It seemed so strange. He still couldn't believe that hybrids could procreate, or well that Klaus could procreate. He wasn't sure if the others could.

"Babies," Marcel repeated a stunned look on his face.

"She's having twins," Thierry confirmed. "This hybrid girl can't shut up about it. She's very excited." She was driving everyone crazy with her shopping and planning. You would think she was the one pregnant with all the fussing she was making.

Marcel pressed his lips together, processing the news. "And Klaus is the father?"

"Yeah."

"That's why the Seer was so interested in her," Marcel muttered standing up and walking over to the huge window across from him. Bonnie was pregnant, Bonnie and Klaus were going to have a baby, twins. It was hard to believe. _How the hell could that even be possible?_ Vampires weren't supposed to father children. But things suddenly began to click into place.

"That's why Klaus took her away," Thierry continued. "She had a miscarriage threat a few days ago some teleporting spell or something." He hadn't been able to hear all the details.

Marcel winced, feeling guilty all of a sudden. He had helped Sabine with the teleporting spell, because of them Bonnie had nearly lost her children. He felt bad about that. From what little he knew of Bonnie, she seemed like a nice girl. "It was Sabine," he muttered. "She was the one trying to teleport her." No wonder Klaus had unleashed his wrath of half of his army. He didn't want to think on what Klaus would have done to him, had Bonnie lost her pregnancy. He shuddered. He had been very lucky.

"Sabine is dead."

Marcel spun around to face Thierry who looked very sure of what he had said. "How do you know?" he had not heard from Sabine at all and had assumed she was lying low, hiding from Klaus's wrath; just like he was.

"She was killed by Bonnie's cousin and Elijah," Thierry told him. "She's a Bennett witch Marcel." He stood up and walked towards his sire, a fearful look on his face. "Bonnie is a Bennett witch, THE Bennett witch," he said watching as Marcel processed the news.

"Bennett," Marcel repeated. His stomach dropped. He had heard of the Bennett witches, everyone in the supernatural world knew the Bennett name.

"She's not alone," Thierry continued. "She has a fucking coven of witches, a coven of Bennett witches on her side. I've seen a couple of them and if what I heard is true," Thierry licked his lips nervously. "There are more Bennett witches coming to New Orleans. They are coming to help her fight."

"Fuck," Marcel cursed.

* * *

 **The Safe House**

Bonnie and Klaus walked hand in hand into the kitchen.

Rebekah was using her super strength to squeeze a couple of oranges for some fresh juice. Davina was making toast while Lucy finished making some scrambled eggs.

"Morning," Lucy greeted them with a smile.

"Morning," Bonnie's stomach growled as the delicious smells hit her nose. She was starving.

Charlotte was happily sitting by the breakfast table, her feet dangling off the chair as she nibbled on a piece of toast with jam. The moment she spotted Bonnie, she jumped out of the chair, her half eaten toast all but forgotten. "Bonnie!" she ran towards Bonnie and threw her small arms around her waist, hugging her tightly. "I woke up and you weren't there," she pouted as she looked up into her face. She was still in her pink Hello Kitty pajamas.

"I know sweetie," Bonnie said returning her fierce hug. She kissed the top of her head. "I-"

"You need to learn to sleep on your own," Klaus said looking down at Charlotte and interrupting Bonnie. If that little creature thought that she would be sneaking into their bed every night she had another thing coming.

Charlotte pulled away from Bonnie and stared at the tall and imposing figure the Original hybrid presented. "I like to sleep with Bonnie." There was an edge to her voice, a rather possessive edge.

"You can't sleep with her every single night," Klaus said in an annoyed tone. He would be the one sleeping with Bonnie, no one else.

"Yes, I can." Charlotte was quick to respond. She even had the audacity to glare at him.

"No. You can't." Klaus glared back, giving the tiny witch one of his most intimidating looks.

"Klaus," Bonnie squeezed his hand, getting his attention and begging him with her eyes not to start fighting with Charlotte. She had enough of that with Kol.

Rebekah laughed. She was clearly enjoying the show. "Isn't she adorable," she said looking at Charlotte. The tiny girl had enchanted Rebekah and Lucy from the moment she came down the stairs looking for Bonnie. "You know Nik, with those matching glares you could actually pass off as father and daughter."

Charlotte gasped, her green eyes opening wide.

Klaus preferred to ignore her sister.

"She does look like she could be yours," Lucy agreed glancing in the couple's direction.

"There was a waitress at this diner we stopped at, that thought we were both of their kids," Davina commented as set the tray with toast on the table.

"Are you serious?" Lucy laughed. "She mistook Bonnie for your mom?" That was hilarious, they were almost the same age.

"Yeah," Davina said. It had been embarrassing and uncomfortable. She and Bonnie were close in age after all.

"She was probably blind," Klaus muttered.

"She was nice," Charlotte mumbled. She had given her crayons to color the animals on the menu. When Klaus looked down at her, Charlotte bit her lip and looked away. She didn't think Bonnie's husband would want to be her dad. She felt sad all of a sudden.

Almost as if sensing her sadness, Bonnie took her hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeezed. Charlotte smiled up at her. It didn't matter if she didn't have a dad, she had Bonnie.

"Don't mind her Nik. She's an annoying little twit," Kol muttered as he appeared inside the kitchen and glared at Charlotte. No matter how hard he had tried, he couldn't get her to acknowledge that she could see him.

"Kol," Bonnie gave him a look. She had lost count of how many times she had ordered him to stop insulting Charlotte.

Charlotte frowned, she had heard him perfectly but she refused to look in his direction. She liked to pretend that he wasn't there and much to Kol's annoyance, she was very good at it.

"Kol is here?" Rebekah asked as she finished preparing the orange juice. She couldn't keep the smile off her face. She had some very good news for her brother.

"Yeah," Bonnie answered as she turned to look at her.

"Kol is the youngest brother right?" Lucy asked as she followed Bonnie's line of sight and tried to see if she could catch his ghostly spirit.

Davina also knew who Kol was by now. She had caught Bonnie talking to herself or more like scolding an invisible person. Bonnie had explained to her that Kol was Klaus's brother and that he was a ghost and she was the only one who could see him and talk to him. Although, Davina had the sneaking suspicion Charlotte could see him too. But the tiny girl pretended not to. Davina herself had felt his presence around the house. Whenever the temperature seemed to drop and the air turned cold, she knew he was nearby. It was weird to think that there was a ghost in the house with them.

"Bonnie's hot cousin," Kol grinned in Lucy's direction. "Nice ass and great legs," he commented as he slid his gaze over Lucy. He undressed her with his eyes. The man had no shame.

"Don't get any ideas," Bonnie told him. Lucy and Elijah had a thing, even if they weren't official yet. It was best if Kol didn't complicate matters.

"What is he saying?" Klaus, Rebekah, and Lucy asked at the same time.

"He thinks you're hot," Bonnie said as she turned to face Lucy.

"Really?" Lucy grinned. "Sorry handsome, but I'm taken." She didn't look sorry at all.

"How do you know he's handsome?" Davina asked with a frown.

"He's a Mikaelson," Lucy winked at her. "I've never seen an ugly Mikaelson."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Don't feed his ego." And then she smiled. "But thank you for the complement. And just so that we are clear, I am the prettiest Mikaelson."

Everyone laughed.

"Taken by whom?" Kol asked Bonnie.

"Kol wants to know who your boyfriend is," Bonnie said to Lucy. It was so weird to be the only one who could see him and interact with him. Not to mention that Kol had a habit of driving her crazy. She had kicked him out of the house the day before after he had unsuccessfully tried to get Charlotte to acknowledge that she could see him. Davina had caught her in the middle of her rant and Bonnie had to explain to the young witch that she wasn't crazy. She simply could see a ghost.

"Elijah," Lucy responded with a saucy grin. "He just doesn't know it yet."

Kol chuckled. "Elijah is going to have his hands full with this one." If he wised up and made a move of course. But something told him that if Elijah didn't dare to make a move, Lucy would take matters into her own hands. She was a pistol.

"Is that right?" Klaus asked with amusement.

Lucy shrugged. It was no secret that she was attracted to Elijah, might as well let the other brother know.

"I guess I have to find a witch of my own," Kol muttered.

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"I have some very exciting news for you, Kol." Rebekah said hardly able to contain her excitement. She moved her eyes around the kitchen, not knowing exactly where her brother was standing."We brought your ashes and the ingredients we need to restore your body."

Kol's entire face lit up with excitement upon hearing the good news.

Despite at how annoying he could be, Bonnie knew how much that meant to him. It was what he wished the most in the world, to be flesh and blood once more.

"Lucy already agreed to help us," Rebekah continued. The two of them had chatted about that and traded ideas on the way to the safe house, while Klaus drove mostly in silence. "We just need Bonnie to use that brilliant head of hers and create the spell to guide your spirit back inside your body and voila, in a few days time you'll be back with us." She was over the moon with happiness. The prospect of bringing her brother back was closer than ever before in becoming true.

In a few days time, the four Originals would be together at last. Their family would finally be complete.

"Bloody wicked," Kol grinned.

"Alright then," Lucy grabbed the skillet with the scrambled eggs she made. "Let's have some breakfast and then we can plan everything."

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Katie was humming softly as she rearranged a couple of supplies on the shelves of her shop. Business was better than ever in the Quarter. It was a ray of sunshine in her otherwise bleak existence. She and Thierry were at odds with each other. Her lover still had unwavering loyalty towards Marcel while Katie had chosen to side with Klaus. It was the never ending dilemma between them and the source of their conflicts. She hoped that Thierry wouldn't throw away the second chance Klaus had given him. She had already pleaded with him to be careful and not to betray the hybrid for if he did, not even Katie would be able to spare him.

The dangling of the bell on the front door had her turning around and greeting the newcomer with a pleasant smile. "Sophie!" She gasped upon seeing Sophie Deveraux storming inside the magic shop. "Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you for days." She hadn't heard from Sophie in weeks and Sabine had gone missing as well, Katie now knew she was dead. She had feared Sophie had shared the same fate. She felt relieved that was not the case.

"I need to talk to you," Sophie said in a rather cold and demanding voice.

Katie frowned. Sophie seemed different. There was something in the way she was standing, a sense of confidence, of superiority that had not been there before. And her eyes too, they seemed vacant, devoid of any real emotion. "What's going on?" she asked nervously. She had a bad feeling about this.

Sophie snapped her fingers and the door of the shop slammed shut. The open sign on the glass flipped so that now it read, closed.

Katie blinked in disbelief. "You got your magic back," she exclaimed absolutely stunned by what she had just witnessed. Sophie could do magic again.

 _How the hell had that happened?_

Sophie grinned. "You can get your magic back too," she said smiling. It was a smile that did not reach her eyes. An empty wooden smile that almost seemed sinister, something was not right with her. "We need your help, Katie."

"We?" Katie asked. She felt a sudden chill go down her spine. She did not like the look in Sophie's eyes or the way her lips curved into a smirk.

It was a look of pure evil.

* * *

 _A/N: Let me know what you thought of this chapter. As always, thank-you for reading and reviewing._


	45. Chapter 45

**Days later**

In the days that followed, the girls spent all their time together, getting to know each other better and becoming closer than they could've ever imagined. Davina tried to resist at first, she wasn't sure if she was still a prisoner, a hostage, or just there because they didn't know what to do with her. She tried not to get attached and tried to keep her distance from them. But in the end, she couldn't.

It was hard to resist, especially when one has been starved for company and affection for so long.

As the days passed, Davina got to know all of them more and more and she slowly began to like them and their different personalities.

Lucy was wild, confident, and easy to get along with. Every morning she would blast the radio on and sway her hips to the beat of the music as she cooked breakfast, barefooted, and singing along with each song. She had a nice voice. She was also a very powerful witch, delighting Charlotte and even Davina with her magic tricks. Like the times she used her magic to clean around the house.

Charlotte's eyes had lit up with excitement as she trailed after the enchanted mop, while dishes washed and dried themselves and the dining room chairs tucked themselves in. Lucy wasn't fond of cleaning so she sped up the process with her magic, something apparently her mother had done often while she was growing up.

"What's the point of having magic if you can't use it to make your life easier?" Lucy would said with a wink before digging her hands into a soiled pot and using her magic to create a snowy white orchid which now sat on the kitchen window.

She had showed Davina how to do it too. The young witch didn't have much practice with speeding the growth of flowers with magic. She had furrowed her eyebrows in deep concentration, kept her eyes closed, and her hands buried deep in the pot as she chanted the spell Lucy had taught her. The pretty orchid with soft purple flowers that sprung with the help of her magic was now in her room. It was beautiful and Davina's heart swelled with pride each time she looked at it.

Charlotte had wanted to try to. She had giggled like crazy as she dug her hands on the soil of her own pot. "It feels funny."

They all had chuckled at the look of fierce determination on her face as she said the words Lucy taught her.

"Close your eyes and concentrate," Lucy had instructed.

Charlotte did as she was told. Her orchid was rather small but the color was a vibrant dark pink. "I did it!" She exclaimed happily. She had even pronounced the words right at the first try. She had gifted her orchid to Bonnie of course, giving her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Charlotte loved Bonnie with all her heart.

Bonnie had cried. "Happy tears," she had reassured Charlotte. Her hormones were all over the place after all. She treasured the orchid with all her heart.

Rebekah on the other hand was witty, spoiled, but fiercely loyal and protective of those she cared about. She was constantly looking after Bonnie, making sure she was comfortable and tending to her every whim much to Bonnie's embarrassment because there were times when Rebekah wouldn't even let her lift a book. "Remember that you need to rest," Rebekah would say with a smile. She was Bonnie's self appointed nurse and was always looking out for her.

Rebekah also spent extremes amounts of money online shopping, not just for the twins but she also bought Charlotte an entire new wardrobe and Davina as well. Because according to Rebekah, "a girl can never have enough clothes."

Davina had lost count of how many new dresses, shoes, and art supplies she had gotten from Rebekah. She had briefly wondered if the gifts came with a price, if Rebekah was going to ask her for a favor in return, maybe to help bring her brother back to life.

Davina had heard them talking about restoring Kol's body. When they thought she was asleep she had sneaked downstairs and heard them talk. She had blushed furiously and had scurried off to bed with embarrassment when she caught snippets of a very intimate conversation between the three women. She had never gone down stairs to spy on them again after that embarrassing moment. Davina had learned her lesson.

She waited to see if the gifts she received were to bribe her to help them, but they never asked Davina for help. Rebekah had not asked or demanded anything from Davina in return for the gifts she had given her. Davina appreciated that.

If Lucy was the fun older sister and Rebekah the crazy aunt who spoiled them rotten, then Bonnie was the mother.

She had easily assumed the role, always looking after Davina and Charlotte. Waking them up every morning and greeting them with a warm smile as she helped Lucy with breakfast. She was always reminding them to wash their hands before eating, to brush their teeth before going to bed. She would indulged them with an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert and allowed them to stay late watching TV.

She tried to be firm, sometimes.

"One more please!" Charlotte would beg and Bonnie caved, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. Charlotte would smile sweetly and snuggled closer to her on the sofa as they watched one more cartoon, or one more movie.

One rainy and thunderous afternoon, while Lucy and Rebekah had gone grocery shopping, Davina, Bonnie, and Charlotte had snuggled near the fire place. The three sharing a thick wool blanket and drinking hot chocolate with whip cream and marshmallows.

Bonnie was warm, gentle, and very funny too. When she smiled she radiated so much light, so much kindness. It was hard not to like her. Davina tried to resist her charm, tried to resent Bonnie's motherly nature but she couldn't. Not when Bonnie let her look through her collection of grimoires, not when she allowed her to walk through the woods surrounding the house and practice her magic alone, in the way her grandmother had taught her.

Bonnie gave her the space and solitude Davina needed but she was also there should Davina needed to talk. If Davina voiced her opinion, Bonnie listened. While Bonnie mothered her to an extent, she also treated Davina with respect, like a girl her age, not a child like Marcel would sometimes. Davina liked that.

Bonnie had a great imagination too. On the nights she tried to get Charlotte to sleep in her own bed, in the room she was supposed to share with Davina; Bonnie would tell her stories, made up stories about princesses, evil sorcerers, brave knights, and dragons that flew on command.

Davina always pretended to be asleep, keeping her eyes tightly shut, but she listened eagerly to the vivid tales that sprung from Bonnie's imagination. After tucking Charlotte into bed and kissing her forehead, Bonnie would always make sure that Davina was tucked in too. Always whispering a soft, "good night."

Davina's mother had never done that.

She would never admit it out loud, not even under extreme torture, but little by little Bonnie wormed her way into Davina's heart. As did Charlotte, and Lucy, and Rebekah.

Their days at the safe house were spent in peace. They were far away from the chaos of the Quarter. There were no vampires, no werewolves, and no witches after them. Life was simple, normal, quiet, and they got to enjoy the last days of summer to the fullest.

They had their meals together. Sometimes they would cook together too, laughing and talking about trivial matters. There was that time when Charlotte helped them make cookies or she tried to because the only thing she did was dip her fingers in the chocolate and eat it while no one was looking. Rebekah had taken a picture as the tiny witch sat on the floor, chocolate bowl in her lap, face and hands covered in it. She had looked up just in time as Rebekah snapped the picture. The evidence of her crime was on proud display on the fridge.

They played games, watched movies, took walks through the woods surrounding the property, or they went to the pond near the house and fed the ducks. They even explored the small lake about a mile away from the house, enjoying a picnic in the afternoons and a swim in the nice cool water.

Rebekah taught Charlotte how to swim, Lucy helped her practice magic, and Davina showed her how to play the different games they had around the house. There was a lot Charlotte didn't know, a lot of things she had never seen or heard of before. It was almost as if she had been living in another planet and had suddenly been dropped on earth. She had endless questions, on why things were there, how they worked, what they were. It was annoying sometimes but everyone answered each of her questions with patience and a kind smile. No one could get angry at the sweet girl that was so starved for company and affection.

Charlotte was sweet, loving, and easy going. She always had a smile on her face, she always said thank-you and please. She was always eager to share with Davina a new discovery, a new game. When Davina sat on the coffee table drawing, Charlotte would sit next to her and draw stick figures on the loose leaf papers Davina had. They could sit and draw in silence, or spend the afternoons watching TV, playing games, or spend countless hours in the garden, making flowers grow with their magic, under the watchful supervision of Bonnie and Lucy.

Little by little, Davina came to enjoy Lucy's signing in the mornings, Rebekah shopping sprees and sarcastic comments, Bonnie's warm and protective nature, and Charlotte sweetness.

Little by little, Davina came to like them, to care for them, and to enjoy their company.

Little by little they became a sisterhood, a family.

It was a beautiful thing to be given a few precious days of peace, of joy, in the otherwise chaotic and dark times in their lives.

The only thing that ruined the peacefulness of their time at the safe house was that Davina got a sudden cold. Other than that, their time at the safe house had been perfect. It was a time Davina would treasure always. The days she formed a different kind of family.

* * *

"Remember to crush the petals," Kol said as he looked over Rebekah's shoulder. They were in the basement of the safe house, mixing all the necessary ingredients to restore his body. It was a rather slow and delicate process. Everything had to be done to exact precision.

Kol was inside the circle of candles, his spirit was summoned every night by Lucy as they worked on 'the little project' as Rebekah referred to it, long after Davina and Charlotte had gone to bed. It was easier to do it at night. During the day Bonnie rested. Rebekah and Lucy made sure she got all the rest she needed. And when she wasn't resting, Charlotte demanded all of her attention, much to Kol's annoyance.

The little demon was a hard nut to crack, no matter how much Kol had tried to get her attention she never acknowledge him and of course when she got annoyed with his antics she ran to Bonnie, who always took her side and sent Kol away.

Lucy and Rebekah had taken an immediate liking to Charlotte and to Davina as well. The girls had without a doubt formed a strange sisterhood of sorts, which more often than not, left Kol sulking as they did girly things. He couldn't wait to get his body back and spend time with his brothers, he really needed it. He was sick of girly movies, hair and make-up tips, and slumbered parties that divulged information Kol did not want to hear, ever. Like how many times his sister had sex with that human of hers, or how much Bonnie missed Nik's mouth, or Lucy's fantasies about Elijah. No, thank-you.

Whenever Lucy, Rebekah, and Bonnie sat down to eat ice cream, Kol ran out of the house because they were just some things a guy did not need to hear, particularly about his brothers.

Kol's favorite moment of the day was when they worked to restore his body. Every day that went by was a step closer to coming back to the land of the living.

A tub had been filled with soil, his ashes had been thrown in there, and different ingredients were added each day. Earthly magic was the purest form of restoration and the method Bonnie preferred to use. Had they used black magic it would have taken less time but there were also far more risks involved.

Rebekah helped by preparing the ingredients, Lucy did the chanting, and Bonnie watched from afar as she was forbidden from doing magic still. Sometimes, she would sit on the old desk in the corner of the room and work on the spell needed to complete Kol's return to the land of the living. Changing and rearranging words here and there. Bonnie had an ingenious mind and it was quite fascinating to hear her mumble and scratch things here and there as she came up with the spell.

Not even half away in restoring his ashes and Bonnie had succeeded in creating the spell to put him back into his body. That's how good she was.

Kol felt anxious and he was constantly double checking Bonnie's list and supervising everything (to the smallest detail) much to everyone's annoyance. He asked endless questions, why a certain ingredient was added? Why another one had not been added yet? Was Bonnie sure about the size of the magic roots? Exactly how crushed did the crystals have to be?

It was exasperating sometimes but they managed.

"Don't forget to crush the crystals too," Kol reminded Rebekah.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "I'm following the instructions to a T, Kol. There is no need to fret." She loved her brother but he could be really annoying with his obsessing. Not that she could really blame him, a tiny miscalculation and they could fuck everything up. "I'm not going to mess this up," she promised. She knew what was at stake.

Tonight was the night.

For the past few nights they had been working nonstop but tonight the last ingredients would be added. If everything worked according to plan, Kol would have his body back in a matter of hours.

Lucy sniggered as she took the bowl with the crush petals from Rebekah's hands and added them to the tub. The water was a murky brown with streaks of green already. "Have you crushed the crystals yet?" she asked Rebekah.

"Yes," Rebekah handed her the small copper bowl with the crushed crystal powder.

Lucy took it and stared at the clock, it was one a.m. "This is the last batch." she reminded everyone as she dumped the crushed powder into the tub.

Small bubbles began forming. It looked like the murky water was starting to simmer. Now all they had to do was wait, the next couple of hours would be crucial.

"I can't believe you did all this to restore Nik's body," Rebekah commented as she stared at the simmering muddy water. They had been adding all kinds of ingredients for the past week or so. Everything was coming along quite nicely. She didn't show it but she was very nervous. The final countdown had begun.

"It wasn't as time consuming as this," Bonnie walked closer to the tub and looked down. The murky water looked to be boiling now. That was good, very good. "Klaus's body was partially destroyed. I only mixed a small amount."

"We're almost done." Lucy muttered as she crossed out the steps they had completed already.

"Yeah," Bonnie agreed. "We just need to add one more thing."

"Our blood?" Rebekah asked curiously. Bonnie had told her and her siblings that their blood would be one of the key ingredients. Elijah had donated a bag of blood which Klaus and Rebekah had brought with them. Klaus had donated bag of his own before returning to the French Quarter days ago. Rebekah herself had filled a blood bag of her own. That was the only thing they had not added yet.

Bonnie nodded. "That's the final ingredient."

Rebekah stood up and went to the small fridge on the opposite wall, pulling out the bags with their blood. She looked expectantly at Bonnie.

"Add then," Bonnie instructed.

Rebekah's hand shook a bit as she tore the bags open and dumped the blood into the tub. There was a spark of something, a current of electricity that was felt all around the basement as their powerful Original blood was mixed with the other ingredients.

Kol watched mesmerized. _This is it_ , he thought. The blood mixed with the murky water, combining together to restore his ashes to flesh once more.

"Now what?" Lucy asked keeping her eyes on the tub. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood up, she could feel it. It was happening.

"Now we wait," Bonnie murmured as she also stared at the tub. "It's going to take a couple of hours."

"When do you think-" Rebekah bit her lip. She was a bundle of nerves and excitement.

"Sunrise," Bonnie responded with a soft smile. She could tell how nervous Rebekah was, Kol too, even if he tried to pretend otherwise.

Kol tilted his head to the side. "Just for reassuring purposes," he began nervously. He was so nervous and excited, he could hardly contain himself. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for was finally coming true. He could hardly believe it.

All three women turned to stare at him.

"I'm coming back as an Original vampire right?" he stared at Bonnie as he spoke. "There is not going to be any nasty surprises or a tail, or anything of the like." He knew Bonnie was a competent witch but he wanted to be one hundred percent sure.

"What, you think we're turning you into a mouse?" Lucy asked grinning. Kol tried, but he couldn't really mask his nervousness, it was kind of cute.

Kol shrugged.

"Now, there is an idea." Rebekah winked at Lucy. The two shared matching grins.

"Don't even think about it," Kol glared at both of them.

"Your body will be restored to the form it was before you died," Bonnie assured him. "Don't worry; you'll be back as an Original vampire."

"Good." Kol visibly relaxed at her words. "I love being forever young and handsome you know."

Lucy rolled her eyes. Trust Kol to think of his vanity as such crucial moment.

"Whatever happened to your daylight ring?" Bonnie pondered suddenly. He was going to need it.

"I'm assuming Nik has it," Kol responded with a shrug.

Rebekah nodded.

"If not, I'm going to need a new one." He gave Lucy and Bonnie one of his sexy smirks and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "Any of you ladies interested in making me one?"

They both just laughed.

It definitely helped to break the tension.

The truth was they were all nervous.

* * *

As the sun rose and streamed throughout the house, the basement remained in darkness. The only light came from the candles scattered around the room.

The water had evaporated throughout the night. After all the ingredients had been added they had combined and come together to form a body. The ashes had become flesh and blood once more.

Rebekah pulled Kol's body out of the tub and laid it down on the floor, inside the pentagram of salt Bonnie had made. A blanket was thrown over the lower part of his body.

"No need for that," Kol's spirit told them. "You have my permission to ogle me all you want."

Lucy and Rebekah couldn't see or hear him anymore as the spell to talk to his spirit had worn off. Only Bonnie heard him and rolled her eyes.

"Are you ready?" She asked turning to face his spirit. It was the moment they had all been anticipating.

"Yes." _Absolutely yes_ , Kol thought. "It's going to work right?" his voice was low, almost a whisper. Despite his bravado there was a part of him that was afraid that this would not work. That he would be a spirit forever.

Bonnie nodded. She felt confident that the spell would work. She could feel it deep in her bones. She couldn't wait to see Klaus's face when he got his brother back. Not to mention how nice it was going to be to not be the only one to see and interact with him. With any luck, Charlotte and Kol would learn to get along.

Lucy took a deep breath as she kneeled down next to Kol's body. Bonnie had given her the spell and while Kol's body cooked to perfection, she had been studying and practicing the words. "The moment of truth," she whispered before closing her eyes. She had memorized the words by heart.

Rebekah let out a shaky breath. "Please let it work, please…" she mumbled under her breath. She didn't know what she would do if the spell failed.

Lucy began chanting.

"Thank-you," Kol said suddenly. He wanted to thank Bonnie before he forgot or lost the nerve to get the words out. He wasn't very good at that sort of thing. But he wouldn't be here without her. Bonnie had pulled him out of the other side. Bonnie's spell was going to guide his spirit inside his body. Yes, Lucy and Rebekah had helped but without Bonnie, he would still be trapped on the other side. He owed her. Kol knew better than anyone the importance of owning a debt to a witch. "For everything," he added looking away, almost embarrassed to say the words. _I will pay you back by protecting you_ , he vowed. _Always and Forever._

"We're family," Bonnie told him simply.

Kol was momentarily stunned by her words. He had heard Rebekah referred to Bonnie as family, as the sister she always wanted. She knew Bonnie considered his sister and Nik, and even Elijah her family, but he didn't think that notion extended to him.

Bonnie offered him a small smile and he smiled back.

"Yeah, we are," Kol agreed. Bonnie had a good heart.

And then, he gasped. His spirit was suddenly jolted as the spell began to take effect. "It's happening…" he managed to let out before he felt a strong pull and then another.

Bonnie watched as his spirit suddenly blinked away, disappearing completely. She moved her eyes to the body on the floor, waiting for Kol to wake up in his body at last.

Lucy opened her eyes. "It's done," she told them. She stared down at Kol's body and waited.

Rebekah swallowed the lump on her throat. "Did it work?" she asked looking from Lucy to Bonnie who stood across from her. "Did it?" She was terrified that something had gone wrong, that they had failed, that they had wasted Kol's ashes for naught.

Bonnie opened her mouth but before she could answer Rebekah's question, there was a loud gasp.

"It worked," Lucy let out a nervous laugh. For a moment she had been afraid she had messed up the spell. But she hadn't.

Kol's eyes snapped open. He gasped loudly a couple of times as he slowly began to get reacquainted with his body. _He was alive! He was finally back!_ The joy he felt in that moment was overwhelming.

"Kol!" Rebekah got on her knees, next to him. She threw her arms around his neck in a fierce hug. He was back, Kol was back. They had done it. She couldn't contain the tears of joy that gathered in her eyes.

Kol laughed at her enthusiasm and hugged her back. He felt so happy.

Bonnie and Lucy shared happy grins as the two siblings embraced warmly.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The meeting with the Crescents was tedious. Klaus felt like an animal at the Zoo with the constant gawking he got from the pack. They were all watching him, some with curiosity, others pretended to be indifferent to his presence, some even looked angry, but the hint of nervousness and fear coming off them gave them away.

 _Bloody fools_ , Klaus thought. His expression gave nothing away of his inner feelings. He stood still, in between Cary and Ishmael. His hands inside the pockets of his black leather jacket as he contemplated the group with indifference. He let Ishmael do the talking. The old man knew how to be polite and act with respect towards the Alpha of the pack. Klaus zoned out for most of the conversation, choosing instead to survey the group and think ahead, plan the way he could use them, assess which ones he could turn into worthy hybrids.

His skin prickled from time to time as he felt Hayley's gaze on him. The wolf girl had been trying and failing miserably to catch his attention from the moment the meeting had started. Klaus had ignored her completely. It was best to ignore her because he hadn't forgotten that she had sided with the witches and her presence at the ball had lured him into their trap. His fingers itched to snap her neck into shreds. He had no choice but to contain himself.

Hayley was standing next to the Alpha of the Crescent pack, a tall brown haired man named Jackson Kenner. His scent clung to Hayley like a second skin, the same way her scent was all over him. It was a clear sign to others that they had chosen each other as mates. They were clearly the Alpha pair of the pack.

Klaus didn't think it would bode well for the alliance if he were to kill the Alpha bitch in front of her pack, no matter how tempted he felt to do so. Instead, he tried to pay attention to what was being said. The less he saw of Hayley the better.

"It would be beneficial if we were to work together," Ishmael was saying. "Our lines are ancient. The Crescents once fought for Fenrir."

"You expect us to be in his servitude," a blond wolf by name of Oliver spat angrily. "To pay our respects to him-" He scowled as he looked at Klaus. He didn't like the hybrid that much was obvious.

"Oliver," Jackson gave him a warning look. The last thing they needed was to antagonize the hybrid. They all had heard the stories. They all knew what he was capable of.

"He's an abomination!" Another wolf pointed out.

"We shouldn't trust them." Another voice spoke up.

Klaus rolled his eyes. It was nothing new, nothing he hadn't heard before. It was tiresome really. "An abomination, a heartless monster, a cold and ruthless killer, the list goes on," his lips curved into a smirk. He appeared proud of the reputation he had made for himself in the past one thousand years. He felt no shame for the things he had done nor did he mind the titles he had acquired. "And I'm also the new king of New Orleans, so you must learn to play by my rules." It was quite simple really. They needed to fall in line and do as he ordered them to.

"And if we don't?" Hayley challenged, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him with defiance. Oh, how proud she looked standing with a pack watching her back. She no doubt felt important and probably even thought they were standing as equals now.

Klaus glanced in her direction, his eyes cold and indifferent.

Hayley lifted her chin and stared back unflinchingly. Her arrogant posture, the sense of entitlement, and the pride in her face, angered him. She should consider herself lucky that she was still breathing.

"Be careful, little wolf." He was trying to be patient. He was trying to make things work with the Crescents in order to keep the fragile peace in the city. _For Bonnie, for his children, for his family,_ he whispered like a mantra inside his head. Elijah would be proud that he was keeping his temper in check and not retaliating yet. But his patience could only go so far and if Hayley pushed, Klaus would gladly make a demonstration to the Crescent pack as to why he had earned such infamous reputation.

 _Say another word_ , Klaus's eyes seemed to say as he stared at Hayley. _Do it,_ he challenged holding her gaze.

Hayley looked away. She couldn't hold that magnetic gaze. No matter how much she had tried.

Jackson frowned and looked between the two of them. "You two know each other?" he asked curiously.

Hayley opened her mouth but Klaus cut her off. "If you don't want to work with me, that is your prerogative," he said turning to face Jackson. He had more important things to do than spend the rest of his day trying to convince a pack to join forces with him. Yes, he could use the Crescent pack in the war to come but they were not essential to his success, contrary to what they might think. "Out of the mercy of my cold and black heart," he offered them a dimpled grin. "I shall give you twenty four hours to get the hell out of my city."

The wolves tensed at his words and protests immediately formed on their lips. The city was their home; it had been their home for over two hundred years. None of them wanted to leave. They had been fighting for control of the city since forever.

"I am fighting a war," Klaus told them as he slid his cold and calculating gaze over each and every one of them. "Those who fight with me shall be rewarded, those who stand against me, will cease to exist." He had no time for games. They were either with him or against him.

"Is that a threat?" Oliver's hands balled into fists. He was more than ready to launch himself at the hybrid, never mind the fact that the man was ten times stronger than him and could have easily killed him.

"It's a promise," Klaus sneered at him before turning back to face Jackson. "Ask your bitch what I do to those who betray me."

Hayley flinched at the cruel tone of his voice while Jackson growled at the insult.

Ishmael shook his head. This was not how he had planned to get the Crescents to help them out. He gave Klaus a look which the hybrid happily ignored.

Cary in turn, moved his eyes over the pack, calculating which wolves he could take out first, should the pack decide to attack Klaus right then and there. Cary would always have Klaus's back.

Jackson bravely took a step forward.

Klaus's next words stopped him cold. "You either accept an alliance with us or you get the hell out of my city." His eyes flashed gold for a few seconds. A few of the wolves standing behind Jackson, took a fearful step back. "Should you be stupid enough to side with my enemies, make no mistake, I will end all of you."

With those words, he took off at vampires speed. He had no time for impertinent wolves who believed themselves to be better than him. He could use the Crescents to expand his army but he was not going to beg or compromise anything.

"Be careful what you choose to do," Cary told Jackson. "He's not joking." He turned around and began walking out of the Bayou, in the same direction Klaus had disappeared.

"You said you wanted to talk," Jackson said turning to Ishmael. "And here you are threatening us." Technically, Klaus had made the threats not Ishmael but still, Jackson wasn't happy about that.

"We are at war Jackson," Ishmael reminded him. "We don't have time for games." A thoughtful look crossed his features as he stared at the young wolf. "You can choose to be on your own, to fight and die for a city that has already been lost. You can relinquish your status as Alpha and join the Navarro's and fight for their ideals if you wish. Or you can accept an alliance with us and remain in the Bayou."

"And accept Klaus as king?" Jackson's jaw clenched. The hope of the Crescent pack was to one day rule over New Orleans like they had done before Marcel took over the city. If they formed an alliance with Klaus and his pack, they would be legitimizing his rule over the city.

"None of those options are good for us," Hayley remarked.

Ishmael's blue eyes were kind and filled with so much wisdom as he stared at both of them. _The pride of youth,_ he couldn't help but think. "In times of war, difficult choices must be made," he said quietly. "A true Alpha, one who values and cares for his people will always choose their survival over his own pride."

Something flickered across Jackson's eyes upon hearing Ishmael's words. Hayley glared at the older man in turn, while Oliver scowled.

"Choose wisely," Ishmael advised before he turned around and began walking away from the Crescent Moon camp. They still needed to meet with Kilian and his pack. Ishmael prayed to Fenrir that Klaus would keep his temper in check.

Long after he was gone, his words echoed inside Jackson's mind.

* * *

Thierry and Riley stepped inside the compound later that day. The young vampire looked sad. For the past week, Thierry had been worried sick. Katie had gone missing from her shop. Thierry had been going to see her, happily carrying a bouquet of roses and hoping to patch things up only to find a mess inside and his girlfriend gone. Since then, the young vampire had been a mess, desperately searching for her.

"Any luck?" Belle asked as she spotted them. She and Josh had been making flyers to distribute around the city.

Riley shook his head. They had spent yet another day looking for Katie and once again, they hadn't been able to find anything. Not even Angelica had been able to locate her.

"Here," Belle pushed the stack of flyers she had into his hand.

Thierry took them from her; Katie's picture was front and center on the bright pink paper. He gave Belle a questioning look.

"We made them," Belle murmured softly. "Josh was going to help me put them around the city. You guys can help too."

Josh nodded eagerly; he also had a stack of flyers in his arms. "We made over four hundred copies." He didn't know Katie, but Josh was eager to be included, to be a part of the group. The vampires now knew he had been sired by Klaus; that he had been a spy and they hated his guts for it. The Hybrids didn't think much of him either. He and Thierry were pretty much in the same boat but they weren't friends either. The only one Josh had befriended was Belle and Angelica who seemed to get along with everyone. "I can make more," he was quick to add.

"Thank-you," Thierry felt touched by the gesture. More often than not, he found Belle annoying. She was so enthusiastic about the Mikaelson twins she was driving everyone crazy with her planning and asking everyone's opinions on what gift she could get them. She tended to ramble a lot too and always seemed to know everyone's business. Thierry never thought that she would care about finding Katie. He didn't think they even knew each other. "Why are you doing this?" he asked them suddenly.

Once the vampires had seen his worry over Katie's disappearance and learned of their secret relationship, they hadn't exactly been pleased. Most of them thought Thierry was a fool for getting involved with a witch. He had already disappointed them by proclaiming Klaus king and being the first to kneel before the Original Hybrid and now they discovered he had a witch as a lover. He wasn't exactly their favorite person at the moment.

None of the vampire he had once considered his friends had offered a word of comfort or help. Except for Josh and Belle who had made flyers and Riley who had helped him search for Katie throughout the city. There was another hybrid girl Aiko, whom Klaus had ordered to search for the missing witch as well. The rest of the vampires didn't give a damn.

"Katie helped Klaus," Belle answered with a shrug. For that reason alone they were helping Thierry. Katie had proved her loyalty to Klaus and that meant that she was part of their group. "She's one of us now." She offered him a small smile. "We'll find her." With any luck, Angelica's locator spells would work.

"Thanks," Thierry said to Belle and he also nodded in Josh's direction. He really appreciated that were taking the time to help him. The hybrids were not as bad as he first thought.

"I'll help too," Riley said as he took some flyers from Josh's hands.

Belle smiled sweetly at him. The smile turned sour almost immediately as she spotted the two vampires entering the compound. She couldn't stand them, one more than the other.

"Where is Klaus?" Damon demanded immediately. He was probably the only vampire in New Orleans that could stroll into the compound demanding to see their sire.

Belle glared at him. He was so rude. Stefan wasn't so bad but Damon got on everyone's nerves. All of the hybrids were more than ready to end the insufferable vampire. He got on everyone's nerves with his attitude.

"He's out." Riley informed him. "He and Elijah had an important meeting."

"He told us to meet him here," Stefan said to him. He looked down at the flyers in their hands with curiosity.

"I guess you'll have to wait for them." Riley didn't see the need to inform them that Klaus and Elijah were not going to return until nightfall. They could figure that out on their own.

Damon huffed in annoyance.

"We have to go," Belle took Riley's hand and let the way, followed closely by Josh and Thierry who stared at both brothers with curiosity. He didn't know much about them except that they were Matt and Bonnie's friends and that seemed to be the only reason Klaus and Elijah tolerated them. He couldn't help but wonder what the two Originals were planning with all their secret meetings and how the two vampires were involved. He definitely needed to find out.

* * *

 **The Safe House**

"Tuesday at nine a.m.," Bonnie repeated to the receptionist on the phone. She had finally gotten a new cell phone."We'll be there, thank-you." she wrote the date on the sheet of loose leaf paper she had on the kitchen table and frowned. She stared at the date. No, that couldn't be right. _September_ , _no…no they couldn't be in September already_. Bonnie blinked a few times and gasped as sudden realization hit her like a bucket of ice cold water. "Oh my god," she whispered as she stared horrified at the date she had written down.

"Everything okay?" Lucy asked coming to stand next to her. "Did you make the appointment?" She had been in the kitchen making lunch while Bonnie made the appointment.

"Yeah, I did." Bonnie replied distracted. She kept staring at the paper with the appointment date and time. She had made an appointment for herself, one Charlotte (Bonnie wanted her to have a full check up) and for Davina who had suddenly come down with a cold. Said girl was currently curled up on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket and taking a nap.

The thing about Davina's cold was that every time she sneezed the lights would flicker on and off for a few seconds, things would suddenly break, and just that morning, the curtains in her bedroom had caught fire after a coughing fit. So, Bonnie was going to take her to see Dr. Mayfair. She had never heard of a cold affecting a witch's magic before and neither had Lucy. Luckily for the rest of the household, Davina's cold was not contagious as no one else had gotten sick.

Rebekah had run to the pharmacy to get her some cold medicine, more chamomile tea, and lots of tissues as well as a couple of other things they needed around the house. She had taken Charlotte with her. Charlotte loved going shopping with Rebekah because every time they went, Rebekah would buy her new things. The little girl was getting spoiled rotten by auntie Bex as she had started to call her. Rebekah was also going to make a quick stop to the hospital and get more blood bags for Kol. Who was hiding in the basement as he didn't have a daylight ring yet. They had to get a lapis lazuli stone in order to make him one. She didn't know how Charlotte was going to react upon seeing Kol. The little girl couldn't keep pretending she didn't see him, not anymore.

"So, what's with that face?" Lucy asked.

Bonnie blinked a couple of times as Lucy brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up into her cousin's face. "I hadn't realized…" she closed her eyes, mortified. "The fall semester at Whitmore started days ago." Her life had been so chaotic in the past month. It had been one thing after another, constantly fighting enemies and trying to stay alive, she had completely lost track of time. _Oh my god, her dad!_ She stood up. Her heart racing and her hands shaking. "I need to make an important phone call. Can you keep an eye on Davina?"

"Sure. The soup is almost ready. I think that'll make her feel better." Lucy didn't like the look on her face. "Bonnie, what's going on?"

"I'm supposed to be at Whitmore, my dad…" There was an anguished look on her face. "I haven't talked to him in days, weeks actually." She had called him a few times after arriving in New Orleans but she couldn't really remember the last time they had talked. "He thinks I'm traveling with Matt and Rebekah you know. I couldn't...I didn't tell him." Tears welled up in her eyes. She was a coward, a liar, and a terrible daughter. Her poor dad must be worried sick about her. She had completely forgotten about him. _What kind of daughter did that?_

"You haven't told him about?" Lucy probed.

"I haven't told him about the pregnancy." she had chosen the easy way out. She had left Mystic Falls with the assumption that she would have time to return and talk to her dad about her pregnancy. Her life had changed so drastically in such a short time. There had been no time for that. "God, I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner. I have to talk to him. I need to let him know that I am okay."

Bonnie was so used to not seeing her dad for long periods of time that it had been easy to forget that she had left Mystic Falls with a lie. To forget that her dad was waiting for her to return home and go to college. Her father had been such a distant presence in her life that as ashamed as she was to admit it, she hadn't really missed him. She was used to being without him. It was a horrible, heartbreaking truth. But that's how she felt.

She was going to have to go to Mystic Falls, Bonnie realized in that moment. She needed to see and talk to him face to face. What she had to say was not something one divulged over the phone. She might not be close to her dad, but he deserved to know that he was going to be a grandfather. And he had tried his best, especially those last few weeks in Mystic Falls, her dad had tried. He wasn't perfect but he was still her dad. She couldn't keep lying to him, no matter how terrified Bonnie felt of his disappointment and rejection.

"Just take a deep breath," Lucy suggested seeing how agitated Bonnie had become. That wasn't good given her condition. "Just breathe and calm down. Everything is going to be fine."

"He must be worried sick."

"Are you going to tell him…" Lucy looked down at her baby bump. In the past few days, Bonnie had definitely gained a more noticeable belly, even her face looked fuller, and her breasts were bigger too. Something Rebekah liked to tease her about.

"No. I can't do that to him over the phone." _Maybe she could go to Mystic Falls before returning to the Quarter?_ Her bed rest had almost ended anyway. She just needed to see Dr. Mayfair and get the green light from her to resume her normal life and to do magic again. She could make a quick trip to Mystic Falls and see her dad before returning to the Quarter and facing the trouble brewing there. "I'm just going to let him know that I am okay and that I'll see him soon, to explain everything." She chewed on her bottom lip hoping her dad would accept that for now.

Lucy nodded.

"I'm going to call him from my room."

"Good Luck."

"Thanks."

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

The door opened and she immediately flinched, her head fell to the side as the light hit her. Footsteps echoed inside the room and she heard voices. She couldn't really understand what they were saying.

She whimpered when a hand touched her chin and lifted her face up. A figure loomed over her, it said something but Caroline didn't understand. She blinked trying to make out the blurry face.

 _Thump…thump…thump_

Her senses immediately picked up the beating of his human heart. Her throat was so dry but her mouth watered at the thought of warm human blood. She shivered. Sweet human blood, yes, that's what she needed. That's what every nerve in her body craved.

Slowly, very slowly she licked her lips. Her stomach growled and she hissed. The veins underneath her eyes became more pronounced and her fangs descended. A low menacing growl erupted deep within her chest.

Caroline was starving. She was so hungry. Under different circumstance she would have launched herself at the stranger visiting her in her cell, but she was too weak. She could barely keep herself awake. She couldn't really move or say anything. There was only one thing on her clouded and weak mind.

 _Blood_

 _I need blood…_

Her mind screamed for it and her body demanded it.

Caroline opened her mouth but no sound came out. She struggled to get the words out, but nothing.

 _Please..._

She was desperate, she needed to feed. She was dying. She didn't know how much time she had left only that her end was approaching. She couldn't feel her legs. The left one in particular felt like stone.

She was desiccating, she knew. Tears blurred her vision as she fought to get the words out. She would do anything, anything in the world for a sweet drop of blood.

 _Please…_

 _I don't want to die…_

"Take her upstairs," the voice commanded. "You know what to do."

Caroline cried out as she was roughly picked up. Everything hurt. Her extremities felt cold and heavy.

 _Am I free?_ She wondered foolishly. _Or were they taking her to meet her end?_

Her body was limp and heavy but the muscled werewolf easily carried her out of her cell. Caroline did not struggle at all. She couldn't, even if she had a bit of strength left to fight, she wouldn't have done it. After everything she had been put through, death would be a sweet relief. She would welcome it with open arms.

"Are you sure about this?" Victor asked Luis after Caroline had been carried out of the room.

"We are not going to let them win." Luis replied taking his cell phone out of his pocket and sending a quick text to Elijah Mikaelson, a time and a place for the exchange of hostages.

"It's a risky move, Luis." Victor was nervous and uncertain about the whole thing. Ever since Luis had started his secret talks with the Original, Victor had a bad feeling. The fact that they were doing this behind Franco's back made him even more nervous.

"By the time they realize what we've done it will be too late," Luis replied with a smirk. The Mikaelson's had made the biggest mistake of their lives taking his brother. They were so arrogant and believed that they had everything under control, they didn't.

Luis had a very nasty surprise in store for them.

Victor gulped. Many people believed that Franco was the worst out of all the Navarro brothers, Victor secretly believed that was in fact Luis. There were times when Luis could be far more scarier than Franco.

"Come along," Luis ordered. "There is a lot we must do."

Victor dutifully followed him.

* * *

 **The Safe House**

After taking a deep breath and maybe practicing what she was going to say in front of the mirror for a minute or two, Bonnie finally dialed the number she knew by heart. Her hands shook and her heart pounded loudly in her ears as she waited for her father to pick up.

The joy in her father's voice was undeniable as he greeted her happily, far too happy for someone who had not heard from his daughter in weeks.

"I'm sorry I haven't called you, I-" Bonnie honestly didn't know what kind of excuse to give him. She had no excuse.

"Oh honey, I know. This is a new and exciting time for you, it's okay," her father replied in a cheerful tone. "I'm so proud of you."

Bonnie frowned. "You're not upset?" Okay, something was definitely not right. She had not spoken with him in over a moth at least, he should be relieved that she was calling but upset that she hadn't done it until now. _What the hell was going on?_

"Why would I be?" was her father's innocent remark.

Bonnie could easily picture him sitting at his desk, leaning back on his chair and smiling. Before she could reply, Rudy interrupted her.

"Guess what? I bought a new camera," her father informed her with excitement. "When you come home from Withmore, we'll have a new camera to take pictures with. I can't believe that old thing ruined all the pictures we took during the summer."

 _Pictures we took during the summer?_ Bonnie didn't have a clue what her father was talking about. "Pictures over the summer, dad what are you…" She trailed off with a sudden cold realization. Her father had been compelled. It was the only explanation she could think of. Her father was compelled to think that she had come home and then left for college.

Bonnie didn't need to be a genius to know who was behind it. Klaus had told her that he had hybrids watching over her dad. She didn't know whether to feel upset that Klaus had ordered her dad to be compelled behind her back or relieved that her dad had not been worried sick about her for the past few weeks. There were mixed emotions inside her in that moment.

"Are you feeling okay sweetie?" there was a pause. "That's a stupid question considering what's going with your friends. I'm sorry," he apologized immediately. "I'm just so happy that you are in college and far away from all this supernatural stuff."

Bonnie's bit her lip and her eyes watered. _No, Daddy_. She thought sadly. _I'm not in college, I'm pregnant and I'm fighting a war._ She held back a sob and one hand moved to clutch her baby bump. She was right in the middle of a supernatural war. _How could she even begin to explain to her dad everything that was going with her life?_

She had to see him face to face. She couldn't just dump everything on him over the phone. Her dad was going to be so disappointed in her. She had a long list of enemies to fight, she needed to keep her kids safe, and she needed to lead a coven into war before she could even consider continuing her education.

"I know you wanted to stay and help but I promise you, we are doing everything in our power to find Caroline," her father continued. "Poor Liz, I had lunch with her yesterday. I had to practically force her to eat something. The poor woman is worried sick. She's not sleeping, she's barely eating. I couldn't imagine being in her place. It's been over a month and there are no clues still about Caroline's whereabouts…"

Her father said something else but his words did not register in Bonnie's brain. The air left her lungs as she processed what he had just said.

 _Caroline was missing._

 _Caroline had been missing for over a month._

Bonnie felt like the rug had been pulled from under her feet. She stumbled back and sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling suddenly sick. She could hardly breathe. _Oh god!_

"Damon and Stefan promised to find her but Liz hasn't heard from them since they went to Louisiana or something," Rudy continued talking. He was blissfully unaware of the anguish, of the turmoil his daughter was feeling at his revelation. "Liz trusts them but if you ask me, I don't think they are going to find Caroline, and with Elena missing as well." There was another pause. "I'm so glad you spent the summer away. If you had stayed you might have gone missing too." He shuddered with the thought. "I know how hard this is for you honey but…"

His voice became an echo. Everything around Bonnie came to a sudden halt.

 _Caroline and Elena were missing._

 _Her best friends had gone missing._

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face. Her friends were missing and she was just finding out.

"Dad," her voice broke as she spoke. She was crying and doing her best to get a hold of herself. "I need you tell me everything you know, please." Bonnie begged. She needed to know exactly what had happened.

 _How had Caroline and Elena g_ o _ne missing?_

But more importantly, _why had no one told her anything?_

* * *

 _A/N: I don't remember if I mentioned this before but the reason Bonnie's dad can be compelled is that the water supply in MF no longer has vervain, Klaus had something to do with that. Anyway, the cat is finally out of the bag. Let me know what you thought of this chapter and get ready for what's coming._ _Thank-you so much for all your support._

 _I wish you all a Happy Holiday!_


	46. Chapter 46

**Happy New Year! Enjoy :)**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The afternoon sunlight guided their steps as they trekked through the Bayou. After talking to the Crescents, Klaus, Ishmael, and Cary made their way towards Kilian's camp. The three of them walked in silence each lost in their own thoughts.

Klaus didn't like the different emotions assaulting him through the bond as he walked. Bonnie's emotions were all over the place, he felt a hint of nervousness, confusion, surprise, anger, and fear. The emotions were so strong, he closed his eyes for a brief second as he tried to comprehend what was going on from her side. _What had happened?_

And then there was nothing.

Bonnie's side of the bond closed unexpectedly. The bond was still there. Unlike the time, she had been taken to the other side and the bond was suddenly ripped from him, this time, he could still feel it. Klaus knew she was alive and well and still at the safe house as he used their unique connection to pin point her exact location. But for some reason Bonnie had shut her side of the bond. _Why?_

"We're here," Ishmael said.

Klaus immediately spotted the three werewolves waiting for them at the edge of the camp. He looked at the older man first. He looked to be in his fifties, he had silver hair, wrinkles around his brown eyes and mouth, and a small scar on his chin. He seemed rather serious and tired. _Hardworking, honest, and respectful,_ the wolf inside him immediately assessed the man. _Insignificant,_ his vampire side dismissed the man with ease.

The teenage boy next to him was rather short and scrawny, he had spiky brown hair, a rather big nose, and dull blue eyes. _A green boy, eager to prove himself,_ the wolf decided in a heartbeat. _Weak, useless,_ the vampire dismissed him as well.

Neither man was a threat to him.

The last man on the other hand gave a completely different vibe. He stood tall and proud, black hair pulled back in a short ponytail and arrogant honey colored eyes that stared right at Klaus. _Strong, arrogant, and smart,_ the wolf noted right away. _Look at this one,_ the vampire chuckled. _He thinks he's your equal, what a fool._

What a strange and yet wonderful thing it was to have his vampire and wolf side in harmony. To finally be complete at last. Rather than waging war inside his head, each trying to be the dominant part, both sides of him were now one. The vampire and the wolf now worked together and had combined their individual strengths to make him stronger, to make his senses sharper, and to enhance his abilities to new lengths. It was exhilarating. Klaus was finally at peace with his nature.

While Kilian and Klaus stared at each other, carefully assessing one another, introductions were made.

Once again, Klaus let Ishmael do the greetings and begin the conversation. He was far better at such things than Klaus was, he definitely had more patience. Ishmael had been a wolf his entire life, he knew what the best approach for this sort of thing was. He would never openly admit it, that was not Klaus's way but he appreciated Ishmael's council and had also come to rely on the old wolf's experience to guide him when dealing with the wolves.

The older man accompanying Kilian was named Gregory, he was the Alpha of a Russian wolf pack while the teenage boy was named Andrew, he was one of the few werewolves left of the Paxton bloodline apparently.

"I didn't think there were any Paxton's left," Cary commented as he studied the scrawny teenager with interest.

"Only a handful," Andrew replied with a shrug. He barely glanced at Cary as he spoke, his eyes were drawn to the hybrid. He was staring at Klaus with wonder and awe, he could hardly believe his eyes. He was dying to ask so many things but he tried his best to contain himself. He needed to act mature in order to be taken seriously. He was barely eighteen and had just recently become the Alpha of his small pack after his father's premature death. He had a lot to prove.

"I didn't know you came with friends," Ishmael said to Kilian. The younger wolf had made no mention of Gregory or Andrew when he came to their camp a few days before.

Kilian's lips twitched into a grin but he didn't say anything. His eyes were solely focused on Klaus. The two were having some type of staring contest.

Gregory was also staring at Klaus. He looked curious but not as awe struck as Andrew. There was a wary look in his eyes. The older man was definitely far more cautious than the teenager. But also, far more respectful than Kilian in the way he stared at the hybrid.

The hybrid's face was impassive, his posture relaxed and calm as he stared back at Kilian. The wolves were clearly waiting for him to say something, to acknowledge them in some way, Klaus didn't. He continued to hold Kilian's gaze. _What are you hiding?_ The hybrid wondered.

Kilian stood proud, his hands inside the pockets of his jeans, his head in an arrogant tilt and his eyes defiant. On the surface, he was an Alpha male ready to prove his prowess. But beneath the mask Klaus could smell the curiosity, the envy, and the hint of fear. It was subtle, none of the other wolves could have sensed it. But he did. His senses were unrivaled after all.

The hybrid's lips curled into a pleased smirk.

Gregory cleared his throat after a long moment of silence. "We have heard many things about you," he began as he looked at Klaus. He was nervous but he tried not to show it. His face gave nothing away but the scent of his fear reached Klaus's nose all the same. "News have spread about the miracle child." His English was very good but he did have a slight accent as he spoke.

"Is that so?" Klaus spoke for the first time, moving his eyes from Kilian to Gregory. "I'm rather curious as to how this news reached Europe."

"All the wolves are talking about it," Andrew chimed in with excitement. "It's a huge deal! I mean you're supposed to be dead. A vampire, or well half vampire I guess." His face scrunched up in confusion. He wasn't entirely sure how the whole hybrid thing worked. "Nobody expected you to get a girl knocked up and she's a freaking witch to boot. How the hell did you do that? I mean I know how. I know all about sex." He laughed nervously. "But still, this is massive."

Klaus arched an eyebrow. Yes, definitely a green boy who had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Cary tried to mask his laugh with a fake cough while Ishmael gave him a reproachful look.

Kilian rolled his eyes. He clearly didn't think much of Andrew.

Gregory sighed and looked up into the clear sky as if asking some higher being for patience.

"How did you know about my wife's pregnancy?" Klaus demanded to know. It was the thing that interested him the most, how the hell had news spread so fast?

Andrew clamped his mouth shut and looked nervously at Gregory.

Gregory and Kilian exchanged looks.

"News travel fast," Kilian replied as he turned back to face the hybrid. "Werewolves all over the world are finding out about the miracle pregnancy. It's only a matter of time before they make their way here."

"I find it hard to believe that you came all the way from Europe because of a miracle pregnancy," Klaus retorted. They were hiding something. He could feel it. He could smell their treachery a mile away. "Why are you here?"

"The Navarro wolves are planning to take over," Gregory intervened. "The time of the wolves has come, we want to be a part of history. We want to be here when the supernatural world shifts in our favor, we want to help forge this new era for our species."

He sounded sincere and yet, Klaus couldn't shake the feeling that there was more. There was something they were not telling him.

"But we don't want a Navarro as King," Andrew added quickly. "Their line is not as ancient as ours. The leader of our species has to come from one of the Original wolf bloodlines."

"The leader of our species has to be from Fenrir's line," Cary didn't hesitate to point out.

Kilian chuckled. "Times change, we all have different ideas on who the leader of our species should be."

Neither Klaus or Ishmael liked the sound of that. Cary glared at the wolf and bit back a nasty remark.

"The one thing we can all agree on," Gregory added. "It's that the leader of our species can't be a Navarro wolf." The Navarro clan did not have their pedigree, not to mention that their methods did not sit well with many wolves. "Which is why we will like to meet with the Alphas of all the wolf packs in the area."

"A meeting between all the Alphas to decide the future of our species," Kilian told them with a grin.

A meeting that would dictate who the rightful king of the wolves would be.

Klaus didn't know why but he felt like a trap was being set.

* * *

 **The Safe house**

The moment Rebekah arrived at the house, she knew something was wrong. Her intuition had never failed her. She tightened her hold on Charlotte's hand as they made their way inside. Rebekah's senses couldn't find any threats around or inside the house. There was no danger, that much she knew but something felt off.

A soon as she opened the door, she noticed the luggage piled up in the foyer.

Lucy hurried to the front door, placing another suitcase. The look on her face told Rebekah things were bad.

"What's going on?" Rebekah asked.

Before Lucy could answer, Charlotte interrupted. "Look, Aunt Lu." she proudly showed Lucy her left arm with the dangling bracelets. "Auntie Bex got them for me."

"They're beautiful sweetie," Lucy said smiling down at her. She knew that's why Charlotte loved going shopping with Rebekah, she always got something new.

"Lucy," Rebekah brought her attention back to her. "Why are you packing?" her first thought was that something bad had happened.

"Because we're leaving," Lucy replied in a serious tone. "Bonnie wants to return to the Quarter today."

"But Bonnie hasn't finished her bed rest," Rebekah protested. Bonnie still had a few days left of bed rest. They weren't supposed to return to the Quarter yet.

"Yeah, well. Bonnie is determined to leave and no amount of convincing has worked. She's in a mood." Lucy said. "Her best friends are missing."

Rebekah's stomach sank. _Oh shit!_ She thought. _How the hell had Bonnie found out?_

"I'm sure Rebekah knows all about it," Bonnie said coming into the foyer. "Don't you?"

Rebekah looked past Lucy's shoulder and stared at Bonnie. She had been crying, Rebekah noted the red eyes and the tear stained face right away. Bonnie looked sad, worried, and angry. Bonnie looked very angry. "I…" yes, Rebekah had known all about Caroline and Elena being missing, Matt had told her. Her brothers had agreed that it was best to keep the news from Bonnie and Rebekah had gone along with the plan. She didn't give a damn about Caroline and Elena to be honest, but she knew that Bonnie cared for them.

"We're leaving?" Charlotte looked back and forth between the three of them. "Why?" She asked Bonnie. She didn't want to go.

Bonnie's face immediately softened as she looked down at Charlotte. "We have to go back to New Orleans."

Charlotte immediately rushed to her side. Bonnie crouched down so that they could be at an eye level.

"But I like it here," Charlotte whispered as she took Bonnie's hands in hers. The past few days had been the best in Charlotte's opinion. They had so much fun, she never wanted it to end.

"I know," Bonnie said sadly. "But we have to go now." She couldn't stay at the safe house, not after what she had learned. She needed to talk to Klaus.

"Can I take my toys?"

"Of course, you can sweetie," Bonnie replied with a soft smile. "Why don't you go and make sure they are in your toy box. I already packed your things. But we still need to put them in the car."

Charlotte nodded. "Is Davina coming too?"

"Yes," Bonnie replied. "Davina is coming with us."

Charlotte face brightened. She liked Davina. She smiled at Bonnie before rushing towards the family room to get her toys.

"Kol doesn't have his daylight ring yet," Rebekah reminded Bonnie.

"It's not like sunlight can kill him," Bonnie snapped. Kol could easily flash inside the car, or hide in the trunk, or he and Rebekah could just stay and leave at sundown. It was up to them.

"Bonnie-" Rebekah began.

"You knew," Bonnie interrupted a hard look on her face. "Matt knew." Matt had lied to her face. "Elijah, Klaus…" It was the reason the Salvatore's were in New Orleans. Everyone had known that Caroline and Elena were missing, everyone except for her. Klaus had not only compelled her dad, he had also kept Caroline and Elena's disappearance from her. Klaus had been doing a lot of things behind her back it seemed. She felt so angry, hurt, and above all worried.

She shuddered just thinking about what Franco could be doing to her friends. If her dreams were any indication, Franco was one sick and twisted person. _Was he torturing them? Were her friends even still alive?_

She needed to help them. But she also knew she had to get all the facts first. She needed to know if Klaus had a plan in motion already. Her father had told her everything he knew but Bonnie felt sure Damon and Stefan knew more. And Klaus of course. She felt angry that he had kept something so important from her, angry and hurt that he hadn't trusted her, that once again he had acted without including her.

Her emotions were all over the place which is why she had closed her side of the bond. She needed to get a hold of herself.

Bonnie placed her hand on her stomach and took a deep breath. She needed to remain calm. She needed to keep her temper in check or she would be risking losing control over her magic and that wasn't good for her or her children. "Why?" she asked Rebekah, her voice breaking. They had lied her. Her family, the people she had come to care for and trust. "How could you keep something like this from me?"

 _What else was Klaus doing behind her back?_ Bonnie wondered sadly. _What other things were they hiding from her? Didn't he trust her?_

 _We are supposed to be a team,_ she thought. _Had he forgotten that?_

"I'm sorry," Rebekah whispered sadly. They had done it for her own good, because they had believed it was the best giving her condition. "I know you are upset," she said gently. "But I want you to know that everything we did was to protect you." They had kept it from her because they didn't want to upset her, they wanted Bonnie to have a peaceful bed rest. "You almost had a miscarriage, we didn't want to put you at even more risk by telling you…"

Lucy looked nervously between the two of them.

Bonnie didn't say anything.

"Nik and Elijah are doing everything they can to get Caroline back. I promise," Rebekah hurried to say. "And Elena too," she added.

Bonnie just stared at Rebekah. "We have to go." And with those words she turned around and went back towards her room, to finish packing her things. The sooner they could get to the Quarter the better. She and Klaus needed to have a very serious conversation.

Rebekah watched her go with sadness. She hoped that she hadn't ruined their friendship. Deep down she had known that this was going to bite them in the ass. But after Bonnie's ordeal, it had been silently agreed by the Original siblings to keep any negative news from Bonnie.

"Give her time," Lucy whispered upon seeing the sad look on Rebekah's face.

Rebekah nodded absently.

Bonnie needed time to process and deal with what she had just learned.

* * *

Davina sneezed and the front door flung open all of a sudden while a small crack formed on one of the windows. She had never had a cold like this. On the few occasions she had been sick, her magic had never been affected until now. It was very strange. She didn't know what was wrong with her.

While Lucy and Rebekah loaded everything up in the SUV (the original girl had rented it a few days prior), Davina waited on the porch, feeling absolutely miserable. For the past two days, she had been dealing with the crazy magic affecting cold. Hopefully, Bonnie's doctor would be able to give her some medicine or something to help with her magic while she was sick.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and a chill went down her spine all of a sudden. Davina turned around just in time to see the tall, brown haired stranger stepping out of the house. He stayed under the protective roof of the porch, making sure to stay away from the sunlight.

Every nerve inside Davina's body alerted her to the powerful aura radiating off him in waves. The same dark and ancient power that surrounded Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus. The young man that had just stepped out of the house was an Original vampire.

 _Kol Mikaelson_ , Davina realized immediately. They had done it. They had brought him back from the dead. She knew that Bonnie, Lucy, and Rebekah had been working on restoring Kol's body for the past few days. They had succeeded.

Charlotte who was standing next to Davina, gasped upon seeing him. Her big green eyes went wide and her mouth parted into a perfect O with her gasp. The little witch had not been expecting to see him in the flesh.

Kol's lips curved into a devilish smirk as he stared her down. "You can't pretend I'm not here anymore, little demon."

Charlotte recovered quickly and glared at him.

Kol glared back.

He kept himself to the shadows and placed his hands inside the pockets of the dark blue jeans he was wearing. He was also wearing a tight white t-shirt that showcased his slender but well-toned chest and arms. The clothes Rebekah had gotten for him to wear.

The moment he realized Davina was staring at him, Kol turned his attention towards her. "Hello darling," he greeted the young witch with his trademark smirk in place. "See anything you like?" he winked playfully at her.

Davina's cheeks suddenly turned pink and she looked away embarrassed at having been caught staring at him. Lucy had been right, he was rather handsome.

Kol grinned, clearly pleased with himself. He was a natural born charmer and her reaction stroke his ego.

"Get in the car, we have to go." Bonnie ordered as she came into the porch. She took Charlotte's hand in hers and began walking down the porch steps towards the black SUV. "Kol, you are going to have to go in the trunk."

Kol gave her an incredulous look. "You're joking." In the trunk, as if he were part of the luggage? No, thank-you.

"We won't fit in the car otherwise," Lucy told him. She and Rebekah had finished loading everything. "Besides won't the sunlight burn you?"

Sunlight couldn't kill him, the perks of being an Original was that he was practically immune to anything, save the White Oak stake obviously. But sunlight could burn him and burn marks were a bitch to heal.

"You can wait here until sundown and meet us there," Bonnie suggested. She was in a hurry to get to the Quarter. The sooner they got there, the better.

"The trunk it is," Kol decided with a displeased look on his face. He was not staying on his own until sundown _. I'm never going to live this down,_ he thought bitterly. A giggle had him narrowing his eyes and flashing his vampire face at the little girl clutching Bonnie's hand.

"Kol," Bonnie chided. She was not in the mood to deal with his antics at the moment. She had lost count of how many times she had ordered him to stop antagonizing Charlotte. The Original refused to listen.

Charlotte's response to his scary vampire face was an unimpressed glare and then she stuck her tongue out at him. She was obviously not afraid of him.

Davina couldn't contain the giggle that escaped her lips and even Lucy had to suppress a laugh.

Kol growled, trying to do his best to intimidate her.

"You don't scare me," Charlotte declared proudly and stuck her tongue out at him once more.

Kol opened his mouth with a nasty retort at the tip of his lips.

"Just get in the bloody car Kol," Rebekah ordered opening the trunk of the car and motioning for him to get in. Judging by the look on Bonnie's face she was seconds away from losing her patience and that was not good.

Kol gave one last glare at Charlotte before doing as he was told.

The little demon's giggles followed him as he flashed inside the trunk of the car.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"Sweetheart, please call me as soon as you hear this message. I need to speak with you." Klaus left a message on Bonnie's phone. Her side of the bond was still closed and he didn't like it. If Bonnie didn't return his call he was going to go to the safe house and find out what the hell was going on with her.

"Let me get this straight," Elijah was saying as Klaus made his way back towards their table. After their talk with Kilian they had met with the Original at a local restaurant to discuss the new developments. "There are at least three new packs of wolves in the Bayou and more are possibly on their way, because of Bonnie's pregnancy and to choose a leader of the werewolf species."

"Yeah," Cary muttered as he took a sip of his beer. "An Alpha to lead all of us in the war against the Navarro pack and crown himself as the king of our species." The wolves liked the idea of their species being at the top of the hierarchy of power once more but they didn't want a lowly Navarro wolf as a leader.

"Kilian is planning something," Ishmael knew him well enough to know of his ambition. "Something tells me he already has the favor of many packs and this meeting is just a formality to be recognized as their leader."

"I thought as Fenrir's blood you had that tile," Elijah commented.

"In theory yes," Ishmael responded. "But as Kilian pointed out, things change. Our clan has stayed away from the political maneuvers of our species. We have been hiding from all our enemies. With time, the wolves particularly those of the Original bloodlines have gained more power and made plenty of allies." Something that they hadn't done as much. "When you spent the majority of your life being hunted down it's hard to set roots and make friends."

Klaus and Elijah could sympathize with that.

"While in theory as the descendants of Fenrir we have every right to claim the leadership of our species," Ishmael continued. "It doesn't mean all the wolves will follow us. Many will have no problem siding with us and accepting me or Klaus as the leader of our species but the wolves of the Original bloodlines are another matter."

"They want power for themselves," Elijah deduced.

"Exactly."

"I presume you have a plan?" Elijah looked from Ishmael to Klaus.

"The plan is very simple, we will attend this meeting, listen to what they have to say and ensure I come out as the leader of the werewolf species." Klaus replied with a dimpled grin. He would accept no other outcome.

"And if they don't want to accept you as such?" Elijah questioned his brother.

"I shall slaughter the lot of them and be done with it. I'm done playing games." The meeting with the Crescents and Kilian had put him in an awful mood. He hated keeping his temper in check. He was itching to let the beast inside him loose and feast on the blood of those who opposed him. He could have patience whenever he wanted to but that patience was running very thin.

"Did you find anything about the vampire in Shreveport?" Ishmael asked Elijah. That was a matter that still worried him, one thing that still worked against Klaus's favor in the eyes of the other wolves.

"My informant tells me that there is in fact a large gathering of vampires in Shreveport," Elijah informed them. He had just come from meeting with him. "Unfortunately, no one has seen this _Elijah_ in the flesh. He was a couple of vampires carrying out his orders and gathering his army which seems to be growing every day. There is no word yet on when they plan to attack."

"He's keeping the charade of the secretive and elusive Original," Klaus noted.

"Indeed." It made Elijah wonder if the vampire impersonating him was one from his sireline. A vampire that knew him personally, that knew how he and his siblings operated.

"What are you going to do?" Cary asked curiously. "If they decide to attack the Navarro's using your name I mean."

"As soon as we complete the exchange of hostages I will be going to Shreveport." From what his informant had told him, there were still many vampires making their way to Shreveport, so they weren't planning to attack the Navarro pack just yet. He had time to solve this little problem.

"Luis agreed then?" Klaus asked, his eyes filled with mischief.

"Yes, he did. I have the date and time in which we are going to hand over Isaac for Caroline."

"He agreed, just like that?" there was a thoughtful look on Ishmael's face. Klaus had informed him and Cary of having Isaac Navarro and using him to get Bonnie's friend back, a vampire girl that had been taken by Franco. Elijah had been negotiating for the past few days with Luis but Ishmael found it curious that the wolf had agreed to the exchange with such ease.

Elijah nodded. Luis had refused to admit they had Elena but had agreed to give Caroline back in exchange for Isaac. "He seems to value his family and is determined to get his brother back no matter what." That much Elijah felt certain of. "However," there was a glint in his eyes as he said his next words. "While I gave him my word that he would have Isaac back, I don't believe I specified just in what condition he would be in." He met his brother's eyes and shared a Machiavellian grin. The Navarro brothers had no idea the surprise they had in store for them.

Cary looked back and forth between both brothers. "What are you two planning?"

"Just a little surprise," Klaus replied cryptically. The evil smirk on his lips told Cary that it would be an unpleasant surprise for the Navarro brothers.

* * *

"There is no need to stand by the door. Come and sit with me," Josephine ordered as she noticed Vincent standing in the doorway. She was in bed, wearing her favorite navy blue silk embroidery robe.

Vincent stepped inside the room and sat on the chair next to her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like the old woman, I am." was her soft reply. She had been in bed for the past few days, recovering from her illness. "My time is coming." The potions she drank every day could only keep her illness at bay but sooner or later they would stop working all together. She was dying, she could feel it.

"Don't say that."

Josephine regarded him carefully. "You are ready." She had trained him, she had taught him everything she knew and prepared him for his future role as the Regent of the witches. Vincent was ready. It gave her peace to know that she would leave the covens in good hands.

"No." Vincent looked away from her. He didn't think he could ever be ready. Since the moment he had learned he was to be her successor, a burden had been placed on his shoulders. In his many moments of doubts, he wondered why the Ancestors had chosen him to be Josephine's successor. He didn't feel like he deserved such honor.

"I was already an old woman when I was chosen as Regent," Josephine told him softly. It was one of her biggest regrets. She had been old and weak by the time she was chosen, she didn't have the strength to fight back against the vampires. Yes, with the title of Regent came great power but it didn't matter how much power a witch had when her body was frail and decaying. "You on the other hand, are young. You can do all the things I didn't have the strength for. You can fight. You can lead our community into a better world."

"I am not worthy," Vincent murmured.

"You were chosen for a reason."

Silence descended over them after that.

Vincent couldn't help but think back to that fateful day when he was just a teenager. The day Josephine had come into his life and told him of his destiny. From that moment on, she had been his mentor, his friend, and his mother in many ways. He dreaded the thought of being Regent not only because of the responsibility that entailed but because it meant losing her. She was the only family he had left.

"Tell me," Josephine said after a long moment of silence.

"It can wait, you need to rest." Vincent took one of her hands in his. He didn't want to trouble her, whenever her illness struck, it took a while for her to bounce back.

"Tell me," she commanded. Even in bed and with a pale and sickly complexion, Josephine could give orders like a queen.

Vincent sighed. "Two witches have gone missing," he informed her. "One from the Garden District coven and another from the French Quarter Coven." Technically, Katie was no longer a witch as Bonnie Bennett had stripped the Quarter Coven of their magic.

"The kindred?" Josephine asked. Whenever a witch went missing the first suspects were always the vampires or the kindred coven. "A vampire perhaps?"

"Surprisingly enough since Klaus Mikaelson took over the city, no witch has been murdered or gone missing. Unless you count Sabine Laurent." They hadn't seen or heard from Sabine Laurent after the meeting they had with her. It seemed she was dead. "The names of the missing witches are not in the Kindred's list, I don't think they had anything to do with this." Vincent continued.

A thoughtful look crossed Josephine's tired face. "There is more…" She knew him well. There was something more he wasn't telling her.

Vincent nodded. "Bonnie Bennett's name has been given to the Kindred," he informed his mentor. He still couldn't believe it himself. The audacity of those two witches. They had no idea who they were dealing with.

"Why?" Josephine demanded angrily.

"It seems Kara Nguyen and Marguerite Lescheres feel that she's a threat to the witches of the city and want the Kindred to take a closer look at her actions against the Seer and her coven."

Josephine closed her eyes.

"There is more," Vincent added.

Josephine opened her eyes and stared at his face. "Tell me." What else were those two witches plotting behind her back? Did they not realize the precarious situation at hand?

"They are organizing the elders of all nine covens to come together in a witch summit on the next full moon." The two witches had taken all kinds of precautions to keep their little revolution under wraps but Vincent had plenty of spies in the City.

"I see," Josephine murmured. The time had come to put order in the witch community. She needed to take action before another war was started. "You will go to the asylum and you will inform the elder of the Kindred coven that I forbid any action against Bonnie Bennett. She is not to be harmed in any way by them." She met his eyes as she spoke. "The Kindred's authority extends only to the witches of the nine covens, Ms. Bennett is not one of them. Therefore, she is to be left alone."

Vincent nodded.

"I will be the one dealing with Ms. Bennett, no one else." Josephine continued. "Have you found her yet?"

"I tracked her down to a small town a couple of hours away but my magic can't reach her." There was a displeased look on his face. He hated failure. Wherever Bonnie Bennett was, she was protected by ancient and powerful magic. Vincent had not been able to reach her at all.

"We will have to wait for her return to speak with her, then." Hopefully by then she would feel better. She was going to need all the strength she could muster in the upcoming days.

"And the witch summit?"

"If the elders want a talk about the future of our community then by all means we will all talk," Josephine informed him. She had made up her mind. She knew what she had to do. "I will attend this summit."

"But you need to rest-"

"For better or for worse," Josephine interrupted him. "I am still the Regent of the nine covens. I am the voice of the spirits and the highest witch authority in this city. The time has come to make my presence known." She needed to act before the witches decided to take matters into their own hands.

She needed to keep the peace among the witches at all cost, it was the only way they were going to survive the darkness coming their way.

* * *

 **That night**

Damon scowled as he saw the two Originals stepping inside the living room. "About fucking time," he muttered angrily. He and Stefan had been waiting for what seemed like forever for Elijah and Klaus to make their presence known.

Damon was losing his patience. Every day that passed Elena was at the mercy of that evil wolf pack. He was desperate to get her back. He was tempted to just head straight to Baton Rouge and rescue her himself, but Stefan had convinced him that it was best to play nice with the Originals. Since his plan to get Bonnie to help them had failed, Damon had no choice but to agree.

Another reason Damon didn't want to leave was Bonnie. He needed to see her and talk to her. Elijah had put them up to date on things. Damon knew Bonnie was at a safe house, far away from the city because she needed to rest. Apparently, Bonnie almost had a miscarriage after being kidnapped by the spirits. Elijah had said that she was fine now, but Damon wouldn't truly believe it until he actually saw her with his own eyes. He knew better than to trust Elijah's word, the bastard had betrayed them before and he could easily do it again. Damon was also sure that Klaus was keeping Bonnie away from the city on purpose. The bastard didn't want them near Bonnie. There was a part of Damon that still believed that Klaus was brainwashing her somehow.

Stefan and Tyler who had been sitting on the couch looked up immediately. Matt who was sitting across from them also turned his head to stare at the two brothers, waiting expectantly to hear some good news.

"Damon," Elijah greeted with a mocking smile. "Always so charming and eloquent." He had been the one to order all of them here, so that they could discuss the next part of the plan. But Damon Salvatore had a way of irritating him with his mere presence alone.

Klaus smirked as he made his way to the liquor cabinet. He poured himself a glass of whiskey and took a seat on a leather chair. He wanted this day to be over.

"You asked us to come, here we are." Stefan said standing up. After their talk with Elijah who had informed them of what was going in regards to the upcoming war, they had stayed in the city, waiting and much to Damon's anger trusting that the Originals' plan to get Caroline and Elena back would work. The truth was that they didn't have much of a choice; the two of them did not stand a chance against the power of the Navarro clan. Not alone at least. And with Bonnie away from the city, they didn't even have a witch backing them.

"As you know," Elijah began as he walked to stand by the chair Klaus's was sitting on. "I've been communicating with Luis Navarro." He placed one hand inside the pocket of his pants while his eyes surveyed the men gathered in his living room. The conversations over the phone with Luis had been tense, short, and straight to the point. Neither he nor Luis wasted time with threats or insults. They both wanted to get things done as quickly as possible.

"And?" Tyler probed. His stomach coiled with nerves. All he wanted in the world was to get Caroline back. He hated that he basically had to trust Klaus and Elijah to handle the negotiations with the Navarro brothers.

Since Klaus had set him free from the basement he had been hanging with Matt and doing his best to find his friend Sean who was with the last group of wolves that had been sent to get Bonnie. Matt was the only friend and ally Tyler had in New Orleans. The only reason the hybrids hadn't tried to kill him was because Klaus had given the order to leave him alone. For Caroline, in order to get her back, Tyler was willing to put his hatred of Klaus aside and work with him. He couldn't wait to get his girlfriend back and get the hell away from this mess.

So far, things had been tense. This reluctant alliance between the Originals, the Salvatore brothers, and Tyler was hanging by a thread. With all their past history, the distrust, and the animosity between them it was a miracle it hadn't exploded yet.

"He tried to deny they had Caroline at first," Elijah said glancing in Tyler's direction. He didn't trust the hybrid but Klaus had made a deal with him and Elijah respected his brother's plans. "Naturally, when I presented proof that we in fact have his brother and he was to meet an untimely death if Luis did not cooperate, he was more talkative." Proof that involved a set of picture Jesse had taken of Isaac; half of the wolf's face had been covered in blue and green bruises that had yet to heal properly. "He's willing to trade Isaac for Caroline."

The wave of relief Tyler felt in that moment was overwhelming. He felt like he had been drowning and had finally come up for air. They were going to rescue Caroline, finally. He couldn't keep the smile from his face.

Matt smiled in his direction. "When?" he asked turning to Elijah with an eager look. "When can we have Caroline back?" His heart exploded with happiness. It seemed like a lifetime ago since he learned of Caroline's disappearance and finally they were close to getting her back.

Before Elijah could respond, Damon intervened. "What about Elena?" he asked taking a menacing step closer. "Or are you forgetting she was also taken."

Elijah and Klaus shared a look. They both knew this was where the problems were set to begin.

The hybrid took a sip of his drink and let Elijah continue to handle to conversation. He was not in the mood to deal with the stupid vampire.

"What's going on?" Stefan looked between both Originals. Elijah had not mention Elena at all and that made him nervous.

"Luis fervently denied having Elena in his possession," Elijah responded at last. He had sounded very convincing and no matter how hard Elijah had tried to get him to admit they had Elena, Luis had not caved, much to Elijah's chagrin. And since they didn't have any proof that the Navarro's had Elena, he couldn't force Luis's hand.

"Bullshit," Damon growled. "They took her." According to what Elijah himself had said to them, the Navarro pack was working with a group of witches known as the Travelers, a group that by all descriptions fitted with the group that took Elena both times. "We all know they took her."

"Unfortunately, they are not willing to give her up," Klaus said dismissively. He didn't give a damn about the stupid doppelganger and that was very obvious. Maybe the Navarro's would do him the favor of eliminating her for good. Klaus still hadn't forgotten that the bitch had murdered Kol.

"We need to get her back!" Damon yelled angrily.

Klaus arched an eyebrow and gave Damon an annoyed look. "What do you think we are trying to do mate?" Not because of Damon or because he cared about Elena but because of Bonnie. Everything Klaus and his siblings were doing was to keep Bonnie and the twins safe.

"You're not doing enough," Damon hissed. "You don't even care about Elena. All you care about is getting Barbie back. That's why you are doing all of this isn't it? For Caroline, you want her."

"Damon," Stefan tried to warn his brother. This was not the way they were going to make things work. _Why couldn't Damon ever learn?_ You would think that after Klaus nearly ripped his heart out his brother would take a hint.

Tyler growled at what Damon was insinuating and stood up angrily.

Matt stood up as well, nervously looking at the group and trying to determine how much time he had to calm the waters before all hell broke loose.

"Watch your tongue Damon," Klaus did not move from his seat but he stared at Damon with murderous rage.

"Everyone knows you're obsessed with her," Damon continued. His lips curled into his trademark smirk as he stared at Klaus. "Is Bonnie not enough that you need Caroline to warm your bed too?"

Tyler would've launched himself at Damon had it not been for Matt who got in the way and prevented him from attacking the vampire.

"He's only doing it to provoke a reaction," Matt whispered, holding Tyler back. The hybrid could have easily pushed him out of the way and go after Damon but thankfully he didn't.

The glass Klaus held in his hand shattered, a few tiny pieces dug deep into his flesh, a few drops of blood surfacing from the wounds, in the next second the pieces were pushed out and the small cuts healed instantly.

Elijah placed his hand on Klaus's shoulder, preventing him from standing up. The last thing they needed was for his brother to lose his temper and murder the youngest Salvatore. No matter how tempted Elijah felt in that moment to let him.

"If you are not happy with what we are doing," Elijah's eyes darkened as he stared at Damon. "Then my all means go to Baton Rouge and rescue Elena on your own. See how you fare."

Damon glared at him. "I want to see Bonnie!" He knew that with Bonnie he could get things done. Bonnie was all he needed to get Elena back. He didn't need the Originals and their stupid plans.

"You're out of your mind if you think I am going to let you near Bonnie." This time Klaus stood up. Damon was getting on his nerves and he was seconds away from breaking his neck. It had been a long day, everyone had been testing his patience and he was more than ready to let out all his pent-up anger on the younger vampire.

"I don't need your permission!" Damon barked. "You think you can keep hiding her forever? You think you can keep lying to her. You don't deserve her."

Klaus growled and took a menacing step forward. Elijah got in his way and stopped him. "Calm yourself," he whispered. They were not going to get anywhere if they went straight for the blows.

"So, this is how you plan to get Caroline and Elena back?" a new voice asked.

Everyone's head snapped in the direction of the doorway. They had all been so caught up with their arguing they didn't sense the new arrivals.

"Bonnie," Damon couldn't keep the smile of his face as he spotted the witch. A smile which dropped in the next second when he noticed the entourage accompanying Bonnie. He recognized Rebekah immediately. The other woman he was pretty sure was Lucy Bennett, Bonnie's cousin. The witch Katherine had brought to the masquerade. But he had no idea who the dark haired teenage girl standing next to Bonnie was and he definitely had no clue who the little girl clutching her hand was. _What the fuck was this?_

Klaus had been so irritated and angry at the younger vampire, he had not paid any attention to the bond. He hadn't felt Bonnie coming at all, his senses had not alerted him to her presence. But one look was all it took for him to know that Bonnie was not in a good mood.

"Bonnie-" Damon began moving closer towards her.

Klaus growled in warning.

Bonnie ignored Damon as she stepped further into the room. She also ignored Matt who had a guilty look on his face as he stared at her.

Stefan and Tyler were watching her too. The hybrid couldn't stop staring at her small pregnant belly.

Bonnie ignored all of them. All of her attention was on Klaus.

Green eyes met blue as the hybrid and the witch stared at one another.

"I need to talk to Klaus," Bonnie's tone left no room for argument.

Klaus visibly gulped. Bonnie knew and she looked pissed.

If Bonnie's arrival shocked all of them, the next person that happily strolled into the living room of the compound as if he owned the place had their jaws dropping and rendering everyone mute.

"Well, this is quite the welcoming party," Kol said with a devil-may-care grin. He looked absolutely pleased with himself at the reaction his arrival caused. The mischievous Original loved being the center of attention after all. "Did you miss me?"

Absolute silence.

If a pin would have been dropped on the floor, they all would have heard it from the silence that ensued.


	47. Chapter 47

_A/N: Shout out to M.B who wrote review number three thousand! Wow. Have I mentioned that you guys are amazing? Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for all your incredible support with this story. I'm deeply grateful and I want you to know how much I appreciate every single one of your reviews, they mean so much and help to keep me motivated to continue with this crazy journey. Thank-you so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

Silence.

Everyone was far too stunned to say anything.

Kol was grinning from ear to ear, loving every moment of it. His shocking arrival had caused exactly the reaction he had been anticipating. Oh, how great it was to be back to life.

While everyone gawked at Kol and tried to processed his resurrection, Klaus and Bonnie kept staring at each other, an array of emotions flickering across their eyes.

The hybrid was visibly tensed, knowing now why Bonnie had shut her side of the bond. She knew the truth about Elena and Caroline and she was pissed.

Davina sneezed and the lights inside the living room flickered on and off for a few seconds, bringing everyone out of their shock.

"How the hell are you alive?" Damon growled staring at Kol with disbelief. Elena and Jeremy had killed him, his body had burned.

"You did it," Matt said almost at the same time. He was smiling in Rebekah's direction. He knew how much Rebekah loved Kol, how much she loved all her siblings really. She had made it her mission to get her brother back and she had succeeded. He was happy for her.

Damon jerked his head in his direction. "You knew about this?" Of course, he did! He was Rebekah's boy toy. He scowled at the human before turning to stare directly at Bonnie. "You brought him back." He knew she must have had a hand in bringing the Original back. Bonnie had brought Jeremy back from the dead a couple of times after all. She had the power to do it. "You brought him back from the dead. What the hell are you thinking?"

Klaus growled. Elijah continued to hold him back before he started a massacre. But neither one of them liked the tone Damon used when speaking to Bonnie. The arrogant vampire had no respect at all.

Rebekah rolled her eyes.

Davina frowned looking at the dark-haired vampire and wondering who he was to speak to Bonnie in that way. Judging by the murderous rage she saw in Klaus's eyes, the hybrid was seconds away from going after the younger vampire.

Charlotte gave a mean glare to Damon. She didn't like the way he was speaking to Bonnie either.

Bonnie sighed, finally turning away from Klaus in order to face Damon. "Look, Damon-" she didn't really want to have a confrontation with him right now. Her priority was to speak with Klaus.

"Are you insane?" Damon yelled as he walked closer to her. "You really have become one of them, haven't you?" he sounded angry and disappointed. "Have you forgotten all the shit the Mikaelson's have done to us? What Klaus did to Elena?"

"Have you forgotten all the shit you and your merry little gang did to us?" Kol snarled. What he would give to have a bat in that moment and break all of Damon's bones with it. The stupid vampire deserved that and more. "You murdered our brother Finn, and your bitch of a girlfriend murdered me!" It was something Kol had not forgotten. He had a score to settle with the doppelgänger bitch.

Damon growled. "You son of-"

"Oh, shut up." Klaus snuck behind him and broke his neck.

Damon's body fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Stefan blinked a few times, taken by surprised by Klaus's quick movements.

Elijah frowned, he hadn't noticed when Klaus disappeared and materialized behind Damon. He hadn't felt his brother move at all.

Everyone in the room blinked in confusion as a matter of fact. The hybrid had moved so fast no one had seen him until Damon was already on the ground and he stood proudly over the temporarily dead vampire. Those hybrid enhanced abilities were lethal.

"I think we can all do without his unnecessary commentary," the hybrid muttered angrily before focusing on his younger brother. "Kol." Despite his anger and annoyance at Damon, Klaus couldn't keep the grin off his face as he stared at his younger brother. He had seen Kol in his spirit form before and he knew Rebekah, Lucy, and Bonnie were working on bringing his brother back to life but to see him, to actually have him standing there. It was incredible.

"In the flesh," Kol grinned. There was a part of him that still couldn't believe it. It had been a couple of hours but he still felt jittery and excited. Today had been the best day of his life.

Klaus couldn't contain his happiness and pulled him into a surprise hug.

Kol was momentary stunned, Klaus was not exactly affectionate with them, with the exception of Rebekah on a few occasions. He returned his brother's embrace though. No matter their quarrels throughout the centuries at the end of the day, the bond between them was stronger than anything.

When they finally pulled away, Kol turned to face Elijah. "Hello Elijah," he greeted with a smirk.

Elijah wasted no time before flashing towards him and pulling him into a tight hug. "It's good to have you back, brother." He whispered before pulling away.

"It's good to be back." Kol felt so happy, he couldn't stop grinning.

Rebekah walked towards her brothers, a beaming smile on her face. "Feels like the good old days, huh?" This was what she had always wanted. Their family was complete at last. It felt so wonderful to be together once more. Not only that they were in the same place but the sense of unity between them, it was something they hadn't experienced in centuries.

The four of them stood in a circle, matching grins on all of their faces and completely oblivious to anyone else. That moment was theirs alone.

Matt couldn't keep his eyes off Rebekah. He had missed her and she looked so beautiful when she smiled. Her happiness was contagious.

Tyler on the other hand didn't know what to make of the scene he was witnessing. He didn't think he had ever seen the Originals look so human and happy as they did in that moment. It was so surreal.

Lucy couldn't help but smile as she watched them. The way Elijah's eyes had lit up upon seeing Kol and the smile that broke over his face had been so real, so perfect. It made him look younger and far more handsome than ever. Her heart had without a doubt skipped a beat at the sight. He glanced briefly in her direction as well, it was a look that had butterflies flying freely in her stomach. She had missed him.

Even Bonnie couldn't contain the small twitch of her lips as she watched the four siblings reuniting at last. Her smile was much more reserved than her cousin's but it was there all the same. She could feel Klaus's happiness echoing through their bond. She knew better than anyone the pain he had felt at the loss of his brother. His happiness was obvious in his face and in his blood. No matter how hard she was trying not to let it affect her, it did.

 _Thank-you,_ the hybrid's thoughts echoed insider her mind.

Bonnie was momentarily stunned but nodded all the same.

Charlotte and Davina watched the four Originals with curiosity. They knew Rebekah the most and neither had missed the happiness on her face as she stood with her brothers. The four of them together were definitely a sight to behold. Not only because of the beautiful otherworldly creatures they were in the flesh but because of that ancient and powerful aura that radiated off them in waves.

They were fierce, lethal, and powerful creatures individually. Together, they were a force to be reckon with. Everyone in that room felt that ancient power that surrounded the Mikaelson siblings.

For a long time, no one said anything.

They allowed the Original siblings to have a moment to themselves.

* * *

Eventually, Stefan cleared his throat interrupting the moment between the siblings and breaking the silence that had invaded the room. "Would anyone please explain what's going on?" He had no idea how it was possible to bring Kol back from the dead. _Weren't there consequences for that?_

"Isn't it obvious?" Kol turned to look at him over his shoulder. It was a superior kind of look that said, _'you are beneath me, I don't even know why I am bothering to speak with you.'_ Kol clearly didn't think much of the youngest Salvatore. "I get that your puny little brain can process things normally but do try and keep up mate."

Stefan glared at him. "Did you really bring him back?" he asked turning to look at Bonnie. He like Damon knew that Bonnie had to be involved somehow.

"We all did," Bonnie told him quietly. "Rebekah, Lucy, and I." The three of them had worked together for days in order to bring Kol back.

Bonnie looked away from Stefan and focused on Tyler. "Hi," she greeted nervously. She knew Tyler had agreed to work with Klaus but she didn't know how he would react with her.

"Hey," Tyler greeted back equally nervous.

They locked eyes.

There was so much that had happened since the last time they had seen each other. There was a lot that they both wished they could say but neither made a move to say it.

Tyler's eyes slid over her petite frame. His eyes drawn to the visible baby bump. Bonnie was wearing jeans and a dark blue blouse that accentuated her belly. He had known she was pregnant but seeing her, seeing the proof of it, it was a shock to the system. More than that, he could hear them. He could hear those two tiny hearts. He knew that she had been through hell and back, Matt had told him. They had talked a lot about Bonnie and what she had to endure because of her miracle pregnancy.

Tyler often wondered what he would do upon seeing her, how he would react. He didn't understand how someone like Bonnie could be with a guy like Klaus. He had resented her at first. He had even considered her a traitor for being with the enemy but the more he talked to Matt, the more he learned about everything that was going on, he realized that this was bigger than him and Klaus. And despite his hatred of the hybrid, Bonnie had never done anything to him. Bonnie did not deserve to be blamed for Klaus's sins.

As he stood facing her, as he stood listening to those tiny hearts, Tyler realized he couldn't hate them either. He hated Klaus and everything he stood for, but those babies were innocent. They had enough enemies to last them a lifetime and they had not even been born yet. Tyler was not going to be one of them. He offered Bonnie a weak smile.

"I'm glad you are here," Bonnie whispered. "I know this can't be easy for you, but I'm glad you are on our side."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I was with the group that wanted to kidnap you," Tyler was quick to respond. "I didn't know what to do. Franco threatened Caroline and I…I'm sorry I know you were in the hospital. I didn't wish you any harm I-"

"It's okay," Bonnie let go of Charlotte's hand and walked towards Tyler. "It's not your fault Tyler, you did what you had to do." She would never blame him for trying to protect Caroline. Bonnie knew how much Tyler loved her. "I just hope you don't hate me."

Bonnie had been afraid Tyler would hate her, that he would hate her children. He had every right to hate Klaus after what the hybrid did to his mom but Bonnie didn't want her friends to hate her babies because of their father. She knew Damon saw them as the devil's spawn but it would break her heart if the rest of her friends saw them like that as well.

"Nah," Tyler murmured. Klaus was another matter but he couldn't bring himself to hate Bonnie and her children. "You're my friend. I couldn't hate you," he whispered with all the sincerity in the world. "Or them."

Bonnie choked back a sob, feeling relieved. Who would have thought that Tyler Lockwood would be more mature and understanding that a century's old vampire? She rushed towards Tyler, throwing her arms around him. "You have no idea what that means to me," she whispered against his ear. She knew this couldn't be easy for him but she felt grateful for his understanding.

Tyler closed his eyes and pulled her against him, returning her hug with fierceness. He couldn't explain it, but as he held her, he felt very protective of her. There was something inside his blood, something that demanded to keep Bonnie safe at all cost. It was rather strange. He almost felt connected to her somehow.

No matter what, Tyler had meant what he said to her. Caroline and his friends were all he had. He had lost his pack, his mother, the new friends he made. Caroline, Matt, and Bonnie were all he had now. And he was going to fight for them.

Klaus growled, not liking the affectionate way Bonnie embraced the younger hybrid and right in front of him too. _Mine!_ His instincts screamed, a gold hue appearing in his eyes as he noticed the way Tyler embraced _his mate_. This time, Elijah and Rebekah both held him back.

"Would you relax," Rebekah muttered. She knew how possessive her brother was but sometimes he could be rather ridiculous. "It's just a hug," she muttered.

Kol chuckled. He was amused by Nik's discomfort.

Klaus didn't even look at them, his eyes were focused on Bonnie. A growl escaping from his chest. "Take your hands off her," he snarled.

Tyler pulled away from Bonnie immediately, both of them startled by the rage in Klaus's voice and eyes. He moved away from Bonnie. Unlike Damon, Tyler knew better than to push the hybrid.

Bonnie shifted nervously as the intensity of Klaus's emotions washed over her. _Jealousy, possessiveness, desire._ She was momentarily startled by the wave of desire Klaus sent her way. She moved away from Tyler, flushing in embarrassment by the intense need she felt coming from Klaus.

Those amber colored eyes bored into hers, a primal need to mark her, to possess her assaulting him and in turn extending towards her through the bond.

Bonnie had to take a deep breath before locking eyes with the hybrid. "We need to talk."

"Yes, we do."

Bonnie straightened up.

"Bonnie," Matt tried to get her attention. "I-"

"You lied to me." The icy glare Bonnie sent his way had Matt's heart jumping out of his chest.

Matt had told her that Stefan and Damon had showed up at the plantation house because they needed her help to get Elena to turn back her emotions. He had lied. They had come because Elena and Caroline were missing.

Matt gulped, a guilty look on his face. "I'm sorry," he apologized. Bonnie could be really scary sometimes.

Rebekah moved to his side and grabbed his hand, giving him a gentle and supportive squeeze. She knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of the witch's glare. Bonnie was tiny but bloody scary when she wanted to.

"Bonnie," Stefan took a step closer towards her. He also wanted to talk to her.

"Not now Stefan," Bonnie moved her eyes in Klaus's direction once more. She was determined to speak with him first. There were a lot of things they needed to clear up before she could speak with Stefan and Matt, and yes, even Damon.

"Upstairs," the hybrid murmured. They could talk upstairs, far away from everyone's eyes and ears. Something told him his conversation with Bonnie would be anything but short.

Bonnie nodded. She turned back towards Charlotte and smiled down at her. "Stay with your aunt Lucy, okay."

Charlotte nodded, dutifully taking Lucy's hands in hers.

Everyone watched as Bonnie followed Klaus out of the living room.

* * *

Klaus led Bonnie to the master bedroom, on the second floor of the house. Far away from the commotion her arrival had caused downstairs.

They walked in silence.

Both taking advantage to clear their heads and control the different emotions swirling inside of them.

Klaus still felt a possessive need to mark her, to claim her, to ensure his scent was the only one glued to her skin, to brand her as his for the entire world to see. His right hand clenched into a fist as he struggled to contain his darkest desires. Bonnie was his and the beast inside him felt the need for the whole world to know it.

For a second, he briefly considered pushing Bonnie against one on the walls and-

He cleared his throat instead and forced that desire down. In the mood Bonnie was in, she was capable of setting him on fire. Klaus didn't need the bond to let him know how angry Bonnie was with him. One look from her fiery green eyes was enough.

The moment he stepped inside the bedroom, Klaus lit up a sage candle to keep their conversation private, the last thing he wanted was for all the vampire ears inside the house to listen to them. He knew this would not be an easy conversation. He frankly wasn't looking forward to it.

The room was decorated with antique furniture and paintings. There was a fireplace right in front of the king size bed with dark Egyptian sheets. To one side was a balcony with the most beautiful view of the city. This was the room Klaus had chosen for them to share. The one next door, he was already planning to turn into the twins' nursery. He was just waiting on Bonnie's return so they could pick the furniture and the colors.

Klaus waited for Bonnie to start their conversation.

The witch kept her back to him, choosing to stare out of the balcony. Night had fallen, the streets were lit up and music carried up into the bedroom from the open French doors. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she could start talking.

Klaus's shoulders were visibly tensed as he waited for her to speak first. He kept a small distance between them choosing to lean back against the dresser. He felt on edge. His annoyance at the wolves, his anger at Damon, his jealousy at Tyler, his uncertainty about this conversation, all of it was a hurricane of emotions that threatened to explode at any second. Something that would not be good for either of them, so he did his best to get a hold of himself.

"How dare you," Bonnie said turning to face him. She was visibly upset. She was struggling to keep her temper and her magic in check. The whole ride to the Quarter she had been working to keep her emotions under control. She had to for her kids' sake. But now that she stood before him, the anger returned at full force. "You had my dad compelled."

 _Ah, so she knew about that too._ Klaus sighed and closed his eyes for a brief second. He really didn't want to have this conversation right now. He was in a terrible mood. But he knew he didn't have a choice. Bonnie was not going to let him off the hook so easily. He took a deep breath and prepared to defend himself.

"Your father was worried about you," Klaus kept a neutral tone, keeping his own emotions in check. "He hadn't heard from you in weeks. The man was ready to hire a private detective or go in search for you himself." The fact that Caroline had disappeared had not helped matters either. Rudy had gone into panic mode thinking Bonnie had shared the same fate. "I ordered the hybrid watching him to compel him to think you had come back to town and spent a couple of days with him before going to Whitmore like it was the plan."

"And you didn't think I deserved to know that my dad had been compelled?" Bonnie asked. She couldn't believe he had acted behind her back like that. "He's my dad!"

Klaus shrugged. "It was just a little compulsion." He didn't really see what the big deal was. It was not like her dad was that involved in her life anyway. The man had been an absent father, he didn't even know she was pregnant. The best thing to do was to keep him far away from all the supernatural trouble surrounding them.

"A little compulsion," Bonnie repeated. He obviously felt no remorse.

"I was going to tell you," Klaus said defensively.

"The same way you were going to tell me about Caroline and Elena, right?" Bonnie questioned with an angry look on her face.

"I was trying to protect you, Bonnie."

"By lying to me."

"I didn't lie," Klaus was quick to clarify. "I simply kept something from you in order to keep you safe." He had withheld information from her in order to give her the time she needed to rest and recover from her ordeal.

"You had no right to keep something like this from me!" Bonnie snapped. "They're my friends. I deserve to know what's going on with them."

"What the hell was I supposed to do Bonnie?" Klaus fired back, finally losing his temper. "Do I have to remind you that you are supposed to be in a calm and relaxing environment, that you are supposed to be resting. You nearly had a miscarriage."

Bonnie opened her mouth.

"I had to endure our bond being ripped from me," Klaus cut her off. He moved away from the dresser and walked closer towards her. "The whole time you were on the other side, I didn't know if you were hurt or even if you were alive." He didn't let Bonnie say another word as he continued moving towards her. He was an angry wolf ready to pounce. "The happiness I felt at feeling the bond back disappeared the moment I found you on the cemetery floor in a pool of blood." He couldn't mask the emotion in his voice as he recalled that terrible day. That horrible imagine that would forever haunt him. He had thought the worst when he saw her so pale, shaking, and bleeding. His heart literately broke in that moment.

Bonnie's face softened as she was suddenly assaulted by his emotions. While her emotions were currently blocked to him, she could still feel all of his. She felt his anguish and his fear as he recalled that horrible day. She knew how he had felt during the time she was missing. She had experienced it too. The loss of the bond had been excruciating for both of them, more so for him in a way, because he didn't know if she was truly gone.

"You were infected with a virus. You were in that hospital bed and I could do nothing," Klaus said swallowing the lump in his throat. "I could do nothing but give you my blood and watch as you fought off that virus, as you fought for your life and our children's life." The pain in his eyes was unmistakable. That had been the most horrible part. How useless he had felt that entire night. "I had to watch as you burned with a fever, as you moaned and cried out in pain and fear and I could do nothing. I didn't even know if our twins would make it out alive," he confessed with anguish. Those hours had been filled with uncertainty, with crippling fear, and so much agony it cut deeply still. "For a moment, I feared I would lose all three of you." There was a part of him that felt ashamed to admit it, to show such weakness. He was supposed to be the strong one after all.

The anger that Bonnie had felt, that had built up as they made their way to the Quarter vanished as she felt his pain. He hadn't mentioned that to her before. She had been so out of it during her time at Dr. Mayfair's clinic that she hadn't realized how much he had suffered watching her fight the magical virus the spirits had infected her with.

Klaus's pain cut through her deeply, so much that a few tears spilled down her cheeks.

Klaus looked away briefly, he was being very open and vulnerable with her in that moment. While he had slowly opened up to her during their time together, it was still something that he wasn't fully accustomed to. Centuries of keeping his emotions buried and doing his best not to feel or care for anyone had programmed him to put a wall and keep everything bolted inside. Bonnie had slowly broken down that barrier but still, it wasn't easy to bare his emotions like he was doing in that moment.

"Was I supposed to tell you about Caroline and Elena as soon as you woke up?" Klaus asked as he turned back to face her. "Was I supposed to burden you with the knowledge that your best friends are in the hands of the man of your nightmares, of the bastard that wants to rape you."

Bonnie flinched and turned her face away from him. She did not need to be reminded of what Franco wanted to do to her. Just thinking about it made her sick.

"Franco's name alone inspires fear in you," Klaus continued furiously. He hated it. He hated the mark that son of a bitch had left in her with those horrible dreams. "How could I cause you more pain, more anguish, after everything you had been through?" he asked.

Bonnie wiped the tears from her face and took a deep a deep breath before turning back to face him once more. "I get that you couldn't tell me as soon as I woke up." She honestly didn't know if she would have been able to handle it then. Her experience on the other side had taken a toll on her. "I get that," she repeated. "But how about after, on the way to the safe house, or when you came back to visit me. You had many chances to tell me and you didn't."

"Bloody hell Bonnie, you needed to rest."

"You didn't think I could handle it?"

Klaus looked up to the ceiling and muttered something in a language she didn't understand. He was clearly frustrated with her.

"Don't you trust me?" Bonnie whispered. After everything they had shared, after all the things they had been through.

"You know I do," Klaus's voiced was filled with conviction. She was one of those select few he trusted. He probably trusted her above his own siblings. "I trust you, far more than you know." He had trusted her with things he would have never trust another with. She was one of the few people that truly knew him, the real him.

"We said we were going to be a team. You said that you wouldn't keep your plans from me," Bonnie reminded him of their talk after defeating the Seer. "And here you are, doing things behind my back, keeping important information from me, making decisions for me. I don't like that."

"It's not like you haven't kept things from me before," Klaus snapped. He regretted the words immediately. He knew her dreams were different than this. He closed his eyes. He couldn't let the anger, the frustration, and the annoyance that had been building up all day to surface now. He needed to keep his temper in check with her.

Bonnie's nostrils flared as she glared at him. "So, this is payback for not telling you of my dreams." She couldn't believe the nerve of him. "I can't believe you." Only Klaus could be so vindictive.

"No, that's not what I meant. "

"You hated not knowing about my dreams," Bonnie said suddenly. "Now think how I felt when I found out that my family, the people that I have come to trust and rely on decided they knew best and made decisions for me."

"I was trying to keep you safe, trying to keep you from doing something foolish," Klaus snapped angrily.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Look me in the eye and tell me that your first thought after finding out about Elena and Caroline wasn't about going to Baton Rouge and rescuing them?" Klaus challenged as he stared into her eyes.

Bonnie looked away from him then. She couldn't deny it.

There was a moment of silence before she finally answered.

"It was," she admitted much to her shame. That had been her first thought. "But then I thought of our kids," Bonnie turned back to face him. "I want to get Caroline and Elena back but not at the cost of losing our children." Even though her first thought had been of rushing to Baton Rouge to save her friends, she also immediately realized that she couldn't. She would never put her children at risk. Not for anyone, not even Klaus. "I immediately realized that I couldn't rush blindly into danger without a plan, without knowing all the facts first, without talking to you about this first." She gave him a sad look. "But you didn't think I would do that, did you?" Bonnie felt that was the real reason he hadn't told her about her friends' disappearance. "You wanted to keep me safe, but you also didn't trust me to do what was right for our children."

Klaus opened his mouth but she cut him off.

"You didn't trust me to think first. You didn't trust me to put our children first," it hurt that he had assumed she would do something so dangerous and foolish. It hurt that he didn't have faith that she would do the right thing for their children. Yes, Bonnie had thought about going to Baton Rouge to rescue her friends but she had not acted on that impulse. She was no longer the same girl from Mystic Falls that would gladly give her life for her friends. She had two very tiny and precious lives to protect above all others.

From the moment she found out she was pregnant, her children had become the most important thing in her life. As much as she loved Caroline and Elena, as much as she wanted to get them back, if it ever came down to a choice between her friends or her children, Bonnie didn't need to think twice or hesitate in her answer. Her children would always come first.

"Sweetheart, I-" Klaus felt guilty because the thought had crossed his mind. Given her blind loyalty to her friends he had been afraid that on an impulse she would not think of her actions and rush to rescue them. It had been a small bit of doubt in the back of his mind. The biggest reason he hadn't told her about her missing friends was the fear that the news would upset her, and bring her unnecessary anxiety and fear that would once again put her pregnancy at risk. But that bit of doubt had been there as much as it shamed him to acknowledge it. "It crossed my mind," Klaus admitted. "You have proven your loyalty to them time and time again, a blind loyalty that has never been reciprocated. What else was I supposed to think Bonnie?"

"I thought you knew me better than that," Bonnie's voice broke as she stared into his eyes. She felt so tired and so very sad in that moment. "Clearly, I was wrong."

Klaus didn't know what to say.

For a long time, they didn't say anything, they simply stared into each other's eyes.

The honeymoon was over.

* * *

"Do you like them?" Angelica asked with a soft smile as she looked at Davina and Charlotte.

Charlotte nodded eagerly. She and Davina were sitting in the kitchen enjoying some chocolate chip cookies and warm milk. Lucy had taken them away from the living room after Bonnie and Klaus had gone upstairs to talk.

The Originals had disappeared to speak privately while Stefan, Tyler, Matt and an unconscious Damon stayed in the living room.

Davina took a sip of her of milk. Her senses were on high alert with all the supernaturals in close proximity. She couldn't help but feel nervous and the fact that she was sick didn't help either. She had barely nibbled on her cookies, choosing to just have the milk. She didn't really feel hungry.

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked worriedly. Davina had barely had anything to eat during the whole day. Her cold was definitely taking a toll on her.

"Cold." Davina crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. She was wearing a dark blue sweater but she still felt cold and her nose was runny, again. She hated being sick.

"I'll make you some tea. And you should take more medicine before going to bed."

"Are we staying here?" Davina asked curiously. She thought they would return to the plantation house, not that she was looking forward to being inside the cabin once more. Bonnie had said she wasn't going to stay there anymore but if Klaus decided otherwise, she probably would end up in that prison again.

"For now," Lucy replied.

"Are you staying with us?"

"Well, I…." Lucy was technically living with her mom and Abby at the house Rebekah put at their disposal. Aunt Vivian and the Bennett witches that had arrived in the city were staying there as well. The truth was that Lucy was not looking forward to staying there. She didn't particularly like aunt Vivian and who knew how things were going to be with the Bennett witches that had arrived during their time at the safe house.

That was another thing Bonnie needed to deal with, more Bennett witches had arrived in the city while they were at the safe house. Lucy didn't envy her cousin. Bonnie had her plate full with all the trouble, responsibilities, and people demanding her attention.

"You will all stay here," Elijah said as he stepped inside the kitchen. "There is plenty of room here for all of us." His eyes met Lucy's and he couldn't help but smile. He hadn't realized how much he had missed her until he saw her again. She had literately taken his breath away with her arrival. He had been eager to speak with her but his brother demanded his attention first.

"Is that so?" Lucy arched an eyebrow but there was a pleased smile on her face. She couldn't deny that the idea of living under the same roof as Elijah was very appealing.

"My sister tells me how close all of you have become in the past few days," Elijah commented. He glanced briefly in Davina's and Charlotte's direction.

"We had quite a lot of fun at the house," Rebekah agreed as she followed her brother into the kitchen. They both had let Kol to get acquainted with his room and to drink some blood. Their younger brother had been rather thirsty after his trip inside the trunk of the car.

"I don't believe we have properly been introduced," Elijah said as he smiled down at Charlotte. He had heard quite a lot about the little girl that had enchanted Bonnie and his sister.

The little witch smiled shyly up at him.

"I'm Elijah," he elegantly extended his hand in her direction.

"Charlotte," she introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you." She shook his hand.

Elijah felt a jolt as they shook hands. He looked at her in surprise. For someone so small she was quite powerful. A Bennett witch she was no doubt. He couldn't help but feel curious about the little girl. There was something about her, an aura of power and mystery that intrigued him.

"Isn't she adorable." Rebekah easily picked Charlotte in her arms. The little girl happily wrapped her legs around Rebekah's waist and her arms around her neck. "Let me show you to your rooms." She motioned for Davina to follow her. "You both must be tired after our journey and a bit of rest will do you some good."

The teenage girl offered Elijah a small smile as she walked past him, following Rebekah out of the kitchen. She had just crossed the threshold when she sneezed.

The two empty glasses of milk on the kitchen table shattered and the lights flickered on and off once more.

Angelica looked up startled.

"She's been doing that since she got sick," Lucy informed them as she began to clean the shattered pieces from the table. "I've never heard of a cold affecting one's magic. Have you?" she turned towards Angelica.

"I can't say that I have," the other witch replied as she helped Lucy clean up. "I rarely got sick as a child." She could count with one hand the number of times she had been ill growing up. Her grandmother had always said witches had strong immune systems.

"How long has she been like this?" Elijah asked curiously.

"About two days," Lucy responded. "Bonnie already made an appointment with Dr. Mayfair." With any luck, the witch doctor would find out what was wrong with Davina and give her something to get better. Lucy was going to ask her mom and Lenore to see if there was anything they could do as well. It wasn't good that Davina was losing control of her magic while sick. She and Bonnie had not been able to find anything in their grimoires but perhaps other witches would know what to do.

"It's rather strange," Elijah murmured deep in thought. He couldn't help but wonder if Davina's sickness was somehow tied to the Harvest.

* * *

Bonnie ended up sitting on the bed. She felt tired, physically and emotionally. She also felt really sad. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She knew it was due to her pregnancy. Her hormones had turned her into a crying baby in the past few days. But no matter how much she wanted to, she refused to let more tears spill.

 _Just breathe Bonnie,_ she told herself. _Just breathe_. Bursting into tears wasn't going to solve anything. There was a lot to be done. She still needed to speak with Damon and Stefan. Not to mention the group of witches waiting for her return. The Bennett coven had arrived in the city and Bonnie knew they were eager to speak with her. _Am I ever going to know peace?_ she wondered.

Klaus watched her. He never took his eyes away from her. His heart ached. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms, to tell her that everything was going to be okay but he couldn't bring himself to move away from the dresser. He was desperate to touch her, it had been days, over a week since the last time he saw her. Since he held her in his arms or kissed her lips.

The wolf in him wanted nothing more than be united with his mate, the approaching full moon definitely did not help to quench his desire for her. But more than that, he just wanted to hold her and protect her from all the darkness that surrounded them. He wanted things to be okay between them.

As much as it pained him, Klaus forced himself to remain at a distance. Something told him that Bonnie did not want to be touched into hat moment.

"Have you had anything to eat?" The hybrid asked with concern, after what seemed like an eternity in silence.

"I'm not hungry," Bonnie told him. They had stopped to get gas and to get something to eat on the way. Bonnie had barely taken a few bites of the grilled chicken salad she had ordered. Her stomach had been in knots the whole way to the Quarter. Her appetite all but forgotten with the anger, with the worry, and anxiety she felt at arriving as soon as possible.

Klaus clearly didn't like her response. "You need to eat."

"How are you planning to get them back?" Bonnie asked after a long pause. Rebekah had told her that Klaus and Elijah were working to get her friends back. She assumed that was the reason Stefan and Damon were at the compound as well.

"I had Alexa and Jesse kidnap Isaac Navarro," Klaus told her calmly. "Elijah has been in talks with Luis Navarro for the past few days. We are going to exchange Isaac for Caroline. Tomorrow actually." If she had only arrived a day later, Caroline would be here and perhaps Bonnie's anger wouldn't be so great.

"You kidnapped Isaac Navarro." Bonnie couldn't believe it. Another thing he had done behind her back. "Another irrelevant thing I didn't need to know huh."

Klaus gave her a look and chose to bit back a poisonous remark. Oh, how he wanted to. But there was something in her eyes, in her face. Bonnie was doing a good job at pretending but he could see she wasn't well. He could easily see the cracks behind her mask. It was that which gave him pause, he loved her, and he was putting her first, even above his own feelings.

"Where you ever planning on telling me at all?" Bonnie questioned.

"I wanted you to have a calm and relaxing bed rest like Dr. Mayfair ordered," Klaus answered honestly. "I was going to tell you after. I hoped that I would have Caroline back by then." He didn't have any qualms in admitting it.

"So, that I wouldn't run off and do something stupid," Bonnie remarked bitterly. "Cause in your eyes, I am a little girl that needs to be put inside a glass tower and kept away from all the evils of the world."

"The first time you fought me you were willing to die," Klaus said. He regarded her face with that intensity so typical of his.

There was something so mesmerizing about the way he was staring at her, it made her skin prickle. Only Klaus could have so much effect on her with a single look. Bonnie hated the way her heart skipped a beat and how her skin tingled at his knowing look. He knew the effect he had on her and he was taking full advantage of it.

"You were so young," Klaus continued, never taking his off her. "You had your whole life ahead of you and you didn't hesitate to fight, to unleash all your magic until it killed you." It had been a plan of course, to make him believe she had died during that confrontation and then take him by surprise during the night of the ritual. "You channeled the power of one hundred witches to stop me from breaking my curse, for Elena." Klaus's lips curled into a sneer as he said the name of that cursed girl. He hated Elena Gilbert and everything she represented. He probably hated her more than Katherine. Those doppelgängers had a way of making his skin boil with uncontrollable rage. "Do you realize all the things you have done to keep that retched girl safe?" he questioned. "Should I continue to list all the times you put your life at risk for her?"

Bonnie didn't say anything, she simply watched him.

"I mean, you went as far as to try and prevent her from becoming a vampire," Klaus laughed. A hollow sound that echoed around the room. "Did you bothered doing that for Caroline? For Tyler? For your own mother?"

Bonnie looked down at her hands. No, she hadn't done any of that for Caroline or Tyler, not even for her own mom. She had stopped her own heart to go to the other side and help Elena so she would stay human. Her Grams had warned her about using that kind of dark magic, Bonnie hadn't listened. Her beloved Grams had paid the ultimate price for her stubbornness.

"What has Elena done for you, Bonnie?" Klaus asked. "What has Elena sacrificed for you, what has Caroline?" There was a challenge in his eyes as he stared at her. He was daring her to contradict him. "Elena tried to killed you on prom night," he reminded her. "Caroline turned her back on you the moment she found out about us. What do you think she'll do when she finds out about your pregnancy? Do you really think _your friends_ are going to accept our children?"

Tyler had been a surprising exception but Caroline and Elena, they were just like Damon. Self-centered and ultimately only using Bonnie for their own advantage. At least, that's how Klaus saw them.

Klaus walked towards her, stopping until he was right across from her. He crouched down so that they were at an eye level. "Despite the fact that I know they will cause you pain, I am willing to try and get them back. For you."

Bonnie's throat closed with emotion. She didn't look away though. She held that hypnotizing and sometimes terrifying gaze unflinchingly. Many vampires, werewolves, and even witches had looked away, bowing down in fear of those magnetic eyes, of that superior power he held. Not Bonnie.

Bonnie was the only person in the world that equaled and surpassed his great power. The only one who could challenge him head on and have the means to back that challenge.

"I am negotiating instead of ripping Isaac Navarro apart and sending his bits to his brother," Klaus hissed. "For you," he emphasized. "Because I love you." He looked deeply into her eyes. "Because I know how much they mean to you." He paused letting his words sink in before he continued. "You may be willing to sacrifice everything for your so called _friends_ , even at the cost of your own life but I will not." There was a fierce look in his face and eyes as he watched her. "You are a queen Bonnie, a warrior so fierce that I pity the fool who thinks they can stand a chance against you. But that doesn't mean you are invincible. That doesn't mean you have to keep saving Elena and the Salvatores, protecting them against the world. You are so good, so loyal, a martyr even," it angered him. That blind loyalty she seemed to have for her friends. "You are so determined to protect others, to fight for others, even when they don't deserve it. But someone has to protect you, someone has to fight for you." He reached out and cupped her cheek.

Bonnie didn't know what to say. All she could do was stare at him, completely mesmerized by his words and his eyes.

"I will do that," Klaus vowed, his fingers tracing her cheek tenderly. "I will be your sword and your shield. I will be your comfort and the wrath that will punish all your enemies," he promised. His voiced filled with determination. "You don't have to like or approve of my methods." He had said something like that to her before. He had warned of the lengths he was willing to go to keep her safe before. "You may even resent all the things I do. But everything that I'm doing it's for you, Bonnie. To keep you and our children safe. If you want to be angry at that go head," he told her. He could deal with it. "I will gladly endure a lifetime of your hatred and your anger than lose you because you are trying to protect people who don't deserve your love or your loyalty."

He meant it. The veracity of his words echoed through their bond. Bonnie gasped as the current of his emotions shook her to the core. She knew he meant every single word that had just spilled form his lips.

"Make no mistake my love," Klaus's eyes darkened, the blue disappearing completely until two gold pools filled with rage stared back at her. "I will gladly burn the whole world to the ground in order to keep you safe." He leaned closer, dipping his head on the side of her neck, the ghost of his breath tickling her ear and making her shiver. "You are the only thing that matters. I will always put you first," he whispered. "Never forget that Bonnie. And remember that they never will."

And then he was gone.

Bonnie gasped and blinked in confusion. Klaus had disappeared from the room, leaving her alone and perturbed by his words. She suddenly felt really cold.

 _I will gladly endure a lifetime of your hatred and anger than lose you because you are trying to protect people who don't deserve your love or loyalty…_

Long after Klaus had vanished from the room, his words burned inside her mind.

Bonnie took a deep breath.

There was a lot she needed to think about.

* * *

"So," Lucy began as she looked around the room assigned to her. "Just put of curiosity," she turned towards Elijah who was leaning against the door frame. "How close is this room to yours?"

Elijah grinned. He had without a doubt missed Lucy's flirty nature. "Mine is on the opposite side of the house, I'm afraid."

"A pity," Lucy muttered, the mischievous glint in her eyes was unmistakable. "There goes my idea of sneaking into your room tonight." She snapped her fingers.

Elijah chuckled. "A little forward of you, don't you think?"

"I am modern woman," Lucy didn't miss a beat. "Besides, If I keep on waiting for you to make the first move, I'm going to be all grey and wrinkly. Unlike you, I don't have the luxury of immortality." They had talked on the phone a few times during her stay at the safe house. She had waited for him to say something, to even make a surprise visit but he hadn't. She couldn't help but wondered what was holding him back. The attraction between them was obvious. Of course, the whole Celeste thing happened. Lucy hoped that with the time they were apart, Elijah had finally closed that chapter of his life. She hoped he was ready to begin a new chapter.

Her heart had nearly burst out of her chest when she saw him as they stepped inside the living room of the compound. It was in that moment she had decided to make a move. She was tired of this game between them. She wanted him and she was going for it, consequences be dammed. Life was too short to second guess one self.

Elijah stared into her eyes. "Have dinner with me?" he said suddenly.

Lucy's breath hitched. "Are you asking me on a date?" _Yes, a thousand times yes,_ her mind replied almost at the same time.

Elijah moved away from the door and walked towards her, holding her gaze. He walked with the confidence and the sleek nature of a predator. A man who knew what he wanted. "I think we have been dancing around the issue long enough, don't you?" he stopped right in front of her, until just a few inches separated their bodies.

"Yes," Lucy breathed.

Elijah reached out and cupped her cheek with one hand. His touch was gentle, a soft caress on her skin, like the wings of a butterfly.

Lucy's heart skyrocketed. He was so close to her, they were practically breathing the same air. Okay, so she had wanted him to make a move since like forever it seemed but she hadn't expected him to make a move now. She wasn't complaining obviously, this is what she had always wanted after all. This was the moment they both had been waiting for. "When?" she couldn't help but ask. Because she was more than ready to go on a date with him right then and there.

"Tomorrow night," Elijah whispered staring deeply into her eyes. Tomorrow after the exchange of hostages. She had invaded his thoughts day and night. He had focused on the meetings he had with the human faction in the city and dealing with the problems of helping his brother rule but Lucy was never far from his thoughts. He had taken his time grieving, closing the chapter that was Celeste, and moving forwards. The time had come to explore that undeniable attraction they both felt.

"Okay."

Elijah smiled, a genuine smile. A far cry from the usual superior smirk he gave everyone else. There were only a handful of people that could bring a real smile to his face. Lucy was one those privilege few. Today would without a doubt be one of the happiness days of his life. His family was united at last and he was finally letting go of his reservations and starting something new. He felt intoxicated with happiness, a rarity for someone like him. He couldn't contain it.

Lucy was beaming with happiness as well. This was a far better welcoming than she had anticipated. So, captivated was she by his luminous smile she never saw it coming. She was completely unprepared by what happened next.

Her eyes went wide, her heart stopped beating, and her entire body shook as Elijah suddenly kissed her.

It was a quick brush of the lips, a simple press of his mouth against hers. It happened in one quick move, like lightning.

Lucy gasped and blinked rapidly.

Elijah was gone. He disappeared out of the room before she could even process what had just happened.

Lucy stood rooted to the spot. Staring at the open door, a dumb look on her face. _Had she imaged the whole thing?_ It happened so fast, she didn't have time to react. She touched her lips with one trembling hand. No, it had not been her imagination. Elijah had kissed her. He had pressed his lips against hers. A soft touch that still lingered.

Lucy giggled, feeling a rush throughout her body that reminded her of her teenage years. And she also felt butterflies take flight in her stomach. Dear lord, how could a peck on the lips have her on the clouds. But how could she not be? Elijah had asked her out and he had kissed her as well.

 _Oh, my god!_ Her knees felt like jelly. She dumbly stumbled back until she sat down on the edge of the bed, a stupid grin on her face. Her heart was still pounding against her chest. She felt so happy, she was ready to start dancing and singing like in some movie.

And then she gasped, standing up in alarm.

 _What the hell was she going to wear?_

* * *

"I'm so happy you're back!" Belle crushed Davina in a bear hug. "I missed you!"

"I missed you to," Davina managed to say. "You're crushing me though."

"Sorry." Belle pulled away with a sheepish smile. "It's so nice to have you back. I have a ton of things to tell you and I need your opinion too. I want to buy a gift for the twins and no one has been really helpful so-" she stopped abruptly when he noticed the little girl on the bed. "Oh, hi!" she waved.

"Hi," Charlotte greeted her.

"This is Charlotte," Davina introduced. "Charlotte this is my friend Belle."

Charlotte smiled, clutching the plush toy elephant to her chest.

"Aww she's so cute, she kind of looks like a mini Bonnie, with Klaus's coloring-" Belle's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh my god!" she clamped a hand over her mouth. "Is she their kid?" she asked excitedly. "Wait?" she frowned. "How-" something didn't make sense with that thought.

"You're funny," Charlotte said between giggles.

"I think she's a little too old to be their kid, Belle." Josh stepped inside the bedroom and offered all the girls a big smile. "I'm Josh." He introduced himself as he waved at Charlotte.

Davina's eyes narrowed. "You're the one that helped kidnapped me." She had naively believed they could be friends and he had tricked her.

Josh gave her a guilty look. "In my defense," he began nervously. "Klaus ordered me to and I can't refuse any of his orders. Like zero, ever. I'm like a Zombie robot or something." Klaus had the power to compel vampires and Josh was completely at his mercy.

Davina didn't look convinced. "You worked for Marcel."

"Yeah, I was a spy really." He raised his hands in surrender. "It wasn't my fault, I swear!"

"Let me guess, Klaus ordered you to do it."

"Yeah."

"It's okay. He's harmless," Belle said dismissively. "He's a scary cat actually. I've never seen a vampire that's afraid of his own shadow. But that's Josh for you. He's annoying but he has a good heart."

"Hey!" Josh took offence to that. "You're pretty annoying too."

Belle made a face and stuck her tongue out at him, making Charlotte laugh with her antics.

A small smile tugged at Davina's lips at the playful banter between the two. It seemed Josh and Belle were quite good friends. Perhaps he wasn't so bad after all.

"So, tell me." Belle dropped herself on the bed an eager look on her face. "What have you been up to?"

"Well," Davina sat down on the bed as well. "I-" a sudden coughing fit had her face turning red and the entire room shaking.

"What the hell?" Josh looked around in alarm. The color dropped from his face and his heart nearly burst out of his chest in panic.

"An earthquake!" Belle jumped to her feet.

The shaking stopped almost as soon as it started. Josh and Belle stared at each other in confusion, not sure if they had imagined the whole thing.

"It's just Davina silly," Charlotte rushed to the nightstand and grabbed the bottle of water there, taking it to Davina. "Here you go." Charlotte climbed on the bed next to her. She had gotten quite used to Davina's magical outbursts.

Davina drank some of it. "Thanks." She let out a shaky breath and offered Josh and Belle a weak smile.

"You did that?" both of them asked at the same time.

Davina nodded. "I'm sick." She took a deep breath before she started explaining it to them. She didn't want to cause any commotion in the house but they needed to know what was going on. She didn't want to scare anyone with her wacky magic. She just hoped it wouldn't get worse than this.

* * *

Elijah strolled into Kol's room with a stupid grin on his face.

"For some reason, I doubt that happiness is because I'm back," the younger Original commented as he helped Rebekah with the Champagne. She had decided that a toast was in order to celebrate his return.

Klaus on the other hand, looked like his favorite puppy had died as he stormed into the room in a sour mood.

"Sleeping on the couch tonight, brother?" Kol asked with a mischievous grin.

Klaus glared. "Not even a day back and you're already annoying me." He spat sinking down on the leather chair next to the window.

Kol took that as a complement. He was so happy to be back he couldn't stop grinning, nothing was going to ruin his mood.

Rebekah handed Elijah his glass of champagne and turned to stare at Klaus. "That bad, huh?" she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "If it's any consolation, Bonnie is angry with me too." Deep down Rebekah feared she had lost Bonnie's friendship but she was trying to stay optimistic. She hoped Lucy was right and that Bonnie just needed time.

Klaus didn't say anything.

"I presume she's angry with me as well," Elijah offered Klaus a sympathetic look. "Did you explain to her that we-"

"What do you think I was doing Elijah," Klaus barked back. "I gave her something to think about." With any luck, Bonnie would decide to break away from the doppelgänger and her pathetic friends and sent them to Timbuktu. _Was that too much to ask?_

Elijah pressed his lips together and bit back a retort. He wasn't going to let Niklaus's anger ruin the fantastic mood he was in.

Rebekah handed Klaus a glass of Champagne. "I know that you are not in a mood to be celebrating but this is an important day for our family."

Klaus reluctantly took the glass.

"Our brother is back and a toast it's in order," Rebekah forced Klaus to his feet.

The four siblings gathered in a circle at the center of the bedroom.

"To our family," Rebekah raised her glass and smiled at the three of them. "Because we are finally together once more." They had been given a second chance and Rebekah believed with all her heart that this time things were going to be different.

"Because despite our differences we will always stand together," Elijah raised his own glass.

"To Kol," Klaus said putting his conformation with Bonnie aside and focusing on his younger brother for the moment. "Because you are and have always been a part of this family," he said with sincerity. "Even if you didn't always felt so." He knew that Kol had felt left out plenty of times throughout the centuries. It was one of his insecurities, the sense that he didn't belong.

Kol felt a lump form in his throat. He and Klaus had been at each other's throats more often than not but despite their differences it meant a lot to him to hear his brother's words.

"I want us to make a promise," Rebekah said tears already forming in her eyes. She felt so happy, she couldn't stop smiling. "That today marks a new beginning for us." She looked at each of her brothers as she spoke. "That the past is the past, that we shall start anew. That no matter what happens, what enemies come our way, we will stand together as one, always and forever."

"Always and forever," Elijah agreed with a smile.

"Always and forever," Klaus repeated.

"Always and forever," Kol promised as well.

The four of them clicked their glasses together.

It was a toast, a vow, a promise that stood as strong as the one they made a thousand years before.

This marked a new beginning for them as a family.

* * *

Damon woke up with a gasp. He looked around the living room. Everyone was gone, except for Stefan who was sitting on the couch in front of him. Stefan offered him a small smile.

"What the-" that's when Damon noticed _her_ presence. He felt a chill go down his spine and every nerve in his body came alive. _Danger!_ His mind screamed. _Be careful there is a predator dangerously close to you._

Bonnie sat on the leather chair right across from Stefan and on the other side of Damon. She didn't say anything, she simply watched him.

Damon stood up. He felt a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. He had always known Bonnie was powerful. He had always relied on that power to keep Elena safe but this, it was different. It felt different.

Bonnie seemed different.

Not only were there some very obvious physical changes. Her face looked fuller, her body was more curvaceous, and that baby bump was very visible now. His vampire senses easily picked up the two tiny heart beats beating in tune with her own. It still seemed so strange to him. Bonnie pregnant, and with twins to boot.

There were also some very subtle changes mainly in the way his senses reacted to her presence. As a vampire, Damon could tell the difference between a vampire and a werewolf, it was harder to differentiate between a human and a witch, especially if said witch did not have active powers but he could do it, if he concentrated hard enough. If the witch was powerful enough, it was easier to pick her up in a crowd.

Damon had in many ways become attuned to Bonnie's presence. He could spot her inside a crowded room with his eyes closed even. He had known her long enough for his senses to grow accustomed to her, for his vampire side not to see her as a threat but as an ally.

Not today.

Everything about Bonnie screamed power and danger. So much so that he found himself mute. It rarely happened but Damon didn't know what to say. He wanted to see her, to speak with her, but now that he was in the same room as her. He couldn't utter a word.

"We need to talk," Bonnie's voice was serious. Her eyes hard and unreadable. "We need to have a very serious conversation Damon." She stood up.

Damon watched her, not knowing what to say or do.

"I am so tired of defending myself, of putting up with your accusations and basically going in circles with you. I have something to say and you are going to listen very carefully. Both of you." She glanced at Stefan before focusing on Damon once more.

Damon frowned.

"You don't like Klaus. You don't approve of my relationship with him. You hate the idea that I'm pregnant. But guess what?" Bonnie said in a tone that left no room for arguments. "I don't need your permission or approval to do with my life as I please. So, get over it."

"He's evil," Damon snapped. The anger he felt boiling his blood finally gave him the courage to speak. "Have you forgotten all the horrible things he has done?"

"We all have done horrible things Damon," Bonnie retorted. "Do I need to start naming all the crappy things you've done, to Elena, to me?" she questioned angrily.

"If you are still pissed about your mom, blame Elijah. He and Rebekah are the ones to blame. I did what I had to do to keep Elena safe."

Bonnie shook her head. "Do you realize what's going on, Damon?" she asked quietly. "This isn't about Elena or the things you have done to keep her safe. Or the things the Originals did back in Mystic Falls. This is about what's going on here, in this city, in the supernatural world as a whole. For once in your life stop thinking about your selfish desires and think about the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?" Damon scoffed. "Right, you're like some type of queen of the damned or something." Her name was whispered throughout New Orleans with awe, fear, and respect. Damon didn't know what to make of it.

"Elijah told us some things," Stefan spoke up for the first time. He stood up and moved to stand next to his brother. "He said the war with the Navarro's is going to involve all the supernatural species."

"And New Orleans will be at the center of it," Bonnie told them.

"So, what the hell are we waiting for?" Damon asked her. "Let's go to Baton Rouge and destroy that stupid wolf pack. We'll rescue Caroline and Elena in the process and kill two birds with one stone."

"You really think it's that simple?" Bonnie questioned.

"Yeah, I do."

Stefan stayed silent.

"Franco Navarro commands an army composed of multiple wolf packs," Bonnie began. "He has an alliance with the Travelers, a group of witches who practice extremely powerful magic and whose aim is to destroy the other side."

"What?" Stefan asked.

"The other side it's collapsing," Bonnie informed them. "The Travelers are using doppelgänger blood in other to do it."

Damon frowned.

"That's why they took Elena," Stefan muttered, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place.

Bonnie nodded before focusing on Damon once more. "The spirits on the other side are trying to kill me, they kidnapped me and infected me with a weird virus."

"Elijah mentioned it," Damon murmured. "He said you are okay now." He looked her up and down. She seemed fine to him.

"I'm better," Bonnie responded. "But I can't use my magic. In order to escape the other side, I tapped into my children's magic. I nearly had a miscarriage because of it. So you see, I can't go to Baton Rouge to rescue Elena and Caroline like you want."

A look of understanding flickered across Damon's face. "But when you get better," he asked in a hopeful tone.

"I will never willingly go to Baton Rouge," Bonnie informed them. She knew what awaited her in Baton Rouge. She would rather die than let Franco Navarro get his filthy paws on her.

"But Elena-"

"Not for Caroline. Not for Elena," Bonnie interrupted him. She had felt the urge to do so but she had also realized the price she would have to paid if she went to rescue her friends. She lifted her chin and stood proud in front of them. Her conversation with Klaus had made her realize many important things. The time had come to make some very important decisions. "I love them," Bonnie said. "I am going to do whatever I can to bring them back. But I want the two of you to understand something. Something very important."

Damon and Stefan looked at each other briefly before turning to face her once more. They had never seen Bonnie look so serious and determined.

"I am done sacrificing myself for Elena Gilbert," the conviction in Bonnie's voice was unwavering. "I am done risking my life for others. I am done putting someone else's needs above my own. I will do what I can for Elena and Caroline but my children are my priority." From the moment she had learned of her pregnancy, she had decided to put her babies first. The time had come for others to understand that clearly. "They are the most important thing in my life. They are the only people in this world I will gladly give my life for." For them, she would fight the whole world if she had to.

"Bonnie-"

"If you came to New Orleans expecting me to drop everything for Elena you are wasting your time." Bonnie cut Damon off. She looked back and forth between the two brothers. "My life is in New Orleans now. My family is here, my fight is here." She was right at the center of the storm and she was determined to brave the storm coming her way. She was determined to win the war, so that her children could live in a better world.

"You are choosing the Mikaelson's over us?" Damon asked incredulous.

"I am choosing my children above all," Bonnie responded immediately.

"What happened to you?" Damon asked trying to understand who was the person standing in front of him because in that moment he didn't recognize her at all. She looked and talked like Bonnie, but it wasn't her. It couldn't be her.

"I grew up," Bonnie replied simply. "I realized there is a whole world bigger than Mystic Falls, that I have a legacy to live up to, a war to fight for my children's future. And I will do it," she told them. "I will rise to the challenge. I love Elena, I love Caroline, but the time has come to fight for me. I can't spend the rest of my life protecting Mystic Falls, or Elena, or the two of you." She had been doing that since the moment she found out she was a witch. She was done with that life. "I have other priorities now." She had something far more precious to fight and to live for than Elena and her lovers.

Her conversation with Klaus had made her realize that Damon and even Klaus to an extent expected things to be the same, for her to be the same girl that left Mystic Falls, that acted without thinking, that in order to keep Elena safe was willing to defy nature and even give up her own life. Bonnie wasn't that girl anymore. Yes, she still wanted to protect her friends but her life had changed so drastically since leaving Mystic Falls. Her life did not revolve around Elena anymore.

It was time to break for good with the self-scarifying cycle that had become her life. In many ways, without acknowledging it fully, that cycle was broken on prom night when she had nearly killed Elena. That moment had changed it all, that moment had defined Bonnie's life and set her on a different path. A path she had embraced in New Orleans. And now, she was making that clear to Damon and Stefan. They needed to know where she stood.

Damon's jaw clenched. He looked angry and confused. He was counting on Bonnie to save Elena. And now, Bonnie was basically telling him to fuck off.

Stefan stared at Bonnie. He was looking at her as if he were seeing her for the very first time.

"We will get Caroline back tomorrow," Bonnie told them. Klaus and Elijah had everything planned for the exchange. "I don't know if we will be able to get Elena, we will try but I won't make any promises. You are welcome to stay here and help us or you can go and try to rescue her yourselves. The choice it's yours. But I'm not going anywhere. My place is here."

And with those words, Bonnie Bennett walked out of the room, leaving two very stunned vampires behind.


	48. Chapter 48

**New Orleans**

Bonnie let out a deep breath as she closed the door to Davina's room. The young witch was fast asleep. She hoped Davina would get better soon. And hopefully Dr. Mayfair could help them if her sickness persisted. Charlotte was sleeping peacefully on the room next door. Bonnie was surprised that she had fallen asleep without waiting for Bonnie's goodnight kiss and story time. Then again, the little witch was probably exhausted after the excitement of the day and the journey back to the Quarter.

Bonnie closed her eyes and rested one hand on the wall, she felt exhausted as well. It had been one hell of a day. She had spent the night before helping to bring Kol back from the dead and had spent the majority of today making her way back to the Quarter. Not to mention, the emotional reunion with her friends, and her intense conversations with Klaus and the Salvatores.

And speaking of the hybrid.

Bonnie sensed his presence and turned around to face him. He stood a few feet away from her, watching her in that Klaus way of his.

"I take it you spoke with Damon and Stefan." He had heard the front door slamming shut and knew the two vampires were out of the house.

"I did." Bonnie pulled her hand away from the wall, choosing to lean her back against it instead. "I made it clear that I wasn't going to go to Baton Rouge with them." She regarded his face carefully as she spoke. "Contrary to what _some_ people may think. My children are my priority."

Klaus gave her a knowing look and bit back a retort. If she wanted to provoke a reaction from him, she could keep on waiting. He didn't want to argue with her. "Good." He offered her his most charming smile. "It's about time you put yourself first."

Their eyes met and they stood contemplating each other in silence.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Klaus looked at her with concern. Bonnie looked haggard, almost sickly. He didn't like it. His hands were itching to reach out and caress her face. He was desperate to touch her, to feel her close to him. But something held him back.

"I'm not hungry."

"Bonnie-"

"Don't insist, please." She sounded tired but there was also a hint of anger in her voice.

"You are still angry with me," Klaus realized. He felt suddenly uncertain, he didn't know how to handle this. How to fix this. This was uncharted territory for him. Despite his vast experience, he had never really been in a relationship. He wasn't sure what was going on with them at the moment. _Should he apologize? Did she want that?_ He had been doing what was best for her. He felt no regrets about keeping things from her. He had done it for her own good.

Bonnie sighed and looked away from him briefly. "I'm angry. I'm worried. I'm sad. Honestly, I'm many things at the moment and I can't really focus on one." Being pregnant and hormonal didn't help matters either.

"You should get some rest," Klaus murmured.

"I don't think I will be able to get any sleep tonight." She felt nervous and worried about the next day. Elijah had organized everything for the exchange but Bonnie couldn't help but feel anxious. So many things could go wrong, _what if it was a trap?_ _What if Luis was not truly planning on giving them Caroline?_ _And what had poor Caroline been put through since she had been abducted?_

Klaus didn't need her side of the bond open to let him know how worried she was about her friends, Caroline in particular. They were just hours away from the exchange. "You can try." He glanced down the hall, in the direction of the master bedroom. "The room is ready." He had already ordered her luggage to be brought up to their bedroom. Including her favorite teddy bear and the small pink orchid she had brought with her.

"I'm staying with Charlotte tonight," Bonnie told him.

Klaus didn't like that at all. "Don't be ridiculous. There is a nice and comfortable bedroom ready for you." There was no need for her to stay with that child. "You're spoiling her by letting her sleep with you all the time. Come on." He made a move to grab her arm.

Bonnie pulled back immediately. "Don't you dare," she told him angrily. "I'm not one of your hybrids Klaus, you don't get to order me around."

"You'll be more comfortable in the master bedroom," Klaus said in an exasperated tone. "If your problem is with me, don't worry. I'll sleep somewhere else tonight." The compound had more than enough rooms for him to crash for the night. Or maybe he would take Kol on his invitation to go out. His brother was more than ready and happy to continue celebrating his return to the living world.

"I'm not kicking you out of your room, Klaus."

" _Our room_ ," Klaus corrected. It was their room, not just his.

"I'm staying with Charlotte," Bonnie insisted as she raised her chin stubbornly.

"Bloody hell! Bonnie." Why did she have to make things so difficult? "What part of everything I did was to keep you safe did you not get?" Klaus questioned her. "I explained myself to you." Something he didn't do for anyone. But when it came to Bonnie, he always found himself making the exception. "I gave you my reasons for keeping such important information from you but clearly you-"

"I'm not going to argue with you over this Klaus," Bonnie interrupted. "I had a long and crappy day today and tomorrow is probably going to be the same. I need to breathe, I think to think, I need-" she took a deep breath. "I want," she amended staring into his eyes. "I want to be alone tonight. Please respect that."

Klaus pressed his lips together, his jaw clenching.

"Have a goodnight." Bonnie didn't wait for him to reply, she quickly turned around and opened the door to Charlotte's bedroom. It was the room right next door to Davina's.

Once she was safely inside, she closed the door and locked it. It was ridiculous. Klaus could easily storm inside the small room if he so desired. There was no lock that could keep him out.

But despite wanting to do exactly that, he didn't.

Bonnie's bottom lip trembled and her shoulders shook as a few tears began to spill down her cheeks. She placed her had on her growing bump and leaned her head back against the door. The long and exhausting day she had, finally taking a toll on her.

Klaus stood outside the bedroom.

He was like a statue, staring at the door without blinking. The sound of Bonnie's whimpers and silent crying reached his ears, he could hear her as if she were standing right next to him. He could also feel her pain. That, he felt in his bones even though her side of the bond was still closed. Because her pain was his pain as well.

Bonnie was hurting and so was Klaus.

* * *

 **Shreveport**

The rally took place in an old junkyard. For the past few days, word had spread and vampires from all over had come to Shreveport. Some were ready to die for the cause, others came out of a sense of duty, while many more did it for curiosity.

When one of his guys informed him of the growing vampire army in the city, he didn't know what to think. When he heard that the vampire organizing said army was none other than Elijah Mikaelson, he knew he had to come and see for himself.

 _What were the Originals planning? Why hadn't Thierry informed him of this? And more importantly, did Klaus know what was going on?_

All the answers to his questions were going to be addressed tonight. So, Marcel stood in the shadows, wearing a black hoodie and jeans. He was surrounded by other eager and nervous vampires. None of them knew exactly how this was going to work. But they were all here for one thing, they all wanted to meet _him_.

As he moved his gaze over the group gathered in the junkyard, Marcel did not recognize any of them. He was doing his best not to draw any attention to himself just in case Klaus and Elijah were in the shadows somewhere. Marcel knew he was taking a risk coming here, but his curiosity had won over.

As the minutes went by, Marcel began to relax. None of the vampires present here were from New Orleans, none of the people here, were vampires he knew. As he stood among the group waiting for the Original to make his big entrance, a sinking feeling began to take root in the pit of his stomach.

 _The real Originals have nothing to do with this,_ Marcel realized. Whoever had organized this was using Elijah's name, but Marcel felt almost certain that the arrogant Original was not behind this little rally.

"I still can't believe it," the young teenage boy next to him said. "we're are going to meet an Original. Holy fuck!" he exclaimed bouncing eagerly on his feet. He was like a little kid before Christmas. "Up until a week ago, I didn't even know the Originals were a thing."

"How could you not know?" a curly haired girl standing in front of them turned around and asked.

"I'm a newbie," the teenager confessed. "I've only been a vampire for a year," he whispered.

The girl rolled her eyes. Every vampire heard his secret confession.

"New blood," a tan muscled man grumbled from a few away from them.

"How old are you?" the teenage boy asked the girl.

"Does it matter?" she questioned as she gave him a superior look. "We're all here for the same thing."

She could pretend all she wanted, but Marcel estimated her vampire age to be about five years.

The girl turned back to stare at three old cars aligned at the center of the junkyard. It was the stage for all the vampires had gathered around it.

There were about a hundred night crawlers in the junkyard and from the bits and pieces of conversation Marcel had heard, more were coming to Shreveport in the upcoming weeks. Some were even coming from Europe it seemed.

As he waited, Marcel kept an eye on the tan muscled man. He also glanced across from him, to the other side of the yard and stared at the short, freckled boy with fiery red hair, there was bored look on his face. A few feet away from the freckled boy, was a tall and slender dark skinned woman with striking clear blue eyes. She was looking at her surroundings as well, red luscious lips curled in disdain. It was obvious she didn't think much of the vampires around her.

 _You must let your senses guide you,_ Klaus told him once as he took him by the shoulder and led him through the crowded street. _Anywhere you go,_ _you must_ _immediately assess_ _any threat to your person._

Marcel had been a newborn vampire back then, eager to learn and still adjusting to his new immortal self. But he had taken all of Klaus's lessons to heart.

 _Above all,_ Klaus whispered in his ear. _Learn to differentiate between the prey and the predator._

Marcel's instincts told him that those three vampires were the biggest threats to him. _The predators._ He would never dare to admit it, not even under strict torture, but Klaus's lessons were still to this day embedded in his brain. Marcel had been raised and taught by the best. It was those lessons that allowed him to immediately zero in on the three vampires that were older and stronger than him. The rest were newborns. They couldn't be older than fifty and that was being generous. The majority of the group gathered in the junkyard had been turned in recent years, months even by some of the human scents that still clung to their skin.

Marcel felt intrigued by all of it. _Who had been turning new vampires and brought them to Shreveport?_ _And why were they using Elijah's name?_ Marcel felt more convinced than before that the real Original had nothing to do with this.

The teenage boy opened his mouth to say something else when the air around them suddenly stilled.

Marcel's senses immediately alerted him to a bigger and much stronger predator than the three vampires he had been keeping an eye on. His skin prickled, not in that intense way it did whenever the Mikaelson's were nearby but it was enough to let him know that the vampire approaching was an old one.

There were a few murmurs all around before everything felt silent.

A single tall figure emerged from the shadows and walked towards the center of the group. The sea of vampires parted and made way for him, as he calmly walked towards the three old cars. He was impeccably dressed in a black expensive suit and shiny matching shoes.

He stood tall and proud, wide shoulders, long neck, pale skin, and long ebony hair that cascaded down his back. He had a thin face and high cheekbones but the most striking thing were his eyes. Two vibrant teal color eyes that slid over the group with a calculating coldness.

Marcel shuddered the moment he saw the vampire.

"Is that him?" the teenager's eyes widened as he stared at the imposing figure.

"My friends," the vampire began in a loud and clear voice. "The time has come to fight, to stand up to our enemies."

Marcel felt a chill run down his spine. There was something dark and sinister in the vampire's voice, in the arrogant posture, and those eyes.

 _Be careful_ , his instincts screamed. _Don't draw his attention_.

Marcel shrunk down, lowering his face so his hoodie would cover it better and moving to stand right behind another tall and muscular vampire in front of him.

Something told him that it was best if the vampire that called himself _Elijah_ , did not see him.

 _Stay in the shadows Marcel,_ a voice that sounded suspiciously like Klaus whispered inside his mind. _Listen, learn, but do not be seen or heard._

 _You do not want this vampire to know who you are._

Marcel trusted his gut.

* * *

 **The next morning**

Charlotte yawned and stretched lazily on the bed. A noise to her right had her sitting up on the bed and staring in the direction of the bathroom door. "Hi." She grinned happily in Bonnie's direction.

"Good morning," Bonnie greeted. She had showered and changed. The truth was Bonnie hadn't slept at all. Her mind refusing to shut down and swirling with all kinds of thoughts and worries. Bonnie walked around the bed and moved towards Charlotte's side, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Are you hungry?"

Charlotte nodded.

"I'll help you change and then we can go down for breakfast, okay."

"Okay."

Bonnie looked through the suitcase packed with charlotte's clothes and picked an outfit for her to wear. Rebekah had bought her so much clothes, Charlotte wore a new outfit every day. She didn't seem to mind. She loved everything her aunty Bex got for her.

Charlotte sat on the edge of the bed and Bonnie helped her out of her pajamas. She was just about to put her shirt on when the door opened.

"Bonnie," Abby poked her head inside the room. She hadn't been able to contain the desire to see her daughter and had rushed upstairs to see her.

"Mom!" Bonnie smiled in her mother's direction. She had talked briefly with her mother the day before, letting her know she was back in the city. Abby had promised to come and here she was.

"I knocked but you didn't answer," Abby smiled at her daughter and stepped inside the room.

"Sorry, I was helping Charlotte."

Abby smiled down at the shirtless little girl and froze. The smile immediately dropping from her face.

Charlotte was facing Bonnie and in turn had her back towards the door. The minute Abby looked down at her she saw the scar on her left shoulder, that strange burned flesh that looked like an X.

"Mom," Bonnie tried to get her mother's attention. "Are you okay?" she noticed the strange way Abby was starting at Charlotte.

Abby's eyes were glued to the mark on the little girl's shoulder.

As if sensing her eyes on her, Charlotte turned to look at Abby over her shoulder. She frowned, feeling suddenly self-conscious under the vampire's hard gaze. A hint of something echoed inside Charlotte's mind then. A feeling that came from Abby. It was so strong she was able to grasp it, fully. Her eyes went wide and her lips parted slightly.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked. She still held Charlotte's shirt in her hands. "Mom!" she tried again.

Abby's head snapped in Bonnie's direction.

That's when the young witch noticed the wide eyes, the pale face, and the look of pure horror and fear reflected in her mother's eyes. Abby looked positively terrified.

"What is it?"

Abby looked at Bonnie and then she looked down at Charlotte, a strange noise escaping her lips and then she flashed out of the room, disappearing at vampire speed. She nearly bumped into Rebekah who was making her way towards there.

Bonnie stood stunned. She didn't understand her mother's strange reaction. _Why had seeing Charlotte's scar affected her so much?_

"What was that about?" Rebekah asked stepping inside the bedroom. Abby looked like she had seen a ghost.

"I don't know," Bonnie whispered. Her mother was acting weird.

"She has a secret," Charlotte said suddenly. She had sensed it.

Bonnie and Rebekah both turned to look down at her.

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie asked as she helped Charlotte to put her shirt on. "Why would you say that?"

Charlotte shrugged, sitting on the bed and happily dangling her feet. "I just know it."

"How?" Bonnie questioned curiously. There were times when Charlotte would say some strange things.

"I can feel it," Charlotte replied calmly. "There is something she doesn't want you to know, that's why she ran away. It's a secret." She pouted. "I think it's a bad secret." She wasn't sure. She wasn't every good at explaining what she felt coming from Abby.

"And how would you know that?" Rebekah asked taking a seat on the bed and watching her carefully.

"Mama-" Charlotte stopped suddenly. "The first witch," she corrected herself. There was another person she wanted to call mama now. She glanced at Bonnie before she continued. "She showed me how to read the ura of someone," she declared proudly.

"You mean the aura of a person?" Rebekah suggested with an amused expression.

"Yes, that. It's my gift." Charlotte told Rebekah and Bonnie with a beaming smile. It was her special ability, the first witch had told her. It was how she knew she could trust Bonnie, how she had trusted Kyra when they met and how she knew that Rebekah despite being a vampire would never hurt her.

The Original girl chuckled. "Really?"

Charlotte nodded.

Bonnie stayed quiet, her mind racing with what Charlotte had just said. Charlotte could sense that Abby was hiding something, a secret that was bad. _What are you hiding mom?_ She couldn't help but wonder.

"Why don't you go see if Davina is awake, so we can all go to breakfast?" Rebekah suggested to Charlotte.

"Okay." Charlotte got down from the bed and happily dashed out of the room.

Once the little girl was out of the room, Rebekah turned towards Bonnie. "Are you alright?" she asked with concern.

"I don't know." Was the sincere reply from the witch.

 _What secrets was her mother hiding?_

* * *

"We are going to meet right here," Elijah said, pointing to the location on the map he had spread over the mahogany desk. He and Klaus were in the study, getting everything ready for the exchange. He cleared his throat. He felt really thirsty and there was a slight pounding in his head. _Dammit Kol,_ he cursed. He regretted their celebration the previous night. "Luis wants to do this as quickly as possible."

Klaus nodded absently. His head still buzzed from the night before. He didn't look any better than Elijah. He felt like he had a hair ball stuck in his throat. Kol had decided that they should keep celebrating his return and had dragged both of his brothers through every bar in the French Quarter. Needless to say, it had been years, a century or two since Klaus had drank so much alcohol as he did the night before. It had helped to take his mind of his problems with Bonnie, but now he had a headache that reminded him of his human years.

"Niklaus," Elijah chided. "Did you even hear a word I said?"

"I heard you perfectly Elijah. There is no need to yell."

Elijah arched an eyebrow. "I wasn't yelling." Unlike Klaus who had matched Kol drink for drink, Elijah had drunk more responsibly. As always choosing to be the sensible one and ensure his brothers didn't do anything stupid while intoxicated. It took quite a lot for an Original to actually get drunk and Kol and Klaus had certainly reached that level the previous night.

The door burst opened and Klaus groaned, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the leather chair.

"I got exactly what we need." Kol muttered as he strolled inside the study with a tray carrying three long glasses of a yellow-orange liquid. "This is the perfect cure for the morning after." He sat the tray on the desk next to the map and handed one glass to Klaus and another to Elijah. "Trust me, I perfected this little cure myself."

"What the bloody hell did you give us last night?" The hybrid questioned. He felt certain Kol had spiked their drinks the night before, with what? he didn't know. While drinking had helped him to forget his problems, he was paying the price now.

"Remember the gorgeous brunette we drank from in the alley?" Kol questioned with a grin. Sharing meals was something they rarely did but they had indulged the night before.

Elijah gave him a look over the rim of his glass. Kol had eventually disappeared with the girl and Elijah hoped he hadn't left a corpse for the human faction to find.

"I laced her blood with a little something to spice things up."

"You drugged us?" Elijah asked incredulous.

"Hardly," Kol waved him off. "It was just a bit of fun, Elijah. Get that stick off your arse."

Klaus chuckled before drinking the juice in one go. The effect was immediate. He instantly felt more energized than before. "Speaking of brunette's," he placed the empty glass on the desk. "Tell me you didn't bring your snack home." While Elijah and Klaus returned home in the early hours of the morning, Kol had gone off with the girl. According to him, 'he needed to make sure the equipment still worked'.

"Relax, I went to a motel outside the city," Kol drained his juice and grinned. The lapis lazuli ring his mother had made for him a thousand years before was now proudly on his finger once more. Klaus had given it to him before the three got well acquainted with every alcohol establishment in the city. "And before you ask," he turned to Elijah. "I dumped the body in the Bayou." The gators had a nice meal the night before, all thanks to him.

"You could've compelled her and sent her on her way," Elijah reproached.

Kol scoffed. "What's the fun in that?" Nik and Elijah had barely drunk from the girl but Kol had certainly enjoyed all of her at the motel.

"I hope you don't make it a habit. We have to maintain the peace in the city, killing people is not the way to do that. The compound has plenty of blood bags at your disposal." Elijah told his brother in a stern voice. "We are at war. Ensuring our triumph is our priority. Las night was a special circumstance and I do hope you behave properly from now on."

"Or what you'll dagger me? I thought that was Nik's favorite past time, not yours."

"Kol," Klaus gave him a warning look.

Kol rolled his eyes. Trust Elijah to always be the strict one and ruin his fun. "Fine, fine, I'll be a good little vampire." He flopped down on the chair right across Klaus's desk and propped his feet on it. "So, what's the plan?"

Elijah sighed. As always, his incredible patience would be put to the test with his younger brother's antics. "Luis and I are going to meet at noon and exchange the hostages."

"Are you going alone?"

"That's what we agreed on."

Kol laughed. "And you trust the filthy wolves who want to take our place in the hierarchy of power to stick to their word. What if it's a trap to get you?"

"Jesse, Alexa, and I will be nearby in case Luis is planning a surprise attack," Klaus informed Kol. "We'll take Angelica as well."

"Just so that we are clear," Kol said as he looked back and forth between both of his brothers. "I don't mind if you rescue the blonde bimbo but if you even think of bringing that stupid doppelgänger into our home. I plan to make her my next meal."

"Kol-" Elijah began.

"She murdered me." Kol stood up angrily. "Rebekah grieved for twenty-four hours did you even grieved for me, Elijah?" he questioned.

"I did." Elijah replied with unsuppressed emotion. Kol's death had been a bigger blow than Finn's.

"And yet you did nothing to avenge me," Kol spat. He turned to Klaus. "You swore to hunt them down to their ends, and did you?"

No, he hadn't.

Klaus's jaw clenched as he recalled that day and the promises he made and never fulfilled.

"You are back and that is all that matters," Elijah placed his hand on Kol's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"You always had a thing for the doppelgängers," Kol threw back in his face as he yanked his body away from Elijah. "I got my revenge on the stupid Gilbert boy and mark my words, Elena Gilbert will pay for what she did to me. Don't you dare try to protect her."

"What did you do?" Klaus asked curiously.

A dark glint flickered across Kol's eyes and his lips curled into a devious smirk. "I lured him away into the path of the shadows." The memory of Jeremy's anguished screams as his spirit was literately destroyed by the hurricane of darkness that hunted the other side brought him immense joy. Kol himself had nearly succumb to the darkness, had it not been for Ayana and the Bennett witches impeccable timing. It had been worth it. "I know she's Bonnie's friend." He turned to stare at Klaus. He felt grateful for what Bonnie had done for him but he had a score to settle with Elena. "But I will get my revenge."

Elena Gilbert was the worst plague that had ever happened to his family. She had conspired to kill them multiple times, going as far as to joining forces with their mother. In Kol's opinion, getting rid of her would be doing something good for the world.

He waited to see if Klaus would say something, if he would try to dissuade him, or order him to leave her alone, like he had done before.

Elijah waited as well.

Klaus was silent for a very long time. He finally leaned back against the chair and stared at Kol, his lips curling into his all too familiar smirk. "Elena Gilbert is no longer useful to me," he said in an indifferent voice. "Do with her as you please."

Kol grinned from ear to ear.

He was the picture of perfect happiness as he exited the study.

"And Bonnie?" Elijah questioned as he studied Klaus's face with determination. "I don't think she will appreciate you giving Kol free range to kill her best friend."

"Something tells me the Navarro's will be the ones to deliver the final blow to the doppelgänger," Klaus replied calmly. "And in the case Kol is the one to do it, we shall blame it on them."

Elijah remained silent. He couldn't help but remember the first time he met Elena, and of the times he had tried to help her, because of who she reminded him of, because there was a part of him that felt responsible for the fate of the doppelgängers. He had failed Tatia, he had not been able to save Katherine and he knew he wasn't going to be able to do anything for Elena either.

Klaus stood up and walked around the desk. "Elena is not Tatia," he whispered. "It is not your duty to protect her or Katherine for that matter." He placed his hand on Elijah's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "And you do remember our words don't you brother?"

"Family above all," Elijah replied meeting his eyes.

"Family above all," Klaus repeated.

At the end of the day, their family was all that mattered.

* * *

Vincent was deep in concentration as he sat at his desk grading his student's work. He was a psychology professor at a well-respected university. His office was located on the east wing of the building, right across from a small park on the campus. He wanted to get all his school work done so that he could focus on the witch aspect of his life. He had an important meeting later that night.

A frown formed on his forehead and he shook his head as he took off points with his favorite red pen. He wrote a C- on the top of the page and placed it aside as he picked up another student's paper. With his left hand, he absently grabbed the mug of coffee and took a sip.

It was empty.

Vincent sighed and stood up, making his way to the other side of the room where he had his own coffee maker. He had quite the enviable position at the university and his office was spacious and quite luxurious.

He filled his mug with coffee and was adding the cream and the sugar when every nerve in his body was suddenly jolted as he felt the strong current of power in the air.

A powerful witch had just entered the building.

Vincent could sense her all the way up on the third floor. He closed his eyes and allowed his own magic to surface, to seek out the other witch. She was not from New Orleans, otherwise Vincent would have recognized her magic right away.

An image came to his mind then.

An elegantly dressed woman in a red suit, wearing a black hat and matching clutch. He opened his eyes and waited. He knew she was coming to see him.

Vincent heard the sound of her high heels echoing on the corridor floor before there was a soft knock on the door.

She didn't wait for him to say 'come in', she barged into his office like a queen.

Vincent turned to face her and raised an eyebrow. The arrogance the woman emanated was distinctive as was her power. _You don't want to mess with this one,_ he thought as he regarded her cautiously.

"Dr. Griffith, I presume?" she offered him a polite yet cold smile. Her icy viridian eyes regarded him carefully, assessing him from head to toe.

"Can I help you?"

The woman smiled but it did not reach her cunning eyes. She looked to be in her forties and yet, there was air of wisdom, of power, that only came with a certain age. He couldn't help but think of Josephine. Despite her youthful look, this woman seemed almost from another era. She was older than she appeared.

"As a matter of fact, you can." She walked further inside the office, the door shutting on its own accord and the lock was put in place as well.

Vincent leaned back against the coffee table and crossed his arms over his chest. If she thought to intimidate him, she had another thing coming. He chose to remain silent, watching as she looked with curiosity around his office.

Finally, realizing that he had no intention of saying anything to her. The woman gave him his undivided attention, walking closer towards him. "I want you to take me to the Regent." She went straight to the point.

Vincent chuckled. "I don't think you are in a position to demand anything, Madame." He stared into her eyes, letting her know that he was not intimidated by her powers or her airs of superiority. He had been dealing with those sorts of people his entire life, his own mother had been one. "The Regent will only see the elders of the Nine Covens and seeing as you are not one of them, I'm afraid it won't be possible to meet with her." He pulled himself away from the coffee table and gesture towards the door. "Have a nice day."

The door flung open on its own.

The woman's lips curved into a pleased smile. "I have heard many things about you but I must admit to being pleasantly surprised by your power." From the moment, she had stepped inside his office she had been trying to get inside his head, Vincent had successfully blocked all of her attempts. "some of my nieces could learn a thing or two from you," she muttered.

"Who are you?" Vincent asked. He was very intrigued by her. While he had blocked all of her attempts to get inside his head, she had in turn blocked his subtle probing of her mid as well. Both of them were quite evenly matched.

"My name is Vivian Bennett," she replied calmly. "And I am here in representation of the Bennett coven."

Vincent was surprised by that but he recovered fairly quickly. This was the first time he was hearing of the Bennett coven being back in action.

"I do believe the time has come for my queen to meet with yours," Vivian said with a strange glint in her eyes. "Don't you think?"

"I quite agree with that," Vincent murmured.

His morning had just gotten a thousand times far more interesting.

* * *

They met on an abandoned back dirt road, somewhere between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. They were surrounded by a thick green forest that provided the privacy needed for the important event about to take place.

Elijah drove a black SUV towards the meeting point, Isaac was knocked out unconscious in the passenger seat, courtesy of the drugs they had given him and a few blows too.

Hidden deep within the shadow of the trees Klaus, Alexa, and Jesse watched and waited for Luis to arrive. They were heavily protected by the cloaking spell Angelica had placed on them. The witch was standing next to Klaus, alert and ready to release her magic should the occasion call for it. Lucy had joined them as well, at Bonnie's insistence.

Jesse's stomach was in knots. He used his senses to try and identify any threats or strange noises in their surroundings. So far, everything was quiet. Far too quiet, in his opinion.

"There are at least two witches on the other side of the road," Lucy murmured. She could sense their power.

Klaus nodded. He could sense them as well. "Travelers," he hissed. He could also sense a group of five werewolves a few feet away from the witches. Luis had not come alone as he had promised. The wolf also had an entourage backing him up should things go south.

Alexa stared right ahead, eyes focused on the road and on the other black SUV making its way towards them. "They're here."

Klaus watched as the other black SUV parked a good distance away.

A tall, black haired man stepped out. He was impeccably dressed in a grey suit and expensive shoes. While his expression remained neutral, Klaus could clearly see the tense set of his shoulders and the scent of apprehension reached his nose. Luis was wary and ready to fight back should Elijah decide to attack.

Elijah got out of the car as well. Both men having a staring contest of sorts.

"Oh my god."

Klaus turned to look at Lucy, her eyes were glued to the Navarro wolf. "What is it?" he asked. Had she sensed some sort of threat from him. _Was Elijah in danger?_

"What?" Lucy jerked her head in his direction, a surprised expression on her face.

"Is something the matter?" Klaus questioned.

"…No…" Lucy shifted nervously. "It's nothing." She looked away from him quickly.

 _Liar,_ the wolf inside him immediately noted. Klaus regarded her carefully but didn't call her out on it. He turned back to stare at his brother and Luis. Making sure there were no nasty surprises awaiting Elijah.

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief when Klaus turned away from her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the dark-haired werewolf. _Son of a bitch,_ she thought.

The elegant Original vampire pulled Isaac out of the car and the proud werewolf did the same, pulling an unconscious Caroline out of his car.

They began walking towards each other.

The tension surrounding everyone watching the encounter intensified the closer the two men got. Everything could go according to plan or go straight to hell in the next couple of moments. The two of them would decide which one it would be.

They met half away. But there was still a good distance in between them.

"Elijah."

"Luis."

While Elijah inspected Caroline's unconscious body, Luis did the same with his brother. So far everything looked good and they were both sticking to their agreement.

"My brother," Luis demanded. There was no time for pleasantries. He went straight to the point. The sooner they could get this over with, the better it would be for everyone.

"Caroline," Elijah demanded as well.

"At the same time," Luis proposed, never taking his eyes away from the vampire. It was obvious he didn't trust him and was expecting Elijah to go back on his word.

"I agree."

They mirrored each other's movements as they placed each hostage on the ground next to them.

The minute Luis deposited Caroline on the ground, Elijah grabbed her and flashed towards the safety of the car.

Luis hurried to pick Isaac in his arms and rushed to his car as well, not as fast as the Original vampire but far quicker than a human would.

Both men looked at each other one last time, before each got in their cars and sped out of there. The encounter had lasted just a couple of minutes.

"That's it?" Jesse questioned as blinked in confusion. The tension that built around all of them, slowly subsiding.

"That seemed far too easy," Angelica murmured. They all had been expecting a surprise attack. Treachery was the Navarro's way after all. But Luis had surprised them and had stuck to his word. Who would have thought?

"Am I the only one who feels underwhelmed by this?" Jesse continued.

"What else did you expect?" Alexa questioned. She was visibly more relaxed now.

"I don't know, a fight." Jesse shrugged. "This was just too civil you know, too easy." He couldn't help but wonder when the other shoe would drop.

Lucy kept quiet, her eyes on the SUV that was speeding out of sight. Her stomach was in knots and her mind was in chaos.

"Nothing is ever easy," Klaus muttered as he kept his eyes on the trees across form them. The wolves and the Travelers were slowly walking away. Luis had promised a clean, fair exchange and they had gotten it. At least that's what it seemed so far. Then again, surprises were always in store.

Jesse frowned as he stared at his Sire.

"What did you do?" Alexa dared to question the hybrid. She wasn't intending to be disrespectful, she was just genuinely curious.

Klaus glanced at her. "Nothing," he replied with the most innocent expression ever.

He seemed utterly sincere and yet, Alexa had a feeling that he had done something. She just couldn't figure out what.

"Let's go," the hybrid ordered.

* * *

Bonnie paced nervously around the living room of the compound. Every second, every minute that went by felt like an eternity. Klaus and Elijah had left about an hour or so ago, they were going to pick up Alexa, Jesse, and Isaac before going to the point of meeting with Luis. Bonnie's stomach was in knots as she paced around the room. She couldn't stay still. She had tried to distract herself by calling her mom but she hadn't answered.

 _She has a secret,_ charlotte's words still echoed inside her mind. Bonnie wanted to talk to her mom and she had to meet with the other Bennett witches as well but she couldn't do it now. She wanted to make sure Caroline was back and safe first.

"We should've gone with them," Tyler muttered angrily, his hands clenching into fists. He had protested nonstop when Klaus ordered him to stay but the hybrid and his brother had not been swayed. Bonnie and Matt had convinced him that it was best if he stayed at the compound. He hated it. "I feel helpless."

"You're not the only one," Matt muttered. He was scared that something would go wrong and they wouldn't be able to have Caroline back.

"Everything will be fine." Rebekah reassured them. She gave Matt a quick kiss on the cheek and followed Bonnie as the young witch walked out into the parlor.

Bonnie kept checking her cell phone, checking the time, as her mind went over all the things that could go wrong. As much as she had wanted to go, she hadn't even bothered to voice it out loud. So many things could go wrong and the twins' safety was her priority. But now she was worried. _What if something happened to Klaus?_

Rebekah watched her nervously. "Nik and Elijah will bring her back, you'll see."

Bonnie nodded. If anyone could anticipate any problems and stop any treachery from the Navarro clan, it was Klaus and Elijah. She knew that. But she still worried.

Silence descended over them.

"What?" Bonnie asked noticing the strange way Rebekah was staring at her, since that morning the Original girl looked at her as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare.

"Are we still friends?" Rebekah blurted out suddenly.

"Of course, we are." Bonnie didn't hesitate to respond. "Why would you ask that?"

"Because you're mad at me."

Bonnie's face softened. "I'm angry because you guys decided that you knew what was best for me and made decisions for me and I don't like that," she paused, gathering her thoughts. "I know that your intentions were good, I just…" she didn't know if she could explain well. "I don't need to be treated like a porcelain doll Rebekah, I can handle knowing things." She approached her. "I don't want to be kept in the dark even if you guys think it's for my own good."

Rebekah looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I know we shouldn't have," she looked up into Bonnie's face. "But we thought we were doing the right thing. Please don't stop being my friend."

Bonnie walked closer and stopped until they were face to face. "Just because I get angry with you or with your brothers, doesn't mean that I want us to stop being friends, Rebekah." She offered her a soft smile. "Friends fight all the time, it's normal." She, Caroline, and Elena had had plenty of fights throughout the years.

"I never had friends," Rebekah confessed in a small voice. "Real friends I mean." She had compelled plenty of people to be her friends throughout the centuries but this was different.

"Well, now you do," Bonnie told her smiling. "More than my friend, you are my family now," she admitted. That's how she viewed all of them, that's why it hurt that they hadn't trusted her to do the right thing for herself and her kids.

Rebekah smiled back, tears already forming in her eyes. Bonnie had no idea just how much those words meant to her. "Really? You really mean that?"

"Yes," Bonnie reassured her. She had her blood family, witches that shared her name and had come from all over by the summoning spell but the Originals were the family Bonnie had chosen for herself.

Rebekah threw her arms around Bonnie in a crushing hug. She not only had a good friend now but a sister. Because that's what Bonnie had become, the sister Rebekah never had. The sister she always wanted.

The two were still hugging when the door burst open.

Both girls broke apart to see Elijah carrying an unconscious Caroline into the house.

"Caroline!" Bonnie gasped. She felt so relieved and happy in that moment, it was incredible. They had done it, Caroline was back with them.

Tyler was in front of Elijah in a flash. "Care," the relief the hybrid felt was overwhelming. The smile dropped from his face as he immediately noticed how dried her skin looked. Caroline looked sick and there were visible marks on her arms and neck, bruises and burned marks as well. He felt suddenly angry, and afraid of what those bastards had done to her. He was experiencing a roller-coaster of emotions in that moment.

"What's wrong with her?" Matt asked as he too stared at Caroline's sickly complexion. His stomach dropped when he saw how weak and skinny she looked.

"She's been starved," Elijah informed him. "I will take her to a room upstairs."

"I'll get blood," Angelica said as she made her way towards the basement where the big cooler filled with blood bags was.

Elijah carried Caroline up the stairs followed closely by Tyler, Matt, and Bonnie.

Klaus strolled into the living room and went straight for the liquor cabinet. Rebekah following after him.

"So, what do we do now"? Jesse turned to Alexa, as the two were left standing alone.

"Find the pack I guess," she replied. Klaus had not given them any instructions.

"Right."

* * *

"Abby," Joanna knocked on the door again. She had been knocking on Abby's door for the past couple of minutes. "Come on Abby, you've been in there for hours. What's going on?"

Abby had stormed inside the house and locked herself in her bedroom without saying a word. Joanna had given her some time before deciding to check on her.

There was no response.

Joanna placed her hand on the doorknob and murmured a spell, there was a soft click before the door swung open.

Abby was sitting on her bed, a faraway look on her tear stained face.

Joanna immediately notice the small black leather journal next to a rectangular wooden box. "Abby," she approached her gently.

Abby turned to her with an anguished look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Joanna asked quietly as she came to stand in front of her.

"My past," Abby replied as she sniffled. She had been crying since she had arrived and she couldn't seem to stop.

Joanna got on her knees in front of her and watched her curiously. "What do you mean?"

More tears spilled down Abby's cheeks. "I thought I had buried it," she began her voice breaking. "I thought I had escaped it, but…." Her entire body shook uncontrollably.

"Tell me," Joanna urged taking Abby's hands in hers. She used her magic to shut the door and locked it. She also murmured a silencing spell, to make their conversation private. The house was filled with many Bennett witches now, from all over.

"Bonnie is going to hate me…" Abby cried harder. "She's going to know."

"Why do you say that? What happened?"

"Do you remember Charlotte?" Abby asked suddenly.

"The little girl we found with Kyra, yes." A sweet and charming child. Joanna had also learned from Lucy that Charlotte had practically been adopted by Bonnie. The two were very attached it seemed. No one really knew where Charlotte had come from but there was no doubt she was a Bennett witch.

"She has the mark," Abby murmured fearfully.

"The mark?" Joanna didn't know what Abby was talking about.

Abby took a deep breath. "That little girl has been marked for death," she confessed in a whisper. "The coven who made that mark is going to come for her, they never leave a job unfinished," Abby told her with certainty. "They will come for her, I know they will and when they do Bonnie…." A tremble rolled down her body. Memories long ago buried assaulted her brain. "I should've known, why didn't I see it before? Why didn't I sense the mark when I met her?"

"Abby what are you-"

A sudden thought occurred to her. "How did she escaped them?" Abby wondered out loud. "No one has ever escaped, it's impossible. Once the victim has been marked there is no going back…"

"Why would they mark an innocent child for death?" Joanna questioned trying to make sense of what Abby was rambling. "Who would do such a thing?" She didn't know Charlotte that much but she seemed sweet and loving. There was such an endearing innocence in that little girl. She couldn't imagine anyone wishing her harm.

"It's what they do," Abby replied. There was a detached and cold look on her face as she spoke. "They mark their victims, link them together when there is more than one, and then they sacrifice them in order to obtain more power. Humans, witches, werewolves, vampires, you name it…"

"How do you know so much about this coven?" Joanna asked her. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She prayed that she was wrong.

Abby pressed her lips together and looked away, staring at the wall behind Joanna's shoulder.

Joanna squeezed her hands and brought her attention back to her, "Abby, tell me."

"I was once a member of that coven," Abby confessed her deepest, darkest secret. The secret she had kept buried for so many years, the reason her mother had never spoken to her again, the reason she had ben shun from the Bennett coven long before she had become a vampire. The reason she had been so terrified when Klaus threatened to divulge her past. Because she couldn't bear the thought of Bonnie discovering her sins.

Joanna gasped and let go of her hands. "You don't mean to say that…" she placed a trembling hand over her mouth as she stared at her cousin with absolute horror.

"I've killed people," Abby admitted feeling ashamed and dirty. She was a vile creature and when her daughter learned the truth, Bonnie would look at her with disgust. "I sacrificed innocent people in my quest to become more powerful." After desiccating Mikael, she had lost herself in dark magic, in that addictive power that had consumed her and blinded her to everything.

Abby Bennett's hands were stained with blood, the blood of countless of innocents.

 _You are no longer my daughter_ , Sheila had told her on that horrible day. That terrible day when she had broken her mother's heart, when her ambition, and her stupidity had put Bonnie's life in danger.

Abby closed her eyes wishing she could erase the memory of that horrible day.

But she couldn't.

The pain of her sins overwhelmed her and threatened to swallow her whole.

* * *

Bonnie threw the empty blood bags on the trash as well as the plastic bags with the clothes Caroline had been wearing. She sighed, the past couple of hours had been draining. He heart ached for Caroline. She had been through a lot and she hadn't even known, until recently. Bonnie felt so sad and even guilty.

Caroline was sleeping now. They had fed her with an IV. She had looked so pale and weak, she hardly looked like the Caroline Bonnie remembered. Caroline with her bubbly personality and happy smile. She looked almost unrecognizable. Once Elijah had placed her on the bed and Bonnie had gotten a good look at her face she had been horrified by the skinny, ashy looking, and decrepit creature on the bed.

 _That's not Caroline_ , she had almost blurted out. It was obvious that Caroline had been put through a lot and now the burning question in everyone's mind was just how much psychological damaged she had suffered.

"How is she?"

Bonnie spun around at the sound of Klaus's voice. She hadn't even sensed him approaching.

"Sleeping," Bonnie answered moving closer towards the hybrid. "Tyler and Matt are with her. Elijah says that her body needs time to heal and recover." She had been drugged too which is why she hadn't woken at all in the past few hours.

Caroline had presented signs of torture and because of her weak state and the lack of blood in her system, the bruises, burns, and cuts on her skin had not healed. Bonnie had cried as she helped as much as she could to clean her up. Between, Lucy, Angelica, Bonnie, and Tyler they had cleaned Caroline's body and placed ointments on her wounds to help speed up the healing process.

Tyler had offered to give Caroline his blood but Elijah refused. He had warned them that because Caroline had been without blood for weeks, months, they had to feed her slowly and gently and that giving her witch or vampire blood would be counterproductive as there was a risk that she could turn into a ripper if she was feed too much after being starved for so long.

"They tortured her," Bonnie couldn't stop the tears forming in her eyes. "Klaus she has so many burns and cuts and-" It was horrible.

This time, Klaus didn't hesitate, he flashed towards Bonnie and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her trembling body and cradling her to his chest. He didn't say anything, he wasn't exactly sure where they stood now but he offered her comfort with his warm embrace. He held her tenderly and breathed in her scent, that familiar and intoxicating scent that drove him crazy. The wolf in him was displeased that while his scent still clung to her like a second skin, it was faded, washed out with the time they had been apart.

 _Claim her_ , his treacherous mind whispered. _Spread her over that counter and-_

Klaus easily silenced the urges his wolf nature demanded. Now was not the time.

Bonnie buried her face against the crook of his neck, allowing herself to be comforted by him. She hadn't realized how much she had needed his arms around her, until that moment. She had missed him so much. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.

She pulled away after a few minutes, but she remained standing close to him. There were still some things they needed to discuss.

"What's the catch?"

Klaus stared down at her face. "What do you mean?"

Bonnie gave him a knowing look. "Come on, you really expect me to believe that you and Elijah handed Isaac Navarro to his brother just like that." She knew them better than that. Both of them were devious and she better than anyone knew, Klaus would not pass the opportunity of hurting the Navarro brothers.

Klaus's lips curved into a smirk. "The Navarro brothers will have a very important choice to make in regards to their brother's life," he told her cryptically.

Bonnie stared into his mischievous blue eyes, trying to figure out what they had done. "A choice in regards to Isaac's life…" she trailed off, her mind racing with the possibilities. "You didn't?" she gasped as a particular possibility slammed through her like a thunderbolt.

"I didn't," Klaus replied with a very satisfied grin. "Elijah did."

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"What's wrong with him?" Victor asked as he stood by Isaac's bed.

The Traveler woman, Maria had her hands on his brother's forehead and was murmuring quietly, trying to find out what was wrong.

Isaac laid on the bed whimpering from time to time and murmuring incoherent words. He had blinked his eyes open a couple of times but all he said was "…Thirsty…" and then he had fallen unconscious again.

Luis thought it was the drugs the Originals had kept him sedated with but he wasn't sure. Which is why he had called Maria to come and check him. The Travelers had a vast knowledge of plants and the drugs that could be made from them.

While Maria worked on Isaac, Luis stood by his brother's bed, a worried look on his face as he waited for some good news. _What had those monsters done to him?_

Franco was out on an important meeting and would be returning later in the evening. Luis wanted Isaac to be better by then, so all brothers could talk and plan their next move. The time for the takeover had come, they couldn't keep on waiting anymore. And they needed Isaac, the family needed to be united in the battles to come.

"Why isn't he waking up?" Victor asked impatiently. He didn't like the sickly look on his brother's face. He looked almost dead.

Maria's eyes suddenly snapped open, a horrified look on her face. She finally realized exactly what was wrong with Isaac.

"What is it?" Luis questioned her.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Victor asked almost at the same time. "Can you cure him?"

She looked nervously between both brothers. She wasn't sure how they were going to take the news.

"Speak," Luis ordered.

"Your brother," Maria began as she looked down at Isaac's pale and sickly face. _Just say it,_ she thought. She still took a couple of seconds and took a deep breath before she continued. "Your brother is in transition."

"What?" Victor blinked rapidly thinking he heard wrong.

"No…." Luis muttered staring at his younger brother with horror. That couldn't be true. She had to be wrong.

"Your brother is in transition," Maria repeated, looking nervously at the two of them. "He needs to drink human blood in order to live-"

"To become a monster, you mean," Luis growled, his hands balling into fists. "How…" he wondered. It was something that had to had happen recently. If Isaac was still in transition, they must have turned him around the same time of the meeting. _Fucking Elijah Mikaelson,_ he thought his eyes gleaming as the anger he felt fueled the wolf inside him.

"He died with vampire blood in his system and now he needs blood in order to complete the transition," Maria told them. "He needs to drink human blood."

"And if he doesn't?" Victor asked in a small voice. He felt out of a shaky breath, like he had been punched right in the stomach.

"He will die."

Victor closed his eyes and stumbled down onto a near chair.

Luis was shaking from the rage he felt boiling in his veins. _You will regret this,_ he vowed angrily. _Wait until you see my surprise._

The Navarro's had been prepared for a surprised attack, but they had not anticipated that before going to the meeting point, Elijah had fed Isaac his blood and snapped his neck. By the time, Luis arrived with Caroline, Isaac was already in transition. Elijah had exchanged him for Caroline without Luis noticing what was going on.

From the moment, Luis took his brother home, Isaac was on borrowed time. And now, the Navarro brothers had a choice to make, to either allow their brother to become the one thing they hated or let him die and lose him forever.

Either way, the Mikaelson's had bested them.

* * *

 _A/N: Abby's past is finally coming to light and the Navarro's have a very hard choice to make. We'll be seeing more of the Bennett witches in the upcoming chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed this one._

 _If anyone is interested, I wrote a new story called Forbidden, it's an AU that I'm very excited about. Check it out!_

 _Thank-you so much for all your continued support. See you next time!_


	49. Chapter 49

**I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

For their first date, Elijah took Lucy to a Jazz club in Canal street. They sat at a candle lit table enjoying a bottle of wine and listening the to the trumpeter and singer delighting the crowd. They didn't do much talking as they watched the live performance of the band.

Lucy had never been to a jazz club before. She sat completely enraptured, eyes on the stage and heart pounding with the beat of the music.

Elijah never took his eyes off her. Enjoying the look on her face, the way her eyes lit up with excitement and her lips parted as she sat listening to the live band. He watched the different emotions flickering across her face as the music touched her soul. If Lucy was enchanted by the music, then Elijah was enchanted by her.

They had dinner afterwards and conversation was kept light. They talked a little bit about everything but they made it a point not to discuss the looming war, or any of the political maneuvers of the supernatural species. This was a time to leave the troubles brewing behind and focus on getting to know each other better.

After dinner, they walked through the crowded streets, enjoying the city lights, and talking quietly.

"This is the city where we lived the longest in," Elijah told her as they walked hand in hand. "Father always chased us out, no matter where we settled, he would always find us. But we managed to stay here for two centuries."

Lucy didn't miss the sadness in his voice as he spoke. She didn't know much about his parents just what she had heard from Rebekah and Bonnie. The Mikaelson patriarch was a touchy subject for the siblings, she knew that.

"Have you always been at Klaus's side?" Lucy wondered.

"There have been times when we went our separate ways but we always find our way back to each other."

"You feel responsible for him," Lucy noted.

"Isn't that the burden of every eldest child?" With Finn being stuck in a box for the majority of his vampire life, Elijah had always felt as the eldest sibling. As the one who had to be responsible for the rest. That's something he didn't think was going to change.

"Yes," Lucy knew that well. "You know when my sister was born I was jealous. I felt like my parents wanted to replace me," she shook her head at the memory. "But I came to love her. We did everything together, we were friends, partners in crime." Her face lit up with happiness as she thought back to her childhood.

"Did you get into a lot of trouble as a child?" Elijah asked curiously.

"Are you kidding? Trouble is my middle name. I was a bad kid, I am pretty sure all the grey hairs my mom has is because of me." Her eyes gleamed with mischief as she stared at his face. "Did you know, I once burned down half of my school?"

"Why?" Elijah stared at her in surprise.

"It was the day before finals, I wasn't ready for my Math exam. I hate Math," Lucy made a face. "So, I decided to start a little fire, have the school close for a day or two, and get more time to study. Bad idea," Lucy told him. "I used my magic to create the fire but I lost control and half the school burned down in the process."

"How old where you?"

"Fifteen," Lucy replied. "They could never find out the cause of the fire but my mom always suspected it was me. I denied it of course."

"Did you try to put the fire out?"

"No. I ran out of there before I burned along with the school." Looking back on it, she could have used her magic to try and put the fire out but she got so scared she never thought of it. Luckily, no one got hurt. "What about you?" she asked him in turn. "Did you ever do anything wild or crazy. Have you always been so serious?"

Elijah pondered her question for a few silent minutes. Thinking back on his life, on his childhood. "I think I spent the majority of my childhood ensuring my siblings didn't get hurt or killed with their antics." Kol in particular was a magnet for trouble.

"Always the responsible brother," Lucy said in a teasing tone.

"Indeed."

"Well, don't worry. I'll get you to loosen up."

Elijah arched an eyebrow.

Lucy offered him a saucy grin. She stopped walking and let go of his hand.

Elijah watched her, feeling a strange nervous flutter in his stomach.

"This has been a great date so far," Lucy said as she placed her palm against the jacket of his black suit. As always Elijah was elegantly dressed in a tailored suit. Her fingers trailed up his red tie. "There is only one thing that is missing."

"Is that so?" Elijah met her eyes. Oh, he knew exactly what was missing for their date to be perfect. It was something he had been wanting to do since he saw her come down the stairs in that stunning red dress that hugged every inch of her curves like a glove.

Lucy nodded. She gave him one heated look before she grabbed his face with both of her hands and kissed him. It was what she had been dying to do since their date started.

This was not a soft touch of the lips like the one he gave her the previous day. This kiss was an all-consuming fire that erupted inside both of them the moment their lips came together.

Elijah wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him.

Lucy hooked her arms around his neck in turn and parted her lips for him, giving him the access he needed.

Elijah cradled the back of her head as his tongue plunged past her parted glossy lips. Lucy moaned and pressed her body even closer to his. This was what they both had been wanting to do for a long time now, what they had been waiting for.

They kissed with the fire and the passion that had been building from the moment they met. They had starved themselves of this contact and now that they finally gave in, it was electrifying. Every nerve in their bodies came alive with that kiss.

Lucy felt lightheaded and dizzy. She had been kissed before but never like this. No kiss had ever made her feel like this. She felt like she was on top of the world, like she had conquered the highest mountain. All the kisses she had received and given before this one paled in comparison, their memory washed away completely by Elijah's lips, by the taste of him. While others had ignited plenty of desire in her, Elijah's kiss touched her heart and her very soul.

They had to pull apart eventually.

Lucy was gasping. Her eyes wide and filled with happiness and wonder as she stared at him. Her body trembled by the emotions cursing through her. Her knees felt weak and her heart was hammering so hard against her chest, it actually hurt.

Elijah was no better, the usually composed Original was shaking. He had known passion, he had known lust, but this, it was beyond anything he had ever felt before. _Who knew that a single kiss could shake him to the core?_

The two stared at each other. Lucy catching her breath, Elijah trying to regain his composure. Neither of them said anything, they were completely under a spell.

People walked around them. The streets were alive with chatter, music, smells, and magic. It surrounded them from all sides. But Lucy and Elijah were completely oblivious to it. In that moment, the world was reduced to the two of them.

Lucy smiled at him, her body on fire, her heart beating with so much joy she felt ready to cry. The intensity of their kiss was overwhelming. She thought she had been prepared for what it would be like, but the truth was that she wasn't. She had not been prepared for the feelings he evoked inside her. _Is this what it feels like to be in love?_ Lucy wondered as she watched him mesmerized.

Elijah smiled back, feeling happy and nervous and completely captivated by the beautiful and fascinating woman standing before him. The desire, the need, the longing he felt for her had him feeling like a young human man again.

For a single moment, the two of them stood staring at each other, an array of emotions flickering over both of their faces. And then they were in each other's arms, mouths pressed together hungrily as they kissed again.

They kissed again, and again, and again…

Now, that they knew the taste of each other's mouths, they wanted more.

* * *

"Mon, can you please call me. I need to talk to you." Bonnie left a message before hanging up. Since her mother had run off earlier that morning, she had been refusing to answer Bonnie's calls. _What are you hiding?_ Bonnie wondered. As much as she wanted to head towards the mansion where Abby and the other Bennett witches were staying, she didn't want to leave Caroline. Bonnie wanted to talk to her friend, and make sure Caroline was okay.

"Hey," Matt said as he stepped out of Caroline's room and into the hallway.

"Hey," Bonnie greeted. "How is she?" She had been going back and forth between Caroline's room and Davina's room, checking on both of them while also keeping Charlotte entertained. Thank-fully Josh (Klaus's latest minion as he introduced himself) and Belle were at the compound. They had kept Davina company before she fell asleep, the cold medicine made her drowsy. The two were currently with Charlotte playing a game.

"Still sleeping," Matt responded as he walked towards her.

"It's been hours," Bonnie commented, the worry in her voice more than evident. Caroline had not woken up since Elijah brought her earlier that day.

"The lack of blood, the drugs they injected her with, who knows how much longer she'll sleep." Matt said. There were many reasons why Caroline didn't wake up. She was exhausted and even as a vampire it was going to take a while for her to recover from her ordeal. Tyler was with her. The hybrid had never left her side.

"I guess." Bonnie still worried though. While she felt relieved to have Caroline back with them, she also felt anxious about her reaction. Caroline didn't know she was pregnant. Bonnie worried how she would take the news. There were so many things she wanted to talk to Caroline about.

Silence descended over them.

"I'm sorry," Matt blurted out.

Bonnie stared at his face. He looked guilty and ashamed.

"For lying to you. I…" Matt looked away for a moment. "I'm really sorry," he said again as he turned to face her. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I…we…just wanted the best for you."

"Don't do that again," Bonnie told him in a serious voice. "Even if you think you are doing it for my own good. I don't want you to lie to me, Matt." She was still visibly upset. "I get that you were trying to keep me safe," she said. Bonnie understood why they did it but that didn't mean she had to like it. "But don't ever do that again."

"I promise I won't do it again," Matt said sincerely.

Bonnie nodded.

Matt rushed to her and embraced her. Bonnie hugged him back. They were friends no matter what.

A low menacing growl startled them.

Bonnie and Matt broke apart immediately.

Klaus stood at the end of the hall, amber eyes set on Matt. The look on his face was one of pure fury.

Matt swallowed nervously and took a step back away from Bonnie. He was human, he didn't have Bonnie's witch senses to alert him to the potent and dangerous aura of the hybrid but his survival instincts did kicked in. "…I…uh…" he cleared his throat. Klaus's yellow eyes could be so scary. "I'm going to check on Caroline." He took off running towards Caroline's room.

"What's wrong with you?" Bonnie snapped as soon as Matt was safely inside the room. Because really, Klaus's possessive nature was becoming a little too much. First with Tyler and now Matt. They were her friends, he knew that. There was no reason for him to be jealous. But judging the emotions flowing through the bond Klaus was not only extremely jealous, he felt murderous.

"Vivian is downstairs and wishes to speak with you." Klaus told her while completely ignoring her question. He turned his back to her and made his way out of the hall and towards the stairs.

Bonnie let out a big sigh and followed him.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Franco looked like a statue as Luis explained what they had done to get Isaac back. He had returned from his meeting to find both of his brothers waiting for him. They told him they wanted to discuss something very important. This was the last thing Franco was expecting.

Victor sat on the living room couch like a dutiful child. He still couldn't believe it. His brother, his baby brother had been turned into a monster, an abomination. It couldn't be true. He was still hoping he was going to wake up at any moment and realize this was just a dream, a horrible dream.

"You plotted behind my back," Franco's eyes were fueled with anger as he looked back and forth between both of his brothers. "You gave away a valuable hostage to our greatest enemies," he hissed.

"To get our brother back," Luis defended their actions. "Everything we did was to ensure Isaac's return."

"And all for what?" Franco questioned angrily. "You got him back and now he's on his way to become an abomination. His blood tainted by those monsters!"

Luis looked away. His hands balled into fists, he felt angry, he felt sad, and above all, he felt disappointed with himself. He should have known better. He should have seen this coming.

"You were bested by Elijah Miakelson," Franco spat. "Right now, the Mikaelson's are probably laughing at your stupidity."

"He will regret it," Luis turned back to face Franco, his eyes glinting with rage and malice. "Mark my words, they will all regrets this."

"Were you not my blood, you would have been executed for this, both of you." Franco hissed before walking towards the opposite side of the room and staring out of the glass door that led to the garden. Those who betrayed him died and the fact that his brothers had acted without consulting him, was a betrayal in his eyes. They were lucky to share his blood, it was the only reason they were spared from his wrath.

Luis didn't say anything. Oh, he wanted to. But he bit his tongue. He knew better than to challenge Franco.

Silence descended over the living room.

Victor stood up and cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him. "What are we going to do about Isaac?" Time was of the essence. Their brother needed them, they shouldn't be wasting their time fighting.

Franco turned back to face him. "Where is he?"

"In his room," Victor informed him nervously. "He only has a couple more hours left to complete the transition." He stared at Franco with anguish. "We can't let him die Franco." He pleaded with his eyes for Franco to understand. "He's our brother. We have to save him. Please," he begged.

"I want to see him," Franco said.

Victor and Luis exchanged worried looks.

Franco didn't wait for them so say anything, he strolled out of the living room and made his way towards Isaac's room.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"My dear, how lovely to have you back." Aunt Vivian greeted Bonnie as soon as she stepped inside the parlor. Her aunt kissed both of her cheeks and took her hands in hers. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank-you." Bonnie smiled at her.

"Good." Aunt Vivian let go of her hands. With a snap of her fingers the doors closed and a silencing spell was put in place. "We have some very important things to discuss." She took a seat on the leather chair, right across from the sofa where Bonnie decided to sit.

"The Bennett coven," Bonnie began. That was her priority. She couldn't keep wasting time. The Bennett witches had been summoned and the time had come for the coven to come together once more.

"Yes," Aunt Vivian agreed. "We need to officially activate the coven. All the Bennett witches are finally here and they are quite eager to meet you." She smiled at Bonnie. "I have organized a little get together so that you can meet all of them and we can get going with officially recognizing you as the queen of the coven," she told Bonnie. "Once we get that formality out of the way, we will focus on destroying all those we wish you harm."

Vivian had already started training many of the Bennett's that had arrived, specially the younger generation, who didn't take things seriously. While some of the Bennett's were seasoned witches, there were plenty of young ones who didn't have the experience, knowledge, or magical abilities necessary for what was coming. Vivian had made it her mission to instruct them in the art of war.

Bonnie nodded. She felt nervous and excited about meeting all the Bennett witches that had come from all over because of the summoning spell. "Lucy said that they had to accept me as their leader and swear alliance," Bonnie said as she recalled the conversation she had with Lucy about the coven.

"That's right. The first part was the summoning," Aunt Vivian explained. "The second part consists of the summoned witches to officially recognize you as their leader and queen. All the Bennett witches that accept you as their queen and agree to be part of the coven will make an oath of alliance. Once they do that the Bennett coven will be officially activated."

"What if they don't accept me?" Bonnie asked nervously.

"I am not going to lie to you Bonnie," Aunt Vivian told her in a very serious voice. "There are some Bennett witches who do not want to be part of the coven, they have their reasons and they will explain them to you. Others are not sure if they want to or not. You must persuade them to join you. But don't forget that there are also many more like me, my granddaughters, Kyra, Joanna, Lucy, Lenore, who are more than ready and willing fight for you."

Aunt Vivian stood up and moved to sit on the couch next to Bonnie. She took both of her hands in hers. "You must be firm. You must be honest and stay true to yourself," She advised. "The Bennett coven has not been active in centuries. For many witches in our family this is a frightening and exciting time. Some of them want to help you because they know it's their duty but there are others who have concerns in regards to…" she looked down at her baby bump.

"My supernatural pregnancy and the father of said babies," Bonnie finished for her. In the eyes of many witches her children were abominations. And just because the Bennett witches summoned shared her blood, didn't mean they would be okay with her pregnancy or that she was married to a vampire.

"Centuries of hatred, violence, and prejudice between both species are not easily forgotten," Aunt Vivian said. "The most important thing is that they are here. When you speak to them, speak from the heart. Listen to their concerns and let them know what you want out of the coven, what you expect from them, what you wish to accomplish."

Bonnie listened carefully to everything Aunt Vivian was saying.

"Do not be afraid to speak your mind," her aunt advised. "Do not be afraid to show them what you are made out of. Respect them yes, listen certainly, but also remember who you are." She squeezed both of her hands. "You are the queen of the coven, you were chosen for a reason Bonnie. Whether they are part of the coven or not, the Bennett witches are bound to serve and obey the queen. Don't be scared or intimidated to remind them of that," Aunt Vivian told her in a fierce voice. "You are the queen, never forget that and never let others forget it either."

Bonnie nodded. "Thank-you," she felt emotional by all the things Aunt Vivian was telling her. "I really appreciate your advice." She felt extremely grateful for it.

"That's what I am here for," Aunt Vivian told her with a soft smile. "How different things would be if you had known from the beginning about all of this." She raised one of her hands and touched her face. "I never understood why Sheila never told you anything. She waited until it was too late."

"She did her best," Bonnie defended her grandmother.

"I'm sure she did," Aunt Vivian said with a smile but it did not reach her eyes. She secretly blamed Sheila and Abby for Bonnie's lack of preparation and training for her role. "There is no time for ifs. We must live in the now," She told Bonnie. What was done was done and there was no point in dwelling over it. "I am going to help you," Aunt Vivian promised. "Know that I am here for whatever you need."

Bonnie smiled. "Thank-you."

"There is something you must know as well," Aunt Vivian cleared her throat. "Things that have been going on in the city while you were away and also something that I took the liberty of doing."

"What did you do?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"I contacted Vincent Griffith and he agreed to arrange a meeting between you and Josephine LaRue, the Regent of the witches," Aunt Vivian informed her.

Bonnie opened her mouth but aunt Vivian cut her off.

"She will accept of course," Aunt Vivian sounded very confident about it. "But you need to be prepared. She will question you, she will try to see what lies behind the name and reputation you have made for yourself in the past few months." She stared into Bonnie's eyes as she spoke. "This meeting is going to be extremely important Bonnie, it will determine whether the Regent becomes a friend or a foe. We want her to be a friend."

"Yes."

"We need to make alliances with the witch covens in the city, Leonor is working on that now. We need to be at the top of our game, especially with what's brewing at the moment."

"What's brewing in the city?" Bonnie questioned her aunt.

"The witches are plotting a little revolution," Aunt Vivian replied. "It seems some of them are not too happy with the way things are and feel that they deserve a piece of the cake. Now, here's what you need to know…"

For the next couple of hours, Bonnie and Vivian talked about the witches, the summit they were planning and the witches that had gone missing in recent days. Vivian also shared with Bonnie the strategy she had in mind. And they also talked about what Bonnie needed to prepare for the meeting with the Bennett witches and officially reinstate the coven.

It was a very insightful conversation and long after Vivian left, Bonnie couldn't help but feel grateful to have such intelligent and formidable woman by her side.

* * *

Elijah's mouth placed open mouth kisses alongside her neck.

Lucy moaned, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth of his body as he pressed his chest against her back. She stood in front of the big bed with satin sheets, trembling as if it were her first time. She was no blushing maid but in that moment, she felt like one.

After their passionate kiss on the street, Elijah had taken her to an apartment he owned in the Quarter. Heated kisses were exchanged along the way but no more words were said. Neither of them wanted to break the spell of the moment. They both knew what they wanted. They had been waiting long enough.

Tonight, was the night.

The room was surrounded in darkness, saved for a few candles near the nightstand and over the dresser. Lucy lit them up with her mid as Elijah discarded his jacket and threw it on top of a chair in the corner of the room.

He took his time undressing her, slowly lowering the zipper of her blood colored dress, planting kisses along the back of her neck and shoulder blades as he pulled it down her body, until she was left in her matching red bra and panties.

Lucy shivered and turned around to face him.

Their eyes met.

Lucy held his gaze as she helped him out of his dark shirt, her hands trembling a little as she undid the buttons and caressed the hard plains of his chest. _Was this really happening?_ She wondered briefly. _Were they actually doing this?_ She had been fantasizing about going to bed with him for the longest time and now that it was actually happening, she couldn't believe it.

Elijah lowered his mouth to hers.

Yes, it was happening. This was real. They were really doing this. His lips on hers confirmed that this was very real.

Lucy felt so happy. Her toes curled in pleasure as he deepened the kiss.

Elijah kissed her mouth, her jaw, her neck, before lowering his mouth to the swell of her breasts. His hands rested on her hips, keeping her in place when her knees threatened to give out under his skillful mouth.

Lucy moaned as her body was racked with shudders of pleasure. She liked the feel of his hands and his mouth on her skin. _Why hadn't they done this before?_ She couldn't believe they had waited this long.

One of Elijah's hands moved over her back, easily unclasping her bra and throwing it aside.

Lucy whimpered as she felt his hands on her breasts. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his hands on her skin. Finally, after so long of wanting this, he was touching her.

Elijah palmed one of her breasts while he lowered his mouth to the other. "So beautiful," he murmured against her heated skin before he sucked on one of her nipples.

Lucy moaned.

She completely surrendered to his touch, to his lips. It felt wonderful. She didn't want this feeling to end. If the world were to end today, she would die as the happiest woman on earth.

Elijah pulled his mouth away from her and looked into her eyes. His lips curved into a smirk. That was the only warning she got.

A loud gasp escaped Lucy as she suddenly found herself on the bed.

Elijah stood in front of her, his eyes trailing over her exposed flesh.

Goose bumps formed on her skin as he caressed her with his eyes. She was naked except for the red panties, her heart was beating wildly against her chest and her dark nipples were hard, begging to be touched by him.

"Take your clothes off," Lucy ordered as she met his eyes. The look and grin she gave him was positively sinful. She wanted him on the bed with her, naked.

Elijah grinned and used his quick speed to do as she ordered. And then, he was on the bed, his mouth against hers once more, his hard and naked body on top of hers.

Lucy's hands were eager as they moved over his skin, touching him everywhere while they kissed passionately. She caressed his shoulders, his chest, and his stomach, moving down to that hard part of him that demanded her attention.

Elijah groaned against her mouth as she stroked him.

Lucy pulled away, needing some air. Her swollen lips curled into a smirk as she used her magic to flip their positions.

Elijah looked up startled by the sudden power that pinned him to the bed. He had not been expecting that but he found himself smiling nonetheless.

Lucy grinned. "I love magic," she whispered as she crawled on top of him.

Elijah's eyes moved over her voluptuous body, marveling at her beauty and the power he felt radiating off her skin. She looked beautiful on top of him. A sensual siren who had him completely under her thrall. All he wanted was to worship every inch of her. He planned to do exactly just that.

Lucy pinned his arms above his head as she lowered her head and kissed his mouth. She kissed him with the confidence of a woman who knew what she wanted. There was nothing shy about her. The nerves that had invaded her at first were long gone as she gave in to the passion, to the desire that boiled her blood, to the need she felt for him.

Elijah protested when she pulled away.

Lucy kept him in place with her magic and trailed kisses down his chin, his neck, and chest, going lower and lower, teasing and tasting that one-thousand-year-old firm and beautiful flesh. She marveled at his strong and powerful body. Not even the greatest Renaissance artist could have carved such perfect creature.

Elijah closed his eyes enjoying the feel of her hot mouth on his skin, and the thorough way she explored every inch of him. He came alive under her, groaning and moaning as he enjoyed the delicious torture of her lips. He was the kind of creature who rarely surrendered, who loved being in control all the time. But in that moment, he did. Elijah gave in to her touches and kisses.

As she lost herself in the exploration of his body, Lucy lowered her guard. The moment he felt her magic give, Elijah used his vampiric strength to flip her on her back again.

It was his turn now.

Lucy gave a surprised gasp that was cut off by his mouth.

Elijah kissed her hungrily, sucking on her bottom lip.

She returned his kiss eagerly. She could spend the rest of her life kissing him, Lucy thought dreamily.

Elijah kissed his way down her neck and chest, taking his sweet time exploring her breasts and sucking hard on the dark tips.

Lucy sighed, hands caressing his shoulders and the sides of his arms. Her blood was on fire. She felt feverish, lightheaded, foolish even as she lost herself in all the sensations and emotion he evoked in her.

Elijah kissed his way down her navel and lower still, to the place where she needed him the most.

Lucy arched her back, closing her eyes, and moaning in ecstasy as he parted her legs and buried his face between her thighs. Her entire body shook as his lips touched her most intimate place.

Her moans and cries echoed around the room.

The candles flickered, casting shadows over the walls. Small current of magic floated around the room as well, as Lucy's body was assaulted by his expert mouth.

Lucy threw her head to the side, one hand fisting on his dark hair while the other grabbed the silky bed sheets. "Elijah!" she screamed his name as her body came undone under his sinful tongue. Wave after wave of immeasurable pleasure rocked through her, Elijah didn't stop, he drank all of her.

When Lucy opened her eyes, she was shaking. Her body was covered in sweat and her breath was ragged. She practically melted against the silky bed sheets.

Elijah crawled his way over her trembling body, kissing and licking her skin. He couldn't get enough of her. He touched her cheek and smiled down at her.

Lucy's heart exploded at the way he was looking at her. She felt like the most precious thing in the world at the tender look he gave her. Lucy smiled back as she cradled him between her legs. They both groaned as their bodies aligned themselves together.

The two lovers shared a secret smile, their forehead touching, and lips grazing against one another.

Elijah pinned her arms above her head, lacing their fingers together.

He slid inside her in one hard thrust.

Lucy cried out, her nails sinking into his skin.

The entire room was filled with the sounds of their pleasure.

Their gasps and cries echoing all around as the bliss of finally being one took over.

The night was young and they were both just getting started.

* * *

 **The compound**

"Aunt Vivian thinks that the witch summoning is the perfect place for the Bennett coven to make its debut into witch society," Bonnie told Klaus later that night as she put him up to date with her conversation with her aunt.

"That aunt of yours is quite devious," Klaus murmured as he leaned back against the chair and propped his feet on the desk. Bonnie sat across from him. The only light inside his study came from the fireplace.

"She even contacted the Regent's successor to arrange a meeting. She's convinced Madame LaRue will agree to meet with me."

"She will," Klaus agreed. "She can refuse to see other lesser witches and vampires but she won't refuse to meet with you. You are an elder witch now, a queen. She will have to meet with you, even if she doesn't want to."

"I guess now we just have to wait for her to set the date and time."

Klaus nodded.

"Did you know about the missing witches?" Bonnie questioned.

"I knew about Katie's disappearance but I didn't know there were others." He had to talk to Thierry and Riley about that.

"The girl dating the vampire, right?" Bonnie recalled that Klaus mentioned Katie and Thierry in passing. She was a French Quarter witch and had helped Klaus escape the sanatorium when the Seer kidnapped him and his siblings.

"Yes."

"Aunt Vivian thinks something dark is brewing in the city. She's not sure if the missing witches are connected with the 'little revolution' as she calls it. She's investigating though."

"Riley and Thierry are investigating as well," Klaus informed her. "The witches have not been so forthcoming with us." With any luck, Bonnie's aunt would find out more useful information. So far, Thierry and Riley had hit dead ends with their investigation, the younger vampire was going crazy over his girlfriend's disappearance.

Bonnie looked away from him and stared at the fire.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to meet with the Bennett witches as well," Bonnie murmured as she continued to stare at the dancing flames.

"You're nervous," Klaus noted. The bond was open on both sides now and he could easily feel her emotions once more.

"Nervous, excited," Bonnie confessed as she turned back to face him. "They will have to choose if they want to be part of the Bennett coven or not. I guess I'm just scared that they won't want to. What if they don't want to fight for me, for us," she corrected. "What if most of them decide to leave?"

It was one of her biggest fears, that the witches of her family would not be able to see past their prejudice of vampires and refuse to follow her because of it. Because of her connection to the Mikaelson family.

Klaus stood up and made his way towards her. "You already have a group of loyal Bennett witches by your side," he told her. He didn't think Lucy, Joanna, Lenore, or Vivian were planning to go anywhere. They had already accepted Bonnie as their queen and were more than ready to fight for her. "They are your blood, your family, and even if they don't approve of me, I think they will stand by your side. The Bennett's protect their own after all." He said as he crouched down in front of her.

Bonnie smiled, thinking of the words Ayana had said to Elijah. Remembering that made her feel better. She also recalled the advice aunt Vivian had given her. "I guess I'll have to charm them."

"I'm sure you will. No one can possibly resist that Bonnie charm." He certainly hadn't.

They shared a smile.

"You have to meet with the witches and I have to meet with the Alphas of the werewolf packs that have arrived in the city," Klaus said with a thoughtful look. "I have to ensure they choose me as the leader of the species."

"You're nervous," Bonnie could feel his apprehension through the bond. He also had a big test of sorts coming up. The two of them had to prove that they were right for the positions they had been born into.

Klaus looked away from her briefly. "I have been a vampire for a thousand years, even after breaking my curse, I am still considered a vampire. In the eyes of the wolves, I am tainted by my vampirism. And the competition I have, is from an ancient wolf bloodline, a wolf through and through." One who was more than ready to claim the crown for himself.

"That Kilian guy?" When he visited her at the safe house, Klaus told her about Kilian and his pack.

Klaus nodded. "Ishmael thinks he already has the alliance of the packs and the meeting it's just a formality to recognize him as king."

"And do you believe that as well?" Bonnie suddenly felt worried. What if the wolves ended up accepting Kilian instead of Klaus? No, Klaus couldn't allow that to happen.

"It's possible," Klaus shrugged. "We won't know for sure until we meet with all the pack leaders and decide the fate of the werewolf species."

"More werewolves will be coming into the city then?"

"Yes." He regarded her carefully. "It seems they're all curious about the miracle pregnancy." He reached out and placed his hand on her bump. "The news has reached all the way to Europe." He didn't like the thought of more wolves coming into the city, drawn by their children's existence. Too many supernatural in one place was a recipe for disaster, even in a city like New Orleans where the supernatural community was one of the biggest.

"You are the better option for the werewolves," Bonnie told him as she watched him carefully. "They'll be fools not to see that. You can offer more to them than Franco or Kilian or any other Alpha." The conviction in her voice was unwavering. "You are the direct descendant of Fenrir. You are the rightful king of the wolves. They will see that. You are the king the species need, not Franco or Kilian."

Klaus smiled at her words. Bonnie believed in him, she felt confident in his abilities to rule the werewolf species. It meant the world to him to know that despite the recent tension between them, he had her support.

"Well, I do have a plan in mind to sway them to my side," Klaus told her with a smirk. And if they didn't, he always took perverse pleasure in slaughtering his enemies.

Silence descended over them.

Klaus continued to gently rub her belly, listening to those two precious tiny hearts. His favorite sound in the world.

Bonnie placed her hand on top of his and studied his face carefully. In that moment, he seemed so relaxed, so content. He was staring at her bump and caressing it with infinite tenderness. It made her heart flutter with so much love for him. She liked seeing that unguarded expression on his face. Klaus rarely let his guard down, except when he was with those he trusted and loved. She felt privileged to be one of those few.

"Klaus," Bonnie began gently.

The hybrid looked up.

"Why were you jealous of Tyler and Matt?" Bonnie wondered. "You know they are my friends, right? You have no reason to be jealous just because I hug them." Klaus was very possessive of his affections but she found it ridiculous that he felt jealous of her friends.

"I don't like the thought of any men touching you," he admitted. He pulled his hand away from her belly and stood up. He walked towards the fireplace. He kept his back to her, eyes lost in the flames.

Bonnie watched him curiously. He suddenly seemed tensed and on edge. What a drastic change in a matter of seconds. "There is no need to act like a caveman, Klaus."

A small smile tugged at his lips. "The full moon is approaching." Klaus glanced at her over his shoulder. "And with it, certain _urges_ become almost unbearable," his eyes darkened with undeniable lust. "As does my possessive nature."

Bonnie shifted nervously in her seat, the room suddenly felt scorching hot. She knew exactly what kind of urges he was referring too. Every full moon had been intense between them. "Oh," she said lamely. She looked away from him, heart nearly bursting out of her chest. The memories of the full moons they had shared suddenly assaulted her brain. Heat rose to her cheeks and she unconsciously rubbed her thighs together, already feeling a slight dampness there.

Klaus smirked. He knew exactly what kind of effect he had on her and he thrived in that knowledge. He turned to face her fully and took a step closer.

"Don't…" Bonnie said. Her voice lacked the strength and the conviction to fully deter him.

Klaus grinned, keeping his eyes on hers. He took another step forward. He was every inch the predator as he approached her.

Bonnie squirmed in her seat, feeling every inch like a prey under the hybrid's heated gaze. Only Klaus could have such an effect on her with a single look.

The moment was broken when the door burst open and Rebekah flashed inside.

Bonnie stood up immediately, face hot. She felt like they had been caught in a compromising position and they hadn't even been touching!

Klaus glared at his sister. His mood immediately souring by the interruption.

Rebekah looked back and forth between them, sensing the electricity in the air. "I just thought you would like to know that Caroline is awake."

Bonnie's face lit up with happiness. She rushed out of the study without looking back.

Rebekah gave her brother a sweet smile before flashing out of there and following her friend.

Klaus sighed.

A cold shower sounded very nice in that moment.

* * *

Matt and Tyler were with Caroline when Bonnie stepped inside the room. They both had been in the room with the vampire girl when she opened her eyes. She had been disoriented and confused at first. Tyler and Matt had calmed her and reassured her that she was safe. And after drinking some blood she was definitely feeling better.

Bonnie stood nervously on the doorway, unsure on how to approach her.

"Hi," Caroline greeted her with a small smile.

"Hi," Bonnie said coming to stand by the bed.

Both girls regarded each other carefully. A lot had happened since the last time they saw each other in Mystic Falls.

Bonnie wanted to rush to her and hug her but something held her back. She stood by the bed, watching Caroline and trying to decipher the strange sensation she felt in her belly.

Caroline looked better, she seemed a bit tired but her complexion had improved and the color had returned to her cheeks. Bonnie noted the two empty blood bags on the night stand. It seemed that she had been awake for a while as she had fed.

Caroline's eyes were immediately drawn to Bonnie's stomach. Her eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open in shock as she stared at her bump. There was no mistaking that bump for a fat belly anymore. Bonnie was visibly pregnant. "You're pregnant," she blurted. "How-" she felt confused. The last time she had seen Bonnie was when they learned she had a thing with Klaus. As far as she knew vampires couldn't procreate. "I don't understand, is it-"

"Yes," Bonnie confirmed. "Klaus is the father." Might as well get everything out in the open. "I'm having twins."

Caroline blinked a couple of times, shock, disbelief, confusion, the emotions washed so clearly over her face. She looked down at the blanket covering the lower part of her body. She was in a tank top and pajama shorts that were a little too big on her. They were probably Rebekah's. She didn't know what to think or say as she processed the news.

"We'll leave you to talk," Matt said motioning for Tyler to follow him out of the room. He knew Caroline and Bonnie had not been in the best of terms when he and the witch left Mystic Falls and the two would probably feel better talking alone. "I am glad you are feeling better," he told Caroline with a smile.

Caroline nodded.

Tyler seemed reluctant to leave his girlfriend but he nodded in Matt's direction. "I'm going to get you something to eat," he told Caroline as he smiled down at her. He felt so happy to have her back, he couldn't stop grinning. "Or if you need more blood-"

"Not now," Caroline told him with a soft smile. "Later probably." She needed more blood to recuperate. While the cuts, bruises, and burns on her skin had disappeared, she still felt sluggish. She needed more blood to fully regain her strength. But she didn't want to overindulge.

"Okay," Tyler leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips.

From the doorway Rebekah watched the exchange and frowned.

Tyler offered Bonnie a small smile before he and Matt exited the room. Rebekah following after them.

The two friends were left alone.

"So," Caroline began nervously. "I want all the details."

Bonnie took a deep breath and sat next to her on the bed. "Well…"

* * *

The moment they stepped out of the room, Tyler went downstairs to see if he could get some food for Caroline but Matt and Rebekah stayed in the hallway.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked seeing the strange look on his girlfriend's face.

"Nothing, it's just…" Rebekah looked deep in thought.

"What?" Matt took her hand in his.

"It's rather odd don't you think," Rebekah was looking at him but her ears were listening to the conversation between the two friends. Her enhanced hearing allowing her to listen perfectly to everything they were saying, despite the closed door.

"What's odd?" Matt questioned.

"For someone who was starved and tortured, Caroline seems awfully jolly." Rebekah said. She had expected Caroline to flinch upon contact and yet, Tyler had held her and kissed her as soon as she woke up. Matt had given her a big bear hug as well while Rebekah stood awkwardly near the door.

Caroline seemed fine and that just didn't click in Rebekah's mind. She had been put through hell, her body bearing the marks of her torture but Caroline seemed okay. She didn't even seem scared of her new surroundings. She was taking everything pretty well. Unless she as putting up a face and pretending to be fine. _Maybe she would have a break down later?_ Some people bolted everything up inside in order to cope, maybe that's what the vampire girl was doing.

"Caroline has always been bubbly and happy," Matt said with a smile. Caroline had always been optimistic. There was also the possibility that things hadn't truly sunk in yet. She had just woken up after all. She was probably still processing everything.

"Yes, of course." Rebekah wrapped her arms around his neck. _Why should she care about the stupid baby vampire anyway?_ Rebekah thought. She shouldn't be wasting her thoughts on Caroline. The sooner she got better, the sooner they could ship her back to Mystic Falls. "Now, that your friend is awake and well, and you won't spent your time watching over her-"

"Are you jealous?" Matt placed his hands on her hips a teasing smile on his lips. He brought her body closer to his.

"Please," Rebekah scoffed. Maybe a little, she didn't like how worried Matt had been over the blonde vampire. She knew they were friends but still, she didn't like the thought of _her boyfriend_ fawning over another girl. "As your girlfriend, I simply demand your attention tonight."

"Well, in that case." Matt picked her up in his arms.

Rebekah giggled. He was pretty strong for a human. Being an athlete definitely paid off.

"I'll make it up to you." He bumped his nose against hers and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

Rebekah giggled again as he carried her to their room. They definitely need to keep making up for the time they had been apart.

All thoughts of Caroline Forbes were forgotten as the two lovers locked themselves in their room.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

Isaac was feverish, mumbling incoherent words as he laid on his bed. Maria was by his side, she had been watching over him for the past few hours.

Franco stood by the foot of the bed, a neutral expression on his face. "He looks so weak."

"The longer he goes on without blood the weaker he will become," Maria told him. She stood up from the chair next to the bed. "He needs human blood; witch blood will do as well." She was honestly surprised the Navarro brothers had not fed Isaac the blood he needed. _What were they waiting for? After everything they did to get him back, didn't they want to save him?_

"How long does a transition period last?" Franco asked curiously. The truth was he didn't know much about vampires. He hated them, he knew how to kill them, but the specifics escaped him.

"Around twenty-four hours."

"So, he has a couple more hours left," Franco muttered in a stoic tone.

"Yes." Maria frowned. Unlike the visibly agitated Victor and the worried and angry Luis, Franco was as cold as ice. He didn't look worried, he didn't look angry, he didn't seem to be feeling anything at his younger brother's predicament. He seemed so cold and distant.

Maria looked down at Isaac, feeling pity. He was so young, she couldn't imagine losing one of her brothers. She couldn't imagine being as indifferent as Franco if one of her brothers were in transition.

"Leave us," Franco ordered.

Maria nodded and exited the room.

Two guards had been placed outside the bedroom. She gave one last worried look at the young wolf on the bed before shutting the door and walking away.

"You always got into trouble," Franco muttered as he took a seat on the chair next to Isaac's bed. The one Maria had previously been occupying. "Father always spoiled you rotten."

His brother moaned and turned his face away towards the other side of the room. He looked almost in pain. He blinked his eyes open for a second or two before he closed them once more, whimpering.

"You are my brother," Franco said as he stared at his weak and feverish younger brother. "As your older brother, I am supposed to protect you. And I will protect you, Isaac. Even from yourself." His eyes were cold and hard as he gazed down at his brother. "I cannot allow you to be a monster," Franco told him simply. "Our bloodline cannot be tainted by those monstrosities," he hissed. "You will not become one of them."

No matter what Victor or Luis wanted, Franco had already made up his mind. They were wolves, true wolves. He could never allow a Navarro to be tainted by vampire blood, by Mikaelson blood. It was a grave offense, a humiliation he refused to endure. He stood up and approached the bed. Taking a seat next to Isaac. "I shall end your suffering," Franco whispered. "And I swear to you, I will avenge you."

The Mikaelson's were going to pay dearly for what they had done to his brother. His wrath knew no limits and the time to act had come at last.

He leaned over Isaac to whisper in his ear. "Your death will not be in vain, my brother. I promise." He placed his hand over his chest, right on his heart.

Isaac's eyes suddenly snapped open, an anguished cry escaping his lips as Franco's hand tore through his chest in one quick move.

The last thing Isaac saw was Franco's cold and calculating eyes staring down at him.

The last thing Isaac felt was a excruciating pain as Franco ripped his heart out.

Franco stood up, holding his brother's heart in his right hand, blood coating his fingers and dropping on the floor.

He felt nothing.

As Franco looked at the corpse of his younger brother and stared at the heart in his hand, there was no pain, no remorse, no sadness. He felt absolutely nothing.

When Luis and Victor came inside the room. Franco still stood by Isaac's bed, an empty look on his face. He still held his younger brother's heart in his right hand.

"No," Victor paled at the sight, he didn't even bother to hide the tears or the look of pure horror on his face as he stared at his brother's dead body. He looked at Isaac's corpse before looking up at Franco. His stomach revolted, bile rose in his throat. "You…" tears blurred his vision and he ended up falling on the ground as his knees gave out. His face was carved into pure shock and horror. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I had to do it," Franco told them as he turned to face his brothers. "He's better off dead." He truly believed that.

Luis's entire body shook as he stared at Franco. He looked at Isaac's heart in Franco's hand and had to turned away, his stomach turning. He closed his eyes. His hands clenched into fists but he didn't say anything.

"You killed him!" Victor hissed tears streaming down his face. He was still on the floor, feeling absolutely sick at the sight before him. _How could Franco do such a thing? To his own flesh and blood, to their baby brother?_ "He was our brother! You murdered him!"

"No," Franco told them still holding the bloodied heart. He had absolutely no remorse for what he had done. He had ended Isaac's suffering and stopped him from becoming a vampire. He had saved his brother from a cruel fate. He had spared his brother the agony and the cruelty of being a monster. "The Mikaelson's did this," Franco hissed. "They killed our brother. They are the ones who deserve your rage. All of our rage." He looked at Victor crying like a pathetic little girl on the floor before focusing on Luis who was as still as a statue. His eyes hard and his jaw clenching. "The Mikaelson's will pay for this," Franco swore. "We will destroy them and avenge our brother's death."

Luis didn't say anything. He simply stared at Franco, a hard look on his face.

Victor continued to shake and sob on the floor.

Something broke between the Navarro brothers that night.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"Wow," Caroline said as she processed everything Bonnie had told her. "Twins," she stared into her friend's face. "You're going to be a mom." She couldn't believe it. She couldn't really picture Bonnie as a mom. She had always assumed Elena would be the first one out of all of them to have a family. Not anymore obviously. "I can hear them," she said suddenly. She could hear those two beating hearts as clear as she could Bonnie's. "It's amazing." Two babies growing inside Bonnie's belly.

Bonnie smiled as she placed a gentle hand over her stomach. "Yeah, it is." Two beautiful miracles that she and Klaus had created.

"Did you know?" Caroline wondered suddenly. "Back in Mystic Falls, were you pregnant then?" she asked as she recalled the confrontation they had outside her house.

"Yes," Bonnie admitted. "I had just found out, it was very early still and I…" she paused. "I didn't know how to tell you. I wasn't sure how all of you would react."

"And our reaction to finding out you were sleeping with Klaus didn't help matters, huh?" There was a guilty look on Caroline's face. She couldn't help but wonder, _if she had acted differently towards Bonnie that day, would she had still been kidnapped?_

Bonnie stayed silence for a few seconds. That day had been painful for her. She had a confrontation with her mom and with her friends that had ended with her heart broken. "Are you angry?" she asked suddenly.

Caroline looked down at her lap. "It's not easy to digest," she admitted softly. "Klaus is Klaus…" she didn't need to remind Bonnie of all the horrible things the hybrid had done. "But they helped get me back, didn't they?" she remembered seeing Elijah's face, it was blurry and she wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, but she was pretty certain Elijah had carried her in his arms at one point. "I think I saw Elijah's face…"

"Yes," Bonnie confirmed. "Elijah negotiated your release with Luis Navarro."

Caroline shuddered at the mention of the Navarro wolf. She turned her face away from Bonnie and stared out of the window. Everything was dark outside. It reminded her of the darkness of her cell.

"Caroline?" Bonnie said seeing the faraway look on her face. Bonnie reach out and touched her arm.

Caroline flinched back. "Don't," she hissed vampire face surfacing. "Don't touch me!"

Bonnie dropped her hand as if she had been burned. She immediately stood up.

The lights in the room flickered on and off as the magic that had laid dormant inside Bonnie for the past two weeks surfaced, ready to defend her mistress.

Feeling the magic in the air snapped Caroline back to reality. Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry." Caroline looked horrified. "I didn't mean…I…" She squeezed her eyes shut. Her body shook uncontrollably as she tried to get a hold of herself. It took a couple of seconds for her face to return to normal.

"It's okay," Bonnie said. "You've been through a lot." She didn't approach her, she made no move to touch her again. Bonnie simply stared at Caroline trying to comprehend the warnings her magic was giving her in that moment. "It's been a long day, you need to rest." She felt surprised at how calm her voiced sounded, inside she was anything but.

Caroline opened her eyes. "Bonnie, I-"

"You need to rest," Bonnie cut her off with a firm and rather authoritative voice.

"But we haven't finish talking," Caroline protested.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to catch up," Bonnie muttered. "Rest now."

Before Caroline could utter another protest, Bonnie hurried out of the room.

Caroline frowned as she watched her friend practically run out of the room.

 _What was wrong?_ She wondered. Bonnie was acting weird.

* * *

Bonnie shut the door behind her and walked a few paces away from Caroline's room. She leaned her hand against the wall and closed her eyes briefly.

The lights flickered on and off for a few seconds, stopping when Bonnie opened her eyes once more.

There was a cold and dreadful feeling inside her.

Every nerve in Bonnie's body was on high alert. Her magic flaring, warning her, and more than ready to defend her. It was disconcerting.

The moment she touched Caroline's arm, a feeling of dread and death invaded Bonnie, her senses coming alive by the sudden threat. It wasn't because Caroline was a vampire, Bonnie had long ago learned to identify those vampires who were a threat and those who weren't. No, there was something about Caroline that had all of Bonnie's instincts on edge. That had her magic surfacing on its own accord.

 _Don't trust her_ , Expression whispered inside Bonnie's mind _. She's a threat to you. She needs to be eliminated._

Bonnie closed her eyes as she felt the surge of power inside her. She tried to get a hold of herself. The feeling of danger, the threat her instincts felt upon touching Caroline had been so strong her magic was reacting accordingly, wanting and needing to destroyed that threat.

Bonnie didn't understand why her magic was having that type of reaction to Caroline of all people. Caroline was her friend. Caroline would never intentionally hurt her.

Bonnie had had bad feelings before, warning bells that went off inside her head, but this...it was stronger than any other. This feeling of danger was so strong her body shook and her magic came alive, nearly overwhelming her.

Something was not right about Caroline and Bonnie's magic had sensed it. The question was, _what was wrong?_

Why was her magic warning her that Caroline was a threat to her?


	50. Chapter 50

**New Orleans**

Elijah woke up with a gasp. It was rare for him to surrender to a complete slumber. After centuries of being on the run, falling asleep meant letting his guard down and that meant danger. But after last night, he had the most peaceful sleep in centuries.

He laid on his back, slowly coming awake and stretching against the silky sheets. He smiled and reached out for the warm and sensual body next to him only to find the sheets cold and empty.

Elijah sat up, all of his senses coming alert. His eyes immediately landed on the figure standing by the balcony. He relaxed right away.

Lucy stood with her back towards him, barefooted, and clad in his dark shirt. She looked lovely, standing in a halo of sunlight. The air left his lungs at the sight of her while a wave of lust invaded his entire body.

Last night and earlier this morning had not been enough. He wanted her again. He didn't think he could ever get enough of her.

He was behind her in a flash, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his chest.

Lucy smiled, leaning her back against him. "Morning."

"Good morning," Elijah murmured nuzzling her neck. She smelt like him and he liked it.

Lucy sighed contently as he placed sweet, gentle kisses on her skin. She spun around and hooked her arms around his neck, giving him a coy look.

Elijah kissed her, arms securing her against his naked body, and tongue sweeping past her parted lips.

Lucy moaned and kissed him back. She also began to push him towards he bed.

She placed her hands on his chest and gave him a strong shove.

Elijah let himself drop on the bed, breaking their kiss and smiling up at her.

Lucy bit her lip. The sight of him naked, hard, and looking up at her like she was Venus herself made her hot and wet. She stared into his eyes as she began to undo the buttons of his shirt. She slowly and seductively let the item drop to the floor.

She stood naked and wanton before him.

Elijah slid his gaze over her body, appreciating every inch of her exquisite flesh, which he had already committed to memory.

Lucy made a move to climb on top of him but Elijah stopped her with one hand, placing it gently against her navel. "Turn around," he ordered.

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "My, my, someone is very bossy in the mornings." She liked it.

Elijah smirked.

Lucy turned around. She faced the closed door of the bedroom, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, while goose bumps formed all over her body. Anticipation coiled in her belly as she wondered what he was going to do.

Elijah stood up, he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her back against his chest, head moving to the side of her neck.

Lucy's heart skyrocketed. Her blood boiling with desire. _What had this man done to her?_ She was completely under his spell.

"On your knees," Elijah hissed against her ear.

 _Oh my!_ Lucy's entire body shivered with delicious pleasure. He was so sexy.

She gave him one brazen look over her shoulder and did as she was told. She got down on her knees on the floor and gasped when he suddenly used his red tie to blindfold her.

Her body tensed. Not with fear, no. She knew Elijah wouldn't hurt her. The tension was not in a bad way. She tensed with anticipation, with desire, and excitement.

Elijah got behind her on the floor. His fingers trailing up her spine and causing her to quiver. He parted her long hair and moved it to the side as he nuzzled her neck and nibbled on her earlobe. "Last night," he said huskily. "I was _very_ honorable."

Lucy snorted. "Could've fooled me." She felt the ghost of his smile against her ear. She briefly thought back to their first meeting where she had asked if he was honorable in the bedroom. That's how he was known to the world, as the honorable Original. Lucy could happily attest that he was anything but between the sheets. But it seemed Elijah wanted to emphasize that very clearly. Lucy had no objections to that. She was looking forward to it.

"This morning," he whispered grabbing both of her breasts with his hands.

Lucy gasped and moaned as he cupped her breast roughly, stroking each nipple with his thumbs.

"This morning. I shall be quite deplorable," Elijah muttered. His mouth descended on her neck, his human teeth bluntly biting her flesh.

"Yes…" Lucy moaned arching up against him. "Yes…please…" she begged.

No words were exchanged for the rest of the morning.

* * *

"This building has been remodeled completely," Klaus said as he showed the group the open pace with all the training equipment surrounding first floor. At the center of the room were three large boxing rings. The building was located right next to the compound. It was three stories high. The first floor was turned into a training room while the second and third floor were turned into bedrooms for his pack.

The hybrids, Thierry, Josh, and Angelica looked in amazement around the room.

"This is so cool!" Belle exclaimed. She could already imagine herself and Riley training in here. She shared a grin with her almost boyfriend. Riley was probably thinking the exact same thing as her.

The doors opened and a werewolf stepped inside the training room. He came to stand right next to Klaus.

Thierry frowned upon seeing him. The bad blood between vampires and werewolves was not going to disappear overnight. He felt his skin prickle, his senses alerting him to the danger the wolf represented.

"From this moment on, vampires and werewolves are going to learn to train and work together," Klaus declared. "We are all on the same side and we must learn to put our differences aside." He looked directly at Thierry. "You will be supervising the vampires."

Thierry felt surprised by that. "Me?"

"They know you, you know them. From this moment forward you are their leader and representative."

Thierry gasped. "But you-"

"I am their king," Klaus replied with a grin. "And I'm making you one of my generals. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No…but…" Thierry cleared his throat. "They hate me now, most of them at least," he mumbled. Because he had proclaimed Klaus as king, because he was in love with a witch, because they saw him as a traitor. _Why was Klaus entrusting him with the vampires?_

Thierry stared at Klaus trying to see if this was some sort of trick. Klaus didn't trust him. He felt certain that the hybrid was suspicious of him and yet, he was putting him in charge of the vampires. He felt honored and wary. The truth was, Thierry didn't know what to make of Klaus Mikaelson. He had heard of him, he knew the legend, he had seen what he was capable of but there were so many more sides to him. It unsettled him.

"You are a daywalker," Klaus told Thierry. "You are also the oldest vampire in the group." The other had been Diego and a couple others whom Klaus had slaughter when he took over. "Who better to be their leader?"

Thierry nodded. "Thank-you." He didn't know what else to say. And to his surprise, he found himself not wanting to disappoint the hybrid.

"This is Cary," Klaus introduced the wolf to the group. Most of the hybrids knew him already. "He will be the leader of the werewolves, another one of my generals." He placed his hand on Cary's shoulder and grinned. "Felix," he said pointing to the quiet hybrid. "Is the leader of the hybrids." He looked from Felix, to Thierry, to Cary. "The three of you are going to work together and ensure all vampires, werewolves, and hybrids get along."

They all nodded.

"My brothers and I will be here as much as we can," Klaus told them. "But the three of you will be the ones to handle the day to day." He moved his eyes over the group. "It's not going to be easy." He better than anyone knew the bad blood between the species. "But in order to survive, in other for this army to have a chance, we all must learn to get along." He stared at Thierry. He already knew the vampires were the ones who would cause more trouble. "I have an incentive to give the vampires."

Thierry gave him a questioning look.

"You are the only vampire with a daylight ring." The rest had been slaughter by him when he took over. "The vampires that follow the rules, that prove their worth and cooperation, shall receive a daylight ring."

Josh's eyes lit up upon hearing that. He wasn't particularly looking forward to training or the war but he could definitely use a daylight ring. He desperately wanted one.

"Angelica will provide them," Klaus said as he looked at the witch.

Angelica nodded. Klaus had already showed her the spell.

 _That would definitely motivate the vampires to cooperate,_ Thierry thought. "It's a good idea," he found himself saying.

"This is your chance Thierry," Klaus said as he stared into his eyes. "Don't disappoint me."

It was said in a quiet tone but Thierry knew it was a threat. Klaus was giving him a chance and Thierry had to choose if he was going to make the most of it or blow it away.

Klaus watched him for a few more seconds before moving his gaze towards Belle. "You will be training with Alexa," he told the young hybrid girl.

"Why?" Belle whined. She wanted to train with Riley.

"We've been training together for weeks now," Riley was quick to intervene.

Klaus gave him a knowing look. He knew Riley always went easy on Belle, because he was in love with her and didn't want to hurt her. "I need you to focus on the missing witches in the city." His tone left no room for argument.

"Yes," Riley whispered. He knew better than to question his sire.

Belle took a step forward. "Maybe Jesse can train me…" she suggested with a smile. She did not want to be trained by Alexa.

"I could do it," Jesse said to Klaus.

"Pretty please with a huge cherry on top?" Belle gave Klaus a puppy dog eye look.

"Do as you are told," Felix muttered.

Belle ignored him. "Please," she begged Klaus. "I would prefer anyone but her."

"I rather train the vampires." Alexa crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Belle, who glared back. "They're far more useful than this one could ever be."

"This one has a name!" Belle snapped turning to face her.

"With how long you have been a hybrid, you should already know how to fight."

"I know how to fight!"

"If you say so," Aiko muttered under her breath. "You suck," she added quietly.

Belle glared at her too.

"Clearly you don't know. Why else would I have to train you." Alexa's lips curled into a smirk. "Get ready princess because I will make you cry." Now that she thought about it, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

Belle growled and turned towards Klaus opening her mouth with a bunch of protests. She shut it immediately. One look at her sire and she knew better than to continue arguing.

The smirk on Alexa's lips fell as well as she noticed the hard look on Klaus's face.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Everyone suddenly becoming aware of that dangerous and potent aura that engulfed them.

"Are the two of you done?" Klaus asked in a cold voice.

Belle looked down at her feet and nodded.

Alexa kept her mouth shut.

Thierry wondered nervously if Klaus was going to start handing out punishments.

Josh seemed to shrink into himself, doing his best not to attract the hybrid's attention.

Everyone kept silence.

Klaus looked around the group. "I gave my orders and I expect you all to follow them without question. Do I make myself clear?"

They all nodded.

They knew better than to challenge him.

"Excellent," Klaus grinned.

* * *

Matt threw the pancake in the air much to the delight of Charlotte who clapped as the pancake fell on the ceramic place. "Pancakes for the ladies," he said pushing the two plates in front of Davina and Charlotte who were sitting at the kitchen island. He placed a few slices of bananas and made a happy face on top of the pancake, using the whip cream for the hair and dropping a couple of blueberries to accentuate the eyes. "Enjoy."

"Thank-you," Davina smiled her stomach rumbling with hunger.

"Thank-you, uncle Matt." Charlotte's mouth watered. She loved pancakes.

"Anytime," Matt told them with a grin.

Bonnie in turn placed a glass of chocolate milk next to Charlotte's plate and a glass of freshly made orange juice next to Davina's plate. "How are you feeling?" she asked the teenage witch.

"Much better," Davina responded. "No magical incidents last night." She took a sip of her orange juice. She was definitely feeling better this morning.

"Good." Bonnie touched her forehead. "Maybe that cold is finally going away."

"Hopefully." Davina didn't like being sick.

"I'll make you some more eucalyptus tea."

"Please," Davina smiled at her. The tea had definitely helped her get a good night's sleep. She had woken up hungry and much more energetic than in the past few days.

Matt continued making pancakes. He was preparing a breakfast tray for Rebekah who had lazily stayed in bed.

Bonnie had already eaten three pancakes, a bowl of fruit, and a glass of orange juice. She had woken up pretty early. She had been unable to sleep after her talk with Caroline. Her mind refusing to shut down. The truth was, she had not slept well since she got back to the Quarter. "How are the pancakes?" she asked the girls.

Davina's mouth was stuffed so she simply raised her hand and gave a thumbs up.

"Yummy, yummy," Charlotte replied. She had syrup all over her mouth.

Bonnie smiled and grabbed a napkin to clean her up. The smiled dropped from her face when she spotted Tyler and Caroline entering the kitchen. Once again, her magic flared. Her senses came alive and warned her of the threat coming closer to her.

Davina and Charlotte turned to the doorway immediately, their witch senses alerting them to the two supernaturals.

Davina frowned, feeling a cold chill descent down her spine. Her hand unconsciously clenched around the fork. She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Hey!" Matt greeted happily and completely oblivious to the tension that suddenly engulfed the room. To the danger all three witches felt in that moment.

"The smell of food woke me up," Caroline told him with a bright and happy smile.

"I'm making pancakes. Come on," Matt motioned for the two of them to join them. "I made a bunch."

Tyler grinned and happily flashed to grab a plate and placed three pancakes on it. He was about to grab the whip cream and syrup when he noticed the two young girls looking at him. "Hey," he said awkwardly. He had seen them arrived with Bonnie and knew they were kind of part of the weird Mikaelson clan. But he didn't really know much else.

"Davina, Charlotte, this is Tyler." Bonnie introduced them. She kept glancing at Caroline, her body tensed and alert.

"Hi," Davina greeted.

Charlotte on the other hand stared at the hybrid with curiosity. She was holding her fork in her hand and moved her eyes from Tyler to Caroline.

The blonde vampire had made her way next to her boyfriend and was also grabbing a plate. "Hi," she smiled at the two young witches, noticing that they were staring at her.

Davina frowned. The uneasy feeling in her stomach intensified. The more she stared at Caroline, the stronger the bad feeling became. Her heart rate increased and she felt on edge. Her magic screaming danger.

Caroline's vampire senses heard the pounding of her heart. She eyed the witch, a strange look on her face. Small veins began forming beneath her eyes. She closed them, forcing the urge to vamp out down.

"This is Caroline," Matt introduced them because Bonnie had fallen silent and was looking curiously between Caroline and Davina. "She and Tyler are friends from Mystic Falls. This is Davina," he pointed to the teenage witch. "And Charlotte." He pointed to the little girl, who seemed to have become as still as a statue.

Caroline turned away from Davina shaking her head. She smiled in Charlotte's direction.

The moment their eyes met, a look of pure horror came over Charlotte's face. She dropped her fork and began hyperventilating.

"Sweetie are you okay?" Bonnie asked worriedly. She placed a gentle hand on Charlotte's arm. The skin of her arm felt cold as ice. "What's wrong?"

Charlotte whimpered. She looked away from Caroline and turned to Bonnie. "She's evil!" she blurted out before she jumped out of the chair and bolted out of the kitchen.

"Charlotte!"

Bonnie ran after her.

Matt frowned, not understanding why Charlotte had reacted that way.

Davina stood up.

"What the hell?" Tyler asked. The whole thing had been strange.

"She is a witch isn't she?" Caroline asked Davina.

The teenage girl watched her warily. She nodded, taking a step back. Every instinct in her body warning her that there was a threat in the room. And no, that threat was not the hybrid but the young vampire girl.

"She must've have sensed that I am vampire and got freaked out," Caroline said sadly. "I didn't mean to scare her."

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Tyler said placing a comforting hand on her arm. "She probably hasn't been around that many vampires."

"She has." Davina and Matt said at the same time.

Charlotte had been around Kol, Rebekah, Belle, Josh, Klaus, Elijah, and she had never had that reaction upon meeting them. It was weird.

Caroline opened her mouth.

"I have to go." Davina practically ran out of the kitchen, her half-eaten pancake all but forgotten.

Caroline stared at the plate she held in her hands. _Why were they afraid of her?_

"I'm sure it's nothing." Matt tried to reassured her. But deep down, he couldn't help but wonder about the strange reaction both witches had towards Caroline.

 _What the hell was going on?_

* * *

In her panic, Charlotte ran out of the compound.

She wasn't thinking. The need to get away, as far away as possible from the evil vampire was too strong. She ran, and ran, and ran, until she was out of breath.

Charlotte closed her eyes. Her body felt hot, her heart pounded so erratically she felt like she was dying. She leaned back against the wall of a restaurant and trembled like a scared little lamb.

Minutes, hours, she wasn't sure but eventually she opened her eyes.

She had no idea where she was. She stared at the lively and crowded streets with apprehension.

 _What did the house looked like?_

Charlotte didn't remember. They came at night, it had been far too dark for her to really see the façade and she hadn't been out since.

 _Oh no!_ Charlotte pulled away from the wall and looked around the crowded street in panic. _How was she going to get back home, back to Bonnie?_

Her heart skyrocketed once more and the panic and the fear threatened to overwhelm her. She didn't want to be parted form Bonnie. She wanted to be with Bonnie always.

She took a step back and bumped into someone. "I'm sorry." She said immediately turning to face the tall, spiky haired guy with tattoos all over his arms and neck.

"Watch where you're going." He snapped before walking away.

Charlotte bit her lip, tears blurring her vision.

People walked all around her. Happily chatting, snapping pictures, going on with their day while she felt like a little rat submerged by strange noises, sensations, and the fear that she would never see Bonnie again.

 _Why were there so many people? And so much noise? And magic?_ Everything was foreign, completely different from what she knew. Her senses were overwhelmed. She had never been in a situation like this before. She had been around a constant number of people, at the safe house and at the compound but the mass that walked through the Quarter streets was different.

It scared her.

Charlotte didn't know who they were or why they were there. All she knew was that she felt scared and out of breath.

She bumped into a couple other people. They looked down at her strangely, but no one stopped to see if she was okay. No one bothered to help.

Charlotte whimpered. Her little body trembling by the onslaught of sensations. She pushed herself against the wall once more and sank to the ground, pulling her knees up to her chest, and squeezing her eyes shut.

 _Make it stop,_ she pleaded in her head. _It hurts, make it stop. I want Bonnie. I need Bonnie. Please mama help me!_

And that's when she felt _it_.

That unmistakable dark and powerful being, whose aura was evenly matched by Bonnie.

Charlotte's eyes snapped open, eagerly looking around the crowd, searching for that aura which was a beacon of ancient power. And a beacon of light for her.

That's when she spotted _him._

Klaus was walking on the opposite street, talking and making gestures with his hands. There was a light brown-haired man next to him.

Charlotte leaped to her feet and ran straight towards him. She bumped into people but she didn't care. She didn't stop running until she reached him.

Klaus stopped mid-sentence when a tiny body collided with him, tiny arms immediately wrapped around his waist, like spider webs that secured him tightly.

"What the-" Nate who was walking next to him looked down at the tiny creature that was clinging to Klaus for dear life.

"Charlotte?" Klaus questioned as he looked down at the dark blonde mass of curls.

Charlotte lifted her tear stained face and stared up at him. "I'm glad I found you." She whispered before she proceeded to hide her face against him once more. She broke down in uncontrollable sobs.

Klaus Mikaelson had absolutely no fucking clue what to do with a crying child?

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Stefan asked Caroline. The Salvatore brothers had heard that she had been rescued and they had come to visit her. Thankfully, the Originals seemed to be out of the house.

"I'm fine," Caroline told them with a small smile. "I'm feeling pretty good." Now that she had rested, fed, and showered, she felt like he old self again.

"We're glad to have you back, Caroline." Stefan offered her a smile.

"Did you see Elena?" Damon asked suddenly. He didn't care for pleasantries or small talk, he went straight to what he wanted to know.

"No," Caroline shook her head. "I saw Katherine."

Damon and Stefan shared a look.

"They have Katherine?" Tyler who was in the room with them asked.

"She was in the basement with me for a time," Caroline informed them. "They took her away, I don't know what happened to her afterwards." She bit her lip. "When we were down there, they came to take her blood a couple of times. A man and woman."

"The Travelers need doppelgänger blood…" Stefan murmured. Bonnie had told them about their plans to destroy the other side. Katherine and Elena's blood was the key.

"The Travelers," Caroline repeated. She looked at Tyler. "The witches helping the Navarro brother's, right?" Tyler had told her some things.

"Yeah," her boyfriend answered.

"Fuck," Damon cursed as he paced around the bedroom. "We need to get Elena back." He turned towards them. "Bonnie said the Travelers are using doppelgänger blood in order to destroy the other side, that's why they have Katherine and Elena."

"Luis Navarro denied they had her and refused to trade her along with you," Stefan explained to Caroline.

Caroline pulled some of her blonde hair away from her face and looked away from Stefan. Her lips parted slightly as she mulled over something.

"Matt said that they are going to find a way to get Elena back," Tyler informed them. Matt seemed convinced that the Originals would find a way to get Elena back just like they had done with Caroline.

"You think the Originals give a damn about Elena," Damon scoffed. "She's no longer useful to Klaus, he can't make hybrids with her blood. He is not going to lift a finger to get her back." The only reason he had helped get Caroline back was because he had a creepy obsession with her, that was Damon's opinion.

"Bonnie and Matt are not going to let Elena remain in the Navarro's clutches," Caroline said firmly. "Bonnie will find a way to get Elena back safely, like they did with me."

"You are really sure about that?" Damon questioned. "Cause the last time we talked to Bonnie she pretty much told us to fuck off. She has other _priorities_ now." He was fuming with anger, confusion, and above all fear. "The Mikaelson's are her family now, she doesn't give a damn about us anymore. She's Klaus's little bitch."

"Don't talk about Bonnie like that," Tyler hissed. A low growl emanating from his chest.

Caroline snapped her head in his direction. There was a strange look on her face as she regarded her boyfriend.

Stefan who was sitting on the chair by her bed stood up, his senses highly aware of the danger the hybrid represented.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Damon snapped angrily.

Tyler looked pissed. "Don't insult Bonnie."

There was a strange look on Damon's face as he regarded the hybrid. _Since when was Tyler so protective of Bonnie? Had he been brainwashed as well?_

"The longer we wait the less chance we'll have to get Elena back safely," Damon muttered. He was still giving warily looks at Tyler. He was acting weird. "We have to do something."

"We can negotiate."

All three of them turned to Caroline sitting comfortably on the bed, soft pillows behind her back as she leaned against the headboard.

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked curiously.

"Luis Navarro agreed to trade me for his brother, right?"

They all nodded.

"It means he is willing to negotiate. And if he's willing to negotiate so are his brothers." Caroline continued. "We just need to find something to trade with him again. Something valuable that the Navarro's would want more than keeping Elena and Katherine in their clutches."

"Something to exchange for Elena's freedom," Damon followed her train of thought.

"If the Traveler's need doppelgänger blood, I doubt the Navarro's would want to trade. They're allies remember." Stefan pointed out. Unless they could kidnap a Navarro brother and make the same deal as the Mikaelson's, he didn't see how they could make another trade with them.

"But it's worth a try isn't?" Caroline said with an innocent look on her face. "We have to at least try. It's better than doing nothing."

"You know blondie," Damon said with a smirk. "It seems your captivity made you smart."

Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Damon you are not seriously considering-" Stefan began.

"Like Barbie said," Damon cut him off. "It's worth a try." His eyes glinted as his mind swirled with possibilities. He needed to find something valuable to exchange for Elena. The question was what?

Tyler and Stefan exchanged looks, neither of them seemed on board with that idea.

* * *

"Yes, she's fine," Klaus said into the phone. "You have nothing to worry about sweetheart," he reassured Bonnie. There was a pause. "We're at the ice cream parlor down the street."

 _Ice cream? Klaus is not even noon. She didn't even finish her breakfast!_ Bonnie responded from the other end.

"No wonder she asked for a triple scoop," Klaus commented as he stared at Charlotte.

The little girl was crawling a big bowl of ice cream with one hand while she held a spoon with the other. She looked up and smiled at Klaus, her mouth and chin smeared with the delicious treat. She had ordered one scoop of chocolate, one of vanilla, and one of strawberry ice cream along with Oreos, caramel, sprinkles, and a lot of other things he didn't bother to pay attention to. He had let the little witch order whatever she wanted. It seemed she was no stranger to ice cream, for Rebekah or aunty Bex as Charlotte called her, had taken her to an ice cream parlor before, while they had been at the safe house. Charlotte loved ice cream and pancakes apparently. She had told Klaus so.

 _Klaus!_ Bonnie chastised. _How could you-_

"She was crying hysterically love, what was I supposed to do?" Klaus interrupted. "I got her to stop by offering ice cream. Isn't that a girl's comfort food?" He asked with a smirk.

Bonnie sighed. _Stay there. I'm on my way._

"There is no need-"

Bonnie hung up.

Klaus turned to Nate. "Head to the compound as fast as possible and escort Bonnie here." He didn't want Bonnie wondering alone in the Quarter.

Nate nodded and flashed out of there at vampire speed.

Klaus crossed his arms over his chest. He leaned back against the chair and stared at Charlotte with curiosity. She couldn't really reach the high table so she was on her knees on the chair, happily devouring her ice cream. Her heart rate had returned to normal, the tears were long gone, and the fear he had sensed from her had completely dissipated.

"Are you going to tell me why you ran out of the compound like a lunatic?" The hybrid demanded with a hard look on his face. "You scared Bonnie," he said accusingly.

Charlotte licked her lips and looked down at the ice cream. "I didn't mean to," she responded. She grabbed the napkin next to her bowl and cleaned her face as best as she could. "She gave me a bad feeling," she admitted, still not looking at him.

"Bonnie?"

"No." Charlotte looked up immediately. "Bonnie is good. She would never hurt me." She knew that with all her heart.

"Then who gave you a bad feeling?" Klaus asked intrigued.

Charlotte bit her lip. "The vampire girl," she whispered. "Bonnie's friend."

 _Caroline_

Klaus stared at the little witch. He expanded his senses, trying to determine if she was being truthful or making something up to get attention. She loved having his sister's and Bonnie's attention after all. "What kind of bad feeling?"

"In my tummy," Charlotte told him. "I get them sometimes…a lot of times," she corrected. "It's hard to explain."

"Because she's a vampire, you felt a chill down your spine and it scared you." Klaus deduced. Witches could easily sense other supernaturals in close proximity. She was too young and had probably been overwhelmed.

Charlotte shook her head. "A bad feeling," she said a gain. "In my tummy, not in my back." She seemed deadly serious. There was a fearful look in her eyes as she spoke. "She's evil," she said with the most serious and worried expression a child could muster. "There is something dark in her, something bad." A slight tremble went down her body as she recalled the horrible feeling that invaded her when she had looked at Caroline.

 _She's being truthful_ , the wolf in him whispered. Klaus regarded the little girl carefully. "Have you ever had those kinds of feelings before?" he probed. "Perhaps when Rebekah is around, or me?"

She shook her head. "Aunty Bex will never hurt me, she's good." Charlotte replied with confidence. "And so are you."

Klaus felt stunned by those words.

Only a child could ever utter something so blasphemous.

Charlotte offered him a sweet and shy smile. Her bright green eyes staring at him with so much innocence, with so much trust.

Klaus felt a pang in his heart. Her words took him by surprise, the same as her hug. It was like being punched in the gut. He didn't know what to say.

Only an innocent could ever believe he was good.

Charlotte continued to eat her ice cream, blissfully unaware of the mixed emotions she had stirred inside of him.

Klaus watched her silently.

The two sat quietly until Bonnie arrived.

* * *

Lucy struggled to catch her breath a she snuggled against Elijah. She rested her head against his chest and placed a soft kiss on his cool skin before she closed her eyes.

Elijah kissed the top of her head. "Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"I feel numb," Lucy murmured sleepily. "Like I've been run over by a truck…. s'good…" Last night and the past couple of hours had been mind-blowing.

Elijah traced his fingers up and down her sweaty spine. He licked his lips, the taste of her sweet and intoxicating blood lingering in his mouth still. He hadn't meant to. He was very good at keeping his vampire nature in check but he had lost himself completely in her, in her flesh. He hadn't stopped to think. He had roughly grabbed her head and moved it aside. His fangs had descended on her skin, piercing the soft flesh of her neck as he took her like a madman from behind.

The pleasure they both received made the entire room tremble.

"Forgive me," Elijah apologized. He hadn't meant to hurt her or scared her.

Lucy opened her eyes and lifted her head. "What for?"

"I was rough with you," Elijah looked down at her face. "I bit you without your consent." He kept one hand against her back while with the other one, he reached out and traced the side of her neck, were the two angry red puncture holes were. He had playfully wanted to prove to her that he wasn't as honorable as people thought him to be and in the end, he had acted like a beast.

He felt angry with himself for allowing his control to slip. He wanted to offer her his blood to make her feel better and heal the angry marks but he didn't dare. That would create a bond. And he wasn't ready for that. Not yet. And he didn't think she was either.

"It's in your nature, isn't it?" Lucy asked quietly. Vampires needed blood to survive. It seemed normal that they wanted blood during sex. "We both got carried away. There is no need to apologize. Trust me, if you had done something that I didn't like, you would've known." She would have let him know right away and used her magic if she had to.

Elijah visibly relaxed at her words.

"I'm not a porcelain doll, Elijah." She lifted one arm and traced his chin with her fingers. "I've been bitten before you know." There had been no pleasure in that bite however, only pain and fear. She knew now, how intense, how incredibly pleasurable that act could be with someone she cared about.

Elijah gave her a curious look.

"I was in college," Lucy told him quietly. "I had a night class. I was walking back to my dorm and I was attacked. He moved so fast and quietly, I never saw him coming," she explained. "I was distracted, I didn't do so well on the test. I didn't feel him sneaking behind me. He bit me." She shivered remembering the fear and the panic she felt when the vampire pushed her against the wall and sank his fangs on her shoulder. The pain had been excruciating so different from the explosion of pleasure she had felt when Elijah bit her. "I used my magic, broke his neck, and ran." She had also used her magic to heal her neck.

Their eyes met.

"I don't know how comfortable I will be repeating that," Lucy admitted honestly. They both had been so consumed by their coupling, there had been no time to think, to question anything but simply feel. "But I don't want you to hide your nature from me. I know what you are and I am okay with that. I trust you."

There were no words to describe the adoration he felt for her then. This beautiful, captivating woman, a witch telling a creature like him that she trusted him.

Elijah grabbed her hand, pulling it away from his chin and bringing it to his lips. He kissed her knuckles tenderly.

Lucy's heart melted. Oh, how beautiful it felt.

The two of them stared at one another lovingly.

The moment was broken by the loud rumbling of Lucy's stomach. Another woman would have probably pulled the sheets up and wish to die of embarrassment for ruining their romantic moment. Lucy however, burst out laughing.

Elijah laughed as well. He couldn't remember the last time he had genuinely laughed. Years, centuries ago perhaps. He felt so happy, his heart was ready to burst out of his chest. "I do believe breakfast is in order."

"Yes," Lucy kept laughing. She felt so giddy. "Some food would be nice."

The two continued to smile.

It was a moment of pure utter joy for both of them. They were in their own little bubble, the world completely reduced to the two of them.

In that moment, nothing else mattered.

* * *

Klaus ended up carrying Charlotte home. The little girl felt overwhelmed by the crowd and the sensations and emotions swirling inside her. It seemed she had never been around so many people, sounds, and scents. It scared her. She clung to him and buried her head against his neck as the three of them made their way back home. Nate following closely behind.

Charlotte fell asleep before they arrived at the compound.

"I hope she doesn't get sick," Bonnie whispered as she took her shoes off and placed a blanket over her body. Klaus had gently laid her on her bed. "I can't believe you let her have that much ice cream."

"It made her feel better."

Bonnie shook her head as she gently cupped Charlotte's cheek. "I can't believe she ran out like that." The panic she had felt the moment she realized Charlotte was not inside the compound had been overwhelming. The thought of anything bad happening to that precious little girl terrified her. In the short time they had been together, Bonnie had come to love her, to care for her as if she were her own.

"We need to talk," Klaus told her in serious voice.

Bonnie nodded.

They exited Charlotte's and Bonnie's room (because she was still sleeping there) quietly and moved towards the master bedroom.

Klaus immediately lit up a sage candle so no one would listen to their conversation. Their guests were staying on another floor of the house but still, there were too many ears around.

Bonnie closed the door behind her and watched him.

"Charlotte thinks Caroline is evil, that there is a darkness inside her." Klaus went straight to the point. He and Bonnie stood facing each other. "I think she's being sincere with her fear."

"That's what she blurted out before she ran out of the kitchen." Bonnie closed her eyes. She couldn't keep trying to find an excuse for the clear danger her magic sensed whenever Caroline was around. She had felt it the night before, she had felt it this morning, not to the same degree but the warning had been there. Even Davina seemed to have sensed something.

"What is it?" Klaus asked. He knew her well enough to know that there was something she was keeping from him.

Bonnie opened her eyes. "I…I sensed danger when I went to speak with Caroline last night," Bonnie confessed. "My magic reacted violently. It saw her as a threat and wanted to eliminate her. I never felt something like that before…" She honestly didn't understand what was going on with her friend. "I don't understand where this feeling is coming from or why…"

Klaus jaw clenched. "Did she do anything, did she try to hurt you-"

"No." Bonnie was quick to assure him. "She seemed fine. She got a little bit upset when I touched her and her vampire face surfaced for a few minutes but she didn't hurt me. If anything, she looked horrified."

"If your magic sees her as a threat, then Caroline is a threat."

Their eyes met.

"What did they do to her?" Bonnie wondered. She walked further into the room and took a seat on the bed. "I don't know what to do." She stared into his face. "I want to believe that Caroline is the same neurotic, bubbly blonde that I left in Mystic Falls but my magic is telling me otherwise and-"

"Why didn't you say anything last night?" Klaus asked. He felt angry and hurt that she hadn't come to him right away with what she had felt. But above all he was worried. _Had they brought an enemy inside their home? Was Caroline a Navarro spy? Had the Navarro's played them? How?_

"I tried to convince myself my magic was wrong somehow…"

"Bonnie-"

"I know," Bonnie interrupted. "It was stupid. The moment I saw her this morning, confirmed that it was not a fluke. That my magic's warnings are very real and then Charlotte's reaction, even Davina seemed like she sensed something."

"You should have told me."

"I was waiting to talk to Lucy," Bonnie said quietly. "See if she felt the same as I did. But she's not back from her date…" Lucy had not come home at all.

"Elijah and Lucy are probably fucking each other's brains out as we speak."

"Don't be so crass."

"Don't be a prude."

There was a moment of silence as the two of them shared a smile.

Klaus walked towards her and crouched down in front of her. He took her hands in his. "You won our bet." His lips curled into a smirk as he stared at her pretty face.

Despite her worry, Bonnie's lips twitched into a smile. "I did. You lost." She couldn't help but to rub it in. "I told you Elijah was going to be the one to ask her out first."

"I was pretty sure Lucy was going to be the one to ask him out." Elijah had been moving at a snail's pace after all. "A pity…" Klaus murmured, his blue eyes intensely studying her face. "I would've certainly enjoyed my reward."

Bonnie shifted nervously. "Yeah…well…" she suddenly felt really hot. She pulled her hands away from him and looked away. Only Klaus could have such an effect on her.

"Don't be shy love," Klaus traced her heated cheek with his knuckles. "One way or another I will convince you to pose in the nude for me." There was a glint in his eyes and his voice was laced with arrogance.

"I'm fat."

"You are a very gorgeous pregnant woman," Klaus retorted. "My muse."

The air left her lungs. Bonnie turned back to face him.

Klaus leaned forward, his breath mingling with hers.

Bonnie's heart jumped to her throat and her entire body trembled at his close proximity. _When was the last time they kissed?_

Klaus moved to kiss her but Bonnie turned her face away at the last second. Her entire body shook as his soft lips touched her cheek. It was a tender kiss. Like being touched with a rose petal. A soft, gentle contact that had the power of a hurricane for it swept all of her with it. "Now it's not the time," she whispered. They needed to figure out what to do about Caroline. She avoided his eyes. She couldn't look at him. If she were to look into those eyes, she would give in.

"So I see," Klaus muttered as he pulled away. He stood up abruptly and moved to the other side of the room.

Bonnie felt suddenly cold. She had gone from feeling like she was inside a volcano to feeling like she was in the artic. She shivered.

Klaus crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the dresser. "Caroline needs to go."

"She's still recuperating and-"

"She's a threat and she needs to be as far away from you as possible." His tone left no room for argument. "The other and simpler option is to rip her heart out."

"Klaus!" Bonnie couldn't believe that he talked about killing Caroline so calmly. As if they were discussing the weather.

"I'm not allowing a potential threat to stay in our own home. She needs to be far away from you." He practically growled.

"You would really kill her?" Bonnie wondered.

"Any threat to you will be eliminated," Klaus told her calmly. "No matter who they are."

The veracity of his words echoed through the bond.

"We need to find out what's wrong with her," Bonnie told him softly.

"She can't be trusted. She can't be here." An idea suddenly occurred to him. "Her mother," he said. "I'm sure her mother is eager to see her. I'll speak with Tyler and order him to take her to Mystic Falls. Keeping her here is a mistake. You know that."

Bonnie opened her mouth ready to protest.

"I'll have someone monitor her. If she's acting strange, doing anything out of the ordinary, I will know." Klaus cut her off. If Caroline was a spy for the Navarro brothers or had been brainwashed into doing something for them she wouldn't stay in Mystic Falls, she would try to come back to New Orleans. Klaus felt sure of that. "The main priority right now is to have her away from you. Until we can figure out what's going on, it's best if Caroline is away from the city."

"Okay," Bonnie agreed. There was a part of her that felt bad that she had just got her friend back and was more than ready to ship her off back to Mystic Falls but it was for the best. She knew Klaus was right. They couldn't risk having a potential threat under their roof. She needed to think of her kids safety first and foremost. "I'll ask my mom, aunt Vivian…" She would ask any of the Bennett witches for help."Maybe there is a way, a spell, or something to find out what this darkness that Charlotte sensed in Caroline is."

Klaus nodded.

"It's her power you know."

"What?"

"Charlotte," Bonnie informed him. "Apparently, she can sense a person's aura." Bonnie smiled.

 _Aunty Bex would never hurt me, she's good. And so are you…_

Charlotte's words echoed inside Klaus's mind. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't forget the little girl's words. _Had Charlotte sensed good in him?_ He shook his head, it was ridiculous.

"She says my mom has a secret. Something she doesn't want me to know."

"She sensed that?" Klaus felt very intrigued by that.

"Yeah. My mom freaked out when she saw Charlotte's scar you know. She ran off and has been ignoring my calls ever since." Bonnie shook her head. She and her mother needed to have a very serious conversation.

Klaus didn't say anything but there was a thoughtful look on his face.

"She's wasting her time," Bonnie continued. "She can't avoid me forever." She planned to talk to her mother and find out what was going on with her.

Klaus remained quiet. He thought of what he knew of Abby's past and he thought about Charlotte's scar. _Could it be?_ He wondered. He was going to have to talk to his informant and have him find out what the link was.

Bonnie's fingers on his cheek brought him out of his thoughts. He hadn't even noticed when she stood up and made her way towards him. "Thank-you," she whispered tracing his skin gently. "For finding Charlotte, for taking care of her." Her heart had swelled with happiness upon entering the ice cream parlor and seeing Charlotte and Klaus sitting quietly. They had looked like a father and a daughter enjoying some quality time together. She could easily picture him walking down the street with the twins in tow and taking them to get some ice cream. It was such a lovely imagine.

"I…" Klaus cleared his throat. "She's quite something," he muttered.

 _I'm glad I found you,_ Charlotte had said as she clung to him for dear life.

 _She's good. And so are you…_

"Yeah, she is." Charlotte had enchanted all of them with ease and even if Klaus tried to pretend otherwise he wasn't indifferent. "Have you been able to find anything?" Bonnie asked him suddenly. "About Charlotte's past, I mean? Her immediate family?" A yawn suddenly escaped her lips.

"Yes, actually." Klaus watched her tenderly. She looked cute trying to contain her yawns.

Bonnie's eyes lit up with excitement.

"My informant, he's a vampire Elijah sired about five hundred years ago, has a network of spies, people, supernaturals that work for him." Klaus explained. He was one of the few old and loyal vampires that still served the Mikaelson family. "He's compiling a file on Charlotte. He'll be coming in a few days with all the information he's gathered."

Bonnie nodded. She couldn't wait to find out more about Charlotte, about her life, her immediate family.

Klaus laughed when she placed a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress another yawn. "Someone is very tired."

"Yeah." Bonnie hadn't been able to sleep the night before. She had spent the night thinking about her magic's reaction to Caroline. And Charlotte had been tossing and turning as well. "I didn't really get any sleep last night."

"Worrying about Caroline." Klaus hated that. He hated all the worry and anxiousness her _friends_ from Mystic Falls had brought with them. Bonnie still needed to rest. He took her hand. "Come on."

"It's fine, I-"

But Klaus was already pulling her towards the bed.

While Bonnie let out another yawn, Klaus took her flats off and helped her get comfortable on the king size bed.

"This bed is soft…" Bonnie mumbled as she curled on her side. Very soft and big, she felt like she was in an ocean of silk. "I like it."

"Good," Klaus murmured as he got comfortable behind her. He threw an arm around her, hand resting gently over her pregnant belly. "I bought a new bed just for you." _For us,_ he thought. This was the first time he was sharing it with her.

Bonnie didn't reply. She had her eyes closed as she relaxed on the bed. Klaus's warm body behind her and his arm tightly wrapped around her middle. She had missed this, being this close to him, having his arms around her and snuggling in bed. She loved to snuggle with him. "We have to…Caroline…coven…" Bonnie mumbled sleepily.

There was a lot that needed to be done and yet, she didn't want to move.

Bonnie fell asleep quite comfortably, feeling happy and safe.

In that moment, there were no worries or fears of what was to come. It was a quiet and peaceful moment between the two. A little stolen ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak and uncertain world.

"Sleep my love," Klaus whispered as he placed a tender kiss on her neck. He rubbed his hand gently over her belly. The sound of the twins' heartbeats echoed around the room, accompanied by their mother's. It was the most beautiful sound in the world to him.

Klaus closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of peace with his little family.

The whole world could wait. The most important thing was her. The only thing that mattered to him, was ensuring that Bonnie got what she wanted and needed.

Klaus's life, heart, and soul laid in his arms.

* * *

Convincing Caroline to go back to Mystic Falls, was easier than Bonnie could have predicted. Caroline was eager to see her mom. They had talked briefly on the phone the day before but Caroline and Liz were both desperate to see each other. Caroline made no objections when Bonnie suggested she and Tyler should return to their hometown.

They left that afternoon.

Caroline hugged Matt first and kissed his cheek. She then threw her arms around Bonnie.

Bonnie hated herself for flinching and for wanting to push her away. She couldn't help it. That cold feeling of dread had not disappeared. Her magic still saw Caroline as a threat. No matter how hard she tried, Bonnie couldn't relax in her friend's presence.

"I will be back," Caroline promised with a happy smile. She was completely oblivious to how uncomfortable Bonnie was with her. Or if she did notice, she didn't make it known. "After I spend some time with my mom. I'm going to come back," she said. "We still have a lot of catching up to do, and I have to help you with the nursery, and the birthing classes." Her eyes were filled with excitement at the thought. "Oh my god! I have to plan your baby shower."

"You really want to do that?" Bonnie asked her. It was what she had wanted, for Caroline to accept her children.

"Of course I do. I am the godmother," Caroline proclaimed proudly.

"No, you're not!" Rebekah was quick to retort. She stood next to Matt and gave Caroline a superior look.

"Bekah-" Matt tried to intervene.

Rebekah ignored him.

Caroline turned to stare at the Original girl and glared. "I'm Bonnie's best friend."

"And I'm her sister in law," Rebekah snapped. "I outrank you."

"You-" Caroline began.

"Ladies," Klaus's voice interrupted them. He stepped out of the house to see them off and walked until he stood next to Bonnie. "Behave." He looked from one blonde to the other.

Both vampires continued to glare at each other but thankfully they stayed silent.

"We'll call you as soon as we get there," Tyler told them. He seemed happy at the prospect of going back home with Caroline. But he also knew of the dark cloud heading to New Orleans. "We'll be back in a few days."

Caroline stared at Klaus. "Thank-you," she told him with sincerity. "For saving me." She still didn't know what to make of Klaus and Bonnie being together and forming a family. Or the fact that Kol was apparently back from the dead and that Rebekah considered Bonnie her sister. There was a lot she was still processing. But she felt grateful for what the Originals had done for her.

Klaus nodded.

"I wanted to thank Elijah but I haven't seen him."

"Elijah is taking the day off," Rebekah said with a smirk.

"Will you thank him for me?" Caroline asked Klaus.

"Of course." He held her gaze.

As Klaus stared at her face, he felt it. There was something off about her, she looked the same, she spoke the same, but something had changed. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Unlike Bonnie's magic, his senses didn't classify Caroline as a threat. _How could they?_ She was a baby vampire compared to him. But something about her just rubbed him the wrong way. It was unsettling, he could see why Bonnie felt so conflicted, to have one's instincts say one thing and for one's eyes to see another.

"We'll be back soon," Caroline told them with a smile before she got inside the car.

Matt, Rebekah, Klaus, and Bonnie watched the couple leave.

Rather than feeling happy that her friend had promised to come back and be there for her, Bonnie felt dread. Caroline's, _I'll be back,_ had felt like a threat.

As she watched the car disappear through the street, she felt relieved. As she thought of Caroline coming back, she felt threatened.

 _What have they done to you?_ Bonnie wondered sadly.

Klaus took her hand in his and gave it a gentle and reassuring squeeze.

Whatever was going on with Caroline, they were going to figure it out, and fight it.

* * *

 **The next day**

"It was amazing!" Lucy gushed as they drove to the mansion where the Bennett witches were staying. Aunt Vivian had organized a little get together that night, so Bonnie could meet all of them. "The music, the atmosphere, and then we walked, just talking about us, and we kissed…" Her entire face lit up with happiness as she recalled her first kiss with Elijah. "And the sex-" she stopped abruptly and looked through the rearview mirror.

Charlotte was quietly sitting in the back seat of the car. Aunt Vivian wanted all the Bennett witches to be present at the house and that included the young girl.

Lucy glanced at Bonnie before focusing on the road once more. "We so need a girl's night," she told her cousin.

"We do," Bonnie agreed. Lucy was practically glowing. She looked so happy, it was contagious.

"Well," Lucy said as she made a right turn towards the mansion. "Since our guys are out of town, we should have some girl time later tonight. Something tells me that after this little dinner party we'll need it." Lucy wasn't really looking forward to spending more time than necessary with Aunt Vivian but she didn't really have a choice.

"Aunt Vivian is not that bad," Bonnie said as if reading her thoughts.

"Speak for yourself," Lucy muttered. "Mom told me, some of our Bennett cousins have nicknamed her the General. She's driving everyone insane with her war preparation."

Bonnie shook her head. Aunt Vivian had always been nice to her and she had given her some very valuable advice.

"We'll get some wine," Lucy continued with her plans for their girl's night. "Well, grape juice for you, and we'll relax and talk…" Because there was a lot Lucy wanted to share with Bonnie. Things she couldn't discuss with the innocent child ears in the back seat of the car.

"Ice cream," Charlotte added from the back seat. "I love ice cream."

Bonnie and Lucy laughed.

"Yeah, some ice cream sounds nice," Lucy winked at her. She parked right in front of the mansion. "Here we are." She turned the ignition off and turned to her cousin. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Bonnie muttered. She felt nervous, excited, and anxious for what the next couple of hours would bring. This was it. She was going to meet with her extended family, women of the Bennett bloodline, witches who had been waiting for her for days. Bonnie wanted to make a good impression but above all she wished with all her heart that they would agree to stay and be part of the coven. That was going to depend on how she conducted herself tonight.

The advice aunt Vivian had given her echoed inside her mind. The moment of truth had come at last.

"Let's do this."

The three got out of the car.

Bonnie helped Charlotte out and took her hand. She stared at the façade of the house. She could feel them. The Bennett witches inside, she could feel them all. She reached out with one hand and touched the necklace around her neck. The one she had been wearing since she found it among her things while leaving Dr. Mayfair's clinic.

A sense of calm suddenly washed over her.

Bonnie closed her eyes as a strange warmth engulfed her.

 _Everything is going to be fine,_ Bonnie thought _. You can do this._

Bonnie opened her eyes. She straightened her posture and lifted her head proudly. "Let's go," she murmured.

Lucy, Bonnie, and Charlotte made their way inside the mansion.

The time of the Bennett witches had come at last.

* * *

 **Shreveport**

The vampires gathered once again in the junkyard. They were all waiting for the Original to make his presence known. This group was larger than the one from before. News had spread like wildfire that there was an Original vampire in the city, that he had been seen and heard, and more nightwalkers had come filled with curiosity. They all wanted to meet him.

Marcel stayed in the shadows, watching, learning, taking notes of everything that was going on around him. He had managed to stay under the radar the last time and he hoped to do the same this time. The speech the vampire pretending to be Elijah had given the other night had electrified the crowd. The vampires had left convinced that they were going to win, that they were heading into battle, led by a powerful immortal.

As Marcel scanned the area, he saw faces from the other night and countless others which were new, eager, and ready for blood. The air was pumped with adrenaline.

Until it wasn't.

The loud chatter and happy atmosphere around the place suddenly stopped.

The air crackled with a strange dark electricity.

Strong currents of power slid through the mass of vampires.

All the hairs in Marcel's body stood up as he felt it. In that moment, he knew.

All the vampires turned their heads in the same direction, they all felt it at once. The raw, dark, and undeniably dangerous power that moved closer and closer. Their senses alerted them to the predators making their way through the junkyard.

A small group parted like the sea as four figures made their way to the center of the junkyard. Four beautiful, elegant, and otherworldly creatures dressed in black.

The vampires watched them with a mixture of awe, surprise, and fear. For they could all feel the danger these vampires presented.

The four of them stopped right in the middle of the crowd. They stood side by side. Three men and one woman.

"Who the fuck are you?" One vampire hissed. He was young and bold. He couldn't really understand all the warning bells ringing in his head and spreading through his body. All he knew was that he didn't like it. He didn't like feeling so insignificant in their presence.

The woman smiled sweetly. She looked like an angel, with her pretty porcelain face, light blue eyes, and blonde hair. "I am Rebekah," she told him simply. She spoke in a soft tone but it was loud enough for all the vampire ears to hear her. "These are my brothers, Kol." She introduced.

The brown-haired man next to her smirked wickedly. It was the kind of smirk that said, _I am going to kill you._

"Niklaus."

The blond man with icy blue eyes surveyed the crowd with contempt. He clearly didn't think much of them.

"And Elijah."

She introduced the last, tall figure elegantly dressed in a black suit.

There were gasps all around and murmurs for the vampires knew that name. They had heard it. That name was the reason many of them had travel far to come here. Because Elijah was an Original. Did that mean-

"I don't understand," the vampire frowned. _How can this man be Elijah?_ The other day they had seen him. This couldn't be him.

"It's quite simple darling," the pretty blonde, _Rebekah_ said with that saccharine smile still plastered on her face. "We are the Originals. The real ones."

Silence.

An absolute silenced descended over the army of vampires as they processed the revelation. They all gawked at the four beautiful and undeniably powerful creatures standing before them.

There was no denying that these vampires were ancient.

There was no denying that these vampires were powerful.

The Originals.

Many took a fearful step back, a couple of others gulped. All around the junkyard there was a mixture of different stunned reactions. The crowd of vampires became agitated. They were afraid.

The vampires who for the past few weeks had gathered in the city, feeling like kings, like they were on top of the world, were now terrified. In a span of a few minutes, they had gone from being the predators to becoming the prey.

Elijah stepped forward. His brown eyes surveying the crowd carefully. "Would the vampire pretending to be me kindly step forward," his voice echoed around the place. "I know you are here," he said, lips curling into a sardonic grin. "We need to have a word."

From the other side, a small group of vampires parted, making way for the solitary figure.

The real Elijah and the fake Elijah had come face to face at last.

* * *

 _A/N: Originally, I was going to include the Bennett coven scenes in this chapter but it got way too long. So, I am leaving that for the next one. Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing. Let me know what you thought of this chapter!_


	51. Chapter 51

_A/N: I can't believe it's been a year since I started Crimson Peak. I want to take a moment to give a BIG thank-you to all of you amazing people who are following and reviewing this story. I am extremely grateful for every single one of your reviews, some of you have been doing it since the very first chapter, others have joined along the way and I am absolutely thrilled that so many of you are enjoying my story. Thank-you so much. It really means a lot to me and I want you to know how much I appreciate every single one of your reviews. I hope that you continue to enjoy this journey, there is still quite a while to go before we reach the end, so I hope you stick around and continue to like this story._ _I am sorry I wasn't able to update sooner. I was going to post this chapter last Wednesday to coincide with the one year anniversary of publishing the story but unfortunately, I wasn't able to do it. I had a rough week to say the least. I had a family emergency and fanfiction took a back seat but thankfully, things are much better now. Things are slowly but surely returning to normal and this week has already started on a positive note. Yay! Thank-you for your patience and understanding. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The moment Bonnie stepped inside the mansion, she felt the spark of magic in the air. The power of so many witches gathered together created an intoxicating aroma that spread throughout every corner of the house.

Aunt Vivian was the first to greet her, kissing both of her cheeks. She smiled down at Charlotte and gave a quick glance in Lucy's direction before she took Bonnie's hand in hers. "All the Bennett witches are together at last," she murmured. The happiness in her voice and face was undeniable. This was the moment she had always dreamed of. "Are you ready?"

"I am," Bonnie replied with a nervous smile. She felt nervous but she was also excited about the prospect of meeting more witches from her family.

"Remember what we talked about," Aunt Vivian gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Everything is going to be fine," she reassured her niece.

Bonnie nodded. This was the moment of truth.

Joanna greeted them next. She hugged Bonnie and kissed her cheek. "Whatever happens tonight, know that you have all of our support."

"Thank-you." Bonnie knew that she could count on them. Even if all the other Bennett witches refused to be part of the coven, she knew she had Joanna, Lucy, Lenore, and Aunt Vivian with her.

Joanna smiled down at Charlotte. "Hello Charlotte," she greeted happily.

"Hi," Charlotte responded timidly. She was practically glued to Bonnie's side.

Bonnie noticed the rather curious look Joanna gave Charlotte, it was brief but there had been a flash of something there. _Weird,_ she thought. This was not the first time Joanna had seen Charlotte.

Joanna turned to her daughter last. "You look radiant," she commented as she gave Lucy a big hug. She had missed her. Once they pulled apart there was a questioning look in her bright green eyes as she stared at her daughter. Something about Lucy seemed different, she was practically glowing.

"I'm happy," Lucy replied beaming. She was smiling like an idiot but she couldn't help it. She felt so happy.

Joanna had a feeling where that happiness was coming from and while she very much wanted to ask, she knew now was not the time.

Lenore greeted them next. She kissed Bonnie's cheek and gave her a big hug. "The Regent has agreed to meet with you," she informed Bonnie with a happy smile. "Aunt Vivian and I have finalized all the details."

That was very good news. And that was also another important test she had to pass. "Thank-you," Bonnie looked at Lenore, Joanna, and Aunt Vivian. "For all you have done for me, for helping me with all of this." While she had been resting, her aunts had been taking care of things and Bonnie felt extremely grateful for it.

"That's what family is for," Lenore replied.

Bonnie smiled at her, feeling very touched by her words. _Speaking of family,_ she suddenly looked around the foyer, expecting to see her mother but Abby wasn't there. "Where is mom?" she asked.

Joanna and Lenore exchanged nervous looks.

"She won't be with us tonight," Joanna told her gently. There was a slight nervous tremor in her voice though.

"She's no longer a witch and therefore not part of the coven," Aunt Vivian reminded Bonnie.

"But she's a Bennett," Bonnie pointed out. "Vampire or not, she's still part of the Bennett bloodline."

"Not anymore," Aunt Vivian replied firmly. "A vampire can never be part of our coven."

"She's family," Bonnie insisted. "My mother. I want her with me."

Aunt Vivian pressed her lips together before choosing her words very carefully. "Yes, Abby is your mother but a vampire cannot be part of the Bennett coven. The moment she transitioned, she stopped being a Bennett witch. She is no longer part of this bloodline and it would be an offense to the rest of your family to have her present tonight."

Bonnie opened her mouth.

Jonna placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Maybe later, after you have gotten to know the other Bennett's and talked to them. After activating the coven, Abby could join us in the meetings," she suggested gently.

Aunt Vivian did not like that idea at all but wisely didn't say anything. She didn't want to upset Bonnie or start the night on the wrong foot.

"It's very important to do everything by the book tonight," Joanna continued.

"Abby understands," Lenore added. "She knows the rules."

"I need to talk to her," Bonnie told them. She didn't know why but she felt like they were hiding something. She couldn't explain it but she felt Lenore and Joanna were keeping something very important from her.

"You will have plenty of time to talk to her, my dear." Aunt Vivian reassured her. "Right now, you need to speak with your coven, they have been waiting for this moment for quite a while now. You need to focus on that."

Bonnie reluctantly nodded. She had a feeling that her conversation with her mother was not going to be easy or short, maybe it was best to postpone it for later. She turned to Lucy.

Her cousin smiled. "I'll keep an eye on Charlotte." She took the little girl's hand in hers. "We'll be right behind you."

Charlotte nodded eagerly.

"Thanks." She didn't want to fight over this now but once the coven was active she would make sure to try and include her mother in their affairs. It wasn't fair that because she was a vampire she was treated like a plague. Abby was a Bennett, she had been the queen once, and Bonnie didn't want to cast her aside for being something she had not asked to be. Besides, the Bennett witches that chose to be part of the coven were going to have to work with vampires and werewolves in the war to come. Allowing Abby in, could be a nice starting point.

"The time has come," Aunt Vivian said.

She led Bonnie down the steps and through the foyer, conducting her towards the ballroom, where all the Bennett witches were gathered.

Lucy and Charlotte followed closely behind, as did Joanna and Lenore.

Butterflies took flight in Bonnie's stomach as the double doors opened. She took a deep breath before they proceeded to step inside. _This is it,_ she thought. _Don't mess this up, Bonnie._

* * *

 **Shreveport**

Everyone stood in stunned silence as the two men calling themselves _Elijah_ came face to face. The air stood still, no one dared to breathe or utter a word. The many vampires gathered at the junkyard didn't know what to say or do. They stood nervously and fearfully, for they all knew they were in front of powerful, dangerous predators and any wrong move could be the last of their lives.

The minute Marcel realized the Originals had arrived, he took off at vampire speed, disappearing as quick as lightning. He did not want any of them to notice him.

Klaus chuckled. His eyes following the speeding blur out of the junkyard.

Rebekah who had easily spotted Marcel too, gave her brother a curious look. "You are going to let him go?" She asked in their mother tongue.

Klaus shrugged. "He is nothing to me," he replied in the same language. His eyes surveying the crowd with disinterest.

Rebekah didn't look convinced and neither did Kol, for he had heard the exchange between them. But they chose not to say anything and focus on the scene unfolding ahead of them.

The vampires looked from one Elijah to the other, waiting to see which one would be the one to make the first move. For a while the two vampires simply stared at one another, studying each other carefully.

"It has been a very long time, Armand." Elijah said as he took the sight of the other vampire. He had recognized him immediately. Elijah remembered every single vampire he had personally sired. Armand was one he had sired while living in Paris about six hundred years ago. They hadn't seen each other in a very long time.

"Centuries," Armand agreed as he came to stand in front of them. His face was a mask of indifference, he didn't seem shocked at seeing Elijah, let alone his siblings. It was almost as if he had been expecting them.

Both men regarded one another with calculating eyes and neutral expressions. It was a game they both knew how to play well.

Armand slid his gaze from Elijah to Rebekah. "Rebekah, you look lovely as always."

Rebekah rolled her eyes and ignored him. She had never thought much of him.

Armand gave no reaction at her lack of response and turned towards Kol instead. "I heard you were dead." There had many whispers in recent years, of a weapon that could kill the Originals. That two or more of the Mikaelson's were dead because of it. Armand had wondered but seeing Kol (after news of his demise had spread like wildfire) made him question such rumors.

"The rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated," Kol retorted with his trademark smirk. "As you can see, I am very much alive."

"So, I see."

"What's with the long hair?" Kol asked. "Are you trying to become the new Dracula?"

Armand glared at him.

"Enough of this chit-chat," Klaus hissed in annoyance. "This isn't a social call."

All eyes turned towards him.

Armand studied his face carefully. Klaus had changed since the last time they had seen each other, he was not just a vampire anymore but a hybrid, Armand could feel the wolf in him. _So, the rumors were true,_ he thought. Klaus Mikaelson was ten times more dangerous now than he was before.

"Why are you doing this?" Klaus asked looking at the younger vampire with contempt. Armand had always been rather pathetic in his opinion, always looking for Elijah's approval and trying to be part of the family. "What do you strive to gain with this pathetic lot?"

"This lot as you so called it, is a well-trained army," Armand was quick to point out. "My army." He made sure to emphasize the word. He had worked hard to ensure a great number of vampires had come together to form a unified and effective force to defeat the Navarro's with.

"An army that you acquired with lies?" Rebekah reminded him with a sneer. "By pretending to be my brother."

"A well-trained army," Kol scoffed. "They look like street rats."

"You would be amazed at how far they had come," Armand snapped. He was protective of his _children._ That's how he had come to view them. He was not going to let anyone insult them, Originals or not.

"Is that so?" Klaus chuckled. His dark blue eyes surveyed the nervous vampires watching the strange exchange between them. "I alone could eat all of them for sport."

There some hisses and growls. They all had heard his words and none of the vampires liked what they heard. The air was suddenly charged with electricity. The desire for blood was suddenly very palpable. Some brave, or fools, depending how one saw it, took a couple of steps forward, getting closer to the Originals. Others, wisely took a step back.

Klaus and Kol exchanged matching grins. They were expecting this.

"What an arrogant lot," Kol muttered. He was itching for a good fight. His body was alive and ready to unleash all kinds of destruction. Months of pent up anger, frustration, fear, and even boredom that came from his time on the other side pumped his veins with adrenaline. He needed a good kill and this lot had pretty much volunteered themselves with their attitude.

"They clearly need to be taught a lesson," Klaus said. He knew exactly what Kol was thinking and while Elijah could have the patience of a saint, Klaus didn't want to waste any time on any insubordinate fools.

Elijah gave them a look. Killing the army was not part of the plan, _not yet._ He not only wanted to question Armand, he also knew of the advantages of having a vampire army at their disposal.

Kol sniggered and Klaus shrugged innocently.

"I would like to have a word in private," Armand said to Elijah.

Elijah regarded him carefully. "Why should I allow you that concession?"

"Because what I have to say will interest you."

Elijah pressed his lips together and turned to Klaus. The two of them had a very quick conversation with their eyes. After a while, Elijah finally turned to Armand and nodded.

Armand smiled.

"Don't get too excited mate," Kol told Armand. "You're a dead man walking."

Armand glared at him, Kol only laughed.

"After you," Elijah muttered signaling for Armand to walk out first. He would be a fool to turn his back on an old vampire with an agenda of his own. He was going to indulge him in a little private talk but Elijah knew better than to trust him.

"You do not trust the vampire you sired and made in your image," Armand commented coldly as the two began walking.

The mass of vampires surrounding them parted ways and watched them with curious eyes. They were eager to know, to learn what the hell was going on. And yet, no one said a word as the two vampires walked by.

Elijah's lips curled into a sardonic grin upon hearing those words. "Someone once told me, that the only vampire a vampire can trust is himself. I quite agree with that sentiment." His family had learned the hard way that no vampires outside of themselves (and even then, there were always complications) could ever be truly trusted. Even those vampires that still remained loyal to them, were kept at arm's length.

Armand didn't say anything else as they made their way out of the junkyard.

The vampires murmured among each other and intrigued looks followed the two of them as they disappeared from view.

"Well, this is rather boring," Rebekah pouted crossing her arms over her chest. Her body had been pumped with excitement at the prospect of ripping out some throats alongside her brothers. It was something they hadn't done in ages.

"Oh, I think you will get your fun." Klaus glanced at her.

The moment Elijah and Armand disappeared from view, Kol turned towards the group of vampires still surrounding them. "Any of you dare to fight an Original?" he asked with a grin.

The vampires watched him warily.

No one stepped forward.

"Oh, come on! Aren't you supposed to be well trained and all that nonsense?" Kol taunted all of them. "Let's see then, show me what you are made of?" He extended his arms in open invitation.

A tanned muscular man, one of the oldest vampires in the group cracked his knuckles as he stepped forward. He was a good inch or two taller than Kol. There was a menacing look on his face. He looked ready for war.

Kol's entire face lit up.

"This is going to be good," Klaus muttered.

A slender, dark skinned woman with striking blue eyes flashed out there. Rebekah caught up to her with ease. "Scared darling?" she asked with a grin as she blocked the woman's path.

The woman growled, her vampire face flashing immediately. She opened her mouth but whatever she was going to say was cut short by Rebekah's fist slamming right into her pretty face. The blow took her by surprise and sent her crashing right to the floor.

Rebekah looked down at her smiling. "Show me what you got."

The woman growled and stood up. She used her vampire speed to launch herself at Rebekah, the Original girl anticipated her movements and met her halfway. The two engaged in a violent fight.

A freckled, red haired boy also flashed out of there almost at the same time as the woman. He didn't make it very far, Klaus grabbed him by the back of the neck and swung him across the yard, sending him crashing against a crumpled car.

Upon seeing that, many of the vampires gathered around scurried off and hid from view, doing their best to stay away from the Original but also eager to see what he would do.

The boy stood up immediately. He wasted no time and launched himself at Klaus.

The hybrid waited for him with a grin.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The moment they stepped inside the candle lit spacious room, all eyes turned towards her. Every witch inside went quiet as they felt the arrival of their queen.

"Everyone," Aunt Vivian called for their attention. "It is my pleasure to introduce you to our queen, Bonnie Bennett."

A nervous tremble invaded Bonnie's body as she found herself the center of attention. Curious eyes and faces stared at her from head to toe, taking particular notice of the baby bump that was beautifully in display, thanks to the off the shoulder royal blue satin dress she was wearing. She had pulled her hair up into a messy bun, a few curls coming lose around her glowing face. She had applied a light touch of makeup as well, which accentuated her eyes and lips.

Bonnie looked every inch the queen. But more than her look, it was the power that surrounded her that had the other witches tensing slightly. Their skins prickled upon feeling that aura of undeniable magic engulfing her.

All eyes were on her as she walked further into the room. Bonnie recognized all of their faces, she had seen them the night of the summoning. She had seen flashes of their lives as well. She had also felt each and every one of them that night as she connected with all the Bennett's dead and alive. She could feel them now, their power, their blood singing to her. It was incredible, it was almost a feeling of completion.

The air was charged with electricity as all of them came together at last. For the first time in centuries, the Bennett witches had gathered in a single place. They had come together, as a family, and a coven.

"We will go around the room so that I can introduce you properly," Aunt Vivian told her.

"Okay," Bonnie let Aunt Vivian guide her through the ballroom so that she could begin with the introductions. There were about thirty-five witches in attendance.

"The first witch I want to introduce you to is my granddaughter, Cecily." Aunt Vivian lead Bonnie straight to a young, and delicate looking woman. She had short black hair, a dimple on her left cheek, and her eyes were dark and luminous. She was very beautiful and elegant. "She just came back from her honeymoon." Aunt Vivian felt very proud of Cecily. "She's younger than Adriane you know, and has married one of the most respectable and wealthiest bachelors in Boston. And he also happens to be a witch."

"Hi," Bonnie said nervously. She wasn't exactly sure how to greet her, they were cousins but she wasn't sure what kind of protocol to follow. Ultimately, she let her instincts guide her.

"Blessed it be, cousin." Cecily took the lead and kissed both of her cheeks. She then bowed her head. A gesture of respect and acknowledgement of Bonnie's position.

"You know Adriane of course," Aunt Vivian continued tuning to the witch next to Cecily. "I am hoping she will follow her sister's footsteps and find a good husband soon."

Adriane rolled her eyes. If she were to earn a dollar for every time her grandmother brought up the subject, she would be filthy rich. "Grand-mère please." Now was not the time for those kinds of talks.

"You are not getting any younger darling," Aunt Vivian told her. "It is your duty to this family to produce heirs to carry our illustrious name." Vivian wanted to see her granddaughter married and with a house filled with children to continue the Bennett legacy.

Lucy who was nearby rolled her eyes. Joanna gave her a reproachful look.

Charlotte on the other hand, was spying the two little twin girls in matching white dresses in the corner of the ballroom. This was the first time she was coming across other children her age. There were two boys as well a few feet away from the girls. They were with their mother. One looked bigger and older than her but his brother was about Charlotte's height.

They also took notice of her. One of the twins waved at her. Charlotte happily waved back. Any shyness she had felt before had disappeared. It was strange but being surrounded by these group of women didn't make her feel overwhelmed like when she had run out of the compound. On the contrary, she felt safe with them. She continued to spy the little girls, hoping that maybe they could play together.

The next witch Bonnie met was named Teresa, she was a nun and had come all the way from Spain. "It is an honor to meet you." Her almond eyes were filled with kindness and her smile was gentle and sincere, accentuating the lines around her eyes and mouth. She took both of Bonnie's hands in hers.

The moment their hands touched, Bonnie felt a sense of calm. The tension invading her body evaporated and she visibly relaxed. She gave Teresa a curious look. "Did you-"

Teresa nodded.

"Thank-you. I really needed that."

"My pleasure."

"I'm sorry to have made you come all this way," Bonnie told her.

"Do not be child," Teresa replied. "It is my duty." If her mother were alive, she would be crying tears of joy that the Bennett coven was one at last.

After Teresa, she met Marie, a single mom from New York. She was as short as Bonnie, with black short curly hair and bright green eyes. She nodded in Bonnie's direction. She seemed rather distant and very quiet. Her two sons were with her, a teenage boy of thirteen named Andre and younger one of seven, named Jamal.

Bonnie smiled at them. "I am very happy to meet you." She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have twin boys. She unconsciously placed her hand on her belly.

The teenage boy frowned, he didn't really get the fuss of this meeting. The younger one on the other hand, had a vivacious smile, long eyelashes, and bright and curious eyes as green as his mother's. He was a cutie.

"The first boys born into the Bennett bloodline in over a century," Aunt Vivian commented as she made the introductions. She gave the boys a cold look. They were driving her crazy with their wild and restless behavior. She and Marie had gotten in plenty of disagreements over it, in the past few days. Marie didn't discipline them enough in Vivian's opinion.

"Aunt Vivian hasn't forgiven me for that," Marie commented dryly. "You would think I committed a crime." She was very defensive when it came to her boys. The past couple of days had been uncomfortable for all of them. And the truth was, she couldn't wait to get the hell out.

"Of course it's a crime!" Aunt Vivian exclaimed. "Males are rarely born into this family. We are a matriarchy of witches after all." In her eyes, it was an offense, a failure to have a boy and Marie had two!

Marie pressed her lips together, trying really hard to keep her temper in check. She had learned that arguing with Aunt Vivian didn't lead anywhere.

"They don't even have magic!" Someone said loudly from the other side of the room.

"No Bennett male has ever had magic," another one of the witches pointed out.

Murmurs broke all around the room as curious glances were thrown towards Marie and her children.

There was a hard look on Marie's face and she placed a protective hand on her children's shoulders. All three of them seemed uncomfortable under the sudden scrutiny they found themselves in. The teenage boy looked angry but the little one seemed almost frightened. Because he could feel all their judging looks and his mother's discomfort. He didn't like it.

Bonnie frowned. "Is that true?" She couldn't stop herself from asking. She didn't mean to pry or make Marie and her kids more uncomfortable. She just felt genuinely curious.

"There have been very few men born into our bloodline," Aunt Vivian said as she studied Marie's boys. "None of them had magic as far as I know."

"Why is that?"

"Cause the first witch was a scorned bitch who ensured no assholes would rule over us."

All eyes turned to a short, dark skinned girl with mischievous brown eyes and pixie cut hair. She was shorter than Bonnie but her jeans and tight emerald blouse accentuated her generous curves. Her luscious red lips curled into a grin when she noticed Bonnie looking in her direction. "Tinisha," she introduced herself. "Don't know about you all," she glanced at the other witches. "But I rather have a queen then a king of the coven." She turned back to look at Bonnie. "Specially one as hot as you." She winked.

Bonnie was a little taken back by the compliment.

Aunt Vivian gave Tinisha a glare. "Behave," she ordered.

Tinisha rolled her eyes. She was probably the only one who had no fear of the 'General' mainly because she had been the only one to have successfully break free of Aunt Vivian's silencing spell in a short time. It took her over two hours but she did it. It was a record she carried with pride.

"Enough witch families have men dominating the game if you ask me," a fierce looking woman with straight black hair down to her ears said. She was elegantly dressed in a red, short sleeved dress, and shiny black pumps. She had a round face, dark eyes, and full lips. Her twin daughters were standing in front of her. "Good of our ancestor to decide only women should rule this family." She bowed her head in Bonnie's direction. "My name is Octavia and these are my girls, Andrea and Sylvie," She introduced. The two little girls smiled sweetly at Bonnie.

Bonnie was immediately enchanted. They were adorable little girls. This time, she couldn't help but imagine herself with two adorable little girls as her daughters.

"I quite agree with that." A somber looking woman sitting across from them said. She was wearing a pale orange long dress and matching headwrap. Her dark skin was adorned with shiny gold jewelry but her most prominent accessory was the snake around her neck.

 _Amina,_ Bonnie's mind supplied. She had to do a double take on the snake though. For a second, she had believed she imagined the whole thing.

Amina smiled. "Don't be afraid, my queen. She won't hurt you." She petted the black mamba tenderly, as if it were a small child cooing softly against her breast. The snake hissed and licked her cheek. "She's my companion. My very dear friend." She kissed the snake's shiny black head, all the while keeping her eyes on Bonnie.

Bonnie offered her a nod and a polite smile.

"No wonder no one is sitting next to her," Lucy muttered as she stared at Amina. Even though she was on the other side of the ballroom, she took a step back. She hated snakes and just looking at them gave her the shivers.

"So, boys born in this family don't have magic?"

Bonnie turned away from Amina and stared at a young teenage girl who asked the question. She had tan skin, long black hair that fell down her shoulders and grey eyes.

 _Sofia,_ the orphan girl from California. She was about Bonnie's age and from the flashes she had seen during the summoning, Sofia didn't really know much about the Bennett bloodline. She had grown up in different foster homes and had pretty much taught herself how to wield her power. Like Bonnie.

"No, they do not." Aunt Vivian replied.

"That sucks," another witch muttered.

"That's the best thing that ever happened," another one countered.

Sofia looked from Aunt Vivian to Bonnie. "I saw you," she said. She seemed almost in awe of Bonnie. "I had like a vision…dream thing and I saw you calling me." She shivered remembering that night. The urge she had felt to come to New Orleans and meet the woman who now stood a few feet away from her. "I didn't really understand why. I just knew I had to come." And here she was.

"I saw you too," Bonnie said quietly. "I summoned you here, all of you."

"We all felt your call," the young woman next to Sofia said. She had light brown wavy hair, light caramel skin, and astute mossy green eyes. "It's the reason we are here." She studied Bonnie's face carefully. "My name is Scarlett," she introduced herself. "I am honored to be here." She bowed her head.

"And I am grateful for it," Bonnie responded with a soft smile. "To have all of you here," she said looking around the ballroom.

"You seemed taller in my vision," A tall, exotic looking woman spoke up. She was stunning, there was no other word to described how beautiful she was. She was wearing a mini champagne dress that displayed her long legs. There was a fierce look on her face and her viridian eyes were lit up with mischief.

 _Cleo,_ the name came to Bonnie's mind with ease. Her full name was Cleopatra but she hated it and had shortened it to Cleo from an early age. She was a model. She had been in Paris when she had felt the summoning spell take effect. She had tried to ignored it but it didn't work. The burning sensation she had felt in her blood only disappeared when she set foot in New Orleans.

"You're very tiny," she continued looking up and down at Bonnie. "And very pregnant." She stared at Bonnie's belly with intrigue. Her face did soften at the sight and a tender smile graced her lips, making her even prettier.

"We're all tiny compared to you," Tinisha uttered. "You're a freaking giraffe."

Cleo made a face at her.

"She's a giraffe to you cause you're a midget," another young woman pointed out, her name was Jazmin. Her beautiful natural curly hair was on full display. She wore a simple t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Her heart shaped face was without a single drop of makeup and she looked lovely. Despite her attire, she looked very feminine. She was a doll.

Tinisha stuck her tongue out at her.

"I've seen you in magazines," Lucy said as she studied Cleo's face. She was definitely very familiar.

Cleo beamed and turned to her. "Of course you have darling. I am the hottest supermodel in the world right now." She smirked. She had walked countless of runways for big designer names and she had also been on the cover of many numerous magazines. She felt very proud of all she had accomplished in her short time as a model.

"If only you would put as much dedication to potion making as you do on the runway," Aunt Vivian reproached her.

"I love modeling," Cleo retorted. "This whole witchy business, I am not so sure about…." She crossed her arms over chest and shrugged. She had never really taken it seriously until now. Her magic was more like an alien thing she had to live with and not something she had cultivated, much to Vivian's dismay.

Aunt Vivian shook her head. That was not only Cleo's attitude but the attitude of many of the younger Bennett witches. With the exception of Kyra, who in Vivian's opinion had been born for battle and had in a short amount of time become her second in command. Joanna and Lenore were the other teachers helping her to shape the Bennett girls into seasoned warriors but even with them, Vivian felt it was not enough. "You need to take this war more seriously, all of you need to." She said looking around the room. "This isn't a game, there is a lot at stake. And the first order of business is to activate the Bennett coven, now that we are all here-"

"You are under the erroneous belief that all of us wish to be part of the coven, Vivian." A rather serious and authoritarian voice said.

A chill descended over the ballroom.

Bonnie turned to the other corner of the ballroom. Sitting almost hidden from view was a woman. She looked to be in her mid-thirties. She sat like a queen upon a throne, her eyes set on Bonnie. She had black curly hair that went down to her shoulders, a long face, and plump pale colored lips. Her expression was stoic and her dark eyes were cold and hard as they looked at Bonnie with contempt.

The air crackled with electricity as the woman's magic flared. She had done it on purpose. She had wanted the others to feel her great power, to know she was just as good as the _girl_ calling herself the queen.

Some of the younger witches shifted nervously, unsure of what was going on. They all felt the tension in the air, the sparks of magic that came alive and grew stronger with each passing second.

Charlotte scrunched her face in confusion as she stared at the woman. Her ability to read aura's alerting her to the great power she held.

Kyra scowled in her direction and her own magic flared in response, as did the magic of many of the Bennett witches scattered around the ballroom.

The Bennett women could feel the tension in the air and their powers reacted accordingly. Even seasoned witches like Lenore, Joanna, and Amina couldn't stop their magic from reacting to the strong currents of power already flowing around the ballroom. It was almost an involuntary reaction.

"This is-"

"I can introduce myself," the woman rudely interrupted Aunt Vivian. She stood up, her floor length, black laced dress flowing behind her as she made her way towards Bonnie. She was tall, graceful, and made quite the imposing figure.

Aunt Vivian looked angry and very tense as she glared at the younger woman. It was obvious she had no affection for her.

Bonnie knew who the woman was, she had seen her face and flashes of her life on the night of the summoning. "Simone Bennett," she greeted with a polite smile. Her magic did not react at all. Bonnie was the only one of the adult witches whose magic did not flare. She felt surprisingly calm. Teresa's relaxing influence had done wonders but more than that, Bonnie knew she had nothing to fear from the woman that came to stand in front of her. Simone was powerful there was no doubt. But Bonnie did not fear that power.

Simone sneered as she looked her up and down.

Bonnie stood her ground and met her eyes unflinchingly. She wasn't going to let Simone intimidate her. She had to be strong and firm and act like the queen she was born to be. She couldn't afford to show weakness or let herself be intimidated by others, let alone those who were her own blood.

"I expected so much more from the so called queen of the coven. I must say, you are a terrible disappointment," Simone muttered, a malicious smirk curling her lips.

Gasps echoed around the room. They couldn't believe Simone had dared to talk to the queen like that.

"Watch your tone Simone," Aunt Vivian warned angrily. Her magic swirling around her, more than ready to put the younger woman in her place.

"Save your scolding for your weak minded nieces," Simone snapped. "I don't need your lectures, Vivian." While the younger ones were easily intimidated by Vivian's dominant personality, Simone had no fear of the older woman. She could take her down with her eyes closed and her hands tied behind her back.

"What you need is a good lashing," an older witch with snowy white hair said. She looked rather frail and delicate in her fuchsia skirt and jacket. She had a string of pearls around her neck and matching earrings. Her face was very soft, gentle, her dark eyes kind behind the gold rim of her glasses.

Simone laughed. "You are half blind and crippled. You think I'm afraid of you, Diana?"

"You should be afraid of me," the beautiful young woman with light brown skin and curly black hair standing next to Diana said. Her name was Beatrice, Bea for short. "Don't insult my grandmother." The whole room shook as her magic flared and expanded, letting all the witches around her know that she was not kidding.

Simone happily ignored her.

"You need to be very careful Simone," Aunt Vivian warned her again. Her jaw clenched as she fulminated Simone with her eyes.

"This is bad," Cecily muttered nervously. Her sister didn't respond. Adriane kept her eyes on Simone. She was one of the witches that had opted to stay at a hotel rather than live with them at the mansion. She and a couple of others had proven very difficult from the beginning.

Joanna and Lenore made their way closer to where Bonnie was. The tempers in the room were seconds away from snapping and who knew what kind of consequences that would bring.

Amina stood up and also moved closer.

Kyra who was leaning against the wall a few feet away from the scene moved closer towards Bonnie as well, ready to fight and protect her should she need it.

Marie pushed her children as far away as she could, while Scarlett looked curiously at Simone.

Teresa was the only one who seemed calm, quietly sitting down on a chair, hands on her lap and eyes trained on the scene that was unfolding.

Sofia and Cleo looked at each other nervously while Octavia put herself in front of her girls in a protective stance. _Better be safe than sorry,_ she thought. Lucy did the same with Charlotte.

Tinisha looked back and forth between Bonnie and Simone waiting to see who would be the first to make a move. She also wondered which witch was going to get her ass royally kicked. _What are you made out of queen?_ She wondered as she stared at Bonnie. _Can you handle this bitch?_

The tension in the room escalated with each passing minute.

"You do not wish to be part of the coven?" Bonnie asked. She kept her voice calm and controlled. She schooled her features surprisingly well as she looked into Simone's dark eyes. _This is it Bonnie,_ she thought. _This is a test you must pass._

"I would rather die than bow down to a vampire's whore," Simone hissed.

Time stood still.

The first punched had been thrown.

* * *

 **Shreveport**

They stood on the street outside the junkyard, underneath the glowing light of a lamp post. The street was deserted, none dared to venture in this area of the city. It was far too dangerous.

Elijah placed his hands inside the pockets of his expensive black coat and regarded Armand with a neutral face.

"The last time I saw you, was the night that vampire hunter came for us," Armand murmured. "You left me to burn," he said accusingly. To this day, he could still feel the fire upon his skin. He had been very lucky to get out alive.

"I had a choice to make," Elijah replied simply. "Saved my daggered sister or save you. It wasn't really a choice." There was no regret in his voice, his conscience was clear. His family always came first. He had saved Rebekah and fled Paris without ever looking back.

"Did you even care at all?" Armand wondered angrily. After all this years, he still wondered.

"You knew how to take care of yourself Armand. I knew you could survive on your own." Just like he knew Armand would find a way to get out of the burning building. Elijah didn't have time to ensure the other vampire's safety. He had to run. His father had joined forces with a very skilled vampire hunter and their combined attack had taken them all by surprise.

Armand stayed silent, watching his sire, jaw clenching and eyes hard.

"Tell me," Elijah ordered. "What do you have to say that will interest me?"

"Aren't you going to ask me?" Armand asked instead of answering his question. "Why am I doing this? What my purpose for pretending to be you is?" he asked.

Elijah chuckled. "I don't need to ask you. I already know."

Armand seemed surprised by that. It was a flash, a quick second, before he schooled his features but Elijah saw it all the same. "You know?"

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out," Elijah replied simply. He took a step closer, tilting his head to the side. "An army of mostly newborn vampires drawn here by an older vampire pretending to be an Original," his lips curled. "You're the trap. You, this army." He began pacing around the street, a thoughtful look on his face. "You are the distraction the real vampire army is going to use to draw the Navarro army out of their territory."

Armand didn't say anything, he simply watched him.

"When Franco learns that there is a large gathering of vampires in this city, mobilizing to attack him, he will retaliate. He is arrogant enough to think that just because their venom is lethal to our kind, he will win the fight and that's when the other army will sweep in and deliver the final blow." He turned to Armand with a grin. "Am I wrong?" it was a rhetorical question.

Armand stayed silent.

"You are preparing this army to be pigs for the slaughter," Elijah muttered.

"I am," Armand replied as calmly as if they were discussing the weather. _What was the point in denying it?_

Elijah shook his head. "Who is leading the other army, Armand?"

"Do you really have to ask that?" Armand countered. "You know exactly who is leading the other army," his lips curled. "There is only one powerful, organized, and extremely resourceful network of vampires in the world."

"The Strix," Elijah hissed. That didn't take a genius to figure it out either. "When did you join them?"

"Shortly after you left me to burn in Paris," Armand snapped. "I was approach by a high-ranking member, I've been with them ever since." His voice was filled with pride. "And you were wrong about one thing by the way?"

"Is that so?"

Armand nodded. "My army is not a means to lure just the Navarro's but it was also the only way we could sent a message to you. We knew you would come if we used your name."

Elijah's jaw clenched.

Armand's eyes glinted with malice. "It worked," he chuckled. He felt like he had bested his sire and that gave him great joy.

"What do you want?" Elijah demanded.

"We want many things Elijah," Armand responded. "But the most important one is to ensure the vampires continue to dominate the supernatural world. We have been at the top of the food chain for far too long and we don't want that to change. The Navarro clan needs to be destroyed at all cost and the only way we can do this, is if we work together."

"How noble of you," Elijah commented coldly.

"It's the purpose of the Strix after all," Armand continued. "To create a better future for our species. Having a werewolf as the king of all supernaturals is not on our agenda." He took a step closer. "For the past couple of years, the Navarro's power has expanded at an alarming rate. Many vampires gathered their small forces and planned to attack but we stopped them. In order to truly defeat Franco Navarro and his brothers we need a big, organized, and skilled army. We have collected all of those small groups, trained them, and turned them into the best army of vampires the world has ever seen. Now we are ready for the next step."

Elijah listened to every single one of his words. His expression giving nothing away of his feelings or thoughts.

"Because of the Strix, countless of vampires have united under a single cause," Armand continued, the pride in his voice more than evident. "You and your family should be grateful for what we have done to keep the peace and ensure the survival of our race."

"What do you want from me?" Elijah hissed.

Armand pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Elijah.

Elijah took it and unfolded it. A flat electronic plastic card was tucked inside the note.

 _My dear Elijah_ , it began. He recognized the handwriting immediately. He read the note quickly and tucked the hotel key-card inside his pocket. He felt perturbed by the surprising message. It had been centuries since he had heard from or seen _her_.

"She's waiting for you," Armand murmured. "The information she has is very valuable."

"Why am I not surprised she's the one orchestrating this scheme," Elijah muttered more to himself. He should have seen it coming really. The minute he realized the Strix was behind this. _What do you want Aya?_ He wondered. _What game are you playing now?_

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The children were rushed out of the ballroom following Simone's insult. The matters that were about to be discussed were not only extremely important to determine the future of the coven but they were also matters that made tempers flare and it was best for the kids to be safely out of the way.

Daisy, Aunt Vivian's personal maid escorted Charlotte, Andrea, Sylvie, Andre, and Jamal out of the room and led them to another room on the opposite side of the house. It was a family room with a big TV and lots of different games for them to be entertained. She was in charge of watching them while the meeting of the Bennett coven continued.

Once the young ones were away from the boiling tension in the room, Bonnie turned to Simone. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "You have every right not to wish to be part of the coven," Bonnie said, keeping her emotions in check and her voice calm. She knew that losing her temper or letting the woman's insults get to her, was not going to help matters. "I am not going to force anyone to be part of the coven." She looked around the room as she spoke. "Choosing to be part of the Bennett coven has to come from you, from your heart. It is a decision that must be taken willingly."

"How magnanimous of you," Simone mocked.

"What's your problem?" Bonnie questioned a hint of anger echoing in her voice. She didn't like Simone's attitude and the way she was staring at her, almost with hatred. "I barely even know you and you seem to hate me…" she didn't understand where all this animosity came from.

"My problem," Simone hissed taking a step closer. "You don't deserve to be the queen of this coven. What do you know of the Bennett family, of our traditions, of our history?" she questioned. "You're a girl playing a big game, pregnant by an abomination of nature, and you have summoned an ancient coven to fight a war that is going to destroy us."

Bonnie opened her mouth but Simone cut her off. "For years, the Bennett witches have been used and abused by vampires, our once great coven has been reduced to young, naïve girls who know nothing of our ancestors, of the sacrifices they made, or the legacy that flows in our veins." The emotion in her voice was palpable. "Your mother was a failure as a queen and so was your grandmother," she spat.

"If you think-"Aunt Vivian began.

"Let her finish," Bonnie interrupted. Her eyes were hard and her jaw clenched as she looked at Simone.

"But Bonnie," Aunt Vivian protested turning to stare at her niece.

"Go on," Bonnie said to Simone. She was willing to swallow the insults towards her mother and grandmother for now. Because she wanted to give Simone the chance to speak her mind. She wanted to learn why there was so much anger and hatred from her. "Say all that you wish to say."

"I don't need your permission to speak my mind," Simone hissed.

"Technically, you should be asking her permission to speak since she's the queen and all," Tinisha muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

If looks could kill she would've been six feet under by the nasty glare Simone sent her way.

Tinisha offered her a very fake innocent smile. Simone didn't scare her at all.

Simone turned back to look at Bonnie. "Girls like you, take all of this as a game. Our ancestors must be turning in their graves at your actions. Not just yours but others…" she continued. "Witches who have been enslaved by vampires, used, drained, and discarded as if they were nothing." She let out a short bitter laugh. "How many of you have helped those leeches?" she questioned loudly. "How many of you have made daylight rings for them? Or gotten caught up in their scheming and treachery? How many have died because of it."

Lucy looked down at her feet.

Tinisha looked away.

Many others also had guilty looks on their faces.

"You see," Simone continued angrily. "Our family, our legacy has been ruined by vampires, and it's not something of today or of a hundred years ago, it goes way back when one of our own helped the Original witch." She turned to Bonnie then. "And now you expect us to turn a blind eye and fight alongside them. You expect us to help them fight their war. Once again we will be in their servitude."

"The Bennett line has suffered great losses because of the vampires," an older looking woman agreed with Simone. "There were over a hundred of us a century ago and now, not even fifty left." She shook her head. "It's terrible."

"I hate those damn monsters," another witch practically yelled.

"Our queen pregnant by an abomination," an older petite witch muttered. "It's a disgrace."

"When I was summoned I was happy," Simone admitted looking into Bonnie's eyes. "I thought finally, we will rise and thrive once more. Finally, things will change and we will break free from this endless cycle that has only brought death and destruction to all of us. But I was wrong." She hated that. "You summoned us here to fight in your name, to get involved in a war with vampires and werewolves, to protect the children of the most evil, cruel, and horrible monster the world has ever seen. I refuse to be a part of that," she spat. She looked at Bonnie's belly. "The abominations you carry inside your belly will be our end."

Bonnie steeled herself and had to quickly clamp down the magical reaction threatening to be unleashed at Simone for calling her children _abominations._ She knew that's how many witches view them but it hurt to hear it all the same. It hurt even more because it came from someone who was her family. She knew that just because the Bennett women were her family they were not going to accept her pregnancy with open arms. Deep down, Bonnie had known that would be one of the biggest issues for the Bennett witches to accept her as their queen but she hadn't expected this kind of hatred from Simone. And judging by some of the looks she saw out of the corner of her eye, a couple of other witches shared the same thoughts. Not all of them, but plenty of the Bennett's shared the same believes as Simone.

"I won't fight for vampires," Simone told her firmly. "I won't fight for a girl who has betrayed everything we stand for, I refuse to bow down to you." She stared at Bonnie with raw and barely controlled hatred. "This coven deserves better. This family deserves better. I had no choice but to come here because of the summoning spell and here I am. And now I leave. You can't force to stay and be part of this stupid coven. I had enough of this charade." With that she proceeded to walk past Bonnie and headed straight towards the double doors.

The witches around her parted like the sea and made way for her to leave the ballroom.

The doors flew open before she even reached them.

Simone was just about to reach the threshold when the double doors flung shut and the lock was put in place. Simone sent a wave of her magic to burst the doors open but it didn't work. She tried again, nothing. She spun around angrily.

Bonnie stood proudly before her. "You had the chance to speak your mind, now is my turn," she said in a calm and decisive voice.

"If you think-"

"You're not leaving this room," Bonnie cut her off. "None of you will leave this room until I have said everything that I need to say." She moved her gaze from Simone and towards the other Bennett witches gathered around. "Whether you like it or not, whether you want it or not, I am the queen of this coven. I summoned you here, and you shall remain here and listen to what I have to tell you."

Simone scoffed. A couple of others gave Bonnie some very mean glares, others watched her curiously, while Joanna, Lucy, and Lenore offered encouraging smiles.

"If after what I have to say, you wish to leave, I won't stop you." Bonnie promised. "All I ask is that you open your minds and your hearts and listen before judging and making decisions on anger or prejudice." She took a deep breath.

"I think it's the least we can do," Diana said giving her a soft smile. "We all wish to know more about our queen after all."

Bonnie smiled at her. There was something so sweet and kind about Diana, Bonnie found herself liking her immediately.

"Speak my dear, we will listen," Aunt Vivian encouraged.

"I didn't ask for this," Bonnie began as she looked around the room. "I didn't know about the Bennett legacy, I didn't even know I was a witch until I was in high school," she admitted much to the shocked and bewildered looks from the women around her. "I am young. I am pregnant by a hybrid and yes, I have summoned you here to fight a war." She turned back to look at Simone. "Is not just a vampire's war but a war that will involve all supernatural species." She swallowed the lump in her throat, hating how emotional she felt in that moment. "I don't want to be involved in a war. I don't want to bring my children into it, or you for that matter, but I have no choice. I am surrounded by enemies, by people who wish me and my kids dead, or others who want to use us, possess us…" she trailed off, a shudder running over her body as she thought of Franco Navarro.

Lucy offered her an encouraging smile, as did Lenore and Joanna and many others who were eager to hear what she had to say.

Bonnie smiled at them before continuing. "I am proud to be a Bennett witch," she told them in a sincere voice. "I want to make my ancestors proud. And I intend to be a very good queen." She placed her hand on her belly. "This pregnancy took me by surprise. I wasn't planning to be a mother at this point in my life but I love my children. I love them with all my heart, I love their father, and I will protect them to the very end." She looked at Simone before looking at the others. "To many they are abominations of nature, creatures that should be killed…" her voice broke. Her precious babies, they had not even been born but they were already hated. "But they are my family. My husband." Because in her heart she was already married to Klaus. "My kids, innocent children, _witches_ ," she emphasized the word. "You are free to touch my stomach and feel their power because I can assure you that while they have vampire and werewolf blood in their systems they are first and foremost Bennett witches. Your blood," she reminded them.

The ballroom broke into murmurs as the witches stared at her belly with curiosity.

"More than an army to fight a war, more than a coven to protect me or my kids, I want a family." Bonnie continued. "Some of you grew up with magic." She looked at Kyra, Octavia, Beatrice, Cecily, Adriane, and Lucy. "Some of us were not so fortunate," she looked at Sofia, Cleo, and a couple of others. "We can help each other, we can learn from one another. We can have the support system, the unity, the family many of us are so desperate to belong to."

Sofia nodded. A family was what she had always wanted, ever since she was a little girl.

"I am not asking you to fight for Klaus, or the Mikaelson family, or the vampires in this city," Bonnie told them with confidence. "I am not asking you to fight to make a name for yourselves. I am asking you to fight for a better future, for the future of this family, for the future generations that will be born or are growing up during this war." She wiped a few tears from her face. "I don't want the witches in our family to continue to be forced and bullied into helping other supernaturals." She turned back to Simone as she spoke. "I want the Bennett bloodline to thrive, to rise once more, to be the coven, the force we were centuries ago. And the only way that can happen is if all of us work together." A thoughtful look crossed her features. "Because of who we are, because of the ancient and powerful blood that flows through our veins we will always be in the middle of the storm. I think you know that as well as I do."

The Bennett witches had always been involved in the most important supernatural events and that was not going to change. They were the blood of the first witch. Willingly or not, they would always end up in the middle.

"I quite agree with that," Amina murmured. Even her snake seemed to shake her head, echoing her mistress sentiment. "I can't seem to stay away from supernatural troubles."

"I don't know how many vampires, werewolves, and even other witches come seeking my help regularly, just because I am a Bennett." Octavia agreed.

"My mother said being a Bennett was a gift and a curse," Scarlett added. "Gifted with tremendous power and beauty but cursed to always be in the middle of everything."

"It doesn't matter how many times we try to stay away," Joanna said. "At the end of the day, we always find ourselves intervening in supernatural affairs, willingly or not."

"Even when we tried to pretend otherwise," Lenore spoke from experience. "We are Bennett witches, nothing is going to change that. We will always get involved."

"It has been so since the beginning of times," Diana affirmed.

"We are the blood of the first witch," Another older woman added. Her name was Lucrecia. "I suppose we are the first family among the witches." She offered Bonnie a kind smile. "If we reluctantly and unwillingly fight for others because of who we are, how can we not fight for one of our own?" she asked the rest.

"Bennett's protect their own," Adriane said proudly. "We need to help and protect each other."

Bonnie smiled at all of them.

"I don't care who the father of your children is," Kyra said to Bonnie. She had been quietly observing and studying all of them and had finally decided to voice her opinion. "I am here to serve and obey you, my queen." She bowed her head.

"And I am honored and proud to have you by my side," Bonnie told her as she turned to face her.

"I am all my children have," Marie spoke up nervously. "I don't want to fight a war." She turned to Bonnie. "I have a life in New York, I have to work and school, and-"

"You don't have to stay in New Orleans and fight," Bonnie assured her. "I can't ask you to give up your live and stay here." She could never to that to them. Yes, she needed their help but ultimately it was their decision to stay or not. "I understand if you don't wish to participate in this war, I would never force you."

"Well, I am not going anywhere," Aunt Vivian declared proudly. "I am here to stay and help you bring those precious little girls into this world. They are the future of this coven."

Bonnie smiled and rubbed her belly tenderly. She didn't know the sex of the babies yet but the odds were definitely in favor of two girls.

"Count me in," Tinisha said. "I am more than ready to kick some ass." She was actually quite looking forward to it.

"I am staying too," Sofia told Bonnie firmly. She had finally found a family and she had no intention of leaving. She was afraid yes, but life was about taking risks and this one was worth it.

"I want to be part of coven but I can't stay," Octavia told Bonnie. "I can't relocate my family to New Orleans out of the blue, but know that whatever you need, I will help. I will come if you need me."

"I appreciate that." Bonnie paused, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "You don't have to like my relationship with Klaus or even accept it," she told her family. "But I would like for you to give me a chance. Get to know me, let me know you." Her heart was pounding loudly and a small tremble rolled over her body. "I am young and the truth is that I still don't know many things about this family, about our legacy." She looked at Simone once more. She wasn't going to lie or pretend otherwise.

The other witch stayed quiet, lips tightly pressed together. Her expression was unreadable, she had schooled her features into a perfect mask but her eyes never left Bonnie. She was listening carefully to every word, Bonnie knew.

"But I am learning," Bonnie continued. "And I promise to do my best every day, for you, for this coven, and for the future generations of Bennett witches. I want all of us to be united, to be a family. I want for this coven to be the refuge, the circle of protection, and care that all of us have needed at one point or another."

Many witches nodded at those words. Many of them had felt alone, desperate, and wished to have a family to back them up. Witches like Sofia and Cleo and even Bonnie herself now knew they were not alone. There were others just like them.

"Even if I never see you again after tonight, I would like for all of you to agree to be part of the Bennett coven." Bonnie looked at each and every one of them as she spoke. "I am asking you to give this coven a chance, to give _me_ a chance. Help me make the Bennett family great once more, help me remind the supernatural world why we are the blessed ones. But above all, help me protect our legacy, help me to ensure there will be more Bennett witches one hundred years from now, a thousand years from now."

Bonnie moved around the room, all eyes were on her as she spoke from her heart. There was no arrogance in her voice. She made no demands. She was gracious and humble and that made the difference in the way the witches viewed her. "It's not going to be easy, it won't happen overnight but I think we can create something great, something special, but it will take all of us. Let's work together, let's help each other," she pleaded with them. "This war is inevitable. It will happen whether we want it or not, but we have the chance to shape the outcome, to change the supernatural world for the better. To help forge a brighter, safer future for our children and for ourselves. Let's show the world what the Bennett's are made of."

The Bennett witches watched her, enraptured by each word that came out of her mouth. There was something about Bonnie, about the way she spoke. Each of the words that came out of her mouth touched them, even the more reluctant of witches found themselves enthralled by the beautiful, powerful, enchanting young woman that was their queen. They not only felt drawn to her but connected.

Aunt Vivian had a proud smile on her face.

Lucy wanted to give her a high five and cheer loudly but she stopped herself.

Tinisha was beaming from ear to ear.

Lenore and Joana couldn't stop grinning either.

Even the more reluctant witches, had to admit that Bonnie's words got to them. They wanted to believe in her, they wanted to believe that things were going to chance and that they would no longer be enslaved to the vampires.

Bonnie stared at Simone. "I know you are angry, I know that you have been hurt…"

"My mother and my fiancé were murdered by a vampire," Simone admitted in a whisper. "They are monsters, creatures that deserve to die, and yet you will have us working with them."

Bonnie watched her sadly. "Simone-"

"You can say all you want, you can make promises but in the end as long as you are involved with vampires you won't be safe," Simone interrupted her. "As long as you have those creatures in your life, you will never know peace. They will destroy you and in turn they will destroy us. I refuse to be a part of that. I won't become a sacrificial lamb. I am not going to be part of your coven." And with those words she walked out of the ballroom.

Bonnie didn't stop her. She had meant what she told them earlier. She was not going to force any of them to be part of the Bennett coven. She could, as their queen she had power over them, and with Expression she could even control them but she wasn't going to do that. She wanted them to joint the coven because they wanted to, not because they were forced.

Bonnie took a deep breath. "If anyone else does not wish to become part of the Bennett coven, I think this will be the perfect time to let me know. I don't want to waste your time. I have imposed on you long enough."

The room broke into murmurs as the witches came to a decision.

Seconds, minutes, an hour maybe, Bonnie wasn't sure how much time passed. She waited nervously, watching the frowns in many faces, seeing the worried looks, the doubt, and finally the resolve.

Marie was the first to step forward after Simone's abrupt exit. "I like the idea of the coven, I like many of the things you said." She told Bonnie as she came to stand in front of her. "But I can't be a part of it and neither will my sons. They don't have magic," she said sadly. "I can't fight a war. I can't risk my life when I am all my sons have. They are my priority." She had made her decision and she felt certain she would not change her mind. "I hope you can understand that. I'm sorry."

"I do understand," Bonnie told her gently. "And you have nothing to apologize for." As a mother, Bonnie understood Marie's fears and she couldn't fault her for it. She was only doing what was best for her kids.

"Good luck, my queen." Marie bowed her head in respect and then she rushed out of the room.

"Coward," Aunt Vivian hissed angrily.

Bonnie gave her a look but didn't say anything.

Teresa came next, walking slowly towards her, a gentle smile on her face.

"You can't stay either," Bonnie said sadly. Teresa's aura was so calming.

"I am a woman of god, a nun not a warrior," Teresa told her. "I gave up my life as a witch a very long time ago. I am afraid I will be of no use to you." She took Bonnie's hands in hers. "Do not be afraid. Do not be sad, you will triumph. You will make the Bennett ancestors proud."

Bonnie's bottom lip trembled.

Teresa reached out and touched her cheek. "Sheila raised an exceptional young woman."

Bonnie gasped. "You knew Grams?"

"A very long time ago," Teresa replied. She paused as memories of her youth came to her mind. "It has been an honor and a privilege meeting you, Bonnie Bennett." She kissed Bonnie's cheek and squeezed her hand, once again that feeling of calm washed over her. Bonnie welcomed it with open arms. It was soothing.

Bonnie wiped the tears from her eyes and looked around the room. A couple other Bennett women approached her, some bowed but did not say anything, others simply left without uttering a word or a reason for refusing to join the Bennett coven.

Bonnie waited nervously to see how many more would leave but to her surprise and astonishment many of the Bennett witches stayed, more than she had ever thought of or hoped for. Out of the thirty-five witches that had been summoned twelve left and twenty-three remained inside the ballroom. She felt so much relief and happiness that so many of them had chosen to stay and be part of the coven. That more than half of the witches had decided to give her a chance. She felt sad for the ones that had left, but her heart swelled with so much joy as she stared at the witches that had stayed.

Aunt Vivian, Cecily, Adriane, Joanna, Lucy, Lenore, Kyra, Scarlett, Tinisha, Cleo, Lucrecia, Beatrice, Diana, Amina, Octavia, Sofia, Jazmin and a couple others. They had stayed and were ready to be part of the Bennett coven.

"Thank-you." Bonnie felt grateful for the chance they were giving her.

"Thirty minutes until midnight," Aunt Vivian murmured. "The time has come."

* * *

They didn't waste any time.

They all worked together to set everything up. Aunt Vivian had already ensured they got everything they needed. She had told Bonnie that they couldn't keep wasting time and that as soon as she knew which witches would be with her, they could reinstate the Bennett coven and that's exactly what they did. They went into the backyard of the house and began the preparations for the ceremony. Time was of the essence.

A pentagram of salt was drawn on the floor and the Bennett witches gathered around it. Charlotte, Andrea, and Sylvie had joined them by then. The girls were excited and eager for what was about to unfold, even if they didn't understand all of the details.

From the second-floor balcony, Teresa, Marie, and her sons watched. From the porch, the servants also gathered and watched. They would all bear witness to an event of a lifetime.

"Do you remember what you need to say?" Aunt Vivian asked Bonnie.

"I memorized everything," Bonnie assured her. She knew the words by heart. _This is it_ , she thought. The moment had come at last.

"Good. Let us begin then." Aunt Vivian didn't want to keep wasting time. They had wasted a lot of time already, the sooner the Bennett coven was active, the better it would be for all.

The air was charged with electricity and nervous giggles. All the Bennett witches could feel it, that anticipation, that energy building and building, and charging the air around them. Their magic flared in response, mixing together in an intoxicating aroma that engulfed the forest surrounding the property.

It was a dark and rather chilly night but they were so excited they barely felt cold. Their veins were pumped with adrenaline as they gathered in a circle, the pentagram of salt in the middle.

"Witches of the Bennett bloodline," Aunt Vivian who was to Bonnie's right asked in a loud and firm voice. "Do you come here clear of mind and out of your own freewill?"

"Yes," they all responded at once.

"Who comes to reinstate this coven?"

"I do," Bonnie answered her voice firm and clear.

"What is your name?" Aunt Vivian asked.

"Bonnie Sheila Bennett, daughter of Abigail, and granddaughter of Sheila," Bonnie didn't hesitate to respond.

"And who are you?"

"I am the first born of the first born," Bonnie answered. "I am the leader and queen of this bloodline."

Aunt Vivian nodded.

"What elders give me their blessing tonight?" Bonnie asked.

"I do," Diana spoke up.

"As do I," Amina replied.

"And I," Lucrecia responded as well.

"And so do I," Aunt Vivian joined them. She turned to Bonnie and handed her a small athame with a black handle and a strange symbol carved on it. Bonnie unconsciously touched her necklace, the symbol on the athame looked almost identical to the one she wore around her neck. The same swirling pattern that looked like snakes surrounding a spinning wheel.

"Go on," Aunt Vivian encouraged.

Bonnie took a deep breath as she grabbed the athame with her right hand and used it to cut her left palm. She hissed as a trail of blood emerged from the wound. She extended her hand out and let the drops of her blood fall on the pentagram of salt by her feet. "Witches of the Bennett bloodline," she spoke up as she stared at them. "Let our mother goddess guide us and protect us in this new journey we begin tonight." She looked down at the pentagram. "Let this be the beginning of a new era for our family."

Smoke began to rise from the salt as each drop of Bonnie's blood fell down. The magic in her blood spreading all over the circle they had formed.

"Who comes to join me?" Bonnie asked as she passed the athame back to Aunt Vivian.

"Vivian Bennett," she replied as she used the athame to cut her left palm. Aunt Vivian extended her left hand over the pentagram and the drops of her blood fell on the salt, mixing with Bonnie's.

"Joanna Bennett," she did exactly the same thing.

"Lucy Bennett." Lucy followed her mother's example.

And so, one by one, all of the Bennett witches cut their palms and let the drops of their blood fall on the pentagram of salt. The more blood that fell on it, the stronger the white smoke became. It was almost as if the earth itself was simmering with intoxicating Bennett power.

The strong currents of power in the air around them intensified as more blood was added to the pentagram, as it mixed together creating a unique elixir of ancient power.

The little girls were the last to add their blood. Bonnie gently cut Charlotte's palm. She bit her lip and hissed at the sting she felt on her palm. She didn't cry though and neither did Andrea or Sylvie. They were far too excited. Bonnie helped Charlotte extend her hand so her blood would mix with the rest. By mixing their blood with the blood of the other Bennett's, the girls entered a circle of protection. They became honorary members of the coven but due to their young ages they would have to make a new oath upon reaching adulthood.

"Let the air chase away any evil that threaten us," Bonnie said once all of them had let drops of their blood fall on the pentagram at their feet.

A strong gust of wind was felt around the forest surrounding them.

"Let the earth bind us together."

The ground shook as a small earthquake was felt.

Charlotte moved unconsciously closer to Bonnie as a small tremble was felt beneath her feet.

Some of the other witches shuddered and gasped as they felt the sparks of magic increase. Their combined blood created currents of power that expanded all around the backyard, happily swirling in every direction.

"Let water wash away our fears and doubts."

Small droplets of rain began to fall from the sky.

"Let lightning be the blessing of our mother goddess."

A lightning bolt suddenly struck the pentagram, turning the salt black.

There were some shrieks and gasps and some witches even took fearful steps back as they felt the power of the lightning bolt resonate all around them. It was terrifying and exhilarating.

"And let fire be the life of our coven."

The pentagram of salt suddenly erupted in flames.

Bonnie gasped breathing in the scent of magic and blood. It was the most delicious smell ever, her mouth watered and her eyes closed in ecstasy as she was engulfed in that exquisite aroma. She unconsciously licked her lips. "With the night as our witness," she finally continued after a brief pause. "With the blessing of our mother goddess and the elements of nature as our binding force, we come here together at last. One bloodline, one power, one force, the Bennett coven is alive once more." The earth shook, the wind picked up, the rain began to fall hard, while the flames engulfing the pentagram shot up high into the sky. "By our own freewill, by our hearts, by our blood, and our magic we give this coven life," Bonnie said firmly. "Now and always, from this day to the ends of time, the Bennett coven exists once more. So mote it be."

"So mote it be," the Bennett witches responded as they all held hands.

The minute their palms touched, the coven was bound, and their magic exploded into million sparks of white light that spread all around them.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Lucy muttered in awe. Her eyes lost in the sparks of bright light that were everywhere.

"It's our magic," Joanna told her. She couldn't stop smiling.

"Our combined power," Lenore gasped and stared at the swirls of magic surrounding them.

Charlotte's eyes lit up as she watched the bright swirls of power that flew over them and bathed the forest with their warmth. "It's so pretty," she whispered in awe. She let out a giggle as a few sparks fell down on her nose, it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Andrea giggled as the same thing happened to her. "I like it."

"Me too," Sylvie reached out as the white sparks fell down on her. She touched them with her hands. "It's warm."

"It's our magic sweetie," Octavia told her daughter, tears blurred her vision as she was engulfed in that beautiful warm light.

Aunt Vivian was crying as well. This was her dream come true. The moment she had been waiting for her whole life. There was still a lot of work to do. She planned to talk with the Bennett witches that left. Oh, Vivian was going to find a way to get them to join the coven, even that nasty Simone, because all the Bennett witches needed to be united as one and be part of the same coven but for now, she was happy with the turn of events. For now, she enjoyed the beautiful display of their combined power and cried tears of joy. If she died during this war, she would die as the happiest woman on earth.

 _Like watching fireworks_ , Bonnie thought as she felt herself connect with all of them, as the coven took life once more and their combined magic rained down upon them in beautiful white sparks of light. She felt the tears forming in her eyes as well. There was a feeling of peace, of infinite tranquility, it touched her very soul.

All the witches stood in awe, silently crying, and enjoying the moment. For this moment was special and nothing could compare.

The flames shot up high into the air as the pentagram burned as bright as the sun itself and their combined magic kept raining down over them, blessing them.

For the first time in centuries, the Bennett coven existed once more.

From this moment forward, nothing would ever be the same again again.


	52. Chapter 52

**Shreveport**

Elijah took a deep breath as slipped the keycard and opened the door to the hotel room. He quietly stepped inside. All the lights were turned on, illuminating the spacious room. He immediately took notice of the red coat neatly placed on the edge of the bed as well as a small black suitcase.

Aya sat like a queen on the leather chair by the corner, a glass of champagne in her hand. "Hello Elijah."

She was breathtakingly beautiful. A woman in her twenties, with natural short black hair, full lips, and brown wide eyes that twinkled upon seeing him. She stood up. The heels of her black pumps clicking on the soft polished wood floor, while her dark brown skin glowed under the lights as she made her way towards him. Her hips swaying sensually with each of her steps while her red lips curled into an all too familiar sexy grin.

"Aya," Elijah greeted. He couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips. "It has been a while."

"Far too long," Aya agreed as she finally came to stand a few inches away from him. She had no qualms about invading his personal space. Another vampire wouldn't have dared to do such a thing but she never cared for such formalities.

Elijah reached out and gently traced her beautiful face with his fingers.

The two shared a smile.

Aya wasted to time in pressing her mouth against his. Her scent, the touch of her lips against his, and her hand on the back of his head were familiar. It was a quick kiss, a soft brush of lips against lips, a familiar greeting between two people who had known each other for a very long time.

Elijah pulled away quickly and stared at her face. "What are you playing at?" he asked. He didn't have time for games, he went straight to the point.

"Playing?" Aya played dumb. "I don't know what you mean, my darling."

"Armand and his army," Elijah indulged her.

Aya moved away from him and moved towards the liquor cabinet to refill her glass of champagne and fix him a glass of whiskey. "It was Armand's idea to pretend to be you," she told Elijah.

"Was it?" Elijah's jaw clenched.

"He was quite eager to step into your shoes, If I'm honest." Aya said as she turned to face him and handed him the glass of whiskey. "I think he wants to be you."

"He wouldn't be the first vampire wanting to be like me," Elijah muttered dryly. "Or trying to become an Original." He took a sip of his whiskey.

Aya knew exactly who Elijah was referring to. A vampire who had reached too high and had paid the ultimate price.

"What do you want Aya?" Elijah asked as he met her eyes. "What do you plan to accomplish with this? What does the Strix gain in involving themselves into this war?"

"Don't you find it odd that with all the resources the Navarro brothers have, they haven't made a move yet?" Aya asked instead of answering his questions. "Franco Navarro covets New Orleans that is not a secret. The Navarro's were kicked out by your family centuries ago after all. But why wait?" she asked.

Elijah didn't say anything, he simply watched her.

"They could have taken the city when Marcel Gerard ruled. His army would not have stand a chance against an army of well-trained wolves whose bite is lethal to vampires. But Franco chose to wait and now the Mikaelson's rule the city once more and he still waits. Don't you find that curious?"

"He wants to draw the fight to his territory," Elijah didn't hesitate to respond. "So he can have a better control of the outcome." Similar to what Armand and his army wanted to do.

"Perhaps," Aya agreed. "Or he's waiting for something."

"What do you know?"

Aya smirked. She moved towards the bed, placing the glass of champagne on the bedside table and opening one of the drawers. "When the Navarro's first came to power, we didn't take them seriously," Aya began as she pulled a folder with lots of papers inside. "We saw them as another werewolf clan with all bark and no bite." She turned to Elijah and handed him the folder. "However, as the years went by, as their army grew, and their power consolidated in Baton Rouge we decided to look into it and began monitoring them. Their alliance with the Travelers certainty sparked a greater interest and even concern." She took his glass of whiskey and placed it aside as Elijah began looking through the papers inside the folder.

"This is the file you compiled on the Navarro clan?"

Aya nodded. "The list of their properties, bank accounts, businesses, the humans that work for them, the werewolf clans that have joined them throughout the years. The only thing we don't have is much information on the Travelers, they are a very secretive lot with no records left anywhere."

Elijah quickly read all the pages which detailed the Navarro's vast network.

"We even succeeded in infiltrating a spy in their army."

Elijah arched an eyebrow.

"He gave us valuable information and in recent months has been working in planting seeds of doubts in the minds of the young recruits," Aya informed him. "Things turned soured when Franco sent him and other groups to kidnapped Bonnie Bennett. Whom I have heard is your sister in law."

Elijah's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed.

Aya crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow. "I suppose the rumors that she's carrying Klaus's child are true then."

Elijah did not confirm nor he denied it.

"I have no interest in harming a pregnant woman Elijah, let alone one connected to the Mikaelson family," Aya assured him as she noted the way he had tensed upon mentioning Bonnie. "The Strix however could benefit greatly by forming an alliance with a Bennett witch or witches as my spies tell me, there has been a large gathering of Bennett women in the Crescent city in the past few days."

"The Strix has their own coven of witches," Elijah was quick to retort. "Stay away from the Bennett family," he ordered.

Aya rolled her eyes. "Fine," she muttered. She could push the issue later, right now what they needed was to concentrate on the biggest threat to the vampire race. "The alliance between the Travelers and the Navarro clan is of great concern. According to my spy, the Travelers are working on a spell, a very intricate and unique spell that will allow Franco Navarro and his wolves to become stronger, to be far more lethal than what they are now, and to be able to shift at will."

"A spell to enhance their werewolf abilities and to help them control their wolf forms," Elijah frowned as he got to the page with the report from Aya's spy. "In short, they want to become super werewolves."

"Precisely."

"Do you trust this spy of yours?"

"Dwayne has proven to be very efficient and loyal," Aya vouched for him. "He has a personal vendetta against Franco. His pack was murdered by the Navarro's after the Alpha refused to relinquish his status and accept Franco as his leader, Dwayne and his mother were not in town, they were the only survivors of the massacre."

"He wants revenge."

"Absolutely. We helped him infiltrate the Navarro camp and he used his charm to seduce a Traveler girl, that's how he learned of the spell they are creating for Franco. Seems the girl was one sweet talker after a night of good sex." Aya rolled her eyes. "His group was the only one that managed to survive the slaughter your brother's hybrids made as they cleansed the city of the Navarro wolves and Travelers that went after his wife."

Elijah nodded. Niklaus had commented that there was one group that had succeeded in evading death. The group Tyler had been with.

Aya studied her sire's face carefully. "Dwayne informed us that there was a hybrid in his group, a boy your brother sired while in Mystic Falls. It seems he disappeared the night they were supposed to capture Bonnie Bennett and take her to Franco." Dwayne and his group had barely escaped and that had been thanks to the Strix. "Dwayne believed we could use this hybrid to help take the Navarro clan from the inside." Aya sighed. So much for that plan. "Nothing ever came of that of course." Tyler had not return to the group and Dwayne was in hiding now. "Dwayne and his group are pretty much in limbo. They failed their mission. Franco is going to murder them if they return to Baton Rouge empty handed and they can't complete the mission because Klaus more than likely will finish them off if they get close to his wife."

"You no longer have a valuable spy in the enemy camp," Elijah concluded.

Aya nodded. "Which means that now we have no way of knowing if the Travelers have succeeded in creating this spell yet." There was a serious look on Aya's face as she spoke. "Franco has the biggest werewolf army in the world, if he succeeds in turning them into super wolves, we won't stand a chance against them."

"Why didn't you come straight to me with this information?" Elijah wondered suddenly. "Why allow Armand to pretend to be me? Why kind of game is this?"

"I needed you to come alone," Aya replied simply. "Going to New Orleans means running into your brother. I wanted to speak with you in a secure location, in private. Without Klaus lurking in the shadows." She moved closer.

"Why?"

"Because there is something I want to ask you." Aya stared into his eyes, a serious and determined look on her face. "Would you like to be the king of all supernatural species, Elijah?"

Elijah pressed his lips together, a strange look crossing his features.

"The Strix could help you," Aya told him fiercely. "We will stand by you, our army, our resources, our coven of witches, we can ensure your victory." She reached out and touched his face. "You are the perfect leader for the vampire race, say the word my darling and we will help you get the crown." She pressed her body even closer to his, until their faces were merely inches apart, their breaths mingling. "As the king of the vampires you could create that world we once envisioned together, that dream Mikael crushed with his vengeance."

"You know where my loyalty lies," Elijah turned his face away as Aya leaned over for a kiss. He threw the papers on the bed and moved away from her. He needed some air.

"Always the soldier, never the leader." Aya muttered. Deep down she had known that was going to be his answer. But it had been worth a shot to ask.

Elijah placed his hands inside the pockets of his pants and stared out of the balcony, eyes lost in the darkness.

"Aren't you tired?" Aya asked as she spun around. Her dark eyes moved over his tall, elegant, and imposing figure. She shivered thinking of that strong and hard body on top of hers, thinking of those hands and lips moving over every inch of her skin. _How long had it been since she had shared his bed?_ Countless of lovers later and Elijah's memory was still imprinted on her skin. After all this time, Elijah Mikaelson still had power over her.

"Tired?" Elijah questioned keeping his back to her.

"Of being lonely, of dedicating your life to a family that is broken." Aya was pushing him, she knew but she didn't care. She was one of the few people who could question him freely without fearing retaliation from him. "You deserve some happiness, Elijah."

"I am happy," Elijah turned around to face her. "For the first time in centuries I am happy," he admitted in a whisper. It was almost as if he were afraid to say it out loud for fear that it would go away. Had she been any other vampire, he wouldn't have dared to utter such words. But he and Aya had a rather strange and complicated relationship. There was a lot of history and respect in between them. He cared for her deeply. She was his masterpiece. In Aya, he had sired the perfect vampire.

Aya was one of the few people that had known him when he was still a young vampire, naïve, and with idealistic views of the world, and of the race he envisioned to create. Back then, he had not been as reserved or as calculating as he was now. Back then, he had trusted easily and had been burned for it. Not only him, but his siblings as well. During their first century as vampires the Miakelson's had learned many valuable lessons. A lot had happened since then, too many things had changed, except for one…the loyalty he had to his family.

Their eyes met.

"Are you really happy?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in his response. The image of Lucy in his arms suddenly came to his mind. Lucy who was a breath of fresh air and had injected vitality into his melancholic existence.

Aya watched him curiously. The spark in his eyes, the secret smile at the corner of his lips, and the look on his face. She recognized all the signs. Elijah was staring at her but thinking of someone else. In that moment, she knew.

Elijah Mikaelson was in love and despite the twinge of hurt she felt in her heart, she hoped this time would be different. For his sake, she hoped that the woman who had captured his heart could value and love the complicated man her sire was.

"Good," Aya said.

Elijah gave her a surprised look.

"It was about bloody time you dumped Klaus and started to live your own life."

The corner of his lips twitched before he bursts into a small laugh.

Aya laughed as well.

For a moment, the two of them stood there, smiling, and contemplating the other.

"How do you wish to proceed?" Aya asked after a while of silence.

"I have an idea or two," Elijah replied as his lips curled into a smirk.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Bonnie woke up with a gasp.

For a few seconds a strange feeling of pain and helplessness lingered in her mind. It was gone in a flash, replaced by confusion and thirst. A yawned escaped her lips as she stretched her arms and back. The bed she was in was nice and warm. She laid there, staring at the white ceiling and trying to remember her dream, _had she been floating?_ She honestly couldn't remember. There was something, something important on the edge of her consciousness but she didn't know what it was.

The scent of bacon and toast carried up into the bedroom.

Bonnie's mouth watered immediately. She sat up slowly, careful not to wake up the little girl sleeping peacefully next to her. A fond smile graced her lips as she stared at Charlotte's sleeping face. She had kicked the covers off her and laid on her stomach, face turned towards Bonnie as she snored slightly. Charlotte had a lot of fun with Octavia's twin girls the night before. She had stayed up playing with them and happily charming all the Bennett's that she met.

They both had gone to bed exhausted the previous night, or actually earlier that morning, as they stayed up until the first rays of sunlight streamed through the canopy of trees.

Bonnie moved her gaze from the cute little witch to the bedside table where the small jar with little sparks of magic floating inside was. They looked like fireflies.

After the Bennett coven had been reinstated, they decided that a celebration was in order. Everyone had been so excited and high on their combined magic which rained upon them until the early morning hours. Charlotte and Octavia's twin girls had happily run around, catching the small little sparks of magic into jars which Lenore had provided for them. Aunt Vivian herself had filled many jars with the sparks.

"They are a gift, our magic, our blood," she had told Bonnie as she showed the girls how to guide the small tendrils of magic into the jars. "We should keep them, one never knows if we might need them one day." She had ended up filling ten jars and safely tucked them away in her bedroom.

Afterwards, the Bennett's had celebrated hard. Tinisha and Lucy were in charge of mixing drinks while Joanna, Lenore, and Cecily prepared some snacks for them to enjoy and Cleo brought an old stereo and blasted music until the sun rose.

Lucrecia spelled the backyard so the music and conversation did not reach the inhabitants of the mansion who were probably trying to sleep.

Everyone was happy, their blood pumping with adrenaline and the air still charged with their combined power. Even Aunt Vivian looked more relaxed and content than she had ever been in the past few weeks or years of her life.

While some of her cousins danced and happily got drunk, Bonnie sat and talked. She took the time to talk to each of the Bennett witches that had decided to stay and be part of the coven, they all got to know each other a little bit better and spent hours conversing about their lives, jobs, and interest. She drank virgin piña coladas (courtesy of Lucy) and she laughed and joked with the fascinated women that shared her blood.

All in all, Bonnie considered the night a success.

Lucy had been too tipsy to drive them home and in the end, feeling tired and sleepy, Bonnie agreed to stay and rest at the mansion.

Now here she was, feeling hungry and thirsty but utterly happy. She checked her phone, she had a text from Klaus informing her that he and his siblings would be arriving that night and he also asked her how things had gone with the coven. She sent a quick reply before going inside the bathroom.

Charlotte was still sleeping when she stepped out a few minutes later and made her way downstairs.

The house was quiet. Everyone was mostly still asleep. Who could blame them with the party they had thrown the night before.

Bonnie found Marie in the kitchen. She was drying the dishes. Her kids where in the adjacent room playing a video game.

"Hi!" Jamal waved at Bonnie as he caught sight of her.

"Hi." Bonnie waved back. He was so cute and charming.

Andre happily ignored her.

"Good morning," Marie greeted her with a smile.

"Morning." Bonnie's stomach grumbled as she stepped further inside the kitchen. The scent of bacon still lingered.

"I'm surprised you're up this early."

"It's almost noon," Bonnie replied. "I'm surprised Aunt Vivian is not up and about." She looked around the kitchen. "Is there any water?" Her throat felt dry and she was really thirsty.

"Oh, she is. She decided to have breakfast in her room." Marie moved towards the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water which she handed to Bonnie. "She's probably plotting how to get all the Bennett witches to join the coven." Which is why Marie had already packed and was ready to get the hell out of New Orleans.

"Thanks." Bonnie drank all of it in one go. She threw the empty bottle in the trash and walked towards the fridge. She grabbed another bottle of water and drank half of it.

Marie arched an eyebrow. "Were you drinking last night?"

"No." Bonnie replied as she took a seat on the stool around the kitchen island. "Well, I did have lots of virgin piña coladas." Everyone else had gotten pretty drunk. The younger Bennett's that is. Aunt Vivian, Diana, and Lucrecia had shared a bottle of expensive wine, while the kids had apple cider.

"Would you like something to eat?"

Bonnie's stomach answered that questioned pretty loudly. "It's fine. I can eat some cereal or something." She didn't want to bother Marie.

"I'll make you some scrambled eggs and toast," Marie told her already pulling a couple of eggs from the fridge. She had already made breakfast for herself and her sons but she didn't mind making some for Bonnie.

"You don't have to."

"I want to," Marie replied with a soft smile.

Bonnie smiled back. "I'll help you then."

As Marie began making some scrambled eggs, Bonnie did the toast. They cooked in silence and a few minutes later they sat around the kitchen island. Marie was having her second cup of coffee while Bonnie enjoyed her eggs, toast, and some freshly made orange juice.

"Is there any way that I can convinced you to be part of the coven?" Bonnie asked after a while of eating in silence.

Marie sighed and placed her cup down. "No." She had made up her mind and nothing was going to make her change her decision. Not even the queen of the coven herself.

"You don't have to relocate to New Orleans and fight in this war," Bonnie told her as she met her eyes. She knew that was Marie's biggest fear, that she could die and leave her children orphans. "You can join the coven and then return to your everyday life in New York. Without feeling obligated to fight. That's what Octavia is doing."

Marie shook her head. "Octavia has the resources to move anywhere in the world if she wants to. I'm sure sooner or later she'll end up in New Orleans." There was a hard look on her face as she stared at Bonnie. "Don't compare us," She muttered through gritted teeth. "Our situations are very different." There was a bitter edge to her voice. There was a part of her that resented the easy life some of the other Bennett's had. Those who had been born with money, who never had to worry about paying the bills, or putting food on the table for their kids. She was pretty certain Aunt Vivian had never worked a single day in her life. They didn't know the hardships of trying to rise from the bottom.

"I didn't mean to offend you, I just-"

"I know." Marie looked away briefly. Bonnie was not at fault for the difficult circumstances of her life. "I don't have anything against you, Bonnie." She turned back to face the younger witch. "I couldn't be part of the coven and then return to New York and continue with my life like nothing happened." She paused gathering her thoughts. "It wouldn't feel right, to stay there while you guys are fighting this war." She would feel guilty, obligated to come back and fight, and fighting a war meant the possibility of death. And if she died, what would become of her children? "I have to think about what's best for my sons and myself. And that's not the Bennett coven."

"You don't have to be alone anymore," Bonnie told her softly. "I meant what I said last night, more than a coven, or an army, I want us all to be a family."

"I have always been alone and I prefer it that way."

Bonnie opened her mouth.

"My sons will never be part of the coven," Marie interrupted. "Any children they have won't carry the magical gene either. Joining your coven won't benefit me or them in anything." And it wasn't just that. "I don't want to fight in this war. I just want to have a peaceful life, far away from all this supernatural drama. Being a witch has brought me more harm than good."

Bonnie watched her sadly. "Are you sure your sons don't have magic?" she asked gently. She still found it hard to believe that the male Bennett's didn't have magic. "Maybe they will get their powers when they get older. I didn't use my magic until I was a teenager." There was a hopeful look on her face and voice. "For all you know, they are witches and just need to grow into their powers."

"I thought you were lying about that," Marie muttered as she gave Bonnie a strange look.

"About what?"

"About not knowing you were a witch until you were in high school." It had seemed odd to Marie, that the queen of the coven didn't use her magic until she was a teenager, she had assumed Bonnie could be lying about that in order to gain sympathy from the other witches.

"I didn't," Bonnie assured her. "I mean, my Grams would say some things here and there but I never really took it seriously, not until I came into my powers. And that was until I was in high school." She felt ashamed that she had disregarded her Grams's ramblings. If she had paid more attention, if she had bothered to ask, if. How different things could've been.

"Are you telling me, you never did magic as a child?" There was an incredulous look on Marie's face as she stared at Bonnie.

"Never," Bonnie answered honestly.

"That's impossible."

Bonnie frowned.

"Witch children show signs of magic pretty early on," Marie told her seriously. "Bennett witches show signs of magic since they're in diapers. Heck, according to my mother, some have even shown signs of magic from the womb. Forgive me, but I don't believe you never had magic as a child."

Bonnie recalled Dr. Mayfair saying something similar. She unconsciously touched her stomach, feeling that warm tingle that was her twins' magic. It was active. She had felt it, so had Klaus, and her mom, even Charlotte had felt it. She giggled every time she pressed her hand or head into Bonnie's belly, because she could feel the babies magic. Bonnie was so used to feeling the magic radiating from her belly, it had become like second nature by now.

"Are you sure you didn't do magic as a little kid?" Marie asked watching her carefully. "When you were angry, or scared, when you first got your period?" she kept probing. "With all those hormones and changes to one's body, magic can be very explosive then, sometimes even difficult to control."

Bonnie shook her head. "I don't remember ever doing magic as a child," she admitted in a whisper. "Maybe my powers were dormant or something." She shifted nervously. _If she had done magic as a child she would remember it, right?_

"There is no way your magic was ever dormant," Marie responded quickly. She sounded so sure. "Bennett magic is never dormant. We are the essence, the blood of the first witch, you in particular…" she stared deeply into Bonnie's eyes as she spoke. "As the queen and leader of the coven, you are the most powerful witch of this bloodline. Your magic had to have been active as a child."

"It wasn't," Bonnie retorted. "I would know if I had magic as a child. I didn't." She felt very sure about that. Her magic had been asleep while growing up and had awoken when the Salvatore's arrived into town. It made perfect sense in Bonnie's head. And yet, the seed of doubt had already been planted.

"Octavia's twins do magic all the time and that little girl that came with you last night, I felt her magic too." Marie continued. "All of us had magic as children, even Sofia who didn't understand or knew the strange power inside her, even she could to magic as a little girl."

 _I thought I was a mutant you know like in x-men,_ Sofia had told Bonnie the night before as they talked. _I could move things with my head and when I got angry, boy that was always scary cause things just went flying about. As I grew up, it finally dawned on me that I wasn't a freak of nature but a witch._

Bonnie looked down at her plate. Her mind swirling with everything Marie was saying. She tried to think back to her childhood, to any particular incident that could be alluded to using her magic but there was nothing. Well, there had been that one time with Ms. Cuddles but other than that, there was nothing. She didn't remember much about her childhood to begin with but the memories that she did have did not involve the use of magic. Her magic had been dormant inside her, that was the only explanation, it manifested itself when she needed it, when the Salvatore's came into town.

"Unless…" Marie's voice brought Bonnie out of her thoughts.

"Unless," Bonnie looked up immediately.

"Bonnie."

Marie and Bonnie turned to the kitchen entrance where Abby suddenly appeared. There was a rather serious look on her face as she looked back and forth between them.

"Good morning," Marie greeted with a rather polite but reserved smile. She stood up immediately. She had nothing against Abby but as always, her witch senses alerted her to the close proximity of the vampire. She had never really felt comfortable in Abby's presence. "I'm going to make sure my sons haven't done too much noise or damage," she said. "They're constantly getting on Aunt Vivian's nerves." She scurried out of the kitchen without saying another word.

"Thank-you for the breakfast," Bonnie had to yell as Marie was practically running out of the kitchen.

"You're welcome." Marie offered Bonnie a half smile before disappearing from view.

Abby stepped further inside the kitchen. She seemed rather nervous and uncertain. "The Bennett coven exists once more," she muttered. She honestly didn't know how to start this conversation so she said the first thing that came to her mind. "You did it." She smiled at her daughter. "Aunt Vivian must be over the moon with-"

"You finally stopped hiding."

"Good morning to you too," Abby said.

Mother and daughter regarded each other carefully.

Abby took a deep breath and came to sit right across from Bonnie, right in the same spot where Marie had been sitting. "We need to talk." She couldn't keep on avoiding Bonnie. She needed to warn her daughter of the grave danger she was in.

"Yes, we do."

* * *

"Why did you run like that?" Bonnie asked her mother. "What is it about Charlotte's scar that scared you so much. You've been ignoring my calls. What are you hiding?" She didn't waste any time and went straight to the point. According to Charlotte, Abby had a secret and Bonnie wanted to know.

Abby took a deep a breath before speaking. She had spent a good amount of time practicing what she was going to tell Bonnie. "I have seen that kind of mark before." There was a slight tremble in her voice and she avoided Bonnie's eyes.

"Where?" Bonnie asked intrigued. She had been expecting her mother to evade the question but it seemed Abby was willing to talk.

"Those kinds of marks are done by a very sinister coven," Abby explained quietly. She nervously placed her hands on her lap. It wasn't easy to talk about, there was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to run away and hide. Her past was a dark cloud that constantly threatened to choke her. "A coven that specializes in sacrificial magic to be exact."

Bonnie's breath hitched at the revelation. She recalled the images she had seen upon touching Charlotte's scar. The mask figure, the pentagram of blood, the pain, the cries of a child. _Had someone tried to sacrifice Charlotte?_ She shuddered thinking of that sweet little girl at the mercy of an evil coven.

"You must get rid of her."

"Excuse me?" Bonnie blinked in confusion as she stared into her mother's face. Surely she had heard wrong, because Abby hadn't dared to make that suggestion.

"Charlotte is a threat-"

"Are you out of your mind!" Bonnie stood up. "What in the world makes you think that?"

Abby stood up as well. "Bonnie listen to me," she moved around the counter and walked closer to her daughter. "That coven is the most powerful coven I have ever seen. They are ruthless, they have countless of witches at their disposal, an entire army ready to kill and destroy anything and anyone that gets in their way. The magic they practice is unnatural, it's dark, and extremely powerful. You don't want to mess with them."

Bonnie gave her mother an incredulous look.

"Charlotte has been marked for death," Abby told her gently. "Sooner or later they will come for her. This coven never lets their victims go, _never._ " She repeated. "They won't stop until they have sacrificed her. As long as that mark is on her skin, Charlotte is in danger, and she's going to bring more enemies to your doorstep. Enemies that you don't need at this moment."

"How do you know so much about this coven?" Bonnie asked. "What is their name? Where do they operate? Why have you waited this long to tell me about this?"

"They are everywhere and they are known by different names," Abby replied quickly. "What you need to understand is that you are in danger." Abby placed her hands on Bonnie's shoulders. "Bonnie, please. I am begging you." She stared deeply into her eyes. "Send that little girl away, as far away as you can. You need to get rid of her."

"No."

"Bonnie-"

Bonnie pulled away from her mother. "You are out of your mind if you think I am going to send Charlotte away." _Did Abby really think she would do something so cruel? Did her mother not know her at all?_

"Listen to me-"

"Charlotte was trapped on the other side for who knows how long," Bonnie interrupted angrily. "She's a sweet, innocent, little girl. All she wants is a mother, a family, and you think I'm going to send her away just because some evil coven tried to sacrifice her and might be coming for her, are you crazy?"

"You have to send her away," Abby insisted. "For your own protection, Charlotte needs to go. She's not your responsibly."

Bonnie scoffed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Charlotte is not going anywhere," Bonnie said her voice filled with conviction. "She's a Bennett witch. She's under the protection of this family and this coven. She's not going anywhere," she repeated. "Not now, not ever."

"Bonnie listen to me-"

"No. You listen to me," Bonnie interrupted as she stared into her mother's eyes. "Charlotte is my little girl now. _My little girl_ ," she emphasized. "I am going to protect her, always." Bonnie was going to make sure no one would ever hurt Charlotte.

"You have no idea what this coven is capable of Bonnie," Abby replied sadly.

"You think that I am afraid of some evil coven that tried to sacrifice an innocent child?" Bonnie questioned.

"They will descend upon you and they won't stop until they kill that girl and you will get caught in the middle trying to protect her," Abby said. Her eyes were filled with tears as she pleaded with her daughter. "Please, just sent her away," she begged. "You don't want this coven to come here, you won't stand a chance against them, Bonnie please. Think of your children. Please." Abby was crying by now. "You have no idea the terrible things they do in order to get what they want, the lengths they are willing to go or how many people they will hurt to get what they want. Please get rid of that girl. She's only going to bring you pain and death."

"And you clearly have no idea what I'm capable of doing in order to protect the people I love," Bonnie snapped. She felt so angry in that moment. She couldn't believe how heartless her mother was. "If that coven wants to come for Charlotte, good. Let them come." She was not afraid of them.

"Bonnie-" Abby couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I will gladly burn all of them," Bonnie hissed.

"You don't know what you're saying," Abby took a fearful step back as Bonnie's magic flared, as her eyes seemed to almost glow. For one moment, Abby could've sworn she saw gold flecks reflected in those determined green eyes. It must've been a trick of the light because in the next second it was gone.

"People who are willing to be part of a coven that sacrifices innocent children are monsters," Bonnie spat angrily. "And make no mistake, I won't hesitate to end them if they come after Charlotte."

"This coven is not like the Seer and her coven Bonnie," Abby told her sadly. She wanted to reach out and touch her once more but her vampire instincts and self-preservation were preventing her from doing so. "You should be very afraid of them."

"They should be afraid of me," Bonnie told her simply. "You have no idea of the power that I have inside me, mom. The things I can do, the things I will do to protect my family." No one knew what she could do, what they had seen so far was nothing compared to the storm, to the tsunami of magic flowing inside her. Sometimes it even scared her, all that power inside her seemed to grow each day and it was scary but she also knew she was going to need it in order to fight all her enemies.

Abby shook her head. _I know what you are capable of doing sweetie,_ she thought fearfully. _And that is exactly what I am afraid of_. "Bonnie, please-" _Not again, never again._

"Don't you ever suggest that I sent Charlotte away," Bonnie interrupted fiercely. "She's a part of _my_ family now. She's my daughter now." There was no hesitation, no second thoughts as the words slipped past her lips. Bonnie had come to see Charlotte as her daughter, she had come to love her, and nothing was going to change that. "You will have to accept that because I won't be fighting with you over this again."

"Bonnie-"

Bonnie ignored her. She turned around and angrily stormed out of the kitchen. She didn't want to keep arguing with Abby. She knew herself and her magic well enough to know that she was close to exploding and that was not good. She needed to take a deep breath and calm herself.

* * *

"Are you out of your mind?" Stefan questioned his brother as soon as Damon finished telling him of his brilliant plan.

"It's a good plan," Damon snapped as he paced back and forth inside their hotel room. "This is the perfect way to get Elena back."

"It's suicide Damon."

"Do you want her back or not?" Damon questioned angrily. "Because it looks like I'm the only one who's thinking and trying to figure out a way to get her back to us."

"Of course I want Elena back," Stefan told his brother. He leaned over the dresser, arms crossed over his chest. "But your plan-"

"The Navarro's negotiated with Elijah, we can do the same with them. Barbie is not as stupid as she looks. Her idea is perfect." Damon had been thinking about it long and hard and had finally come up with the perfect solution. "We will offer the Navarro's a Mikaelson in exchange for Elena. Even if they need her blood to destroy the other side you think Franco Navarro is going to pass the opportunity of getting his hands on one of the Originals?"

Stefan stayed silent.

"We will desiccate Rebekah and trade her for Elena. Franco will have leverage over his enemies and Klaus is going to murder him and get Rebekah back."

Stefan shook his head. "After he murders you for handing his sister to his enemy." He pulled away from the dresser and walked closer to his brother. "And this is going under the assumption that you will be able to desiccate Rebekah. Klaus has the daggers remember? We can't desiccate the Originals."

Damon rolled his eyes. "We're in a city filled with witches. I'm sure there is plenty of them who have a grudge against the Originals and will be more than happy to desiccate one of them. "

"Damon-"

"Rebekah is the weakest out of the four of them and the one they need the least," Damon said dismissively. "She'll be an easy target. And is not like Franco can kill her. He doesn't have the white oak stake, she'll be fine."

"You already made up your mind, haven't you?"

"Duh, is not like you have a better plan."

Stefan looked away. No, he didn't have a better plan but still.

"This is our chance to get Elena back," Damon pressed. "The Originals don't give a damn about her. They are not going to do anything to get her back despite what Matt and Bonnie foolishly believe."

"What if Franco doesn't accept?"

"It's worth a try," Damon countered. "The perfect Original to trade for Elena is Klaus," he admitted with a frown. "But I don't know if the witches in this city are strong enough to take him down." If they offered Klaus to Franco, Damon felt sure he would give them Elena. But Rebekah was the next best thing and she would be a hundred times easier to catch off guard and desiccate than the hybrid.

Stefan didn't look convinced. The plan sounded pretty straight forward but there were a lot of other variables to consider.

"The first order of business is to get in contact with Franco," Damon said. He pulled out a small piece of paper form his pocket. "Caroline gave me his number."

"Why would Caroline have Franco's number?" Stefan asked.

"She didn't. Tyler did," Damon informed him. "She got the number from his cell and texted me. Unlike you, Matt, and Bonnie, Caroline is actually worried about Elena and wants to do something to get her back." He pulled his cell phone out as well. "So, are you in or not?"

Stefan sighed. He had a bad feeling about this. A really bad feeling but he could also see that Damon had already made up his mind. There would be no stopping him now. He reluctantly nodded. Franco was probably going to tell them no anyway.

Damon dialed the number quickly and placed the call on speaker.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity a cold and indifferent voice answered.

"Franco Navarro?" Damon asked tentatively.

"Who is this?"

"My name is Damon Salvatore and I want to offer you a deal."

There was a long pause. "A deal?" The voice sounded rather bored. "Why would I make a deal with you?"

"Because I have something you want," Damon responded rapidly.

There was another pause. "Tell me."

Damon looked up into Stefan's troubled face, a triumphant grin on his lips.

* * *

The moment the Originals returned home, Elijah called for a family meeting. The four Mikaelson's, Bonnie, Lucy, and Matt gathered in the family room.

Lucy placed a silencing spell on the room so no one would hear their conversation.

Bonnie sat on the couch next to Lucy, while Matt and Rebekah sat across from them. Klaus sat to her right on a leather chair. Elijah stood behind him, resting his arm on the chair and Kol stood by the liquor cabinet pouring himself something to drink.

Elijah explained to them what Aya and the Strix had discovered about Franco's plan.

"A super werewolf?" Bonnie repeated. She couldn't help but shudder. Franco did not need any more power than he already had.

"It seems that's the reason Franco has yet to fully attack us," Elijah stated. "He's waiting to complete this ritual and enhance not only his abilities but that of his army."

"And you trust what this Aya says?" Lucy asked suspiciously. No, she refused to be jealous of that vampire woman.

"I have known Aya for a very long time." Elijah declared. "She is one of the most successful vampires I have ever sired. She's intelligent, resourceful, and extremely efficient." The admiration in his voice did not go unnoticed by Lucy. "She has been in charge of the Strix for many centuries now."

"What exactly is the Strix?" Matt asked curiously.

"The Strix is a society I founded about nine hundred years ago," Elijah explained to them. "I specifically chose different people to turn into vampires, great thinkers, warriors, people who stood out above the rest. Who could come together and built a better future."

"Our noble and idealistic brother had no idea he would be creating a plague, that would terrorize people, start countless of wars, and eventually turn against their maker." Kol remarked as he turned around to face the group, glass of whiskey in hand.

"What happened?" Bonnie and Matt asked simultaneously.

"A few years after I founded the Strix, father came for us," Elijah replied. "He slaughtered nearly all of the original members. Only a handful survived." His jaw clenched as he thought back to that horrible night. That night when he had abandoned Aya and the rest in order to escape his father's wrath.

"We had to go into hiding," Rebekah continued for her brother. "The Strix eventually found a new leader, an ambitious vampire who turned them into a lethal, power hungry organization. He was the first vampire Elijah sired, he along with three others led a revolution of sorts against us." Neither of them liked talking about the first vampires they had created. It was a painful subject for all of them.

Bonnie, Matt, and Lucy listened intently.

"Aya came to me," Elijah resumed with the tale. "She warned us of the plots against our family and the army of vampires that was ready to kill us." A small smile tugged at his lips as he recalled the shocked and surprised looks on the vampires faces as they realized that the Originals could not be killed like normal vampires. "We met on a field in Hungary…." He trailed off as he recalled that night, all the blood and the gore.

"When everything was said and done, there were only four vampires left standing," Klaus muttered darkly.

"The four of you," Bonnie murmured.

"Indeed."

"Aya has been in charge of the Strix ever since," Elijah said with a proud smile. "For the past few years they have been investigating the Navarro clan. They even managed to get a spy inside their ranks."

"A spy that is no longer useful," Kol intervened.

"What about this vampire army in Shreveport?" Lucy asked suddenly. "And the vampire pretending to be you?"

"They will be joining the vampires already in the city," Elijah answered calmly. "From now on they will be part of our army."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. It sounded far too easy. She had a feeling that there was more to it than that.

"As for Armand, the vampire who pretended to be me," Elijah continued his lips curling into a smirk. "Let's just say I have a surprise waiting for him."

Klaus couldn't contain the amusement from his face. He knew exactly what his brother was planning and he was more than on board with the plan. He and Kol shared knowing looks. Both of them could hardly wait for Armand's arrival.

"What else did the Strix discovered about Franco's plan?" Bonnie questioned Elijah.

"Only that the Travelers are creating the spell for him," Elijah replied. There was a thoughtful look on his face as he recalled his conversation with Aya. "The Strix coven believes that the Travelers need a binding force in order to channel the spell, something extremely powerful."

"Like what?" Matt questioned.

"A super lunar eclipse," Kol responded quickly. Elijah had already spoken to his siblings about Franco's plans. "Which happens to be at the end of this year."

"That kind of eclipse is also known as a blood moon," Klaus muttered.

Bonnie gasped as she recalled the strange dream she had days ago. The two armies meeting on a clearing, wolf fighting against wolf, and that red moon as Klaus made love to her right on the battlefield, with the eyes of dozen other wolves watching over them. _Could it be?_ She wondered suddenly.

"So, you are saying that we have less than three months to come up with a way to stop Franco and his army?" Lucy asked. "Before the Travelers do this ritual thing."

"That sounds about right," Rebekah grinned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our work cut out for us in the upcoming weeks," Elijah said to them. "We have to find a way to stop Franco and the only way we will succeed is if all the supernatural species in this city work together for that aim. Kol and I will be ensuring the vampires are properly trained and ready to fight." Particularly now that there was a new army of vampires arriving in the city.

"I will of course, ensure the werewolves accept me as their leader," Klaus was quick to add. "I will get the different packs of wolves that inhabit New Orleans and turn them into a single unified force." There was no denying the confidence in his voice. He already had a plan in motion in order to get the wolves to cooperate.

"Rebekah darling," Elijah said turning to his sister. "We need you and Matt to help out with the human faction. They are not exactly happy with us considering that many humans have died in the crossfire already. We need you to calm the waters."

"Me?" Matt was taken by surprise by that.

"What better way to show the humans that we care than by having our lovely sister and her very human lover helping them out." There was a glint in Klaus's eyes as he spoke. "You and Rebekah are the perfect example that coexistence between both races is possible, that love can flourish."

"You're basically the image we shall use on our war posters to get the humans to join the fight," Kol added with a mischievous grin. "Don't look so glum Bekah, it's for the good of the family."

"You want to use our relationship to trick the human faction?" Rebekah asked with incredulity.

"Not to trick love," Klaus was quick to retort. "Father Kieran can't stand the sight of me, and he distrusts Elijah too. But I am sure he won't have any problems with Matt. That priest is the leader of the human faction and we could benefit greatly if he were to cooperate." The last thing they needed was more human casualties. And while they had the support of the Mayor, the leader of the humans wasn't as easy to manipulate.

Matt frowned.

"Time to put your big pants on mate," Kol told him as he clapped him on the shoulder. "You are in the big leagues now."

Matt gave him a glare.

"And that means I have to get the witches of New Orleans on our side," Bonnie spoke up. They all had a part to play in the war to come. As the witch and leader of the Bennett coven, getting the support of the witches in the city was her responsibility.

"You won't be doing it alone," Lucy told her fiercely.

Bonnie smiled at her cousin. No, she was no longer alone.

"You will have the most difficult part of all," Elijah gave her an apologetic look. "We need the alliance with the Regent and the nine covens. We need as many witches as we can to help us fight this war. We are going to need magic to stop Franco from succeeding with his plans." It would be beneficial to all if they had more than just the Bennett coven fighting on their side.

Bonnie nodded. Her meeting with the Regent was a big test she needed to pass. She met Klaus's eyes. He gave her an encouraging look.

"We are officially at war," Elijah told them. "Our actions and decisions in the upcoming weeks will determined whether we win or we die."

There was no point in sugarcoating anything, they all knew what was at stake.

They all had to work together to ensure their triumph.

* * *

Later that night, Klaus and Bonnie laid in bed. The hybrid had been thrilled when Bonnie had decided to spend the night in their room, rather than in Charlotte's like she had been doing for the past couple of days.

"And she had the nerve to tell me that I should get rid of Charlotte," Bonnie continued ranting about her fight with her mother. "Can you believe her? I made it perfectly clear that she's not going anywhere. Charlotte is part of this family and Abby is going to have to accept that." In her anger, she had started to refer to her mom as Abby once more.

Klaus gently traced his fingers up and down her arms. He was leaning against the headboard while Bonnie sat between his legs, leaning back against his chest.

"Everything else was great," Bonnie continued, resting her head against him. "The Bennett coven is officially back and more than half of all the Bennett witches decided to stay." More than she could have ever hoped for. "It's amazing you know, how different they all are, how incredible." She had already talked to him about them. She had described them and their different personalities in detail.

Klaus held her in his arms and listened as she talked about her family. The happiness in her voice, on her face, in their bond, it was contagious. Abby was of course the only bad apple in the basket. The vampire had once again made Bonnie upset and Klaus hated that.

"I was so mad at Abby that I forgot to ask her about my magic," Bonnie mumbled.

"Your magic?" Klaus questioned. "Is something wrong?" He was immediately on the alert.

"My magic as a child," Bonnie clarified. She shifted in his embrace and turned her head to the side so she could look into his face. "Remember how Dr. Mayfair said that witch children show signs of magic when they're like one year old?"

Klaus nodded.

"Marie said basically the same thing and that got me thinking because, Charlotte is so little and she has magic, Davina talked about using magic as a child when we were at the safe house, and Lucy and Natalie had magic growing up too. But I didn't."

"You didn't have magic?" Klaus found that hard to believe. Then again, he remembered how easily she had exhausted herself trying to fight him while he was in Alaric's body. He had found it odd that a Bennett witch was so weak, in his desire to break his curse he had never stopped to think or care why Bonnie lacked the power all other Bennett's he had encountered had always possessed. Ultimately, it had played in his favor, but he wondered now.

"I don't remember having magic as a child, Klaus." While they had returned to the compound Bonnie had been thinking hard about her childhood. She even had questioned Lucy on hers. Her cousin had been doing magic ever since she could remember. "The only time I can think of is when I lost Ms. Cuddles."

Both of them turned to the chair in the corner of the room, where Ms. Cuddles was happily sitting on. The bear that Bonnie treasured and adored was sacred.

"I was at the park with Caroline and we got into a huge fight," Bonnie shook her head as she recalled that day. "I don't even remember what exactly about but I angrily decided to go back home and left my toys there. Later that day when I went to look for them, Ms. Cuddles was gone." Her other toys had been there but not her favorite teddy bear.

"Where was it?" Klaus asked intrigued with the story.

"I don't know. I searched everywhere," Bonnie continued. "I even went to Caroline's house but she hadn't seen her." Caroline had sworn she hadn't taken Ms. Cuddles and Bonnie believed her. "I went back to the park, Tyler was there too and he told me Ms. Cuddles didn't like me anymore and had left. I was devastated."

"Stupid boy," Klaus muttered. Perhaps it was silly but he wanted to choke Tyler for making Bonnie feel bad even if the incident had happened years ago. The thought of anyone hurting her made his blood boil.

"It was a long time ago," Bonnie murmured. She could feel Klaus's anger at Tyler, it was sweet that he felt so protective of her. "Grams was out of town and so was dad, I was with my aunt Agatha," she continued with her story. Thinking of her paternal aunt always made her uncomfortable.

"You didn't like this aunt," Klaus commented as he felt the different emotions cursing through her.

"She was mean. She never hurt me or anything like that but she was very cold. She yelled a lot. There were times when I felt like she didn't like me for some reason." Bonnie had never liked her either. "Anyway, I cried myself to sleep that night, begging Ms. Cuddles to come back. And you know what?"

"What?"

"She did." Bonnie couldn't stop smiling as she recalled the happiness she felt upon seeing Ms. Cuddles again. That had without a doubt been one of the happiest days of her life.

"When I opened my eyes, she was there. Right next to me on the bed," Bonnie told him happily. "She was dirty, like she had been buried or something but she was back. I know it was her because I wrote my initials on her paw, and there was no way Aunt Agatha was going to buy me a new bear. Ms. Cuddles came back to me. I never questioned how, I was just so thrilled she was back." From that moment on, Ms. Cuddles had never left her room. Bonnie had never taken her out for fear that she would lose her again. "Isn't that weird?"

"You think it was your magic that brought your bear back?"

"It's the only instant that I can think of that I could have used my magic."

Silence descended over them.

Like Bonnie, Klaus found it strange that Bonnie apparently didn't use magic as a child. Something felt odd about that. Perhaps it was time to pay a visit to Abby and have a nice little chat with her.

"I used to believe that my magic was dormant," Bonnie said after a while in silence. "That it only surfaced when vampires came into the town but I don't know anymore." She placed her hand on her pregnant belly, immediately feeling her children's magic. "I'm going to ask Dr. Mayfair," she told Klaus. "You're coming with us to the appointment, right?" She had made an appointment for herself, Davina, and Charlotte and she definitely hoped Klaus would go with them.

"Of course." Klaus nuzzled her neck and Bonnie giggled as his stubble tickled her skin. When he tenderly deposited a kiss on her pulse point, Bonnie's entire body was jolted. A single touch from Klaus and she was already a puddle of goo.

She turned her head to the side, coming face to face with the hybrid. Her breath hitched as she stared into those bright blue eyes. Their faces were so close, they were practically breathing the same air.

The air was suddenly charged with electricity.

The love, the desire, the need they both felt echoed through their bond and had her trembling uncontrollably.

Klaus gave her one heated look before his eyes lowered to her lips.

Bonnie's heart skyrocketed. Anticipation coiled in her belly as she stared at him.

Klaus looked up and leaned forward.

The moment their lips touched it was like fireworks exploded inside the room.

The feel of his familiar lips on hers had her melting. It was pure bliss. A bliss she had missed terribly.

Bonnie immediately reached up with one hand, touching the side of his face and pulling his face closer as she deepened the kiss. _How long had it been since the last time they kissed?_ She wondered briefly. _Far too long._ She moaned and opened her mouth in clear invitation, Klaus didn't waste the opportunity.

Their tongues met in a heated frenzy. His arms pulling her body closer to his, engulfing her with his warmth and strength as well as his scent.

As they kissed, their bond surged with happiness, it pulsed with life and strength as the connection between them flourished once more. For their bond not only needed blood but also that physical contact between them.

Bonnie moaned as they kissed passionately. She didn't care that she was finding it difficult to breathe, she wanted to keep kissing him, she needed to. The thirst she felt for him could not be sated.

And that's when she felt it.

Bonnie gasped and pulled away startled.

"What's wrong?" Klaus asked. His body tensed thinking that maybe she was still angry with him and was not ready to resume the intimacy between them.

There was a strange look on Bonnie's face as she placed her hand on the left side of her stomach.

Klaus looked at her in alarm. "Are you alright?" He suddenly felt worried and anxious thinking that something was wrong with their children.

"I could've sworn I felt something, I…" she had been so immersed in the kiss with Klaus, it had startled her. It had been a fleeting flutter but she had felt it. Bonnie felt sure of it. She touched her stomach and waited to see if she would feel it again.

"They moved?" Klaus asked in wonder. His body instantly relaxing as happiness invaded his blood.

"I don't know," Bonnie bit her lip. _Come on,_ she thought. _Do it again,_ she pleaded. She needed to feel it again to be sure. It had been so quick.

Klaus placed his hand on her stomach as well, he felt nervous and excited at the prospect of feeling their twins moving for the first time.

They both waited anxiously for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of them saying anything, simply resting their hands on her stomach.

Nothing.

That strange little flutter was not felt again.

"It's too early still," Bonnie muttered feeling defeated. Every pregnancy was different and there was no true consensus on when mothers felt their babies move for the first time. She knew that it could take many more weeks to actually feel something. "I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. She felt embarrassed that she had gotten him excited over nothing.

"Don't be," Klaus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer against his chest. "Maybe they're just happy that we're sleeping in the same bed again."

Bonnie laughed. "You're silly." Only Klaus could say such a thing. She felt so happy and giddy, she couldn't stop smiling.

"But you love me for it," he whispered against her ear.

Bonnie shivered as she felt his hot breath tickling her ear. She turned to face him once more. "With all my heart," she whispered leaning her face forward. Their lips met again, this time in a much more sweet and gentle kiss. There was a lot they needed to do, things to get done in order to win the war, but in that moment, nothing else mattered.

Bonnie and Klaus lost themselves in a sweet and loving kiss.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"You wanted to speak with me," Luis said as he stepped inside Franco's study. Things between them had been rather tense as of late, since Franco had murdered their brother their family was fractured. Luis and Victor were still grieving while Franco on the other hand, continued with life as usual.

"I received an interesting proposition today," Franco informed his brother with a grin. "A young vampire offered me a deal. He's Elena Gilbert's lover." And he had been Katherine's lover too. Franco had done his homework, he knew everything there was to know about Bonnie's friends and acquaintances. He knew everything about Damon Salvatore.

"One of the doppelgängers?" Luis asked mildly intrigued.

Franco nodded. "He wanted to offered me an Original in exchange for his girl."

"The Travelers need doppelgänger blood," Luis reminded his brother, not only for their plan to bring down the other side but also for Franco's ritual. "And how would they even get an Original?" As far as he knew the Originals were the oldest and strongest of the vampires.

"Apparently, they know how to desiccate them." Franco looked happy, far too happy.

"What did you do?" Luis asked intrigued.

"I made him a deal he couldn't refuse." Franco responded with a pleased smirk on his face. "You are going to meet with him and finalize the agreement." He ordered.

"Of course," Luis replied. "Is that all?"

"Don't tell me you are still upset with me, Luis." Franco studied his brother's face carefully. "I told you-"

"Goodnight brother." Luis exited the study quickly. He could hardly stand the sight of his own flesh and blood. All he could see was Isaac's heart in Franco's hand. It made him sick.

Franco frowned. He didn't like Luis's cold attitude towards him. Since the whole incident with Isaac they had barely spoken to each other. No matter, his brother would fall in line soon enough. He wasn't going to let Luis ruin his mood. The full moon was close, his blood was pumped with adrenaline and more than ready for another hunt. But more than that, he was happy. He felt more alive than ever. "Soon," he whispered hardly able to contain the sinister smile from his lips.

 _I don't want an Original,_ Franco told Damon Salvatore as they spoke over the phone. _You want to make a deal with me, you want your girlfriend back, then there is only one thing I want. Bring me Bonnie Bennett._

Franco leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes. He moved his hand towards the zipper of his pants, pulling it down, before touching himself with one hand. He conjured up his favorite fantasy, that sweet fantasy that would soon become reality. "Bonnie…" he groaned as he brought himself to the brink with surprising ease. Soon, it wouldn't be his hand but her sweet mouth around him. Soon Bonnie would be all his.

* * *

 _A/N: Aya and the Strix show up in TO season 3 but I'm putting my own twist into their story. Bonnie and the Regent will finally meet in the next chapter. See you then!_


	53. Chapter 53

Klaus, Bonnie, and the girls woke up early the next morning and shortly after breakfast, they headed to Covington for their appointments at Dr. Mayfair's clinic.

Both girls were rather nervous as they stepped inside the clinic. Davina more so than Charlotte, although she tried to put on a brave face. They were guided to a private family room area. There were lots of paper work to fill up, Davina did her own while Bonnie answered the questions as best as she could in regards to Charlotte. Which wasn't really much as she had no idea about her health history. Thank-fully, she had explained Charlotte's situation to Dr. Mayfair, so the staff was aware that the little girl had probably never been to the doctor before. She had also talked to Charlotte the night before and explained to her what a doctor was and why they had to go see her. She didn't want Charlotte to be afraid or overwhelmed.

Two very nice and kind nurses came in shortly after and took the girls to another room to measure their height, weight, blood pressure, and they also took samples of blood and urine.

Charlotte whimpered and a single tear rolled down her cheek as they took her blood. Bonne sat next to her on the examining table and wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay, sweetie." She kissed the top of her head. Charlotte buried her head against her and closed her eyes.

Klaus stood silently in the corner of the room while Davina sat in the chair next to the examining table. She looked away as they took blood samples from her and bit her lip but there were no tears.

A couple of minutes later, Dr. Mayfair came inside the room followed closely by another younger female named Dr. Jones. "Good morning," she greeted all of them with a smile. She turned to the teenage witch. "Davina, I presume."

"Yes," Davina fidgeted nervously in her seat. "I'm feeling better," she blurted out. She didn't want to be there, she didn't like doctors or hospitals and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Her magic was still a bit wacky from time to time but she wasn't coughing or sneezing anymore.

"That's good to hear," Dr. Mayfair replied but there was a knowing smile on her face. "And you must be Charlotte," she turned to the little girl next to Bonnie.

"They pinched me," Charlotte complained still snuggled against Bonnie side. She gave the doctor a wary look. "I don't like it."

Bonnie rubbed her back. She had to turn her face away when they took Charlotte's blood, she didn't like seeing her little girl in pain.

"I know sweetie," Dr. Mayfair said with a kind a smile. "I don't like needles either." She turned to look at Bonnie. "Dr. Jones is a pediatrician and she will be in charge of taking care of Charlotte today."

Dr. Jones nodded. "Dr. Mayfair has informed of the special circumstances regarding your little girl." She smiled down at Charlotte, before turning to Bonnie and Klaus. "I would like to start with some routine exams, checking her eyesight, her hearing, her coordination as well as her development and growth," she explained to them. "I will also perform a physical exam. I will check her heart, and lungs, and examine her teeth and of course address any questions or concerns you both may have."

They both nodded.

"I also called a specialist to come and see Davina today," Dr. Mayfair informed them. "Dr. Hernandez is a witch doctor, he studies the effects magic has on the human body. He is one of the most knowledge persons I know and will help us find out why Davina's magic is being affected by this cold and the steps we need to take to help her recover."

"Good," Bonnie said. She felt relieved to know that there were witch doctors out there who could help them. She offered Davina a small smile.

The young witch offered her a weak smile in return, she was still very nervous.

"He should be here in a few minutes," Dr. Mayfair told them. "I was thinking that we can start with Charlotte, Dr. Jones has everything ready to begin now. When Dr. Hernandez gets here he will take a look at Davina, and finally I will be taking a look at you and the little ones later today. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Bonnie answered. She wanted to be there for both Charlotte and Davina during their appointments.

"All right then," Dr. Mayfair said. "I leave you in good hands. When Dr. Hernandez gets here, I will come back and we will proceed from then."

"Thank-you," Bonnie said.

Dr. Mayfair nodded.

"If you could please follow me to my office," Dr. Jones said to them before escorting them out of the examining room and leading them to another part of the building where the Pediatrics department was located.

It was going to be a long day at the clinic.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"Do you have any idea how hot you look in a suit?" Lucy asked as he pulled herself into a sitting position on the bed, the light blue bedsheet pooled around her waist. "You're hotter without it, obviously."

Elijah chuckled as he finished getting dressed. He had a long day ahead of him and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't stay in bed with her. He turned around to face her. "And you look positively sinful." His eyes moved unashamedly over her face and down her full breasts which were in clear display. He licked his lips.

Lucy gave him a saucy grin. "Come back to bed." She extended her hand and arched her back, tempting him.

"I can't," Elijah murmured but he did flash to her side. He sat on the bed and took her outstretched hand, pulling it towards his face and kissing her knuckles.

Lucy shivered.

"The vampires from Shreveport will start arriving today and I have to prepare everything." He was going to meet with them and get everything ready to receive them in the city. With so many vampires in the Quarter, tempers were going to flare, and The Originals had to be in charge of ensuring their peace and cooperation. "As much as I want and believe me, I wish I could spend all day with you in bed, I can't."

"Is Aya coming as well?" Lucy asked. She tried but she couldn't keep the dislike and jealousy from her voice. Elijah had sung all kinds of praises to his protégé the night before and she didn't like it.

Elijah looked amused. Lucy's jealousy did not go unnoticed. "She has some matters to attend to but she will make her way here eventually and help us fight the Navarro's."

"Of course, she will." Lucy made a face.

"There is no need to be jealous, Lucy." His male pride liked the thought of a jealous Lucy. But he also didn't want her to be assuming things that were not true. He cared for Aya and respected her, she was his protégé, and a dear old friend but nothing more.

"You had a thing with her." Lucy did not need to be a witch to read between the lines. The way Elijah spoke of Aya was not just as a sire, or an old friend, there had been more between them, she knew. She felt it.

"It was a very long time ago," Elijah assured her. "You are the only woman in my life now."

Lucy's insides melted upon hearing those words. She knew she was being silly. Elijah was a thousand years old, of course he was bound to have vampire exes. And speaking of exes, there was something she needed to talk to him about, something she had been debating over. Lucy touched his handsome face with her hand and took a deep breath. "There is something you need to know."

Elijah regarded her with curiosity.

"Something I should've told you before but I didn't want to ruin our date and then you had to go to Shreveport and last night…" she trailed off, a happy grin on her lips as she recalled their passionate night together. They had both been eager, desperate, hungrily tearing each other's clothes off as they made their way back to his room, shortly after the family meeting. Hardly any words had been spoken as the two of them came together in a wild frenzy.

"What's wrong?" There was a part of Elijah that felt nervous, _was Lucy having second thoughts?_

"I know Luis Navarro," Lucy said quietly. "Well, I didn't know he was a Navarro when I met him in Florida. I knew he was a werewolf but we never talked about our families, or gave each other's last names, or exchange phone numbers even. But when you guys did the exchange, I recognized him immediately."

Elijah's expression was unreadable. He didn't say anything as he contemplated her face and processed her words. "Did you and Luis…" he trailed off, waiting for her to confirm or deny his suspicions.

Lucy nodded. "It was a one-time thing," she explained quickly. She pulled the sheet up to her chest and looked down at her lap. Not because she was shamed. She had no regrets about her sexual past. She had always been careful with all her partners and took good care of herself. But talking about that time period of her life was very hard and painful.

Elijah pressed his lips together and waited for her to continue.

"After Natalie died I was a mess," Lucy continued as she looked up and faced him once more. Natalie's death was a wound that would never fully heal. "My mom and I both were a big mess to be honest." She glanced away briefly, getting lost in the memories. "I quit college, I left home, I hanged with the wrong crowd. I did favors for vampires in order to earn money; daylight rings, a spell here and there, until it eventually got me in trouble." That's how she had ended up owing a debt to Katherine Pierce. "I ran into Bonnie in Mystic Falls and that was the wake-up call I needed." That night, she had realized she didn't want vampires to continue using her and controlling her life. "I began using my dad's last name instead of Bennett and I eventually found my way to Florida."

"Where you met Luis."

Lucy nodded. Elijah had one hell of a poker face. She couldn't decipher what he was thinking and his expression betrayed nothing of his feelings. She watched him in silence for a few seconds before continuing. "I was working as a bartender then. He came in one night and he looked so out place."

Luis had looked like one of those models from GQ, undeniably handsome, and dressed to impress. More than one head had turned to stare at the tall, elegant, and handsome man as he walked inside the bar. The look on his face had been comical too as he took a seat across from where she was mixing drinks. He looked like he had never set foot in that kind of establishment before. She had greeted him a friendly smile before taking his drink order.

Elijah studied her face carefully as Lucy lost herself in the memory of that night.

"He was meeting another werewolf," Lucy continued. "He was probably trying to recruit more wolves to the Navarro cause." She shook her head, if she had known then. "We started talking, flirting. I knew he was a werewolf and he must have known I was a witch but we never said our last names or talked about anything important or anything supernatural." They had both pretended to be normal people. "Eventually his associate came and they left. When my shift was over he was waiting for me outside and well, one thing led to another." It had been one of the most intense sexual experiences of her life. Of course, the fire and chemistry with Luis was nothing compared to the explosive connection she had with Elijah. But she couldn't deny the strong pull she had felt towards Luis that night.

"I see." Elijah stood up and moved towards the window. He placed one hand against the wall as he contemplated the busy street below.

Lucy stared at his back. "Look, Elijah." She stood up and wrapped the sheet around her body before making her way towards him. "I'm not going to apologize for my past. I'm not an innocent school girl. I like sex. I enjoy sex, and I've had my fair share of lovers. And if that bothers you-"

"I don't care about your past." Elijah interrupted as he turned around to face her. "I don't care how many men have been before me," he told her sincerely. In a second, he was standing in front of her. "As long as I'm the last."

"Oh." Lucy's entire body shook as she felt his fingers caressing her cheek. One look from him, one touch, it was enough to make her feel like she was inside a volcano.

"I can't deny that the thought of him touching you makes me want to rip him apart," Elijah admitted. He hated Luis Navarro on principle but learning that he and Lucy had been intimate did make his blood boil. And yes, he did feel extremely jealous.

"It didn't mean anything," Lucy assured him. There had been no feelings involved between Luis and her. They had simply been two people who found each other attractive and gave into that. "It was just that one time, we never saw each other again." Until the day of the exchange when she had immediately recognized him.

"You have your past and I have mine," Elijah murmured as he stared into her eyes. He continued to trace her cheek lovingly. "I could never judge you for it."

Lucy smiled softly. She opened her mouth but whatever she was going to say was cut short by the hot press of his lips against hers. She immediately linked her arms around his neck and responded to his kiss. The bedsheet easily fell down to the floor.

Elijah grabbed her hips in a possessive grip and flashed them towards the bed.

Lucy gasped as she felt herself sinking against the soft, luxurious sheets.

Elijah hungrily deposited kisses down her chin and neck.

Lucy giggled. "The vampires…" she murmured. She closed her eyes and moaned as she felt his mouth sucking on her pulse point. She knew he had a long day ahead of him. There were lots of things to be done in order to prepare for the war. But she made no move to push him away, instead she clung to him.

"They can wait," Elijah muttered as he claimed her lips in another heated kiss.

Lucy responded eagerly, hands pulling his pristine dark blue jacket off his body. Elijah happily helped her to get rid of his clothes.

The vampires, the war, the whole world could wait.

* * *

 **Covington**

Once the specialist arrived, Bonnie accompanied Davina while Klaus kept an eye on Charlotte. The two of them waited in the family room. One of the nurses brought some paper and crayons to keep Charlotte entertained. She happily sat on the carpet, drawing and coloring.

Klaus sat in one of the chairs, watching her.

The little witch had taken all her examinations with a smile on her face. Dr. Jones had made it seem like a game and that had helped to keep Charlotte relaxed. Having Bonnie's reassuring presence no doubt also helped.

According to Dr. Jones, Charlotte was in the 6 to 7-year-old age range. She still had all her baby teeth (no cavities) her eye sight and hearing was great and her developmental and social skills were also great. But while Charlotte knew how to count, and could name colors, shapes, and sort them out, she didn't know how to read yet. Dr. Jones offered them different suggestions so that Klaus and Bonnie could start helping Charlotte with her reading, like reading books to her every night, asking her questions about what they read, and teaching her letters and sounds.

While Bonnie worried, Klaus calmly reassured her that everything was going to be fine. He and Elijah had taught Marcel how to read and write, they could easily do the same with Charlotte. Not to mention that Klaus also offered to hire as many tutors as Charlotte needed to get her ready to start school. That was another thing Bonnie was worried about, Charlotte was at an age where she needed to go to school, something that hadn't even crossed her mind until Dr. Jones asked them about it. Klaus had done his best to ease all of her fears and stop her from feeling guilty. Bonnie had Charlotte's well being at heart and that was all that matter. In the end, Klaus and Bonnie and even Dr. Jones agreed that for now, the best solution was to home schooled Charlotte. She needed to grow costumed to large crowds and learn more about the world she lived in before she could be inside a classroom.

As he sat in the waiting room watching Charlotte, Klaus couldn't help but think about Marcel. He had been older than Charlotte when Klaus had adopted him but still, the more he watched Charlotte the more he thought back to that time when he had a son. There were so many memories that time, anger, and hurt had not been able to erase from his mind.

 _Where did I go wrong with you, Marcellus?_ Klaus wondered as he contemplated the little witch that had stolen Bonnie's love in a heartbeat.

As if sensing his gaze on her, Charlotte looked up and smiled sweetly at him. She was such a trusting and innocent little thing. Far more trusting and naïve than Marcel had ever been.

Klaus found himself smiling back.

He might had not realized it yet, but the little girl had slowly started to worm her way into his heart.

* * *

Dr. Hernandez was a short, black haired man in his late thirties. He was very nice and professional, immediately putting Davina and Bonnie at ease. They used Dr. Mayfair's office as he practiced at a different clinic and had come as a favor for his colleague. He carried a duffel bag filled with all kinds of magical objects, crystals, and potions.

Dr. Hernandez began by asking Davina all kinds of questions, when her symptoms had started, if she had any problems with magic before or just recently. He asked her to describe each of the episodes in which she had lost control of her magic. He also asked about her family history, magically and medically. After Davina answered all his questions, he asked her to lay down on the examining table.

Bonnie watched curiously as Dr. Hernandez moved a clear crystal above Davina's body. He had his eyes closed and he was murmuring in what Bonnie thought was Spanish. The crystal would glow a deep shade of red from time to time.

Davina laid with her eyes closed and her arms to her side as Dr. Hernandez continued to chant and move the crystal over her. Finally, after a long while in silence he opened his eyes and looked down at Davina. "I see," he whispered. "You may sit up now."

Davina did as the doctor ordered and sat up.

"What do you think?" Dr. Mayfair asked.

Dr. Hernandez studied Davina's face in detail before slowly moving his gaze towards Bonnie and Dr. Mayfair. He had a curious look on his face as he turned to look at Davina once more. "This is not a common cold," he began in a serious and professional voice. "Your body is having a reaction to the magic inside you."

Davina frowned.

"Like an allergic reaction?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Magic takes a toll on the body," Dr. Hernandez explained. "There have been some cases in which using too much magic causes witches to age faster and for their bodies to deteriorate more rapidly. Hence the reason many witches slow down their aging and create so many creams and potions to keep themselves young and healthy." He paused as he pondered his next words. "The magic inside of you is in turmoil, is not in sync with your body. It's almost as if you had absorbed someone else's magic and that magic was fighting to get out and be away from you."

Davina gasped and her eyes opened wide because she knew that the magic inside of her was not just hers. She had absorbed the magic of the three other Harvest girls. She turned to Bonnie in panic.

Bonnie immediately rushed to her side and took her hand in hers, giving her a gentle but reassuring squeeze. She wondered if Dr. Hernandez and Dr. Mayfair had any idea about the Harvest. She didn't think so, otherwise they probably would have said something. She didn't know if they should inform the doctors just how Davina acquired so much magic. She didn't want to divulge that kind of sensitive information without Davina's permission which is why she decided to keep quiet and wait to see what else the doctors would say.

"If your body is not able to handle the amount of power inside you," Dr. Hernandez continued. "You will continue to lose control of your magic and it will continue to affect you physically."

"How so?" Bonnie asked him.

"Tiredness, dizziness, nosebleeds are just some of the side effects Davina could have," Dr. Hernandez answered. "You see, witches are human, at the end of the day, no matter how powerful we are, our bodies are still vulnerable. Unlike the vampires, we don't have the luxury to regenerate and heal after casting powerful spells or using too much magic. In Davina's case, having all that magic is hurting her body."

"So, what can we do?" Bonnie asked the doctor.

"There are a couple of options we can take," Dr. Hernandez responded. "The easiest one will be to help Davina's body to accept all the power flowing inside of her. Don't expect that to happen overnight though. It's going to take time and dedication and we would need an elder witch to help guide her better."

Davina bit her lip.

"We can consider blocking some of that power." He leaned back against his desk. "Magic muting herbs can block a witch's magic temporarily or if Davina's health continues to deteriorate we can consider a more permanent option like binding her powers." He paused contemplating the young and scared teenager. "In the worst-case scenario, if your health and well-being continue to be at risk, my recommendation will be to relinquish your magic."

Tears formed on Davina's eyes and her bottom lip trembled. "I don't want to give up my magic," she snapped. The lights flickered on and off as her magic reacted to the strong emotions invading her. "I'm a witch." She couldn't really imagine being anything else. "I'm not going to give up my magic."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Dr. Mayfair said taking a couple of steps closer and placing a gentle hand on Davina's shoulder.

The lights stopped flickering and Davina visibly relaxed under Dr. Mayfair's soothing touch.

"It's going to be okay," Bonnie tried reassured her. "We'll find a way to help you with your magic."

"Like I said, we can help you try and get a hold of you magic," Dr. Hernandez told Davina. "The fact that you are feeling better is a good sign that your body it's doing its best to adjust and handle all the power inside of you. I do find it rather strange that this is manifesting now." He looked curiously at Davina, almost waiting for her to offer a suggestion as to why that was.

Davina looked down guiltily before glancing at Bonnie. There was clear question in Bonnie's eyes as she stared at her. Davina shook her head. She didn't want the doctors to know about the Harvest or the magic she had acquired from it.

Bonnie subtly nodded. "You said that we need an elder witch," she looked at Dr. Hernandez. "Why is that?"

"An elder witch is typically trained in various forms of meditation, control, and possess far more power than an average witch," Dr. Hernandez explained. "They are usually older witches who have years of practice in their craft, have valuable knowledge of ancient rituals and spells, and are more equip to handle the unpredictability of wild magic."

"An elder would work with Davina to understand her power better," Dr. Mayfair added. "They are also the only witches capable of sealing another witch's magic. Most elders have been trained in those kinds of rituals. They could offer Davina the best help."

"I know an elder," Bonnie informed them thinking of her aunts. "Well four actually." Aunt Vivian, Diana, Lucrecia and Amina were the elder witches of the Bennett bloodline. "I will speak with them and ask them to help Davina." She turned to Davina. "I'm sure they will agree to help you."

Davina nodded. She trusted Bonnie. If Bonnie said her aunts could help her, Davina knew it was the truth.

"Good," Dr. Hernandez said. "An elder witch is the perfect mentor for witches having trouble with their magic. In the meantime, I am going to give Davina a potion that will help to suppress her magic."

Davina looked at him in alarm. "Suppress my magic I don't think…"

"It won't take your magic away or block it completely," Dr. Hernandez added quickly. "This is simply to ensure no more curtains catch fire, or small earthquakes invade your room. Lights flickering on and off are fine but anything stronger than that can potentially harm you or others and we don't want that, right?"

Davina nodded. She definitely did not want to hurt anyone.

"This potion is an extract of magic muting herbs," Dr. Hernandez explained. "You will need to add three drops to a cup of water and drink it every day. Just a small dosage to lower the potency of your magic. You might feel a little sleepy and lightheaded the first time you drink it but you'll be fine." He pulled a small notepad from his coat and began writing the prescription. "This clinic has a pharmacy on the first floor that is also a potions lab, it shouldn't take long to make." He said as he handed Bonnie the prescription. He turned to Davina. "I will be taking a look at your blood work and depending on the results, I might recommend some vitamins or even some energizing potions to help your body. I will give you my card and I would also like to speak with the elder you choose to help you. We need to monitor your progress once you start working with her."

"Okay," Davina muttered.

"All right," Dr. Hernandez said pulling out his card. He wrote his personal cell phone number on the back. "If you need anything, do not hesitate to call me. If you don't feel well, or if you have a fever, or have any nosebleeds please come immediately to Dr. Mayfair's clinic. Most of her staff if not all, are witches so they will be able to help you better. Any questions?"

"No," Davina said accepting his card.

"Thank-you so much Dr. Hernandez." Bonnie said as she shook his hand.

"You're welcome," Dr. Hernandez responded. "Don't worry," he said to Davina in a reassuring tone. "We are here to help you. Everything is going to be fine."

Davina nodded. She hoped with all her heart Dr. Hernandez was right.

Bonnie wrapped her arm around her and pulled her closer.

Davina felt grateful to have her by her side. But while she felt reassured by the doctor's words and Bonnie's presence, she couldn't help but wonder, _what if it doesn't work? What if her body couldn't handle all the magic inside her? Would she have to complete the Harvest?_

Completing the Harvest meant death and that terrified Davina more than anything.

* * *

 **Later that day**

Bonnie's appointment went smoothly.

Dr. Mayfair examined her and asked her some routine questions before asking her to lay down on the examining table so they could take a look at the twins. Klaus and Bonnie were delighted upon seeing their children through the monitor.

"Everything is okay, right?" Bonnie asked while keeping her eyes glued to the screen. She could see them better this time. Her babies looked bigger, beautiful, and perfect. That wonderful and incredible feeling invaded her body once more. It was amazing to see them, to know that they were growing everyday inside her belly.

"Everything looks great," Dr. Mayfair murmured as she moved the scanning wand over Bonnie's abdomen. "Baby A," she said clicking on the machine and taking measurements.

Bonnie laughed as she saw the baby wiggle. "I can't wait to feel them move," she whispered. "I felt something last night, like a flutter but it was so quick, I haven't felt it since." She pouted. She desperately wanted to feel them kick.

"It's different for every pregnancy," Dr. Mayfair told her. "With my first, I didn't feel anything until I was over twenty weeks, with my second I definitely felt something around fourteen weeks. Some women have claimed to feel the baby move as early as twelve weeks."

Bonnie nodded. She had read as much.

"Here is Baby B," Dr. Mayfair said once again taking measurements.

"He's sucking his thumb!" Klaus exclaimed as he pointed to the monitor. The smile on his handsome face was contagious, even his eyes twinkled with undeniable adoration as he stared at the image on the screen.

"Oh my god!" Bonnie gasped, tears were already forming around her eyes. She could see it too. It was the cutest thing ever.

"Yes, he is." Dr. Mayfair smiled at the obvious happiness of the couple. She took some measurements and began printing the images.

"So, it's a boy?" Klaus didn't miss a beat. He couldn't help but wonder if the doctor had let it slip.

"I can't tell you with certainty," Dr. Mayfair responded.

There was something in her eyes. Klaus had a feeling the good old doctor knew what they were having. "You know something," he probed.

"I can try and guess but I don't like doing that. There is no guarantee that I will guess right."

Klaus didn't like it when he heard that.

"It's fine," Bonnie said. She squeezed his fingers and turned to stare at him. "We can wait a couple more weeks to find out."

"I'm pretty sure what we're having," Klaus declared proudly as he stared down at her.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. Klaus was convinced they were having two boys and there was no changing his mind about that. "If you say so." And then she laughed, grabbing the necklaces dangling around his neck, and pulling his face down for a kiss.

Klaus happily complied, kissing her back with infinite tenderness.

The two of them shared a loving smile after they pulled apart.

They listened to the babies' heartbeats afterwards.

Bonnie couldn't stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks then. It was the most beautiful and precious sound in the world. It was music to her ears. It was absolutely wonderful to know that their children were okay, growing healthy and stronger each day.

A couple of minutes later, Bonnie and Klaus were sitting in front of Dr. Mayfair's desk.

Bonnie had the sonogram pictures in her hands. She couldn't wait to show them to the family. The one with the baby sucking his/her thumb was the cutest one.

"I have the results from your blood tests," Dr. Mayfair began as she pulled some papers out of a folder. "Everything looks good, normal. There are no traces of the magical virus left in your system. Unfortunately, the lab in Virginia were unable to determine much about the strain of virus you were infected with. All their results came back inconclusive. But that to me, confirms that it was a magical virus."

Bonnie and Klaus nodded.

"Did you find anything different in her blood?" Klaus wondered.

"Different?" Dr. Mayfair asked with a frown.

Bonnie gave him a knowing look. She knew why he was asking.

"I was just wondering since the babies are hybrids perhaps Bonnie's blood had a different component…" He trailed off with a shrug. Technically, he was wondering about the levels of poison in Bonnie's blood. Her blood had proven to be lethal for werewolves and vampires and he wondered if maybe the tests had shown any anomalies because of it.

"No," Dr. Mayfair replied confidently. "Everything looks normal."

"Good." Klaus smiled. It meant that the poison in Bonnie's blood was untraceable and that was a great advantage.

Dr. Mayfair turned to Bonnie. "Your blood pressure looks good, your calcium levels, potassium…everything came back great." She placed the papers back inside the folder. "The babies are healthy, you are healthy. The danger has passed and therefore I am giving you the green light to resume with your normal life," she told Bonnie. "But as always, I am urging you to be careful. You need to take care of yourself and if you are going to be using magic, listen and pay attention to what your body is telling you."

"I will," Bonnie promised.

"Just because I'm giving you the green light doesn't mean that I want you shooting fireballs left and right and exhausting yourself with magic." Dr. Mayfair gave her a knowing look. "Remember that the risk of tapping into the twins' magic is still present. You have to be on the lookout for that."

"I know," Bonnie murmured. She was going to take all the precautions necessary to ensure she would never tap into her children's magic again.

"Very well," Dr. Mayfair said. She looked back and forth between them. "Do you have any questions or concerns?

"Well, I do have a question." Bonnie shifted in her seat and leaned forward. "You said that witch children show signs of magic pretty early, when they're like one year old, and I was wondering about that."

"Yes?"

"Is it possible for a witch not to show signs of magic until later in life, say like, until they're teenagers?" Bonnie asked nervously.

"Is not impossible," Dr. Mayfair replied carefully. "But honestly, that is something that I have never encountered."

"Oh." Bonnie glanced at Klaus. There was a thoughtful look on his face.

"Magic is in our blood, in our genes, our DNA," Dr. Mayfair continued. "It's such an integral part of who we are that it's always there. Some children have magic that is more active than others but that magic always surfaces. In my experience as a doctor, all witches have shown signs of magic pretty early on."

Bonnie bit her lip, deep in thought.

"What could be one reason for a child not to show signs of magic until their teenage years?" Klaus asked.

Dr. Mayfair thought about his question for a couple of seconds. "The only thing that comes to mind is a seal. Something put in place to block a witch's magic."

"But that is not very common, is it?" Klaus had heard about different magical seals but he had never encountered a witch whose magic had been sealed away.

"No," Dr. Mayfair responded. "That is something that is used in extreme cases. If the child's magic is too violent and can potentially harm them or others or on children who are mentally unstable and have no control over their magic."

Bonnie stayed quiet. Her mind mulling over everything Dr. Mayfair was saying. "Can a seal be broken?" she asked after a while.

"Yes," Dr. Mayfair replied. "Depending on how strong the binding force is, a seal can eventually be broken, either by taking it away or by the witch herself. Extremely powerful witches would be able in theory to destroy the seal themselves. In other cases, it would require an elder witch to put it place and to take it off."

"So, it's not something your average witch can do," Klaus intervened.

"No," Dr. Mayfair confirmed. "It requires a very powerful and skillful witch to seal another's magic. That is why elders are the only ones who know and learn how to do it. It's also very risky for the witch in question. If her magic decides to fight back you could potentially cause more harm, not only physically but mentally as well. The best approach is to teach children how to use their magic, to teach them not to fear it, to guide them, and show them how to control their power." It was what they were going to do with Davina and her magic.

Silence descended over them.

"Any more questions?" Dr. Mayfair asked after a while.

Klaus turned to look at Bonnie.

The young witch shook her head. She had a lot to think about.

 _Was my magic sealed when I was a child?_ Bonnie wondered. If that was the case, _why?_ _Why would her mother or Grams sealed her magic?_

 _What are you hiding mom?_

* * *

Bonnie and Klaus walked hand in hand out of Dr. Mayfair's office.

"Are you alright?" the hybrid asked. There were mixed emotions flowing through their bond in that moment.

"This doesn't make any sense," Bonnie muttered. "I didn't have magic as a child and that's not normal apparently, so there is a possibility that my powers were sealed." She turned to face him, an anguished look on her face. "Why would they do that to me?"

"I don't know, sweetheart." Klaus felt very curious about that part of Bonnie's life. He had already asked his informant to reopen the file on Abby Bennett. Klaus wanted to take a deeper look into Abby's past before confronting her about it. If Bonnie's magic had been sealed as a child there had to be a very good reason for it. "I promise you, we'll find out."

The two continued to walk in silence. It was obvious that Bonnie was very perturbed. There was a lot she needed to think about.

Davina and Charlotte were waiting for them in the family waiting room.

"Everything okay?" Davina asked as soon as she saw them. She stood up quickly.

"Everything is good," Bonnie replied. She happily showed Davina the sonogram pictures Dr. Mayfair had given them. Any thoughts of her mother, her magic, and the past were put aside.

"Oh my god!" Davina looked at the images with wonder. "She's sucking her thumb!"

"He," Klaus immediately corrected.

Davina rolled her eyes. "I hope you have twin girls," she told Bonnie with a sweet a smile. "I'm pretty sure they are going to be girls," she grinned in the hybrid's direction. "I'm never wrong with my feelings you know."

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"I have a picture too," Charlotte said running towards them. She proudly showed them her work of art. "I made it."

Bonnie took the picture Charlotte had drawn. "Oh sweetie, it's beautiful."

No, it wasn't.

Klaus was unimpressed. Charlotte was definitely no Picasso. She had drawn some rather ugly looking stick figures.

While Bonnie stared at the drawing in wonder, Charlotte tugged at his jacket.

Klaus looked down and arched an eyebrow.

The little witch extended her arms up and gave him a look so that he could pick her up.

Klaus sighed and pulled her up into his arms. Charlotte easily wrapped her little legs around his waist while she hooked one arm around his neck. She leaned over. "That's you," she said to Bonnie as she pointed to one of her drawings. She had drawn two circles, one small circle for the head and one big circle for the body.

Bonnie laughed clearly amused by the picture Charlotte had drawn of her.

Davina peered over her shoulder, a chuckle escaping her lips.

"That's Klaus," Charlotte pointed to another stick figure.

"Why do I have a smudge of dirt on my face?" The hybrid questioned as he looked down at the drawing.

"It's your dimple," Charlotte answered with a proud smile before turning to the drawing once more. "That's aunty Bex," she pointed to another figure.

Rebekah's yellow hair looked like the ends of a broomstick.

Neither Davina nor Bonnie could contain their laughter. They definitely needed to show the drawing to Rebekah.

"That's you," Charlotte said to Davina as she pointed to another stick figure.

Davina shook her head. The hair on the stick figure that was supposed to be her looked like the mane of a lion. "Wow," she murmured.

"That's uncle Elijah," Charlotte happily continued.

"He has a rope around his neck," Davina commented as she looked at the stick figure with brown hair.

"It's his tie," Charlotte said exasperated that they couldn't understand her drawings.

"Oh, right."

"He likes wearing ties," Charlotte defended herself.

Bonnie giggled. She and Klaus shared amused looks before she took notice of the tiny figure on the corner of the paper, far away from the group Charlotte had drawn in representation of their family. "And look we even have a dog!"

"It looks like a spider," Klaus muttered as he stared at the drawing. "It's rather hideous if you ask me."

Bonnie elbowed him in the ribs.

Charlotte frowned.

"In a good way..." Klaus tried to amend. The last thing he needed was to make the little girl cry. Not only because he didn't like her crying but Bonnie would probably hex him for it.

"I think it's a cat," Davina said leaning forward so she could have a better look.

All three of them turned to stare at Charlotte, waiting to hear what the drawing actually was.

"It's Kol," she mumbled with a sheepish smile.

Klaus laughed, well they all did. Only Charlotte could be so petty as to draw Kol far away from the rest of the group and make him really small and ugly looking. And that was saying something because all her figures were rather ugly. The girl had no artistic blood in her veins. But Klaus already knew that Bonnie was going to treasure the drawing and proudly display it at home. He couldn't wait to see Kol's face when he saw the drawing.

"Alright," he said after the laughter died down. "Time to go. I can hear all of your stomachs rumbling loudly." They had spent the better part of the day at the clinic and were glad to be able to leave.

"I'm starving," Davina complained.

"Me too," Bonnie mumbled as she took Klaus's hand in hers.

"I know this little French restaurant that's just down the street," Klaus began.

"You know what I'm craving right now?" Bonnie turned to faced Klaus. "A cheeseburger with French fries and a milkshake."

"Yes," Davina eagerly agreed with her. "I want a cheeseburger too."

"Me too," Charlotte joined in.

"You must be joking?" Klaus couldn't believe that they would prefer a greasy burger over an exquisite French dish.

"Three against one," Bonnie reminded him with a smile. She got on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Five if you count the two in my belly." Because her babies were definitely craving some French fries.

Charlotte giggled. She liked seeing Bonnie happy. She liked seeing Klaus and Bonnie together actually. Her arm unconsciously tightened around Klaus's neck. She liked it when he carried her around. She felt safe.

Klaus shook his head. "Fine," he muttered under his breath. "Cheeseburgers it is."

The four of them exited the clinic together, in the same way they had arrived earlier that day.

Klaus held Bonnie's hand while carrying Charlotte in his other arm. Davina walked besides the Bennett witch smiling and talking cheerfully. She felt much better than she had in days. They were all in good spirits actually.

To any outsider looking in, the four of them looked like a normal family.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"Do realize how ridiculous that sounds?" Stefan questioned his brother as the two made their way through the crowded streets of the French Quarter.

"Franco wants Bonnie. I told him I would agree to a trade but that I needed to speak with him first, face to face."

"And you think he's going to show up, just like that?" Stefan asked incredulous.

Damon continued to lead the way. He had a mission, he needed to find a witch or two, heck maybe more to help them catch a wolf. "He agreed to me meet with me." They were going to meet somewhere in between New Orleans and Baton Rouge to finalize their deal. Franco had promised.

"It's a trap," Stefan replied with confidence. "Just because he agreed doesn't mean he will show up."

"Maybe," Damon muttered. He made a right turn and headed into a less crowded street. A witch he had known in the nineties used to live here, he was hoping she was still around. They were going to need all the help they could get. "There was something in his voice…" he stopped walking as he thought back to his conversation with Franco.

"His eagerness to get Bonnie." Stefan had heard it too. The way Franco spoke Bonnie's name, the desire Stefan had perceived in his voice worried him. They were playing a very dangerous game and it could easily blow up in their faces.

"He probably wants Bonnie to use her magic and end the Originals for good," Damon suggested. "Get them out of the way and become the king." He made a face. He didn't know why Franco, Klaus, and plenty others were so obsessed with being the king. He found that whole notion ridiculous.

"I don't think we can trick him Damon."

Damon rolled his eyes. "It's not like I can actually give him Bonnie," he snapped angrily. "Contrary to popular belief I'm not an idiot." He wasn't going to hand Bonnie to the enemy just like that. And while yes, he could admit that there was a part of him that felt tempted. He knew very well what Klaus and the Originals would to him should he attempt to do it.

"No, you're just going to try and kidnap him."

"We can set up the perfect trap for him," Damon retorted with confidence. "Franco will not see it coming. We'll knock him out, lock him up, and negotiate with his brothers his release in exchange for Elena. We just need a witch to help us." And unfortunately, Bonnie was out of the question.

"Sounds far too simple," Stefan sighed as he looked around the street. "He has witches working for him, remember? He could bring them to this meeting and that's even if he's willing to show up. I think he's bluffing." He had a feeling that Franco wasn't going to show to the agreed date and time.

Damon frowned. "You think he was lying?"

"I think he's setting a trap for us," Stefan met his brother's eyes. "We're missing something." There had been something off about Damon's conversation with Franco. _What were they not seeing?_

"He gave me his word," Damon insisted. "He seemed very happy and eager to do this trade. He will show up." He had to believe that Franco would show up. He needed to get Elena back. They were running out of time he could feel it.

"What if we talk to Klaus and Elijah, maybe they-"

"No," Damon cut him off. "They don't give a damn about Elena." He moved his hand over his hair. "Look, we'll find a witch or two to help us out. We'll catch Franco by surprise and use him to get Elena back. We just need to find powerful witches to help us set the perfect trap."

"It's not going to work," Stefan muttered feeling pretty sure that Damon's plan was going to fail. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Come on baby bro, have a little faith." Damon smirked as he started walking once more. "It's the only plan we have at the moment."

Stefan reluctantly followed Damon. _You have your plan and I have mine,_ he thought.

* * *

 **The next day**

Madame Josephine LaRue looked like a queen as she sat on the sofa chair in her living room. She was wearing a dark purple outfit, her diamond brooch sparkling brightly. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her hands rested on her lap. But it was her eyes that caught Bonnie completely by surprise. Her eyes were simply stunning. There was something about them, a secret knowledge, a sense of wisdom and authority. They were captivating.

Bonnie felt intimidated as she stood in the doorway. She had arrived escorted by Lenore and Kyra, who were now waiting in the parlor, as Josephine had asked to speak with Bonnie alone.

"Bonnie Bennett Mikaelson, it is a pleasure to meet you at last." Josephine smiled kindly at her. She was a lovely older lady.

"The pleasure is mine Madame LaRue," Bonnie greeted. Her skin prickled as she felt Josephine's magic, that aura of power that surrounded her was undeniable. She wasn't doing it on purpose, her magic was calm and nonthreatening but it was obvious why she was the Regent of the witches in New Orleans.

"Please have a seat," Josephine motioned for Bonnie to sit across from her.

Bonnie took a deep breath and did exactly that. She felt very nervous. This was it. She was in the presence of the most powerful witch in New Orleans, the Regent of all nine covens, and Bonnie wanted to make a good impression. Her eyes moved briefly around the room. She was a little taken back when she spotted the tall, dark skinned man on the corner. She hadn't sensed him or seen him until then.

"This is Vincent Griffith," Madame LaRue introduced as she motioned for Vincent to join them. "He is my successor, the future Regent of the nine covens, which is why I asked him to join us this afternoon."

Bonnie nodded. "Hello."

"It is an honor to meet a witch from the line of the blessed." Was Vincent's polite greeting. He walked towards them, choosing to stand next to Josephine's chair. His expression was neutral but his eyes were solely focused on Bonnie, studying her in detail.

"Would you like some tea?" Josephine asked.

"No, thank-you."

Josephine moved her ice blue eyes from Bonnie's face and down to her baby bump. The black wrap sweater with matching blouse she was wearing accentuated her pregnant belly. In the he past couple of weeks she had started to show a lot more, probably because she was carrying two babies instead of one.

Bonnie placed a gentle hand over her belly, feeling the tingle of magic against her palm.

Josephine moved her eyes back to Bonnie's face, a soft smile gracing her lips. "You are carrying twins," she stated.

Bonnie's eyes widened. "How did you know?" She felt surprised that Josephine knew. _Had the news of her twin pregnancy spread already?_ She had assumed most people thought she was only carrying one baby.

"I have a rather extraordinary gift," Josephine murmured mysteriously. A sudden sadness invaded her face then. "Some would even call it a curse." She looked away briefly.

There was something very elegant, very gracious about Josephine LaRue but she was also very sad. Bonnie could see it, she could almost feel that melancholia. _Why are you so sad?_ She wanted to ask.

"I have heard many rumors about you," Josephine continued as she regarded Bonnie carefully. "I wanted to look into your eyes and see for myself."

"See what?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Who you truly are," Josephine responded quickly. "The eyes are the window to the soul, you see. In them, a witch like myself can look and find the truth behind the words and the actions of someone."

Bonnie watched her in silence. She hoped that whatever Josephine saw in her eyes was good.

"A Bennett witch married to the Original hybrid and pregnant with his children," Josephine murmured. Her ice blue eyes were like two hooks that pulled Bonnie in. She couldn't look away.

Both women gazed at each other.

"What do you make of it?" Bonnie questioned.

"I think it is a very rare and extraordinary gift," Josephine replied.

Bonnie felt stunned by those words. "Most witches see them as abominations of nature," she whispered. "The Seer tried to killed me because of it."

"I am not the Seer my dear," Josephine replied sincerely. "I could never blame innocent children for the sins of their father."

Bonnie felt relieved to hear that. The tension that had first invaded her body began to disappear as she relaxed in the presence of the other witch.

"Is very curious, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"That nature allowed you to become pregnant in the first place," Josephine responded. Her voice was calm, almost gentle. There was no accusation, no judgement on her part. "There must be a reason," she murmured deep in thought. "Everything happens for a reason." She looked into Bonnie's eyes. "With that said, your actions against the French Quarter coven and the Seer and her coven are of great concern for the witches of this community."

"You have blood on your hands," Vincent intervened. He didn't say it in an accusing tone, he stated it as a fact. "In the eyes of the witches of this city, you are a murder."

Josephine gave him a warning look.

Vincent ignored her look as he pinned Bonnie with his dark eyes.

Bonnie rubbed her forehead with her left hand, she suddenly felt a slight headache.

Vincent didn't take his eyes of her.

"I did what I had to do to protect my family," Bonnie defended herself. She felt a probe on the surface of her consciousness and her eyes narrowed in Vincent's direction. _Was he trying to get inside her head?_ She glared at him.

Vincent hissed when he felt a burning sensation on his left hand. It broke his concentration completely. He squeezed his hand into a fist and murmured a healing spell with his mind.

"Don't do that again," Bonnie hissed.

Rather than being angry or retaliating magically, Vincent's lips curled into a grin. He looked rather pleased that she had deflected his mind probing.

"Witches from the French Quarter coven joined forces with the Navarro werewolves and they kidnapped me from my own home," Bonnie said looking back and forth between the two of them. Her voice trembled as she recalled her kidnapping. "My dad was shot. And that was just the beginning. The Seer sent hunters after me, hunters who were determined to kill me at all cost." She shuddered remembering how the huntress kept coming back to life. "They blew up a mansion filled with humans and supernaturals alike, killing so many people, injuring others…" she shook her head. The ball had ended in absolute horror because of the witches. "They went as far as to kidnap my husband and his siblings. What was I supposed to do?" she questioned the Regent and her successor.

Josephine remained quiet, simply watching her.

"So, you have no regrets?" Vincent questioned.

"I did what I had to do in order to protect my family," Bonnie replied fiercely.

"You murdered your own kind," Vincent continued to push. "That is a sin that will not be forgotten by the witches in this city. It is a stain on your reign. Something that is going to follow you for the rest of your life."

Josephine continued to stay quiet as she watched the exchange between Vincent and Bonnie.

"You think that I don't know that?" Memories of that night at the Sanatorium came to the surface of her mind. "I don't want to murder people," Bonnie admitted with sincerity. "But I have no regrets for ending Cassandra and her coven." She looked directly at Vincent. She was not going to let him intimidate her. "I wish I did," she confessed with candor. "But I don't." She turned to face Josephine once more. "I have no regrets."

Josephine watched her curiously but again, she didn't say anything.

"I could go on and on and try to justify what I've done," Bonnie told them as she chose her words very carefully. "But I won't. I take responsibility for my actions." She knew what she had done, she knew that her actions had given her a reputation, a name that would follow her to the grave. "I'm not proud of having blood on my hands but I do not regret my actions. It was either Cassandra and her coven or my family and me. I made a choice to protect the people I love and I will continue to do so." Her children, her family would always come first for her, no matter what. "At the end of the day, before being a witch, before being a woman, I am mother." She looked deeply into Josephine's ice blue eyes. "Protecting my children will always come first and if that means taking the life of the people who wish them harm, so be it."

Silence followed her words. For a minute or two, no one said anything.

"Your actions have let many witches in this city to see you as a threat," Josephine informed Bonnie. "They fear that you will come for them. Perhaps even take their magic like you did with the French Quarter coven."

"The only people that should fear me are the people who wish my family harm," Bonnie retorted. "I don't have anything against the witches of this city. If anything, I would like to work with them, with _you_ ," she emphasized. "But I won't sit back and let them come after me. And if you agree to meet with me to judge me-"

"Who am I to judge you?" Josephine questioned.

Bonnie pressed her lips together.

"The Seer was no friend, she did terrible things. And while I do not condone your actions, I cannot fault you for trying to protect yourself and those you love." Josephine paused. She turned her face towards the window thinking over something for a few seconds before finally turning back to face Bonnie. "Something is coming," she whispered. "A darkness that threatens to destroy our world. I have seen it, I can feel it, and so have you."

"Yes," Bonnie agreed. She thought of her dreams and of the vision she had seen when touching the statue of the first witch.

"I believe we can work together," Josephine said to Bonnie. "We have to work together in order to save our city from what's coming. The witch community must be united, it is the only way we can survive this war."

"I would like that very much," Bonnie replied with a small smile.

"But before we can do that," Josephine said watching her carefully. "There is a very important matter we need to discuss," she and Vincent exchanged knowing looks. "Something that I have to ask of you."

"And what is that?" Bonnie asked warily. She had a feeling as to what Josephine wanted to discuss.

"Davina Claire," Josephine said as she met Bonnie's eyes. "As the Regent of the nine covens in New Orleans, I am asking you to bring Davina to me. For I will be completing the Harvest ritual."

"No," There was no hesitation in Bonnie's voice as she responded. "Davina is under my protection now. I will not hand her over to you, or to anyone."

Vincent openly glared at her while Josephine looked less than pleased.

"Do you really believe that you can challenge the authority of the Regent?" Vincent questioned angrily. He disliked anyone who challenged or disrespected his mentor. By refusing to do what Josephine asked of her, Bonnie was doing both and right in his face. He didn't like it. "Who do you think you are to question the Ancestors' will?" he challenged.

"I am the leader of the Bennett coven," Bonnie replied simply. "I am the queen of this city," she met his eyes unflinchingly before turning to Josephine. "I am the blood of the first witch," she said looking into the Regent's eyes. "Your Ancestors have no power over me."

Bonnie Bennett would not bend to anyone's will.

* * *

"Super enhanced werewolves," Ishmael repeated as he, Klaus, and Cary made their way deep into the heart of the Bayou. They were on their way to meet with the Alphas of the different werewolf clans that had arrived in the city in the past couple of weeks and Klaus took the time to put them up to speed with what he and his siblings had learned from the Strix.

"Can these Traveler people really do that?" Cary asked curiously as he walked next to Klaus. The sun was disappearing beneath the trees and the air had started to turn cold. He felt nervous and excited, for in the next couple of hours the fate of the werewolf species would be decided.

"The Travelers are an extremely powerful group. They are the people of Qetsiyah, the witch who created the immortality spell. If anyone can find a way to turn Franco and his army into super werewolves is them." Klaus said as he walked with confidence and determination. He could feel them, they had a good half a mile to go but he could sense all the werewolves already gathered at the Crescent moon camp. It was almost as if they were calling out to him.

He didn't show it, he would never admit it, but Klaus felt a bit nervous. He wanted the wolves to accept him as King, he wanted their loyalty and support but he wasn't stupid. He knew that for most werewolves he was nothing more than a half breed. Klaus had already prepared himself for the wolves' refusal to accept him as their leader and for the slaughter that would follow. He couldn't allow them to live if they refused to accept him. It would be too dangerous, it would be another threat for Bonnie and his children and Klaus was determined to keep them safe at all cost.

 _Killing a werewolf without provocation is a crime,_ Mila had said to him a few weeks ago. But it was a risk Klaus was going to have to take.

Ishmael's voice brought Klaus out of his thoughts.

"It's a smart plan," Ishmael had no choice but to admit. "If Franco succeeds, his army will be ten times more powerful."

"We need to stop him before that happens," Klaus muttered. There was a part of him, an impulsive and eager part that wanted nothing more than to head to Baton Rouge and murder the son of the bitch. But he knew better. Fighting in Baton Rouge would give Franco the home advantage and that was something Klaus could not allow.

"Tonight, will be a good step in that direction," Ishmael said as he glanced at Klaus. "Tonight, you could unify the species under a single rule."

"If the wolves haven't already decided to elect Kilian as king," Cary muttered angrily.

"Gregory and Andrew might have decided on Kilian already," Ishmael conceded. It was something he had assumed as well, especially after talking to the three Alphas. "But the Crescents have yet to decide and over a dozen smaller packs have arrived in the past two weeks. Having more packs of wolves in the Bayou actually works in our favor when you think about it."

"And yet, you sound worried." Klaus pointed out as he glanced at the older wolf. He had easily detected Ishmael's worry.

"Tomorrow is the full moon," Ishmael said. "The werewolves are going to be on edge and itching for a fight. Even among the Alphas it can turn quite ugly." He eyed Klaus for a couple of seconds before finally voicing his thoughts. "You must keep a cool head. I'm sure some of them will try to provoke you and many more will watch and wait to see if you are the monster they believe you to be or the king they desperately need and want."

Klaus didn't say anything. He kept walking, facing forwards, and hands on the pockets of his black coat. He immediately tensed upon feeling Ishmael's hand on his shoulder. The contact halted his movements.

The three of them stopped walking.

Cary looked nervously between both Alphas.

Klaus turned his head to the side and faced the older wolf.

"Remember who you are," Ishmael whispered. "You are the son of Ansel, the blood of Fenrir, and the rightful king of our species." He stared into his dark blue eyes unflinchingly. "Killing them is only going to harm your reputation and prove to your enemies that you are the monster they wish to destroy."

"I may not have a choice, Ismael." He shouldn't be explaining himself to Ishmael but for some reason he wanted the other wolf to understand that if he slaughtered the wolves it was because they were a threat to his family. It was something he had to do to protect the ones he loved.

"There is always a choice, Klaus." Ishmael squeezed his shoulder. "A king has to be ruthless sometimes but he also must be just and merciful."

Klaus laughed. "You clearly don't know me at all do you, _old man_?" his eyes glinted and his lips curled into a sinister smirk.

"I know that deep down you want the wolves to accept you."

Klaus stayed silent, his face betraying none of his feelings.

"Tonight, when you speak to them, don't expect to receive their loyalty or adoration," Ishmael said calmly. "You won't get it, not now." He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. "Earn their respect Klaus, earn their admiration. That is the first step," the old Alpha advised him. "With time, the rest shall follow."

Klaus frowned as he mulled over the older wolf's words.

"I believe you are going to be a great king," Ishmael said confidently. "Don't be afraid to take the risk, bloodshed is not always the answer." And with those words he turned around and proceeded to walk towards the Crescent moon camp.

The look on Klaus's face was unreadable as he stared at Ishmael's retreating back.

"Whatever you decide to do tonight," Cary told Klaus quietly. "We got your back."

Klaus nodded.

The two walked the rest of the way in silence.

With each step he took, Klaus became more and more aware of the number of Alphas gathered in the camp, far more than he had anticipated. _This is it_ , he thought as he straightened his posture and lifted his chin.

The minute he stepped inside the camp's limit, all eyes turned towards him.

Klaus's face was a mask of indifference as he easily assessed the competition.

The air around the camp became charged with electricity. The energy radiating from all of them creating a bubble of tension, and excitement, even bloodlust.

For the first time in centuries, a great number of Alphas from all over the world had gathered with a single objective in mind, to choose a leader for their species.

Klaus easily spotted Kilian, Gregory, Andrew, Hayley and Jackson, and many others who had come to be a part of history.

"Tonight, is a very special night for our people," a woman named Mary said. She was Jackson's grandmother apparently and was also a werewolf elder. Because they were in Crescent territory, they were for all intents and purposes the hosts of the meeting.

"For the first time in centuries the Alphas of great clans have come together to decide the future of our race, to choose a leader to guide us and fight this darkness that threatens our existence." Mary's voice was loud and clear as she moved her eyes over the group of Alphas that had come together. "Let us begin."

All the Alphas moved and formed a circle.

Klaus found himself directly across from Kilian. The other wolf had a grin on his face. He seemed far too pleased for Klaus's liking. _He already sees himself as the victor,_ his instincts whispered. _Whatever he is planning, he thinks he has won already._ He turned his head to the side and exchanged knowing looks with Ishmael.

Klaus wished nothing more than to erase that stupid triumphant smirk from Kilian's face. But he didn't move a muscle. To anyone watching him, the hybrid was the perfect picture of calm and indifference.

"Who among the Alphas gathered here today, wishes to be the king of our species?" Mary asked loudly. "Please step forward."

Five werewolves stepped forward, Kilian and Jackson among them.

Klaus was not one of them.

Everyone had expected him to be the first to step forward but he didn't.

Klaus stayed exactly where he was.

There was a flicker of surprise and uncertainty in Kilian's eyes, as well as in the eyes of many others.

Klaus's lips twitched into his all too familiar smirk.

The thing everyone always seemed to forget was that Klaus Mikaelson was always one step ahead.

 _Let the games begin,_ Klaus thought.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"You will meet here," Franco pointed to the place on the map. "Damon Salvatore, believes he will be meeting with me."

"You tricked him," Luis muttered as he studied the map. He was not surprised to be honest. Franco wasn't stupid. As much as he wanted to get Bonnie Bennett, he wasn't going to put himself at risk.

"The fool is desperate to get his lover back," Franco chuckled. "Take some Travelers with you and a handful of wolves, catch him by surprise and ensure the Traveler's do their well-known spell." His eyes glinted with malice. "Once Damon Salvatore is under our complete control, he will bring me Bonnie." It was a very ingenious plan if he said so himself. While Damon had agreed to the trade as long as he negotiated face to face with Franco (and Franco had tricked him into thinking that would be the case), the vampire had no idea of the plans the Alpha of the Navarro clan had in store for him.

"I believe Damon Salvatore is an older vampire than Caroline," Luis said to his brother. Katherine Pierce had apparently sired both brothers. "It might not be so easy to take over his body and mind as it was with her." The Travelers had perfect the passenger spell a very long time ago, but Caroline was the first successful vampire under their control. The older the vampire the more resistant he could be. There was a possibility the spell would not work on Damon.

"Maria and Julian can do it," Franco replied with confidence. The couple were extremely powerful Travelers and had been the ones to perfect the passenger spell. "Damon and Caroline are the key to get to Bonnie."

Luis was about to say something else when the door to the study suddenly burst open.

A werewolf came rushing inside. He was out of breath, his face pale, and his body shaking uncontrollably. The scent of fear suddenly invaded the room.

"How dare you?" Franco hissed angrily.

"Sir, it's your brother Victor."

"What is it?" Luis asked worriedly. Since Isaac's death, Victor had pretty much locked himself in his bedroom to deal with his grief.

"He's gone," the werewolf informed them in a fearful voice.

Franco and Luis exchanged looks.

"Gone?" Franco questioned. "Gone where?"

The werewolf licked his lips nervously. "I don't know sir. But he took his pack and Isaac's pack is also gone. He took both packs with him."

Luis cursed under his breath. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. _What have you done?_ He thought worriedly.

"What is that fool thinking?" Franco growled. "Find them!" he ordered. "Don't just stand there you idiot! Find those wolves and bring them back!" he yelled angrily upon seeing that the werewolf did not move at all.

The young wolf nodded and rushed out of the study.

Franco slammed his hand hard against the wooden surface of his desk. "Damn him!" he yelled. "What is he playing at?"

"There is only one place where Victor could be heading with both packs," Luis said as he turned to face Franco. "To get revenge for Isaac's death." _This is your fault,_ he wanted to say. _You did this._ While no words came out of his mouth, Luis's eyes were a completely different story. There was no hiding the rage he felt, a rage directed specifically at Franco.

"No," Franco shook his head. Victor was an idiot but he wouldn't dare to go so far. "He wouldn't have done something so foolish."

"You told him yourself where to put the blame," Luis reminded him barely able to contain himself from running out of there in search of his younger brother _. Dammit Victor!_ He thought. _I can't lose you too_. "Victor is on his way to New Orleans." Of that, Luis felt certain. "He is going to attack the Mikaelson's." His hands clenched into a fists as the reality of the situation sunk in. "We have to do something." They had to help Victor. Luis did not want to lose another brother.

"No…he wouldn't…" Franco couldn't believe his brother would do something so utterly stupid. It was a suicide mission. "No…" he repeated. He refused to believe it.

"Where else would he go with two vicious packs of werewolves?" Luis questioned.

All of Franco's carefully laid out plans came crashing down in a single moment, all thanks to his younger brother.

Victor Navarro had just precipitated the war.

Victor would be the one to deliver the first blow.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing. Get ready because all hell will break loose in the next chapter! ;)_


	54. Chapter 54

**Baton Rouge**

"We need to do something!" Luis yelled as he paced around Franco's study. He had tried calling Victor but his brother did not answer the phone. Every minute that went by, Luis became more desperate. Victor was on his way to New Orleans to attack the Mikaelson's. _Why didn't you tell me?_ He wondered.

"It's a suicide mission!" Franco shouted back. "Victor has just ruined years of careful planning on our part, that selfish idiot is-"

"He's our brother!" Luis interrupted angrily. "Are you seriously going to stand there and do nothing?"

"And what do you want me to do?" Franco questioned. "Gather our army and follow him into this stupid plan?"

"So, you would rather lose another brother than take the risk of fighting our enemies?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Franco asked incredulous. "Going to New Orleans means fighting our enemies in their territory where they will have all the advantages."

"He's our brother," Luis insisted. "He needs us. Victor alone with his pack and Isaac's pack won't do much damage but if we fight together we have a chance." Luis truly believed that with their combined army they could defeat the Miakelson family.

"A chance to be humiliated by the Mikaelson's."

"A chance to take them by surprise and bring them down to their knees," Luis fired back. "They're not expecting an attack from us. In their arrogance, they believe they have everything under control but they don't. Their army is not as organized or as big as ours, they are not prepared but we are." He moved closer, pleading with his eyes and with his voice. Did Franco not care about their brother? Was he so heartless? _He killed Isaac,_ his mind whispered. _He only cares about himself._

"They will have the advantage."

'"Franco, we have been planning to take over New Orleans for years," Luis continued. "We have maps of the city, we have spies and allies there that can help us take it, _tonight._ The only reason we haven't attacked before it's because you got the idea for the ritual but we can do it, we are ready. We have been ready for months, years even."

Franco shook his head. He turned his back to Luis and headed towards the balcony doors. His mind racing with the possibilities. Yes, in the past couple of years they had perfected a plan of attack, an attack that was now more effective than ever as they had the help of the Travelers. But attacking now also represented a big risk.

"Brother, I am begging you."

"It's too risky," Franco muttered as he stared out into the garden. "The Originals are practically indestructible, Klaus has a pack of hybrids, and the witches of the city could come to their defense, not to mention the vampires they already have at their disposal."

"It's a risk worth taking," Luis argued his case. "With the Travelers' magic we can destroy them. We planned this attack a long time ago, the moment has come sooner than we anticipated but we can do it. Franco our army is ready. We are ready. Our army is ten times bigger than theirs and the witches of the Quarter don't stand a chance against the Travelers' magic, and once bite from us and the vampires die. We can do this."

"The ritual," Franco muttered. He needed to wait for the blood moon and complete the ritual to become the most powerful werewolf on earth. He would be like Fenrir reborn, stronger, faster, his venom far more lethal than any other wolf and above all, he would have immortality. They just had to wait a couple more months. He was so close to achieving that, he could almost taste it.

"Forget about the ritual and think of your brother, your blood, Victor needs our help."

Franco didn't say anything as he weighted his options. It was a risky move but if it worked, he could get what he desired the most.

For a couple of seconds, silence descended over the room as the two brothers became lost in thought.

 _I'm wasting my time,_ Luis thought sadly. _If Franco wanted to help Victor, he would have done so already._

"I'm going to New Orleans."

Franco spun around and glared at Luis. "Even if I forbid it. Even if I refuse to follow Victor in this stupid plan of his. You would still go?"

"I already lost two brothers," Luis whispered softly. "I won't lose another. I am going to help Victor, I am taking my pack and a group of Travelers. You are more than welcome to join us or you can choose to stay here and do nothing."

"Luis-"

"I made my decision brother." If they were to leave now they could make it to New Orleans within the hour. Luis had already made up his mind. He pulled his cell phone out and began sending out instructions to his people.

Franco couldn't believe it. "You can't-"

Luis stormed out of the study in a hurry, not even giving his brother a chance to finish talking. He needed to get everything ready. He had to help Victor. The time for waiting had passed. It was time to take action. The time to destroy the Mikaelson's had arrived sooner than expected but they were ready. They had been ready for years. It was now or never.

"Wait," Franco's voice stopped Luis as he was practically running down the hall.

Luis sighed. "I'm going to help Victor and nothing you say will stop me from-"

"I'm going with you," Franco cut him off.

Luis felt momentarily stunned. He had seriously believed Franco would stay and do nothing for their brother but Franco had just proved him wrong. For a couple of seconds, he stared at Franco as if he had grown a second head.

"We have the Travelers and the advantage of surprise," Franco muttered as he approached him. "I have the plans of the city and I'll contact our allies there and warn them. We can do this." Klaus and his family were not expecting an attack and that worked really well in their favor. "We'll bring them down to their knees," he swore. "Today, the Original family will feel our wrath."

Luis smiled and nodded. "Yes." Together their army was bigger, stronger, and far more lethal than the Mikaelson's could ever imagine. _It ends tonight,_ he thought.

Victor had precipitated the first blow but Luis and Franco would ensure it ended with a Navarro victory.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

After Bonnie's declaration that the Ancestor's had no power over her, silence descended over the living room of Madame LaRue's house. Bonnie sat with her back straight and her head held high. She held Josephine's gaze unflinchingly.

Vincent looked pissed and he glared at Bonnie. His magic flared, fueled by the outraged he felt over Bonnie's defiance but he did not attack. He probably wanted to but he kept himself in check.

Josephine on the other hand, studied Bonnie's face in detail. She seemed rather fascinated by the younger witch. "You care about Davina," she said after what seemed like an eternity in silence.

"I do," Bonnie sincerely replied. "She's just a girl, a teenage girl struggling to stay alive in a city at war." Davina was terrified of the witches and the Harvest. Bonnie knew she lived in fear that one day they would get her and sacrifice her.

"A girl who had no problems helping the vampire king murder witches as he saw fit," Vincent replied darkly. "With Davina's help, Marcel Gerard kept the witches in the city under his complete control and murdered them on a daily basis." It made him angry to think about those poor witches who had been killed because they refused to stop practicing magic.

"Davina was led to believe a lie," Bonnie intervened. "She was led like a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter by her own mother." Davina didn't like talking about it but Bonnie knew it hurt her still. She had been betrayed by the person she had loved the most. The person that was supposed to protect her willingly led her to be killed. "Marcel saved her, he protected her, of course she felt loyal to him after that."

"You are defending her actions," Vincent pointed out. "How could you not," he smirked. "Both of your hands are stained with blood."

"Why didn't you do anything about it?" Bonnie snapped angrily. She was getting really tired of Vincent's attitude, it was almost as if he was purposely trying to get a reaction out of her. Provoking her with biting words so she would lose control and prove to them she was the cold-hearted killer she was rumored to be. Bonnie felt determined not to give them that satisfaction. "Marcel murdered witches left and right," she continued. "And yes, Davina helped him but where were you?" she questioned the both of them. "Why didn't you stop him?" She turned to look at Josephine. "As the Regent, you not only have the power and the authority to intervene in the affairs of this city but it was your duty to protect your witches from the vampires. You didn't." She didn't say it in an accusing tone, Bonnie stated it as a fact. "You led Marcel do as he pleased. My hands are stained with blood, Davina's hands are stained with blood, but so are yours," she hissed.

Vincent opened his mouth with a retort but Josephine cut him off.

"You are right," Josephine admitted quietly. "I failed to protect the witches of this city."

The anger Bonnie felt in her veins deflated quickly as she stared at the Regent. Josephine sounded sad and tired. For the first time since their meeting started, Josephine looked her age.

Vincent seemed surprised that she would dare to admit such a thing to Bonnie. He pressed his lips together and looked back and forth between both witches. Not sure where his mentor was taking the conversation.

"I often wondered why the Ancestors chose an old woman like me to be the leader of the nine covens at such precarious times." She looked down at her hands which she still held in her lap. "I secluded myself in this home instead of fighting, I let vampires control everything, I did nothing." She felt no shame in admitting her mistakes. She paused for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts. "I do not wish to make the same mistake again, Mrs. Bennett Mikaelson," Josephine continued. "I do not want the witches in this city to be oppressed again, to be hunted down like animals, and be killed because of their beliefs." She held Bonnie's gaze as she spoke. "I would like to think that you and Mr. Mikaelson will be different kinds of rulers than Marcel Gerard."

"We are."

"I meant what I said, I believe we can work together to unite the witch community in this city. That is the only way we will destroy the darkness coming our way."

Bonnie nodded. "I feel the same way, I want us to work together." They were going to have to, not only to bring stability to New Orleans but to ensure the Navarro's did not succeeded with their plan to take over and rule the supernatural world.

"But you will not give us Davina," Vincent easily reproached.

"Davina is her own person," Bonnie replied. "She does not wish to complete the Harvest and I won't force her. What kind of coven sacrifices children to get power?" She honestly didn't understand how the witches in the city could practice that kind of magic.

"The Harvest is an important ritual that is used to restore the bond to our ancestral magic. We appease our ancestors and they keep our power flowing," Josephine explained. "If we do not complete the Harvest, all the Ancestral magic in this city will begin to disappear." The magic of all the witches in the city was weakening each day. If they didn't complete the Harvest, all magic in the city would die.

"If you complete the Harvest then that means Davina has to die," Bonnie couldn't bear the thought that. "How could you think that's right? To sacrifice a girl so you and your witches can keep their magic?"

"It is a temporary death," Josephine told Bonnie in a reassuring tone. "Davina will come back to life and so will the other three Harvest girls. The purpose of the Harvest is not only to strengthen our connection to Ancestral magic but to prove our faith, not only in the ritual itself but in the Ancestors and their power. All the nine covens in New Orleans depend on the Harvest to keep their power intact."

"Why was the French Quarter coven the one doing it then, if all the covens depend on it?" Bonnie asked curiously. It seemed Davina knew one part of what the Harvest was but Bonnie felt grateful that Josephine was explaining more about the ritual.

"The French Quarter coven was chosen to complete the Harvest this time, three hundred years from now that responsibility will fall on a different coven in the city and so on. Each coven will take their turn."

Bonnie frowned.

"You and Davina are going to have to trust that the ritual will work." Josephine knew that would not be an easy task but they didn't really have another option. "Bastiana probably lied because she didn't want the girls to panic. But I can assure you, once the Harvest has been completed all four Harvest girls will come back to life. You have my word on that Mrs. Bennett Mikaelson."

Bonnie mulled over Josephine's words. _Could it really be so simple?_

"Time is of the essence," Vincent added. "The Harvest must be completed, the longer we go without doing so, the weaker our magic becomes."

Bonnie stayed silent.

Vincent and Josephine exchanged looks wondering if she would finally agree.

"It's not up to me," Bonnie told the Regent after another pause. "It's Davina's choice and I won't force her. I will support whatever she decides to do."

Vincent shook his head and cursed under his breath.

"Would you at least allow me to speak with her?" Josephine inquired.

"I can ask her," Bonnie responded. "It will be up to her if she wishes to talk to you or not." She was not going to impose anything on Davina.

"Very well," Josephine had no choice but to agree. "I would like to speak with Davina personally and if you can arrange a meeting with her, I will be eternally grateful."

"I will speak with her and let you know what she decides," Bonnie politely replied.

"Thank-you."

Bonnie nodded.

Vincent didn't look too happy but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

"There is something I wanted to discuss with you," Bonnie began. "About the witches missing in the city…" She stopped abruptly as a cold sensation went down her spine. Her senses came alive, her magic surfacing with a strong current of power that had her standing up without even thinking.

"Is everything okay?" Josephine questioned.

Vincent frowned.

"I…" Bonnie couldn't really explain what she was feeling. "I'm not sure, I…" she sat down once more, her face scrunching up in confusion as she tried to make sense of the warming bells going off inside her.

Josephine watched her curiously and then she went very still.

"What's wrong?" Vincent turned to his mentor, recognizing the look on her face.

"You can feel it?" Bonnie asked Josephine as she saw how rigid the other woman had become.

"Feel what-" Vincent stopped abruptly as every hair on his body suddenly stood up. His magic came alive then, strong currents of power that swirled frantically inside his body.

The three of them looked at each other with confusion, uncertainty, and fear.

Something bad was coming their way. They all had felt the warnings.

* * *

 **The Bayou**

Klaus's lips curled into a pleased smirk as he stared at the shocked and confused faces on many of the Alphas present. Kilian in particular looked pissed. Gregory and Jackson were confused and Andrew looked really nervous and afraid.

"You do not wish to be the king of our species?" Mary asked curiously. Form everything she had heard about the hybrid, she had expected Klaus to be the first to step forward.

Hayley was shooting wary glances in Klaus's direction while Jackson frowned and watched him carefully.

"Why would I do that?" Klaus asked in what appeared to be a rather genuine confused voice. As if he couldn't understand Mary's question at all.

"What are you playing at?" One Alpha dared to questioned the hybrid.

"I think the better question is, what are you lot playing at?" Klaus slid his gaze over all the Alphas gathered in a circle. "You think that I'm going to go along with this farce?"

"What are you talking about?" Jackson felt really confused.

"You expect me to believe this nonsense about choosing a leader for the werewolf species?" Klaus scoffed. "You think you can fool me?" he looked directly into Kilian's eyes as he spoke. "Stop playing games and tell me what you really want?"

Gregory frowned looking back and forth between Klaus and Kilian. "This isn't a game, we came here to choose a leader for our species."

"Did you really?" Klaus questioned. "Or did you come here to set a trap for me?"

There were looks of surprise on many of the werewolves faces, others looked nervously at Kilian, guilty expressions on their faces. Andrew looked on the verge of tears. He looked like he wanted to say something but he lost the nerve.

"I'm feeling quite magnanimous tonight," Klaus told them. His lips curled and his eyes glinted with malice as he scanned the group. "I have deiced to give you an opportunity to confess your crimes and repent before I start removing your heads," he finished with a growl.

"Are you crazy?" Hayley snapped. "There is nothing to confess, you paranoid-"

"Hayley!" Jackson's look and harsh voice was enough to shut her up.

Hayley bit her lip and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't look happy but she didn't say anything else.

"We were told this meeting was to decide the fate of our species," Jackson said turning to face Klaus. "There is no ulterior motive, not on our part," he told the hybrid in an honest voice. "You have my word on that."

Klaus rolled his eyes. He didn't think highly of Jackson but his instincts were telling him that the other Alpha was being honest. He looked at Kilian once more. "What do you want Kilian?"

Kilian's jaw clenched as he threw daggers at Klaus. "I told you before, I want a meeting with all the Alphas to decide the future of our species."

"You're lying," Klaus hissed. From the moment, Kilian proposed the meeting, Klaus had the feeling that it was a trap. "This, all this is all just a distraction. You wanted me here for a reason. To set a trap for me perhaps?"

Kilian's eyes narrowed. He looked murderous and his hands clenched into fists.

Gregory frowned.

Andrew whimpered fearfully.

Jackson and his grandmother exchanged worried looks. The Crescents had no idea what was going on.

"Is this the part where all of you try to kill me?" Klaus opened his arms in clear invitation. "Go on then!" he challenged angrily. "I am the blood of Fenrir. I am your king!" His eyes gleamed gold. "The only way any of you pathetic fools can take the wolf crown is with me out of the picture, so what are you waiting for?" he yelled. "Here I am!" He looked directly at Kilian. "You want the crown? Come and get it. Come and kill me. All of you at once if that's what you want!" Klaus's lips curled into a grin. "Let's see who the true Alpha really is."

Silence.

For a single moment, no one dared to say anything.

Most of the wholes had no idea what to do or what to say.

It was Andrew's terrified voice that broke the silence. "It's a trap," the young wolf yelled. "Kilian made a deal with the Navarro brothers, they are coming to kill you!"

One werewolf from Kilian's pack tried to grab Andrew from behind and snap his neck, the wolf accompanying Andrew intercepted him and soon there was a struggle between all three.

There were shocked gasps around the group, most of the wolves were stunned by Andrew's revelation but a few of the Alphas didn't seem surprised-those who were in on the plan.

Klaus growled. His hybrid face surfaced as he gave Kilian a murderous look.

"You sold us to the Navarro clan?" Cary yelled angrily. "You son of a bitch!" He launched himself at Kilian only to be intercepted by another Alpha.

The attack on his grandson prompted Ishmael into action and from then on it was a domino effect as most of the Alphas became engaged in a vicious fight.

Klaus went straight for Kilian's throat.

* * *

 **The compound**

"Three witches from three different covens missing," Kol muttered as he leaned back against the couch. He had an old grimoire with yellow stained pages on his lap. "That screams sacrificial ritual to me."

"That's what I thought too," Angelica said as she took a seat across from him. She placed her mug of tea on the table in between them and picked up another grimoire from the pile. "Sacrificial magic is one of the darkest and strongest forms of magic known to exist but I'm not so sure anymore though."

"You have another theory?" Lucy questioned from her spot next to Kol.

The three of them were inside the 'witch room'- a room that held the combined collections of grimoires Klaus and Bonnie possessed, with the exception of a handful of extremely rare and valuable grimoires that were kept under lock inside their bedroom-Ayana and Esther's grimoires being among them.

"Katie was the first witch to disappear," Angelica began. "She's from the French Quarter coven."

"Technically, she's no longer a witch thanks to Bonnie's spell," Lucy reminded them.

Angelica nodded. "So why take her? What's the purpose of this ritual? If this were a sacrificial ritual, where are the bodies?"

"Maybe they need more witches," Lucy suggested.

"A witch from the Garden District disappeared next," Kol continued deep in thought. "And the last witch to go missing is from the Gentilly coven."

"Three witches from three different covens," Lucy muttered. "What if they need a witch from every coven in New Orleans, nine witches in total in order to complete this ritual."

"What for?" Kol questioned. "It has to have a purpose."

"And how do we prevent the witches from the remaining six covens from being kidnapped if that's the case?" Angelica asked almost at the same time. "We need to find the person responsible for this and stop them before they kidnap more witches and succeed in whatever this is."

"Easier said than done," Kol mumbled. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"There are seriously no clues?" Lucy asked as she turned to face him.

"Nik's hybrids have searched every cemetery, every abandoned house, and churches in the city and nothing," Kol informed her. "Not a single clue has been found. It's like these witches vanished into thin air. No bodies have been found either, so that means the witches are more than likely alive but we have no clue where."

Silence descended over them.

Charlotte's giggles carried over from across the hall. Thanks to Kol's superior hearing, he could hear everything that was going on inside Charlotte's room. She was having a _tea party_ with Belle and Josh. Kol rolled his eyes. He had not been amused when Bonnie had happily showed him the picture the little demon had drawn of their family. He looked like a dog. Said picture was proudly on display in the great hall of the compound, surrounded by exquisite paintings from renowned artists. Kol had tried to ripped the drawing off and throw it in the trash but Bonnie had put a spell on it. The damn thing could not be taken down. Not even seeing the sonogram pictures of the Mikaelson babies had cheered him up from his bad mood.

 _Annoying little twit,_ Kol thought. He honestly couldn't understand how everyone had fallen under Charlotte's charm. Even Nik who was usually the one to distrust everyone, had taken a liking to the little girl. Kol didn't like all the attention she received.

"We need to figure out what kind of ritual requires a witch from each of the nine covens in the city and we need to stop it from happening." Angelica spoke up.

"Bonnie and I spoke about it last night," Lucy told them. "She's going to speak with the Regent about it and with any luck Madame LaRue might know something helpful or will be willing to help us figure it out." Whatever the case they needed to find the culprit and stop them. The sooner the better.

A loud scream was suddenly heard down the hall.

"What the-?" Lucy stood up immediately. Her senses on the alert. "That sounded like-"

"Davina," Angelica said as she stood up as well.

The three of them made their way out of the room.

Kol practically collided with a frantic Davina. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he snapped as he grabbed her by the arms and tried to steady her.

"They're coming!" Davina screamed like a banshee. Her eyes were wide and wild and a few tears had already spilled down her rosy cheeks. "I saw them! I saw them!"

"Sweetie, you need to calm down," Lucy said approaching them and doing her best to offer the teenager some comfort.

"They're coming!" Davina insisted as her hands fisted on Kol's black shirt. "They're going to kill us!"

"Who?" Kol asked. Davina was not making any sense. He wondered if maybe the drops she was taking to suppress her magic had done something to her head.

Davina started hyperventilating. She was gasping and shaking but no words were able to come out of her mouth.

"Davina, just take a deep breath," Angelica suggested. "Just breathe, honey."

"They're going to kill us!" Davina screamed loudly.

By this time, Josh, Belle, and Charlotte had come out of the room, hearing the commotion in the hall.

"Is everything okay?" Josh asked nervously.

"They're going to kill us!" A hysterical Davina continued to scream. "They're coming for us. They'll be here tonight."

"Bloody hell!" Kol shook her roughly, trying to knock some sense into her. "Calm down," he hissed. In that moment, he wished he could compel witches- it would make things so much easier. "Take a deep breath and start talking because you are not making any sense," he ordered.

Davina took a deep breath, her hands clenched around the soft material of his shirt as she stared deeply into his eyes. "The wolves…" she said her voice breaking. The fear in her eyes was undeniable. Her entire body shook as she recalled the vision that assaulted her and jolted her awake. "I saw them," tears streamed down her cheeks. "I saw an army in the Quarter, I saw the streets covered with blood…I saw…death…and…" she cried harder. "They're coming for us."

Angelica and Lucy looked at each other nervously. Neither of them had seen Davina so upset before.

"It was a bad dream," Lucy said touching her shoulder gently. "It's okay sweetie, it was a terrible dream, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you." Lucy tried her best to appease Davina's worries.

"NO!" Davina screamed as she glanced at her. "It was a vision. I saw it. They're coming. They're coming to kill us!"

"Who?" Kol asked bringing her attention back to him. "Tell me."

"The wolves," Davina managed to say through her tears. "The Navarro wolves are coming. I saw them. They are coming tonight. They are going to kill us all."

Silence.

Everyone stood in stunned silence as the realization sunk in.

Belle's mouth dropped open in shock.

Josh looked nervously between Davina and Kol.

Charlotte bit her bottom lip, not really understanding what was going on.

Lucy and Angelica exchanged fearful looks. They both knew better than to dismiss a witch's vision.

"I'm never wrong," Davina whispered fearfully. She was still gripping Kol's shirt for dear life. "It will happen tonight. I know it will. It ends tonight," she whispered as her knees nearly gave out on her.

Kol kept her on her feet by holding her by her arms. He could see the truth in her eyes. Davina was truly convinced the Navarro's were coming to kill them and if there was one thing Kol knew, witches were never wrong when it came to their visions. If Davina saw the Navarro's attacking then it was safe to assume that an attack would happen.

Davina's head slumped forward and the Original had no choice but to wrap his arms around her. It was obvious how shaken the teenage girl was. Davina's entire body shook with uncontrollable sobs. She buried her head against Kol's chest, still clinging to his shirt. "We have to warn Bonnie and Klaus," she whispered fearfully. "We have to warn them; the wolves are coming."

"Belle," Kol said in a calm voice as he turned to glance at the hybrid girl. "Get the hybrids and tell them the Navarro's are on their way. Tell them to prepare for an attack."

Belle nodded and flashed out of there at vampire speed.

Kol turned to Angelica. "Start securing this place with the strongest protective spell you can think of, we need to ensure no one can come inside. When you are done, head to where Klaus's wolf pack lives and ensure their house is safe as well. Let them know what's going on."

Angelica nodded and sprang into action.

"I'm calling the Bennett witches," Lucy said as she met Kol's eyes. She was already pulling her cell phone out.

"Good," Kol turned to Josh. "Go warn the vampires, tell them we are under attack. I want every single one of them protecting this city."

Josh swallowed thickly but nodded nonetheless and hurried out of there.

Kol glanced down at Charlotte, who was leaning against the wall-next to the door to her bedroom. Her bottom lip trembled and tears were already forming in her eyes. "Davina," he whispered turning back to the teenage girl. "Look at me, darling." He moved his hands from her arms and towards her face. He cupped Davina's tear stained face with both of his hands and brought her face up so they were face to face. "I need you to get a hold of yourself," he said looking into her frightened eyes. "I need you and Charlotte to lock yourselves in Bonnie's and Nik's room and wait there."

Davina frowned. "Where-"

"Listen carefully," Kol interrupted. "There is a tunnel that connects the master bedroom to the basement of this house. Angelica is going to secure this place but if the wolves breakthrough, I need the two of you to be ready to escape through that tunnel. Do you understand?"

Davina nodded fearfully.

"I will be back for the two of you, I promise. But I need you to be ready. Okay?"

"Okay," Davina pulled away and wiped the tears from her face. "You will come back, right? You won't leave us alone?" She was terrified.

"I promise," Kol said.

"I called mom and told her about Davina's vision," Lucy informed Kol as she placed her cell phone inside the pocket of her jacket. "She will gather the coven and they'll make their way here as soon as possible."

Kol nodded. "I need you to help Angelica with the protection spells. No one can get through those doors."

"We need to bring Bonnie here and keep her safe. I can go to the Regent's house and-"

"I need you here," Kol interrupted. He gave a meaningful glance to Davina and Charlotte. The two girls had matching pale and terrified faces. "I'll get Rebekah, she's with Matt at a bar down the street. She can get Bonnie from the Regent's house and bring her to safety. I need you here for now."

"Fine," Lucy reluctantly agreed. "I'll send a message to Lenore and Kyra so they can warn Bonnie of what's going on." She was scared of the threat of a Navarro attack but at least Bonnie was not alone, Kyra and Lenore were with her and the Bennett coven had already been warned.

Kol nodded. He gave one last glance to Charlotte and Davina before he flashed out of there.

* * *

"You don't have to stay the whole night watching me work you know," Matt said with a smile as he served Rebekah her drink. The sun had just gone down but there were already various people inside Rousseau's.

"I'm going to keep all those crazy tourist and college girls away from the hot new bartender," Rebekah replied with a sweet smile.

Matt laughed. It was his first day at his new job, working as a bartender for one of the most popular bars in the heart of the Quarter. Rebekah had insisted on accompanying him. He didn't mind having her watching him as he worked, although he knew she wasn't particularly happy about it.

"We could be at home, enjoying a nice bubble bath but instead you want to spend the night serving drinks to half-drunk college kids and lonely ugly men…" Rebekah sulked leaning her chin on her fist. She was half teasing.

Matt gave her a look as he wiped the counter. "I need the money Bekah."

"You don't," Rebekah countered. "You have everything you could possibly want and need at home."

Matt knew that. Their room was always clean and the bed was made every day. He had joked to Bonnie once that the Mikaelson's had invisible servants for Matt had never seen them yet, there was always food on the fridge, the laundry was made, and the house was spotless from top to bottom. And while he appreciated it and had even grown a little spoiled over it, he couldn't spend the rest of his life doing nothing. He had some money saved but he needed to make his own living. "Contrary what Kol likes to joke about, I'm not with you for your money." He appreciated the roof over his head and the food but he didn't like depending on anyone for anything and certainly not his girlfriend or her brothers. Plus, Matt would like to have his own place one day, a place for him and Rebekah and real state in the French Quarter wasn't exactly cheap.

"Everything Kol says must be taken with a grain of salt." As much as Rebekah loved her brother, she wasn't blind to Kol's annoying behavior. "And I know you are not with me for my money." Matt was perhaps the only man she had ever been with who wasn't using her for anything. She loved him and respected him for it, which is why she was sitting there watching him work rather than convincing him to stay at home in bed all day.

"You know, this could also help us to be on better terms with the human faction," Matt lowered his voice to an almost whisper. "By working here, I will be interacting with the humans and some witches too. I'll be up to date with the gossip in the city."

"I suppose," Rebekah couldn't really argue with him on that. Her brothers had given them a mission and they had to step up to the challenge. "Father Kieran gives food to the homeless every week, I've been thinking of paying a little visit and help him out." And charm the priest into liking her obviously.

"Does he hate vampires?" Matt wondered. He recalled seeing him at the ball but he honestly didn't know much about him.

"He got along quite well with Marcel," Rebekah made a face. "He simply distrusts our family." But the priest was going to fall in line sooner or later, of that Rebekah was certain.

"Hey Matt, can you help me get some boxes from the back?" a pretty tall, blonde haired girl asked.

Rebekah eyed the other bartender, looking her up and down with disdain before reading the name on her tag, _Camille_. A grandmother's name, Rebekah thought. She didn't like Matt's coworker. She pressed her lips together and gave her meanest glare to the other woman when she smiled in their direction.

Camille frowned upon noticing the clear hostility from Rebekah.

"I'll be right there," Matt promised.

"Thanks," Camille gave one last wary glance to Rebekah before walking towards the back.

"Make sure to stay away from that trollop or I'll make her my dinner," Rebekah's lips curled into a sneer as she made her threat.

Matt laughed. "You're funny."

"I'm not joking, love."

The smiled dropped from Matt's face. Rebekah could be really possessive sometimes, he supposed all the Mikaelson's were, Klaus certainly was with Bonnie. It was hot if he were being honest, he liked a bossy and demanding Rebekah. Matt shook his head. He needed to keep a clear head, this was his first day. He couldn't be distracted by his girlfriend, as tempted as it was to grab her and take her to the backroom and…yeah, not going there.

Rebekah's lips curled into a sinful smirk. "Later," she promised knowingly. She could sense where her lover's thoughts had gone to.

Matt nodded and shared a complicit smile with her before he went to the backroom to help Camille.

Rebekah stayed at the bar, sipping her drink and watching the crowd. She didn't know why but she felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. She felt uncomfortable, on edge over something but she wasn't exactly sure what.

A couple of minutes later, her cell phone rang.

"Hello brother," Rebekah greeted cheerfully.

 _The Navarro wolves are going to attack tonight, I need you to get Bonnie and bring her to the compound immediately,_ Kol said rapidly on the other end. _I'm on my way to get Elijah, we need to be ready._

The smiled dropped from Rebekah's face. She didn't stop to question Kol's orders, she sprang into action.

* * *

"Let us hold hands," Josephine said looking at Vincent and Bonnie. "Let us see together what is coming our way."

Bonnie nodded. She was having the same kind of reaction she had with Caroline. That terrifying feeling of danger that had every instinct inside her body warning her to be careful.

The three of them held hands.

The moment all of their hands connected, they saw it.

 _Blood_

 _Rivers of blood flowing down the streets of New Orleans._

 _Bodies scattered everywhere._

 _The Bayou waters tinted red._

 _A pack of vicious wolves running towards something or someone._

 _An army storming through the Quarter._

 _And endless fog that brought death and destruction._

Bonnie pulled away gasping, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.

"It's happening tonight," Vincent stood up alarmed. "We must inform the covens." He turned to Josephine. "We have to do something."

"Go," Josephine ordered as she stood up. "Send a message to all of the covens and warn them of my vision, inform the human faction as well." The city was filled with tourists, innocent humans who were no doubt going to get caught in the crossfire.

Vincent nodded and rushed out of the living room, he nearly collided with a frantic Lenore as she ran inside.

"Davina had a vision," Lenore informed Bonnie. Kyra stood a few feet away, looking warily at Josephine. "The Navarro wolves are attacking tonight."

"I know," Bonnie murmured quietly. She felt like she had been punched in the gut. _Klaus,_ she thought fearfully. Klaus was in the Bayou. _Can you hear me?_ She wondered as she tapped into their bond. _It's a trap, you're in danger,_ she warned him.

"We have to go back to the compound," Lenore told Bonnie. "Kol is gathering the army and Joanna and the others are on their way." She glanced nervously at the Regent. She wasn't sure if Bonnie had informed Madame LaRue that the Bennett coven was active once more.

"The Bennett coven you mean?" Josephine gave them a knowing look. She had sensed something the other night, a strange kind of power in the air, ancient magic that had lingered for the entire night. She had suspected a coven had been formed that night and Bonnie had confirmed her suspicions when she declared she was the leader of the Bennett coven.

Bonnie stood up. "I think they are heading to the Bayou," she said. "And then here…or…" she turned to Josephine.

"Or both," the Regent finished for her. "Vincent is going to warn the witches, I wish I could promise that all covens will help to keep this city safe but I cannot." The nine covens were not united and even at dangerous times like this, not all of them were willingly going to risk their lives protecting the city.

"Any help we can get will be greatly appreciated," Bonnie murmured. "I have to go."

Josephine shivered as a quick image came to her head upon hearing Bonnie's words. "Stay here," she offered suddenly. "This house is protected by powerful magic. You will be safe here. There is no need for you to go and fight, not in your delicate condition."

"Thank-you but I have to go back home," Bonnie couldn't stop worrying about Davina and Charlotte. And Klaus too. She knew he was capable of slaughtering an entire army with his bare hands but she worried still.

Josephine took a step closer, watching her with those stunning eyes of her. "Do not go child," she whispered almost fearfully. "If you do…" she stopped abruptly. She looked away as a small tremble rolled over her body.

Bonnie frowned. There was something in the way Josephine was looking at her.

"What did you see?" Lenore asked worriedly.

Josephine pressed her lips together.

"What did you see?" Kyra snapped irritated with the woman's attitude.

"You can stay here and wait for the storm to pass," Josephine said looking directly into Bonnie's eyes. "Or you can go into the darkness and face your biggest fear."

Bonnie felt a sense of dread invade her entire body upon hearing Josephine's cryptic words.

Kyra glared at Josephine. "Can you be a little more specific?"

Josephine ignored her, focusing on Bonnie instead. "Don't go," she almost pleaded.

But Bonnie had already made up her mind. "I have to go," she whispered.

"So be it," Josephine murmured sadly.

Bonnie gave her once last look before she rushed out of the living room, Lenore and Kyra following after her.

Josephine closed her eyes.

* * *

"I need to see her," Marcel said to Thierry as he poured them another drink. They were inside his apartment in Algiers. "I need to talk to her."

"That's easier said than done," Thierry took a sip of his drink. "Davina hasn't left the compound at all, except to go to the doctor yesterday."

"But are you sure she's feeling better?" Marcel asked again. Thierry was keeping him informed of what was going on in the Quarter since Klaus took over. Davina was apparently sick and it was affecting her magic.

"The doctor gave her something to help her with her magic," Thierry responded. "They all seemed in good spirits yesterday when they came back." _They all looked like a big happy family,_ he thought. The four of them had been smiling and chatting quietly as they made their way inside the compound.

"Tell Davina that I want to speak with her."

"Marcel, if I do that Davina is going to know I'm helping you."

"And?"

"It's too risky," Thierry answered nervously. "She could tell Bonnie or Klaus, either way I'm dead." He shook his head. He really felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand was Marcel, his sire, his mentor, his friend and on the other was Klaus, the vampire that had trusted him to lead his army. It wasn't easy, plenty of vampires still resented him but Thierry liked training with the guys, he was enjoying being in charge of the vampires in the city and helping them prove themselves so they could obtain their daylight rings.

"Davina wouldn't betray me." Marcel felt sure of that. Davina was on his side. They were family.

"Are you sure about that?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Thierry looked down at the table. "She seems happy," he shrugged. It wasn't really his business but he couldn't deny the obvious. Davina seemed quite happy living at the compound with the Mikaelson's. "She's gotten really close to Bonnie and that little girl, Charlotte. But she seems to like all of them, Klaus included." Davina was also good friends with Belle and Josh. She had a room of her own and was treated like another member of the Original family. "She's practically part of the family now."

Marcel frowned. He felt uneasy upon hearing Thierry's words. "Has she seen you?" he asked suddenly.

"Once or twice in passing, we haven't talked or anything." Not many vampires were allowed inside the compound, Thierry went there because he reported directly to Klaus but the hybrid had made it a point to try and keep the compound off limits to the majority of the vampire army.

"Has she asked about me?"

Thierry shook his head. He could see how conflicted Marcel was. He was happy that Davina was okay, that she was recovering from her cold, and that she was being treated well by the Mikaelson family but he also felt wary of their intentions towards the young witch. And even though he tried not to show it, he didn't like to hear that Davina was practically considered part of their family. Davina was Marcel's family, not theirs.

Before any of them could say anything else, Thierry's phone rang. He rolled his eyes and picked the call. "Josh right now is not a good time, I-"

 _The Navarro's are going to attack tonight,_ Josh interrupted in a terrified voice.

Marcel immediately tensed and he and Thierry exchanged worried looks. "What did you say?"

 _Davina had a vison_ , _she saw the Navarro wolves attacking,_ Josh replied in a rush. There was a lot of noise in the background, he seemed to be out on the street. _Kol ordered me to get all the vampires ready. You need to get back here now, we don't know where or when exactly they'll attack but Davina is convinced it will happen tonight and we need to be prepared._

"I'll be right over," Thierry promised before hanging up. He stood up. "I got to go."

"I'm going with you."

"Marcel I don't think-"

"This is my city," Marcel interrupted fiercely. "I'm not going to sit back and watch as the Navarro's try to claim it, I'm fighting." His tone left no room for argument. "Come on."

Thierry nodded. He felt glad to know that Marcel would be fighting alongside them. If Navarro's did attack, they were going to need all the help they could get.

They two vampires used their super speed to get out Marcel's apartment and headed straight for the French Quarter

* * *

 **The Bayou**

The minute Klaus launched himself at Kilian, two werewolves got in his way. Klaus ripped their hearts out without a single thought. He tuned everything out, his mind, the bond, everything was shut down as he focused on a single objective, to kill his enemies.

Everything after that was pure chaos.

Most of the Alphas threw themselves and joined the fray, eager and ready to prove their superiority against the hybrid. Some wisely chose to stay out it, continuing to stand in a circle, simply watching and waiting to see who will be left standing.

"We should go," Hayley said clutching Jackson's hand. He had stayed rooted to the spot when the fight broke out and Mary and Hayley had stopped him when he had tried to join in.

"No," Jackson replied. His eyes were on the mass of wolves fighting for their lives.

Klaus was in the middle of said circle, ripping wolves to shreds with ease. Kilian was there as well and all the Alphas that had already given him their loyalty and support. Cary and Ishmael fought on Klaus's side. While Andrew laid on the floor, a heavy bloody body on top of him. The poor youngster was struggling to get out of the ring of death. He wanted no part in it but because he had divulged Kilian's plan he had gotten caught in the middle. The wolf who had accompanied him and helped him out was dead now.

Gregory was the only wolf that took pity on him and tried to get him out, only to get attacked by another muscular Alpha who was like a killing machine attacking any wolf he saw and killing them without mercy. He had been one of the wolves that had stepped forward when Mary asked which Alphas wanted to be king. The other two that had also stepped forward were long dead. One had been killed by Kilian, the other by Klaus.

Klaus didn't think, he simply followed his instincts as he ripped hearts, throats, and limbs of the different Alphas that attacked him. When he finally found himself face to face with Kilian, Klaus went straight for the kill, he had no time to waste on games. It was really easy, far too easy to kill the other wolf, he was no match for the hybrid's superior strength.

Kilian tried to throw a punch.

Klaus caught his fist with his right hand twisted the arm until it broke.

Kilian let out a groan of pain but even then, he tried to stand up and fight back.

With his left hand, Klaus tore his head off his body in one swift move. Blood splattered all over his face and neck as the headless corpse fell to the ground. The head rolled towards the murky waters of the Bayou staining it red. An alligator lazily hiding under the surface launched forward for it.

Klaus turned to the Alpha closest to him ready to rip him to shreds.

Gregory who had just killed the muscular Alpha and was covered in blood, sweat, and was struggling to catch his breath got down on his knees and raised his hands in surrender. He had succeeded in Killing he other Alpha but he knew better than to go against the mighty hybrid.

Klaus glared at him but spared his life. He looked around, finally taking notice of his surroundings. Cary and Ishmael were covered in blood and sweat and stood on either side of him. On the other side, across from them there was only one werewolf left standing.

Andrew breathed a sigh of relief as he finally managed to stand up. He felt elated that he was no longer trap on the ground, getting stepped on, and having body parts and corpses falling on him. He looked up, a boyish grin on his face as he breathed in the fresh cool air. The grin dropped as he noticed the tall, blood covered hybrid watching him with gold eyes.

All the other wolves surrounding them were watching him too. They were waiting to see what the youngest of all the Alphas would do.

Andrew's eyes went wide as he realized that he was the only wolf left standing on Kilian's side. _Oh shit!_ He swallowed the lump on his throat and got down on his knees as if he had gotten hit by lightning. "I don't want to be king!" he yelled fearfully before putting his hands up in surrender.

Klaus looked towards the Alphas remaining. A good number, maybe even half of all the Alphas that had showed up for the meeting were left standing. They had been wise enough not to join the fight. Klaus watched and waited to see what they would do, if they were going to try and fight him or accept surrender. He didn't have to wait long.

One by one, the Alphas got down on their knees. One by one, the wise Alphas realized that there was no way any of them could ever stand a chance against the mighty hybrid. He was Fenrir's blood and he had proved just how lethal and indestructible he was with the show he had just given them.

Klaus's lips curled into a smirk as he savored his triumph.

Cary and Ishmael breathed sighs of relief.

"And you?" Klaus said to Jackson, the only of the Alphas that was not on his knees. "Are you going to fight me?"

Jackson swallowed nervously.

"Jack…" Hayley watched him nervously. For the first time since the meeting started, the wolf girl actually looked afraid.

Mary watched her grandson with fear and trepidation. _Don't do it,_ her eyes pleaded with him. _You won't stand a chance against him._

Jackson looked at Klaus before sliding his gaze towards Ishmael, remembering his words when they had talked days ago. He looked back at Klaus. Jackson took a deep breath, swallowed his pride, and got down on his knees. Hayley and Mary had no choice but to follow his actions, they got down on their knees too.

Klaus smirked.

"They're not here," Andrew's voice interrupted the silence that followed. All eyes turned to him.

"What did you say?" Ishmael questioned.

Andrew looked nervously at Klaus. "I heard Kilian talking to one of his guys before you guys arrived. It was an accident, I needed to pee so I went to the bushes and looked for a nice spot away-"

"Get to the bloody point," Klaus hissed.

"Right," Andrew said nervously. Klaus looked really scary all covered in blood. "He set a trap for you. He said that a pack of Navarro wolves was coming to get you, that they were going to help take you down. But they never showed up." He frowned in confusion.

"They probably lied," Gregory muttered. "The Navarro's are treacherous beasts."

"The Navarro's wouldn't give up the opportunity to get you," Ishmael said to Klaus. He sounded very worried.

"But if they are not here where are they?" Cary questioned.

"The Quarter," Klaus said suddenly, a feeling of dread invading the pit of his stomach. No sooner had the words left his mouth when he felt it. Pure agonizing fear, _Bonnie._

Bonnie was in danger.

Klaus flashed out of the Bayou without saying another word. He didn't make it very far. He stopped a few feet away from the Crescent camp when he saw them.

"Oh shit!" Andrew cursed as panic and fear laced his veins when he spotted them.

Gregory's face went pale as he saw the army heading their way.

Hayley and Jackson turned to look at each other in panic.

"I guess you were right," Cary said glancing at Andrew. He and his grandfather got into a fighting stance.

All the Alphas stood up and prepared themselves.

There was a pack of wolves heading their way. A pack of wolves led by Victor Navarro. The Navarro wolves had come just like they had promised Kilian. They had come for Klaus.

Klaus growled and used his super speed to meet them head on.

He needed to get to Bonnie and Victor's army was in his way.

* * *

"Elijah please call me as soon as you can," Lucy said into her phone as she left a voicemail. She had tried calling Elijah twice already but he hadn't answered and she was starting to panic. "I'm at the house with Davina and Charlotte, please come as soon as you can and bring that vampire army with you, we are going to need it." She hung up feeling nervous and scared for what was to come in the next couple of hours. Something was coming. Her witch senses were alerting her of the danger heading their way. She took a deep breath and did her best to calm her nerves. "Everything is going to be fine," Lucy said turning to face the two scared girls sitting on Bonnie's bed.

The three of them were locked inside the master bedroom of the compound.

Davina was still shaking as she sat on the edge of the bed. Her hands on her lap as she rocked back and forth nervously. Charlotte was in the middle of the bed, leaning against the pillows and clutching Bonnie's favorite teddy bear in her arms. There was a solemn look on her face and she was as quiet as a mouse.

"We're safe here," Lucy said as she sat on the bed with them. "Angelica and I placed a ton of protective spells on the house, no one will get inside."

"I want Bonnie," Charlotte said squeezing Ms. Cuddles with all her strength.

"She's on her way," Lucy promised. She had texted Lenore and warned her about the Navarro attack. Lenore had promised to get Bonnie back to the compound as soon as possible. Rebekah was on her way to escort them back according to Kol. "She'll be here soon, you'll see."

"And Klaus?" Davina asked fearfully. "Does he know?" Klaus was the strongest of the Originals, Klaus was practically indestructible, he had taken down Marcel's army, he could take down the wolf army. He could kill them all.

"Two of his hybrids went to get him," Lucy informed them. "He's at that meeting with the other Alphas but he'll be here in no time." Klaus hadn't answered his phone which is why Felix had ordered Jesse and Alexa to get him. The Navarro's had chosen to attack when the Mikaelson's were scattered all over the city. _Damn them,_ Lucy thought. They weren't prepared for this attack and that made her even more nervous and scared of what the next couple of hours would bring. She shifted nervously on the bed.

"You can feel it," Davina noted how nervous and on edge Lucy was. "You know it's coming." As witches, they could sense the danger far better than any other supernatural.

"Everything is going to be fine," Lucy repeated. She didn't like the defeating tone in Davina's voice. "You have nothing to-"

"Look!" Charlotte yelled as she pointed towards the closed balcony doors.

A strange thick cloud of white could be seen through the glass doors.

"What the hell?" Lucy stood up and made her way towards the balcony.

Davina and Charlotte also got out of the bed and moved closer. The two of them stood side by side watching as the strange fog covered all the windows. The protective spell around the room and house kept the fog at bay but they could see it pressing against the glass and engulfing the compound in a thick blanket of white.

Charlotte shivered and pressed herself closer to Davina. The teenage girl took her small hand in hers.

Lucy tried to look outside. She couldn't see anything. The streets below were covered by a thick blanket of white. It was almost as if the house was suddenly up in the clouds, nothing was visible. "Shit," she mumbled under breath. She felt a chill go down her spine and a feeling of doom formed in the pit of her stomach. _This is bad, really bad,_ Lucy thought fearfully. Something told her that the fog had been created by magic, powerful magic.

Bells were tolling in the distance.

Davina looked at Lucy in alarm, "Marcel's warning."

"What?"

"Marcel and Father Kieran designed this warning in case the city ever came under attack," she explained nervously. "All the church bells are ringing. That means the city is under siege. They're here now."

The bells grew louder.

The lights went off.

Charlotte and Davina screamed.

Lucy gasped when she felt a dark and sinister kind of power coming from outside. It was the feel of dark magic floating in the air.

The protective spells round the compound came crashing down in a single moment.

A loud crash was heard downstairs, followed by growls, and the loud steps of people rushing up to the second floor.

They were under attack.

* * *

The fog come at out of nowhere. It was a cloud of white that covered everything in its path in a matter of seconds.

Lenore had to stop the car because she couldn't see a damn thing. "I can't drive like this."

"Damn it," Bonnie threw her cell phone inside her purse. "My phone isn't working anymore." She had sent a quick text to Lucy, telling her they were on their way. She had tried calling Klaus but he hadn't answered his phone. Bonnie had spent the car ride trying to send him a message through their bond. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get to him. Klaus had shut down his side of the bond. _Please be okay,_ Bonnie thought worriedly. _Please be safe._

"Maybe we should have stayed at Madame LaRue's house," Lenore said nervously. Her skin prickled, alerting her to the danger heading their way. Her witch senses were in over drive, telling her that something bad was going to happen.

Bonnie didn't reply. Josephine had kind of scared her with her words.

" _You can stay here and wait for the storm to pass," Josephine said looking directly into Bonnie's eyes. "Or you can go into the darkness and face your biggest fear."_

 _My biggest fear,_ Bonnie thought, a sense of dread invading every nerve in her body.

"How close are we?" Kyra asked while glancing out of the window. She couldn't see a damn thing.

"A few blocks away," Lenore responded. "Two, I think." It was hard to tell when you were engulfed in a cloud of white.

"We can't stay inside the car," Kyra said as she opened the door. "We'll walk and kill any damn wolf that gets in our way." According to what Lucy said to Bonnie, they had placed all kinds of protective spells on the compound. They would be safe there. They just needed to get there first. "I'll lead the way," she declared. "Lenore, you watch our queen's back."

Lenore nodded. She and Bonnie got out of the car.

Bonnie immediately coughed as a strange smelt hit her nose. "What is that?"

"Magic," Lenore managed to say in between coughs. "This fog has been created by magic." She closed her eyes and began chanting under her breath. She was using her magic to disperse the thick fog. It didn't work. She tried again but nothing. "I can't make it go away, not even a tiny bit." She didn't like that. _What kind of magic was this?_

Kyra closed her eyes and tried another spell. Nothing. "My spells don't work either."

"This is the work of the Travelers," Bonnie hissed. She didn't know how but she knew this was their doing.

"Can you feel anyone?" Lenore wondered suddenly. "Everything is so quiet." Far too quiet. All the tourist that seemed to hang out in the Quarter on a daily basis were gone, the witches and the vampires that lived there too, _where were they?_ There was no chatter, no panic voices, no sounds of cars. There was no noises at all, it was eerie. _What if everyone is dead already?_ She thought fearfully. She couldn't help but feel like they had arrived too late. Something was very wrong about all this.

"Let's disperse this fog," Bonnie told them with determination.

The three Bennett witches held hands. They closed their eyes and began chanting. Not even a minute later, and a blast of magic had all three of them flying into the air.

Bonnie screamed as she crashed against Lenore's car. She felt pain on her shoulder and back as she landed on the floor. There was a whimper to her right and a scream to her left. The fog made it impossible to see and the ringing inside her head made it hard to concentrate. She breathed in and out for a couple of seconds and stood up on shakily legs. The pain passed as quickly as it came thanks to the twins' healing abilities.

"Lenore!"

"Kyra"

Bonnie screamed their names as she slowly began walking, desperately trying to find her cousins. She couldn't really see anything until she was practically right in front of it. She nearly collided with a lamp post. "Lenore!" She shouted again. "Kyra!"

There was no sign of them.

Her heart was beating wildly against her chest and she unconsciously touched her necklace, the one she found among her things while leaving Dr. Mayfair's clinic. Bonnie closed her eyes and murmured a protective spell over herself. She then lowered her right hand and placed it over her belly, murmuring another protective spell on her babies.

A strange noise to her left jolted her out of her thoughts. She turned in that direction, eyes wide, and body tense. She used her witch senses to try and determine if there was anyone there.

 _A cat,_ her mind whispered. _It's just a cat._

A moment later, she heard the low meow. Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief. She slowly began walking again. Using her magic once again, she tried to see if she could find her cousins. _Why was everything so quiet? Where was everyone?_

Bonnie screamed when her feet bumped into someone laying on the ground. She looked down in horror and saw a body, the throat had been cut open and a shocked and pale face stared up at her. Bile rose in her throat and she turned away, walking in the opposite direction. A human male, whose throat had been ripped open. _By a werewolf_ , her mind supplied.

Bonnie was still struggling to keep the nausea at bay when she came to an abrupt stop, through the thick fog she saw the wall in front of her. There was a wall to her right and a wall to her left. _Shit!_ She thought. She had ended up right in a dead-end alley. She struggled to remember if she had seen this alley before but her mind came up blank. There was something familiar about it though. Something at the back of her mind as she stared at the walls enclosing her.

 _Just make your way back and start again._

Bonnie was about to do just that when she felt it. The cold tingle that went down her spine had her entire body shaking. The fog began dispersing and it was not Bonnie's doing. She heard low murmurs, which sounded like people chanting under their breaths. Her green eyes looked up into the brick walls that surrounded her once more, a feeling of dread coiled deep in her belly.

 _No,_ Bonnie thought. _No, no,_ a sudden chilling realization hit her like a bucket of ice cold water. _It can't be. This couldn't be happening._

Footsteps echoed around the alley as someone made their way towards her.

Bonnie stood rooted to the spot, hardly able to breathe. The fear that filled her veins in that moment was unlike anything she had ever felt before. In that moment, she knew. In that moment, Josephine's words made sense. She whimpered, feeling the presence of someone right behind her.

Slowly, very slowly, body trembling with the most horrifying and panic inducing fear, Bonnie turned around to face _him._

He stood there, tall and proud, lips curled into a triumphant smirk. There was no mask on his face, there were no chains on her, but the effect the wolf had on her was the same.

"Bonnie Bennett," he said her name in a possessive hiss and he looked at her as a lover would, with adoration and with desire.

Bonnie froze. There were no words to describe what she felt in that moment as she came face to face with the man of her nightmares.

Franco took a step closer, and another, and another, until he came to stand right in front of her.

Bonnie didn't move. She couldn't move at all. She was paralyzed with fear.

"Do you know how long I have waited for this?" he asked, his hot breath right on her face. He was drinking the sight of her like a starved man. Even he couldn't believe they were face to face at last.

Bonnie's throat closed, her heart constricted, and her entire body stood rooted to the spot. Her green eyes were filled with pure agonizing fear and her face was frozen in horror.

While the werewolf army fought the vampire army, while the Navarro brothers took on the Mikaelson brothers, while they fought and bled on the battlefield, Franco came for her. While Klaus Mikaelson defeated the Alphas, and obtained the wolf crown, Franco got the queen. Franco obtained the prize he had anxiously desired for months. Bonnie was the only reason Franco had agreed to come to Victor's aid. Because he had seen the possibility of getting her, and he had been right. His plan had worked.

In the end, Franco Navarro was the victor and now Bonnie his.


	55. Chapter 55

_A/N: Shout out to **M.B** who wrote review 4K, I still can't believe it. Thank-you so much for all your continued support with this fic and all of your lovely reviews. It means the world to me. Thank-you._

 _And guess what?_

 _Crimson Peak has an official trailer! Well, two trailers actually. I'm honored and thrilled to share with you the amazing trailers the lovely **Bennett-Mikaelson** created for the story. There are no words to express my gratitude for the beautiful works of art she created. She did an outstanding job and I'm absolutely in love. Please check them out. The links are in my profile._

 _I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **New Orleans**

The attack began quietly, no one saw it coming, not really. It was just another night in the French Quarter. The streets were crowded with people like every other night, there was laughter, there was chatter, music, and happiness. No one could have predicted what was about to happen. No one knew that in a matter of minutes the city filled with life would become the city of the dead.

It all started with the fog.

That thick blanket of white that came out of nowhere. It was a silent predator moving swiftly through every street, slithering through every open window, door, or crack on the wall; attacking its prey when they least expected it.

The minute he saw the fog, father Kieran ran inside St. Ann's church and went up the flight of stairs to the very top where the bells were. He wasted no time as he rang the church bells nonstop. It was a warning, a cry for help, a desperate attempt to save the innocents who had no idea of what was heading their way. It was an alarm system he and Marcel Gerard had designed years before, one father Kieran never wanted to use. But he had no choice that night.

 _God help us,_ he thought as he desperately rang the bells. Everyone who was aware, everyone who knew what lurked in the shadows would know the meaning of the bells chiming.

A minute or two later, the bells of another church joined in. And then another, and another, until all the bells in every church in the city sang in harmony.

It was too late.

The attack took all of them by surprise.

No one was prepared.

* * *

"Come Delphine," Damon begged the witch he used to know back in the nineties. She looked good for her age, there were hardly any lines on her pretty face. Delphine had aged beautifully, her brown skin was smooth and her dark eyes were bright and filled with wisdom. "It's just a tiny little favor," he assured her as he stood outside her home. He had finally tracked her down to a small house right across from Jackson square.

Delphine's dark eyes moved from Damon who has giving her his most charming smile to his brother who stood next to him, hands on his pockets. "You have a lot of nerve Damon Salvatore," she muttered angrily tuning back to face the handsome devil of a man. _The things that man could do,_ she shook her head.

"Look, why don't you just invite us in and-"

"You think I'm stupid enough to invite you into my home?"

"You have turn into a Grinch in your later years Del," Damon commented with a frown. "Back in the day, we used to be good friends." He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked knowingly at her.

"You mean, back in the day when I was young, stupid, and didn't know any better."

The smirk dropped from Damon's face. "I need a favor, a really big favor and you are a competent witch and-"

"I'm no longer a witch," Delphine replied sadly. "I no longer have magic. Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I can't help you. And I thought you said it was a _tiny_ favor." Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the vampire.

Damon and Stefan looked at each other. The dark-haired vampire opened his mouth but whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sound of bells tolling in the distance.

"What is that?" Stefan asked. It sounded like every church in New Orleans had decided to ring their bells nonstop. Somehow, he knew that wasn't normal. It was strange and chilling, all the hairs in his body stood up and judging by the expression on Damon's face he felt it too. They both turned to look at Delphine.

Delphine's eyes went wide, she looked terrified. "It's a warning."

"Warning?" Damon repeated, he sniffed the air when a strange smell invaded his senses.

"The city is under attack!" Delphine shut the door in their faces and locked herself inside.

"What the hell?" Damon growled. "Stupid witch," he muttered under his breath.

"Damon, look!" Stefan pointed out to the park across from them.

A thick blanket of fog was covering everything in its path and low growls could be heard in the distance.

Both Salvatore brothers turned to look at each other. Their vampire senses alerting them to the dangerous threat heading their way. It was the kind of threat every vampire no matter how old could sense well.

"Werewolves," they whispered at the same time.

Damon and Stefan didn't have to utter more words to know exactly what they needed to do. The two vampires took off at rapid speed. They needed to find shelter and get the hell away from any werewolf within close proximity. They both knew what a bite from those creatures did to vampires, they both knew that there was only _one cure._

If there was one thing Damon and Stefan knew for sure, it was that if they got bitten, Klaus Mikaelson would not heal them. They were on their own and they had to do everything to stay alive. Which is why they ran for their lives.

* * *

After Belle's warning Felix gathered all the hybrids in the foyer of the compound. Charles and Mila two of the elders from Fenrir's pack also gathered with them. They were all nervous and excited for the battle to come. They knew this day would come sooner or later and they felt ready. The first order Felix gave was to Jesse and Alexa, to get Klaus and bring him back as soon as possible. The two hybrids nodded and took off at vampire speed.

"How much time do we have?" Riley asked.

"I don't know," Felix replied as he placed a map of the city on top of the round mahogany table close to the stairs. "These are the points of entry," he explained to the hybrids gathered around him as he pointed to different locations on the map. "We don't know when they will come or even how many they are. What I do know is that they will more than likely come here. Everyone knows this is where the Original family lives. The area surrounding the compound is where they will concentrate the attack."

The hybrids nodded.

"Thierry is on his way and most of the vampires are gathered outside," Felix continued. "We are twice as strong as they are, so we will lead the line of defense. I want all the vampires patrolling the city. We'll split into smaller groups and each group will be led by a hybrid. Fenrir's pack will be concentrated here, they will be the line of defense for this part of the city."

"Wouldn't it be best for the vampires to protect this area?" Aiko questioned.

"A bite from the Navarro wolves and the vampires are dead," Felix pointed out quickly. "I rather have them scattered around the city, they know it by heart, they know where to hide, where to lure the werewolves into a trap and have the advantage to kill them."

Charles nodded in agreement. "We are still getting familiar with the area, it will be best for our pack to fight here, we have to protect the children inside the house too."

"Angelica is currently placing protective spells there," Riley reassured them.

"We also have some protective crystals that'll create a barrier of extra protection," Mila informed them. A thoughtful look crossed her features. "Where is Bonnie? Is she safe?" She knew Klaus was with Cary and Ishmael but she had not seen Klaus's wife at all.

"Rebekah is getting her," Belle answered. "Kol called her earlier to let her know what's going on. They must be on their way now." Bonnie and Rebekah would probably make it inside the house before the Navarro's attacked and if things worked in their favor, Klaus would be back by then as well. _Yeah,_ Belle thought optimistically. _We have chance, we can do this. We'll be fine._

"Kol went to get Elijah," Felix added. The Original had left some instructions but headed out of the house quickly to get his older brother. "The vampire army from Shreveport is on their way, with any luck we'll have reinforcements before the Navarro wolves get here." With that army, their forces would double and that gave them a better advantage for the attack to come.

"When will the Bennett coven get here?" Another hybrid questioned. "We could use some witches right now." All the hybrids knew that Bonnie had a coven of powerful witches fighting on her side. With the Bennett's helping them, they had a higher chance of winning and surviving the attack, that they knew for sure.

"They're on their way," Felix assured them. "Now, listen. I've been thinking…"

The sound of the church bells chiming put everyone's nerves on edge. A sense of dread invaded them suddenly. Every nerve in their bodies came alive, alerting them of the threats nearby.

"What the…"

The hybrids looked at each other. In that moment, they knew.

"It's too soon," Mila whispered fearfully.

Josh stormed inside the compound. "They're here!" he screamed. "There is some strange fog out there. I think the Navarro's are here." His skin prickled and somehow Josh's survival instincts knew that there were a bunch of predators coming closer. There was only one predator the vampires feared, _the wolves._

"Fuck!" Felix and Riley cursed at the same time.

"Josh, Belle, Nate, I want the three of you to stay here and guard the house. Lucy and the girls are upstairs," Felix ordered. "As for the rest of you, let's go kill some Navarro wolves."

There was no time for heartfelt speeches to raise the morale of the army, there had barely been any time to gather the army and prepare a defense. No one said anything else as they all rushed out of the house almost at the same.

The time to fight had come.

"Lock the doors," Nate ordered Josh and Belle as soon as everyone else had left. "Let's move all the heavy furniture against the front door too." The more obstacles they could put in the wolves' way the best it would be for them.

The minute the doors were shut, the protective spells placed upon the house took effect.

Nate, Belle, and Josh looked at each other and waited.

* * *

Angelica had just finished placing all the protective spells she could think of inside the house were Klaus's wolf family lived when she felt it. "They're here," she whispered. _It's too soon,_ she thought fearfully. She had foolishly believed they had more time before the wolves arrived in the city. She had been wrong.

Maurice one of the elders of the clan wasted no time giving orders and organizing the wolves that were fighting out of the house and onto the street. A smaller group remained inside protecting the elderly, the children, and the two pregnant women of the pack. They all locked themselves in the basement of the house. There was tunnel that led to another part of the city, Klaus had showed it to the elders of the pack the first time he brought them to the house. Tonight, it would serve them to escape if the house fell under Navarro attack.

"You must stay here," Maurice said to Angelica. "It's too dangerous to go wandering outside if the Navarro's are here."

"I have to go back to the compound," Angelica said. Lucy and the girls could need her. "Davina and Charlotte could need me."

"Can't you stay with us?" A middle-aged woman asked. Her name was Melinda she was Billy's mom and she was clutching her son's hand as if her life depended on it. "Please, we could use a witch in case things turn for the worse." Most of the elders and the young warriors of the pack were outside, fighting for their lives, protecting the city of their king but she like many others were terrified of what the night would bring for their people.

Angelica looked around all the fearful and nervous faces of the children, teenagers, and elderly men and women who gathered inside the basement. Klaus's wolf family, his pack, his people. She knew she couldn't abandon them. _What if they need a witch to help them escape or to stop the wolves from storming inside?_

 _Lucy is at the compound,_ Angelica thought. _She will keep the girls safe._ Klaus's wolf family on the other hand didn't have a witch in their corner. A bit reluctantly, but Angelica nodded and chose to stay, much to the relief of the entire group. She clutched her necklaced and prayed to her dead mother and grandmother to protect them.

 _Please let this be a victory for us._

In the distance, the bells of all the churches in the city kept tolling.

* * *

Rebekah explained the situation quickly to Matt, told him to head to the compound, and kissed him lightly on the lips before rushing out of the bar and heading to Josephine LaRue's house. She needed to get Bonnie to safety.

Matt started to make his way towards the house when he realized he couldn't leave like that. He needed to warn the humans inside the bar, he needed to warn as many people as possible of the Navarro's attack.

That's exactly what he did.

Matt got on top of one of the tables and began screaming at the top of his lungs. "The city will be attacked, you have to get to safety!" he yelled.

At first no one reacted, the people inside Rousseau's gave him weird looks, no doubt thinking he was crazy. No one moved but they all watched him.

"What is wrong with you?" Camille asked as she made her way towards him.

"The city will be attacked. You guys have to leave NOW!" Matt kept on screaming. "We will be attacked! The wolves are coming!"

When the bells started chiming, the locals knew. They ran out of the bar like they were possessed. The tourists had no idea what was going on but they ran out as well.

The majority of the people rushed out of the bar.

There was a lot of panic, confusion, and fear. Few people knew what to do- mostly the locals who had a vague idea of a plan of escape- the rest had no clue really.

When the fog engulfed them, those feelings intensified. The fog came out of nowhere and by the time they realized what was happening, it was too late.

"Shit!" Matt cursed as he saw the thick fog swirling inside the bar.

"We have to lock the doors!" One of his coworkers screamed. "Everyone get inside!"

"What the hell is going on?" Camille had no idea what was happening. She made a face when a strange scent hit her nose. "What is…" she trailed off when she was attacked by a coughing fit.

The people who remained inside began coughing as an unfamiliar scent invaded their senses.

"Cami," Matt watched as Cami's body swayed, she looked disoriented. It was weird. "Hey, are you okay?" no sooner had he asked when Cami fell to the ground unconscious. "What the hell?" Matt stood frozen in fear, watching his coworkers and the few costumers that had remained inside the bar drop to the floor like flies. _What's going on?_

When his legs finally obeyed his brain, he got down on the floor and breathed a sigh of relief when he touched Cami's neck and felt her pulse point. She was alive.

The fog had made everyone disoriented and had knocked them out. All except for him.

He could smell the strange scent in the air but for some reason it didn't affect him. Matt unconsciously touched his ring, the one Bonnie had made for him. He couldn't help but wonder if the ring was somehow keeping him safe from whatever was in the fog. He knew that Bonnie had put an anti-tampering spell so no one would mess with his head, like Esther had done with Alaric but he couldn't help but wonder if that protection extended to other things too. He didn't know what to do as he stood in the middle of the bar, surrounded by unconscious bodies. The fog was so thick he couldn't really see anything.

 _Shit!_ Matt thought. _What the hell am I going to do now?_

 _How was he going to get to the compound when he couldn't see a damn thing?_

 _Please let Bekah and Bonnie be safe,_ he thought fearfully.

* * *

The fog made the humans unconscious and it had a similar effect on the vampires. They were able to stay on their feet for much longer but their senses were clouded. The longer they were exposed to the mist, the harder it was for them to focus and concentrate on anything. They began walking, their bodies swaying, eyes glassy, and faces empty. They were disoriented, their heads clouded, nothing seemed to make sense anymore and they could barely keep themselves on their feet.

The hybrids and the werewolves were not affected.

The fog had been created by the Travelers, an ingenious spell that clouded the sharp senses of the vampires and worked to give the Navarro wolves the advantage when they decided to attack.

"What the hell is going on?" Riley asked seeing how some of the vampires began wandering around the street. His sharp senses allowed him to see better through the strange mist that engulfed them as soon as they exited the compound. The longer he was surrounded by the fog however, the less visibility he had. "What are you two idiots doing?" he yelled to the vampires closest to him.

No response. The two men continued to walk without a proper direction in mind. They looked like they were drugged or something. _Like zombies,_ Riley thought. _Had something in the fog made them crazy or something?_

"There is magic in the fog," Charles yelled from the other side of the street. "It's affecting the vampires." He felt fine but he could smell that strange scent, _like acid,_ he thought.

"Are you guys okay?" Mila yelled from her spot next to Charles. The other wolves from their pack gathered around the two elders of the clan.

"Yeah," Riley answered back. "It's not affecting the hybrids."

"Fucking hell! We're screwed," another hybrid mumbled. Without the vampires, they were going to be on their own against the Navarro army.

"Shit!" Felix hissed upon realizing that their army had just been cut in half thanks to the dark and powerful magic the fog carried.

"What the hell are we going to do now?" Aiko asked a nervously.

"Fight," Felix replied. They had no choice but to fight, no matter what. _So much for my plan to split into groups and patrol the city,_ he thought bitterly. The Navarro's surprised attack had fucked them over. Those bastards had played them well.

With their sharp senses overwhelmed by the fog, the disoriented vampires became easy prey for the wolves that followed after.

"They're here!" someone managed to yell.

Loud growling noises and war cries were heard before the army of wolves stormed through the streets of the French Quarter.

The hybrids and Fenrir's pack met them head on.

There was no time for hesitation, no time for fears, it was time to act, and to defend their city.

Fenrir's wolves and the hybrids fought valiantly, giving their hearts and souls to the battlefield. They were outnumbered two to ten but they gave their everything. They were determined to win or die trying.

The vampires walked confused, uncertain, and unknowing of what was going on around them. Many fell victims to the vicious bites of their enemies. The vampires became easy prey and they were so out of it, they didn't even realize it.

The bloody battle that ensued for the next couple of hours, had blood raining down the streets of New Orleans.

Once it started, there was no stopping it.

* * *

Kol was heading at vampire speed towards the city limits, where he knew Elijah was going to meet with the army from Shreveport before bringing them into the city. He was halfway there when he stopped abruptly.

"You got to be kidding me!" He cursed in his mother's tongue as he saw the fog quickly surrounding the streets and creating a cloud of white that blinded him to everything. "Fuck!" Every nerve in his body alerted him to the wolves silently making their way inside the city, using the fog as a protective blanket that allowed them to pass almost like invisible creatures.

Kol heard a growl to his right and another to his left. The wolves were on to him and were probably trying to scare him. He shook his head. He had no fear of the wolves. He was immortal. He couldn't die because of their bite. It was going to be a pain in the ass to deal with and he felt sure he was going to get bitten more than once but so be it. They wanted war, he would give them war.

His nose twitched as he sniffed the strange and unfamiliar smell in the air, no, it was coming from the fog. There was magic in the fog, magic meant to confuse, to disorient the enemies of the Navarro clan.

 _The handy work of the Travelers,_ Kol thought angrily. _Fucking bastards_. Despite his anger, he smirked. The Travelers' magic was strong but Kol felt no side effects. The strange smell was annoying and he could feel the magic in the air but it didn't affect his senses at all. _You're a genius mother,_ Kol thought feeling strangely proud. It was times like this, where he couldn't help but admire his mother's intricate and clever spell work. Kol felt certain that the reason the magic in the fog was not affecting him at all had to do with him being an Original vampire.

When one wolf jumped on him, Kol was more than ready. He couldn't really see because of the fog, all he saw was the cloud of white that covered everything in its path. But Kol didn't need to see the wolves, he was an Original, his senses were sharper, stronger, and far more lethal than any other creature-except for Nik of course. His mother had ensured that the Original vampires were unrivaled by wolves and other vampires alike. No matter how many werewolves came his way, Kol could handle them. He could easily sense them, long before they tried to attack him.

Kol easily tore the wolf's heart out. His body fell to the ground with a thud.

In the next second, he jumped up on top of a building nearby and avoided the two wolves who jumped on him, they actually slammed against each other hard before turning to look around the street, trying to locate the vampire they had sensed.

Kol jumped down and appeared behind them before he easily tore their backs open with his bare hands, he ripped both of their spines out in one quick move. The scent of their blood, their groans of pain, and the loud thud of their bodies hitting the floor was the only sound that echoed on the foggy and cold street.

Kol chuckled as he dropped the bloody spines on the ground and prepared for another attack.

There were more growls and more angry hisses as the wolves circled and attacked Kol as fast and hard as they could.

They kicked, they punched, and they tried to bite hard.

Kol easily deflected all their moves.

"Is that the best you got!" Kol taunted loudly. It was rather fun. The wolves were clearly frustrated with their inability to hurt him. "I expected better!"

A dozen wolves jumped on him almost at the same time.

Kol grinned wickedly and proceeded to rip them apart.

* * *

 **The Bayou**

Victor's pack was like an endless sea of bloodthirsty monsters with one objective in mind, to kill the hybrid. They ran through the Bayou like a ferocious unit, starved for revenge, and seeking justice in the name of their dead Alpha.

"KLAUS MIKAELSON!" Victor yelled at the top of his lungs. "YOU WILL DIE TONIGHT!" He roared as his army approached the camp. His pack and Isaac's pack made for one impressive army of vicious wolves.

Klaus didn't say anything. He simply used his superior speed to meet them head on.

All Klaus knew was that Bonnie was terrified, the fear that he felt in his blood was unlike anything he had ever felt before from her. It scared him truth to be told. He needed to get to Bonnie and ensure her safety. Victor and his army were not going to stop him, anyone who got in the way of the hybrid was going to meet a brutal end.

Cary and Ishmael followed Klaus, they were more than ready to fight the Navarro wolves.

The other Alpha's followed suit. None of them were cowards, they were more than ready to fight, and more than ready to win.

Andrew swallowed the knot in his throat, said a prayer to his dead father, and waited. He wasn't brave as Klaus and his family to take the wolf army head on but he wasn't a coward either, he stayed where he was and was ready to fight- as soon as the wolves got to him that is, not before.

Hayley and Jackson looked at each other, they both knew that there was no escaping this. Their territory was under attack. They had to defend their clan. Jackson squeezed her hand and gave her a loving smile before the two rushed to meet the wolf army. Jackson's second in command, Oliver followed them into battle while Mary headed inside to warn the rest of the pack and to get the youngest out of harm's way.

It was a clash between a well-trained army of angry and vengeful wolves and a smaller group of fierce Alphas determined to end the reign of terror of the Navarro clan.

The Alpha's were outnumbered but they were warriors, they had been born to lead, to fight, and to die on the battlefield. They were determined not to cower in fear against the bigger, stronger army.

Klaus alone was a hurricane of anger, power, and strength. He was a killing machine that ripped hearts, arms, and heads left and right. He was a blur of movement that swept through Victor's army like a tornado destroying anything in his path. The hybrid was unstoppable.

The Navarro wolves were fierce, strong, and determined. They were giving their everything but it was obvious that they were no match for him.

Soon two other blurs joined him, killing at a quicker speed than the other Alphas fighting on his side.

Alexa and Jesse arrived just in time to join the fray. The minute they saw the army and spotted Klaus, they rushed to his side and proceeded to destroy as many wolves as they possible could.

They were soon joined by Crescent wolves who came out of their camp, ready to protect their territory. Despite their differences, their wariness, and reluctance to accept the hybrid king, the Crescent wolves fought on his side. In their eyes, Klaus was the lesser of the two evils.

Klaus paid no attention to any of them. He was a man on a mission. He fought, he destroyed, and he tore wolves apart. He cut through the Navarro army with ease, until he was finally face to face with Victor Navarro himself. His golden eyes were the only thing visible through the mass of red that decorated his handsome face. He smirked in Victor's direction.

It was the only warning the other wolf got before the hybrid attacked.

Klaus's bloodied face was the last thing Victor Navarro saw.

* * *

Rebekah cursed under her breath as she struggled to see through the thick fog. _Where the bloody hell am I?_ she wondered as she slowly walked in what she presumed was St. Charles Avenue, that's where the Regent lived. She squinted her eyes trying to see if she could see any of the houses better. She had been able to see at first but the longer she spent surrounded by the strange fog, the harder it was to see through it. She felt like she had wandered for hours, caught inside the mist that had come out of nowhere and engulfed the entire city in a deadly trap.

She had encountered two werewolves along the way and easily got rid of them before continuing with her quest. She needed to find Bonnie. The sooner, the better.

A loud noise to her left caught her attention.

 _A witch,_ Rebekah sensed immediately. "Bonnie, is that you?" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She felt a presence of someone behind her and she spun around, alert, and ready to fight back.

Kyra stood behind her, one hand had clutching her bleeding stomach, the other had a fireball floating above her palm.

"What the hell happen to you?" Rebekah asked looking her up and down, the fire Kyra held in her left hand dispersed some of the fog surrounding them and allowed Rebekah to see better.

"Wolves," Kyra muttered darkly. She was badly injured but the she was doing a good job keeping her pain hidden.

"Where is Bonnie?" Rebekah asked in alarm. Kyra had come to the compound earlier that day, alongside Lenore so the two could escort Bonnie to the Regent's house.

"Don't know," Kyra groaned and sank to her knees. That's when Rebekah noticed the wounds on her neck and face. "One bastard had a knife…" Kyra managed to say after seeing the questioning look on Rebekah's face. "He stab me…I killed him…" she had burned all of them to be exact but the last one had managed to stab her in the stomach.

Rebekah sank to her knees in front of the injured witch and bit her wrist, gently placing it against her mouth.

Kyra shook her head.

"Now is not the time for pride darling," Rebekah muttered with a roll of her eyes. "You are badly injured, my blood can heal you, and then you can help me find Bonnie and take her to safety." That was both of their priorities after all.

Something flickered across Kyra's eyes at the mention of Bonnie. She reluctantly nodded. She didn't have much of a choice really. When Rebekah placed her bloody wrist against her mouth again, Kyra parted her lips and swallowed the powerful Original blood. The healing came almost instantaneously.

Soon, both women were walking down the street in search of the Bennett queen.

* * *

Elijah cursed as he tried to make his way towards the compound. His cell phone had long ago stopped working. The army he had gone to receive at the city limit and bring back to the Quarter was scattered all around, confused, useless, and falling prey to the werewolves who had orchestrated an effective attack on them. He didn't know how long he had been wandering around the foggy streets trying to make his way back home. He knew the city by heart and yet, he felt overwhelmed. It was the fog, it had to be.

Elijah could barely see through the thick fog, not even his superior Original senses were of much help, to be honest. The army that had been with him, including Armand where long gone, more than half already laid dead thanks to the magic in the mist that clouded their judgement. Elijah was lucky that while he had lost all visibility, he still had his wits about him.

What made the attack so effective, was not just the fog that clouded the heads of the vampires but the way in which the wolves themselves attacked. They didn't rush and went straight for the kill, no, they lured their victims into a false sense of security, sneaking in and out, using the fog (which they seem to be able to see clearly through and resists the dark magic that attacked the vampires) to their advantage. _How in the world were the Navarro werewolves so familiar with New Orleans?_ Elijah didn't know. Nor did he particularly care at the moment.

He suddenly felt a werewolf trying to sneak behind him, Elijah easily materialized behind said wolf, and ripped his head off his body in one swift move. He had lost count of how many heads and hearts he had ripped in the past two hours. Luckily, he had avoided getting bitten so far. _Just how many wolves were under the Navarro's command?_ It seemed like their army was endless.

Another werewolf managed to punch him in the jaw, catching him by surprise. Elijah hissed and grabbed the man's wrist before he could punch him again. He twisted it painfully before tearing said arm from his body. The wolf screamed in agony, falling to the ground in pain, Elijah crushed his head with his left foot.

He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned his bloody hand before trying to find his way home. Elijah hoped Lucy was alright, that she and the girls were safe inside the compound. He felt murderous at the thought of the Navarro's besting them. And even though he didn't show it, he was afraid at the possibility that the wolves had attacked their home, that Lucy and Bonnie could be in danger because of it. _Damn it_ , he had to get back to them.

The attack the Navarro wolves had coordinated had been rather ingenious and Elijah hated it. He couldn't wait to get his hands on them and rip them apart, Luis Navarro in particular. He couldn't believe they had dared to attack now. He and his siblings had erroneously believed that they were going to attack until after Franco did his ritual. Now, they were paying the price for said mistake.

There was a noise down the street that caught his attention.

Elijah frowned as a familiar scent reached his nose.

There was another noise to his left and his skin prickled as he felt the presence of not just wolves but witches nearby. He was getting closer and closer to a high number of wolves and Travelers and that could only mean one thing. A Navarro brother was nearby.

Elijah expanded his senses so they could guide him, he needed to find them and kill them.

The Navarro's had dared to attack and Elijah would ensured none of them left New Orleans alive.

* * *

 **The compound**

The minute Lucy realized they were under attack she sprang into action. She flicked her wrist and the candles on top of the dresser lit up, in the next second she murmured a string of spells to keep the door shut.

Davina and Charlotte stood holding hands, matching fearful faces looking up to Lucy, so that she would tell them what to do. The girls had never been through something so scary before.

There were growls and hisses coming from the hall and loud crashing noises could be heard downstairs.

A loud bang was heard next.

All of three of them jumped startled.

 _Werewolves,_ Lucy's senses alerted her to their presence and they were not alone. _Witches too._ She turned to Davina and Charlotte. "We need to get inside the tunnel quick," she ordered.

The three of them made their way towards the fireplace.

Davina's hand shook as she touched the right side of the fireplace, pushing hard with her fingers, trying to locate the small key that would move the fireplace and open the way inside the tunnel. Kol said to press hard and push the small button and that would move the fireplace out of the way so they could get inside the tunnel. The problem was that she couldn't find the damn button.

There was a bang against the door.

"Hurry!" Charlotte screamed in panic.

"I can't find it," Davina whimpered touching the side of the fireplace with both of her hands, her heart pounding loudly in her ears.

Lucy was touching the left side, thinking that maybe the key to open the tunnel was there and Kol just didn't remember and told them wrong. No luck. _Shit!_ She panicked. She felt a shiver down her spine and the spells she placed on the room broke with a single gust of wind. She turned around just in time to hear the loud bang.

The door to the master bedroom flung open.

Davina and Charlotte screamed in panic.

Lucy flicked her wrist, sending the two werewolves that stormed inside flying backwards out of the room and into the hall. With her mind, she broke the neck of two others.

Davina took care of the fifth wolf, lifting her right hand and sending him flying through the balcony doors. Her magic wasn't as strong as before, she was taking the drops Dr. Hernandez had recommended so her powers had weaken considerably but she did have enough magic to fight back.

The glass broke when Davina send the wolf flying through it and the white thick fog began making its way inside the room.

They all coughed as they struggled to see through the white cloud that surrounded them.

"What is that smell?" Davina groaned as the strange scent hit her nose.

Charlotte covered her face with both hands while Lucy struggled to come up with a spell strong enough to disperse the fog. She also used her magic to lock the doors once more and buy them a couple more minutes to escape.

 _Come on,_ Lucy urged her magic. She was deep in concentration, her mind racing, lips whispering all the spells she could think of. It didn't work. None of the spells Lucy tried worked. _What kind of magic was this? Why couldn't she get rid of the fog?_

There was another bang.

Lucy jumped startled, her concentration breaking in the process. She heard the growls and felt their presence but she couldn't see them. And then she screamed as a figure appeared in front of her and grabbed her by the arms. Lucy sent a wave of her magic to push the attacker off her but it rebounded. _What the hell?_ She tried again at the same time that she struggled to pull her arms away from the strong grip but she was suddenly frozen in place. No matter how hard she struggled she couldn't move away. She felt hot and nauseous and some strange power seemed to have paralyzed her body.

"I got one," her attacker, a woman said loudly. "Get the others," she ordered.

"Let me go!" Lucy used her magic again and again as she struggled to break free but she couldn't. Her brain sent the message to get away and urged her body to respond but no matter what her mind ordered, her body did not move at all. Each of her magical attacks easily rebounded as well. Something was wrong. Her body felt feverish and as the seconds went by, her magic seemed to become weaker and weaker to the point that it began to feel like it was nonexistent.

Lucy heard a struggle. Davina yelled something, and there was a blast of magic but Lucy could barely concentrate as a wave of dizziness invaded her. She didn't understand what was going on. She felt so weak. "Run!" she managed to scream. "Run!" She hoped Davina and Charlotte listened to her anguished screams. "Get out!"

"Just a little bit more," the woman chuckled. "You are quite powerful, aren't you?" she squeezed Lucy's arms harder, long nails digging painfully into her skin. "Oh my, I've never taken magic from a witch as powerful as you."

Lucy's vision blurred and the fog blinding her to everything and everyone inside the room didn't help matters either. She could see the shadow of her attacker, of the woman holding her by the arms, but she couldn't really make out her face. _My magic,_ Lucy thought in panic. It was like her magic was abandoning her, like it was being sucked literately out of her. Because the woman grabbing her arms was doing just that, she was taking Lucy's magic away. _How she was able to do that?_ Lucy wasn't sure. There was something at the back of her mind, something she had learned in one of her mother's lessons but she couldn't really remember what it was. All she knew was that her body was pumped with fear and adrenaline. "Let me go!" Lucy struggled harder but it was in vain. She tried summoning her magic but nothing. She couldn't even fight back as she was rooted in place by an invisible force. _No, no, this can't be happening,_ Lucy thought. _You can't take my magic, it's mine!_

"Yes…" the woman moaned in ecstasy. "Oh, your magic is truly something." She squeezed Lucy's arms harder, leaving bruises behind. "Almost there."

Lucy let out a choked gasp, her heart constricted, and her eyes went wide as she felt the last of her magic leave her body. It was punch to the gut, a stab to the heart, and a blow to her head all at once. She felt like she was dying.

Lucy's body dropped to the ground unconscious.

* * *

Marcel and Thierry made it to the Quarter when it was completely engulfed in white. They both coughed and held their breaths but even when they tried not to breathe the poisonous air, the fog still got to them. Their vision became blurry, their movements slowed down, and they became confused.

Soon, the two friends ended up going their separate ways without even realizing it. They weren't thinking right, the fog made sure of it.

Marcel groaned as everything slowed down. With each passing minute, his senses became duller. He placed a hand against a concrete wall and struggled to remember. _What was he doing in the Quarter? What was he supposed to do?_ He was there for something important but he couldn't seem to remember what it was _. Fuck!_ He felt weak and tired. He pressed his back against the wall and slumped down on the ground, closing his eyes. _I just need a moment,_ he told himself. _I'll just close my eyes for a bit._ _Just for one moment,_ he kept repeating inside his mind.

In the distance, he could hear noises, struggles, _a fight maybe?_ He wasn't sure. _What was he supposed to do again?_ He was supposed to do something but he couldn't remember what.

He heard footsteps. Marcel's skin prickled as his senses came a live and alerted him to the dangerous presence making his way towards him. _Werewolves, danger, run!_ His instincts warned.

A mocking laugh a few feet away from him, had Marcel's eyelids fluttering open.

Two werewolves were walking towards him. They had sensed him and realized who he was immediately.

 _Stand up, fight!_ His senses screamed but Marcel felt so tired and sleepy, he didn't want to stand up. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep. _Yes, sleep sounded good, really good._

"The vampire king," one werewolf said.

"Former king," his friend corrected.

"Ah, that's right, he got kicked out."

They both laughed as they crossed the street and made their way towards the sleepy vampire. A few feet away from them, two of their friends were killing a young vampire girl. In the corner, two other wolves decapitated the two vampires that they found slumped down and sleeping like babies against the door of an ice cream shop.

Marcel struggled to keep his eyes open, his senses going crazy, warning him of the threats moving closer and closer to him.

The werewolves came to a stop when they were right in front of the former king, looking down at him with matching evil grins. It was the moment many of the wolves had dreamed of.

"Would you like to do the honors?" One werewolf asked.

"It would be my pleasure."

The two shared complicit smiles and turned back to look down at Marcel, more than ready to deliver the final blow.

There was a blast of power that shook the entire street, a blast of light that cut through the thick fog like a knife through butter. It came out nowhere but it easily destroyed the fog. The strange bright power was pure light that jolted all the vampires to their feet and woke them from their confused slumber in a heartbeat.

Both werewolves turned to each other in confusion.

"What the hell was that?"

The fog had disappeared completely.

One werewolf dared to look down and gasped when he realized Marcel was no longer sitting down on the ground.

"Looking for me?"

Both wolves turned around at the same time upon hearing his voice.

Marcel ripped their hearts out before they could even blink. He dropped the hearts on the ground and flashed towards the nearest werewolf he could find. He was pissed and ready to unleash all his anger on the enemy. He went straight for the kill.

Now that the fog had finally disappeared, the vampires that had fallen victim to its treacherous magic began fighting back. Many had been lost but there were still a great number remaining. Now things were even between them.

The powerful spell that the Travelers had done to create the fog was broken with a single powerful blast of magic.

There was only group of witches powerful enough to break the travelers evil spell.

The Bennett witches had arrived and joined the fight.

* * *

"It's done," the woman muttered while a satisfied smirk curled her lips. The magic she had stolen from the witch thrummed inside her, making her tingle and feel over the moon as the intoxicating power swirled inside her veins. She was a Siphoner, a rare breed of witch born without her own magic but with the rare ability to absorb magic from others and use it as her own. It was how she had been able to take Lucy's magic. "Where are the other ones?" She asked out loud. She had sensed three witches inside the room. One was down, two more needed to be caught.

There was no answer.

The woman frowned. She murmured a spell and the fog dispersed quickly. The three werewolves that had come inside the room with her now laid on the ground, clearly dead. The two other witches they had sensed inside the room were gone. She cursed.

Another wolf poked his head inside. "There is no one else on the second floor," he said as he looked around. "The first floor is secured."

"Pick her up you know what to do," the woman ordered pointing to the witch on the ground.

"Is this her?" the wolf asked curiously as he easily picked Lucy in his arms.

"I think so," the woman smirked. "Her magic is definitely unique." She pulled her cell phone out. "I'm going to call Franco to confirm."

The two began making their way out of the room and down the stairs. The woman shook her head. "He's not answering." She placed her cell phone back inside the pocket of her jacket. "Is the city secure?"

"We're almost there."

A blur appeared out of nowhere and slammed the woman to the wall. With a quick wave of the magic she now had inside her, she pushed the hybrid away from her and had him on his knees in a matter of seconds. She easily paralyzed the hybrid girl trying to sneak behind her. "I thought you said the first floor was secure." With a flick of her wrist she pushed both hybrids back to back.

Belle and Nate -who had managed to kill all the werewolves on the first floor and had stayed hidden to catch the two intruders unaware- screamed in pain as their bodies collided back to back. Their hybrid faces growling at the woman.

"I'm going to enjoy ripping your hearts out," the woman smirked raising her hand in their direction.

Belle gasped fearfully as she felt the pain in her chest. Her hybrid face turned human once more. _This is it,_ she thought closing her eyes and whimpering. She was going to die.

Nate cursed and struggled to break free.

Before the other woman could take their hearts out however, she was flown back, her body slamming hard against the wall behind her.

The werewolf gasped as a he was suddenly paralyzed by a wave of powerful magic. He stood frozen, like a statue but still holding the unconscious woman in his arms.

Nate and Belle breathed sighs of relief upon seeing the two witches making their way inside the compound.

"Take your hands off my daughter," Joanna hissed, with a flick of her wrist, Lucy's unconscious body floated away from the wolf, it was gently deposited on the ground.

The wolf's eyes widened as he struggled to break free from the paralyzing spell keeping him in place. With another flick of Joanna's wrist, his neck was broken and he dropped to the ground dead.

Joanna immediately rushed to her daughter's side.

The woman pinned to the wall managed to break free and ran straight towards the two witches that had suddenly appeared inside the compound. She grabbed the older woman by the arms and proceeded to syphon her magic, a wicked grin on her face as she sank her nails on the soft and delicate skin of her arms.

Vivian arched an eyebrow and gave her an unamused look.

The woman gasped upon realizing she couldn't syphon the older witch's magic. _Why?_ No one had ever been able to resist her ability before.

"The arrogance of youth," Vivian muttered clearly unimpressed with the woman's antics. With her mind, she crushed the woman's legs and had her on the ground and crying out in pain in no time. _Stupid girl,_ she thought. Vivian Bennett always wore a protective talisman around her neck, it was invisible to others expect for her. Not to mention, the countless protection spells she had placed upon herself before heading into battle. She had never been caught unaware by her enemies. She was always prepared.

The woman looked up. She gasped in shock, tears already running down her cheeks as she felt the excruciating pain of having the bones in both of her legs broken by Vivian's powerful magic.

With a wave of Vivian's hand, the woman's throat was slit open. She fell to the ground, choking to death.

The minute the woman's heart stopped beating, the magic she had taken from Lucy happily returned to her rightful owner.

Lucy's eyes snapped open as she woke up with a loud gasp. "Mom?" she blinked in confusion.

Joanna who had Lucy's head in her lap smiled down at her. "It's okay baby, you're okay."

"Stand up," Vivian ordered right away. "This battle has just begun. There is no time to waste."

Lucy groaned but did as she was ordered.

* * *

Nothing in the world could have ever prepared her for this moment.

Bonnie couldn't think.

Bonnie couldn't breathe.

There were no words to describe the fear, the anguish, the utter terror she felt upon staring at the monster that had haunted her in dreams. Her entire body shook uncontrollably as she stood rooted to the spot, watching him through terrified eyes.

Franco's eyes gleamed with triumph as he drank the sight of her. There was a part of him that couldn't believe the moment he had always dreamed of had finally become reality. He stared at her lovely heart shaped face, at those bright green eyes, and luscious lips. "You are so beautiful." She was far more beautiful in the flesh than she had been in pictures. Franco reached out and touched her face.

Bonnie whimpered. The feel of his hand cupping her cheek was like acid melting her flesh. She took a fearful step back, trying to get away from him.

Franco chuckled. "There is no need to be afraid," he said in what Bonnie supposed to him was a reassuring tone. For her, it felt like a threat.

Bonnie took another step back.

Franco slid his gaze from her scared face and down her neck, towards her generous breasts and-

He growled. His eyes flashed gold for just a second as his wolf surfaced for a brief moment, fueled by the anger he felt. The full moon was the next day and the beast inside him was on the verge of breaking free. The happiness in his face upon seeing her face to face disappeared the minute his eyes landed on the visible baby bump, on the proof that Klaus's seed had taken root inside her. The rage Franco felt boiled his blood and had his lips curling in disgust. "Selene," Franco said in a cold and detached voice.

A dark haired, tall, and voluptuous woman stepped forward.

Bonnie saw her out of the corner of her eye, she also spotted the group of Travelers gathered at the entrance of the alley. The fog had vanished completely and she could see them clearly. She was still in shock, the fear lacing her veins preventing her from acting quickly, from thinking of a plan to escape. She had been completely caught off guard and the fear eating away at her heart had her completely incapacitated.

The woman, Selene had a devious smirk on her face as she moved closer to Bonnie.

There was something about her, something that had the hairs on the back of Bonnie's neck standing up and goosebumps forming on her flesh. _Danger!_ Bonnie's instincts screamed.

"You know what to do," Franco said as he glanced at Selene before focusing on Bonnie once more.

 _Don't just stand there, fight back,_ her mind screamed. Bonnie looked warily between Selene and Franco, not knowing what they were planning. She didn't do anything. She was completely still, almost curling into herself as she continued to willingly back herself into a corner. Her mind was completely blank, countless of spells, countless of hours reading the vast collection of grimoires she and Klaus had and nothing. Nothing came to her mind. She had been struck completely powerless by her own fear.

Selene moved so fast, Bonnie didn't react. She grabbed her arms in a painful grip.

Bonnie gasped as she felt the sharp nails sinking into her arms even through the sweater she was wearing. She stared wide at the sinister smile on Selene's red lips. "What?" There was a wave of pain, her vision blurred, and her body trembled as a sudden cold invaded her. And then, she was burning. Bonnie screamed.

Franco watched and waited, his eyes glinting knowingly.

The Travelers chanted in a strange language, raising their hands in Bonnie's direction. A couple of them frowned when they realized their magic was not affecting her at all. The others continued chanting, not realizing their spells could not harm the young Bennett queen.

"No…" Bonnie struggled trying to break free from Selene. Something was keeping her glued to the spot and it had nothing to do with her fear. _What's going on?_ She didn't understand what was going on.

Pain

Her skin felt on fire, boiling her from the inside out while sweat began trickling down her forehead.

"You are magnificent," Selene muttered. Her eyes were closed and she had a look of pure ecstasy on her face. "Your power…" She shivered in delight.

"Stop!" Bonnie struggled harder, trying to break free from her grasp. It didn't work.

"It will be over soon, my dear love."

Bonnie glared at Franco upon hearing those words and tried to pulled away from Selene but it was in vain, she couldn't do it. She felt weak, really weak and tired. "Let me go!" A loud gasped escaped her then and her knees gave out as her magic continued to be sucked out of her. _No, No, No,_ Bonnie screamed inside her mind. _She's taking your magic, fight her. Stop her!_

It hurt.

Bonnie felt an intense pain inside her body, spreading form her head and down to her toes as her magic was completely sucked out of her. She sank to the ground gasping and shaking uncontrollably, a cold sweat trickling down her back. She laid on her hands and knees, a small trail of blood trickling down her nose and falling on the pavement.

"This is incredible," Selene whispered in awe. "Oh, Franco. I knew I made the right chose by making a deal with you." She gave him a sly smirk.

"I told you it would be worth it," Franco replied with a chuckle. "Is it done?"

"Yes."

Bonnie barely heard what they were saying. She was so out of it, red spots formed behind her eyelids. Time seemed to stand still as she struggled to keep herself awake. The darkness threatened to swallow her. _Don't give up Bonnie, don't close your eyes or it will be the end._

When Franco lifted her up, Bonnie flinched by she didn't have the strength to fight him. She shivered feeling a cold sensation against her back as he pinned her to the wall. _Just like her dream_ , she thought vaguely, that terrifying dream that had turned her into a scared little girl.

"Don't…" she murmured weakly as Franco trapped her with his hard body against the wall. His hot breath tickled her ear as he pressed himself firmly against her. Bonnie whimpered turning her face away in disgust as he leaned forward.

It was like having an out of body experience, like she was watching from above, seeing as she stood there doing nothing while the monster of her nightmares touched her.

 _What the hell is wrong with you? fight!_

Franco's hands grabbed her upper arms, fingers sinking painfully on her skin, bruising her.

Tears burned in her eyes.

Franco's touch was cold, frightening, for it was the caress of death. He nuzzled his face against her face.

Bonnie tried to move away as far as she could. She hated his scent, hated his hands on her arms, and the feel of his body pressed against hers, crushing her against the wall. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. When Franco leaned forward, it made Bonnie sick. He smelled of death.

"You are mine now," Franco whispered triumphally against her ear.

Something inside of her died in that moment. Her nightmare had become reality. After all the warnings her dreams represented, Bonnie still fell right into his trap. She was now faced with the most horrible, desolate feeling, the realization that she was trapped, that Franco had won. He had her right where he wanted to. Her dream was now a sick and twisted reality that was eating her alive, that was destroying her slowly and painfully.

Franco licked her cheek before his hungry mouth desperately sought hers.

Bonnie felt disgust towards Franco, she wanted to gag as he pressed his cold, chapped lips against hers, trying desperately to force her mouth open. She felt sick but she felt something else as well. Something far more beautiful and powerful.

If the instant before she had died, in that moment, Bonnie came back to life. Her eyes opened wide as she felt that strange little flutter inside her. _Her babies_ , telling her that she was not alone, reminding her what she had to live for, what she had to fight for. Not only did she became aware of the precious flutter inside her belly but she also felt their _magic._ For Selene had not taken their magic away, the twins had been protected in their own little cocoon of power, a power that Bonnie felt.

It was a jolt to her system.

It was the wake-up call she desperately needed.

It was a surreal and strange thing, to be drowning and suddenly find oneself floating up and breathing fresh air, to be burning in the deepest of hell only to suddenly ascend to heaven.

It was exhilarating.

With that precious flutter inside her belly- came a powerful jolt of magic that pushed Franco away from Bonnie, it was just a couple of feet but it was enough to give her the space and the time she needed to pull herself together.

There was a look of surprise in Franco's face as he regarded Bonnie. _Selene had taken her magic way so where had this power come from?_

The Travelers began chanting again.

Selene took a step forward and extended her hand ready to attack but the she stumbled once, twice, blood suddenly oozing down her nose as all her movements halted. She looked at Franco in shock before she turned to Bonnie. "What-" Something wasn't right. The magic inside her was hurting her. It was strange, that had never happened to her before. She let out a strange noise as her knees gave out and she found herself choking by the strange power inside of her. The magic inside her was turning against her. It was slowly killing her from the inside.

Expression was unhappy, it wanted out, it wanted to return to its rightful mistress.

 _You're not worthy._

Selene gasped upon hearing that strange thought inside her mind. _I don't want you, I want her._ The magic inside her was alive and it was slowly and painfully killing her. Selene struggled, strange and incomprehensible noises coming out of her mouth as she tried to speak.

While Selene struggled, Franco moved so fast, Bonnie didn't even see him.

The air left her lungs as he pushed her against the wall once more.

This time however, fear no longer paralyzed her. Bonnie lifted her hand and tried to slap him. The minute her palm connected with the side of his face, Franco screamed in pain as she burned him. It was an unexpected turn of events, something neither of them thought could happen.

While Franco was left stunned by the shock of the burn, Bonnie realized what was happening and pressed her hand harder against the side of his face, burning his flesh, and melting his skin to the bone.

Franco let out an anguished scream.

The Travelers took a step forward and continued chanting, their magic swirling in Bonnie's direction, viciously trying to attack her. Except none of their attacks reached her, the Travelers magic was easily blocked by the necklace around Bonnie's neck which glowed bright red every time it rebounded an attack against her.

Franco continued to scream like crazy as his skin burned, he tried to choke Bonnie with his other hand but she took the opportunity to knee him between his legs. He groaned and fell to the ground in pain, grabbing his balls.

Bonnie turned back to Selene, a furious look on her face. She extended her right hand. That was all it took for her magic to return to her with ease. She didn't have to say anything; her magic instinctively knew what to do.

Expression happily broke Selene's neck before it flew back inside Bonnie's body, humming happily upon being reunited with the mistress it had chosen for all eternity. Bonnie's own magic, the one she had been born with also hummed in harmony upon returning to her. The combined power floating inside her made Bonnie tingle all over.

Bonnie stared at Selene's corpse one last time before she walked towards the entrance of the alley, the Travelers were still trying to hurt her. Bonnie walked until she stood right in front of them, they continued to chant determined to attack her with their magic, attacks her necklace deflected with ease. With one wave of her hand, they were easily lifted into the air. She snapped their neck with a flick of her wrist and their bodies fell to the ground with a loud thud, dead.

Bonnie turned around to face the monster of her nightmares. The one who had tormented her in dreams and made her so afraid. There was a part of her that was urging her to run, to get away from him, to escape now that she had the chance but there was also another part of her that was urging her to destroy him, to put an end to this once and for all.

 _Time to face your fears Bonnie,_ she told herself. She lifted her chin and raised her hand summoning all her magic. She could do this, she had to do this. As scared as she felt, Bonnie knew she had to stop living in fear of him. Franco was just a man, he was flesh and blood and she could hurt him. She had hurt him already. She had burned him with her bare hands and that was nothing compared to what she could do with her magic. The time to put end to this had come. She could run and give Franco another chance to attack and come for her or she could end him, right here, right now. It was time to conquer her fear, to crush it, and put it to rest.

Bonnie took a step forward a determined look on her face. _He is nothing,_ she told herself. _You can end him_.

Franco growled and despite the pain and the humiliation he felt, he pushed himself to his feet and faced her. His desire, his need to possessed her, to claim her as his, overpowered all else. It fueled his veins and gave him the strength he needed to forget the pain and focus on getting what he wanted. And what he wanted above all else was Bonnie. Franco felt determined to have her one way or another. He was not going to give up not now, not ever.

Bonnie turned her head to the side upon feeling a familiar presence nearby. She frowned before a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she felt the bond pulsing with life, love, strength, and the reassurance she needed. In that moment, any doubts she felt were easily washed away.

Franco's eyes gleamed as he stared at her like a hungry breast, ready to pounce. With half of his faced burned, he looked every inch the monster he was.

Bonnie met his eyes and prepared herself. "You are going to die tonight," she swore. _This had to end tonight. It was now or never._

Franco chuckled, feeling amused by her threat. "The things I am going to do to you," he said huskily while his heated eyes undressed her without shame.

A loud growl coming from above had both of them looking up into the night sky.

The severed head fell down first, hitting hard against the pavement and rolling face first.

Bonnie gasped.

Franco growled upon recognizing the head of his younger brother.

A second later, Klaus dropped down inside the alley, right in between Bonnie and Franco. The pure rage and murderous glint in his golden eyes was unmistakable.

It was Bonnie _and_ Klaus versus Franco now.

The arrogant Alpha of the Navarro clan had been backed into a corner by a trap of his own making.


	56. Chapter 56

_A/N: This chapter is way too long and I apologize in advance but I didn't want to cut it and keep prolonging the battle. I hope you like it._

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Upon their arrival, the Bennett witches began making their way into the foggy Quarter. It was hard to see through the thick white cloud but they managed. They were determined and ready for war. Even Abby who had no magic and was not part of the coven anymore had come with them. She had come for Bonnie.

Vivian like the great General she was, led the charge. She gave orders left and right, organizing them into the different smaller groups, and leading them straight into battle. "Stay safe. Honor the Bennett name and make our ancestors proud," She told them fiercely. There was no time for speeches, she went straight to the point.

The first order of business was to break the spell that created the fog. Diana, Lucrecia, and Amina stood in the middle of one foggy and desolate street, holding hands, and chanting under their breaths. The three elders combined their powers in order to break the clever spell the Travelers had created to defeat the vampires.

Tinisha, Cecily, and Beatrice watched their backs, firing spells left and right and stopping any werewolf or Traveler that tried to sneak on them and dared to attack.

The rest of the Bennett coven followed Aunt Vivian.

The Navarro werewolves and the Travelers that got in there way regretted it immediately. They were no match for the power of the Bennett bloodline.

Soon, the bodies of Travelers and werewolves alike were left on the street as the Bennett women made their way through the fog like queens.

* * *

Elijah did his best to follow the large number of wolves and Travelers he had sensed. He was as quiet as a ghost, his senses expanded to their limit as he followed the group through the thick fog that covered streets. Elijah had a feeling that they were making their way to the heart of the city and judging by the loud fighting noises in the distance, it was safe to assume that the Quarter was under attack already.

The Navarro's were playing a smart game, rather than have all their army attack at once, they were doing it little by little. One wave after another, disguised by the Travelers' brilliant spell.

A movement out of the corner of his eye caught Elijah's attention. It was hard to distinguish it through the blanket of white surrounding him but something had moved there. His senses prickled, warning him that there was a vampire nearby, not just any vampire but an Original. A familiar scent reached his nose.

Kol was nearby.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Kol no doubt had sensed him and was making his way towards him. As his brother approached him, Elijah felt the surge of magic in the air. He stopped abruptly.

There was a sudden blast of light that cut through the fog completely.

It nearly blinded Elijah as it swirled through every street, corner, and building in the city. He flung himself against a nearest wall and placed his hand over his eyes shielding them from the bright wave of magic that passed him. He felt a strange warm tingle in his skin and he tensed immediately. The light did not hurt him however, it simply evaporated the thick fog.

It was a powerful blast of power that swiftly cut through the fog, like a knife through butter. The thick cloud of white that had engulfed the city in a dangerous trap disappeared as quickly as it had come. Almost in the blink of an eye.

Elijah could feel it in the air, that ancient and powerful magic. It was the residue of the magical signature which lingered long after the white light disappeared along with the fog. _Bennett magic,_ he realized immediately. He had been around enough Bennett witches to know how their magic felt. He was quite familiar with it by now.

Once the fog cleared, his eyes found Kol on the opposite street. His brother nodded in his direction before looking towards the large army they both had been following.

No words needed to be said, the two of them knew the time to attack had come. And that's exactly what they did.

As the army led by Luis Navarro stormed through Bourbon Street, the two Original siblings attacked them from behind.

The hybrids, Fenrir's pack, and most of the vampires that had managed to survive the first wave of the Navarro attack met them head on.

While the wolves went straight for the kill, the Travelers split into smaller groups, forming a circle, closing their eyes, and lowering their heads as they began channeling all their power at once. They used their magic to block, to attack, and to protect the wolves that were on their side.

A group of witches led by Vincent Griffith arrived a few minutes later and wasted no time in joining the fight. In the short amount of time he had, Vincent had gathered witches from the Treme coven, Gentilly, and Algiers. The only covens that responded to his warnings and petitions for help. They alongside the Bennett witches were ready to give the Travelers one hell of a magical fight. They were ready to defend their city.

All of New Orleans shook as the three powerful supernatural species clashed together in a bloody battle.

* * *

Following Klaus's dramatic entrance, all three of them stood in completely silence.

The tension in the air was beyond palpable.

Klaus glanced quickly at Bonnie, looking her up and down, and searching for any signs of harm on her body. There was a clear question in his golden eyes. _Are you alright?_

Bonnie gave a slight nod, doing her best to reassure him through their bond that she had not been harmed. _I'm fine. We all are. Don't worry,_ her thoughts echoed easily inside his mind.

Klaus nodded.

The exchanged was done in a matter of seconds.

Only when the hybrid was satisfied, did he turned back to face the inferior wolf. The monster he had been fantasizing about ripping apart for weeks. The anger that he felt in his veins at finding him in the alley with Bonnie was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It was pure and all consuming, fueling his veins with the thirst for revenge. The wolf and the vampire in him both wanted blood. They wanted Franco dead.

The two enemies eyed each other. Their eyes locked in a battle of wills. Two wolves, two men who hated one another and wished the other dead.

Franco gave Klaus a murderous glare. This was obviously not what he had been expecting when he decided to go to New Orleans. This turn of events was something he had not anticipated. He who had created a master plan of attack had been caught by surprise. He hated it. He glanced down at the head of his younger brother and let out a growl from within his chest. _This is your fault,_ he said to Victor's head with his eyes. Victor's stupidity had let them to this moment.

Klaus had murdered Victor and brought his severed head as some time of souvenir, proudly dropping it in the alley, right by Franco's feet. "Do you like my gift?" he taunted while a malevolent grin formed on his lips.

Franco gave his brother one last look before facing the hybrid once more. The rage and the hatred in his eyes as he looked at Klaus was unmistakable. He hated Klaus Mikaelson with every fiber of his being. There were so many biting words forming in his head and yet, he couldn't bring himself to utter any of them.

Bonnie looked nervously between both men. She felt relieved about Klaus's timely arrival, his presence reassured her immensely but the emotions flowing through their bond had her nerves on edge. She had never felt such rage coming from Klaus as she did in that moment. She had felt Klaus's anger many times before but this anger was unrivaled. It had the hairs on the back of her neck standing up and her stomach coiling with knots. She was not afraid of Klaus. Her witch senses were not threatened by him-for they knew the hybrid would never hurt her-but they alerted her to that volcano of fury that was about to explode.

"Franco Navarro," the hybrid hissed the name with disgust. It definitely left a bad taste in his mouth. "I once told you that you made the biggest mistake of your life coming after what's _mine_." He took a menacing step forward. "I made a promise to end you." His amber eyes glinted and he smiled, openly displaying his ferocious double set of fangs.

Bonnie shivered. The cold, detached, and sinister voice was frightening. Klaus was a man on a mission; her hybrid was not one to be messed with in that moment. He was out for blood. There was a darker part of her that felt excited about what was about to unfold. She knew Klaus was about to rip Franco apart and she felt a strange thrill run over her body in anticipation of it.

Franco stood rooted to the spot. To his credit, he did not shrink back in fear, or made any nervous gestures. He was a statue, watching, listening, and looking at Klaus with anger but he didn't dare move a muscle. Despite his mask of bravado there was a hint of fear in the air, sweat trickled down his back and wetted his shirt, and the burning pain on half of his face pulsed, reminding him that he was not at his best. Not only that, Franco was alone against them.

"Step out of the alley Bonnie," Klaus ordered not taking his eyes off Franco. Despite the all consuming need to give into the raging beast inside him, he didn't want Bonnie to witness it. He didn't want to taint Bonnie with this.

"No," Bonnie's voice was surprisingly calm. It was strange, but the fear that had cursed through her veins had been replaced by a quiet calmness. With Klaus by her side, she knew there was nothing to fear. She knew with certainty that it was over. "I'm not going anywhere."

Klaus glanced at her over his shoulder before focusing his attention back on Franco once more.

The wolf looked back and forth between them before moving his eyes to the entrance of the alley, where the bodies of the Travelers that had been with him laid. He seemed to be contemplating to make a run for it. He either stayed and faced the hybrid's wrath or tried to escape.

Franco took a gamble.

Klaus easily anticipated his moves.

The second Franco tried to run, the hybrid grabbed him and threw his body against the wall.

There was a loud crack, as Franco's shoulder connected with the hard concrete. There was a sharp stab of pain but he had no time to dwell on it. He tried to make a run for it again, it didn't work.

Klaus's fist connected with Franco's jaw next.

Franco sank to his knees by the force of the blow, spitting blood while his vision clouded. Before he even had time to recover, Klaus punched him again, and again, and again.

Bonnie winced and jumped back startled as she witnessed the force behind each of Klaus's punches. She had expected Klaus to rip Franco's head or heart out and be done with it, but he didn't. Klaus was punching Franco with his bare hands.

Again, and again Klaus slammed his fist into Franco's face. Before killing him, Klaus was going to give Franco as much pain as possible, returning the torturous agony he had put Bonnie through.

Franco tried to fight back, he struggled to get a punch in but Klaus easily evaded all his weak attempts; chuckling merrily before delivering a blow ten times stronger and far more painful than the last.

Klaus's fists connected with the wolf's half burned face, with his nose-breaking it with ease, with his mouth-knocking a couple of teeth out. And then, he moved to his ribs, and stomach. All the anger, all the frustration, all the hatred he felt towards Franco, towards the fear he had instilled in Bonnie surfaced with a vengeance that was unstoppable. He took perverse pleasure in breaking Franco's bones, in inflicting pain all over his body, and hearing his moans and groans of anguish.

Klaus wanted Franco to suffer, he wanted Franco to feel pain, he wanted Franco's last moments on earth to be agonizing. He had to paid for those horrible dreams Bonnie had been subjected to. He had to paid for daring to think that he could touch his woman, his mate, with his filthy paws.

While Klaus punched Franco with one hand, he used his other hand to crush Franco's fingers. The wolf screamed in agony as Klaus squeezed the digits with one hand, using his hybrid strength to break all of the bones.

Franco groaned pitifully as Klaus threw him against one wall, before throwing him hard against the other wall, and punching him some more. The crushing sound of his bones breaking resonated in the dark alley when Klaus began punching and kicking him again.

Bonnie never took her eyes away from the scene. There was something utterly satisfying upon seeing Franco's weak, bloody, and half broken body on the ground while Klaus leaned over him, beating him hard. Each time Franco cried out in pain from one of Klaus's blows, it was music to Bonnie's ears. She felt great satisfaction in the knowledge that Franco was hurting, that he was humiliated, that he was a bug easily crushed under Klaus's mighty strength. Maybe it was sick and twisted to enjoy each of Klaus's blows to Franco's body but she did. She enjoyed it very much.

Franco Navarro was nothing. The monster that had tormented her in dreams had been reduced to a pitiful, weak, and pathetic creature. It brought her immeasurable satisfaction. Revenge was sweet, a very sweet thing.

She should have known it was too good to last.

Feeling a prickle at the back of her neck, Bonnie turned to look over her shoulder. The next thing she knew she was slammed hard against the wall to her left, a pale hand squeezing her throat so hard she was afraid that he might break her in half.

The attack took her completely by surprise.

Bonnie was not prepared for the wave of pain that followed.

There was a hot burning pain at the back of her head, it spread all the way down to her lower back. Her vision blurred and a strange noise that sounded like a wail escaped her lips curtesy of the force of the blow as her head connected hard with the wall. The air left her lungs and her feet dangled a couple of inches from the ground.

The tall, muscular werewolf squeezed his thick fingers harder against her neck and grinned.

Klaus let out a roar of rage and threw himself at the wolf who had attacked Bonnie.

A group of Travelers stopped him half way. They raised their hands and chanted furiously, paralyzing the hybrid under their powerful magic. The wolves that had come with the Travelers threw enchanted chains which were laced with vervain around Klaus's arms and neck, forcing the hybrid to his knees, and trapping him completely.

The more Klaus struggled to break free of the chains, the more the chains squeezed his body and tightened their hold on him. The vervain on the chains however, did not affected him at all. He didn't even feel it.

More Travelers and wolves gathered near the entrance of the alley. They were ready and eager to defend their master.

"Franco," one Traveler kneeled on the ground next to Franco.

Franco blinked up upon hearing the echo of his voice. He groaned in agony. He was on the ground, barely conscious as he struggled to catch his breath. His chest and stomach hurt, and more than one rib had been broken by the force of Klaus' blows. His face was covered in nasty bruises and blood, which slid down to his neck and chest. He coughed and nearly choked on his own blood. The Traveler helped him roll to his side, so he could breathe a little better.

Another wolf got down on his knees on the floor, horrified by his Alpha's weak and bloody appearance.

"Maria!" he called to one of the leaders of the Travelers. "He needs your help."

Maria rushed to Franco's side along with three other Travelers. They all got down on their knees next to the Alpha's bloodied body and began chanting furiously, trying to heal his wounds and save his life.

Klaus raged and struggled to stand under the Traveler's powerful magic. His eyes still on the wolf that was choking his wife. The need to protect her, the rage he felt at the wolf for daring to hurt her, and the desire to crush all the enemies surrounding them was fuel to the fire that was his beastly strength. He pushed himself to his feet.

A few of the wolves took a couple of steps back, surprised by the strength Klaus showed in that moment.

Some of the Travelers hissed and continued to chant, sweat trickling down their foreheads as they fought to suppress the hybrid's strength. They were determined to neutralize him completely.

Klaus groaned at the pain he felt upon standing up. Fire exploded inside his brain and blood oozed down his nose for the Traveler's dark magic was trying to force him down again. Klaus fought with everything he had and remained on his feet, defying the Travelers and their great power. The need to keep Bonnie and his children safe was the only thing on his mind. He watched as Bonnie struggled against the wolf and he fought to break free from the magic trying to keep him in place in order to help his mate. She needed him.

There were a couple of seconds of confusion and pain following the surprise attack. Bonnie felt disoriented by the blow to her head and the fact that there was a hand squeezing her throat did not help at all. Thankfully, the twins' healing abilities kicked in pretty soon.

Where she found the strength to lift her hand and grab the wolf's wrist Bonnie didn't know, nor did she stop to think about it. She simply acted on instinct. The minute her trembling hand landed on the wolf's wrist, he screamed in pain as Bonnie's magic burned his flesh to the bone. He let go of her throat immediately and looked down in horror at the melted flesh that was his arm.

Bonnie landed on her knees gasping for air. The relief she felt upon being able to breathe again was as sweet as a summer's breeze. She caught sight of Klaus struggling against the chains on his body and the magic the Travelers unleashed upon him. _I have to help him,_ she thought.

"You fucking bitch!"

The blow to the side of her face had her neck snapping painfully to the side and red spots forming behind her eyelids. Her vision blurred once more and there was a moment where all the noises around her were muted. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. It hurt.

The growl that escaped Klaus's chest had the entire alley trembling with the sound of his fury.

All hell broke loose in the seconds that followed.

Two things happened at once, the first,-

The wolf slammed his fist down once more, ready to deliver another blow to Bonnie's already bruised face. With a speed that took him completely off guard, Bonnie intercepted his blow, catching his wrist with her left hand.

The wolf's eyes went wide, not expecting the amazing reflexes the tiny witch displayed.

Bonnie stood up fast, finding the strength deep within her to break the wolf's arm with one hand.

The wolf screamed and his eyes bulged out of their sockets as his arm was twisted painfully behind his back. The witch moved so fast, he didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late.

Bonnie grabbed his head and pushed it to the side, exposing his neck.

The wolf squirmed and tried to get away but he couldn't. Bonnie was holding him down with unnatural strength.

Bonnie buried her head on the side of his neck and bit hard into his flesh. She wasn't thinking, she was acting on impulse, guided by some strange urge to bite her enemy. Her blunt teeth ripped through the wolf's flesh as if they were fangs.

The wolf cried out in agony as his blood was suddenly pumped by the venom flowing in Bonnie's veins.

Bonnie flung him away from her as if he were nothing. A low growl escaped her throat, dark veins formed beneath her green eyes which were now a shade darker, and were surrounded by specks of gold. With a wave of her hand, she blasted the Travelers that were helping Franco towards the wall behind them. She clenched her hand into a fist and ripped their hearts out in a blink of eye. The hearts and the corpses fell down to the ground with a loud thud.

The wolves jumped on her only to be blasted out of the alley by another powerful wave of her magic.

The other Travelers in the alley tried to fight back with their magic but the necklace around Bonnie's neck blocked all of their attacks. The young Bennett queen ripped hearts, snapped necks, and set anyone who got in her way in flames.

There was no time to think, there was no time to second guess herself, Bonnie fought with everything she had. Adrenaline pumped her veins as she summoned her magic and unleashed all its force against the Travelers and wolves surrounding her and Klaus.

The second thing happened practically at the same time,

Klaus's rage had him ripping through the magical chains and through his clothes. He let out a roar of pure fury before he shifted into his wolf form and broke through the Travelers' powerful magic.

It was so unexpected, the Travelers gasped and stumbled back in shock. The only thing they saw before meeting their end, were the yellow eyes and the bushy black fur.

The huge black wolf wasted no time using his sharp teeth and crushing jaw to tear his enemies into pieces. He was a big, ferocious, growling beast with the strength and reflexes of an Original. Even in his wolf form, Klaus moved at the speed of light.

While Bonnie used her magic, Klaus used his speed and strength to tackle Travelers and Navarro wolves to the ground, tearing through their flesh with ease, devouring them like they were rabbits.

The witch and the wolf fought side by side and unleashed hell on their enemies.

There were no words to describe the massacre that followed.

* * *

Davina groaned and stared at the black sky in confusion. _What in the world?_ She pulled herself into a sitting position and looked around the dark street with uncertainty. She wasn't entirely sure how they made it out of the house and into the alley behind the property. She felt confused and jittery.

The fog had disappeared but the sound of fighting could be heard clearly from where they were.

The city was still under attack.

Charlotte was sitting on the ground next to her, breathing heavily, and blinking in confusion. She seemed a little dazed.

"What did you do?" Davina asked rather curiously. The wolves had come for them and there had been a struggle. Davina was pretty sure she had seen a bright light that had appeared out of nowhere and nearly blinded her before it took them away. The last thing she had felt had been Charlotte's hand grabbing hers and then there was nothing. When she opened her eyes, she was in the alley behind the compound. _How could that be?_

Charlotte turned her head to the side and stared at Davina, her face scrunched up in confusion. "I don't know." She took a big gulp of air. Her head hurt, and she felt really tired. A yawn escaped her lips. "Sleepy…" she muttered.

"How did you get us out of the house?" Davina wondered out loud as she pulled herself to her feet. There was a dumpster, a couple of empty bottles of beer, and a lamppost that illuminated the cracked pavement where they were sitting. She looked nervously at the entrance to the alley, the growling and crashing noises were becoming louder by the second. _We need to get out of here,_ she realized. "We need to find a safe place."

Charlotte shrugged before letting out another big yawn. She suddenly decided to lie back down on the dirty pavement and closed her eyes.

"Charlotte!"

"I'm tired," Charlotte mumbled as she curled into a fetal position. "Sleepy…" she rubbed her eyes, yawning once more.

"We can't stay here, it's dangerous," Davina said worriedly looking around their surroundings. She didn't know what had happened with Lucy, _was she okay?_ She wasn't even sure if they should try and go back to the house or hide somewhere and wait for the fighting to stop. Her nerves were on high alert, they could sense the werewolves out in the streets, the witches, and the vampires. A few angry shouts were heard and the lingering traces of magic floated in the air, engulfing the Quarter with a strange and intoxicating scent. _Were Bonnie and Klaus on their way?_ She wondered fearfully.

The battle was still going on and Davina felt afraid and uncertain. She didn't know what to do.

Charlotte's nose twitched and she made a face. "Eww!"

Davina recognized the scent immediately. "Something is burning." This was bad, really bad. _What the hell were they going to do now?_ "Charlotte listen to me," Davina said moving closer to the little girl. "We need to find Lucy, we need to find some place to hide and wait for Kol or Klaus and Bonnie…"

Loud growling noises were heard really close to them, closer than before.

Davina bit her lip and looked nervously at the entrance of the alley. "Charlotte, are you listening?" she turned to face the little witch only to find her curled into a fetal position, with her eyes closed, and her hands tugged against her chest. "You got to be kidding me!"

 _How in the world could Charlotte fall asleep with everything that was going on?_

Davina got on her knees and tapped Charlotte on the shoulder. "Wake up."

Charlotte mumbled something and pushed Davina's hand away. "Go. Away."

"Charlotte, you need to wake up." Davina shook Charlotte harder. "We can't stay here, wake up."

Charlotte opened her eyes and glared at her.

"We have to find a place to hide, come on." Davina urged the little witch, helping her to her feet. More like dragging he up to her feet actually. She could be really stubborn.

"I'm sleepy," Charlotte whined.

"You'll have time to sleep later."

Charlotte pouted.

"And what do we have here?"

Both girls gasped and turned to the entrance of the alley where two werewolves now stood.

"Fresh meat," one of them grinned. He had a gap between his yellow teeth, while his dark long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. His companion on the other hand was all muscles, a tanned hard face, and short hair. He cracked his knuckles while offering both young witches a sinister smile. "Pretty meat."

Davina took a protective stance in front of Charlotte. "Go away," she hissed, raising her hand and summoning her magic-which thanks to Dr. Hernandez's drops wasn't as powerful as it used to be. _It's enough to fight them,_ she reassured herself. _You can do this._ She could protect Charlotte and get them out of there. She had to.

The wolves laughed, both of them feeling amused by her threat. They shared matching evil grins before they launched themselves at the girls. They didn't make it very far.

One wolf was flung up into the sky by a blur. The heart dropped first and then the body, falling on the pavement with a loud thud.

Charlotte's eyes opened wide as she saw the figure that dropped down next to them shortly after. "You…" she whispered looking up and down at the person that came to their rescue.

The bold, muscled wolf was also immediately stopped. He gasped and sank to his knees, a blood stain forming on his white shirt. His eyes opened wide and he let out an anguish groan before his body dropped forward.

"Marcel!" Davina's eyes lit up and a deliriously happy smile formed on her face upon seeing her adoptive father standing behind the wolf that was going to attack her.

Marcel dropped the heart on the ground and turned to smile at Davina. "Hey, D. Long time no see." The beaming smile on his handsome face was contagious. It felt like an eternity since the last time he saw her. It had been far too long.

"Hi…" Davina murmured. She felt happy, relieved, even nervous as she stared at him. So much had happened since she had been taken from St. Anne's church. So much had changed since then, but the one thing that would never change was the deep love and affection they had for one another.

They contemplated each other for a few seconds, neither of them sure what to say or do.

It was Davina who made the first move and rushed into her adoptive father's waiting arms. She threw her arms around him and hugged him with all her strength. "I missed you," she whispered against his chest.

"I missed you too," Marcel whispered back as he held her tight and kissed the top of her head.

Kol frowned. He looked from Marcel who was crushing Davina into a bear hug to the little girl watching him warily. "What are you looking at?" he snapped. He had battled his way through the Navarro army upon seeing the smoke coming from the compound. He was making his way towards the house when he heard Davina's voice and sensed the two wolves. He had immediately rushed to the alley behind the house and found the girls there

"I'm not going to hug you," Charlotte told him crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. Her tiredness and sleepiness all but forgotten in favor of her dislike of him. "I don't like you."

"You think I want a hug from you, little demon?" Kol scoffed. "Don't get any ideas in that puny little head of yours. I don't want you near me, you probably have lice."

"I don't!" Charlotte unconsciously scratched her head though. She didn't mean to.

"You sure about that?" Kol raised an eyebrow and gave her a knowing look.

Charlotte stuck her tongue out to him.

"I should have let that wolf eat you."

"Kol, don't be so mean." Davina said after pulling away from Marcel. She couldn't understand all the animosity between Charlotte and Kol. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that they did it on purpose, that they both enjoyed insulting each other as a game, to hide the fact that they actually really liked each other. "You two should just try and get along."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Never," he mumbled under his breath. "I rather die."

"You're already dead," Charlotte shoved him and rushed to Davina's side.

Kol glared at the back of her head.

Davina smiled down at the little witch and took her hand in hers. "We're safe," she reassured her. She knew Marcel wasn't going to let anyone hurt them.

Marcel watched them curiously. According to Thierry, Bonnie and Klaus had pretty much adopted Charlotte as theirs. He found himself curious about the little girl that had come out of nowhere and had been accepted into the Mikaelson clan. It was obvious that Davina cared for her too.

Sensing his gaze on her, Charlotte turned to look up at the tall, dark, and handsome vampire. She smiled shyly at him, unconsciously moving close to Davina.

"This is Marcel," Davina introduced them. "Marcel, this is Charlotte."

Marcel smiled and winked at her. "How you doing, pretty lady?"

Charlotte giggled.

"More wolves are coming," Kol muttered darkly as he turned to look at the entrance. He could feel their presence nearby. He could also feel the Bennett witches and their magic floating in the air. He turned back to Marcel and eyed him suspiciously. He and Marcel had never really gotten along and Kol definitely felt suspicious of his presence in the city while they were under attack.

Marcel met his gaze unflinchingly. "Father Kieran is using St. Anne's church as a refuge for the humans, we could take the girls there." The fighting had just begun and they would be safer there.

Kol looked towards the back of the compound. He could see some smoke coming out from one of the broken windows.

"The wolves got inside," Davina informed him as she followed his gaze. "We managed to escape." She looked down at Charlotte. She wasn't exactly sure how they had escaped to be honest. She had the feeling that Charlotte had somehow teleported them out of the house but she wasn't sure. And Charlotte hadn't seemed to have been conscious about doing it. "Lucy…" she turned back to Kol.

"I'm sure she's fine," Kol told her. "I think I saw her fighting some of the wolves." Everything was a mess out there and there were a bunch of Bennett witches throwing spells left and right. One tiny, dark skinned girl had blasted him on his ass and cut the side of his face with a spell that had rebounded. She hadn't even apologized.

 _Take it like a man,_ she hissed pushing him out of the way and teaming up with another Bennett to take down a group of Travelers. If it weren't for the fact that they were fighting on the same side, Kol would have snapped her neck for her little stunt.

"You came back for us," Davina muttered quietly. She had found Kol rather annoying in the short time they had known each other, she certainly didn't appreciate his treatment of Charlotte but she felt grateful that he had been there when she had her vision. Kol had acted quickly, letting everybody know, and organizing the vampires and hybrids, and he had come back for them.

"I made a promise, didn't I?" Kol shrugged. He had arrived at the same time as Marcel to protect both girls. He didn't know how he felt about that.

Davina smiled. "Thank-you."

Kol rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't used to being the chilvarous brother.

Marcel cleared his throat, looking back and forth between them. He gave Kol an icy glare. "We need to leave now." They couldn't be wasting time with all the fighting going on. He immediately picked Davina in his arms and carried her bridal style out of the alley, heading at vampire speed towards St. Anne's church. He didn't bother to look back and see if Kol was following.

"Davina!" Charlotte watched them go sadly. She turned towards Kol, a rather alarmed look on her face. She wanted to be with Davina. She bit her lip, unsure if Kol would leave her in the alley out of spite. He wouldn't dare, would he?

Kol sighed. He easily picked Charlotte and threw her over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes.

Charlotte squealed. "Hey-"whatever she was going to say next was cut short by the loud scream that escaped her mouth as Kol vamp speed out of the alley and followed Marcel towards St. Anne's church.

Charlotte closed her eyes and clung to him for dear life.

* * *

"Davina!" Lucy yelled as she tried to make her way through the chaos. "Charlotte!" She needed to find them, she needed to make sure they were okay. There was so much confusion all around her. She avoided getting hit a couple of times and used her magic to make her way around street which had become a battle zone.

After waking up and seeing her mother and Aunt Vivian, Lucy had sprung into action.

More wolves and Travelers had stormed the compound shortly after and while Aunt Viviana and her mom handled them, Lucy began searching for Davina and Charlotte. She had been unable to find them so far. Having no luck inside the house, she had ventured outside and got caught in all the fighting.

 _Had Bonnie made it back as well?_ Lucy wondered spotting Bennett witches here and there. She also spotted Klaus's hybrids and the wolves from his clan. Chaos had descended over the Quarter and while the fog had disappeared, everyone was fighting for their lives and bathing the streets with blood.

 _It's like a scene from a movie,_ Lucy thought as she looked around in shock. She nearly stepped over the decapitated body of a vampire and avoided becoming the meal of an angry wolf by paralyzing him with her magic (after Aunt Vivian had killed the syphoner witch, Lucy got her magic back) before she could end him however, one of Klaus's hybrids came out of nowhere and decapitated the wolf with ease.

Lucy gasped and watched as the hybrid girl sped away to rip the head of another wolf fighting one of the wolves from Fenrir's clan. The older gentlemen nodded in gratitude before leaning against the wall. He clutched his left arm which was limp and covered in blood. He was hurt. The hybrid girl didn't notice, she sped away to help another.

With a wave of her hand, Lucy flung three wolves out of the way as she made her way towards the poor man. She ducked when a yellow swirl of magic flew straight towards her. The swirl fell on a wolf who was fighting Belle. He groaned and sank to his knees as his body exploded into tiny particles of blood and flesh. It was like confetti.

"Cool," Belle muttered before her eyes went wide when another swirl of yellow flew right at her. She flashed to the opposite side of the street. The yellow swirl caught a young vampire instead and he exploded into tiny pieces as well.

Lucy's eyes landed on the tall, dark haired Traveler and his two companions who were the ones channeling their power and sending those awful spells. She glared at them.

She threw a wave of her own magic towards them. The blue light of her spell was met by a swirl of red, both suddenly combined and smashed into the three Travelers at once. Their eyes snapped open and their bodies were lifted up into the air before all three of them exploded. Three matching pools of blood landed on the pavement.

Lucy turned to look where the red swirl had come from and found Octavia a few feet away, she nodded in Lucy's direction before she proceeded to hunt down more Travelers. It was their combined Bennett magic that ended the Travelers.

They were not the first nor the last Bennett's who were combining their powers in order to defeat the groups of Travelers.

Lucy smiled before she caught sight of a dark haired young man, speeding at a much faster rate than the vampires and even the hybrids. Kol, he had returned and joined the fight. Lucy searched around the battlefield trying to find her Original but she couldn't spot Elijah anywhere. _Did he know what was going?_ Her eyes widened in surprise when she spotted Marcel Gerard a few feet away ripping two hearts at once. _Damn!_ She thought. _That was one sexy move._ _Since when was Marcel on their side?_ Was the thought that follow right after.

Lucy shook her head and made her way towards the hurt man. "I can heal you," she said as soon as she arrived next to him.

"Thank-you," the man breathed, still leaning against the wall. "I'm too old for this."

The corner of Lucy's lips twitched. He was rather old but he had a sweet and gentle face, it reminded her of a neighbor they had when she was little. She placed her hands on his arm and began murmuring a well-known healing spell.

"The barrier inside the house came down, some hid, but others like me chose to fight," the older man continued. He groaned.

"Your arm is broken but I'm mending it," Lucy informed him. "You'll be okay, just give me a minute." She concentrating as she mended the broken bone.

"I haven't seen Klaus or his wife," the man said. "Do you know if she's okay? She's pregnant, we have to protect her." The unwavering loyalty in his eyes and voice was undeniable.

Lucy felt touched by the concern the man showed for Bonnie. "I haven't seen them," she admitted. She couldn't stop the fear from reflecting in her eyes as she glanced at his face. "She was with our cousins, two witches and they were making their way over here." With any luck, Bonnie, Lenore, and Kyra had found some shelter and braved the storm. "She will be fine, don't worry." She had to believe Bonnie would be okay. Lenore and Kyra were not going to let anyone hurt her.

The man nodded. "Klaus will protect his mate."

Lucy nodded. "All done," she said smiling as she let go of his arm.

"Thank-you," the man flexed his arm before grabbing her hand and placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

Lucy grinned. He was very charming.

The blow came out of nowhere.

Pains shot up the side of her face and her vision blurred as she landed on the ground. There was a vicious growl and a crouching sound.

Lucy pulled herself to her knees and rubbed the spot where it hurt. She saw the body of one werewolf by her feet, she had no doubt that the older wolf from Fenrir's pack had killed him. It was probably the one that hit her.

She heard a struggle and gasped upon seeing a younger brown haired werewolf throwing punches at the older wolf. Another Navarro wolf sneaked behind the sweet old man and grabbed him in a chokehold forcing him to his knees. Lucy summoned her magic and tried to flung them away from the older man but her attack was blocked. She turned to the side and saw two Traveler women across the street.

There was a strange sound, like a whimper.

Lucy let out a heartwretching scream as the two Navarro wolves viciously tore the poor man apart. She hadn't been able to help him. He had been killed and she had done nothing.

The Navarro wolves laughed and turned towards her. "I wouldn't mind fucking this one," one of them grinned. He licked the blood from his fingers and moaned. "Another Fenrir wolf added to the list. I'm on a roll," he declared proudly.

"They're dropping like flies," The other one laughed before turning to Lucy, his eyes lingering on her breasts. She was wearing a dark green blouse, the first three buttons were undone, showing a glimpse of her generous cleavage-something the two wolves clearly appreciated.

Lucy stood up summoning all the power she could muster. Once again, the damn Traveler bitches blocked her. She forced her magic to push against the power blocking her. A small trail of blood oozed down her nose at her attempt. She wasn't going to give up, they had to pay for what they had done to the older man.

The two wolves jumped on her.

Lucy stumbled back, hands balling into fists ready to punch her way out.

The two Navarro wolves sank to their knees before they could reach her. Their eyes opening wide as blood erupted from their mouths. In the next second, their spines were ripped out. Their dead bodies fell face flat on the ground.

Elijah stood proudly behind them. He dropped their severed spines on the ground and looked into Lucy's relieved face.

Lucy jumped into Elijah's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on to him for dear life. The relief and happiness she felt upon seeing him was overwhelming. She closed her eyes, blocking the sounds of fighting all around them and allowing herself a moment to enjoy the feel of his body against hers.

Elijah hugged her back, not caring that he was smearing blood on her blouse. He needed to feel her against him. "I got you," he murmured placing a tender kiss on the side of her face, where a bruise had already formed. "You're alright, I got you."

Lucy whimpered and pulled away from him. She glanced to the side where the two Traveler women were, they had turned their attention to another fight.

Sofia and Cleo were struggling against two wolves.

Sofia was punching, kicking, and biting the wolf attacking her. Cleo on the other hand was being choked by the stronger wolf. Their magic had clearly been blocked by the two Travelers, in the same way they had done with Lucy.

Elijah followed Lucy's line of sight and got ready to make his way to the Bennett witches aid, Lucy stopped him. He eyed her curiously.

Lucy stared hard at the two Travelers and summon her magic. "Incendia."

Both Traveler women burst into flames at once. They made a big mistake letting Lucy out of their sight.

The minute the women were set aflame, the blocking spell they had on Sofia and Cleo vanished.

Cleo pushed the wolf choking her away with her magic and made his brain explode with an aneurysm spell she had been practicing since she arrived in New Orleans. One that aunt Vivian herself had insisted she learned. It killed him instantly.

Sofia waved her hand over the wolf she was fighting and flung him straight into the street, right into Nate who caught him and tore his throat open.

There was a proud smile on Elijah's face as he saw the way the Bennett witches handled their own. The way Lucy burned those two women had been amazing to witness.

Lucy turned back to him. "I was so worried about you," she hugged him again. She could see the torn body of the older wolf behind Elijah. Tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn't even learned his name. "I can't find Charlotte and Davina," she told him as she pulled away. "I don't know where Bonnie is either I-"

"Charlotte and Davina are safe," Elijah assured her, placing his hands on her waist and holding her close. "I saw Kol carry Charlotte towards the church, Father Kieran is giving refuge there. Marcel took Davina."

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank-god." She opened her mouth about to ask if he knew anything about Bonnie when she spotted _him._

Elijah followed her gaze and growled.

Luis Navarro was fighting a few feet away from them. He had a sword in his hand and was easily cutting through vampires and werewolves alike. Almost as if he sensed their gaze he cut the head of one last vampire and turned to face them.

Lucy stood rooted to the spot while Elijah wrapped a possessive arm around her waist. Perhaps it wasn't the moment, but he was clearly marking his territory. Lucy didn't mind.

There was a flicker of surprise in Luis's dark eyes as they stared at Lucy. He recognized her immediately.

Their eyes locked for a brief moment, memories of the night they had together surfacing briefly.

Luis looked at her before sliding his gaze towards Elijah. The hatred, the rage, the thirst for blood reflected in his eyes was unmistakable.

"Stay here," Elijah hissed as he let go of her waist. His vampire face surfaced as he met Luis's challenging gaze.

"Be careful," Lucy whispered. She felt a shiver run down her spine as she saw his vampire face. Only Elijah could look so fucking sexy with a murderous expression. Luis was toast, that she knew.

Elijah nodded and flashed towards Luis.

The Original and the Navarro Alpha met each other blow for blow.

There was a part of Lucy that wanted to stay and watch but her attention was immediately drawn to a young wolf boy cornered by two tall and bulky Navarro wolves. Lucy went to help him.

* * *

When everything was said and done, Bonnie and the big black wolf that was Klaus were the last two left standing.

How much time had passed _,_ Bonnie wasn't sure. Her body felt on fire, her breathing was ragged, and sweat trickled down her forehead and damped her shirt and sweater. She felt like she had just run a marathon. As she struggled to catch her breath, she realized that she was no longer in the alley.

Sometime during the fight that had transpired, Bonnie had made it out onto the street. She wasn't even sure how she did it. Everything was a blur after the wolf punched her. She absently raised her hand and touched her face. It didn't hurt anymore. There were no bruises either.

A menacing growl had a chill running down her spine.

Bonnie turned around and stared at the massive black wolf with yellow eyes. She followed the wolf's line of sight and saw _him._

Franco Navarro was crawling his way out of the alley. The bastard was still alive. He couldn't stand, he could barely find the strength to slide over the pavement like a worm. Blood and body parts decorated the streets while the scent of magic floated all around. Franco tried to make his way around them.

As if sensing their eyes on him, Franco looked up. He laughed. A deranged laugh that had the hairs on the back of Bonnie's neck standing up while her nerves were set on edge. She hated him.

Franco groaned and used every bit of strength he possessed to push himself into a sitting position, leaning his back against the wall of the flower shop right on the corner that opened into the alley. The windows were broken and small shards of glass were scattered all around the sidewalk. Franco laid his hand down on the broken pieces, wincing slightly when they cut his palm. He laughed again. Half of his face was burned and covered in bristles, the other half was swollen from Klaus's blows, his eye completely shut and red, while blood trailed down his nose. He coughed, spitting out saliva and blood before he proceeded to laugh maniacally once more. He kept looking at Bonnie and laughing.

The black wolf moved closer, displaying the sharp teeth still dripping with blood which also coated his muzzle and furry face. His golden eyes pinned Franco to the spot.

"It's over," Bonnie told Franco as she moved closer as well. "You lost."

Franco kept on laughing. He had witness the destruction of his forces by two powerful individuals and had been reduced to a pitiful, weak, and pathetic creature who couldn't even stand one last time to face them. Whether he was laughing because all was lost and he had nothing better to say before he died or because he had truly lost his marbles, Bonnie didn't know. All she knew was that he looked hideous as his horrid laugh echoed around the dark street.

As soon as the wolf and the witch stood in front of him, Franco stopped laughing. He ignored the beast and set his one good eye on Bonnie. "You…" he struggled to get the words out. "…Will…remember me…" he vowed. He laughed again. Everything seemed funny to him now. "…I…will…hunt you…always…" He spat, more blood came out of his mouth. "My name will live on."

"I guess you will forever be remembered as the fool who thought that could best us," Bonnie replied calmly. There was a strange, detach look on her face as she stared at the monster that had plagued her dreams. "The wolf who lost the war," her lips curled into smirk. Her dark green eyes glowing still. There was a part of her that couldn't believe she had been so terrified of the pitiful creature at her feet. He was nothing.

"You can't touch me," Bonnie muttered as she stared him down. Not in dreams, not in real life, it was over. She would be free of his shadow after this. "You can't hurt me. You are nothing." Her eyes glinted with malice. "But I can hurt you." She didn't move a muscle, all she did was look at him.

Franco growled angrily and then he let out a wail of pain as his entire body was engulfed in the most excruciating pain imaginable. Every nerve in his body, every bone, every joint, every inch of him was in agony as Bonnie's magic viciously attacked him.

Bonnie watched him, enjoying his screams of pain. _This is what he deserves for all the pain he caused you,_ her magic whispered inside her mind. _He deserves to suffer_. _Peel his flesh off, break his bones, heal him and do it again, and again, and again._

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and looked away. For a moment, she contemplated doing exactly as Expression wanted her to. For one terrifying moment, the bloodlust she felt inside of her took control before it was easily squashed down again. She stopped Franco's agony, letting him breathe a sigh of sweet relief. A little mercy it was.

Expression was vicious and Bonnie knew that she had to keep that dark, sinister power under control or she would risk losing herself in it. The thing about Expression was that it could easily cloud a witch's mind and make them do as it pleased, rather than follow the commands of the witch. It had done so with Bonnie before, back when she was in Mystic Falls but since the bond was formed on prom night, Bonnie got it under control. She wasn't sure how but her bond with Klaus helped her keep Expression under control, it kept her mind clear, and safe from the malignant influence. She commanded Expression. The magic did as Bonnie wanted.

As much as Bonnie wanted Franco to suffer immeasurable pain, enough was enough. It was time to end this once and for all. She turned to the wolf by her side. "You promised me his head," she reminded Klaus. "Give it to me." _Let it end,_ Bonnie thought.

Franco raged. He struggled to say something but he couldn't, he was in too much pain. Even after Bonnie had stopped the spell, his body twitched with the aftershocks of her attack.

The wolf growled, yellow eyes glinting.

 _As my queen commands,_ his thoughts easily projected into Bonnie's mind before he jumped on Franco and proceeded to devour him with glee.

Franco screamed in agony as the wolf tore him apart with this sharp teeth.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest and watched. She stood rooted to the spot, never taking her eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of her.

It was over rather quickly.

The wolf happily trotted towards her and deposited the severed head by her feet. It was not on the silver platter like he had once told her but it was the offering of a king to his queen, the fulfillment of the promise he once made to her.

One look from Bonnie was all it took for the head to burst into flames. Soon, one by one all the body parts and dead bodies scattered all around them lit up in flames. The entire street became illuminated with the torching parts.

Bonnie closed her eyes and let out the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. Her shoulders shook as her body was invaded by a wave of sweet relief.

Klaus shifted and returned to his human form once more. He was naked and covered in blood. His hybrid face had disappeared but his eyes retained their gold color.

Bonnie opened her eyes upon sensing the shift.

Their eyes met before she rushed towards him and he crushed her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her trembling body, inhaling her scent, and rubbing her back as he gave her the comfort she needed. The turmoil of her emotions slammed through him like a dagger through the heart.

Bonnie buried her head against his chest. She didn't even care that he was all bloody. She closed her eyes, shaking uncontrollably while a few tears spilled down her cheeks. There was a storm of mixed emotions swirling inside her. She felt angry that she had let Franco corner her, she felt relieved that he was dead, and that Klaus was there supporting her through it all and she also felt fear. There was a part of her that feared the immeasurable power coursing through her veins and how it was changing her. There was a part of her that feared how easy it was to take lives, to crush hearts, and burn people by sheer will alone; even if they had been her enemies, it was scary how easily she had end them. She knew that they were at war, that she didn't really have much of a choice but still, for her human sensibilities it was still hard to reconcile all of that.

"It's alright sweetheart," Klaus murmured against her ear as he held her close. "It's over." He kissed the side of her face, smearing her with blood but it didn't matter. They were both covered in blood anyway. "He's dead," Klaus repeated. "It's over."

Bonnie sniffled and pulled away. "The girls…" she wiped the tears from her eyes. She needed to get a hold of herself. She was hormonal and emotional and the intensity of the past couple of minutes or hours (she wasn't sure) was getting to her. "We have to-" she stopped upon seeing the strange look on Klaus's face. "What?"

Klaus reached out and cupped her cheek with his left hand. "Your eyes…" he whispered in awe. "You have hybrid eyes, love." He couldn't believe it. Bonnie's eyes were a mix of gold and green while dark veins were visible right beneath. He was stunned that he hadn't realized it until then.

Bonnie gasped and touched her face with both of her hands. She touched the skin beneath her eyes, feeling the small tiny ridges of the pronounced veins there. She looked at Klaus in alarm. "No…" she muttered, feeling absolutely horrified as a realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "No…please no…"

The veins around her eyes could only mean one thing, she had tapped into the twins' supernatural abilities. Exactly the kind of thing that had caused her threatened miscarriage when she had returned from the other side.

 _What if she had once again put the babies at risk?_

* * *

"Here you go," Father Kieran said placing a blanket on Charlotte's lap. She and Davina were in the attic of St. Anne's church. The place that had been Davina's sanctuary for months. Her things were still there. The room was familiar and comforting, which was exactly what she needed in that moment.

Marcel and Kol had pretty much dumped them in the church and left to fight the Navarro army. The church was filled with humans, French Quarter witches-they didn't have their magic, and many children and women from Fenrir's pack.

Davina hadn't felt comfortable under the hard gazes of some of the former witches from the French Quarter coven so she led Charlotte up the stairs towards what had been her old room.

"Thank-you," Davina smiled at the kind priest. He had always been nice to her.

Father Kieran brought them water and a couple of snacks.

Charlotte happily tore through a chocolate bar and ate it in big bites.

Davina turned back to look through the small window. She couldn't really see any of the fighting going on out there but she hoped they were winning.

"Everything is going to be fine," Father Kieran said gently. "You're safe here. The wolves won't be able to get inside."

Davina hoped he was right. They had thought the same with the compound but it had fallen.

Father Kieran offered them a small smile. "If you need anything let me know. I will be downstairs."

Davina nodded.

Long after the priest left, Davina continued to stare out of the small window, trying to catch a glimpse of the fight.

Charlotte fell asleep, curling into a ball on the bed and snoring slightly. Davina covered her with the blanket and sat next to her on the bed. _Please let us win,_ she thought. _We have to win._ She was terrified of the Navarro's winning.

While Charlotte slept, Davina sat nervously on the bed next to her, thinking of Marcel, Bonnie, Klaus and his siblings, Josh, and Belle, and the rest of the hybrids and vampires. _Please keep them safe. Please don't let any harm come to them._ She had never been a religious person but she prayed for their victory and for the safety of the people of her city.

* * *

"Sweetheart, you need to calm down," Klaus tried to reassure a hyperventilating Bonnie.

"I'm tapping into the twins' abilities!" She was doing it again. _Damn it, Bonnie!_ she reproached herself. "I…" she remembered the way she bit the wolf and flung him away from her, like if he were a bug that she could easily crush. _Shit!_ That kind of supernatural strength had probably come from the twins, from the Original blood flowing in their veins. "I didn't mean to," she told Klaus. Fear laced her veins and twisted her heart painfully. She knew how dangerous it was to tap into her twins' powers.

"Calm down," Klaus placed his hands on her arms rubbing them gently. He used their bond to offered her reassurance and support and to calm the fear he could feel eating her away. "It's okay, look at me."

Bonnie felt terrified. She remembered the pain and the blood on that horrible night she returned from the other side. _No please, not again._ She would never be able to forgive herself if she hurt her children, if her recklessness put them in danger again.

"Does anything hurt?" Klaus asked gently.

Bonnie shook her head. "I feel fine," she whispered. She placed a trembling hand on her stomach. The minute her hand connected with her belly she felt the strong surge of power radiating from her. Yes, the twins' magic was definitely active. "I froze," Bonnie confessed, gently rubbing her belly. "When I saw Franco, I froze, I…" _stupid, stupid, stupid, what the hell was she thinking?_ She suddenly remembered Selene. "He had a witch and she took my magic away," she told Klaus. "I couldn't stop her."

"They took your magic?" Klaus asked worriedly. "How?" He had seen her use her magic against the Travelers and the Navarro wolves a few minutes before.

"I don't know, it was like she sucked the magic right out my body," Bonnie responded. "Franco was there in front of me and I didn't know what to do…I…"

"Did he touch you?" Klaus growled.

"He kissed me," Bonnie admitted in a tiny voice. "He didn't touch me, not like that."

Klaus felt murderous upon hearing that Franco had dared to kiss her. That bastard deserved another painful beat up.

"I felt that flutter again," Bonnie continued as she remembered the strength and the relief that beautiful flutter had provided. Her children had saved her once more. "It snapped me out of my fear. I burned half of his face." There was a look of realization on her face. "That's when I tapped into their magic," she deduced. "I didn't even realize I was doing it, I was so eager to get away from him. I got my magic back almost right away so I hardly felt the difference. And then you came and I fought…oh god." She had fought all the Travelers and wolves that came into the alley while tapping into the twins' power. "I think maybe I combined our magic, I don't know." She hadn't been thinking. She had simply acted on instinct. But that also explained the inhuman strength she had while facing the wolf that hit her.

"It's okay," Klaus reassured her as he pulled her against him once more. "Everything is going to be okay. You said that you feel fine. There is no pain?" he asked again.

"No, I don't feel any pain."

"Good." He pulled away from her and bit into his wrist. "Drink," the twins had their own healing abilities but a dose of his blood wouldn't hurt. It would make her stronger and prevent any damage or physical strain the tapping of the twins' magic had produced.

Bonnie licked her lips as the scent of his blood reached her nose. The veins under her eyes became more pronounced.

Klaus shivered feeling a delicious tingle running down his spine. She looked beautiful, lethal, ethereal as she stood in front of him and licked her lips in anticipation.

Bonnie slammed him against the nearest wall, right next to the charred remains of Franco Navarro to be precise. She grabbed his wrist with both of her hands and sucked hard, drinking his powerful hybrid blood with greed. It had been a while since she had a taste of him and drinking his blood again sent a powerful jolt through her system.

Klaus threw his head back, closing his eyes, and groaning at the feel of her delicate mouth drinking his essence. He could hear the sound of fighting in the distance, he could smell the blood and magic in the air, but he didn't give a damn. The world could be burning to the ground and Klaus wouldn't care.

There were no words to describe the incredible pleasure he felt as Bonnie drank from him, taking gulps upon gulps of his blood.

The wound closed and Bonnie whimpered in protest.

"Fuck!" Klaus cursed when Bonnie bit hard on his flesh with her human teeth, drawing more blood, and moaning against his skin while she took big gulps of his rich blood once again. It was an exquisite torture, one which he enjoyed to the fullest.

Bonnie pulled away eventually, licking the remains of his blood from her lips, and watching him under lust hooded eyes. The veins disappeared from her face but the flecks of gold remained in her green eyes.

Klaus grabbed her by the back of the head and pulled her face towards him, crushing her mouth to his in a bruising kiss.

Bonnie eagerly opened her mouth to his passionate assault, returning his possessive kiss with glee. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his hard, naked one. The wave of desire that echoed through their bond had her entire body shivering with anticipation and her knees feeling weak. One hand curled on the back of his neck while the other caressed his shoulder and down his arm, tracing his tattoos with her fingertips.

Someone cleared their throat.

Bonnie and Klaus pulled away startled.

"Isn't this lovely?" There was a sly grin on Rebekah's face as she stared at the couple. She couldn't help but remember the first time she had caught them in a compromising position.

Bonnie flushed in embarrassment.

Rebekah's hair was disheveled and there were splatters of blood on her white blouse and black leather jacket. "I've been worried sick!" she screeched. "We've been looking for you all over." She flashed towards Bonnie and pulled her into her arms. She felt happy that Bonnie was okay.

Bonnie hugged her back.

Kyra-who was accompanying Rebekah- arched an eyebrow as she surveyed the scene. The charred pieces of flesh scattered around and the naked hybrid next to her queen were definitely an interesting sight. The both of them had clearly done some damage.

"Are you okay?" Rebekah asked pulling away.

"I'm fine," Bonnie offered her a small smile. "We're fine." She touched her baby bump tenderly. With Klaus's blood pumping her veins she felt re-energized.

Rebekah nodded. She didn't show it but she felt extremely relieved. "Why are you naked?" she asked suddenly as she faced her brother. At one point or another in the one thousand years she had been alive, she had seen all of her brothers in various forms of undress. She didn't even bat an eyelash at Klaus's naked and blood covered appearance. She had seen him like that plenty of times before.

"I shifted," the hybrid responded with a proud grin. The easiness in which the shift had happened was exhilarating. He couldn't believe he had been so reluctant before. "How are things out there?" he asked almost immediately.

"Lots of fighting from what we have heard," Rebekah responded. "Kol called me, Davina had a vision. He organized the vampires and the hybrids, told me to go get Bonnie but that stupid fog and those wolves coming out of nowhere got in my way," she complained. She had killed all of the wolves that she had come across though. "I found Kyra eventually and we've been searching for you for a while now."

"Lucy called us as well," Bonnie told them. "Where is Lenore?" she asked Kyra. "Have you seen her?"

"We have not been able to find her," Kyra responded. "With the fog and the surprise attack from the wolves, I never saw her again after we split up."

"We have to find her," Bonnie said. "She could be hurt."

"Don't worry about that," Klaus placed his hand on her lower back. "We need to get you to safety first, then we can worry about finding your cousin."

"The church," Rebekah said immediately. "Father Kieran is giving shelter to those in need. There is some sort of protective spell, or barrier keeping the wolves and Travelers away." She had heard some snippets of conversation from the wolves she had encountered before she killed them and she had heard the bells tolling throughout the night.

"He has a great collection of dark objects," Klaus muttered darkly. The O'Connell family had collected those items for over a century. It was probably what the old priest was using to keep the church safe. "We'll take Bonnie there." Kieran didn't trust him or like him but he would never be able to turn a pregnant woman away.

"What about Charlotte and Davina?" Bonnie asked turning to face Klaus. She was worried about them. "We need to make sure that they are okay. If the fighting has reach the compound-"

"Angelica and Lucy were going to seal the compound with protective spells, I'm sure they're fine," Rebekah assured her. "Don't worry."

"We need to go now," Kyra said. "The wolves and the witches helping them are scattered all over the city, just because we don't see them in plain sight doesn't mean they are not hiding somewhere. They could attack us at any moment."

Bonnie let out a squeal when Klaus picked her up in his arms and carried her bridal style out of there. He sped down the street and headed over to St. Anne's church. Rebekah in turn grabbed Kyra by the arm, dragging her at vampire speed as she followed her bother towards the church.

* * *

Luis was a good fighter, Elijah had to give him that. He certainly knew how to use a sword too. He moved with expert ease, trying to stab Elijah on the stomach or slice his head off. Elijah however, was faster and stronger than the arrogant Navarro Alpha and easily blocked all of his attempts.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Kol, who was battling five wolves on his own.

On Elijah's other side, he saw Marcel who was helping a young teenage vampire against two wolves.

All around them, the vampires and wolves were engaged in vicious fights. Elijah even spotted many of the vampires that had come from Shreveport. As soon as the fog had disappeared they had joined the fight and began attacking Navarro wolves like they had desired from the moment they agreed to follow Armand-the vampire impersonating Elijah.

Armand himself was snapping necks and ripping heads as he sped from one side to another. The vampires loyal to him followed their leader wherever he went, almost as if they were his bodyguards.

The tip of Luis's sword managed to make a slight cut against Elijah's left cheek. The Original cursed, he got distracted looking around and paid the price for it.

Luis grinned, sensing a weakness like a shark smelling blood. He really believed he had a chance to beat Elijah.

Elijah growled and wiped the blood from his cheek, surprised when it didn't heal right away. He felt a slight burning sensation in his bloodstream. _Did the sword had vervain?_ He wondered as he eyed the weapon.

"The Travelers are quite ingenious," Luis muttered as he tried to stab Elijah once more.

The elegant Original deflected his move with ease. There was a strange look on his face as he felt his throat constrict. The cut on his cheek had not healed yet. He touched the wound once more and glared at Luis. Elijah realized that there was more than just vervain on the blade of the sword. _Fucking bastard,_ he cursed mentally.

"You didn't honestly think I came here unprepared, did you?" Luis spat. "All the weapons my army possess have been spelled by the Travelers. Some are laced with vervain, others with poison, and my blade specially has a potent combination of both, among other things."

Sweat began forming on Elijah's forehead as the werewolf venom began spreading through his system.

"How does it feel to have werewolf venom pumping your system?" he asked with a triumphant smirk.

Elijah chuckled. "You're smart, I have to give you that." As much as he hated to admit it. He flashed to the right and immediately to the left again as he avoided Luis's sharp moves. "Unfortunately for you," he jumped high into the air and landed behind Luis. He grabbed him by the back of the neck and vamp sped him towards the nearest wall, slamming his head hard against the concrete. "I have a brother who enjoys biting me whenever we have an argument." He grabbed the sword from Luis's hand and threw it away before slamming the wolf's head against the wall once more. "I have gotten quite used to fighting with werewolf venom burning my insides," he hissed before flinging Luis against the opposite wall.

Luis growled. The anger and adrenaline fueling his veins helped him to stand up. His head was bloody, his eyes unfocused, and his body twitched from the pain invading his head.

Elijah had him by the throat in an instant. "Your arrogance has been your undoing." His hand trembled a bit and the dark shirt under his suit was already damp with sweat, the wolf venom and the vervain made a potent combination that was already numbing his body and blurring his vision. He needed to keep his wits about him and end Luis before it was too late. He squeezed Luis's throat with all the strength he could summon. "You are not the first nor the last that has tried to take power away from my family," his fingers dug deeper into Luis's flesh before letting go.

Luis's eyes went wide and he let out a breath of relief. It was cut off in the following second when Elijah's hand tore through his chest, grabbing his heart with his fingers, and squeezing the organ.

"You, like all the other fools before you will be another name added to the list of those who thought they could best my family." Elijah tugged at the heart. He leaned forward and stared into Luis's wide eyes. "The Navarro name will be forgotten," he swore. "I will ensure you and your brothers' legacy is destroyed. If centuries from now people know your name, it shall be to mock your stupidity and revel in another victory of the Mikaelson family. It's over Luis." He ripped the heart out in one quick move.

Luis's Navarro's corpse fell to the ground.

Elijah squeezed the heart in his hand until it burst, coating his fingers with more blood. He allowed himself a moment of triumph before he continued to fight.

* * *

Everything was in chaos by the time Klaus made it to Bourbon Street. He had dropped Bonnie at St. Anne's church. Matt had been there as well as Davina and Charlotte which helped calm Bonnie's anxiety. He knew that there was a part of her that wished to be there helping him but their children's safety was their priority and for that Bonnie stayed inside the church with the girls and Matt, where they would be safe until the end of the Navarro attack.

Klaus walked and watched the fight unfolding before his eyes. Father Kieran had given him a pair of jeans, not out priestly kindness but to cover the hybrid's nakedness which had nearly given the old woman who open the church's doors for them a heart attack.

Spells flew back and forth.

Bodies fell to the ground left and right.

He easily spotted Kol. He was surrounded by wolves and was fighting all of them at once.

Elijah who was battling the wolf venom and vervain lacing his veins was holding his own against three other wolves. He didn't hesitate to rip their hearts out. Lucy was watching his back, fighting off the Travelers that were trying to use their magic to paralyze the Original. The two lovers worked as a team. Teaming up against their enemies and protecting each other when need it.

Felix and Riley were back to back taking another group on their own.

Nate was using a werewolf as shield as he avoided the spells two Travelers were sending his way.

Charles was limping but he was holding his own against another much younger and faster wolf.

Mila met another wolf woman blow for blow.

Klaus raised an eyebrow upon spotting Marcel a few feet away, blurring from one end of the street to the other, sneaking behind the wolves and breaking their necks in a flash. He was helping the young vampires, the newbies who were still struggling with their newfound strength and had obviously never been to battle. Marcel took the time to help each and every one of the new vampires he could find.

The hybrid was also surprised when he spotted Abby Bennett jumping on the back of a werewolf that had a young teenage girl from his wolf clan backed against the corner. Abby ripped his head off and sped the girl to safety.

Thierry and two other vampires had teamed up as well, stealing the weapons some of the wolves carried and using them to cut the heads and bodies of the Navarro wolves in half.

Vivian Bennett was lifting Travelers into the air and snapping their necks before dropping them down to the ground like bugs. Scarlett trailed after her- setting them in flames. It was done in order to stop any of the other Travelers from resurrecting their dead friends.

Tinisha and Beatrice had an old wood table in front of them, using it as shield as they engaged in a violent fight with a group of seven Travelers. Those who were unlucky to end up in between them, were caught in the swirls of spells being traded back and forth.

Adriane for her part was helping those who had fallen to the ground. She used her magic to heal the wounds of the wolves fighting on their side using her witch instincts to guide her and help her distinguish between those who were Navarro wolves and those who were from Fenrir's pack. Angelica was helping her, the two silently making their way through the battlefield and findings those that needed their help, healing them and dragging them away to safety.

Blood bathed the streets and a couple of the buildings had even been set on fire, thanks to different swirls of magic that went from one side to another. The compound was one of them, there were flames consuming the second floor. The house where Klaus's pack was staying had also been attacked, the windows were broken and he could see movements on the first and second floors, Navarro wolves fighting wolves from his pack.

Klaus growled as he eyed the Navarro wolves attacking his wolf clan. He could distinguish them easily, his sharp senses had memorized the stench all Navarro wolves carried with them, allowing him to identify them with ease.

He sped towards the house, ready to defend his wolf blood. The shift happened so subtly, it was like blinking. Long gone was the fear, the pain, the uncertainty. Klaus had embraced his wolf and with it came an extraordinary source of strength and vitality.

The huge black wolf with yellow eyes leaped into air, a howl echoing all around the city.

Everything came to an abrupt halt as the loud war cry penetrated the battlefield.

Vincent who had just paralyzed a group of four Travelers turn to stare in shock at the massive wolf running down the street. He had never thought werewolves could be that big.

Many vampires and Navarro wolves also turned to stare at the huge wolf, looks of surprise, shock, and disbelief on their faces.

"I'll be damned," Marcel hissed. He had seen Klaus shift into his wolf form. He still couldn't believe it.

"Fenrir," one Navarro wolf cried sinking to his knees. "It's Fenrir!"

If Klaus shifting into his wolf form surprised people, what happened next, left everyone completely stunned.

The black wolf let out another howl, it was a cry to war, a call to his pack, a call to his blood. There was a blast of electricity that charged the air with ancient powerful magic. The entire French Quarter trembled by the force of it.

One by one, all of Fenrir's wolves began shifting at once.

Mila fell to the ground gasping as her bones began breaking without her wanting too. She couldn't stop the shift from happening.

Charles did the same. "It's not the full moon yet," he managed to say before the shift took effect.

It didn't matter, none of the wolves who shared Klaus's blood could stop the shift from happening. Not even his hybrids.

"Shit!" Riley clutched his stomach as his eyes turned a deeper shade of yellow and his claws began elongating.

One by one, all of the hybrids began shifting into their wolf forms as well.

"What's going on?" Josh asked Felix who was the hybrid closest to him.

Felix was on his knees, groaning and struggling to force the desire to shift down. It was in vain, he couldn't stop it.

Josh at first thought he was imagining things. He was sweaty, almost feverish and was clutching a nasty wound on his arm, curtesy of a slight cut from one of the Navarro's swords. Felix had killed the wolf before he could decapitate the young vampire and then he had fallen to his knees, in pain.

Felix let out an anguished roar that turned into a howl as he completed the transformation into his wolf form.

Josh pressed himself against the wall as Felix shifted into a grey wolf right before his very eyes. "Holy shit!" _Was this real?_ he wondered. He thought wolves could only shift during the full moon.

Belle, Nate, Aiko, and all the others shifted as well. They all felt the command of their Alpha and had no choice but to obey.

* * *

Jesse and Alexa who were making their way towards the Quarter from the Bayou felt it as well. They were speeding towards the Quarter when they stopped abruptly.

They sank to their knees, looking at each other with confusion before their bones started breaking.

They shifted by the command of their Alpha.

Ishmael and Cary shifted as well, much to the astonished looks from the other wolves that watched the transformation take place. They had been gathering the corpses of the dead and helping the Crescents when they felt the need to shift.

Hayley and Jackson who were covered in blood and mud and were still catching their breaths after the intense fight they had endured blinked in confusion and shock.

"What's going on?" Andrew asked as he quickly stumbled back and got as far away from the wolves as he possibly could. Only Cary and Ishmael were shifting, all the other wolves stayed in their human form.

"How can that be?" Gregory asked as he saw the wolves take off running out of the camp. "That's impossible, it's not the full moon yet." He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.

No one had an answer.

They all watched as the two wolves took off running into the night.

* * *

Even Tyler, far away in Mystic Falls, woke up with a gasp. His eyes turning yellow. The need to shift burning his blood and consuming all his thoughts. He struggled to contain that desire but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop what was happening.

"Tyler?" Caroline who had been sleeping next to him sat up and looked worriedly at him. "Are you okay?" Her senses were alerting her of the danger the hybrid represented.

Tyler's hybrid visage surfaced as he turned to face her.

Caroline jumped out of the bed startled and pushed herself against the wall. She knew that one bite and she was toast.

Tyler ran out of the bedroom, rushing down the steps, and into the frown lawn before he shifted into his wolf form. He took off running into the woods behind the Lockwood Mansion.

The hybrid watching over Bonnie's father, felt the same thing. He managed to find a place to hide from view and shifted.

Even as far away from New Orleans, Klaus's hybrids obeyed their sire's command.

* * *

The minute Fenrir's pack transformed it was game over for the Navarro forces.

The Navarro brother were dead and their forces were being crushed by the combined forces of the supernatural factions of New Orleans and when Klaus's pack turned, there was nothing they could do against the wolves ferocious teeth and crushing jaws that came after them. Not even the Travelers' magic was able to stop them.

After the vampires and witches got over the shock of seeing Klaus and his pack members transform into wolves, the fighting resumed.

Vampires and wolves fought side by side against the Navarro's mighty army.

The Bennett witches and the small group of witches gathered by Vincent fought side by side as well as they took on the Travelers and their magic.

The hours that followed were hard, vicious, and bloody. Many lives were lost that night but when morning came, New Orleans was still standing.

There was no sunlight the next morning. A thunderous, gloomy, and cold rainy day greeted the city, washing away the blood; rivers of red streamed down the streets while severed body parts, and burned remains were left behind.

When morning came, the Navarro forces had been completely annihilated.

* * *

 _A/N: Franco's demise was inspired by the end of Ramsey Bolton in Game of Thrones. Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing. See you next time!_


	57. Chapter 57

_A/N: Thank-you so much to all for your amazing support. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

The first person Bonnie saw upon arriving inside St. Anne's church was Matt. He had arrived earlier that night after the fog cleared and had brought his coworkers to the church to wait the storm that had descended over the city. St. Anne's was just one of the many churches throughout the city that had become sanctuaries for the terrified citizens and tourists who had no idea what the hell was going on outside.

The two friends embraced warmly before Matt informed Bonnie that Charlotte and Davina were also inside the church. The relief Bonnie felt upon hearing those words was overwhelming. With the knowledge that the girls were safe, Bonnie turned to Klaus and embraced him fiercely. She knew he had to go and fight, she knew he was technically indestructible but still she worried.

The hybrid kissed her lightly on the lips; a kiss that was not goodbye but a promise.

Bonnie clung to him and kissed him back, wishing for him to feel all the love boiling her blood. The powerful emotions she felt were happily transmitted between the two through their bond. _I love you. Be careful,_ her mind easily slipped inside his as their lips connected once more. She was desperate for him to know, to feel, to take that love with him as he faced their enemies.

 _I love you too. I will be fine. Don't worry,_ his thoughts easily projected inside her mind as well. Their hearts, their bodies, their souls, and minds had become so intertwined throughout the many exchanges of blood they had shared that it was hard to distinguish between their separate beings. They were two halves of a whole now. Two souls joined by blood and magic, two powerful beings that were one and the same.

They reluctantly pulled their lips apart but they stood holding each other, with their eyes closed, and their foreheads resting together. It was a tender moment between the two. Time seemed to stand still. They didn't even care who could be watching them, this was their moment and they wanted to make the best of it.

Their eyes met.

The hybrid nodded in her direction and sped out of the church, a look of fierce determination on his handsome face. He had an army to lead and a war to finish.

Rebekah hugged Bonnie, telling her not to worry before crushing Matt's lips to hers and giving him a passionate, _see you later_ kiss. She then proceeded to follow her brother out of the church and straight into the battlefield.

Kyra gave Bonnie a slight nod before she followed them as well.

Bonnie and Matt stood side by side, watching as the heavy double doors of the church closed.

"I guess we wait now," Matt murmured.

"Yeah," Bonnie absently replied. She reached out and touched her necklace. _Please keep them safe. Please let us win,_ she prayed to her ancestor.

* * *

 **The next morning**

An avalanche of rain poured down from the ominous cloudy sky, greeting the bloody and sweaty warriors who were still standing with the force of a hurricane. Instead of a beautiful sunrise bathing the historic streets, thunder and lightning accompanied by a mighty wind capable of ripping trees from the soil followed.

The floodgates had been open as the sky grieved for all those who had perished the night before. It had been one of the bloodiest battles the city had ever seen.

Marcel stood surrounded by corpses, as friend and foe alike laid scattered throughout Bourbon Street. A few feet away from him, Vincent Griffith struggled to catch his breath also surveying the dreary scene at his feet.

"…Marcel…"

The former king turned around and found his friend Thierry.

The younger vampire was limping. His pale and scared face stared up at Marcel. He took one step forward and his body swayed.

Marcel caught him before he could fall to the ground. "You're going to be okay," he promised as held Thierry's trembling body in his arms.

Thierry gave him a weak smile. He shook his head. "Dying…" he managed to let out.

Marcel noticed the nasty bite on Thierry's leg. A Navarro wolf had taken a nice chuck of his flesh off and injected his system with venom. Marcel looked around, noticing that Thierry was not the only vampire moaning and shaking as their bodies attempted to heal the mortal venom burning inside their veins. All throughout the street were dozens of vampires struggling and barely clinging to life. "Fuck," he cursed. They had won the battle, they had come out victorious against the Navarro's mighty army but _at what cost?_ He wondered fearfully _. Where is Klaus?_ He scanned the area trying to find the massive black wolf that had torn through the Navarro forces with ease for most of the night. There was a part of him that still couldn't believe what he had witnessed the previous night. The image of Klaus shifting into his wolf form would forever be engraved in Marcel's mind. "You're going to be okay," he reassured Thierry once more.

Not too far from Marcel, Elijah pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of his pants and tried to clean the blood off his face, neck, and hands. The rain drumming down on him washed away most of it, cascading down his suit and forming puddles of crimson at his feet. He immediately looked around his surroundings, eyes landing on Lucy first. She was out breath; her hair was disheveled and there was a nasty gash on her forehead.

"I'm fine," Lucy reassured him as she saw the way his eyes zeroed in on the wound. "Nothing a good healing spell won't cure." She winced slightly as she touched the cut.

Elijah didn't look convinced but he nodded before moving his gaze through the tired, stunned, and wary looking army, or what was left of their army. It was very obvious their side had suffered many casualties. He spotted Rebekah attempting to get some pieces of flesh and guts off her messy blonde hair. She seemed fine.

Kol stood on the other side of the street, chin dripping with blood, a deep red that matched the splatters on his shirt and pants. He used the back of his hand to clean his mouth and winced.

Elijah frowned as he noticed his sweaty appearance. _Are you okay?_ his brown eyes asked as they met his brother's eyes from across the street.

Kol lifted his arm and showed him the nasty wolf bite on his left wrist. He wasn't the only vampire suffering from a wolf bite. Josh was a few feet away, sitting on the sidewalk and leaning against the broken door of a shop, shaking and sweating uncontrollably. His eyes were glassy, murmuring incoherent words as he clutched his arm.

"What do we do now?" Rebekah asked her older brother. With the help of the rain she had successfully managed to wash the blood off her hair.

"We must tend to the wounded," Elijah murmured as he continued to survey the street. "Pile the corpses of the dead and clean this mess, and compel any humans who witnessed anything."

"The corpses of the Travelers need to be burned," Vivian said as she made her way towards Elijah. The Bennett witches had burned plenty the night before butt here were still many more left. "All dead witches should be burned."

"Not my witches," Vincent told them as he hurried to join them. "The dead witches of New Orleans must be consecrated. That is our way."

Elijah nodded.

"Why aren't you wet?" Lucy asked her aunt. Despite the heavy rain falling on all of them, Vivian was dried from head to toe. The rain fell hard all around them but not a single drop fell on Vivian's person.

"This is Chanel my dear," was the only explanation Aunt Vivian gave.

Lucy rolled her eyes. Only her aunt could be so vain.

"How many casualties from your witches?" Elijah asked Vincent. They had met each other before in passing, during one of the meetings with Mayor de la Fontaine.

"So far, I've only seen three," Vincent responded. His gaze moved over the sea of bodies scattered about. "Who knows how many in total."

Elijah turned to Vivian.

"None from the Bennett coven as far as I know," Vivian responded. "A few of my girls are wounded though. Lucy, you will help Adriane and Beatrice with the healing," she ordered right away.

Lucy nodded.

"What about from our side?" Kol asked as he flashed towards his brother's side.

"Plenty dead and many more infected with werewolf venom," Elijah responded. _Where was Niklaus?_ He wondered. He could see the many vampires struggling to stay alive as well as the many more desiccated bodies lying on the ground. Some vampires had been decapitated or burned during the battle but many had died because of the venom in their systems, courtesy of the bites given to them by the Navarro wolves.

"Nik and the wolves are on the other street," Rebekah answered Elijah's unspoken question. "I saw all the wolves heading there earlier."

"Good," Elijah muttered. They were going to need their brother to heal the vampires. "Let's gather all the wounded vampires in one place," he instructed. "We'll pile the corpses in another area and split them between vampires, witches, Travelers, and Navarro wolves." He turned to his sister. "Any wolf from Fenrir's pack must be put separately from the Navarro wolves. If any of them are injured, heal them please." Most of the wolves had shifted upon his brother's command, saved for those who had not broken the curse yet; they had remained in their human forms.

Rebekah nodded and took off.

Elijah turned to Marcel who was just a few feet away, still holding Thierry in his arms but listening to everything they were saying. "Start gathering the wounded vampires and taken them to the compound," he ordered before turning to Kol. "Help him."

"You're kidding, right?" Kol didn't look pleased by his brother's orders. He definitely didn't want to work with Marcel and judging by the frown on the ex-king's face he wasn't happy to be ordered about either.

"I won't ask you again, Kol."

Kol rolled his eyes and cursed in their mother tongue.

"I will help with the witches and the humans," Vincent offered.

"Thank-you," Elijah told him sincerely.

Vincent gave him a curt nod before turning around and organizing those witches who had been unharmed into helping him.

"I'll take care of my own," Vivian replied before Elijah could say anything to her. She turned around and headed towards the Bennett witches which were gathered together near the corner of the street. "Come along Lucy, we have work to do."

Lucy sighed. She offered Elijah a small smile before she started walking behind her aunt. Elijah's hand on her wrist halted all her movements. She arched an eyebrow.

Elijah brought his other hand up to his mouth and pricked his thumb with one fang. A few drops of red emerged. He gently smeared the blood over the wound on her forehead.

Lucy shivered as she felt a slight tingle on her skin. In a matter of seconds, the nasty gash on her forehead was healed. She touched the now smooth skin with her fingers. "Thanks." _Vampire blood definitely comes in handy in times like this,_ she thought. She smiled up at him.

Elijah hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him, kissing her.

Lucy was surprised by his fast movements but she eagerly responded, parting her lips and kissing him back passionately.

It was over too soon.

Elijah flashed away from her and proceeded to begin cleaning the mess the battle left.

Lucy's lips still tingled as she followed her aunt and began helping the Bennett's that had been injured.

Just like the night before, everyone had to work together to clean the mess and destruction left behind.

* * *

One by one all the wolves from Fenrir's pack and the hybrids slowly returned to their human form. They were on a different street. Throughout the night, they had fought together, a pack united as one. They fought and protected each other against their enemies, all led by the massive black wolf with yellow eyes, the one whose call had allowed them to turn.

"What the hell was that?" Mila couldn't contain the happiness from her voice. They had shifted and hunted together and torn through the Navarro army as if they were nothing.

"Was it just me or were we stronger?" Charles asked an astonished look on his face. "It felt like I could crush their flesh with ease, like I was ten times stronger than before." The excitement in his voice matched his face.

"Yeah," another wolf agreed. "I felt the same."

"I was in full control," another woman muttered placing her hands over her mouth. She still couldn't believe it.

"It was exhilarating," Maurice agreed.

"We were in the Bayou," Cary said his heart racing, his body still tingling from the adrenaline of the past couple of hours. "And we shifted and ran, we ran so fast." He placed his hands on his head. "Fuck! I felt like I was flying, I've never run that fast in my life." He turned to Jesse who was standing next to him. "Is that what being a hybrid feels like?"

"Actually," Jesse had a bewildered look on his face. "I felt like I was faster and stronger too." He turned to stare at Felix who was standing next to him.

"We were definitely stronger and faster last night," Felix confirmed. _How the hell that had been possible?_ He wasn't sure, only that it had something to do with their Sire.

"It was cool," Aiko grinned from ear to ear. She had never experienced that kind of adrenaline before, that power, that rush, she had felt like she was invincible.

"We were all connected," Nate said. "I could feel all of you, heck I'm pretty sure I even felt Tyler and Marcy in Virginia."

"Not only them," Alexa muttered. "I could also feel the other wolves." She stared at Fenrir's pack. They were Klaus's wolf family, his bloodline, and the night before all the hybrids had connected with them as well. It was surreal. _How?_ She wondered as she looked at her Alpha. _How had he done it?_

Riley only nodded, his throat clogging with emotion. There were truly no words to describe what they all had felt the night before.

Fenrir's wolves were emotional too, many had tears in their eyes. They had experienced a form of control on the last full moon when they all had hunted together. Klaus's abilities had somehow helped them to have more control in their wolf forms but last night had been out of this world. There were no words to describe what they had experienced. The freedom, the power, the connection between all of them, they all had truly been a pack.

They all turned to Ishmael waiting for their Alpha to give them an explanation of what had happened. The old wolf's eyes however were on Klaus. The hybrid had shifted back to his human form as well. He stood proudly over the scattered body parts of his enemies, an indescribable look on his face.

The hybrids who were still in shock also turned to their alpha. Except for Belle who was hiding behind a dumpster. She definitely didn't feel comfortable being naked in front of everyone else. Her head peaked up from the side and her ears perked as she heard the different conversations taking place. Like all the others, she wanted to know what exactly had caused all of them to shift.

They all waited, trying to understand what had transpired the night before. They all knew it had been a pivotal moment.

"I never thought I would live to see this day," Ishmael murmured, his eyes still on Klaus. "We all heard your call last night, we all shifted upon your command," he walked closer towards Klaus. "Do you realize the magnitude of this moment?"

The hybrid stayed silent. He could feel all of them, he could sense each and every single one of the wolves that shared his blood, not only those who stood before him but the ones that were in Mystic Falls. They were all united somehow, it was a connection different than the one he shared with Bonnie or his siblings but it was a strong bond all the same.

"How did you do it?" Cary questioned him, his voice filled with emotion. "Was it magic? Or something else?"

The truth was, Klaus had no idea what had happened or how it had been possible. He had simply acted on instinct, guided by some strange power and knowledge inside of him. There was a sense of peace, of belonging, a feeling of utter joy inside of him. He had never experienced anything like this before. Shifting and hunting with his pack on the full moon had been amazing but this, it couldn't even begin to compare.

"Some kind of magic must have been involved," Ishmael was in awe still and was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"I don't know," it was a raw and honest answer. Klaus truly had no idea how he had been able to do that. "I just shifted and it happened."

"No wolf has been capable of doing that before except for one," Maurice explained to Klaus. He stared into his eyes. There was a look of awe and reverence on his face, something he had not felt before towards the hybrid.

There was no need to ask what wolf he was referring to, they all knew.

"Perhaps it's true what they say after all," Mila murmured as she regarded the hybrid's face carefully. The smile on her face was bright and happy.

Klaus turned to face her, a clear question in his eyes.

"Perhaps you truly are Fenrir reborn," Mila muttered.

The wolves surrounding him nodded in agreement. There was no doubt now. Even those who shared Klaus's blood and had been reluctant to accept him or were wary still of his vampirism had no doubts now. Last night was proof not only to them but to the rest of the werewolves in the world, Klaus was meant to be their leader. Klaus was the rightful king of the species.

Klaus didn't know what to say to that.

An anguished groan had everyone turning to the back of the group. A man with dark hair and light blue eyes was clutching his bleeding stomach. He looked to be in his late twenties. He was sitting on the sidewalk, his pale and sweaty face blinking in confusion.

"Adam!" Mila immediately rushed to his side.

"We have to take him to the hospital," Charles said kneeling on the floor next to him. "He's dying."

Klaus bit his wrist and flashed towards the injured wolf from his pack, feeding him his blood. He turned to Felix and the rest of his hybrid. "Start healing any injured wolves from our pack," he instructed right away. Because that's what they were all now, a single pack. There was a lot that needed to be done still.

"Can we find some clothes first?" Belle asked, her head peeking from behind the dumpster.

Klaus glanced in her direction and nodded. "We need to find the vampires that had been injured too." He pulled his wrist away from Adam.

"Thank-you," the man let out a breath of relief, feeling his injuries starting to heal rapidly.

Klaus stood up.

"We must take care of the dead too," Ishmael said.

"And those from our pack that did not turn last night," Maurice suggested. "Most of them are at St. Anne's church, mostly women and children but a few of the men who have never shifted are there too."

"There is a lot we need to do," Klaus said before he proceeded to give out more orders. He needed to assess the state of his army, find out the number of casualties, and tend to the wounded. Not to mention clean up the mess left throughout his city.

He looked up into pitch dark sky.

The rain was going to help clean up the blood and keep the sun away from the vampires who did not possess daylight rings at least.

* * *

"What do you mean no one has seen her?" Vivian asked Kyra as she handed Scarlet a bottle of water. The Bennett witches had moved inside the compound and had gathered in the grand ball room. The sound of the rain pelting the roof echoed all around the house. Many injured vampires were also taking refuge from the rain inside the house. The first floor was a mess, the second floor had been partially burned but the house was still standing and provided them with the sanctuary they needed.

All the Bennett's were exhausted. After a night of fighting and trading spells back and forth against the Travelers, they wanted nothing more than to close their eyes and sleep for a week or two. They hadn't suffered any casualties or so they thought until Kyra informed them of Lenore's disappearance. She had also assured them of Bonnie's safety.

"We were unable to find her after the fog dispersed," Kyra continued. "I searched with Rebekah Mikaelson but there was no trace of her anywhere. And I didn't see her fighting last night either."

"Did you try a locator spell?" Lucrecia who was sitting nearby asked her.

"I did," Kyra replied glancing in her direction. "It didn't work."

"You don't think she's…" Joanna who was standing next to Aunt Vivian trailed off. She couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"I don't know."

"Maybe the wolves got to her," Cleo muttered lying on a couch. She had her eyes closed and there was a damp cloth over her forehead.

"Lenore knows how to defend herself," Joanna vouched for her cousin's skills. "She wouldn't have let a wolf best her so easily."

"The fog must have made things more difficult to fight them off," Tinisha added, she was lying on the floor, legs outstretched, and back against the wall.

"Why wouldn't the locator spell work?" Beatrice asked. She was tending to a wound on Sofia's arm. "Is she cloaked?"

Kyra shrugged.

"We have to find her," Diana said loud enough for all to hear.

"We should retrace her steps and go back to the place where you last saw her," Cecily suggested as she looked at Kyra. "I'll go with you."

"I will go too," Abby volunteered.

"Me too," Joanna said immediately.

"The four of you go and search for her," Vivian told them. "I will try to locate her with my magic."

The group nodded and left right away.

"Can you sense her?" Vivian asked as she turned to face her granddaughter.

From the moment, Kyra informed them of Lenore's disappearance, Adriane who was sitting on a leather chair by the corner of the room had closed her eyes meditating. She was using her special clairvoyant abilities to seek Lenore's location.

"All I see is darkness," Adriane replied. She concentrated harder, pushing with all her strength and trying to see through the dark cloud blocking her magic. "Candles…" she muttered. Everything was cloudy.

"Can you see anything else?" Diana questioned. "Something more precise?"

"There is fog…I can't…" Adriane winced and a small trail of blood slid down her nose. She opened her eyes.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Amina who was sitting across from her warned. "You've been fighting and healing people left and right, give your body some time to rest before you try again."

"Here," Octavia handed Adriane a handkerchief to clean her nose.

Scarlett gave Adriane a curious look. "Was the fog blocking you?"

"What?" Adriane turned to look at her, wiping her nose.

"The fog that you saw was it blocking you," Scarlett explained her question. "Preventing you from seeing more or was it actually there surrounding Lenore?"

"Like the fog earlier tonight," Cleo opened her eyes and sat up. "Where you seeing like the past or something?"

"I'm not sure," Adriane turned to her grandmother. "I saw candles and then I saw fog but I don't know if that was the past or something currently happening." She was tired and she couldn't really focus as well as she usually did. The fighting and the healing she had done earlier had taken a toll on her.

"But you didn't actually see Lenore, did you?" Scarlett asked Adriane to clarify her words.

"No."

"What the hell does that mean?" Tinisha asked intrigued.

All eyes turned to Vivian, waiting for the elder witch to give them an answer.

"Nothing good," Vivian replied cryptically. She didn't like what she had heard and judging by the looks on Lucrecia, Diana, and Amina's faces, they hadn't like it either. Something was very wrong.

"Why don't we try some other locator spells?" Lucrecia suggested. She was looking at the three other elders of the coven. "Between the three of us, I'm sure we can find something."

"Yes," Vivian readily agreed. "That is a good idea."

The Bennett elders wasted no time in trying to find their missing member.

* * *

Vincent frowned when a vampire dumped the body of a witch on the floor. A building across from the Mikaelson's house was being used as the place to put the dead bodies of the witches that had perished during the attack. They were witches from the city and needed to be consecrated.

"Not one of yours?" The vampire asked in a gruff voice.

Vincent immediately noticed the daylight ring on his pinky finger. He was tall, blond haired, and had that ethereal beauty and youth all vampires possessed. He was also very old. His witch instincts told him this vampire had a couple of centuries under his belt. He immediately knew this vampire wasn't a native from the city.

"What are you looking at?" The vampire snarled, flashing his fangs in a threatening manner.

Vincent merely arched an eyebrow. "You are not from this city, are you?" he asked calmly. He was clearly unimpressed by the vampire's little display of power. Vincent had no fear of them. He had enough power inside of him to teach this old vampire a lesson or two. Marcel had only a select number of vampires with daylight rings known as his inner circle and from what Vincent had heard, not many were left after Klaus Mikaelson took over. This vampire was clearly not one of them.

"Is that a problem?" The vampire took a menacing step forward.

Vincent's magic flared. He wasn't going to let the vampire intimidate him.

"Back off, Pierre."

The vampire went rigid as the command took effect.

Vincent watched as the vampire's eyes glazed over and he immediately took two steps backwards. He glanced to the owner of the voice. "Klaus Mikaelson," Vincent greeted. There was no denying the powerful presence the Original vampire commanded.

Both men regarded each other cautiously.

The hybrid stood in the doorway, his was hair was damp and he was wearing a black shirt and jeans. "Get lost," he ordered Pierre without taking his eyes away from Vincent. He didn't have to look into Pierre's eyes for his compulsion to take effect. He simply issued his command.

Pierre flashed out of the room without another word.

"How curious," Vincent muttered studying the hybrid's face in detail. He had heard that Original vampires possessed powers no other vampires had but this was his first time witnessing that first hand.

"Originals can compel other vampires," Elijah said as he made his way inside the building and came to stand next to his brother. "No one can compel an Original." He offered Vincent a polite smile.

Vincent looked from one brother to the other. The one thing he found really curious was how easily Klaus had compelled the other vampire. _Weren't they supposed to stare into the eyes of their victims in order for the compulsion to take effect?_ He absently wondered. He could have sworn he had heard that about vampires. He shook his head.

"Most of the bodies have been taken away from the streets," Elijah informed Vincent as he and Klaus walked closer. "The injured are being healed, and the humans we have encountered have been compelled."

"We just need to take care of the humans inside the churches," Klaus added.

Vincent nodded.

"I spoke with Mayor de la Fontaine and he would like to have a meeting with the different factions in the city," Elijah continued. "After a period of mourning of course."

"Perhaps the Regent will finally show her face at the meeting," Klaus muttered darkly.

"I shall inform her," Vincent was quick to reply. "In any case, I will be present in that meeting. I can assure you of that." Things had changed in the supernatural world and New Orleans was right in the middle of it all. A meeting between the factions in the city was extremely necessary.

"Good."

The air was filled with tension between all three of them. Centuries of prejudice were hard to forget and while the circumstances had placed them on the same side during the battle the night before, that did not mean they were in fact allies. They had simply worked together against a common foe. Now came the real test, the days following the battle were going to determine the kind of relationship the witch community would have with the Original family and the wolves now calling the city their home.

Lucy stepped inside the building a few moments later. "The Travelers bodies are being burned as we speak," she informed them. "Aunt Vivian suggested we bury the ashes on consecrated ground." She came to stand next to Elijah and her eyes immediately landed on the body of one of the witches lined up on the floor. "Is she yours?" Lucy asked as she looked at Vincent. There was an angry look on her face. She had recognized the woman right away.

"She's from New Orleans yes," Vincent replied staring at the corpse the vampire had dropped on the floor earlier. "She's not from my coven if that's what you are asking."

"From which coven, then?"

"Do you know her?" Elijah asked her curiously.

Lucy turned to stare at him. "She's the witch that stole my magic," she answered. She couldn't stop the shiver rolling down her body as she recalled those terrifying moments. "It was like she sucked my magic right out of my body, I couldn't do anything to fight her."

"A witch like that attacked Bonnie too," Klaus muttered as he looked down at the corpse. He glanced at Vincent. "Do you know who they are?" He needed to know if there were more like her. They could be a threat to Bonnie and her coven.

"Syphoners," Vincent explained. "They are a rare breed of witches, born without magic of their own but who possess the ability to take magic from objects and even people."

Lucy shuddered remembering the sick feeling inside her as the woman stole her magic. Elijah wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.

"What coven are they from?" Lucy asked Vincent.

"They don't belong to any coven," the future Regent replied. "Her name was Lorraine," he said looking down at the corpse once more. He could see that her throat had been slit open, she probably bled to death. "She has a twin sister, Selene." He glanced at Klaus. Selene was more than likely the witch that had attacked Bonnie. "They were never accepted into any coven. Because of their rare ability, the witches feared them and never allowed them to join any of the nine covens."

"And so, they formed an alliance with the Navarro clan," Elijah concluded. He couldn't help but wonder what other allies the Navarro brothers had in their city.

"Are there any more like them in the city?" Klaus wondered out loud.

"Not that I know of," Vincent answered honestly. "Their mother was a normal witch, part of the French Quarter coven, I believe. She died a few years back."

"Why would they join the Navarro brothers?" Lucy asked.

"I have a feeling they were not the only people from New Orleans who joined them," Elijah replied. The way the attack had been orchestrated, the knowledge the wolves seemed to have of the streets, and the city itself. It was too important to discard. Someone from New Orleans had been helping the Navarro clan, passing information, plans, helping them to attack and Elijah was determined to find out who they were.

Silence followed his words.

Vincent felt the same way. He had the suspicion that the Navarro brothers had help from within the city, allies who were probably out there still. That was not only dangerous for the Mikaelson clan but for the witches as well.

"A week or two to bury the dead, clean this mess, and deal with the aftermath," Klaus told Vincent after a long pause. "Then the factions can meet. There are a lot of things we need to discuss after all."

"Very well," Vincent agreed.

* * *

"Here you go," Angelica gently placed the blue ceramic mug against Josh's pale and sweaty face.

Josh took one sip, his eyes going wide as he felt suddenly revitalized. The minute he drank the blood, he felt a jolt to his system. He gasped upon seeing the nasty bite on his arm healing. "How?"

"Klaus's blood is the cure for werewolf venom," Angelica explained gently.

Josh let out a shaky breath, already feeling a hundred times better. He couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face.

Angelica smiled at him. "Go get some rest," she ordered him. "You can stay here at the compound." She knew Josh didn't have a daylight ring and while it was still dark and raining outside that could change at any given moment. Klaus had ordered all the vampires who didn't have daylight rings to find shelter for the day.

"Thank-you," Josh smiled at her before flashing to the basement.

"Here is another one?" Belle yelled pulling a dark-haired vampire girl up to her feet. "Part of her arm is already desiccating." She showed Angelica the arm. "Hurry."

The dark-haired witch moved quickly towards the feverish and weak girl.

A muscular, bald, and angry looking vampire with a piercing on his nose, intercepted her. "Give me that," he ordered trying to take the mug away from Angelica.

"No!" Angelica used her magic to push him away, glaring at the vampire.

"Hey, what the hell is your problem?" Belle snapped angrily. The poor vampire girl let out an anguished cry as her body continued to desiccate.

"My friends were bitten, they need the cure," the vampire hissed. "Give it to me!" he once again tried to snatch the mug.

"Klaus entrusted me with this," Angelica told him, keeping him at bay with her magic. Klaus had given her a mug filled with his blood in order to heal the vampires infected with werewolf venom. Angelica was using her magic to expand the blood so it would be enough to heal the dozens of vampires without having to keep asking Klaus to refill it every time it run out. She knew how precious Klaus's blood was. She was not going to handed it out to anyone, let alone a vampire she didn't recognize. He was going to have to kill her if he wanted to take the mug away from her, and she wasn't planning on going down without a fight.

"Wait your turn, this girl is dying," Belle told the vampire.

The vampire growled and tried to launch himself at Angelica once more.

Another vampire materialized behind her.

"Angelica!" Belle nearly dropped the dying vampire girl to the floor as she tried to warn the witch of the vampire behind her.

Before the vampire could grab Angelica however, he sank to his knees in pain. Rebekah stood behind him, easily ripping his heart out.

The other vampire in front of Angelica was easily snatched away by Felix, who slammed him against the wall. He bit his throat without a second thought.

"What the fuck?" the vampire hissed falling on his butt to the ground. He touched the wound on his neck.

"Let that be a lesson," Felix snarled before breaking his neck. "I would conveniently forget to heal this one if I were you," he told Angelica.

Angelica smiled at him before rushing to the girl's side and giving her Klaus's blood. The girl's head slumped back against Belle as she let out a breath of relief.

"You're going to be okay," Belle promised. "You'll be as good as new."

The girl smiled weakly, she could already feel the cure taking effect inside her burning body.

"Who the hell was that idiot?" Belle asked. "I don't think I've seen him around here before." There were many vampires walking about that she had never seen before. They were all strangers and she didn't like them.

"They're the vampires from Shreveport," Rebekah informed them. "Elijah brought them to help us out." She made a face. She didn't like Armand's arrogance and his army was just the same.

"I don't like them," Belle said.

"Neither do I," Rebekah muttered. Armand and his vampires were going to cause trouble. _And speaking of trouble..._ Her eyes were drawn to Marcel who was carrying a nearly dead Thierry.

"He's dying," Marcel said looking at Angelica. "He needs the cure."

"Perhaps we should let your spy die," Felix muttered angrily. "You didn't honestly believe we had no idea he's been passing information to you," he said seeing the look on Marcel's face. "Thierry is not that smart."

"He fought bravely," Marcel hissed. It was the only defense he had. He knew in their eyes Thierry was a traitor but Marcel was going to do whatever he could to save his life.

"Yes, he did." Angelica placed the mug on Thierry's pale lips. He drank the precious cure with greed.

"Thank-you," Marcel said to her.

Angelica nodded.

Marcel glanced at Rebekah.

The Original blonde ignored him and sped out of there.

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

"You are going to make a hole on the floor," Davina said quietly as she followed Bonnie's nervous figure.

The young Bennett queen was pacing back and forth near the window. "I can't stop worrying about all the things that could go wrong," Bonnie muttered as she turned to face her. It had only been a couple of hours but for Bonnie it felt like an eternity.

Davina was sitting on the edge of the bed. Bonnie's arrival had helped to calm her nerves and offered her some reassurance that things were going to be okay, that they were going to win. She had felt so happy and relieved upon seeing the young witch enter the room. The two had practically run towards each other's arms and embraced fiercely before talking about the events that had transpired in the past couple of hours.

Davina had described the attack on the compound, their miraculous escape thanks to Charlotte's magic, and the arrival of Marcel and Kol to the alley.

Bonnie for her part, talked about her meeting with Josephine and Vincent and the desire the Regent had to speak with Davina. The teenage witch refused furiously to meet with her and Bonnie had not pushed the issue. They could talk more calmly about it later.

Davina glanced at the clock on the wall, nearly ten a.m. _How much longer?_ She wondered. The battle had been going on for the whole night and most of the morning and they had yet to hear signs that it was over.

"I can't see anything from up here," Bonnie turned back to look out of the window. She could have sworn she heard a wolf howling in the distance at some point during the night. "It's foggy but I don't think it has to do with magic this time, it's all because of the rain."

As if on cue, a loud rumble echoed inside the church.

Davina jumped startled by the thunderous cry that resonated inside the small candle lit room. Even Bonnie seemed a little startled by the sound. Both of them were on edge, extremely nervous and anxious to hear the outcome of the battle. Charlotte on the other hand, was curled up in the middle of the bed, happily snoring, and peacefully sleeping through it all.

"I wish I could sleep," Davina muttered as she glanced at the tiny witch. She felt a bit of envy to be honest. She wished she could close her eyes and sleep until everything was over.

Bonnie smiled softly as she glanced at the sleeping little girl. "I don't think I could be able to sleep even if I wanted to," she mumbled before she took as seat on an old wooden chair in the corner of the room. Her body was still pumped with adrenaline and was ready to charge into battle. She rubbed her belly, feeling the twins' magic against her fingertips. They were the reason Bonnie was locked up inside the church rather than fighting side by side with her family. She had to keep them safe above all.

"You want to be out there."

"I feel like I should," Bonnie admitted. "I know my cousins are powerful, I know the Originals are immortal but I still worry, you know."

"I know the feeling," Davina whispered as she thought of Marcel. Unlike the Originals, Marcel could be killed by a werewolf bite and that scared her.

Silenced descended over the room.

Another loud crack was heard, the rumbling sound penetrating the silence and accompanying the rain pelting the roof. It felt almost as if the sky was being split apart.

All the hairs in Davina's body stood up and she unconsciously rubbed her arms, hugging herself as her nerves were set on edge once more. She gritted her teeth. "I hate not doing anything."

"I know the feeling," Bonnie whispered.

All they could do was wait for the battle to be over.

Charlotte yawned and stretched on the bed. She sat up immediately, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Bonnie!" she exclaimed happily upon seeing her. She leaped out of the bed and rushed into her arms.

"Hi!" Bonnie happily embraced the little witch.

"You're here," Charlotte muttered clinging to her for dear life.

"I am," Bonnie replied kissing the top of her head as they pulled apart.

Charlotte beamed up at her.

Bonnie suddenly went rigid.

"What is it?" Davina asked in alarm, seeing the look on her face.

"Klaus," Bonnie smiled. She could feel him. "Klaus is here."

Davina's eyes lit up with excitement knowing that could only mean one thing, the battle was over.

Bonnie rushed out of the room, Davina and Charlotte happily following her out.

* * *

 **The Bayou**

"What the hell are we going to do with all these corpses?" a young, dark haired Crescent wolf asked before he sneezed. It was raining hard. He had mud up to his knees and he wanted nothing more than to go to bed and sleep for the next year or so. He was tired.

Jackson groaned as he threw another body on top of the pile. "We'll take care of our dead and bury their corpses somewhere around here."

"You mean their torn limbs," Oliver his second in command muttered. Most of the Navarro's had been torn apart by the hybrid and they were just dumping the different body parts in a big pile.

Jackson shrugged.

"Go inside and get some rest," Jackson ordered the younger wolf helping them.

"I'm fine, I'll just-" he protested.

"Aiden go inside," his alpha ordered.

Aiden nodded.

Once the two wolves were left to work on their own, Oliver turned to Jackson.

"What?" Jackson asked seeing the strange look on his face. "Wanna go get some rest too?"

"Nah," Oliver replied. "I have something to show you." He looked around, ensuring that there was no one nearby to listen to what he had to say. Most of the wolves of their pack were inside the cabins while the other Alphas that had come to the meeting had returned to their people. He approached Jackson and pulled out an object from his pocket.

"What's this?" Jackson asked as soon as he took the silver ring Oliver handed him.

"Cary had it," Oliver replied. "He ripped it from his neck as he was transforming last night. He dropped it on the ground and I picked it up."

Jackson studied the ring in detail. There was something about it, a strange kind of power coming from it. "Does it have magic?" he asked curiously.

"Maybe," Oliver answered staring down at the ring. "I've heard some things," he muttered looking up into Jackson's face once more. "One of those new wolves that came from Europe, the one that talks a lot. He said that Fenrir's pack had a special ring that could prevent a wolf from turning on the full moon," he explained. "I didn't believe that shit but when I saw Cary ripping it from his neck, I don't know. He held on to the ring until the very last moment, like he didn't want to lose it or something and so I wondered..." he trailed off unsure.

"You think this is that ring?" Jackson asked curiously.

"Maybe," Oliver shrugged. "We can put it to the test tonight," he suggested his eyes glinting. "Can you imagine if it's true, if that ring could really protect us from the full moon. If we could replicate it…" There was an eager look on his face. "We wouldn't be bound by the moon anymore, we would be free, wouldn't that be amazing?"

Jackson didn't say anything as he studied the strange object. By the way it was carved he could tell it was old, centuries old at least. _Could it be?_

"If those leeches have rings that can protect them from the sun," Oliver continued. "Why can't we have rings that can protect us from the moon?"

It was tempting, very tempting. "This doesn't belong to us," Jackson said to his friend. "We should give it back."

"Come on," Oliver snapped. "You saw them last night, Cary and Ishmael shifted without the need of the full moon, there are hybrids roaming about as well, they all have the advantage over us. I know you had no choice but to accept Klaus as the king but this is our home," he reminded him. "This is our land, the territory Marcel stole from us, are you seriously going to spend the rest of your life in servitude to the hybrid? This could give us an advantage Jackson. This could make us stronger. This could be a way to ensure we have a chance to fight back, to survive if things turn for the worse."

Jackson remained quiet.

"Look, let's tested it first," Oliver suggested. "And then you can decide if you give it back or maybe we could find a witch to make more, I don't know."

There was a long moment of silence.

"Fine," Jackson finally said as his hand curled around the ring. "We'll put it to the test tonight."

Oliver grinned his heart pounding loudly with excitement. If the ring proved to be real, it would be a game changer for their pack.

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

Bonnie threw her arms around Klaus and held on to him for dear life while Klaus buried his head on the curve of her neck and held her tenderly. And then, they were kissing passionately, bodies melting together.

The two of them were completely oblivious to anyone else.

St. Anne's church was mostly empty by then. The people that had taken refuge inside the night before had left. Klaus's hybrids awaited them by the doors, easily compelling the humans, while the wolves and other supernaturals made their way slowly back to their homes, in order to assess the damage and reunite with their love ones.

"It's over," Rebekah pulled Matt into a fierce hug. "We won!" she exclaimed grabbing his face with both of her hands and kissing him. "We would have come sooner but there was a big mess to clean up," she said as they pulled apart.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay," Lucy said as she hugged Charlotte and Davina. "I was so worried."

"Charlotte got us out," Davina explained with a soft smile.

"I don't know how," was Charlotte's response. "But Davina says I did." She sounded rather proud.

Lucy smiled at the tiny witch before giving Davina a questioning look.

"I think she teleported us out of the house," Davina shared her suspicions.

"Really?" Lucy was clearly impressed.

Even Elijah had a surprised look on his face upon hearing that. He watched Charlotte curiously.

"Is it really over?" Bonnie pulled away from Klaus and turned to stare at all of them. "We won?" She couldn't stop grinning.

"We did," Klaus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. "The Navarro forces have been completely wiped out. We crushed them." He kissed the side of her neck.

Bonnie's heart skipped a beat, her body trembling.

"Now what we need is a good bourbon to celebrate," Kol muttered throwing himself on one of the empty benches. While Nik had healed the wound on his wrist and he was feeling as good as new, Kol wanted nothing more than to have a nice drink and relax. It had been a long night and an arduous morning cleaning up the mess left behind.

"This victory must definitely be celebrated," Rebekah agreed with her brother. "We should throw a party." She and Kol shared matching grins.

"I do like the sound of that," Kol winked.

"There is a period of mourning in place Rebekah," Elijah reminded her in a stern voice.

The smile dropped form Bonnie's face. "How many casualties?" she asked worriedly.

"Mostly from the Navarro forces," Elijah responded gently. He didn't want her to worry. "But we did lose a great number of vampires and a few witches that came with Vincent Griffith."

"At least a dozen wolves from my pack were lost," Klaus responded in a somber tone. Ishmael and the other elders were already arranging everything for the burials.

"The Bennett's?" Bonnie turned to Lucy fearfully.

"None from our coven," Lucy reassured her quickly.

"But?" Bonnie definitely noticed the look on Lucy's face.

"We can't find Lenore," Lucy responded. "Kyra, Cecily, my mom, and your mom are currently patrolling the city, going back to the place where she disappeared to see if they can find any clues."

"What about a locator spell?" Bonnie suggested.

"None of the spells they tried worked," Lucy answered. "Aunt Vivian and the other elders are going to try a different kind of spell using Adriane's clairvoyant abilities but they want her to rest and charge her batteries first," she explained. "We'll find her." Aunt Vivian was not going to give up and neither would the other Bennett's. "I'm sure that spell will work."

"I will help them out in any way I can," Bonnie murmured. Her mind already going over the different spells they could use.

"So will I," Lucy vowed.

"Can we go home now?"

Everyone turned to look at Charlotte.

"About that," Elijah began clearing his throat. "I'm afraid the compound is not inhabitable at the moment."

"Why not?" Bonnie and Davina asked at the same time.

"The first floor is a mess," Rebekah answered. "The second floor is partially burned and there are a bunch of vampires using it to rest at the moment." Which included Armand's nasty vampires and Rebekah didn't want the girls near any of them, neither did Klaus and Elijah.

"So, what are we going to do?" Bonnie asked. Her mind was still thinking about Lenore and what spells she could modify to locate her. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and she didn't like it at all.

"We'll have it fix in no time," Elijah reassured them. "I have an apartment in the Quarter," he glanced at Lucy who smiled fondly. The two had shared some very passionate moments in that apartment. Sparks seemed to fly as the two of them gazed at one another.

Kol made a face and pretended to gag. "So, that we listen to you and Lucy go at it like rabbits? No thank-you. I have enough of Matt and Bekah to last me a lifetime."

Matt glared at Kol.

"Don't be an ass," Rebekah gave him a nasty look.

"It's the truth," Kol retorted.

"We'll spend the night at a hotel," Klaus declared. "We can see what we can salvage from the compound later today and start the repairs tomorrow." He also had promised to spend the night with his pack. It was a full moon after all. Who knew if there had been some members who had broken their curses during the fight the previous night. Ishmael had promised to find out. It would benefit them all to be connected to Klaus during their hunt.

Bonnie shivered as she felt his warm breath on the side of her neck. _Was it just her or Klaus's voice had become deeper, sexier?_ Heat coiled deep inside her belly and spread all throughout her body. Memories of the last full moon or the morning after to be exact, surfacing in her mind.

The hybrid chuckled feeling the heat radiating off her skin and the nervous and excited flutters that echoed through their bond. He kissed her pulse point.

Bonnie closed her eyes briefly. A simple kiss and she was ready to turn into a puddle of goo.

"There is something else that we should do," Elijah suggested in a serious voice. He looked around the empty church. Father Kieran had disappeared into his office, giving the family time to be alone while those who had sought refuge the night before had left already.

All eyes turned to Elijah waiting expectantly for him to finish.

"We should go to Baton Rouge," the elder Original proposed.

"Are you crazy?" Rebekah snapped.

"Why the bloody hell do we need to go there for?" Kol demanded, looking up at his brother as if he had grown a second head. "We won. The Navarro's have been destroyed, remember?"

"The Navarro forces were destroyed yes," Elijah agreed. "But they had two very valuable hostages in their possession."

"Katherine and Elena," Matt said immediately. "We can save them." He turned to Bonnie a deliriously happy look on his face.

Rebekah scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. _Had it been too much to hope that Matt and Bonnie would forget about the stupid doppelgängers?_

"I say we let them rot in whatever cell they are," Kol muttered. "The world would be a better place without those idiotic doppelgängers."

Rebekah and Klaus secretly agreed but wisely kept their mouths shut.

"Elena is our friend!" Matt pointed out. "She's been kidnapped for months. Who knows what the Navarro's did to her and now we have a chance to save her. We have to go."

"They must be at the Navarro mansion," Bonnie turned to Elijah. "Do you know how to get there?" she asked eagerly. "Or we could ask Tyler," she suggested quickly. "He must know if that's where they have them."

"Hello?" Kol interrupted standing up. "Did all of you conveniently forget that bitch and her stupid brother murdered me?" he asked angrily.

Everyone winced.

"Kol," Elijah warned him.

Davina and Charlotte looked back and forth as the family discussed what to do. The two of them held hand and kept quiet sensing the tension among the adults.

"Who cares right?" Kol hissed. "As long as the precious doppelgängers are saved." He flopped down on the bench, a furious look on his face.

"The Travelers were using doppelgänger blood to destroy the other side," Bonnie reminded Kol. "You are angry with Elena, I respect that."

Kol watched her warily.

"But think of Ayana, think of the other Bennett's and supernaturals on the other side," Bonnie continued. "We need to help them. And one way of helping them is by getting Elena and Katherine back and ensuring their blood is not used to destroy the other side. Could you imagine the horrible consequences that could bring?"

Kol didn't say anything but deep down he knew Bonnie was right. He owed his life to Ayana and the Bennett witches, they had kept him safe from the darkness consuming the other side.

"Baton Rouge is Navarro territory still," Klaus reminded Elijah. "They have loyal people there, who knows if any wolf packs remain or Travelers." Going on a rescue mission so soon after a bloody battle could represent many problems. "Our army is in no condition to engage in another fight." Nor would any of the vampires want to head to Baton Rouge right now.

"I'll call the Strix," Elijah suggested. "Aya and her people have been investigating the Navarro's for years, they have plans of the city, they can help us get in and out and provide any assist we might need."

Lucy did not like the sound of that. "I'll go as well," she volunteered right away. She was curious to meet this _Aya_ that Elijah spoke so greatly of.

"Darling, you don't have to." Elijah took her hand in his. He knew that she must be exhausted from all the fighting and healing she had done.

"I want to," Lucy gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Besides you could use a witch to help you out."

"You want to go because you want to help or because you want to mark your territory?" Rebekah asked with a sly grin on her face.

Lucy made a face at her.

Bonnie shook her head and grin at Rebekah. They both knew that Lucy wanted to go because she was curious about Aya.

Even Klaus's lips twitched at Rebekah's comment. Lucy and Aya in the same room with Elijah now that would be highly entertaining.

Kol's lips twitched as well, his anger momentarily forgotten as he imagined that meeting.

Elijah arched an eyebrow.

Lucy gave him an innocent smile.

"I'll go with you too," Matt said to Elijah.

Rebekah gave him a look.

"I will be fine," Matt promised. He had his ring after all.

"Fine," Rebekah muttered. "I guess we could go."

"You should stay," Klaus told his sister. "We need to keep an eye on Armand and his vampires, they're causing too much trouble already. I will be hunting with my pack tonight," he gave a pointed look in Bonnie's direction.

Rebekah nodded, understanding that her brother did not want to leave Bonnie alone.

"I don't need a babysitter you know," Bonnie didn't miss the looks exchanged between the siblings. While she appreciated their concern, she didn't like being treated like a porcelain doll. She wasn't even going to suggest going with them, she knew better.

"We know love," Klaus kissed the top of her head. An idea suddenly sprung into his mind. "You know who you can take as well, to help you rescue the damsels' in distress," he said looking at Elijah while a grin formed on his lips.

"Who?"

"The Salvatore bothers," Klaus suggested. "I'm sure both Romeos would love nothing more than to save their Juliettes."

Rebekah snorted.

"That is an excellent idea, brother." Elijah pulled his cell phone out and proceeded to dial Stefan's number. He tolerated him more than Damon.

"You think those idiots will be of much help?" Rebekah wondered curiously.

Klaus's lips curled wickedly. "They can serve as bait."

"Really?" Bonnie knew Klaus didn't like the Salvatore's but still, she didn't want them dead.

Klaus chuckled and kissed her cheek. The smile dropped from his lips in the next second however, as he spotted the vampire making his way inside the church.

"Marcel!" Davina rushed into her adoptive father's waiting arms.

Marcel happily embraced her.

A chill descended inside the church as Marcel met Klaus's eyes over Davina's shoulder.

Charlotte frowned as she sensed the tension that escalated around everyone. She moved to Bonnie's side and took her hand in hers, wondering why everyone was on edge.

"It's okay," Bonnie whispered reassuringly. She looked back and forth between Klaus and Marcel.

Klaus let go of Bonnie and walked towards Marcel. They had purposely been avoiding each other throughout the morning as they worked to clean the streets.

Elijah finished his call quickly and exchanged knowing looks with Rebekah and Kol.

Marcel and Davina pulled apart, the young teenage witch held his hand and stood next to him, looking nervously between him and Klaus. She looked pleadingly at Bonnie. _Please don't let him hurt Marcel,_ she begged with her eyes.

Bonnie left Charlotte with Lucy and made her way towards Klaus, standing right next to him. She hoped Klaus and Marcel would decide to speak rather than go straight for the blows.

Almost as if he knew something was about to happen, Father Kieran exited his office and made his way towards the entrance of the church. He looked nervously between both vampires. He actually looked ready to intervene should any violence break out between them.

"Marcellus," Klaus greeted his former protégé with a cold and indifferent look.

"Klaus," Marcel met his hard gaze unflinchingly.

* * *

"Yes. I got her," the man spoke into the phone. "Alright, we'll meet you there." He hung up and turned to his partner. "Rene got the two doppelgängers out of Baton Rouge and is going to meet us at the safe house later today and Gregor got the Silas doppelgänger living in Atlanta."

"So, we have everything," his partner who was driving like a maniac out of New Orleans grinned happily. It had been a close call. Had they not been warned by their fellow Travelers of the folly of fighting alongside the Navarro pack, they would be dead like the rest of the Travelers that died in that foolish war between the wolves and vampires. "We got the doppelgängers and the Bennett witch, we can finally bring down the other side and free Markos."

"Not quite."

"What do you mean?"

"After we drop this one," the traveler said glancing at the unconscious Bennett witch on the back seat of the car. "We have to return to New Orleans."

"Why?"

"Because there is another Silas doppelgänger in New Orleans," the Traveler informed his partner. "A vampire by the name of Stefan Salvatore, we must get him. We need to sacrifice all the doppelgängers and the Bennett witch together in order to bring down the other side."


	58. Chapter 58

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

Klaus and Marcel sat on the last bench inside the church. The hybrid was staring at the altar in front of them while the former king played with the daylight ring on his finger. The ring Klaus himself had given him shortly after he turned.

While Elijah prepared everything to go to Baton Rouge and Kol and Rebekah went to the compound to see what could be salvaged, Bonnie, Davina, and Charlotte waited inside father Kieran's office. Klaus had asked to speak with Marcel alone and everyone had reluctantly respected his wishes. This conversation between them was long overdue.

Rain kept falling down hard on the roof of the church and the candles flickered from time to time as a cold wind made its way inside through the open doors. New Orleans was quiet, the streets nearly deserted as humans and supernaturals alike were still dealing with the aftermath of the battle.

The silence between them was suffocating.

Marcel glanced at Klaus from time to time, shifting nervously in his seat. He could feel that dark and potent aura that surrounded his sire prickling his skin. Klaus was different. Klaus was more powerful than he had ever been before. He had witnessed it when the hybrid tore through his army like they were nothing the day he took back the city and he had seen it again the night before as he destroyed the Navarro forces. He shuddered remembering how he had witnessed Klaus shifting into his wolf form and how he had commanded his pack to do the same. The massive black wolf alone had killed more Navarro soldiers than all the other wolves combined. He could easily rip Marcel apart if he so desired.

"You fought on our side last night," Klaus was the first one to break the silence. He kept his eyes on the altar, a neutral expression on his face.

"I did," Marcel replied. "This is my home. I was not going to let the Navarro's take it."

"How did you know we were under attack?" Klaus questioned.

Marcel shrugged.

"Let me guess," Klaus pretended to think for a second. "Thierry, your spy no doubt informed you."

Marcel's jaw clenched. He wouldn't put it past Klaus to seek revenge against Thierry. "Thierry is my friend. He's loyal," he muttered through gritted teeth. He felt tense and on edge.

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"My guys are loyal," Marcel continued in a defensive tone. "They fought for your family last night because they love this city, because they want to keep it safe."

"And I'm sure if you ask them, they will fight for you again." Klaus turned to face him. "Is that what you are planning Marcellus, to stab me in the back and take what's mine _again_?" The last word came out in an angry hiss.

"The city is yours." It cost him to say it. There had been a bit of hope, a bit of belief that he could one day get his city back but that hope had been destroyed the night before. After what Marcel had witnessed Klaus do, he knew better. "But let's make one thing clear. Just because you are the king doesn't mean the vampires will respect you or be loyal to you right away." Marcel met Klaus's eyes as he spoke. "Loyalty can't be bought, Klaus. You can scare them into submission, you can force them and bend them to your will but you can't force their loyalty. That only comes out of love and respect from the people that believe in you. You taught me many things but that's something I learned on my own. You can take this city from me, you can reclaim your kingdom," Marcel continued fiercely. "But you can never take away what I built with my guys nor can you expect them to forget their respect, their loyalty, their friendship to me," he hissed. "Don't punish Thierry for that. He was just trying to be a good friend, a loyal friend."

"You and Thierry should consider yourselves lucky for the mercy I have shown you thus far," Klaus snarled.

"Yeah, yeah," Marcel mumbled as he turned to look away from the hybrid. "We're on your _who's been naughty list._ "

Klaus's eyes narrowed. "You conspired with that wicked witch Sabine to take Bonnie, for that alone I should kill you."

Marcel had the decency to look ashamed upon hearing those words. He had no defense for that, it was the truth. He had made a deal with Sabine.

"You sent your vampires to attack my wolf family," Klaus continued furiously. "Or have you conveniently forgotten that?"

"I have no excuse," Marcel muttered turning to face Klaus once more. "I was desperate to keep my power, to keep my kingdom." It had all been for naught in the end. All his plans had blown up in his face. "I'm sorry."

"Are you really?"

"I didn't know Bonnie was pregnant when I made that deal with Sabine."

"Would it have made a difference?" Klaus wondered regarding him carefully.

"Of course, it would have!" Marcel snapped. "I have a rule about kids. I don't hurt or kill children." He had done many horrible things as a vampire but he had always tried his best to keep the kids in the city safe.

"Your vampires hurt children from my wolf family when they attacked their camp," Klaus reminded him.

"That was a mistake, a huge mistake on my part," Marcel was man enough to admit it. "I was afraid you were going to turn them into hybrids and use them to take the city. I wanted to send a message to you, to the Navarro's. A show of my strength and power," he muttered with regret. "It backfired horrendously."

"That it did."

Marcel contemplated the altar for a few minutes before turning back to face the hybrid once more. "Believe it or not, I don't want any harm to come to your children," he spoke with sincerity. He had fucked up by making that deal with Sabine and he regretted it deeply. Whatever differences he and Klaus had, Marcel did not wish any harm on those kids. They had enough enemies to last them a lifetime by virtue of the fact of being Mikaelson's, Marcel was not going to add his name to the list of enemies they had amassed already. "And I'm not plotting to take the city back if that's what you are wondering. There is a part of me that wants to," he admitted without shame. "But I'm not an idiot. That'll pretty much be a suicide mission."

"So, is this the part where I'm supposed to welcome you back with open arms?" Klaus questioned. "To forgive and forget the past."

Marcel winced at the coldness of his voice. Despite his better judgment, he felt a slight tingle of fear running down his spine. "I'm not going to run, Klaus." He didn't want to run, he didn't want to live in fear that one day Klaus was going to find him and extract his revenge. "This is my home. I was born here, I died here, I will live here always. I plan to stay here but you have my word that I'm not plotting against you." He had entertained that idea certainly but he knew better by now. Marcel knew that there was no way he could take power from Klaus again, not with the forces the hybrid had backing him up.

Klaus watched him, a perfect mask on his face.

Marcel didn't know what he was thinking or planning to do to him and he hated that because it made him afraid. "In my arrogance, in my desire to keep my power, and my kingdom, I forgot a promise I made to someone."

Klaus gave him a curious look.

"I promised that I was going to keep Davina safe." Marcel had failed Davina. He had done nothing to get her back when Klaus kidnapped her. He had prioritized other things over her safety. Not anymore. Davina was all he had left.

"You care for her," Klaus remarked.

"Like a father would for a daughter," Marcel replied honestly. He thought back to the night he had met Davina. "Father Kieran came to me, warned me about the Harvest. I didn't want the witches to get any more power so I tried to stop it, but I was too late." He paused for a moment as the memories of that night surfaced. "Davina was the last girl left, there was something about her…" he muttered lost in thought. Davina had screamed, Davina had fought, it had reminded Marcel of himself, of the child he had been once. "She fought you know, she just didn't go along to the slaughter. I felt like she and I were kindred spirits…" he trailed off feeling uncertain as to why he was sharing that with Klaus.

"You saw something of yourself in her," Klaus murmured with a knowing look. The same way Klaus had seen something of himself in Marcel and the same way Bonnie saw something of herself in Charlotte.

"Yeah."

Silence descended over them.

"The witches are not going to give up," Marcel told him after a couple of quiet minutes. "They will try to complete the Harvest and I want to keep Davina safe, I want to keep my promise to her." He stared into Klaus's eyes. "That's all I want Klaus, I swear."

Klaus contemplated Marcel's face for what seemed like forever, judging the veracity of his words. "Davina is perfectly safe with us," he said after a while.

"So, you are going to continue keeping her as a prisoner," Marcel angrily retorted.

"Nonsense," Klaus looked offended at the accusation. "Davina is a guest and she will remain living with us." His tone left no room for argument. "She's under our protection, you have nothing to worry about."

"She's just a kid Klaus, if you are thinking of using her against the witches of this city-"

"You'll what?" Klaus snarled eyes flashing gold. "Just because I haven't killed you yet, doesn't mean I will allow your insubordination, Marcellus. Think very carefully before you speak, don't make me regret the mercy I've shown you."

Marcel pressed his lips together, hands balling into fists. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to his adoptive father but he forced himself to stay quiet. He knew better than to push.

Klaus's eyes returned to normal. "You can relax and stop being the overprotective father. No harm will come to Davina," he promised. "And unlike you, I don't need to use Davina to keep the witches in line."

"And I'm just supposed to believe your word?"

"Bonnie cares for that girl as much as you do," Klaus replied in a serious voice. "Davina is under the protection of the Bennett coven and even if she weren't, I wouldn't let anything happen to her. What Bonnie loves and cares for, I will protect and defend." He would protect Davina in the same way he would protect Charlotte.

Marcel watched him in stunned silence, trying to determine any deceit in the hybrid's words but there was none. Klaus was being deadly serious. He really meant what he said. He was going to keep Davina safe, _for Bonnie_.

"Something is brewing in the city," Klaus muttered as he thought of the missing witches. "This isn't over." He could feel it. There was something inside him warning him, telling him this was not the end. "The defeat of the Navarro clan was just the first battle in a much bigger war." He turned his head to the side and stared into Marcel's dark eyes. "Whose side are you on, Marcel?" he asked quietly.

"Yours," Marcel responded without hesitation. He met his sire's eyes and held his gaze unflinchingly. They were fighting a war and Marcel wanted to be on the winning side. He was done losing and hiding.

"Don't betray me again," Klaus hissed, the unspoken promise of bloodshed and pain was left unsaid.

Marcel swallowed nervously. "Never again," he swore.

Silence descended over them once more.

* * *

 **French Quarter**

"So, the Navarro's are dead?" Damon questioned Stefan as the two got ready to meet with Elijah and head to Baton Rouge to rescue Elena. Everything made sense now, the fog and the wolves they had sensed the night before when they had visited Delphine.

Throughout the night, Damon and Stefan stayed inside their hotel room, waiting for the storm to pass. As curious as they had been to see what was going, they hadn't dared to go outside. Now they knew that the Navarro army had been defeated by the Mikaelson's. It was an unexpected turn of events but one which favored them greatly.

"All dead," Stefan confirmed. He felt relieved and happy that they were no longer going to deal with the evil Navarro pack. Franco and his brothers were dead and so whatever deal Damon had made with the Navarro Alpha was completely dissolved by now.

"And Bonnie is okay?" Damon asked with a hint of worry in his voice. Franco wanted Bonnie that much he knew. The bastard had probably come for her the night before and had no doubt met a gruesome end, Damon felt glad to know Franco was dead.

"She's fine," Stefan responded. Elijah hadn't given too many details but he had assured Stefan that Bonnie and Matt were okay. "Elijah wants to go to Baton Rouge today and rescue Elena and Katherine." He pulled out a stash of wolfsbane he had bought in the Quarter a few days before.

"We're going to get Elena back," Damon couldn't stop grinning. They were going to get Elena back without going through with the deal he had promised Franco. Things had turned in their favor and he couldn't be happier.

"We will get Elena back," Stefan repeated with a matching grin. "Who knows what will be waiting for us there though." A serious look crossed his features. "We need to be careful, the Navarro's probably still have many loyal wolves in the city." Elijah had warned him that things could get complicated. He threw some of the wolfsbane to Damon. "We are going to need this." It would help them weaken any wolves they came across. "A word of advice, don't get bitten."

"Right back at you, baby bro."

They both knew they were heading into dangerous territory and that Klaus would probably not want to heal them if they were to get bitten but they were willing to risk it for Elena. Getting Elena back was all that mattered now.

"Who would have thought the Originals would end up doing us a favor," Damon muttered. "I'm even surprised they came up with the rescue mission." The Originals didn't care for Elena and were probably trying to get her back because of Bonnie. "Is Bonnie coming with us?"

"I don't think so," Stefan answered. "She's pregnant Damon." As powerful as Bonnie was, she was in a delicate condition and he doubted Klaus and Elijah would put her at risk even if they were going to rescue her best friend. "Lucy and Matt are coming and Elijah mentioned a group of vampires he sired."

Damon gave him a curious look.

"He didn't give much details," Stefan muttered seeing the look on his brother's face. "The important thing is that he's going to help us get Elena and Katherine." The Navarro's had both doppelgängers after all.

"Yeah," Damon agreed.

They both couldn't wait for all of this to be over.

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

"You are going to make a hole on the floor," Bonnie commented as she watched Davina pace back and forth inside Father Kieran's office.

Klaus had asked to speak with Marcel alone. His siblings had reluctantly agreed and left the church, only Bonnie and the girls remained. Father Kieran had let them inside his office while both vampires talked.

Davina stopped and turned to face her. "I wish I knew what they are talking about," she bit her lip. "You don't think they are fighting, do you?" there was a look of pure anguish on her face. "I don't want Klaus to hurt Marcel."

"They're not fighting," Bonnie assured her. Judging by the emotions coming from the bond, Klaus's wasn't angry or murderous. He seemed very calm actually. "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."

Davina nodded but she still looked worried.

"I'm hungry," Charlotte proclaimed as she scratched the back of her head.

"Oh sweetie, I promise we are going to get something to eat very soon." Bonnie said smiling in her direction. They were sitting on the two leather chairs in front of Father Kieran's desk, while Davina paced behind them.

"Can we get pancakes?" Charlotte asked her.

"You can get everything you want at the hotel," Klaus said as he stepped inside Father Kieran's office. None of the girls has felt him come inside.

Davina jumped back as he practically appeared next to her.

Charlotte smiled up at him.

Bonnie stood up immediately. "Everything okay?" she asked walking towards him.

"Marcel and I have come to a truce," Klaus informed them. "He wishes to speak with you," he said glancing in Davina's direction.

The happiness and relief Davina felt was obvious in her face. Her entire face lit up with pure joy.

"Jesse is outside," Klaus told the young witch. "He will escort you to the hotel once you are done talking to Marcel."

"Thank-you!" Davina was consumed with so much happiness she didn't stop to think, she threw her arms around the hybrid and hugged him.

Klaus was momentarily stunned by her actions. He stood completely rigid.

Davina pulled away quickly, smiling happily. "Thank-you," she whispered her eyes shining as bright as the stars. She turned to Bonnie and Charlotte. "I'll see you at the hotel," she promised before rushing out of the office to speak with Marcel. She was over the moon with joy.

Klaus frowned and turned towards Bonnie who was beaming at him. "What?"

Bonnie wrapped her around his waist. "I'm glad you and Marcel decided to make peace." She knew they had a messy past but Klaus had raised Marcel since he was a little boy and still saw him as a son. The hybrid wouldn't admit it out loud but Bonnie knew he loved Marcel and didn't want him dead.

"There's been enough bloodshed in this city already," Klaus muttered as he pulled her closer. "Besides, he could be useful to keep the vampires in line. Marcel is a good leader," he admitted.

"It's okay you know," Bonnie stared into this eyes touching his face gently with her fingers. Klaus could try to pretend all he wanted but Bonnie knew his real feelings. "It's okay to care about him, to forgive him."

 _It doesn't make you weak,_ her thoughts easily slipped inside his mind.

Klaus pressed his lips together and looked away.

Bonnie grabbed his face with both of her hands and pulled his face towards her once more. She smiled before kissing him sweetly on the lips. He held her around the waist as their lips met in a slow, loving kiss.

"I'm hungry," Charlotte's voice interrupted the couple. The little witch was cranky and her stomach continued to make loud growling noises.

Bonnie pulled away from Klaus, her cheeks feeling hot.

Klaus sighed. "Yes, I'm very much aware of your hunger," he said as he moved away from Bonnie and walked towards Charlotte. "The incessant rumbling of your stomach makes me think you have a monster in your belly."

"No I don't," Charlotte shook her head. There was a very serious look on her face as she stared at Klaus. "No monsters," she promised.

Klaus easily picked her up in his arms. "Are you sure? I can hear it right here." He gently poked her belly.

Charlotte burst into a fit of giggles before wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "You have one in your tummy." She playfully poked one of his dimples.

"You wish," Klaus retorted with a smile while Charlotte continued to giggle. He turned to face Bonnie. "I'm going to drop you at the hotel," he told her. "Then I'm going to get our things from the compound." And give a couple of instructions to his people before joining her.

Bonnie nodded while she contemplated the two of them with a tender smile, seeing Klaus holding Charlotte in his arms tugged at her heartstrings. She could easily picture him holding their twins in his arms. It was a lovely image. She couldn't wait to see Klaus interact with their children and hold them as he was holding Charlotte in that moment.

"Can you get my toys?" Charlotte asked as Klaus proceeded to exit the office. "And my clothes please?"

"Yes, yes," Klaus mumbled as he carried her out of there. He held on to Bonnie's hand as the three of them made their way out.

* * *

 **The compound**

"You are going to Baton Rouge today?" Joanna exclaimed as she sat on her daughter's bed. Lucy was moving around the room as she finished getting dressed. The second floor of the compound had caught fire but thankfully, the room Lucy was staying in had been spared, the same could not be said for many of the other rooms.

"Elijah wants to search the Navarro mansion," Lucy told her mother as she put on her favorite black leather jacket. "We need to find Elena and Katherine before the Travelers use their blood to destroy the other side for good."

"And here we were all celebrating thinking the Travelers were dead," Joanna muttered. She was exhausted but she couldn't stop thinking about Lenore. They were all worried. The Bennett witches were taking a few hours to charge their batteries before trying to find her again. They were not going to give up until they had Lenore back with them.

Lucy sat on the bed next to her. "If we're lucky, they're all dead now and won't give us any trouble but you never know." She began putting her boots on.

"You and Elijah have been spending a lot of time together lately," Joanna gave her daughter a knowing look. She had seen the them fight side by side the night before and she had witnessed their kiss as well. She had also seen them arrive hand in hand at the compound earlier that morning.

"Yes," Lucy said as she finished zipping her boots. "We're together." She met her mother's bright green eyes and held her head high.

"Is this what you really want?" Joanna asked gently.

"You don't like that I'm dating a vampire." Lucy stood up feeling defensive. "I'm not a little girl you know, I can take care of myself and if you think-"

"All I want is for you to be happy Lucy," Joanna interrupted quickly. "Am I wary of the fact that he is a one-thousand-year old vampire with a quite the reputation? Yes, I am." She stood up. "I will always worry about you, it doesn't matter if you are dating a human, another witch or a werewolf. I'm your mom, it's in my job description to worry you know."

Lucy smiled at that.

Joanna walked closer watching her carefully. "I've never seen you this happy before." Lucy was radiant, the joy in her face and eyes was more than obvious and it was all because of Elijah. Joanna had many reservations about the vampire and what a relationship with him could mean for Lucy but she couldn't deny how happy her daughter looked.

"I've never been this happy," Lucy admitted taking her mother's hand in hers. "He's amazing mom. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world."

"He must be if he managed to capture your heart," Joanna replied touching her face gently.

"So, you're okay with it?" Lucy asked nervously. She didn't want her mother to be against her relationship with Elijah but she wasn't going to stop being with him if she didn't approve either. Lucy had chosen Elijah and her mom was going to have to accept that.

"I want you to be happy Lucy and if he is your happiness, I will never get in the way." Joanna responded. "I'm a little worried and nervous for obvious reasons," she said honestly. She never thought her daughter would end up dating a vampire but she trusted Lucy's judgement. "But you will always have my support, no matter what."

Lucy threw her arms around her mother and hugged her tightly. "You are the best mom ever," she said as they pulled away.

"I try to be," Joanna winked.

Both of them laughed.

"Are you coming back tonight?" Joanna asked a while later. "You don't plan to stay here, right? This house is a mess." Not to mention the vampires that were currently taking refuge there. Joanna didn't like their arrogance; their leader Armand was the worst. Most of the Bennett's had returned to the mansion because of it; tempers could easily flare and they had seen enough blood already.

"I hope we can just rescue them and get the hell out but I'm not sure," Lucy replied. They didn't know what could be awaiting them in Baton Rouge. Something told her it wasn't going to be as easy as they wanted it. Nothing ever was. "And don't worry, we'll be staying at a hotel with Klaus, Bonnie, and the girls." Her face broke into a smile. "Can you believe that Charlotte teleported herself and Davina out of the house last night."

"What?"

"I know, it's amazing!" Lucy exclaimed. "Turns out that she managed to teleport the two of them out of harm's way during the attack."

"Lucy, that's extremely powerful and advanced magic," Joanna commented feeling stunned at what she was hearing. "For a child to do that, she must be a prodigy."

"I know." Lucy agreed as she leaned back against the dresser. "When I was her age, the coolest thing I ever did was to lift things into the air."

"There is a lot of mystery surrounding that little girl," Joanna muttered. She stared at the window, watching as the rain and wind pelted the glass. A girl that had been marked by the same coven Abby had once belonged to.

"We'll find out everything about her soon enough," Lucy told her mom.

"What do you mean?" Joanna turned back to face her daughter.

"Klaus has a detective/vampire/informant person who is looking into her past," Lucy responded. "He wants to speak with Klaus and Bonnie I guess, and he wants to do it in person so he must have found something very important."

"Do you know when he's coming?" Joanna asked a bit nervously. She couldn't help but think of Abby, her coven and the connection she had to Charlotte's scar. _Abby needs to come clean,_ she thought. Abby needed to talk to Bonnie before the truth of her past were to be divulged by another source. It was best if Bonnie were to learn the truth from her mother's own lips rather than someone else.

"No idea," Lucy replied. "Any day now, I guess."

"I see."

The silence that followed was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Elijah stepped inside the room, a soft smile immediately graced his lips as he saw Lucy. "Are you ready?" he asked coming to stand next to her.

"Yeah," Lucy offered him a loving smile. She took his hand in hers.

Joanna watched them quietly. She had to admit that they made quite the stunning pair. "I trust you will ensure my daughter's safety," she said looking straight into Elijah's eyes.

"You have my word on that," Elijah was quick to reply.

"Mom!" Lucy gave her mom a look. She knew how to take care of herself, thank-you very much.

Joanna ignored her and focused on Elijah, a fierce and determined look on her face. "If you ever hurt my daughter Elijah Mikaelson, you will never know peace. I will end you in the most cruel and horrible way possible," she swore without preamble.

Lucy's mouth dropped open. She couldn't believe her mom had just threatened her boyfriend and in a really badass way too.

Elijah nodded. "You have my word that if that day ever comes, I will gladly deliver myself to whatever punishment you see fit."

"Good."

Their eyes met, a look of understanding passing between them.

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

"I'm glad you and Klaus made up," Davina told Marcel as she rested her head against his shoulder. They had been talking for a while now, catching up on everything and enjoying each other's company after weeks of being apart.

"I don't think I'll get invited to the family dinners but at least he's not planning to rip my heart out anymore," Marcel replied as he wrapped an army tightly around her shoulder. "I missed you D."

"I missed you too," Davina pulled her head away from his shoulder and smiled.

"I'm sorry," Marcel murmured. "I should've done more to get you way from him, I…" his ambition, his desire to prove himself better than his sire had blinded him to many things.

"It's okay," Davina whispered. "I wasn't exactly trying to escape."

"You really like them, don't you?"

"I do. Especially Bonnie and Charlotte is like my little sister," Davina gave him a shy smile. "They're nice. A bit dysfunctional sometimes but I like them," she confessed with a small laugh. "Even Kol as annoying as he can get is not bad and Klaus is Klaus but he's alright too."

"I know all about that Mikaelson charm," Marcel muttered. He had been enchanted with them as a child too. He knew the appeal they had and how easily one could end up wrapped up in their world.

"Bonnie's aunts are going to help me with my magic," Davina informed him. "I'm also seeing a specialist and taking these drops so my magic won't get out of control. It's nice you know, having other witches around." A somber look crossed her features. "Witches that don't want to kill me I mean."

Marcel nodded. "Be careful," he warned her. "Things are tense between the factions in the city and those new vampires…"

"The vampire army from Shreveport," Davina added.

"Yeah," Marcel didn't like them at all. He knew they had fought on Klaus's side the previous night but there was something about Armand that had Marcel on the alert. That vampire was bad news, he could feel it. "I know you are under Klaus's and Bonnie's protection but be careful around them okay. There are many new wolves in the city too." Not just the Crescents who had broken the curse he placed on them but many new packs had made the Bayou their home too. They were no doubt drawn to the city because of Klaus. "keep an eye out," he advised. "I don't want to scare you but if you go out or if they hang around the compound, keep your guard up okay. You never know what they could be plotting."

"Okay."

"I promise I'm going to protect you D." Marcel kissed the top of her head. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, ever."

Davina smiled and snuggled closer to him. "I know." She knew that she could always count on Marcel. They were family and they would always have each other's backs.

* * *

 **French Quarter Hotel**

Bonnie stood barefooted in front of the floor length mirror inside the beautiful and elegant marble bathroom of the suite. Klaus had booked the entire top floor of a well-known hotel within the Quarter for the family to rest at. She could hear the rain pelting the roof and the loud echoes of thunder, the storm was still raging outside. She wiped the steam off the mirror and contemplated her reflection. She remembered the way she had broken the wolf's arm, the strength that had come from somewhere deep inside her and the way she bit into his flesh. It had been pure instinct.

 _You have hybrid eyes, love._

Klaus's words echoed inside her mid. Now that the battle was over and the adrenaline and anxiety of the night before was gone, she could calmly think back to that moment.

Bonnie touched her face, fingers tracing the skin beneath her eyes. She opened her mouth an inspected her teeth, probing her gums with her fingertips.

"Trying to see if you have fangs?"

Bonnie jumped back startled and spun around to face Klaus.

The hybrid had an amused grin on his face and was casually leaning against the door frame, arms folded over his chest. He had just returned from the compound bringing some of their personal belongings with him.

"You scared the crap out of me." Bonnie placed a hand over her chest, heart beating wildly. She had been so lost in thought she hadn't sensed him at all.

Klaus eyes leisurely moved over the white fluffy bathrobe covering her body. He lamented the fact that he had arrived after she had finished her shower. He had spoken with Elijah before he left for Baton Rouge and given out instructions for his hybrids and some of the vampires before returning to Bonnie at the hotel. He still had a couple of hours left before he had to meet with his pack and he intended to make the best of it. "You should have been able to sense me from the moment I entered the hotel, love." There was a soft click as he locked the door with one hand before making his way towards her.

"I was distracted," Bonnie gave him a sheepish smile.

"So, I see."

"I can't stop thinking about it you know. I still can't believe I tapped into the twins' hybrid abilities."

"Was it really the twins?" Klaus pondered as he stopped a few inches away from her and placed his hands gently on her hips, pulling her forward against his body.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. Her body practically melting into his. There was a soft smile on her face as she looked up at him.

"I wonder…" Klaus stared at her face with deep concentration. He lifted one hand and gently trace his knuckles over her heated cheek. His lips curled into a pleased smirk as he felt the effect his touch had on her.

A nervous flutter invaded her belly and her heart skyrocketed like it always did whenever he was near. "Wonder what?" Bonnie inquired.

Klaus traced his knuckles over her chin and down her neck. "Something has changed…" he murmured. "Something about us, about our connection." The clues had been there for a while now but with everything going on he had not been able to put the pieces together until now. The looks of awe, fear, and curiosity he had received throughout the morning not only from his pack but from the vampires as well, it made him think hard about what he had done the night before. Klaus had thought a lot about the things he had experienced.

"You mean the bond?"

He nodded. "Last night, the wolves threw chains around me," Klaus recalled the Travelers magic paralyzing him and the chains the wolves had thrown around his neck and arms. "They were laced with vervain but it didn't burn me at all and that's not the first time that has happened. The night the Travelers came for you, during the explosion at the hotel, vervain water rained down on everyone but it did not hurt me either." He had been sprayed with it but it had felt like normal water to him.

"You're immune to vervain?" Bonnie stared at him in shock.

"Something has changed within me, Bonnie." He pressed his lips together trying to put his thoughts into words. "Last night I shifted and I called my pack and they shifted upon my command. All the wolves who share my blood turned without the need of the full moon. Even the hybrids felt my call and turned."

Bonnie's eyes opened wide. "You all fought as wolves?" she was trying to picture Klaus shifting in the middle of the battle and calling his wolves to do the same. Now she knew where the howls she had heard the night before came from. "Oh my god!" Just hearing about it gave her chills. She wished she had been able to see it.

"I don't even know how I did it," he admitted with a slight tremor to his voice. He was still stunned that he had been able to do such a thing. "I think some kind of magic must have been involved, I don't know." He wasn't sure to be honest.

"Klaus, that's amazing!" Bonnie reached out and touched his face with both of her hands. There was a look of pure wonder on her face as she stared at him. She had seen him in his wolf form before so she could only imagine what a fearsome sight he and his pack must have made during the battle.

"My pack is fully convinced I'm Fenrir reborn," he muttered.

"And how do you feel?" Bonnie asked gently. The emotions coming from his side were confusing.

Klaus shrugged. "I don't know." It certainly worked to his advantage if the wolves saw him as such but still, Fenrir was the wolf of legend, it was a lot to live up to. He didn't feel worthy.

"Do you think our bond somehow helped you do that?" Bonnie asked suddenly.

"Blood is powerful," Klaus told her. "Our blood is powerful individually." He as an Original vampire/werewolf hybrid and she as a witch. "That power combined, who knows what it can be capable of." He looked down at her belly, remembering Cary's words the day they met. How he talked about the Original supernatural bloodlines coming together in their children.

Klaus had never been bonded to anyone so he had no point of reference, he didn't know if what they were experiencing was something all bonded pairs experienced or something unique to them. As far as he knew, Elijah's bond to Celeste had not alter him in any way or made him immune to vervain and neither had Rebekah's bonds to her human lovers.

"I think you are right," Bonnie murmured after a long pause. "I know the twins have vampire and werewolf blood in their systems." Which allowed her to heal at the rate of an Original vampire and who knew what else it would mean for them once they were born. "I think of them as witches you know, their magic is so active, so powerful already which is why I can tap into it." She thought back to the night before, to the boost of strength she had tapped into, and the bite she had given that wolf. "We know their blood is lethal to wolves and vampires alike. They have inherited all of our strengths to protect themselves," she continued as she watched his face carefully. "But it makes sense that I was able to tap into _your hybrid_ abilities because of our bond and not theirs."

"We can feel each other's emotions, we can locate the other always, we can read each other's thoughts if we wish it," Klaus said. "Perhaps we can also borrow each other's strengths and use them should there be a need for it." The more he thought about it, the more sense it made.

"Yeah…" Bonnie agreed. "It's kind of scary and amazing." But it made sense, they had shared blood so many times now, they were connected in ways that neither of them could have anticipated before. And that connection only seemed to be growing stronger. They were bound by blood and magic and that was something extremely powerful. "What else do you think we will be able to do?"

"I don't know," Klaus answered honestly. "This is new for both of us."

Bonnie nodded. "It also makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

"What?"

"Just how powerful our children will be," Bonnie replied softly. "They have saved me multiple times now and they haven't been born yet." She touched her bump. "I can't help but think of what Sophie said, how some witches were going to want them dead and others would try to use them for their blood." It scared her. The thought of witches coming after her children in order to sacrifice them for their unique blood made her angry and extremely sad and afraid.

"No one is going to use our children Bonnie," Klaus cupped her cheek tenderly with one hand while he placed his other hand on top of the one she was resting over her belly. "I won't let anyone hurt them or you," he swore. "I'm going to keep you safe, always and forever."

"I know." Bonnie believed in him. She knew he would keep them safe. "We will protect each other," she was no damsel in distress but his equal in every way. Together they would keep their children safe. "Always and forever," she vowed.

The two shared a smile before Bonnie got on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips.

Klaus eagerly returned her kiss.

* * *

Klaus made a sound of protest when Bonnie pulled away before he could deepen the kiss. He pulled her forwards and lowered his head to the curve of her neck.

Bonnie moaned and closed her eyes as he trailed open mouthed kisses up her neck. "The girls-"

"Watching one of those silly cartoons they love so much," Klaus assured her. His hands tugged at her robe. "Why are you nervous?" he asked pulling away from her neck and staring into her face. He reached out and gently traced her chin with his fingers. He could feel the echoes of her apprehension through their bond.

"I don't know…" Bonnie whispered her cheeks flaming.

"Liar," Klaus tilted her chin up, staring deeply into her bright green eyes, urging her to tell him the truth.

"It's been too long," Bonnie murmured. There was a lot they needed to do but she wanted nothing more than steal a few precious moments alone with him. She wanted him but she felt nervous and a little apprehensive. Her body was stretching and changing and she didn't know if he would still want her.

"Far too long," Klaus agreed as he lowered his head and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Despite the need, the lust, and the heat that was felt through their bond, the kiss was gentle, and unhurried.

Bonnie's entire body trembled with nerves, anticipation, and excitement as she kissed him back. They had not been together since the last full moon, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Dr. Mayfair had given her the green light to resume with her normal activities but they hadn't done _that_ yet. The night they returned from the clinic she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and the previous night had been a gruesome battle. There had been no time then but there was now.

Klaus pulled away from her lips, giving her time to catch her breath. He lowered his head, his breath fanning over her sensitive skin as he nuzzled the side of her neck.

Bonnie closed her eyes and arched her neck giving him full access to her flesh.

Klaus kissed her right on her pulse point, making her heart soar and her body come alive. The feel of his lips on her skin made her tingle all over. He moved up, gently nipping at her skin as he made his way towards her parted lips once more.

Bonnie moaned into his mouth as their lips and tongues met in a heated kiss.

One of Klaus's hand tangled in her hair while with the other, he pulled her closer to his body or as close as he could, considering the bump in between them.

Bonnie pulled away breathless, her lips swollen, and her cheeks flushed. She looked him up and down, he was still in jeans and a black shirt. She didn't like that, she wanted him naked. She grabbed the hem of his shirt and helped him to pull it off; the discarded material fell on the floor by their feet.

Klaus's hands began tugging at her robe, easily parting the material in half.

Bonnie's breath hitched as his hands skimmed the side of her breasts. Her breasts had grown a lot and were extremely tender. His touch was light at first, his fingers tracing over the sensitive flesh, and gently exploring every inch of exposed caramel skin he could find.

Bonnie hissed when his thumbs brushed over the dark nipples, the buds hardening instantly. His hands on her sent bolts of electricity throughout her body. She closed her eyes and moaned as he took both of her breasts fully in his hands.

Klaus of course was delighted by her response. He took his time touching her breasts, marveling at their new size, and enjoying the sensations his hands invoked in her. He offered her a wicked grin as he pulled the fluffy robe off her.

The white bathrobe fell to the floor. It was soon joined by Klaus's jeans.

Bonnie bit her lip as she stood naked before him. She shivered as his heated gaze looked her up and down. Heat coiled inside her belly and her body trembled with need. It had been way too long since they had been together. She needed him desperately. She could already feel a dampness between her legs and she rubbed her thighs together unconsciously.

Klaus got down on his knees in front of her.

The air left her lungs at the sinful smirk he gave her. Bonnie watched him feeling a secret thrill running down her spine. There was something about having the most powerful vampire in the world on his knees, right in front of her. It made her feel even more aroused than she already was. The dampness between her legs grew and butterflies took flight inside her belly.

Klaus's lips curled as he spread her legs open and lifted her right leg up, leaving her to support herself on her left.

Bonnie's hands immediately grabbed the marble vanity behind her, fingers digging painfully on the edges as Klaus placed her right leg over his shoulder. "Oh God…" she closed her eyes and moaned as she felt his hot breath against her inner thigh. She shivered in anticipation.

Klaus rubbed his stubble against her heated skin, nuzzling her inner thigh before gently placing sweet kisses on her as he moved to the most intimate part of her.

Bonnie nearly lost it from the need she felt for him. Her body was burning, her heart was ramming against her chest and her body shook uncontrollably. She closed her eyes and cried out as he slowly licked her center. She moaned loudly, shuddering with each lazy flick of his warm tongue against her sex.

It didn't take long for that euphoric feeling to being bubbling inside her. It rose and rose like a lone balloon flying up into the sky. She felt breathless and dizzy while letting out a string of incoherent cries and sighs of pleasure as Klaus took his sweet time exploring her with his expert tongue. Through her lust filled brain, Bonnie remembered to place a locking and silencing spell inside their suite. It was the last coherent thought she had before surrendering herself completely to the delicious torture of Klaus's mouth. She suddenly grabbed the back of his head, fingers tangling into his blond curls as she pushed herself against him. "Harder…" she panted.

Klaus happily obliged.

Bonnie cried out when Klaus concentrated on that tiny bud that jolted her entire body. It was happening she could feel it. That incredible pleasure was building and building like a massive wave and she was desperate to feel it crash against her. "More…" she ordered pulling his hair hard and pushing his head against her. She was desperate for more, she needed it like she needed air.

Klaus drank all of her with greed. One hand reached up and cupped one of her swollen breasts as he added more pressure with his tongue.

Bonnie's knees wobbled as he hungrily continued to flick his tongue against her clit. Her fingers dug painfully into the marble sink as her body coiled tightly. She rolled her hips against his mouth, needing to find that sweet release. It didn't take long. Overwhelmed by the pleasure, her body came undone a few seconds later.

Bonnie screamed loudly as she found her release.

The lights flickered on and off all of a sudden but neither of them noticed.

Klaus didn't stop. He groaned against her sex before picking up speed, continuing to lick and suck before he bit that bundle of nerves with his human teeth.

"Oh my god!" Bonnie breathed as that pressure quickly began building once more inside her. She had barely come down from her high and it was happening all over again. "Klaus!" Her hand tugged hard at his blond curls while her body began spamming as another wave of pleasure hit her, much faster and harder than the first one.

She was still in the throes of orgasm when she felt it.

Klaus licked her inner thigh once, twice, before he sank his fangs into her flesh.

The scream that followed had the lights flickering on and off for a few seconds while a small crack formed on the mirror behind her. The entire bathroom shook as sparks of her magic were released from the onslaught of pleasure assaulting her body.

Klaus took two big gulps of her sweet and powerful blood before licking the puncture wounds closed. They caramel flesh healed instantly, completely erasing the two red dots.

Bonnie's body gave out as ripples of intense pleasure invaded her body once more. She struggled to breathe and form a coherent thought. Her brain had been turned to mush and her body was still shuddering uncontrollably. Had it not been for Klaus, she would have ended up on the floor.

Klaus pulled himself to his feet and sat her on the marble sink.

Bonnie placed her hands on his shoulders, nails sinking into his pale flesh as she cradled him between her sleek thighs. Her eyes snapped open as she felt his erection right against her. She heard the low growl from his chest and stared into his golden eyes. Her need for him was awaken once more. "Please," she begged him as she moved her hand over him.

Klaus hissed as she stroked his rigid length, fingers exploring gently as she lowered her head and began kissing his neck, playfully biting his skin. His breath came in short pants and he moaned as Bonnie sucked hard on his pulse point and continued to stroke him with her hand.

The throbbing between her legs intensified upon hearing the noises that came out of his mouth. Klaus suddenly pushed her hand away and pressed himself against her.

They groaned in unison as he brushed against her center. His hybrid eyes met hers as he lifted her up, fingers digging into her flesh and pulling her into him.

Klaus slid into her without hesitation. One hard thrust that had her crying out in a mixture of pain and pleasure while her nails dug into the skin of his arms. He stood still, his body tense as he gave her time to adjust to his intrusion.

Bonnie's mouth sought his, kissing him passionately, hands moving from his arms to his back, fingers tracing up and down and encouraging him to move. "Love you," she whispered against his lips. God, how she had missed being like this with him. The feel of him inside her was the most delicious thing she had ever experienced.

Klaus pulled out and gently slid back into her, making her moan and shiver in delight. The slight sting she felt easily gave away to an intense pleasure that burned her blood and had her moaning and panting his name with reckless abandon.

Klaus easily picked up a smooth rhythm.

Each of his thrusts had Bonnie urging him for more. Her nails dug into his flesh and her eyes rolled as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, snapping her hips against his and creating more friction between them.

Klaus groaned, enjoying the feel of her breasts pressed against his chest, her hard nipples rubbing deliciously against his flesh as they moved together. His thrusts suddenly became harder, deeper, pulling her closer and closer towards the edge once more. Bonnie tightened around him, making him grunt and pick up a more forceful rhythm, hitting all the right spots inside her. She cried out his name with desperation. She was so close, almost there. She kept holding tightly to him, legs squeezing hard and milking his release.

"Fuck," Klaus cursed before tensing and letting out a loud groan as he spilled himself insider her. Bonnie followed closely behind. Her scream echoing around the bathroom and causing the lights to burst as a wave of her magic was released along with her pleasure. They were suddenly surrounded in darkness but neither of them really cared. They were completely lost in the moment.

Bonnie's head slumped over his shoulder as her body was rocked with aftershocks. She closed her eyes and struggled to catch her breath while Klaus placed soft kisses on her shoulder, hands moving gently over her back, caressing her sweaty skin, and holding her tightly against him.

For a long time neither of them moved, they simply held each other.

Eventually, Klaus withdrew from her. Bonnie whimpered in protest, she felt empty and cold all of a sudden. She pulled her head away from his shoulder and blinked in confusion realizing the sudden darkness they found themselves in. "What?"

"That was all you love," Klaus whispered huskily against her ear. He placed heated kisses over her neck and shoulder.

"Me?" Bonnie's head nearly bumped into his chin. "I did this?" She wasn't thinking clearly yet, she was overwhelmed with happiness and felt relaxed in his arms. Her body was melting into his and despite the darkness she felt warm and safe. She could stay like this forever.

"Yes," Klaus moved his hands up and down her thighs, caressing her and causing goosebumps to from in her flesh. It was a simple touch that had her body coming alive and yearning for more.

"Oops," Bonnie giggled. She attempted to kiss his lips but she ended up kissing his chin instead which caused her to burst into giggles again.

Klaus chuckled.

"I didn't mean to do that," Bonnie mumbled and then she laughed. She felt deliriously happy. This is where she wanted to be always, with him. Her heart was beating wildly with so much joy, while her body trembled with a need for him that would never be quenched.

Klaus's mouth easily found hers, kissing her passionately. Bonnie moaned and threw her arms around his neck as her tongue happily met his. Klaus grabbed her by the back of the head while his other hand tweaked one nipple. His touch easily stirring her desire.

Bonnie moaned against his lips, her body aching to have him inside her once more.

Klaus pulled away from her completely.

"No, don't…" Bonnie whimpered in protest.

"Don't worry love, we're not done yet," he promised.

Bonnie let out a surprised screech as Klaus picked her up in his arms and carried her inside the bedroom. Her laughter echoed in the darkness. A laughter that soon turned into sighs and moans of pleasure as Klaus had his wicked way with her again and again, and again.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"So, this Strix group," Damon said as he casually leaned against his car. "Are they like a secret society or something?" Elijah had been vague about the group of vampires coming to help them, limiting himself to telling them that they were part of his sireline and had been investigating the Navarro clan for years.

"Or something," Elijah murmured. They were waiting at the meeting point agreed with Aya and the Strix members coming with her to help them. Lucy and Matt stood next to him while Damon and Stefan waited by Damon's car. It was raining still and they were all huddled together under large black umbrellas as they waited.

A black Mercedes followed closely by two SUVs pulled up a short while later.

Lucy held Elijah's hand in hers and watched as a group of vampires got out of the cars. The last one to get out was Aya.

One of the vampires held an umbrella over her head as she gracefully stepped out of the black Mercedes. She was elegantly dressed in a long black rain coat and matching high heel boots. Her red lips curved into a seductive grin as she spotted Elijah.

Pretty did not even begin to describe her. Lucy watched as Aya walked with confidence towards them. Her dark eyes sliding over Elijah's impeccable attire before moving to the witch holding his hand.

"Elijah," she greeted happily before kissing both of his cheeks.

"Aya," Elijah couldn't mask the fond smile on his lips.

Lucy fumed silently. Aya was far more prettier and sexier than she had first anticipated and the clear familiarity between the two vampires was also noticeable. It was obvious they shared a strong bond. She felt a twinge of jealousy and curiosity.

Damon arched an eyebrow as he watched the vampire woman with curiosity. Stefan also seemed intrigued by the older and powerful female vampire. There was an aura of sexiness and power about her that seemed to draw people in like a moth would to a flame. Even Matt did a double take. Neither of them missed the friendly and seductive way in which she gazed at Elijah.

"And who is this lovely creature?" Aya asked as she casually slid her gaze over Lucy.

"This is Lucy Bennett," Elijah introduced them. "Lucy, my first sired vampire, Aya."

"My, my, you are gorgeous," Aya muttered with a sexy grin.

Lucy frowned. There was something in the way Aya was staring at her. She was practically undressing her with her eyes. _What the hell?_

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucy Bennett."

"Likewise," Lucy muttered.

Aya winked before briefly glancing at Damon and Stefan. "I brought Dwayne, he's familiar with the area and will help us get inside the mansion which according to our surveillance still has plenty of guards about." She motioned to the quiet wolf standing next to two other Strix members.

"Hey," Dwayne muttered putting his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. He seemed rather relax.

"Excellent," Elijah muttered as he glanced at the wolf. He could definitely be useful.

"I can put a cloaking spell on everyone," Lucy offered. "It will make it easier to sneak inside the Navarro mansion."

"Indeed," Aya agreed. There was a glint in her eyes as she looked at Lucy. "You can start with me darling." She volunteered easily.

Elijah gave her a warning look which Aya happily ignored.

"Sure," Lucy mumbled.

"Should I take my clothes off?" Aya asked in a seductive voice.

"What?" Aya's question caught Lucy off guard and the heated look the vampire gave her was also unexpected. _What the hell was she playing at?_ Lucy was momentarily stunned because this was not how she had expected her meeting with Aya to go. She had expected Aya to be a stiff, angry, and cruel looking vampire, not a seductress with an easy smile and cunning eyes, who wanted to get naked in front of her to boot.

A playful smirk formed on Aya's red lips. "I don't mind getting naked for you love."

"Aya," Elijah chided. Now was not the time for games. "Don't listen to her," he told Lucy, squeezing her fingers in a reassuring gesture.

Damon and Stefan shared estrange looks while Matt looked back and forth between Aya and Lucy, wondering what the hell was going on?

"I just wanted to see those lovely cheeks aflame," Aya whispered huskily as she gently traced her index finger over Lucy's cheek. "You're quite stunning, my dear."

Elijah frowned not liking the familiar way in which Aya touched Lucy. A low growl escaped his chest and he took a menacing step forward, grabbing Aya's wrist and pushing it away from Lucy's face. "Enough," he commanded. "This is not the time for games."

Aya pouted. Her actions were deliberate and she felt quite pleased by the results, in particular by Elijah's possessiveness and protectiveness. Elijah always looked hot when he got angry.

What neither of them expected was for Lucy to lean forward and practically push herself against Aya.

Aya arched an eyebrow, feeling rather surprised by Lucy's boldness.

Damon looked fascinated as he moved his eyes between both women. He could easily picture the two beauties locking lips. It was a turn on. Matt had a similar look on his face, Stefan on the other hand didn't know what to think while Elijah looked displeased at the way Lucy leaned closer to Aya.

"Is that the only thing you want to see?" Lucy asked stopping dangerously close to Aya's face. She met Aya's eyes with an equally heated look of her own. They were practically breathing the same air, an inch or two closer and they would bump noses. _Two can play the same game._ Instinctively, Lucy knew that Aya was doing it on purpose, probably testing the waters and seeing how far she could push her. Once she got over her momentary shock, Lucy gave as good as she got. She batted her eyelashes and bit her bottom lip playfully.

Elijah actually tugged at her hand pulling her back away from Aya and bringing her closer to him.

Lucy felt a thrill at his rather possessive gesture. "Don't be jealous," she turned to face him and kiss his cheek.

Elijah shook his head but his lips twitched.

Aya threw her head back and laughed. "I like you Lucy Bennett." The both of them had definitely riled Elijah up and she felt pleased by that, her stoic sire could use a little fun. Judging by the look on Lucy's face, she had certainly enjoyed it as well.

"You're not so bad yourself," Lucy admitted a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. It was strange, she had come with the intention to mark her territory not end up in a playful banter with the woman she sort of considered her rival. She had the feeling that she and Aya were going to get along quite nicely actually. Who would have thought? This meeting had definitely not gone the way she had expected it but it was great.

"So," Matt cleared his throat. "Can we go now?" He almost felt sorry for Elijah, Lucy and Aya together were going to be a handful.

"Human boy is right," Damon stepped away from his car. "Let's stop wasting time and get this over with." They were so close to getting Elena back, he felt nervous and excited. There was a part of him however, that feared things might not turn out as they planned. He hoped he was wrong. He wanted to do this as quickly as possible.

"Let's do this," Elijah agreed. The sooner they could get to the Navarro mansion and rescue Katherine and Elena, the better things would be for everyone.

* * *

 **French Quarter Hotel**

"I can't believe this is our way of celebrating," Kol muttered darkly. He took a sip from the bottle of bourbon he held in his left hand. "It's depressing." Nik didn't want to leave Bonnie and the girls alone while he hunted with his pack and since Elijah and Lucy were currently in Baton Rouge on a rescue mission it was up to Kol and Rebekah to keep them safe. His idea for a party had been suspended in favor of spending the night playing Monopoly. Kol was deeply regretting it.

"It's not that bad," Rebekah said as she rolled the dice. She happily moved her boat and collected two hundred.

"You only find it depressing because you're losing," Davina who was sitting across from him smiled sweetly. She was all smiles now that she had seen and talked to Marcel. Her adoptive father had escorted her to the hotel alongside a tired Jesse a few hours before. They had promised to meet at a later date for Lunch. Davina hadn't felt this happy in a long time and was enjoying it to the fullest.

"Like you are doing any better," Kol snapped. Davina was doing just slightly better than him which wasn't much truth be told, Rebekah and Bonnie were dominating the game.

"Your turn darling," Rebekah handed the dice to Bonnie who in turn handed the dice to Charlotte who happily threw them on the board. She loved doing that. The two were playing as a team which according to Kol was cheating but since Charlotte couldn't read and didn't know much about handling money it was okay.

"Seven," Bonnie mumbled as she helped Charlotte count the spaces to advance their dog figure to the adequate place right on top of the blue community chest.

"What does it say?" Charlotte asked eagerly.

Bonnie picked up the card. "Get out of jail free card," she read happily.

Charlotte grinned and the two high-fived. "We're good at this."

"We are," Bonnie agreed.

Kol frowned. "I need one of those," he said looking at his car which was currently in jail and therefore he was missing a turn. "I swear the two of you are cheating."

"No, we're not. You're losing!" Charlotte reminded him happily.

Kol growled.

The two of them stuck their tongues out at the same time.

Bonnie shook her head. They were incorrigible. She nervously checked her phone once more. She was waiting anxiously to hear from Lucy or Matt about their rescue mission. She hoped that by the end of the night they would text her to inform her that they had Elena and Katherine and were making their way back.

Rebekah was also constantly checking her phone not because she cared about the doppelgängers but because she was worried about Matt. She knew he had his ring and that Elijah wasn't going to let anything happen to him but still, so many things could go wrong.

As eager as Bonnie was to hear some good news from the group in Baton Rouge, she felt content spending a rainy night playing Monopoly. After all the fear, blood, and adrenaline of the night before it was wonderful to enjoy a simple moment like this. She wished Klaus had been there with them but her husband had a duty to his pack and had reluctantly gotten out of bed. Well, he had attempted to get out of bed in three separate occasions, Bonnie had managed to pull him back holding him hostage until the very last minute. Klaus hadn't exactly put up much of fight to be honest. Her lips curled as she remembered the couple of hours they managed to steal for themselves. A long hot shower later and her body was still tingly from all his heated touches and kisses. The sex between them had been intense, loving, and they had ended up indulging in some blood play as well. Just thinking about it made her body feel hot. She couldn't wait for his return so they could continue celebrating their victory.

"My turn," Davina rolled the dice. "Ten," she muttered as she moved her little hat.

"Would you look at that? You landed right on my property love," Kol declared triumphantly. "Pay up," he winked at Davina and extended his right hand. He looked very pleased.

Davina's face fell realizing that she didn't have enough money to pay. "I'm going to need a loan from the bank," she turned to Rebekah.

"Sure thing," Rebekah beamed.

"That's what you get for making fun of me," Kol teased.

Davina made a face at him, Kol only laughed and took another sip of his bourbon.

"You know, for someone who finds this game depressing you are having a lot of fun," Bonnie remarked with a knowing smile.

"Don't get any ideas, we are not playing this game ever again."

Bonnie laughed. "Next time we'll get Klaus, Elijah, and Lucy to join us," she promised.

"We're going to win again," Charlotte declared proudly.

"We are," Bonnie promised.

"Hey! You haven't won yet, we're still playing," Rebekah reminded them. She was taking the game very seriously too.

Everyone laughed.

Even Kol couldn't stop the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Okay, so maybe _Monopoly_ wasn't so bad.

* * *

 **The Bayou**

Klaus surveyed his pack as they got ready to shift. He had reluctantly left Bonnie at the hotel. As much as he wished he had been able to spend the whole afternoon and night with her he had to leave her. His pack needed him, tonight in particular many would benefit of their connection to him.

His eyes landed on Billy, the boy had triggered his curse the night before after killing a Navarro wolf in order to protect his mother. He stood silently in between Klaus and Cary, his head down, shoulders trembling slightly. The boy who had always been eager to become a hybrid and had felt excited at the prospect of a battle looked terrified. Klaus couldn't blame him. The first shift was always the hardest. To this day, Klaus still remembered that horrible pain as each of his bones broke without his control for the first time. Billy was the youngest member of the pack that was going to shift that night. Along with him, five other wolves had triggered their curses during the fight the previous night. They all stood nervously, watching each other and waiting for the inevitable moment.

"You'll be alright," Klaus murmured as he placed his hand on Billy's shoulder. He felt protective towards Billy, truth be told he felt protective over every member of his pack. After last night, the connection between all of them had become stronger.

Billy looked up nervously but nodded. He was scared but he was trying to be brave.

"How much does it hurt?" A girl no older than twenty asked nervously.

"The first shift is always the hardest," Ishmael answered her question honestly. "Do not be afraid of the pain, the more you fear it, the more you will feel it. Let the shift happen," he advised. "Do not try to fight it if you do, it will cause you more pain."

"Will we have control?" Another older man asked. He was well into his late thirties having never broken his curse until the night before while protecting his sons.

"You will," Klaus promised. All eyes turned towards him. "We will hunt together as a pack, you will be in control tonight."

"We are all connected in our wolf forms," Ishmael said. "That connection allows us to tap into Klaus's hybrid abilities and feel more in control than we normally would." He like all the other wolves that had hunted with Klaus on the previous full moon were really looking forward to it.

"There are no words to describe it," Mila assured them. "What we will experience tonight will be beyond amazing." She could hardly contain her excitement.

"Just like last night," Charles added with a grin. "Don't be afraid."

The nervous wolves nodded.

"Remember to stay close," Ishmael advised the entire pack. "There will be many wolves in the Bayou tonight, we need to stick together." The Bayou was crawling with different wolf packs and that could cause a lot of problems as wolves were quite vicious in their animal form.

They all undressed quickly as their bodies began to feel the pull of the moon.

A few minutes later, said full moon became visible through the dark clouds in the sky, a few drops of rain were still falling, wetting their naked bodies.

Klaus waited and watched as each member of his pack began transforming.

Billy let out a piercing scream as his bones began breaking. He bit his lip, his body sweating and contorting at weird angles.

"Don't fight it," Klaus whispered realizing that the boy was unconsciously struggling to contain the shift.

"…Can't..." Billy groaned. The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced. "Make...it...stop..." he gasped hearing and feeling each painful crack of his bones. He cried out in pain again and a few tears began spilling from his cheeks.

"Give him your ring," Klaus turned to Cary who was on his knees as his transformation was taking place. Billy was clearly not ready to turn. Perhaps it was best to wait until he was older.

"Lost…it…" Cary managed to let out before his body completed the shift.

 _How the fuck had Cary lost his ring?_ Klaus thought angrily. The last thing he wanted was for something so valuable to fall in the wrong hands. He needed to have a serious talk with Cary when morning came. He saw Cary's wolf trotting to join the rest of the pack before he turned to Billy once more.

Billy let out another anguished scream, it reminded Klaus of the first night he turned into a wolf. The pain had been so excruciating, he had felt like he was dying. "Let go, Billy." He urged the boy. "Don't be afraid just let go." He couldn't stop the shift now. He had to endure the pain.

Billy continued to cry as he fell to the ground, his body twisting and bones breaking painfully.

"I promise it will be okay," Klaus told him. In that moment, he couldn't help but think of his children. _Would they have to experience this excruciating pain one day too?_ The thought of his children experiencing such agony made his heart bleed.

Billy let out another loud cry of pain before the transformation was completed. A wolf with dark brown fur suddenly stood in his place. He leaped into the air and ran out of there, getting away from the pack at rapid speed.

Klaus shifted immediately after, his transformation was faster and smoother than the other wolves. It happened in a matter of seconds really and he felt no pain.

The big black wolf with yellow eyes took off after Billy. He needed to make sure the boy would not cause too much damage or do something he would later regret.

All the other wolves followed him.

* * *

The Bayou was crawling with wolves from different packs, all of them were hunting happily as the full moon watched quietly over them. Their growls and howls scared the crocodiles who sank deeper into the murky water while the earth itself trembled under their mighty paws.

A single figure stood in the middle of the Crescent camp, hearing the howls in the distance while he trembled with excitement. His pack was out there, running wild and free, hunting happily, and unaware of what he was experiencing.

Jackson contemplated the moon while a few scattered drops of rain fell down on his dark hair and flannel shirt. His hand clenched around the ring. That magical and incredible ring that had spared him from shifting into his wolf form. He couldn't believe it, the ring worked. He honestly had doubts about it , despite Oliver's words Jackson had not been sure it would work but it had. Cary's ring had allowed him to remain in his human form despite the full moon bathing over him.

A smile formed on his lips as he looked up at the full moon. Jackson suddenly burst out laughing, he felt happy and free. For the first time since he had broken his curse, he was free of the moon, and it felt absolutely wonderful.

This is what his pack needed.

The Crescent Moon pack would benefit greatly if they could find a way to replicate the ring.

 _I will find a way,_ Jackson vowed holding the precious ring tightly in his hand.


	59. Chapter 59

**A/N: This is the moment many of you have been waiting for, let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Klaus returned to the hotel early the next morning. Bonnie was on her side, sleeping peacefully on the huge bed. The grimoire and magical quill her mother had gifted her laid on the floor, it seemed that she had been writing something before falling asleep as the lamp by the nightstand was still on. She looked so beautiful and peaceful. Klaus contemplated her for a few moments before picking up the grimoire and setting it on the nightstand. It was one of the few grimoires he had brought with him from the compound the previous day. While most of the second floor of their home had burned, a few rooms had been spared from the fire. The 'witch room' with the vast collection of their grimoires was one of the lucky few, no doubt the magic protecting the ancient and valuable books kept the flames away. That room had been spelled shut by Vivian as the compound would be going extensive renovations in the upcoming weeks.

Klaus sighed as he headed towards the shower.

His run with his pack had been incredible, the new wolves that had turned had started their transformation with fear, anxiety, and excruciating pain but as they ran wild and free they had all been connected once more. Klaus's hybrid abilities allowing them to once again have a certain sense of control. The smile on Billy's face as they shifted back with the early rays of the sun had been awestruck. Getting used to the pain of each shift was something that was going to take Billy time but at least now the boy knew he could have some form of control.

Cary was searching for the ring he had lost. Klaus and Ishmael were both pissed at him. Cary had promised to retrace his steps and find the valuable object. Whenever he shifted he usually hid his clothes and ring really well, so he could find them the next morning. The night of the battle however, there had been no time for that as the shift had taken him by surprise. Klaus had already asked Angelica to do a locator spell in order to help Cary find the ring faster. The last thing he wanted was for his mother's ring to fall in the wrong hands. And with the Bayou crawling with wolves that was something that could easily happen.

After washing away all the dirt, mud, and blood form his body he changed into clean clothes and headed towards the living room area. The hotel suite had two bedrooms, one for him and Bonnie and another for the girls. His siblings were staying in the other rooms on the same floor as Klaus had booked the entire top floor.

He ordered breakfast for everyone and sent quick texts to Rebekah and Kol to join them. As he waited for the food to arrive, he called Elijah.

A few minutes later,

Bonnie found him standing by the window contemplating the city below as it slowly came alive. It was a sunny and breeze morning but New Orleans was still struggling to return to normal after the battle against the Navarro clan. She wrapped her arms around him from behind. "Morning," she whispered. He smelled really good.

"Good morning," Klaus smiled before he turned around, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her closer to his body. The two shared a long and deep good morning kiss.

"I didn't feel you come in," Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his handsome. His hair was still wet from the shower and she playfully curled her fingers on the curls at the back of his head.

"I was as quiet as a mouse, I didn't want to wake you." He playfully tapped her nose with his index finger. "It looked like you stayed up late."

Bonnie giggled at his playful touch and nodded. "We played some Monopoly and I was trying to see if I could come up with my own locator spell before going to bed."

Klaus arched an eyebrow. "Your own locator spell?"

"For Lenore." There was a worried look on her face. "None of the spells my coven has tried worked."

A thoughtful look crossed his features. "Do you reckon Lenore has been taken by the same person who's been kidnapping witches in the city." No locator spell had worked to find Katie or any of the other missing witches. They had all disappeared without a trace, like Lenore.

"It's a possibility."

"If anyone can create a locator spell that actually works it's you love." Klaus gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "I ordered breakfast, Kol and Rebekah are on their way as well." No sooner had he spoken and Rebekah and Kol came through the door. They didn't even bother to knock.

"Have you heard anything from Elijah and Matt?" Rebekah asked immediately. She had not received a single call or text since the previous night and she was trying not to worry.

"What are the chances that the doppelgängers are dead?" Kol asked almost at the same time. It was what he had been eagerly anticipating.

"Well, good morning to you too," Klaus replied sarcastically. He moved to stand next to Bonnie, hand gently resting on her lower back.

"Do you know anything?" Bonnie asked looking up into his face.

"I spoke with Elijah a few minutes ago, they stormed through the Navarro mansion but were unable to find anything," Klaus informed them. "The hostages were moved someplace else."

Bonnie's face fell.

Klaus rubbed her back and pulled her closer. "Elijah and the Strix managed to capture a couple of wolves last night, they plan to interrogate them and with any luck, we'll find out where the Travelers are hiding."

The grin that had been forming on Kol's face fell upon hearing those words. _So much for celebrating their death,_ he thought.

"I thought the Travelers were killed during the battle," Rebekah commented.

"Not all of them," Klaus glanced at her as he answered. "The Strix have secured the Navarro mansion and the group is staying to go through some papers and things that they found. Anything could be a useful clue."

"The Travelers won't give up until they have destroyed the other side," Bonnie murmured. "That's why they need all that doppelgänger blood."

"How exactly do they plan to accomplish the destruction of the other side?" Kol asked out loud. "Weakening the barriers until they collapse completely or do you think they have another thing in mind." Because the Travelers had been working on bringing down the other side for a while now and so far, they hadn't succeeded.

"I don't know," Bonnie murmured. "I'm thinking of contacting the Bennett's on the other side, Qetsiyah must know more than she told me the last time."

"I'm sure the Strix can find a way to locate the Travelers. Aya has a powerful coven under her command," Klaus said.

"So, they're not coming back today?" Rebekah asked as she sat on the back of the couch.

"No."

Silence descended over the group.

"On another note," Klaus spoke up after a long pause. He turned to Bonnie. "We'll finally find out where Charlotte comes from." He had received the call a few minutes before.

"Really?" Bonnie's eyes lit up with excitement.

"My informant arrived in the city last night. We agreed to meet at noon. He has compile a file on Charlotte and her family."

"Any chance her family will take her away?" Kol asked.

Bonnie and Rebekah glared at him.

"I'm just saying!" Kol raised his hands up in the air in mock surrender. He knew how attached both of them were to the little demon but hey, it was worth a try at least.

"Whether you like it or not, you will have to accept that Charlotte is part of this family," Bonnie told him in a very serious voice. "She's not going anywhere, Kol."

"You really love that girl, don't you?" Kol asked. He had seen it in the way Bonnie interacted with Charlotte but hearing her say the words and looking at the fierce and determined look on her face, Kol couldn't help but pity anyone who tried to come after Charlotte. Bonnie was a mama bear with magic to boot.

"I do," Bonnie replied fiercely.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Are you really so thick that you have to ask that question?" She gave her brother an incredulous look.

"Kol has never been the smartest in the family," Klaus commented with a mischievous grin.

"And you think you are?" Kol arched an eyebrow. "Let's face it Nik, you are not as smart as you let people to believe."

"I'm certainly smarter than you," Klaus retorted quickly.

"Oh please, you-"

"Okay, that's enough," Bonnie interrupted before they could get into a silly argument. "It's too early to be arguing and besides," her eyes glinted as she looked back and forth between Kol and Klaus. "There is only one child prodigy in the room and is not either of you, so…"

Rebekah laughed. "I think is safe to assume any girl is smarter than these two but you are definitely on a league of your own, _child genius_."

Bonnie smiled at her.

"If your track record is anything to go by," Klaus's lips curled into a wicked grin as he glanced at Rebekah "You're definitely not one of those girls."

Rebekah threw one of the pillows from the couch at him. Klaus easily caught it with his left hand and threw it back, Rebekah flashed out of the way before it could hit her.

Bonnie only shook her head, hoping that they wouldn't start a pillow fight and wake the girls. They had all gone to bed pretty late the night before and they could use the rest.

"I think Nik's arrogance has started to rub off on you, Bonnie." Kol muttered but there was a small smile forming on his lips. "He's a bad influence."

"I'll take that as complement," Klaus declared proudly as he showed his dimples.

Bonnie and Rebekah shared amused grins.

A second later, there was a knock on the door indicating their food had arrived.

"Come on, let's have some breakfast. I'm starving," Bonnie said. Light hearted moments like this were hard to come by in the chaotic world they lived in but she treasured each and every single joke and moment of laughter she got to share with her family.

* * *

 **Baton Rouge**

"This is sick," Stefan muttered as he looked through Franco's journal. They had found it in his bedroom. It was a detail record of the girls he had tortured and killed. It had Pictures and information on the torture they had been subjected to and how he had ended their lives. As a ripper, Stefan had done horrible things but Franco was on a league of his own when it came to subjecting girls to pain and death. He was a sadistic bastard and Stefan felt glad the son of a bitch was dead.

The group had stormed through the Navarro mansion the previous night. Only a few guards had remained inside the house as most of the wolves had shifted and gone to the woods to hunt. In a matter of hours, they had completely secured the Navarro mansion.

They had searched from top to bottom for any signs of Elena and Katherine but they had found nothing. It seemed that not all the Travelers had gone to New Orleans to fight the Mikaelson's and those who had stayed behind had moved the two vampire girls somewhere else.

Elijah and Aya were currently interrogating the wolves they had taken hostage. Lucy and Dwayne were sitting on the living room couch going through different papers they found in Luis's room. Papers that apparently detailed many of the things the Traveler's did for the Navarro clan.

Damon was making his way through all the alcohol in the house in order to fill the anger and disappointment he felt at the fact that once again they had no clue where Elena was.

"The Travelers did all kinds of things for the Navarro brothers," Lucy murmured reading over the papers she had on her lap. "How exactly did this alliance began?" she turned to Dwayne. "Do you know?"

"According to what Annie told me it started with the Travelers seeking refuge in Baton Rouge." The wolf responded. _Annie_ was the Traveler girl he had been sleeping with and getting information from. "The Travelers are cursed or something, they can't settle anywhere for long periods of times, so they are constantly on the move. They can't gather in large groups either to practice magic because nature has something against them."

"That's what they split into small groups during the battle," Lucy recalled.

Stefan and Damon both turned to stare at him as he spoke.

"The Navarro's benefited from the Travelers magic," Stefan spoke up. "What else did the Travelers get from the Navarro clan, apart from a place to stay for a while?"

"The Travelers want to resurrect their leader Markos," Dwayne explained. "It's the reason they want to destroy the other side. He was supposed to be the most powerful Traveler after Qetsiyah and Silas and the Travelers believe he can break their curse and start a new era for their people."

"Lunatics," Damon mumbled under his breath.

"The Navarro's provided shelter, resources, and the doppelgängers," Dwayne continued.

"They have everything to destroy the other side," Lucy muttered worriedly.

"Not quite," Elijah said as he and Aya made their way inside the living room.

"What do you mean?" Lucy stood up.

"It seems the Travelers need more than just two doppelgängers," Aya answered her question.

"There are more Petrova doppelgänger?" Stefan and Damon asked at the same time.

"Silas doppelgängers," Elijah corrected.

"The wolves told you that?" Lucy asked.

Elijah nodded as he walked to stand next to her. "The Navarro's were helping the Travelers to find the doppelgängers, it seems they need more than just Elena and Katherine's blood. They need the blood of all doppelgängers in existence today."

"Once they have collected all the ingredients necessary, they will finally bring down the other side," Aya added. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and began giving instructions to her people in a series of quick texts.

"Did they give you a clue as to where they might have taken Elena?" Damon asked eagerly.

"According to them the Travelers are everywhere," Elijah responded.

"Like that's gonna help!" Damon snapped frustrated with the whole situation.

Elijah ignored him.

"The Strix's coven is currently trying to find them," Aya told the group. "Believe me, my witches will find them wherever they are in this world, we will get to them."

Lucy looked down at the papers she had been reading. "I think I know when the Travelers will attempt to bring down the other side," she looked at Elijah as she said it.

"When?" Everyone asked almost at the same time.

"There is a super lunar eclipse predicted for the end of this year, the one the Navarro's were going to use to become super wolves," Lucy said. "What if the Travelers were also going to use that eclipse to finally bring down the other side?"

"The full moon has been used for rituals since ancient times," Aya murmured. "My coven believed that the binding force of the red moon would help the Travelers complete the spell to enhance the Navarro wolves." She turned to Elijah. "They could have easily wished to kill two birds with one stone and bring down the other side at the same time." And now that the Navarro's were gone, the power of the eclipse was all theirs.

"Indeed."

"Great," Damon interrupted. "We know when they are planning to fuck us all over now the only thing we need is to find out where they have Katherine and Elena."

"And who the other doppelgängers are," Stefan reminded him. "If we could get the Silas doppelgängers before the Travelers we can put a halt on their plans."

"And how exactly can one find out the identity of a doppelganger?" Dwayne questioned all of them. He never fully understood the whole thing.

"That is a good question," Elijah conceded.

"We have no idea what Silas really looked like," Stefan agreed. "How the hell are we going to know what his doppelgängers looks like?"

"Qetsiyah," Lucy responded easily. All eyes turned to her. "She was Silas's lover, if anyone knows his true face is her."

"And what, you are going to dial 1-800-other side and call her so that she can dish all the juicy details," Damon snapped. "She's dead. You're a damn witch come up with a spell or something?"

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Watch your tongue, Damon." Elijah didn't appreciate anyone speaking to Lucy in that manner.

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Luckily for all of us, there is one person on this earth that can summon Qetsiyah from the other side." Lucy gave Damon a superior look.

Damon frowned.

"Who?" Stefan asked intrigued.

"The queen of the Bennett coven," Elijah followed Lucy's train of thought. Bonnie had summoned the dead Bennett witches before. She could try and summon Qetsiyah and they could interrogate her.

Lucy nodded. It was definitely worth a try asking Bonnie if she could do it. There was also the spell in Ayana's grimoire. The one they had used to summon Kol's spirit. There was more than one method to use to talk to Qetsiyah and the sooner they could do it the better it would be for everyone.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

While Kol investigated a lead on the missing witches in the city and Rebekah stayed with Davina and Charlotte-enjoying the luxurious hotel pool. Bonnie and Klaus met with his informant at the hotel he was staying just down the street from where they were currently residing.

They arrived exactly at noon and met with him in the terrace of the old historic building that had been transformed into a hotel. It was a sunny and breeze morning, a far cry from all the rain the previous day. Bonnie pulled her jacket closer as the wind blew her hair over her face.

Klaus's informant was a vampire by name of David. The minute he spotted them he stood up. He was a well built, brown skinned youthful looking man with thin lips, big chocolate eyes, and a crooked nose. He was dressed in a dark grey suit and a bright red tie.

"Klaus."

"David."

Both vampires regarded each other carefully before Klaus's face broke into a smirk. "Why are you wearing glasses?" The hybrid asked curiously.

"Oh. It makes me look older and more professional," David replied with a grin.

Klaus snorted and rolled his eyes. "Bonnie, this is David one of Elijah's sired vampires," he introduced. "David, my wife Bonnie Bennett."

Klaus had introduced her as his wife many times now but Bonnie still felt her heart skip a beat upon hearing those words. "Hello," Bonnie smiled at the vampire. He seemed rather nice and friendly and he looked really young too, she could see why he felt the need to wear glasses to look more mature.

David's eyes went wide for a bit. He masked his shock quickly but something flickered across his eyes as he stared at her, it was gone before Bonnie could decipher it. "Bonnie Bennett," he murmured glancing at Klaus. He knew that name well, after all.

"Is something wrong?" Bonnie asked.

"Not at all," David smiled happily in her direction. "Thanks for the invite to the wedding by the way," he said to Klaus as the three took seats around the table. The terrace was deserted saved for a server who asked them if they needed anything. Klaus ordered bourbon while Bonnie asked for water. David already had a martini in front of him. "Is not like we have known each other for centuries or like I do favors for you and your siblings from time to time. I didn't even know that someone was crazy enough-no offense-" he looked at Bonnie. "To make a decent vampire out of you and that you also managed to procreate until a few weeks ago and not by you or my sire mind you," he glared at Klaus. "I had to find out from all the gossipmongers that I am unfortunate to be related to through the vampire blood in my veins."

"Well, technically-" Bonnie began nervously. There had been no actual wedding yet, so there were never any invites to be hand out.

"The things that I've been hearing," David cut her off. "You know, to this day I still can't phantom some of the poor choices you and your siblings made by creating them." He looked positively offended. "Long gone are the days when you guys created vampires that actually deserved immortality. Allister is a sadistic bastard, you need to keep an eye on him by the way, Lorenzo continues to be a useless twit and don't get me started on those vampires descending from Katherina-"

"Are you done with your insufferable chit chat?" Klaus said in an exasperated tone. He was not in the mood to tolerate David's well known chatter.

"The things I have to put up with," David muttered rather dramatically.

"Get to the point David," Klaus barked.

Bonnie gave him a look, there was no need to be so rude.

"If I don't shut him up, we'll be here all day listening to his complains," Klaus defended himself.

David grabbed his briefcase and placed it on the table before pulling out a manila envelope. "Here you go." He handed the envelope to Klaus.

"What is that?" Bonnie asked.

Klaus opened it and pulled out a couple of black and white pictures.

Bonnie leaned over to look at them. The first picture was of three women. An elderly lady with a pillbox hat and gloves holding a smiling baby and another younger, pretty but rather serious looking girl.

"The baby in the picture is Charlotte Elizabeth Bennett," David declared proudly. "The woman holding her is her grandmother Deborah Bennett and the young girl next to her is Nancy, Charlotte's mother."

"Oh my god," Bonnie took the picture from Klaus. Her finger shook as she traced the image. The three were standing outside what looked to be a church. Baby Charlotte was smiling brightly at the camera, showing two front teeth. She was wearing a cute little knitted dress and hat. The older woman holding her tenderly had a kind and gentle smile. It reminded Bonnie of her Grams. The pretty girl next to them on the other hand, looked almost as if she didn't want to be there, her lips were curled into a sneer as she stood a bit away from them. She looked so young, it was hard to image her as a mom. She definitely didn't seem the motherly type.

"When was this taken?" Klaus asked as he faced David.

Bonnie continued to be enthralled by the picture. Charlotte's family at last. She felt very emotional.

"June 1936," David responded calmly.

"What?" Bonnie looked up startled. It hadn't occurred to her that the picture was that old. The fact that it was in black and white should have clued her in.

"According to her birth records, Charlotte was born December 12, 1935 in a small rural town in South Carolina. Nancy was just seventeen when she had her. No father is ever mentioned."

Bonnie looked down at the picture once more. Charlotte had been born in the thirties. That meant that she had spent over fifty years on the other side at least. It was awful to think that she had been stuck on the other side for so long, with no one but the first witch's voice and statue for company.

"Nancy and Deborah worked as maids at the house of a wealthy man, George Buchanan. Deborah and her mother had previously worked for his parents as did her husband who died when Nancy was very little," David explained.

As David spoke, Klaus and Bonnie looked through the pictures of the grand plantation house and its grounds. There was a picture of an elegantly dressed man smoking a cigar. The arrogant tilt of the head and the big calculating eyes gave Bonnie the shivers. _George,_ she realized. There was something about the shape of his eyes though, they seemed rather familiar. She had seen them before. "He's Charlotte's father, isn't he?" Bonnie realized as she looked up into David's face for confirmation.

Klaus also turned to David. Unlike Bonnie, he didn't see any resemblance. The man looked like an asshole while Charlotte had a rather sweet and angelic face and she definitely didn't inherit that from her mother either. No, if anything Charlotte had the kind face of her grandmother.

"Deborah and Nancy lived with the Buchanan family until George's wife kicked them out, around seven months later, Charlotte was born." David shrugged. "I don't have any concrete evidence but based on the timing of their dismissal, Charlotte's coloring and features it looks like George was indeed her father and that's why his wife kicked them out."

"What happened to them afterwards?" Bonnie asked. She couldn't imagine how difficult it had been for them, spending a life of servitude only to be kicked out all of a sudden. "Did George even care about his daughter?" It was a silly question, judging him by his picture George did not seem like the caring type.

David shook his head. "He never visited Charlotte, nor did he sent them money, according to the son of another servant that worked for the Buchanan family, they were kicked out in the middle of the night, their things thrown into the street." He pulled out more papers from his briefcase. "They moved into a small run down house outside the city, that's where Charlotte was born. When she was around three Nancy left them, she went to New York with a man twice her age who also left his wife and three kids."

"She abandoned her daughter and ran off with a married man?" Bonnie couldn't believe it. "Just like that _?" How could a mother be so heartless? How could Nancy leave her baby like that?_ Her heart broke for Charlotte. Her biological parents didn't deserve her.

"She wanted to hit it big in New York," David muttered. "Deborah did everything she could to provide for Charlotte. She worked all day as a maid and made some extra money as a seamstress. She also sold candles and ointments for her neighbors. They didn't have much but by all accounts, they had a roof over their heads, food on their table, and they were both loved by the whole community. A neighbor Mrs. Pam took care of Charlotte during the day while Deborah worked. She was completely devoted to her granddaughter, she loved that little girl fiercely."

 _Yes, she did_. Bonnie could see it. She stared at a picture of Deborah and little Charlotte happily sitting next to her at a picnic table. There were lots of people in the background. Deborah had her arm wrapped around Charlotte's shoulder and the two were smiling at the camera. Charlotte looked to be about the same age she was now. It must have been taken before she went to the other side. Bonnie flipped the picture and saw a date, May 1942. Charlotte would have been six then.

"That was the last picture of the two of them," David told them. "Deborah died when Charlotte was six. She got really weak and was bedridden for the last few days of her life. It seemed to have come out of nowhere. A local doctor visited her a few times but none of the medicines he gave her helped her. When she didn't show up to Sunday mass, the pastor went to her house to see how she was doing and he found her dead."

Bonnie's eyes watered. "Poor Charlotte…" the only person that loved her, that cared for her had died and the little girl had been left alone and defenseless. It broke Bonnie's heart.

"It's okay, sweetheart." Klaus wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

David paused, debating whether or not to tell them the next part. He could see how affected Bonnie was already.

"What is it?" Klaus asked as he saw the look on his face.

David sighed. "Deborah had been dead for a couple of days at least, the pastor found Charlotte curled up next to her grandmother's corpse."

"Oh my god." Bonnie choked back a sob. "I'm sorry, I just…" she struggled to contain her tears. Just imagining how traumatic that must have been for Charlotte made her heart bleed.

"It's okay," David whispered.

"Just take a deep breath, love." Klaus pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head and doing his best to comfort her.

David looked away, giving the couple a moment.

"What happened to Charlotte after her grandmother's death?" Klaus wondered after a couple of minutes in silence.

Bonnie wiped away her tears with a napkin, before taking a sip of her water. Her hands shook as she placed the glass back down on the table.

"Nancy and her lover, not the one she ran off with," David clarified. "They came for Charlotte and took her away. That was the last time anyone in the neighborhood saw her. Before that Mrs. Pam had been looking after her."

"Where did she take Charlotte to?" Bonnie asked, she had a horrible feeling in her stomach. There was something in David's face that told her that Charlotte's story was about to take a nasty turn.

"She didn't take Charlotte anywhere," David muttered. He couldn't contain the anger he felt. " _He_ took Charlotte away," he let out through gritted teeth. Charlotte's story had touched him on a personal level.

"He?" Klaus didn't like the sound of that.

"Dominic Lamarque," David informed them. He pulled out a copy of the most vile document he had found during his investigation. He had done some questionable things as a vampire. He was no saint; no vampire ever was but what Nancy did to her little girl was beyond despicable. He handed the document to Klaus.

The hybrid read it at the speed of light and the growl that escaped his chest had the entire table vibrating. "What the bloody hell is this?" he hissed. He threw the document on the table as if he had been burned.

Bonnie grabbed it. The paper was a copy of a document written in cursive. As she read the words her face went pale, her hands shook, and the wave of fury, disgust, and heartache had the glass of water on the table shattering into a million pieces as her control on her magic slipped.

Klaus and David were quick enough to grab all the documents and pictures off the table and clean up the water with their super speed.

"What kind of sick, twisted, monster…" Bonnie couldn't stop shaking from the anger she felt. It made her blood boil and her magic reacted accordingly. The candle on the table flickered on and off for a few seconds. She felt like she had been punched through the stomach.

"You need to calm down, love." Klaus placed his hand on top of hers.

"How do you expect me to calm down?" Bonnie snapped angrily. "How could she do that to her little girl?" Her voice broke. Sweet Charlotte who was so desperate to have a mother, to be part of a family. It broke her heart to think that Nancy had been so cruel towards her own little girl.

"Ambition, blindness, craziness, you name it," David murmured. "Who knows what was going through her mind. Not all women are born to be mothers."

Bonnie glanced down at the copy of the document once more. It was a contract, a contract in which Nancy Bennett sold her daughter to Dominic. Charlotte had been sold to that man by her own mother.

Bonnie felt sick.

* * *

"Charlotte was never seen or heard from after that," David continued. "I found a police report about an investigation that was conducted after a fire nearly destroyed a mansion in Boston on the night of Halloween in 1942." He pulled out the newspaper clippings and the police reports on the investigation that was followed in the months after the fire.

Bonnie and Klaus looked through them as David continued talking.

"The police found three hooded figures wearing red robes and white masks inside a pentagram of blood in the basement of the house."

Bonnie gasped thinking back to the images she had seen upon touching Charlotte's scar. She had seen a pentagram of blood, candles, and a hooded figure wearing a white mask, she had also heard the screams of a child.

"The body of a dead little girl was found inside the pentagram of blood and another little boy was rescued alive."

"Was Charlotte the little girl?" Klaus and Bonnie questioned almost at the same time.

"No," David responded. "The little girl's name was Rosie, she along with the boy Miles, and another little girl which Miles identified as Charlotte were kept inside the house by a woman calling herself Madame la Mort."

Klaus snorted at the name.

"The police ruled that this woman was part of a cult and that she wanted to sacrifice the children to Satan," David continued. "She was a rather powerful witch who was part of a sinister coven that specialized in sacrificial magic actually. They sacrificed animals, Humans, vampires, werewolves, witches, you name it."

Bonnie and Klaus looked through he pictures of the house before and after the fire, the pentagram of blood, and the three hooded figures found dead inside the basement. David had brought all the pictures and reports the police made as well as all the information he had gathered during his own investigation.

"You said that Miles survived," Bonnie murmured as she looked into David's eyes. "How?"

"Miles gave his version of events to the police but they never really believe him," David responded. "According to his testimony, he lived in an orphanage in Maryland. He was taken to the house in Boston a few months before the night of the sacrifice. A few weeks after his arrival, Rosie was brought in and then Charlotte. The kids became quick friends as they bonded over their new circumstances. They hated Madame La Mort and attempted to escape on at least two occasions which resulted in painful beatings."

Bonnie closed her eyes at that.

"They had to do shores around the house, cleaning mostly. Whenever they misbehaved they were locked up inside a closet for hours with no food or water. Miles also recalled a time in which Charlotte somehow managed to bring Madame La Mort to her knees, she was trying to defend Rosie. Miles said and I quote 'it was like magic,' that stunt caused her a slap on the face and a beating with a whip. She wasn't given anything to eat or drink for the next two days." David continued in a somber tone. "Miles and Rosie found ways to sneak pieces of bread under the closet she was locked in."

Klaus cursed under his breath and looked away. The anger he felt, the outrage was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He knew what it felt to be beaten. But he had always had his mother's soothing voice and ointments to help him afterwards. His mother had ensured that he would never bear the physical scars of Mikael's abuse and if his father kept Esther from him, he had Ayana, or Alina, or Rebekah who were always tending to his wounds and whispering words of encouragement and comfort. Charlotte only had Miles and Rosie to offer her solace. His hands balled into fists.

Bonnie's entire body shook by her anger and the pain she felt upon hearing all the horrible things Charlotte had been subjected to. "How can someone be so cruel," she angrily hissed. She wished she could have Madame La Mort in front of her.

"Were Rosie and Miles witches?" Klaus asked turning to face David once more.

David nodded. "They didn't know how to use their magic though. Miles talked about doing strange things when he was angry or upset but he never fully understood he was a witch, not even in his adult years, I think. And it seemed Rosie and Charlotte were the same too."

"Which made it easier for their captors," Klaus commented.

"Yes," David agreed. "Miles said that the night of Halloween they were giving treats after dinner, a first in all the time they had been there. They felt really sleepy afterwards. When he woke up he was in the basement. He, Rosie, and Charlotte were inside the pentagram of blood and candles. He said he couldn't move, that there was something keeping him in place, glued to the floor. He felt weak and cold as well."

"A paralyzing spell," Klaus deduced quickly.

"Indeed." David cleared his throat before proceeding. "The children had been marked with an X on their shoulders. I think they were trying to link them together, I'm not sure to be honest but that's something most sacrificial rituals tend to do when there is more than one offering. According to Miles, Rosie suffered from a heart condition which only got worse under Madame La Mort. When she woke up she was so scared and panicky, she suffered a heart attack and died in an instant."

Bonnie placed her hand over her mouth and did her best to contain the tears that were already spilling down her cheeks. All the things those poor children had been put through were horrifying.

Klaus grabbed her other hand in his and gave her a firm and reassuring squeeze. He also did his best to offer her comfort through their bond.

"Miles said that Charlotte fought to the very end. She even managed to fling one of the figures away as they tried to slit her throat open with a knife. They managed to subdue her and when all seemed lost the light came. Miles said that all he saw was this beautiful blinding white light that made him feel warm and safe. It came out nowhere but it saved them."

Bonnie's heart skipped a beat.

" _Do you remember anything, anything at all before you went to the other side?" she had asked Charlotte once._

" _The light," Charlotte had answered. "I remember the light."_

"When the light disappeared, Miles was free, the figures were dead, and Charlotte was gone," David continued. "The police searched for her but she was never found. To his dying bed, Miles believed they had been saved by an Angel and that Charlotte had been taken to heaven with the bright white light. He believed Rosie and Charlotte were together with God or so he told one of his children." The one David had spoken with about Miles's ordeal.

"Was Dominic one of the hooded figures?" Klaus asked curiously.

"No," David answered. "Madame La Mort and two other accomplices were the hooded figures. The autopsies could not reveal a cause of death. Their corpses looked like the life had been literally sucked out of them. The police found the remains of 62 children buried in the backyard."

"Oh my god," Bonnie felt like she was going to throw up. She placed one hand on her belly and another over her mouth. _They had murdered 62 children._ "Why children?" she asked after taking a couple of deep calming breaths.

"Children are innocent," Klaus replied before David could. "Witch children in particular have pure raw magic flowing through their veins. Untapped power that is free for the taking."

"That's horrible," Bonnie whispered. She wiped the tears away from her face but more fell in their place.

"They're easier to subdue as well," David added as he offered her a sympathetic look. "A full-grown witch is going to give one hell of fight, a child on the other hand, no matter how powerful is ten times more vulnerable."

"What happened to Miles?" Bonnie asked suddenly.

"He returned to the orphanage in Maryland," David answered. "He became a doctor, got married, had three kids and ten grandchildren. He died last years in his sleep." He pulled another picture from his briefcase. "Miles carried this picture with him to the very end."

Despite her tears, Bonnie managed a weak smile. It was a picture of Rosie, Miles, and Charlotte. The three had their arms around each other and were staring at the camera with shy smiles. There was an aching sadness reflected on their faces but also a strange sense of hope and innocence. The children seemed optimistic despite their circumstances. _Because their friendship gave them strength,_ Bonnie realized as she studied the picture. It was a hauntingly beautiful picture. She felt for all of them, for poor Rosie whose life had been cut short, for Miles who had to carry the memories of that horrible night for the rest of his life, and for Charlotte who didn't remember any of it. "Can I keep this?" she asked David.

"Of course," David replied right away. "All of this is yours." He looked at both of them as he spoke. "Miles never forgot about them. Every year he placed flowers in Rosie's grave, she was buried in the small cemetery of a Catholic church in Boston. Miles always returned there on Halloween to pay his respects. He had two sons and a daughter whom he named Charlotte in honor of his childhood friend."

Bonnie found herself smiling through the tears rolling down her cheeks. "He had a good life?"

"He did," David answered. "He had a happy, successful life, and he had a painless death."

Bonnie felt grateful for that. She was glad Miles got the chance to live a happy life after all that horror. On the one hand, Bonnie felt glad that Charlotte didn't remember the traumatic events of her life but on the other hand, she felt sad that she had no recollection of her grandmother Deborah who had loved her fiercely or of her friends, Miles and Rosie. She suddenly recalled something her mother told her. "Did the coven ever come after Miles?"

"No," David responded. "It seems that Madame La Mort was the leader of the coven, which also happened to be named after her," he rolled his eyes. "The other members died in the days that followed, they were all burned to death actually. The police described them as a satanic cult with thirteen members in total, all of which died before the new year."

"Who killed them?" Klaus asked.

"No one knows," David told him. "Their burned remains were found but there was no evidence as to who might have been responsible. They were all identified as members of the same coven or cult- according to the police by the matching tattoos they all had."

There was a long moment of silence as Bonnie continued to stare at the pictures David had brought with him.

"What happened to Nancy?" Klaus wondered out loud.

"Dominic dumped her after he got what he wanted," David replied. "Nancy became a lady of the night. She died in 1945 after one of her clients beat her to dead. In my opinion she got what she deserved." There was a hard look in his eyes and his jaw clenched. "She and my father would have made quite the couple," he muttered as he looked away from them.

"Why do you say that?" Bonnie couldn't stop herself from asking. There was a lot of pain in his eyes and a lot of resentment too.

"My father sold my sister and me to a vampire when we were kids," David told her in a rather cold and detached voice. "We had special talents that the vampire thought he could use for his own advantage." He said it calmly but judging by the hard look in his eyes, it was obvious it still affected him. "He made the mistake of trying to fight Elijah who killed him in a gloriously painful way, I may add." His lips curled into a smirk as he recalled that night. "Elijah took us in and eventually turned us. He saved us."

"I'm sorry," Bonnie whispered.

"Don't be. It was a very long time ago, centuries really." David offered her a small smile. "Being a vampire is the best thing that ever happen to me and my sister Gia. Elijah gave us the gift of immortality and for that we will be eternally grateful." It was pretty obvious he worshiped his sire. "Granted, I could do without some of my vampire siblings but beggars can be choosers." He glanced at Klaus. "And compared to your lot, we're far more refined at least."

Klaus rolled his eyes.

Bonnie felt rather curious about all the stories David probably had about the many vampires the Originals had sired over the years. But she didn't ask. Her heart hurt for all the innocent children that had been sacrificed by that ruthless and evil coven. "What happened to Dominic?" she asked a little while later. The bastard that had bought Charlotte and taken her to Madame La Mort. _Had he hurt her too?_ That thought alone had her shaking with worry, fear, and anger. She hoped that son of a bitch had met a tragic end just like Nancy.

"Disappeared without a trace," David looked rather angry at that. "I have people trying to find out more." He personally wanted to know the fate of that bastard.

"So, there is zero chance that this coven will come after Charlotte then, since they're all dead?" Klaus wanted to know.

"I don't think so."

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief. Abby had been wrong and for that Bonnie felt grateful.

David took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes with his hands before pulling a handkerchief and cleaning the lenses. When Klaus had asked him to look into Charlotte's past, the hybrid had sent a picture of the little girl to him. David knew Charlotte was with Klaus and Bonnie. He didn't know all the details but he knew the little girl looked the same as when she had disappeared from the mansion in Boston over fifty years ago. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and looked up. "Where has Charlotte been all this time?" he asked them both point blank.

"That's none of your concern," Klaus was quick to point out.

Bonnie gave Klaus a knowing look. She knew the hybrid was not one to trust easily but David had been of great help. She turned back to face the vampire. "Charlotte was on the other side," she answered simply.

David's eyes went wide. "But…she didn't die…she…how?" The other side was for supernaturals that died and not many actually knew of its existence to be honest. Most vampires thought they were going to hell if they died. "The light…" he realized suddenly. "It took her to the other side. How did she managed to come back?"

"It's a long and complicated story," Bonnie answered. One that was also painful for her. She had nearly lost her twins when she had returned from the other side. "We would really appreciate it if you would tell us what you know about this coven."

"The coven that tried to sacrifice Charlotte was part of a larger more dangerous coven and one of the most secretive I have ever come across," David took a deep breath. "Every time I thought I had a lead I found nothing really useful." There was an obvious frustration in his voice and face. "The coven split into different branches about a century ago and that makes them harder to trace."

"Are you telling us you found nothing?" Klaus seemed surprised by that. David had always come through for them, whether it was an impeccable forgery or an artifact or valuable historical piece long thought destroyed. Some of the paintings, furniture, and even a few of the grimoires Klaus possessed had been acquired through David and his people.

"I didn't say that," David retorted defensively. "I managed to find some valuable information as a matter of fact. This coven has been operating for at least the past three hundred years maybe even more. They were known as the Mort-Vivants coven up until the turn of the century. After they split into different branches they acquired different names, La Mort coven, The Black Moon coven, The Sentinels, The Black Star, and countless of others equally pretentious names." He leaned back against his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "I don't know how many members they have in total but it looks like each branch has at least 13 members. There could be as many as a dozen branches or more and they are spread all over the United States, South America, and some parts of Europe judging by some reports I got."

"You only have general information," Klaus pointed out the obvious.

"Exactly." And it had taken him quite a while to gathered those few things. "There is a woman who used to be part of the Sentinels. Can you believe I had to used my long forgotten membership to the Strix in order to find a coven powerful enough to track her down?" He made a face. "The Strix's coven is currently searching for her. Luckily for me, I get along nicely with Aya and she made things easier."

"You think this woman has valuable information?" Klaus questioned.

"I'm hoping," David muttered. "The Sentinels were completely wiped out you know, the only one who managed to survive was her, Amelia Sommers," David explained. "I don't know what happened but all the members of the coven are dead except for her."

"How did you even know about Amelia in the first place?" Bonnie asked him.

David pulled out an old piece of notebook paper from his briefcase. "A mysterious woman left this in my apartment shortly after I started looking into Charlotte's past. She pushed it underneath the door." He showed the paper to Klaus and Bonnie. _The Sentinels_ it read at the top of the page. Underneath there was a list of thirteen names, six men and seven women. Amelia Sommers was name number thirteen. "I checked the security cameras but I all I could see was the back of the woman's head. She was tall, had long black hair, and was wearing a black coat. The cameras that would have captured her face were conveniently messed up that day." The whole thing was rather creepy and mysterious in David's opinion. "I checked all these names and all these people are dead, most of them were burned alive as a matter of fact. Three died of broken necks."

"Just like the coven that tried to sacrifice Miles and Charlotte," Bonnie said.

"Strange _coincidence_ that both covens were destroyed in almost the same way huh," David was definitely intrigued and determined to find out more.

"Have you found anything on Amelia?" Klaus asked him.

"Nothing," David muttered. "I think Amelia Sommers is an alias. With any luck, the Strix coven will bring her to me and I'll be able to give you more." He was definitely planning on interrogating her.

Bonnie looked down at the list once more. There was something about that name that got to her. _How_ s _trange,_ she thought as she stared at the name once more. Amelia was the name of her great-grandmother and Sommers reminded her of Elena's mom, that had been her maiden name. _Amelia Sommers_ , Bonnie repeated in her mind. She felt something in the pit of her stomach, a strange sinking feeling.

Klaus sat quietly next to her, lost in thought as well.

"I will find her," David promised them. "I won't stop until I find everything there is to know about this coven and its branches. You have my word on that."

* * *

 **Bennett mansion**

Adriane screamed and was flung back by an invisible force. The four other Bennett witches performing the spell were also flung away.

"Adriane," her sister Cecily rushed to her side. She had been watching from the corner of the room as the three elders perform the spell channeling Adriane's clairvoyant abilities.

Adriane gasped and squeezed her eyes shut as blood oozed down her nose. She laid on the floor, looking rather pale and sickly.

Vivian also rushed to her granddaughter's side. She had a slight cut on her forehead. She had also been flung away by the force of the rebounding spell.

Amina groaned and she sat up, she had a nasty bump on the back of her head. "She needs to rest, Vivian."

Vivian nodded. "I think we all do." For the past two hours, they had been trying to locate Lenore and each of the spells they had tried had failed. This last one had turned against them in a rather vicious way.

"This kind of magic," Lucrecia muttered as she helped an exhausted Diana to her feet. "It's guarding Lenore like a treasure." She had never encountered anything like this before.

Diana groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Was it just me or did it feel like we were fighting an entire army of witches?"

"Yes, this kind of power belongs to many witches not just one," Amina agreed. "And they have placed one heck of a barrier against our magic." She felt impressed.

Adriane continued to breathe with difficulty as she kept her eyes closed. Her head felt like it had been smashed against the wall a thousand times over.

Cecily held her head tenderly on her lap. "We need to stop, it's obvious this spell isn't working." She looked at her grandmother. "You're hurting her." She felt really bad for her sister, it was obvious how much this was taking a toll on her.

Vivian nodded.

"I'll be fine," Adriane muttered quietly.

"You need to rest," Cecily insisted.

"You rest. The four of us can keep trying," Lucrecia suggested looking at the other elders in the room. "We can't give up on one of our own."

"We won't give up," Diana mumbled. "We need to come up with another spell. Maybe whoever has Lenore knows about Adriane's abilities and is purposely blocking her. We have to try something else."

"I'll go get our grimoires," Amina suggested.

"And I'll go get a bottle of wine," Lucrecia added. "This might take all night."

One way or another, they were going to find Lenore.

* * *

 **French Quarter Hotel**

"You haven't found it, yet?" Klaus practically yelled into his cell phone.

"Do you have any idea how big the Bayou is?" Cary replied angrily. "The mud and the rain from yesterday does not help at all either."

"You need to find that ring, Cary."

"I will," Cary replied in an exasperated tone. His grandfather was also angry with him and had given him quite the lecture already. He didn't need another one from Klaus truth be told. "I've misplaced the ring before you know. One way or another it always finds its way back to me, I think your mom must have enchanted it or something," he mumbled. "So, relax. Even if I don't find it, it will find me." He sounded very confident about that.

"Call me as soon as you find it," Klaus ordered angrily before he hung up. He turned to face Bonnie.

They were back at their hotel room. The young witch was sitting around the dining table, close to the window with the exquisite view of the city below, not that Bonnie was paying any attention to it. There was a somber look on her face as she played with her food. The girls were still with Rebekah and Klaus felt grateful for that, Bonnie was still shaken by what they had discovered about Charlotte and the coven that had nearly killed her.

Sensing his gaze on her, Bonnie looked up. "Why don't we use a locator spell instead of having Cary search the entire Bayou for your mother's ring," she suggested quietly.

"Angelica already tried." Klaus placed his cell phone inside the pocket of his leather jacket and took a seat across from her. "Turns out that the ring is protected." A sneer graced his handsome features as he thought of his mother. "Esther no doubt must have placed all kinds of protective spells on the ring, in case father asked Ayana or any of the other witches in the village to locate it."

Bonnie looked down at her plate once more, absently poking the roasted potatoes with her fork.

"You need to eat love," Klaus watched her like a hawk. She was in a melancholic mood. He couldn't blame her, Bonnie was deeply affected by Charlotte's tragic past.

"I'm not really hungry," Bonnie mumbled. She had forced herself to eat a bit of the chicken breast and vegetables she had on her plate for the twins' sake but passing each bite down her throat had been an odyssey. "I can't stop thinking about Charlotte." She looked up into Klaus's face. "The similarities in both of our early childhoods," she let out a big sigh. "At least my mom didn't abandon me to run off with a married man," she finished lamely. And no one had tried to sacrifice her either.

Klaus pressed his lips together and looked away from her.

"What kind of monster sells her child?" Bonnie questioned out loud. "Her baby girl?" The anger she felt towards Nancy was all consuming. "How could she have been so heartless?"

"Nancy is dead," Klaus said turning to face her once more. "Charlotte is safe, that's all that matters now."

"The first witch must have saved her," Bonnie told him fully convinced of it. "That was probably the bright light Charlotte and Miles saw." The Bennett's protected their own, the first witch had protected Charlotte or maybe even her grandmother's spirit had done it. "I never saw Deborah during the summoning," Bonnie realized suddenly. "She's not on the other side with the other Bennett's."

"Perhaps she found peace," Klaus suggested.

"Maybe," Bonnie muttered. Lucy's grandmother was not on the other side either. Those witches that found peace did not stick around on the other side like many of the other supernaturals did.

Klaus regarded her face carefully. "Something else is troubling you," he noted.

Bonnie placed her fork down and took a deep breath. "My mom knows about that coven, or a certain branch at least. She might even know more than David," she ventured to guess. She had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was a feeling of doom that refused to leave her.

"Have you asked her?"

"I haven't talked to her since we fought over Charlotte." Abby had made her so mad that day with her pleas to send Charlotte away. Just thinking about it made Bonnie angry all over again. "There is a lot my mom is keeping from me, she has many secrets."

Klaus contemplated her in silence.

"You know that Grams used to bake me a chocolate cake each year for my birthday," Bonnie began softly. "Every time I blew the candles I had one wish. The same wish every year."

"To have your mother back." The sorrowful look on her face made his heart ache. He hated Abby for all the pain she had inflected on Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded. "I wrote letters to Santa Claus too," her voice broke. "Telling him what a good girl I had been throughout the year. I didn't ask for toys, or a bicycle, or clothes…" her vision blurred as tears formed in her eyes. "All I asked for was my mom."

"Sweetheart," Klaus stood up in a flash and gently got down next to her. He cupped her cheek tenderly. "It's okay, Bonnie."

"I even threw pennies on the fountains around Mystic Falls and made the same wish all the time." She took Klaus's other hand in hers and squeezed it hard. It hurt. The wound her mother had left in her was raw and it refused to heal.

"What are you scared of Bonnie?" Klaus asked her as he sensed her emotions through their bond.

"I should be asking her questions about the coven, about my magic." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she continued talking. "But I'm purposely not," she confessed feeling ashamed. She could face an entire coven and fight them alone, she could bring all kinds of supernatural creatures to their knees but she was a coward when it came to her mother. "I finally have my mother with me, Klaus. And as much as I want to know her secrets, I'm afraid that they will break us apart for good." Something deep inside her told her that she would lose her mother again. It scared her.

"You don't have to feel ashamed for being afraid, my love." Klaus tenderly caressed her face. "It's okay to be afraid, Bonnie." His eyes glinted with some strange kind of emotion. "Someone very wise once told me that only a fool feels no fear."

A small smile tugged at her lips as he said the same words she had said to him after she had defeated the Seer and her coven. She felt touched that he took her words to heart.

"If one day, Charlotte wishes to know about her biological parents, about her past," Klaus said gently. "Will you tell her? Or will you keep it a secret in order to protect her?"

"I…" Bonnie paused feeling uncertain. "I don't know." The file David had compiled on Charlotte was currently inside a safe. The papers and pictures would be kept under lock and key for no one to see. "I don't want to hurt her but the right thing to do is tell her the truth…I…it depends how old she is, if she's ready to know everything or just bits and pieces, I guess. I'm not sure how I will handle it to be honest," she admitted. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Because nothing stays buried forever," Klaus replied. He traced the outline of her cheek with his fingertips. "Look at my mother, she tried so hard to keep her affair hidden and it came to light eventually. In a horrible, painful way…" his jaw clenched thinking back to that night when he had triggered his curse after his first kill. "Ayana used to say that no secret could be kept between heaven and earth. I tend to agree."

"You know something don't you," Bonnie stared into his eyes. "I always felt like you knew more about my mother than me." She had never questioned him on it though. Because she had always been afraid to find out the truth.

Klaus met her questioning gaze unflinchingly. "I had David investigate Elena and all her friends back when I was trying to break my curse. He found something about your mother," he revealed. "After you told me about her reaction to Charlotte's scar, I had him re-open her file and find out the link between them."

"And?"

"He's still searching," Klaus answered honestly.

"But you know something?" Bonnie could see it on his face.

"Yes," Klaus admitted.

"Something bad?" Bonnie asked in a tiny whisper.

Klaus pressed his lips together as he debated what to tell her. "You need to talk to her, Bonnie."

"So, you are going to continue keeping things from me." Bonnie stood up.

"You deserve to know the whole truth," Klaus told her calmly as he stood up as well. "Not bits and pieces that I know or that David has found. You need the truth and it should be from your mother's lips." Because he didn't have all the pieces. He knew some things yes, but Abby was a Pandora's box filled with secrets.

The two of them stood facing each other, an array of emotions passing in between them.

"You're actually being considerate to my mother?" There was a look of pure incredulity on her face, one that quickly turned into fear. _Just how awful were Abby's secrets?_

"I wish my mother had told me the truth of my parentage," Klaus murmured. "This is something between you and your mother." He met her eyes as he walked closer towards her. "The reason you didn't have magic as a child, her link to the coven that wanted to sacrifice Charlotte, her _real_ reason for leaving Mystic Falls, all of that should be something she _should_ tell you. Not me, not David, not another source, it should come from her own mouth."

Bonnie watched him quietly.

Klaus stopped right in front of her. "Give your mother a chance to tell her story," he urged Bonnie. He felt no pity for Abby but he knew that the best thing, the less painful thing _for Bonnie_ was to learn the truth from her own mother. "If after you have given her a chance to come clean with her secrets she still refuses, I swear to you that I will tell you what I know," he vowed. "And I promise that David will find out everything else that we're missing. One way or another you will have the whole truth, I swear it."

Bonnie looked away from him, her entire body trembling by the weight of her emotions.

"Don't be afraid, Bonnie." Klaus took her hand in his. "We both know that you and your mother will never find peace, not as long as there are secrets hanging in between."

Bonnie bit her lip. "I don't know if I'm ready," she whispered as she faced him once more. "I'm terrified this will break us apart for good." Something inside of her told her that everything would change between them. She looked at Klaus, begging him with her eyes to tell her what to do. She felt so lost and afraid.

"It's up to you love," Klaus replied. "Only you can decide how you wish to proceed now."

There was an anguished look on her face as Bonnie struggled to come to a decision.

Klaus wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

* * *

 **Lafayette Cemetery**

"Are you sure this witch can be trusted?" Jackson asked nervously as he and Oliver followed Hayley into the cemetery.

"I met her when I first arrived in the city," Hayley told him as she easily made her way through the tombstones, she had been here before after all. "She hates vampires. I'm sure she'll help us."

"Do you think I could borrow the ring for the next full moon?" Oliver asked eagerly.

"I'm sure by the next full moon we'll have rings for the entire pack," Jackson told him with a grin.

"Only if this witch is half as good as Hayley claims," Oliver muttered.

"She's good. Her friend gave me the cure to break the pack from the curse," Hayley informed them.

"Someone is coming," Jackson whispered as the three came to an abrupt halt.

A young woman dressed in black came out from one of the mausoleums, her dark hair was braided to the side and she had a cold and calculating look on her pale face. "What are you doing here?" she snapped angrily.

"Sophie, hey!" Hayley nervously stepped forward. Sophie looked rather different, she seemed more poised, cold, devoid of any emotion really. "I was wondering if we could talk," she said nervously. Her wolf instincts were definitely warning her that this was a very different Sophie than the one she had first met weeks before. "Please," she begged. Her skin prickled and Hayley hoped she wasn't making a big mistake.

Jackson and Oliver looked nervously at each other, they too could feel the power radiating off the witch and that made them nervous. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. Witches were fickle and who knew where Sophie's loyalties truly lay.

For a long time, Sophie simply watched them. She stood still as a statue, eyes lost in some distant point beyond Hayley's shoulders.

"I know we are not exactly friends," Hayley laughed nervously. "But I just thought that since you hate vampires and we-"

"Perhaps you will be useful to _us_ after all," Sophie interrupted Hayley's ramblings.

Jackson and Hayley looked at each other with apprehension while Oliver seemed rather confused by Sophie's choice of words. _Who exactly was us?_

Sophie's lips suddenly curled into a smirk. "Come along," she ordered before she turned back to go inside the mausoleum. "There is much to do."

The three Crescent wolves reluctantly followed her inside.

* * *

 **French Quarter Hotel**

Bonnie sat nervously on the couch as she waited for her mother to arrive. Klaus was with Rebekah and the girls. As much as she would love to have him by her side, she knew this was something she need to do alone. She glanced at the clock once more, it had been less than an hour since she had called her mother to the hotel. She stood up and began pacing around the room, thinking back to everything David had told her and Klaus. The name Amelia Sommers kept coming back to her mind. _Why did she have the sneaking suspicion that name was connected to her mother?_

A soft knock on the door had Bonnie jumping out of her thoughts. _The moment of truth,_ she whispered in her mind as she opened the door.

Abby smiled nervously as Bonnie opened the door. "Hello," she greeted.

"Hi," Bonnie moved away. "Come in, please."

The two of them nervously moved over the living room area. They sat across from each other, the coffee table in between them. For a long time neither of them spoke, they simply gazed at one another.

"You wanted to speak to me," Abby finally broke the ice. She seemed nervous and unsure.

Bonnie nodded. _This is it,_ she thought. _You can do this._

"Bonnie, if this is about Charlotte," Abby began. "I just want you to know that-"

"Why didn't I have magic as a child?" Bonnie blurted out. Her heart was beating hard against her chest and her entire body was tense as she anxiously waited for her mother to answer.

Abby tensed right away. The look on her face was a mixture of different emotions, she looked stunned, fearful, and there was even a hint of anger.

"All witch children have magic," Bonnie told her mother. "Lucy, her sister Natalie, Davina, Charlotte, but I don't remember having magic." She looked down at her hands. Her stomach coiled with nerves and anticipation. "Did you do something to my magic, mom?" she finally dared to ask. "Is that why I didn't have magic as a child?" She raised her face and stared at her mother.

"Oh Bonnie," Abby's face broke into different emotions but there was one that stood out above the rest. _Fear._ She looked away, hands balling into the black sweater she was wearing.

 _You need to tell her the truth,_ Joanna had urged her the night before. _They're investigating Charlotte's past and if they find the link between the two of you…Abby, for once in your life stop being afraid and do right by your daughter. Tell her the truth._

"Mom?" Bonnie's voice brought Abby out of her thoughts.

Mother and daughter faced each other, the air palpable with currents of uncertainty, nerves, and fear. This was the moment that was going to change it all.

"Tell me why I didn't have magic as a child?" Bonnie questioned once more. "Please, I need to know."

Abby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was a defeated look on her face as open her eyes and stared at her daughter. "You always had magic," she finally said. It even surprised her how calmly the words left her mouth."Bonnie, you were born with so much magic that it was terrifying."

"What?" Bonnie gasped. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and her hands became sweaty. "Is that why you sealed my powers then?" she asked suddenly. "Because my magic was dangerous or something." She struggled to put the pieces together, to understand that missing part of her life.

Abby gave her a sad look.

"You must have done it when I was a baby," Bonnie concluded. "You sealed my powers didn't you?"

"I tried sealing your magic, yes," Abby admitted. Her bottom lip trembled as she struggled to control her tears. "I did it behind my mother's back and it didn't work."

Bonnie frowned.

"You broke the seal," Abby explained. She shivered remembering Bonnie's cries, the storm, the flames. She closed her eyes and hugged herself. Thinking back to those early years always made her feel afraid and insignificant. "God, the things you could do as a baby."

"I don't understand," Bonnie said quietly. "If the seal didn't work, why didn't I have magic then?"

"Because you blocked your own magic yourself," Abby revealed at last.

Bonnie felt stunned by that confession.

"Bonnie, you were so powerful you were even capable of sealing your own magic away," Abby couldn't stop the tears then. "You did it to save yourself, baby."

"Save myself from what?" Bonnie asked. She was rooted to her seat, hardly able to breathe, let alone move.

"They came for you," Abby's voice broke. "You used your magic against them, you protected Grams and…it was too much…" she could barely talk through her tears. "The amount of magic you released was too much…your little body couldn't handle it…"

Out of all the things Bonnie could have imagined this was not one of them. "Who came for me?" she asked feeling absolutely stunned by Abby's confession.

Abby cried harder.

"Tell me, who came for me?" Bonnie demanded. This was not what she had been expecting.

"My coven," Abby finally admitted. "The coven I joined after I left Mystic Falls," she confessed in a fearful voice. "We were known as the Sentinels."

The air left her lungs. "You're Amelia Sommers," Bonnie muttered with horror. That's why the name had stuck, because deep down she had known. "You…" her mother had been part of a coven that sacrificed people, that _sacrificed children_. And they had come for her too; just like Charlotte. "Oh my god!"

"I'm sorry…" Abby cried. "I'm so sorry…"

The rug had been pulled from under her feet and Bonnie had suddenly fallen into an abyss.


	60. Chapter 60

_A/N: You guys are amazing! Thank-you so much for all your incredible support with this story. This chapter was a roller coaster of different emotions and honestly, it was hard to write. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think._

* * *

For a long time, neither of them said anything. Mother and daughter faced each other in absolute silence. The kind of silence that was suffocating and terrifying. Bonnie hated those silences, it reminded her of the awkward dinners with her father and aunt Agatha. She was still processing her mother's revelation. Abby had joined an evil coven, a coven that sacrificed people, _that murdered children._ Bonnie closed her eyes, feeling sick.

"Bonnie…" Abby stood up and took a step closer before stopping abruptly. Something told her that it was best if she were not to move closer to her daughter.

"I don't understand," Bonnie muttered as she opened her eyes. "When Elena and I found you, you didn't have any powers, how were you part of the Sentinels?" Everything she thought she knew about her mother had just been completely destroyed by Abby's confession that she had been part of the Sentinels. "Desiccating Mikael wasn't the reason you lost your magic and neither was your guilt for leaving me like you made me believe." Bonnie realized.

Abby looked down at her feet, feeling ashamed and guilty.

"Start talking," Bonnie ordered angrily.

Abby swallowed painfully as she looked up into Bonnie's face. "It was easier to say that I lost my powers after I desiccated Mikael." Her entire body trembled uncontrollably, thinking back to those terrible years always made her feel dirty. "I didn't want anyone to know the real reason I didn't practice magic anymore…I…" Her throat constricted as the wave of memories pushed through the front of her mind, memories she had long ago buried for her own sanity.

"What lies have you been feeding me this whole time?" Bonnie demanded to know as she stood up. "What else have you kept from me?" She stared at her mother but she felt like she was staring at a stranger. She thought that she had come to know Abby pretty well in the weeks they had been together in New Orleans but the truth was that she didn't. She didn't know her mother at all.

Abby choked back a sob.

"Tell me!" Bonnie insisted as she took a couple of steps closer. "I want to know everything."

Abby took a deep breath. She knew she didn't have a choice, not anymore. The time for the truth had come. She had no escape now. "I always saw magic as a chore," she began nervously. She had to start from the beginning, only then Bonnie would understand. Her hands shook and she took a big gulp of air before finding the courage to speak again. "I learned, I practiced, I did everything my mother wanted but I never really enjoyed it. Magic came with responsibilities, it was a duty that I never wanted. All I wanted was to be normal."

Bonnie's stomach was tight with nerves, anticipation, and fear. There were so many thoughts swirling inside her head. "But you are..." she stopped. "You were good at it," she corrected herself. "You know so much. You've been teaching me things, potions in particular, you seem to like that."

"Potions is very different than channeling magic, it felt like cooking." Abby gave her a weak smile. "That's the only thing I always enjoyed, truly enjoyed. I was an average witch at best to be honest, I was never up to my mother's standards." The smile on her face fell, a dark look crossed her features as she thought of her mother. "She always thought I could do better."

There was a bitterness in her voice, a resentment that chilled Bonnie to the bones. She knew that things between Grams and Abby had not ended well but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe things had always been bad.

"The Bennett legacy, the whole _queen thing_ , I never…" Abby closed her eyes as she struggled to find the right words. "It was a burden to me." She had never openly talked about this before. She felt nervous but above all she felt scared. _You can do this,_ she told herself. _You have to do this._ "When you were born, I wished…I hoped you wouldn't be a witch." She laughed at her young and foolish dreams. "A stupid thing to wish considering our family's heritage but I wished it all the same." She met Bonnie's eyes. "You were born with magic, so much magic Bonnie…" she paused. "Even as a baby you were more powerful than I could have ever dream of being." There was a look of pure anguish on her face as she stared at her daughter.

"You were afraid of me," Bonnie made the startling realization. Her mother had feared her when she was a baby.

"I was absolutely terrified of the things you could do," Abby confirmed.

"Did I hurt you?" Bonnie asked in a tiny whisper.

Abby nodded. "You didn't mean to," she was quick to reassure Bonnie after seeing the horrified look on her face. "Your magic simply reacted to your wishes. Magic always came easy to you. It was almost like…"

"Like?"

"Like you were magic itself."

* * *

" _There goes the airplane," Abby moved the spoon around Bonnie's head and made the noise with her mouth, pretending that the spoon she held was an airplane as she attempted to feed her child._

 _Little Bonnie banged her hands loudly before closing her mouth. She was sitting on her high chair, wearing the pink and white onesie Abby's friend Miranda had gifted her._

 _Abby sighed. "Come on, baby." She once again attempted to feed Bonnie._

 _The nearly one year old refused, keeping her mouth stubbornly shut. She was enjoying herself, Abby could tell. There was a hint of mischief in her green eyes and she giggled before placing both hands over her mouth. Baby Bonnie saw it as a game, Abby was having none of that._

" _Oatmeal is good you know. Yummy yummy," Abby tried again but Bonnie refused. "Bonnie, you need to eat." She was clearly losing her patience. There was a lot she needed to do. She had to clean the house, do the laundry, and she also had to make a quick trip to the grocery store. She was tired and cranky and her fight with Rudy that morning wasn't helping matters either. She wanted to go back to work but Rudy insisted she stayed at home to take care of their baby. He earned more money than she did so it seemed like the logical choice. Abby hated it. But what she hated more was that her own mother was taking Rudy's side, telling her that she should spend as much time as possible with Bonnie and help her with her magic. Just thinking about it, made her even angrier. "Eat," she commanded._

 _Bonnie shook her head, covering her mouth with her chubby fingers once more. She was having fun at her mother's expense._

 _Abby took matters into her own hands and prided Bonnie's mouth open with her hands. The baby girl whimpered as Abby shoved a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. "There, you need to eat."_

 _Bonnie spat the oatmeal out._

 _Abby made a noise of exasperation. "You're as stubborn as your father!" She grabbed another spoonful of oatmeal, determined to feed Bonnie whether she wanted it or not._

" _NO!" Baby Bonnie banged her hands again as she pressed her lips shut._

 _Abby was about to pry her mouth open again when there was a spark of magic. She screamed as her body was flung back against the wall. It was a blast that took her completely by surprise._

 _Bonnie's eyes went wide._

 _Abby groaned as her back hit the hall before she landed on her butt. She blinked a few times in confusion. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Her own child had just thrown her against the wall. A baby had flung a full grown adult witch against the wall._

" _NO!" Bonnie said again as she looked down at her mother. To prove her point, the ceramic bowl with the oatmeal flew away from her high chair and smashed into the wall, right above Abby's head._

 _The young mother let out a screech and placed her hands over her head, heart nearly bursting from her chest. Abby stared at her daughter with shock, fear, and disbelief. She didn't know what to do. She sat on the floor, staring in horror at her own daughter. She couldn't believe what Bonnie had just done. No baby should have that kind of power. It was unnatural._

* * *

"I never wanted you to be a witch," Abby confessed in a quiet tone. "I wanted you to be like Caroline and Elena, a normal little girl."

Those words were a dagger to Bonnie's heart. Her lips parted and she had to look away to swallow the wave of hurt that washed over her. Her mother hadn't accepted the way she was, her own mother had wished her to be different, to be _a normal little girl._

"Mom was proud," Abby continued without noticing the effect her words had on Bonnie. "She never took any of my concerns seriously but I couldn't take it. Whenever you were upset things would fly about the house and break. One time, you woke up screaming in the middle of the night. I think you must have had a nightmare or something, your curtains caught fire. I didn't know what to do." She stared into Bonnie's face, pleading with her eyes for her daughter to understand. "I was terrified you would do something in front of my friends, that someone would notice your magic, that they would learn that we were witches."

"But you grew up with magic," Bonnie reminded her. "You shouldn't have been afraid, you should have been helping me to control it."

Abby let out a short laugh. "That's what my mother said."

" _You're a fool Abigail," Sheila scolded her. "Bonnie's magic will never hurt her. A witch's own magic will never turn against her. You shouldn't fear it."_

" _It hurt me!" Abby insisted. "Do you think that's normal, even by witches' standards?"_

" _What is it about you and wanting to be normal?" Sheila questioned furiously. "We are not normal, we will never be normal. If Bonnie's magic is lashing out at you is because it senses your hatred of it." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Maybe it even senses that you plan something against it and is trying to keep Bonnie safe."_

 _Abby looked down at her mug of coffee. She was planning something. She was going to get rid of Bonnie's magic, she was going to seal it for good. It's what she should have done from the moment she had been born. Her mother was going to hate her for it but Abby knew it was the only way._

" _Be careful Abby," Sheila warned her. "You do not want Bonnie's magic to see you as a threat."_

"Mother dismissed all of my concerns," Abby continued. "So, I took matters into my own hands and took you to this Elder witch in New York."

"To seal my magic," Bonnie said as she turned back to face her.

"Rudy was out of town on one of his business trips and mom had a conference in Florida," Abby told her. "It was the perfect opportunity. It cost me a lot of money. I had to pay ten thousand dollars in cash for the Elder witch to perform the ritual."

"Why didn't you do it yourself?" Bonnie questioned.

"That kind of ritual is very complex, dangerous, too many things can go wrong," Abby explained. "Only a trained witch should preform that kind of magic, an Elder witch specifically. The only other witch capable of such feat was your grandmother and she would have never agreed. So, I found someone else."

"What happened?"

"I took you to New York. It took the witch nearly five hours to complete the seal." Abby looked away, glancing at the terrace doors. Everything was pitch black outside. "Never in a million years could I have imagined that you would break the seal just a few hours later."

* * *

 _Baby Bonnie's screams echoed around the room. She laid on her back, her eyes were squeezed shut, and her face was wet with tears and sweat. She was inside a circle of salt, white candles, and different herbs. Every time she attempted to roll to her side, every time she attempted to move, the witch's magic would push her back. She didn't like it and so she cried._

 _Baby Bonnie didn't understand what was going, all she felt was the pressure keeping her in place, forcing her on her back on the cold, hard surface. It hurt. She cried. Her bright green eyes searched desperately for a familiar face around the strange and scary place but there was nothing. There was only darkness and pain. All she understood was the pain._

" _Ma…Ma…" between her cries she managed to say the words. She would call for her mother and then she would cry and cry and cry. "Ma-Ma!"_

 _Her wails were loud, they were filled with confusion, pain, and fear. Her breathing was ragged as she struggled to breath properly through her tears and the pain she felt all over her little body. It hurt. It hurt so much. She continued crying, desperate for someone to help her. Mama, she wanted mama._

 _The dark-haired witch chanted furiously under her breath, blood trailing down her nose while sweat formed on forehead, her neck, and back, soaking through the white cotton dress she was wearing._

" _Why is it taking so long?" Abby demanded. She had been pacing nervously around the living room of the small apartment, constantly checking her watch. She knew the ritual was complex but it shouldn't be taking so long to complete it. She had drove all the way from Mystic Falls to New York to meet with this Elder witch, the one powerful enough to block Bonnie's magic. But even this witch as powerful as she was couldn't do this with ease. Bonnie was a baby but her magic was fighting back._

 _The lights inside the apartment flickered on and off._

 _A small crack formed on the TV screen._

 _The entire room shook with the force of the ritual._

 _The witch pushed Bonnie's magic, cornering those waves of power that sprung from her little body determined to fight against the witch's magic. She pushed that magic back, she crushed it with her own magic, forcing it to back down, slamming those waves of uncontrolled, raw power inside the baby's body, sealing it away forever._

 _Every time she forcibly pushed against Bonnie's magic, the baby girl would scream in agony._

 _Abby didn't do anything, she simply watched and waited for the ritual to be over. This is what she wanted the most in the world, what her little family needed in order to be happy._

 _It took hours but finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the candles died down. The witch slumped down on the ground and took a big gulp of air. "It is done," she murmured. She felt exhausted and weak, so weak her eyes were already fluttering closed. No sealing ritual had ever taken this long, nor had it ever taken such toll on her._

 _Abby rushed inside the circle and finally picked baby Bonnie in her arms. Her little body was rocked with trembles, her skin felt cold as ice, her throat burned, it was sore from all her screaming. She blinked in confusion at her mother, her eyes nearly rolling to the back of her head. Her lips parted almost as if she wanted to say something but no sound came out, only a moan of pain. Bonnie's clothes were soaked with sweat, drool, and pee. There was even a small trail of blood on both of her ears, and nose. "It's okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay."_

 _Bonnie whimpered before she snuggled closer to her mother, seeking that warmth, that sense of security she desperately needed. Her mother's voice was familiar, her mother's scent was welcomed, her mother's warmth and affection was what she desperately needed._

" _You're going to be a normal little girl, now." Abby kissed her sweaty forehead and smiled feeling quite pleased with what she had accomplished. "Everything is going to be fine now." She smiled at the baby. From this day forward their lives would be different. It would be better. They were going to have a normal and happy life. "We will be happy," she promised._

 _Baby Bonnie only let out another whimper, her body continued to be rocked by trembles, leaving her weak and aching all over. A few more tears slipped down her chubby cheeks until her eyes finally closed in exhaustion, rendering her unconscious._

 _Finally, after hours of torture she could breathe again._

* * *

"How did I break the seal?" Bonnie's voice broke the silence that followed after Abby got lost in her memories.

"I don't know," Abby responded. "We went back home, you slept the whole way. We arrived late at night, I put you to bed. The next thing I know, I woke up to your screams." She squeezed her eyes shut remembering the storm that had descended upon Mystic Falls that night, a storm she was sure Bonnie's magic had caused as it broke the seal the witch had placed on her. She opened her eyes and gazed at her daughter. "You have always been extraordinary Bonnie." Abby looked almost in awe. "All the things you have accomplished, all the power you have inside of you…it's not just because of Expression you know." Thinking back on it, she knew everything Bonnie had accomplished was because she was innately powerful.

Bonnie kept quiet. She didn't know what to say.

"Magic comes to you as easily as breathing, that's not just natural talent, there is something deep inside of you, something unique," Abby continued lost in thought. "I didn't understand that, mama did but I never…" she shook her head. "I feared it."

* * *

 _It was the loud rumble of thunder that woke her. The minute Abby's eyes snapped open, she knew something was wrong._

 _Bonnie's cries echoed throughout the house._

 _Abby got out of bed and rushed out of her room, running towards the nursery. Lightning flashed across the sky while the wind nearly shattered the windows and the rain fell down hard, almost as if rocks were hitting the roof instead of water._

 _The minute she stepped into the hallway Abby let out a scream._

 _Fire._

 _The hallway that led to the nursery was engulfed in flames._

 _Fear spiked inside her. The house was burning. She had to get Bonnie out. "Bonnie!" Abby waved her hand over the flames, evaporating them with ease before she ran like crazy towards her daughter's room._

 _The nursery was consumed by the flames as well. Everything was burning, the furniture, the toys, everything was engulfed in flames except for Bonnie's crib._

 _Bonnie sat on her crib, tears streaming down her face as she cried uncontrollably. She seemed anguished, in pain but as soon as she spotted her mother, she stopped crying and smiled with relief, showing two front teeth._

 _The flames died down instantly._

 _It was in that moment that a horrible realization hit Abby as quick as a bolt of lightning. Her heart jumped to her throat as it dawned on her that Bonnie had her magic back, Bonnie had somehow broken the seal placed on her by the witch just hours before. Her knees went weak. She looked around the room, goosebumps forming on her flesh as her senses picked up the currents of power floating about. It was raw, it was dangerous, it was Bonnie's magic. Abby gasped and turned to the crib, a look of pure horror on her face. Everything had been for nothing. Bonnie had somehow broken the seal over her magic._

 _Bonnie's bottom lip trembled and her cheeks were still wet from her tears but her bright tearful green eyes looked directly at Abby. She raised her little arms so her mother would pick her up. "Ma!" she pleaded with her eyes to be held, to feel her mother's arms wrap around her._

 _Abby didn't move a muscle. She felt terrified. She was absolutely and utterly terrified of her own child. She gave Bonnie one last fearful look before she ran out of the room and locked herself inside her bedroom._

 _Baby Bonnie lowered her arms and looked down. She was so young but she already knew what rejection felt like._

* * *

"I kept telling myself that you were going to grow out of it," Abby murmured. "That you would learn to control it, and you did to an extend but it was always a source of conflict for everyone. Mom wanted to do things her way, I wanted something different, and Rudy…" she shook her head. "He tried to be supportive at first but the more magic you did, the more afraid he became as well. He tried not to show it but deep down he wanted you to be normal as well."

"You were both afraid of me," Bonnie wiped the tears from her eyes. It hurt to know both of her parents had feared her. She could understand her father's fear, he must have been new to magic and seeing what his child was capable of must have been scary but Abby's fear on the other hand, surprised her. Abby who had grown up with magic, Abby who had Grams as a mother, it hurt to know that her mother hadn't understood her own child. That despite the fact that Abby herself was a witch, she couldn't comprehend her daughter's magical abilities. "Grams, did she…" Bonnie swallowed the lump in her throat. "Was she afraid of me too?"

"No. Mom was pleased by all the things you did. A prodigy you were and she couldn't be happier about it." Abby rolled her eyes. "And you never hurt her with your magic either." The words came out with a bitter sneer. "You always preferred her over me."

The resentment in Abby's voice was unmistakable. She almost seemed to be blaming Bonnie. "She always made me feel safe," Bonnie whispered quietly. "She understood me in a way you never could."

Abby looked down at her hands, feeling chastised. "Rudy and I were constantly fighting," she said after a pause. "Sometimes over the stupidest things, not just your magic," Abby recalled. "I was sick of being a stay at home mom. He was always taking business trips and spending more and more time away from home and I was tired of it all."

* * *

" _You are never here!" Abby yelled. "You didn't even bother to come home for dinner last night!"_

" _It's not like I'm taking a vacation, Abby. I'm working!" Rudy fired back._

" _And you have to stay at the office so late?" Abby gave him an incredulous look. "Last night you came well past midnight."_

" _I rather work from my office than from home, you know that," Rudy defended his actions._

" _You have stayed late every single night this week!" Abby reproached him._

" _You didn't mind me working late when I gave you that diamond bracelet last week," Rudy threw in her face. "Or when I bought you that ridiculous expensive coat you haven't even used."_

 _Abby glared at him and yanked the beautiful and sparkling bracelet off her wrist. "Here is your stupid bracelet!" She threw it right at him. "I don't want it anymore. I'm sick of this." She walked out of the living room. "I'm sick of you!"_

" _Abby!" Rudy followed her._

" _I'm sick of staying at home doing everything while you get to do whatever you want," Abby continued angrily._

" _Abby wait, I didn't mean that I-"_

" _Go to hell," Abby hissed before she practically ran out of the house._

 _Rudy watched her go before he angrily stormed towards his study, slamming the door shut._

 _Two-year-old Bonnie flinched and stood clutching Ms. Cuddles to her chest. This was not the first time she witnessed a fight between her parents nor it would be the last. She hugged her favorite teddy bear closer, a single tear running down her cheek. Neither Abby or Rudy had realized she had witnessed their fight._

* * *

"Everything changed when Mikael come for Elena." To this day, Abby could still feel that human heart beating against her palm. The heart she had stopped in order to desiccate Mikael. The first person she had ever killed.

"Is that why you left?" Bonnie asked suddenly. "Because you were tired of being a wife and a mother. Because you were afraid of me and my magic?" her voice broke as she asked the last question. _Did I push you away mom?_ She wanted to ask but didn't dare. _Was it my fault?_ She had often feared that as a child, that she was the real reason her mom had left. Now, it looked like those fears were actually coming true."You used Mikael as an excuse. You used him to mask your real reason for leaving. What was it?"

There was a long pause.

"Look at me," Bonnie challenged her mother. "Tell me the real reason you left Mystic Falls?"

Abby summoned all the courage she had inside her to raise her face and look at Bonnie. "Miranda was the only one of my friends who knew I was a witch, she begged me to help protect her daughter and I did."

"By luring Mikael away and desiccating him," Bonnie finished for her. She and Abby had briefly discussed this before. "You left shortly after that. You wanted to be Abby Wilson the woman and not Abby Bennett the witch," she repeated the same words Abby had told her that day Bonnie and Elena had found her. "How the hell did you end up with a coven that sacrifices children if you didn't want to be Abby Bennett the witch?" she hissed. "Or was that another one of your lies?"

Abby flinched at the harsh tone of Bonnie's voice. "I…"

"The Sentinels are just a branch of a bigger, evil, ruthless coven that specializes in sacrificial magic," Bonnie told Abby. "Another branch known as La Mort coven tried to sacrifice Charlotte. But you knew that already, didn't you?" She couldn't contain the anger she felt towards that evil coven, the hatred that fueled her veins, and ate away at her heart. They had hurt innocent children, they had brutalized them and murdered them and Bonnie wanted to resurrect them so she could burn them to crisps again for what they had put Charlotte and her friends through. "It's the reason you wanted me to send her away after all. So, I would never find out the truth."

"Bonnie, I-"

"Tell me how you became Amelia Sommers and joined the Sentinels?" Bonnie demanded to know. Her body was shaking from all the rage she felt. "Tell me the truth."

"The magic I used to desiccate Mikael was dark," Abby's voice trembled as she started talking once more. "You know that I had to stop a human heart in order to do it."

Bonnie nodded. She in turn had stopped Jeremy's heart in order to desiccate Klaus. She knew that kind of magic was dangerous. "Go on."

"Nothing, no one…" Abby turned her back to Bonnie as the memories of that day came flooding back. "The power, the feeling of euphoria I felt as I desiccated Mikael. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before." She turned to face Bonnie once more. "You know that feeling, don't you? That rush, that incredible feeling like-" she made gestures with her hands trying to describe that amazing sensation only another powerful witch would be capable of comprehending.

"Like you're on top of the world," Bonnie suggested. She had experienced that many times now. When she fought Klaus on the night he broke his curse, when she unleashed all the power she could summon against Silas, when she fought the Seer and her coven. Yes, Bonnie knew how intoxicating that magical high could be. "It's exhilarating."

"Yes," Abby agreed taking a few steps closer to her. "After I desiccated Mikael, I didn't lose my magic. On the contrary, I began practicing more, I began using more magic, pushing myself to the limits and I also began experimenting," she confessed in a voice filled with guilt and shame. "My eyes had been opened. I finally allowed myself to enjoy my magic, to embrace all that power flowing inside my veins."

Bonnie watched as Abby began pacing. "I was practicing spells, I was pushing my body to see how much magic I could channel, I was experimenting, combining different spells, different forms of magic. Once I started, I couldn't stop. It was like I was making up for all the years I had kept my magic at bay, for all the times I kept my power bolted inside."

"You became addicted to magic," Bonnie whispered. The pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place.

"Dark Magic is like a drug Bonnie. If you're not careful, it will take a hold of you until you become lost," Abby told her daughter. "That's what happened to me after I desiccated Mikael. I became obsessed with it, consumed by it to the point of madness." She looked away from Bonnie and stared at the wall, looking right at the painting hanging across from her. "I started hanging with other witches that practiced dark magic. I didn't want to use my real name, I didn't want anyone to know I was a Bennett witch, so I came up with a new identity for myself."

"Amelia Sommers," Bonnie murmured.

"Yes. I didn't want my mom to know what I was doing or for the Bennett name to be associated with any of the witches I came in contact with. We did some questionable things and I didn't want the Bennett name to be tarnished by it." She fell silent, debating whether to continue or not. In the end, she knew she had to go on with her story. "It was during that time that I met _him._ "

"Him?" Bonnie was blindsided by that. "Who?"

"Max, a handsome, sexy, powerful warlock," Abby hugged herself, there was a vacant look in her eyes. She needed to detach herself, she needed to shut away all of her emotions in order to continue. "He was everything your father wasn't," she continued in a rather neutral voice. "He made me feel things I never felt before."

"What are you saying?" She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Deep down Bonnie knew where this story was going.

"I fell in love with him and I didn't hesitate in leaving everything for him," Abby revealed at last. Another deeper darker secret she had kept buried inside.

Bonnie gasped. "You…" her mother had abandoned everything for a man. Abby had abandoned her for a lover. That hurt more than Bonnie could have ever anticipated. Because if Abby left to protect Elena, Bonnie could understand and even come to forgive. If Abby had left for herself, because she was overwhelmed and scared of her child, Bonnie could try and understand but for her mother to choose a man over her, it was a dagger to her already wounded heart.

"You wanted the truth well here it is," Abby met Bonnie's eyes as she spoke. "I left you and your father because I fell in love with a man who promised me the world. I left because I was madly in love with him and I wanted to start a new life far away from my mother's control, far away from the husband I never really loved, and the daughter that scared me to death with her growing powers." There it was, the truth finally out in the open.

It was a punch to the gut. It was a shattering earthquake that split the ground open and swallowed her whole. Bonnie placed a trembling hand over her mouth in order to stop the wave of nausea that invaded her.

 _What kind of mother chooses a lover over her own child?_

 _Abby was just like Nancy,_ Bonnie thought as her heart bled.

* * *

Charlotte mumbled to herself as she debated which color book to take with her. The one on her right hand or the one on her left. She chewed on her bottom lip as she carefully inspected the pages on each book. _Should she take the one with the animals or the one with the pretty princesses?_ She liked them both.

"Why don't you take them both?" Klaus suggested. He was standing next to her and had been watching her for the past five minutes and forty-seven seconds as he waited for her to come to a decision.

Charlotte turned her head to the side and looked up into his face. "Really?" she had never been shy about asking what she wanted when it came to aunty Bex or aunt Lu but with Klaus she felt weird asking him for things. "I can take them both?"

Klaus nodded. "You can take whatever you want, sweetheart."

Charlotte beamed before she threw her arms around him.

Klaus tensed. It was a knee jerk reaction, he wasn't used to such displays of affection to be honest. He wasn't used to people touching him or hugging him out of the blue, except for Bonnie. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and offered her a small smile.

"Thank-you," Charlotte whispered sweetly before pulling away.

Something tugged at his heart, an invisible string that hooked into an organ he long thought dead but which had come alive with the love for a certain green eyed witch who was his mate. After learning of her tragic past, Klaus felt protective of Charlotte. It was something that came naturally to him. The need to protect her, to treasure that innocence, to ensure no one would ever hurt her again. Now that they knew what she had been through, Klaus and Bonnie felt determined to ensure the little girl never suffered again in her life.

His words were the permission Charlotte needed to rush from aisle to aisle picking all kinds of supplies and filling the shopping cart a reluctant Klaus pushed around.

Davina happily walked beside him, picking the different items she needed.

Klaus had decided to take the girls to an arts and crafts store just a few blocks away from the hotel while Bonnie talked to her mother. Judging by the emotions coming from the bond things were not going well. He knew this was going to be a difficult and painful conversation for Bonnie. He felt the urge to go to her but he forced himself to remain away. He didn't want to interfere unless Bonnie absolutely needed him to. For now, it seemed she was okay without him being there. Klaus knew that Abby's real reason for leaving Mystic Falls was because she had run off with her lover, he also knew she had dalliances with witches who practiced dark magic, and had done some horrible experimenting before she had gone into hiding and disappeared for years, until finally resurfacing in North Carolina a couple of years back. Those years she had been off the radar were the ones David and his people were investigating.

"The brushes are the last thing on my list." Davina's voice brought Klaus out of his thoughts. "Aren't you going to get something for yourself?" she asked curiously.

"I usually order my supplies online," Klaus replied as he glanced at her face.

"Let me guess from some fancy store in Europe or something."

"Or something," Klaus mumbled as he watched as Charlotte continued to fill their shopping cart. She had color pencils, crayons, watercolors, paper, scissors, among other things. _Maybe telling her that she could get whatever she wanted hadn't been such a good idea after all? Did she seriously need all of that?_

"You're a snob," Davina made a face before putting her pack of brushes in the shopping cart. She also had a new sketchpad and a couple of acrylic paint bottles.

Klaus chuckled. "Have you met my brother Elijah?" he jokingly asked. "I think he might change your perception of what a snob is."

Davina snorted. Elijah was definitely a snob, more so than Klaus. Never mind, all the Originals were. Rebekah was currently enjoying a couple of hours at the hotel spa. She had tried to get Davina to join her for a manicure and pedicure as well as a massage but Davina had chosen to come with Klaus and Charlotte instead.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Klaus asked as he spotted Charlotte carrying a pack of different colored bottles.

"Glitter," the little witch happily replied. "It's different color glitter." She seemed rather excited about that.

Klaus sighed. "Come on, we should get going."

"Can we get pizza for dinner?" Davina asked as the three began making their way out of the aisle and towards the register.

"I like pizza," Charlotte declared as she walked beside Klaus. She easily took his hand in hers. The hybrid had offered to put her inside the shopping cart like he had seen a mother do with her son but Charlotte had insisted that she could walk. She liked walking and holding his hand. It made her feel safe.

"Pepperoni with extra cheese and ham," Davina continued as Klaus cell phone began ringing.

"And ice cream for dessert," Charlotte added excitedly.

"Yes," Davina grinned. "I'm sure Bonnie would love some."

"Sure," Klaus absently replied as he answered a call from Elijah. "Tell me you have good news?"

" _I'm the bearer of bad news I'm afraid,"_ Elijah calmly replied from the other end. _"Lucy believes the Travelers are going to bring the other side down on the day of the lunar eclipse."_

"Fantastic," Klaus sarcastically muttered as they got to the cash register.

"The Travelers are going to need the blood of all doppelgängers in order to accomplish this," Elijah informed him. "It turns out that Silas has doppelgangers as well, we need to find them before they do. That should be our priority."

Klaus laughed upon hearing that. Oh the sweet irony.

The cashier gave him a flirty smile as she began scanning their things. Klaus ignored her.

Charlotte glared at the girl and moved closer to Klaus.

" _What could possibly be so funny, brother?"_ Elijah questioned unamused by Klaus's attitude.

"There is no need to go on a hunt brother, you have what you seek right with you." Klaus happily pulled out a shiny black credit card out of his wallet and handed it to the girl. Her eyes went wide a she stared at the black Amex card before looking him up and down and giving him another flirty look.

"He's married," Davina said upon seeing the look the girl gave Klaus. She was practically undressing him with her eyes. "Happily married with kids as a matter of fact."

The girl frowned. "He's too young to be your dad."

"Our parents started really young," Davina lied with a sweet smile on her lips. Bonnie wasn't there so Davina felt the need to defend her territory for her.

The girl looked at Davina before glancing at down at Charlotte.

"Twins are on the way," Davina informed her with an angelic grin.

"Two," Charlotte emphasized quickly. "We're a big family."

The cashier sighed and made a face. _Why were all the hot rich guys always taken?_

Davina and Charlotte shared complicit smiles.

"Don't let Stefan out of your sight," Klaus instructed. He gave a curious glance in Davina's direction. He had been half listening to her exchange with the cashier.

" _Are you saying that he is-"_

"Yes," Klaus cut him off. He didn't want to discuss important matters over the phone which is why he hadn't outright mentioned that Stefan was the doppelgänger. "Don't say anything to him yet and come to the hotel right away," He ordered. "This is a matter that needs to be discussed in person." They needed a plan of attack against the Travelers.

" _I see."_ Elijah understood perfectly clear.

They hung up.

Stefan was the key, the one the Travelers were going to come for sooner or later. In many ways, Stefan Salvatore had just become the perfect bait to lure the Travelers into a trap. But they needed to plan accordingly.

The three of them exited the store a few minutes later, carrying bags filled with art supplies (mostly Charlotte's) and headed towards a famous Pizzeria on their way to the hotel.

From the roof of the building across the street, a single figure watched and waited.

* * *

 **French Quarter Hotel**

"Max was the leader of the Sentinels," Abby continued with her revelations. "I didn't know it when I first met him. I knew he had a coven but I didn't know just how ruthless and despicable they really were."

"You still joined them," Bonnie accused in a surprisingly calm voice. The turmoil, the anguish, and the pain she felt inside was not visible on her face or in her voice. She had to force it down in order to keep herself on her feet.

"I did."

"How could you?"

"They lure you in by giving you access to the power first," Abby explained. She steeled herself, blocking all her emotions in order to continue with her tale. It was the only away she could tell Bonnie everything without breaking down into a mess on the floor. "They don't tell you where this power comes from, what it takes to feed it, to maintain it in this world. They simply give it to you."

Bonnie frowned.

"They give you free rein over it, no limits, no rules, no consequences and for a witch addicted to dark magic, I was like a kid in a candy store." Abby paused and took a big gulp of air. "I was so stupid. But I had never been free to do with my magic as I pleased."

"What do you mean?"

"My mother always followed the rules you know. She did her best to maintain the balance and to respect the spirits' wishes. For her, magic was a responsibility, something sacred, something that had to be cultivated and treated with the uttermost devotion. But with the Sentinels, I met witches who followed their own rules, who pushed the limits of modern and ancient witchcraft to suit their needs. They did as they pleased and no one punished them for it. The kind of magic they practiced was not controlled by the spirits or the Ancestors or anyone. It was free for the taking. It came without a price or so I foolishly believed."

"That's why you never liked that I use Expression," Bonnie commented.

"I was afraid you would become like me," Abby whispered sadly. "When you are constantly channeling so much power, so much dark magic in particular, it takes a life of its own. Our magic is of the earth, a power that is pure but once it has been tainted there is no going back. Before you know it, that power starts to control you, to make you do as it pleases not as you want. When I learned that you were practicing Expression, I was terrified you would follow in my footsteps."

"I'm not you," Bonnie spat.

"No. You are not," Abby wholeheartedly agreed. "You are stronger, Bonnie. Far stronger than me." Her face softened. "My mother always said you were one of a kind." Not all witches who practiced dark magic became consumed by it, there were some few lucky ones who had the means to control it and resist temptation. Bonnie was one of those.

"You sacrificed people." It wasn't a question but a statement. "You killed people for power." Bonnie challenged her mother with her eyes, daring her to try and contradict her.

Abby swallowed the lump in her throat and reluctantly nodded. "I was addicted and I couldn't stop."

"Did you even try?" Bonnie asked.

"I didn't have a clear head, Bonnie," Abby tried to justify her actions. "When I was high on magic I didn't hesitate, I didn't second guess myself. We were all puppets of the dark power we wielded." A tremor rolled over her body. She had to keep her nerves under control. The only way to keep going with her story was to push all her feelings aside and describe the events without any emotions. Detaching herself from all of it had always been her way to cope with all her heinous acts. "When I was high I didn't feel anything, no remorse, no desire to stop, I felt nothing. There was only a need to feel that powerful magic flowing in my veins. From the moment I desiccated Mikael, I became hooked on it." She looked away as she said it.

Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She took a couple of steps and walked away from her mother, turning her back to Abby and standing close to the balcony, staring at the darkness outside which also threatened to overwhelm her.

"We were all like that, zombies completely at the mercy of this darkness that consumed our very existence," Abby continued while staring at her back. "As the coven grew, as more and more people joined their ranks, the power demanded more and more sacrifices. Sacrificing two werewolves was better than sacrificing ten humans," she explained. "Sacrificing a vampire was worth as much as sacrificing thirty humans. Sacrificing a witch, a single witch was the equivalent of sacrificing at least one hundred humans."

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut. Bile rose in her throat and her entire body trembled. She felt so cold.

"The power…" Abby paused. "That's what they called it, sometimes they called it the source or the void. I don't know how it came to be or how the first members came in contact with it, all I know is that it was never satisfied. It always demanded more and it wanted witches above all. If the coven did not meet its demands they couldn't access the magic anymore. We had to keep sacrificing people in order to keep the access to that magic."

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked turning to face her once more.

"I found out that once you join them your magic becomes linked to the power. There is an initiation ceremony that involves giving your blood that's how your magic becomes linked to it. From that moment forward your magic is dependent of it, they don't tell you that obviously." Not that it would have mattered either, the witches that joined those types of covens were desperate for more power. They were addicts just like her, most of them at least. There were some who were sadistic and cruel who had joined not out of desperation or lies but because they truly believed in _the power._ "The price you pay is blood. It's always blood," Abby said sadly. "If the power didn't get the blood it demanded then it would simply disappear and take the coven's magic away. For witches that are addicted to magic that is a fate worse than death."

"How many people did you killed?" Bonnie questioned without preamble.

"Bonnie…." Abby gave her an anguished look.

"How many?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Bonnie laughed. More than a laugh, it was a pitiful sound that turned into a sob. "Did you ever sacrifice children?" she dared to ask the question that was haunting her. The questioned that had been haunting her since she learned her mother was part of the Sentinels.

"No," Abby replied quickly but she didn't dare to look into Bonnie's eyes.

"You're lying." Bonnie could tell Abby was lying to her, she could feel it in her bones. She walked closer to her mother. "How can you still lie to me?"

"Please," Abby begged. She was crying now. She felt ashamed and dirty and she didn't want to answer that question. "I was consumed by dark magic. I was completely under its control. When you're high on magic you don't stop to think or to feel, you do things and is not until later that the guilt, the shame, and the remorse hits you hard."

"You killed people for power!"

"I had no choice!"

"There is always a choice," Bonnie screamed. "You were just too weak to make the right one!"

"You know nothing!"

"How many children?" Bonnie snapped.

Abby squeezed her eyes shut. "The Sentinels sacrificed at least thirteen kids while I was with them," she finally admitted in a whisper. She felt tired, she didn't want to fight anymore. "The ones whose life I took myself were…" she swallowed hard. "Two…" she let out in a shaky voice. "A boy and his sister, they were twins."

Bonnie had to grabbed the back of the sofa for support because her knees were threatening to give out. She had to take a couple of deep calming breaths as well. Her other hand unconsciously went to her stomach. No wonder her mother had felt no remorse suggesting she had an abortion, killing children came easy to her. That thought had her eyes filling with tears. Bonnie held back the sobs that were desperately trying to get out of her.

"I couldn't live with the guilt," Abby said quickly. "I was horrified. I kept having flashes of the things I had done and I couldn't live with myself. I didn't want to be part of the coven anymore. But once you are in you are in for life. They would have never let me go. So, I found a way to escape and I ran away."

"You're very good at that," Bonnie muttered angrily.

Abby felt like she had been slapped but she bit back a retort.

"You said that this coven came for me," Bonnie said in a trembling voice. "Why? What happened?" She continued to touch her stomach, in a protective way but also as a means to remind herself that her babies were okay. They were alive, they were fine. No one was going to hurt them. Bonnie felt so cold, her bones hurt.

Abby sniffled a couple of times and cleared her throat. "I'm not sure of all the details, I was in hiding," she confessed. "I was trying to detox my body of all the poison, all that darkness consuming me. I was suffering from withdrawals, I had no access to magic so I was feeling sick and miserable all the time. One day, I got a note from mom. She found me with her magic and told me you were in the hospital, that you had been hurt."

"By your coven," Bonnie added. "When they came for me."

"Yes."

* * *

 _Bonnie's little body shook uncontrollably. Her moans of pain echoed around the hospital room. None of the doctors knew what was wrong, only that she was in pain and feverish. She grew weaker by the hour and they didn't think she would make it through the night. Sheila had brought a witch doctor from Louisiana to help her but he was also at lost on what to do or how to help her. Nothing seemed to be working on her._

 _Rudy's eyes were red as he watched from the corner of the room as the witch doctor muttered under his breath, his palms moving above Bonnie's body, trying desperately to save her._

 _Sheila sat on a chair next to the bed. She was holding Bonnie's hand and murmuring softly, whispering words of encouragement. Her eyes were red and puffy, she looked rather sickly too. Her shirt had a deep red stain above her stomach, where she had been stabbed just hours before._

 _Abby stood on the opposite side, hands clamp together in a praying gesture. She had arrived about an hour before after a desperate call from Sheila. The two had yelled and lashed out at each other after Abby revealed who the Sentinels were. She had no choice but to tell her mother the truth._

 _The witch doctor's eyes snapped open. "There is nothing I can do." He looked sadly at the trembling little creature on the bed. "I can't do anything for her."_

" _There has to be something," Abby insisted._

" _The amount of magic her body released was too much, it overwhelmed her," The witch doctor explained. "It's astonishing she made it this far, if I'm being honest. Her body is not capable of handling so much power." His brow furrowed in confusion. "No child should ever have this kind of power."_

" _Try again," Sheila pleaded. "Please."_

" _There is nothing more I can do."_

" _What are you saying?" Rudy whispered. There was a fearful look on his face as he stared at the witch doctor._

" _You should say your goodbyes," the witch doctor gave Sheila a sad look. "I'm sorry, Sheila."_

" _No," Abby took a couple of steps back feeling nauseous. She bumped against the wall and stared at her dying daughter. The little girl she had not seen in four years. Her daughter was dying and it was all her fault._

 _The witch doctor left the room._

" _This is your fault," Sheila hissed looking up at Abby. "You did this."_

" _Mom, I-"_

" _Don't call me that!" Sheila snapped. She felt so angry, so disappointed, and hurt by Abby's actions. "You are no longer my daughter." Not after everything she had learned about Abby. "I can't even look at you." It had been a mistake calling her. Abby was the reason Bonnie was dying and Sheila hated her for it._

 _Abby choked back a sob. She had to brace her hands against the wall in order to support herself._

" _They came for her because of you," Sheila muttered angrily. "They came to kill her, to sacrifice her."_

 _Abby cried and kept her eyes closed. Her entire body shaking from the force of her sobs._

" _How could you have fallen so far?" There was a wounded look in her eyes as she stared at Abby. "Where did I go wrong with you?" Sheila asked._

 _Abby stayed silent. She had no words to defend herself. Her mother was right. This was all her fault._

" _They were going to kill me," Sheila continued in a sad voice. She had managed to kill three but the last one caught her by surprise and stabbed her. "Bonnie intervened." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she recalled those horrible moments. "She saved me, she-" she closed her eyes and squeezed Bonnie's little hand. Her skin was cold as ice. The bright white light that had been released from within Bonnie had not only healed Sheila but it had completely incinerated the leader of the group who had been trying to kill her. "She just fainted and-" Bonnie's entire body convulsed as she fell to the ground unconscious. That had been nearly a day ago, she had not woken since then. "She's dying because of you."_

 _Abby only cried harder._

 _Rudy placed his head on both of his hands, his shoulders shaking as he cried for his little girl, his baby girl who was agonizing in the hospital bed. He felt useless._

 _Sheila stared_ _at Bonnie's unconscious and sweaty face. She was shaking still, whimpering from time to time. "Please Bonnie, don't give up. Please."_

 _Bonnie continued to whimper. The fever was relentless and tremors rocked her entire body as her temperature rose before it dropped down once more. Throughout the whole ordeal, Sheila held her hand._

 _While Rudy continued to sit in the corner, hands over his face, while Abby stood still as a statue, crying, Sheila's voice was the light in Bonnie's darkest hours, Sheila's hand was the warmth and the hook that kept her grounded, that pulled her slowly out of the abyss._

" _You have to be strong child, please don't give up. Never give up, Bonnie. You can fight this, you can win this." Sheila kissed her hand. "I believe you can do this. I know you can. I believe in you. Don't give up."_

 _It was Sheila's voice and touch that Bonnie desperately clung to._

 _It was her grandmother's love that helped Bonnie find the strength to conquer the fever and slowly heal herself._

* * *

"No one thought that you would make it through the night," Abby said. "But miraculously you did. When you woke up the next morning, you didn't remember anything."

"What?" Bonnie stared at her with confusion.

"You had no memories of doing magic or of what had happened the previous day." A frown crossed her features. "It was all very strange to be honest. The witch doctor said that your own magic must have modified your memories. Honestly, he was as stunned as we were. Not even mom had an explanation. You woke up and that was it."

"I…" Bonnie felt stunned. "I sealed my own magic and modified my memories?" Bonnie could hardly believe what she was hearing. It seemed impossible.

"It was extraordinary," Abby smiled despite her tears. "None of us had ever seen anything like it."

"I remember being in the hospital," Bonnie murmured suddenly. She hadn't thought about that in ages. "I was sick, I was…" She couldn't remember what exactly her sickness had been but she did remember staying one night at the hospital. Grams had stayed with her the whole time. "I never saw you though." Her dad had been there. He had seem so happy and had hugged her and kissed her. He had even stayed and played with her.

"No, you never saw me." Abby slumped down on the couch. She felt emotionally exhausted after all the revelations. "You got better so…" she shrugged.

"You left me, _again._ "

Abby closed her eyes.

"I didn't have my magic anymore," Bonnie's voice was filled with so much sadness, so much hurt, and anger. "I was the normal little girl you always wanted but you left me, again."

"I wasn't in a good place Bonnie," Abby opened her eyes. There was a sad look on her face as she regarded her daughter. "I was struggling to overcome my addiction to dark magic, mom couldn't stand the sight of me, she blamed me for your attack-"

"And with good reason!" Bonnie snapped. "You can't fault her for being angry. She got hurt and so did I! But if you had asked her for help, I'm sure-"

"All my mother cared about was you!" Abby fired back. "You were her precious little girl. The perfect daughter I wasn't. After I fucked up, she didn't give a damn about me anymore. Why would she? She had you to carry the Bennett legacy. She had no need for me anymore."

There was a lot of resentment in that statement and if Bonnie didn't know better, there was a lot of jealousy as well. _Had her mother been jealous of her? Because of the love and attention Grams gave her? Was that another reason Abby couldn't fully love_ her? Bonnie wondered.

"I had to go into hiding," Abby continued angrily. "Someone was hunting down the remaining members of the coven, killing them without mercy. I was afraid I was next. I couldn't stay and put you at risk again. And I was in a bad shape Bonnie, I couldn't be your mom."

"But you could be Jamie's mom," Bonnie threw back in her face. "You couldn't be my mom but you had time to raise him, to take care of him." That was something that had always angered her. Something that hurt her deeply still. She had tried to lock that anger and resentment away but it surfaced now. Abby had time to care for Jamie but she hadn't had time to care for her, Bonnie was her flesh and blood and Abby hadn't given a damn. Not even after she had nearly died.

"That was different, Jamie had no one, he needed-"

"Are you listening to the things that are coming out of your mouth right now?" Bonnie yelled. "I needed you! Your daughter needed you but you didn't care!"

"You had Grams!" Abby yelled back as she stood up. "I knew you were going to be fine with her."

"Why don't you just admit the truth," Bonnie replied feeling sad, defeated, and so tired of swimming against the tide. "You never loved me." It hurt to admit it but it was the truth. The blindfold had finally come off. Bonnie finally saw the truth.

"No, that's not true." Abby took a couple of steps closer. "I love you, Bonnie."

"But you didn't love me enough to stay," Bonnie muttered. "You didn't love me enough to fight for me, to take me with you, to be there when I needed you the most."

"Bonnie-" Abby tried to touched her but Bonnie flinched back.

"Every year for my birthday, I used to blow the candles and wish the same thing," Bonnie interrupted. "I wished to have you back. It was all I ever wanted, to have my mother back," she confessed with tears spilling down her cheeks. "Eventually, as I grew older I started to pretend you were dead, it made it easier, you know. It was easier to pretend that you were dead than to accept the fact that you didn't want me. You never wanted me, you never loved me."

Abby's face broke. "Bonnie…"

"I used to envy Elena and Caroline so much," Bonnie admitted. "I wanted to have a mom like Miranda or Liz. I wanted you to be there for me like they were there for Elena and Caroline." She had even felt guilty and ashamed for resenting the love her friends had in their mothers, for wishing her mother was like that.

"I'm here now, honey."

"And you think that what? That by being here, by giving me a few potion lessons and a grimoire you can erase the things you've done!" Bonnie yelled. "You abandoned me time and time again. You had the audacity to call my children monsters when the real monster is you!"

The lamp next to the couch shattered as Bonnie's control on her magic slipped. The lights also flickered on and off for a few seconds.

Abby winced and took a fearful step back as Bonnie's magic flared. Strong sparks of magic surfaced and moved all around the room, hissing angrily in her direction. They were more than ready to pounce. All Bonnie had to do was give the command and Abby would cease to exist.

"Were you even going to tell me the truth?" Bonnie questioned her.

Abby stayed silent. There was a guilty look on her face.

"You weren't going to tell me," Bonnie answered for her. "If it hadn't been for Charlotte you would have never said anything about this. You would have kept quiet. You would have continue acting like none of this ever happened."

"I-"

"Do you feel any remorse?" Bonnie wondered.

"Of course, I do." It was something she had to live with every single day of her life. "How can you even ask me that?" Abby's voice trembled.

"Because I don't know you," Bonnie replied. "Because everything I thought I knew about you is a lie." She walked closer. "You are a liar, a coward, and a murderer!"

"As are you," Abby hissed. "Your hands are also stained with blood."

It was a slap in the face. Bonnie saw red upon hearing those words. It took every last bit of self control she possessed not to lash out with her magic."Don't you dare," Bonnie hissed. "Don't you dare compare my actions to yours."

It was a low blow and Abby regretted the words immediately but it was too late to take them back. "Look, Bonnie I-"

"I want you to leave," Bonnie cut her off.

"Bonnie please-" Abby tried to touch her but Bonnie's magic kept her at bay. She hissed when she felt a sting on her skin. Small cuts formed on her hands and up her arms, they healed instantly but Abby felt the pain of each one.

"I can't look at you, I can't…" Bonnie turned away from Abby, her entire body shaking. Her magic wanted to lash out, it wanted to destroy, to exterminate the person that was making her hurt. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to bring the entire hotel to the ground.

"I know that this is a lot to take in, that you are angry with me," Abby began nervously. "You are hurt but I promise you-"

"You abandoned me for a man," Bonnie turned back to face her. "You left me to run off with your lover, you tried to seal my magic so that I could be a _normal girl,_ " she practically snarled the last two words out. "And when I finally was the normal little girl you desired, the one you always wanted, you decided to leave me again. It's what you always do."

Abby opened her mouth.

"You murdered people, you killed two kids for power, not to mention the other ones sacrificed by your coven," Bonnie continued with an angry hiss. "I get that you were addicted to dark magic but did you even try to seek help?" she questioned. "Did you do anything to help after you recovered? Did you do anything to stop this coven from practicing sacrificial magic? From murdering innocent people? Or did you just conveniently forgot everything and kept going with your life as if nothing ever happened?"

"I needed to find myself Bonnie. I needed to get rid of all that darkness. I needed to clean my body, my mind, my soul from all that poison," Abby defended herself. "I couldn't take on this coven on my own. I couldn't be a mother either."

"So, you did nothing," Bonnie concluded. "And when you finally stopped being addicted to magic?" she questioned with anguish. "When you finally found yourself again? What then? What did you do?"

"I-"

"You didn't come back for me," Bonnie told her simply. "You didn't even bother to call or to write, or to try and make amends with Grams. You didn't bother to help or do something against that evil coven either. No, you started a new life, you raised another boy as your son and you forgot about me. You put your past behind you and lived your life happily and without remorse."

"Is that what this is about?" Abby snapped. "You're jealous that I raised Jamie? Is that what your anger boils down to?"

"I am jealous! I am hurt! I am angry!" Bonnie yelled, years of pent up anger against her mother finally surfacing. "Why wasn't I enough for you?" her voice broke. "Why can't you love me?" She took another step closer. "Why couldn't you do the right thing and tell me the truth from the beginning?"

Abby stayed silent.

Abby's silence was another dagger to her already shattered heart. "I have been living in a dream," Bonnie said as she looked into Abby's eyes. "I was so desperate to have your love that I was willing to forget your abandonment, to have a fresh clean start but after learning what you did...I can't..." She swallowed thickly. "The time has come to wake up. I don't want to keep begging for your love. I want more than the crumbs you have given me throughout my whole life. I deserve more."

"Bonnie-"

"Get out!" Bonnie yelled.

Abby tried to approached her once more.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" This time the command came with a powerful surge of magic that threw Abby out of the hotel room.

Abby cried out in pain as her back was slammed hard against the hall, Bonnie's magic had thrown her out of the room and into the hall. She landed on the floor, staring wide eyed at the shaking witch inside. It was a similar scene to that one incident years ago, when baby Bonnie had done something similar. "I'm sorry," Abby whispered. "I'm so sorry." She stood up. "I will make it better, I promise. I will be a better mom. Bonnie, I promise."

"I don't want to see you ever again," Bonnie told her coldly. "From this moment forward you are dead to me."

Abby gasped. "Bonnie, please I-"

The door slammed shut in her face.

* * *

 **Lafayette Cemetery**

"Can you replicate the ring?" Hayley asked nervously.

Sophie held the ancient ring in her hand, studying it in detail. "I can do more than that," she murmured glancing at the three Crescent wolves standing in front of her.

They were inside the mausoleum Sophie used to talk to the spirits. Candles lit up the old crypt and the strange scent of burned herbs filled the air.

"More?" Oliver's eyes lit up.

Hayley and Jackson turned to face each other, both of them felt apprehensive about this. Their senses were warning them that this witch was bad news.

"I can not only replicate this ring and make enough for your entire pack," Sophie told them with an evil smirk. "I can also enhance your abilities through it. Wouldn't you like to be free of the moon but also still keep your werewolf abilities and even make them stronger?"

"How?" Hayley asked her heart pounding loudly in her ears. This seemed too good to be true. Judging by the look in Jackson's face he was also thinking the exact same thing.

"Don't worry about that," Sophie dismissed her question.

"You can make us stronger?" Oliver questioned Sophie. He was super excited about the possibility of becoming stronger, more powerful wolves.

"I can make you as strong as a hybrid," Sophie promised, eyes glinting with malice.

"You would do that for us?" Jackson's brows knitted together. He didn't understand why Sophie would want to help them that way.

"Well, I won't be doing it for free if that's what you are wondering." Sophie gave him a look as if to say, _are you really that stupid?_

Jackson glared at her while Oliver shifted nervously.

"You want us to do something for you," Hayley realized. "You want something in exchange for the rings." She should have known. Witches always wanted something in return for their help. _Hadn't Sabine been the same way?_

"This kind of magic always comes with a price," Sophie replied as she toyed with the ring in her hand. "The Ancestors will grant me the power to make your pack as lethal and powerful as any of Klaus's hybrids through the rings that I will make from this one but they demand something in return."

"What do they want?" Oliver finally asked since Hayley and Jackson were completely silent.

Sophie grinned. She had them, she knew she did.

* * *

 **French Quarter Hotel**

He found her sitting on the floor by the bed. She was clutching Ms. Cuddles in her arms. The room was completely engulfed in darkness but Klaus had no problem seeing her.

Bonnie's body rocked back and forth, a vacant look in her eyes as she held her favorite teddy bear for dear life. It was something she used to do as a child.

Klaus approached her gently as he would with a skittish animal. She was numb. There were no emotions coming from the bond, they weren't blocked, they simply weren't there. Bonnie had completely shut down in order to cope.

Klaus got on the floor next to her. His hand gently reached out to touch her. He could feel the tendrils of her power surrounding her, cocooning her gently, and more than ready to unleash destruction on anyone and anything that dared to touch her. But her magic recognized him, it trusted him, and instinctively knew he would never hurt her. The tendrils of power parted allowing his hand to touch hers.

"Should I bring you Abby's head or her heart?" Klaus asked softly. "Personally, I would like to bring you both." If it made Bonnie feel better, he would gladly chop Abby into little pieces.

Bonnie didn't say anything, she continued to rock back and forth.

"What can I do, love?" He had never seen her like this. He had seen Bonnie angry, he had seen Bonnie sad, he had seen Bonnie lash out, but he had never seen her like this. She looked sad and defeated. It made him hurt.

Bonnie whimpered. She felt cold, so cold, and her heart was broken.

"Bonnie," Klaus squeezed her hand.

"Just hold me," Bonnie whispered at last. Her voice sounded hoarse and her body continued to tremble. "Don't ask me anything, don't…" she lowered her head and rested it on his shoulder. "Just hold me," she repeated. Only in his arms she felt truly safe. Only in Klaus's arms she felt loved and wanted.

Klaus shifted and got into a better position before he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. He couldn't hold her too tightly as her bump got in the way but the moment he wrapped his arms around her, he felt her relax.

Bonnie closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Klaus's embrace pulled her out of that dark, cold, and treacherous waters that had been drowning her. A single tear fell down her cheek. She had no more tears left inside her saved for that one.

Klaus held her tenderly, one hand gently rubbing her back, the other cradling her head against his chest. He silently offered her the comfort she needed. He didn't know how long they stayed like that but eventually Bonnie pulled away from him.

The lights flicked on with a single command from her magic.

Bonnie let out a shaky breath. "I don't want to talk about it," she said seeing the questioning look in his eyes. "Not right now, I…" she didn't want to lose control. She owed it to her children to keep herself together. If she started talking about Abby, about the things she had done, she was going to lose it again and she didn't want that. This day had been emotionally exhausting for her and she just wanted a moment of peace, a moment to breathe.

"How about some pizza?" Klaus proposed.

"What?"

"The girls wanted pizza and ice cream for dinner." A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "They thought you would like that." He wanted to know exactly what had happened but he didn't want to push her. He respected her wishes.

"Pizza sounds good, actually." Her stomach gave a loud grumbling noise of approval.

Klaus chuckled before helping her to her feet.

Bonnie gently placed Ms. Cuddles on the bed before looking into Klaus's face. She placed her hands on his chest, staring at his dark grey Henley and taking a deep breath. "I don't want you to kill her," she said in a whisper. _She's still my mom,_ was left unsaid. She looked up into his face. "But I want her gone. I don't want to see her, I don't want to talk to her, I don't want my children near her, ever." She had been thinking about it before Klaus arrived. "I'm done begging for her love, I'm done needing her, and after what I learned to today..." her voice broke and she took a deep calming breath. "I don't think I can forgive her."

"You will never see her again if that is what you truly wish," Klaus swore as he studied her face carefully. _Ask me to bring you her head,_ he wanted to say but he didn't. He knew Bonnie would never ask him that. She was far too good and noble to demand her mother's death but judging by the resolved look on her face and the feelings coming through their bond, Bonnie was done with Abby for good.

"I want her gone," Bonnie murmured.

"Your wish is my command," Klaus touched her cheek gently. He would ensure Abby would never get near Bonnie again. Abby would never hurt Bonnie again.

Bonnie got on her tiptoes and kissed him gently on the mouth. It was a sweet, quick brush of her lips against his. "Now, I want some pizza." She attempted to smile but it came out as a grimace. She was putting a brave face but they both knew she was hurting.

Klaus cupped her face gently with both of his hands. "I love you," he said as he stared deeply into her eyes. He let his words reach her with a wave of that love, that need, that adoration he felt for her. He used the bond to encompass everything she meant to him. He wanted her to feel, to know how much she was loved, how much she was wanted, and cared for.

Bonnie gasped as she felt it all through their bond. She hadn't realized how much she needed to hear those words until the moment they washed over her like a healing balm over the wounds in her heart. Klaus's love was all consuming, it burned like the sun, it pushed the cold away, like a ray melting a snowflake. She felt warm and tingly inside. Her entire body was engulfed into a blanket of pure bliss by the emotions he sent her way. "I love you too," she whispered.

Their lips met.

In that single precious moment, Bonnie found the peace she desperately needed.

* * *

They walked hand in hand out of the room.

Rebekah was helping Davina set the table while an impatient Charlotte sat on one of the chairs, feet dangling as she stared at the boxes of pizza.

"Hey!" Davina greeted Bonnie with a happy smile. "We got Pizza for dinner."

"And ice cream!" Charlotte smiled at her too.

Neither of the girls knew the ordeal Bonnie had been put through that day and she preferred it that way. She didn't want to burden them with her problems. She contemplated them silently. Her heart aching for everything Charlotte had endured.

"What's wrong?" Davina asked seeing the look on her face.

"Nothing," Bonnie looked away from Charlotte and faced Davina. "It's been a rough day, that's all."

Davina frowned. It was obvious Bonnie had been crying.

"I'm fine," Bonnie reassured her. "Really hungry actually." She looked towards the pizza. "I might eat all of that."

Rebekah laughed. "Well, you are eating for three," she joked.

Charlotte got down from the chair and ran towards Bonnie. "Don't be sad," she said gently.

Bonnie crouched down in front of her. "You know what would make me feel better?" she touched her cheek tenderly. _Such a precious little girl,_ she thought. _My little girl._

"What?"

"If you give me a big, big, the biggest hug ever," Bonnie said feeling very emotional. "Would you do that?"

Charlotte didn't need to be told twice. She threw her arms around Bonnie and embraced her warmly.

Bonnie in turned held her fiercely and kissed the side of her face. She closed her eyes as she held Charlotte tightly. "I'm going to keep you safe. I will always protect you," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too," Charlotte whispered back. She squirmed in her arms though. "But you are squishing me."

"I'm sorry," Bonnie pulled away immediately. She held onto Charlotte's hands, watching her and enjoying the happy, carefree look on her face. Charlotte was happy and safe and that was all that mattered.

"It's okay," Charlotte giggled.

Klaus and Rebekah watched them silently.

Davina also had a smile on her face as she contemplated the scene.

"Can we eat now?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Yes," Bonnie found herself smiling despite the ache in her heart. "Let's eat."

Charlotte happily ran back towards the table.

Rebekah and Davina began serving the food.

"We got a salad too," Davina commented as she filled a plate with a slice of pizza, salad, and a small roll of garlic bread. "You're going to like it."

Rebekah placed a slice of pizza on a plate for Charlotte. "Careful, it's hot."

"Thank-you." Charlotte beamed.

Bonnie kept her eyes on her, a small smile gracing her face as Charlotte got pizza sauce on her chin. She was clearly enjoying her food. _I will find them Charlotte,_ Bonnie thought filled with determination. _I won't let them sacrifice another child ever again. I promise._

Klaus wrapped an arm around Bonnie and kissed the top of her head.

"Come on you two, the food is going to get cold." Rebekah motioned for the couple to get closer to the table. "I called Kol, he should be here soon."

"Elijah and Lucy are on their way back as well," Klaus informed them as he and Bonnie sat next to each other. "There are some important matters we need to discuss."

"Important family meeting then," Rebekah gave him a knowing look.

"Indeed," Klaus responded. As soon as Elijah got there with the Salvatore brothers they needed to come up with a plan to keep Stefan away from the Travelers' clutches and a plan to finally end them for good.

"No rest for the wicked," Bonnie mumbled. In a way it was good, she thought. She could focus on something else rather than drown in her sorrow over her mother. Thinking about Abby hurt and Bonnie was tired of hurting.

There was a lot to be done but for now, Klaus and Bonnie felt content to enjoy a nice and simple meal with their family.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

She woke up with a gasp. Her entire body coming back to life with a single bolt of electricity. She sat up immediately, blinking in confusion. She looked around her surroundings not understanding what had happened.

 _Why am I in the woods?_ Caroline wondered feeling disoriented. There was also a familiar metallic taste inside her mouth. _Weird,_ she thought. She couldn't remember anything, everything was blurry. She rubbed her forehead struggling with the blanks in her brain. She frowned when she felt a dry sticky substance in her hands while a familiar scent reached her nose. Fear and panic laced her veins as she slowly lowered her arm and inspected her hands.

 _Blood_

There was blood on both of her hands. Caroline looked down at her top and gasped as she saw the blood that covered her. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" she stood up, finally taking notice of the blood on the ground but that was not all, the big pool of blood she was in had a source. Caroline felt like she had been punched in the stomach as she noticed the bodies around her.

 _Dead bodies._

Tears blurred Caroline's vision as she saw the thirteen bodies circling her. _Humans,_ she realized immediately. There were thirteen human bodies surrounding her and they all had bite marks on their necks. "Oh god!" She sank to her knees, tears running down her cheeks. She touched her mouth with trembling fingers, dried blood covered her chin and mouth as well. It was the evidence of what she had done.

"I killed them," Caroline whispered in shock. She had killed thirteen people and she didn't even remember it. "Oh god…" she cried. "What have I done?" she couldn't stop shaking and crying.

Caroline's sobs echoed around the woods. _What was wrong with her?_ She continued to cry for a couple of minutes before stopping suddenly. She closed her eyes and went completely still.

Caroline opened her eyes and stood up. She looked around the bodies and smiled. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes once more and began chanting in Ancient Greek. She extended her hands, letting her magic flow into the bodies surrounding her.

One by one, all the thirteen corpses opened their eyes. Their natural eye color disappeared under a black cloud, devoid of any emotions. They slowly got up, malicious matching smirks forming on all their faces.

Caroline stopped chanting and smiled as she looked at each and every one of them. "Brothers and sisters," she greeted her fellow passengers which were now controlling the bodies of the people Caroline had killed. "Welcome to Mystic Falls."

The leader of the Travelers had entrusted her with a special mission. They had to get everything ready for the ritual.


	61. Chapter 61

A/N: Shout out to **Bennettsdiarysecerts** who wrote review 5K. I'm absolutely humbled and amazed by all your support with this story. Thank-you so much for all your wonderful reviews, I love reading every single one and can never thank-you enough for all the joy they bring. Thank-you and enjoy!

* * *

 _It hurt._

 _Everything hurt._

 _She felt so cold. She didn't know where she was or what had happened, all she knew was the pain._

 _Why did it hurt?_

 _Everything was dark._

 _She was inside a cloud of darkness, it frightened her._

 _Young Bonnie cried and cried but there was no one to hear her, no one to help her. She was alone in the darkness. She was in pain as well. Where was her dad? Where was her Grams?_

 _What's going on?_

" _You have to be strong child, please don't give up."_

 _A ghost of a hand on hers made her shiver. It was gentle and it was gone far too quickly._

 _She knew that voice, she would recognize it anywhere. "Grams?" Bonnie whimpered. She tried to take a step forward but she stopped. She couldn't see anything, only darkness. She was afraid to move, everything hurt and she was all alone. Why? She didn't like it. She was scared. "Grams?" tears spilled down her cheeks. "Where are you, Grams?" She wanted to go home with her dad and her Grams. She didn't like this place._

" _Never give up Bonnie."_

" _I'm scared," Bonnie cried into the darkness. "Grams! Where are you?" She didn't want to be here, she wanted to go home. "Grams!" she cried again._

 _And that's when she saw it, a beautiful white light that destroyed the darkness and pushed it away from her. Bonnie moved her face away and closed her eyes as the bright light nearly blinded her._

" _Don't be afraid…" a voice whispered._

 _Bonnie gasped and turned back to face the source of that voice._

 _A strange white ball of light emerged from nothing, beautiful blinding rays of magic emerged from it, going straight towards Bonnie, like tentacles reaching out for her. She took a fearful step back._

" _Don't be afraid…" a sweet gentle voice said. "You are safe, Bonnie. You have nothing to fear."_

 _Bonnie stood completely still as the white light grew closer. It was moving towards her and as it moved it grew and grew until it began to take the shape of a woman. Bonnie gasped, green eyes opening wide with wonder._

 _The powerful rays emanating from the strange ghostly figure destroyed the darkness that was surrounding her. The cold chilling her bones disappeared, the pain inflecting her body vanished as well. She was suddenly engulfed in warmth, so much warmth her skin tingled and her cheeks turned red. A feeling of peace washed over her. It felt so wonderful._

 _Bonnie no longer felt afraid. She knew she was safe._

" _Who are you?"_

 **X**

 **X**

Bonnie woke up with a loud gasp. The pain and fear lingered inside her mind for a couple of seconds as well as that surprising warmth that made her tingle all over. She groaned and pulled herself into a sitting position.

"Are you alright?" Klaus stood by the foot of bed, he was just finishing getting dressed.

"Yeah," Bonnie yawn before she pulled her arms over her head and stretched. "What time is it?"

"A little past eight." Klaus made his way towards her.

"I had the weirdest dream," Bonnie murmured still trying to make sense of it. "I was a child and I was trapped, I think." She wasn't entirely sure. "I was surrounded by darkness and then I saw this light, this bright white light and I think it was a woman or it turned into a woman…" she trailed off and shook her head. "It was weird." It hadn't made sense.

"A premonition perhaps?" Klaus took a seat next to her on the bed. It was rather curious that she had been a child in her dream.

"I doubt it." Bonnie regarded him quietly. His hair was still damp from the shower and he was impeccably dressed in black slacks and matching black henley. He looked good. _Good enough to eat,_ Bonnie thought chewing on her lower lip. She felt a scorching heat over her cheeks and down her neck while her stomach did flip-flops. Her pregnancy had increased her libido and judging by the mischievous grin Klaus had on his lips, he knew exactly what she was thinking about. There was a playfulness to his eyes and a feeling of satisfaction echoing through the bond. "What's with that look?" Bonnie asked suddenly. He seemed really pleased with himself.

"What look?" His lips curled knowingly.

"You have _that_ look," Bonnie pointed out. The look that told her he had done something really bad and gotten away with it or something really good had happened.

Klaus pulled something from the pocket of his pants and showed it to her.

Bonnie stared at the ring with wonder. "Is that-"

"My mother's ring," Klaus confirmed with a grin. He was like a small child proudly showing her his hidden treasure. "I found it this morning," he answered Bonnie's silent question. "It was on the nightstand," he explained. "I woke up and it was there." It had been a nice start to his morning.

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know," Klaus shrugged. "Cary said that the ring always returns to him, he believes mother spelled it to do so but for some strange reason it came to me this time instead of him." It was rather strange but Klaus wasn't complaining at all.

Bonnie stared at the ring with curiosity. "That's really weird." _Had the ring returned to Klaus because of his wolf side? Or had the ring come to him because he was Esther's son, Ansel's son, and its rightful owner?_ There were many possibilities.

"What matters is that we have it back," Klaus murmured. "I already called Ishmael and told him the ring is in my possession. I think I shall give it to Billy, it will serve Cary right to be without it for a while."

Bonnie looked up into his face. "I wonder…" she glanced back down at the ring, feeling the magic surrounding the ancient object. She wasn't even touching it but she could feel the powerful magic inside it. Esther's magical signature was strong.

"Wonder what?"

"Wouldn't it be better if Billy had his own ring?"

Klaus gave her a curious look. "You think you could replicate it?" he asked following her line of thought. Cary had mentioned that none of the witches they had consulted had been able to replicate the ring before. His ancestors had tried to get more rings made for the pack but they had all failed. But if there was one witch on the planet who could do the impossible then it was without a doubt his Bonnie. He felt excited at the prospect of presenting more rings to his wolf family.

"I would have to take a look at your mother's grimoire and study the ring in more detail to find out which spells she used," Bonnie replied cautiously. She wasn't promising anything but it was worth a try. Speaking of rings, there was something else she had been thinking of. "I also think it would be a good idea to make daylight rings for the vampires that fought on our side." She stared into his eyes once more. "Vampires like Josh who fought to the very end," she explained. "It's only right that their bravery be rewarded." She wasn't planning on making daylight rings for every vampire, Armand's group from what she had heard were causing more damage than good but she would like to reward those whose loyalty they did have.

"It would be good PR for our reign," Klaus remarked. It would definitely help secure the vampires' loyalty and serve as incentive for others to continue supporting them. He had already promised to give daylight rings to the vampires that proved their worth, many had definitely done so during the battle against the Navarro forces. "A while back, I told Thierry that Angelica would make daylight rings for those vampires that proved their worth. I suppose it's time to fulfill my promise."

"I can help her make the rings," Bonnie volunteered. "We need to find a way to bring everyone together, Klaus." She knew it wasn't going to be easy but they had to find a way to work with all the factions in the city and bring peace and stability. Bonnie didn't want to raise their children in a war zone. They needed to find a way for all of them to coexist.

"I know," Klaus placed the ring back inside his pocket. After the mourning period, the different factions were going to meet and with any luck they could all work together. Klaus knew it wasn't going to be easy but he also knew they had the advantage over all the other parties.

"We need to keep Stefan safe as well," Bonnie murmured. Klaus had informed her of his conversation with Elijah the previous night. She knew that Stefan was the doppelgänger the Travelers needed. "We can't let the Travelers get his blood. We have to stop them for good." They could not afford to have the Travelers destroy the other side. They had just won a great battle and once again they were getting ready to fight another. _Will this cycle ever end?_ She wondered sadly.

"As long as the Salvatore's cooperate and do as we tell them, I don't see a problem." Klaus wasn't particularly looking forward to that. He found both brothers irritating and more often than not, he was ready to rip their hearts out. He hadn't done it of course, _because of Bonnie._ Everything he did was to ensure her safety and happiness. He regarded her face carefully. "How are you feeling?"

Bonnie looked away. "I'll be fine." She felt very emotional still. Her heart was broken and she didn't think it would be easily repaired. She had been living in a dream in regards to her mother and now the dream was gone and she was left devastated. She felt so much anger and pain, she didn't know where to begin.

Klaus didn't look like he believed her but he stayed quiet. He had held her in his arms the night before as she cried herself to sleep. The day before had been emotionally painful and exhausting for her, between Charlotte's tragic story and Abby's lies Bonnie had been drained. There was an air of melancholia echoing through their bond at the moment, it made his heart ache for her. He wished he could take all that disillusion, pain, and sadness away from her.

After dinner and putting Charlotte to bed, they had talked at length about Abby. Bonnie had broken down and cried as she recounted her mother's lies. Klaus had confirmed knowing about Max (Abby's lover and the man she ran off with) and he had also known that Abby had been practicing dark magic long before she left town. He hadn't known the full extent of her addiction though or all the things she had done as part of the Sentinels. He certainly had not been expecting to discover that the Sentinels had gone after Bonnie when she was a child. Klaus wanted to squeeze the life out of Abby with his bare hands but he knew that Bonnie didn't want that. Bonnie was the reason Abby Bennett still lived after all the damage she had caused.

"I've been thinking…" Klaus said watching her face carefully. "Your mother could help David and his people find more about the coven and its different branches. Who knows how many covens are still active today or if one day they will decide to come for Charlotte or you. I don't want to be caught off guard." He needed to make sure that the Mort-Vivants coven would not be a threat to their family. All threats to Bonnie and his family had to be eliminated.

"You want to end them?"

"Don't you?" He gave her a knowing look.

"I want to burn them," Bonnie replied fiercely. "I want to make sure that they never hurt another innocent person, that they never sacrifice another child." Bonnie pressed her lips together, a serious look on her face. "Tell David that Amelia Sommers and Abby Bennett are the same person. Tell him that Abby can give him all the information he needs in his investigation."

"And if she refuses to cooperate?" Klaus wondered out loud.

"She doesn't have a choice," Bonnie snapped. "She owes it to me, to Charlotte, to all the lives she and her coven took." She swallowed the lump in her throat; tears were already forming in her eyes and she hated it. The illusion she had created in her mind about Abby had come crashing down in a painful manner and she was still struggling to cope with all the turmoil inside her. "I know she was addicted to magic and I feel sorry for her." Bonnie had struggled with Expression, she knew what it was like to have power that had a life of its own and how difficult it was to control it. She knew how seductive that kind of magic was and while she could image how horrible it must have been for Abby, while she pitied her mother in that regard, and even understood her, she also felt angry that when Abby got better she put the past behind her and started a new life, a life that did not include Bonnie. Abby had once again abandoned her. That was what hurt the most. "I'm so angry that when she got better she didn't come back for me." She had never been Abby's first priority. "I just…" There were so many conflicting emotions inside her. "I…"

"It's okay, sweetheart." Klaus pulled her against him, holding her in his arms. "You have every right to be angry and hurt, Bonnie." The wound that was Abby Bennett was raw and painful and it would not heal so easily. But he was there for her, offering all the comfort she needed. "It's okay," he whispered while rubbing his hands gently over her shaking arms.

Bonnie closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his chest, while her head was tucked beneath his chin. They stood like that for a long time, neither of them saying anything. They had to meet with Elijah, Damon and Stefan but for now they simply stood there, holding each other. Everything else could wait.

* * *

"Out of all the nine covens in New Orleans, only three came to the city's defense during the Navarro attack," Vincent Griffith said as he paced around the living room of Madame LaRue's house. "Three," he repeated. "Treme, Gentilly, and Algiers, they were the only ones who responded to our call for help." His jaw clenched as he struggled to control the anger and disappointment he felt. The divide between the covens had never been more evident.

"Kara Nguyen and Marguerite Lescheres were too busy plotting my downfall, I suppose." Josephine looked down at her hands. She knew the two elders were plotting against her, trying to unite the witches and claim the city for themselves. It was a dangerous gamble, especially now that Klaus Mikaelson had consolidated his power with the victory against the Navarro clan but the two witches were determined.

Vincent sighed. "The witch summit they were organizing was supposed to take place on the last full moon, with the Navarro attack those plans have been postponed, for now at least." But he had no doubt the two elder witches were not going to be dissuaded from their cause. Kara and Marguerite were far too ambitious to give up.

"The Navarro attack was a small blessing for us in that regard." There was a sorrowful look on Josephine's face as she raised her head and stared into his eyes. "The witch community in this city is fractured. As long as the covens continue to be divided we will not know peace." She looked away from him. "Something is brewing in the shadows, I can feel it." Her senses were on high alert. The darkness she had sensed before was not just Franco Navarro and his forces but something else, something far more dangerous.

Vincent could feel it too. His witch senses were constantly on the alert, telling him something was about to happen. _Be careful, something is coming,_ they said.

"The Ancestors won't tell me anything," Josephine confessed in a quiet voice. She felt almost ashamed to admit it. There was a part of her that couldn't help but wonder if she had failed them somehow, if the Ancestors no longer trusted her, if they no longer wanted to speak through her. _Could it be?_ And if so, why? "I can't see what is forming in the shadows, every time I look all I see is darkness, every time I ask, I get nothing."

Vincent contemplated his mentor in silence. He could tell how disturbed she was by the Ancestor's silence. "Why would they remain silent?"

"I don't know," She replied with honesty. "Perhaps they don't know what is coming, perhaps I have displeased them somehow, maybe they are simply waiting…" there was a long list of reasons as to why the Ancestors refused to answer her pleas. Josephine was not sure and she hated that.

"You have cautioned me before," Vincent said warily. "You have told me that dealing with the Ancestors is tricky, that they do not like it when you go against their wishes."

Josephine nodded. "It is true." That was one of the burdens of being Regent, learning how to manage such powerful position while also keeping her agency. From the moment she became Regent, Josephine felt determined not to become the Ancestor's puppet. _Had that rebellious streak in her turned the Ancestor's favor away from her?_ "They won't even tell me anything about the missing witches," Josephine continued. "I find that the most disturbing part of all," she admitted. "Why won't they help me locate them?"

None of the spells used to locate the missing witches had worked. The entire community was terrified of who could be next and the worse thing was that they had no idea who was behind it all.

"Why indeed…" Vincent murmured.

"Something has changed…something…" she trailed off. There were many ideas in her head, many theories, some more perturbing than others but it worried her greatly. "We need to be careful, Vincent." Josephine's blue eyes bored into his, pinning him in place. "The storm that is coming is far more dangerous than the Navarro clan. I can feel it." She paused letting her words sink in. "The missing witches, the divide between the covens, the power struggle among the supernatural species in the city, all of it is a recipe for disaster. There will come a time when it will explode and nothing will be the same again."

"What can we do?" Vincent asked. There was a feeling of doom surrounding Josephine, he didn't like it at all.

Josephine stood up and walked towards the window. She stared at her front yard for a long time, lost in thought.

Vincent watched her and waited. _How could they stop whatever was coming? And why would the Ancestors refuse to help Josephine? Could they have something to do with what was going on in the city?_ That thought alone sent a chill down his spine. It was blasphemous to think such dangerous thoughts but Vincent couldn't stop himself.

"The witch summit is a good idea," Josephine said after a long pause. She turned back to face Vincent. "We need to bring all the elders and all the covens together. We need to decide the future of our community and what role we will play in the city as a whole. But it shall be on our terms, not Kara's or Marguerite's. We will do this with honesty and transparency. All the witches will have a chance a speak their mind and together we shall decide the next step. As the Regent, I will order all the witches to attend."

"As you wish," Vincent murmured.

"I will like to extend an invitation to Bonnie Bennett as well," Josephine declared. "There are now ten covens in New Orleans and it is only right for her to be present." Bonnie and her coven were valuable allies.

"Some of the witches in the city might not agree with that sentiment." Vincent felt certain that Kara and Marguerite and their covens would not be so inclined to welcome Bonnie and her coven into their community.

"A pity," Josephine murmured. She did not look sorry at all, on the contrary, there was a strange glint in her icy blue eyes. "I think the summit will be the perfect place to welcome the Bennett coven into our community." She had made up her mind and the witches would have to learn to accept the Regent's wishes.

Vincent couldn't stop his lips from twitching into a grin. He felt rather excited about the witch summit. It was going to be life changing.

* * *

 **French Quarter Hotel**

"Are you going to tell us what the hell is going on?" Damon demanded as soon as Klaus and Bonnie stepped inside Elijah's room. "We have been waiting for hours for the two of you to show up?"

Bonnie sighed while Klaus rolled his eyes. The hybrid had refused to come to Elijah's room until Bonnie had her breakfast. Which is why, it was well past ten a.m. when they finally made it there.

"Sit down, Damon." Elijah commanded as he served himself a cup of coffee. He was irritated with the younger vampire and it showed on his face. His patience had definitely been tested during the hours he had spent in Damon's company.

Lucy gave him a sympathetic look. Damon was very lucky that Elijah had the patience of a saint.

"You pretty much dragged us here without telling us anything." Damon glared at him.

"You think that we want you here?" Kol propped his feet on top of the coffee table and leaned back against the leather chair he was sitting on. He had better things to do than to listen to those two idiots but Elijah had insisted on an important meeting. In his opinion this was the most awful way to start the day.

Damon looked ready to retort but Stefan interrupted. "What's going?" he asked looking at Klaus. Elijah had ordered them to come to the hotel with them and left them no room to argue. Something was up, Stefan could sense it. He looked from Klaus to Bonnie wondering what the hell was happening. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Bonnie didn't say anything as she took a seat next to Lucy. Klaus chose to remain standing. Matt and Rebekah sat quietly across from them, while Elijah stood behind them. He was standing close to the window, enjoying his cup of coffee. His eyes were drawn to Bonnie, she looked rather sad and tired.

"You okay?" Lucy asked noting the sadness in her cousin's eyes.

Bonnie nodded and offered her a weak smile. No, she wasn't okay but she was doing her best to put her pain aside and concentrate on the task at hand.

Damon glanced at Bonnie, also noticing that melancholic air surrounding her. He contemplated her silently for a few seconds debating whether he should ask or not. He finally decided against it and turned to stare at Klaus who was standing behind her. "What the hell is going on?"

"Stefan is Silas's doppelganger," Klaus informed the group without preamble. There was no time to waste so he went straight to the point.

"You're joking!" Kol gave him an incredulous look. That was the last thing he had been expecting. He immediately turned his head so he could look at Stefan.

"Wait…what?" Matt looked from Stefan to Klaus while Rebekah arched an eyebrow, a curious look on her face.

The only ones who were not surprised by the revelation were Bonnie who remained calmly sitting next to Lucy and Elijah who leisurely moved his gaze around the room.

"Are you sure?" Lucy turned in her seat so she could have a better look into Klaus's face. This was an unexpected revelation but one that worked in their favor. They had exactly what the Travelers needed.

"One hundred percent," Klaus replied. He didn't take his eyes away from a dumbfounded looking Stefan.

"How is that possible?" Stefan managed to say. He was standing still as a statue as he processed the unexpected news. He was the doppelgänger the Travelers needed. He was Silas's doppelgänger. _There has to be a mistake,_ was at the tip of his tongue but judging by the serious look on Klaus's face, Stefan knew the hybrid was telling the truth.

"How do you know that?" Damon asked. He glanced briefly in Stefan's direction before focusing on Klaus once more. This was very bad.

"We fed Silas the cure and saw his true face." It was Bonnie who answered his question. "Silas looked just like Stefan." She met Stefan's eyes. "You are Silas's doppelgänger. The Travelers need you, they need your blood."

"Fucking fantastic." Kol looked annoyed. This meant that they needed to protect Stefan.

Damon had nothing to say it seemed. The dark-haired vampire looked shocked as he dropped down on the sofa- right next to Matt and Rebekah. There was a sense of doom in the pit of his stomach. The Travelers had taken Elena and now they would be coming for Stefan. _Is this torture ever going to end?_ He wondered. He sat completely still as he processed the news. He felt angry, useless, and conflicted by the unexpected turn of events. _Why did it had to be his brother?_

"This is good, right?" Matt looked at Klaus. "As long as we keep Stefan safe from the Travelers they won't be able to bring down the other side. Right?" He looked over his shoulder towards Elijah. Matt was the only one who looked at the brighter side of things. Stefan looked more pale than usual while Damon looked like his favorite puppy had just died. They both looked stunned.

"In theory," Elijah responded as he exchanged knowing looks with Klaus.

"Do you think the Travelers know?" Rebekah questioned her brothers. "Who he is, where he is."

"It's possible," Elijah replied. "I believe is safe to assume that they have methods to not only find out the identity of the doppelgängers but their location as well."

"If they know then that means they will come for Stefan," Lucy said looking in Elijah's direction. "Stefan could be the last piece of the puzzle, the last thing they need to bring down the other side for good." She exchanged a worried look with Bonnie.

"This is a bloody nightmare," Kol muttered.

"We have to keep Stefan away from the Travelers," Bonnie said.

"Which is why he is going to be under house arrest from this moment forward," Klaus told them. "We cannot afford for him to fall in the Travelers' hands."

"I can take care of myself," Stefan snapped not liking the way Klaus spoke as if he had no say in his own safety. "I don't need babysitters."

"On the contrary," Elijah intervened. "The Travelers have powerful magic on their side and according to the werewolf Aya and I interrogated, they are everywhere. They will come for you and the only way you stand a chance against them is if you do as we tell you."

Stefan opened his mouth but Kol cut him off.

"I say we snap his neck and bury him until all this is over."

Damon and Stefan both glared at him.

"Now, that's an idea." Klaus shared a grin with his younger brother.

Damon stood up and growled. "What we need to do is kill the Travelers once and for all."

"That's precisely what we want," Rebekah gave him an irritated look. "Hello! Have you been paying attention? We have a common goal here. _You need us_." She had no qualms about rubbing that in. "If you want to keep Stefan away from the Travelers' evil clutches you will have no choice but to _obey._ "

"You are going to owe us big time," Kol mocked almost at the same time. "Tell me something mate, if it comes down to a choice between your brother or Elena, who would you choose? I'm rather curious."

"Go to hell!" Damon snapped. He stood up an angry look on his face.

Bonnie stood up as well knowing that if things continued blood was going to be spilled. "We all need to work together," she said in a voice that left no room for arguments. "We need to stop the Travelers, we need to save the other side, and the only way we can achieve that is if we all work together." She gave a meaningful look at Damon. "We need to put our differences aside and focus on what's at stake here."

All eyes turned to Stefan and Damon, waiting to see whether they would protest but they didn't. Damon hated the idea of depending on the Originals for anything but he wasn't a complete idiot. He knew that the Mikaelson's had the means to keep Stefan safe. He had lost Elena to the Travelers, he felt determined not to lose his brother as well. Stefan was all Damon had. He turned to look at him. Both Salvatore brothers exchanged looks and had a silent conversation with their eyes before finally turning to face Klaus and Bonnie once more, having clearly reached a decision.

"What do you need me to do?" Stefan resigned himself to that fact that his survival depended on the Mikaelson's. He needed their help if he wanted to beat the Travelers at their own game but seeking their help also meant playing by their rules.

Klaus grinned feeling pleased.

"The first thing we need to do is find a safe place for you," Bonnie took charge. "A place where their magic can't reach you."

"Let's put him in a coffin and drop him in the middle of the ocean," Kol suggested as he made his way to the breakfast table.

"Is that the only idea your tiny brain can come up with?" Damon growled.

"I don't see you suggesting anything," Kol fired back.

"Enough," Elijah scolded them. His patience was running rather thin at the moment.

Matt sighed knowing that it was best to keep his mouth shut. Rebekah for her part, also made her way towards the breakfast tabled and grabbed some fruit. It was going to be a long morning.

Damon looked annoyed at Elijah's constant superior attitude while Kol stuffed his face with a warm butter croissant. His eyes glinted as he chewed while looking at the younger vampires.

Stefan placed his hands inside the pockets of his jeans and shared knowing looks with Bonnie and Klaus. Damon and Kol were definitely going to make their _alliance_ a bit more difficult.

"We can put a cloaking spell on you," Lucy's voice drew everyone's attention. "But even then, we would need to hide you somewhere."

"The Travelers magic is extremely powerful," Bonnie murmured. "They were able to break through the magic protecting the mansion, they got through the barriers protecting the compound. We need to find a place that is completely out of their reach. Or we need to make it out of their reach," she amended quickly as her mind came up with different ideas.

"We're screwed," Damon cursed.

"There might be a place."

All eyes turned to Klaus. "St. Anne's church," he explained. "It served as refuge during the battle, there is powerful magic protecting that church."

"Magic that we can reinforce as well," Bonnie agreed. Yes, St. Anne's could be the perfect hiding place for Stefan.

Klaus nodded.

"It's right at the heart of the French Quarter," Elijah was clearly on board with the plan. "Even if the Travelers come for Stefan, we will be right there to stop them." Stefan would pretty much be hiding in plain sight.

"What about the people that go to mass there?" Stefan questioned.

"You'll be in the attic," Klaus responded easily. That's where Marcel kept Davina hidden for months and no one ever knew. "Besides, St. Anne's has seen lots of blood and death in the past century or so, not many people actually go to mass there."

"And you think Father Kieran is going to help us keep Stefan there?" Rebekah looked at her brothers. Kieran was playing nice with them for the time being but he didn't trust or like them.

"He gave us refuge during the battle," Matt reminded her.

"You're human darling and Bonnie is pregnant," Rebekah pointed out. "A vampire on the other hand…" she left her sentence hanging in midair.

"My suggestion still stands," Kol muttered mischievously.

Everyone ignored his comment.

"I suppose we will have to ask nicely," Elijah replied glancing at Klaus.

The hybrid nodded. He felt certain that they could convince father Kieran to cooperate.

* * *

 **Bennett Mansion**

"So, that's it?" Joanna questioned angrily. "You're just going to leave?"

"Bonnie doesn't want to see me," Abby muttered as she continued packing. "She told me to leave. So, I'm leaving."

"And you are not even going to try?" Joanna couldn't believe it.

"What's the point?" Abby threw her clothes into her suitcase. "She hates me. She's better off without me." Deep down she had always known that Bonnie would be better off without her.

Joanna shook her head. "Bonnie is angry and hurt, of course she doesn't want to see you right now but if you give her time, I'm sure-"

"Bonnie won't forgive me," Abby cut her off. "I know she won't. I saw it in her eyes." Bonnie had attacked her. Bonnie hated her, just like Abby knew she would if she learned the truth. "She can look past all the horrible things Klaus has done but she can't forgive my sins." That hurt even more than she thought possible.

"Abby-"

"She's a hypocrite!" Abby snapped angrily. "You would think that she of all people would understand what is like to be consumed by dark magic, to have no control…" her face wavered. "Deep down I knew she wouldn't understand but there was a small part of me that still…" she struggled not break down into sobs. "She hates me." She had truly lost her daughter this time.

"Don't use your addiction to dark magic as an excuse."

Abby and Joanna both jumped startled and turned to the sound of Aunt Vivian's voice.

The Bennett matriarch stood by the open door. "You should start taking responsibility for your actions Abigail. If anyone is being a hypocrite is you. Don't play the victim, it does not suit you."

Abby forced herself to keep a neutral face as she stared at her aunt. "I guess you must be happy," she spat. "The disgrace of the Bennett coven is leaving at last, you can now erase me from the family bible and pretend I never existed." Since she had become a vampire she was considered dead to the Bennett coven anyway. This just facilitated things for those who saw her as an abomination of nature.

"You think I'm happy that you caused Bonnie pain?" Vivian asked. She looked furious but she was doing her best to control it. "You think that I'm happy that you soiled the Bennett name with your evil deeds?"

Abby glared at her. "That's all you care about, isn't it? All that matters to you is the family name," she hissed. That stupid legacy her mother had also protected and the burden Abby had been forced to carry for years. She couldn't help but blame the Bennett legacy for her unhappiness.

"Someone must protect our legacy. Someone must teach and guide the younger generation," Vivian fired back. "You should have been the one to do so but alas, that responsibility now befalls on me." She felt proud and honored to do it. "Some of us are creatures of duty."

Joanna looked nervously between the two.

"How much do you know?" Abby asked curiously.

"I'm sure there are plenty of details that I'm missing," Vivian replied while studying her face. "But I get the picture." She knew more than enough about Abby's past. The things she had heard were chilling.

Abby looked away, her entire body shaking. "Do the others…" she wondered suddenly. _Did the rest of the family knew about her past? Would Aunt Vivian use her as a cautionary tale for the younger Bennett's?_

"I haven't told a soul," Vivian responded much to Abby's relief. "And I'm sure Bonnie won't either. She loves you." Vivian had no intention of divulging anything and neither would Bonnie, she felt certain of that. "I'm sure I will come up with an easy and believable explanation for your absence should the rest of the family ask."

Abby opened her mouth.

"I'm not doing it for you," Vivian told her. She was doing it for Bonnie, to spare Bonnie the pain of explaining her mother's retched deeds to her own family. "There is a car waiting for you outside," she informed Abby.

"I guess this is goodbye then," Abby muttered sadly.

"It is."

While Abby looked on the verge of tears and Joanna was struggling to contain her own emotions, Vivian was an icy fortress. She clearly felt no pity for Abby. "You reap what you saw," Vivian told her wisely.

No words came out of Abby's mouth but the wounded look in her eyes said it all.

Vivian gave her one last look before she exited the room.

A couple of minutes later, Joanna accompanied Abby down the stairs and out of the house. There was no one at the mansion in that moment, saved for the servants. Aunt Vivian had the Bennett's occupied with her lessons so no one would see Abby leaving.

A black SUV was parked right outside the gate. Three vampires dressed in black were waiting for Abby right at the edge of the barrier that protected the property.

"Abby Bennett." A young man with glasses greeted her with a polite smile and curious eyes. Although he looked young, Abby and Joanna could tell he was an old vampire.

"Did Klaus send you?"

"He did as a matter of fact."

Abby had figured as much. The hybrid was no doubt gleeful to get her out of the way. _He's not like Max. Klaus loves Bonnie_ , her consciousness reminded her quickly. _You know that his love is genuine._ It was a small comfort but at least she knew Klaus was going to keep Bonnie safe. "I guess you'll be the one to kill me and they will help you get rid of my body then."

"Abby!" Joanna was not amused by Abby's comment. She watched the vampires warily, wondering if they were in fact there to hurt her or simply ensure she left the city never to return again.

The man laughed. "You're funny." He opened the door of the car and motioned for her to get in. "My name is David and I'm not here to kill you." His eyes glinted as he studied her face carefully. "You and I need to have a very important conversation regarding an evil coven that my boss wants to eliminate."

Abby's eyes went wide when she heard those words. She didn't need to be a genius to know what coven David was referring to.

"You are a valuable piece of the puzzle," David told her. "One I intend to solve."

"Where are you taking her?" Joanna wanted to know.

"Far away from this city as Klaus commanded," David answered honestly. "Don't worry, no harm will come to her. Unless of course she refuses to cooperate." His words were a clear warning. Abby should consider herself lucky that Klaus was not demanding her head.

"Is Bonnie aware of this?"

"She is," David replied meeting Joanna's eyes. He then turned to Abby. "Shall we?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"No."

One of the vampires accompanying David placed Abby's luggage inside the car. The other stood by the driver's side ready to follow whatever orders David gave him.

Abby hugged Joanna. "I will be fine," she whispered. "Don't worry." Joanna was the only one who had showed her kindness and understanding and Abby felt guilty because while she had told Joanna many things about her past, she had also omitted a lot of other things. She didn't want Joanna to hate her like Bonnie did.

"Call me," Joanna said as they pulled apart. "Keep in touch please." She grabbed both of Abby's hands in hers. "And be careful."

"I will," Abby promised. "You will let me know, won't you? When they find Lenore."

"Yes," Joanna swore.

David cleared his throat.

Abby gave Joanna one last sad smile and got inside the car. She had been planning to go back to North Carolina, to Jamie but it seemed Klaus had other plans for her. She had no choice but to follow David. She just hoped they didn't come to regret this. The Mort-Vivants were not to be messed with.

David offered Joanna a polite nod and walked to the other side, getting inside the SUV and sitting casually next to Abby. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Klaus, letting him know they were leaving.

Abby stared out of the window as the car drove away.

Joanna watched them go sadly.

 _Will I ever see you again, Bonnie?_ Abby wondered. _Will you be able to forgive me one day?_

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

"You want me to give refuge to a vampire?" Father Kieran looked from Klaus who was sitting right across from him to Elijah who stood behind his brother. He wondered if this was some sort of joke.

"We were hoping you would allow him to stay in the attic," Bonnie told him. She was also sitting across from him, a nervous look on her face.

"How long?"

"As long as it takes to destroy the Travelers," Elijah replied calmly.

Kieran sighed and leaned back against his chair, folding his arms across his chest while he thought about it. "The Travelers," he whispered. "The same group of witches who helped the Navarro's try to take over the city and who are after this vampire for reasons unknown," he didn't look like he believed that. "He's your friend and you wish to protect him," he finished looking at Bonnie.

"Yes," Bonnie felt bad for lying to a priest and inside a church no less. But they needed to keep the fact that Stefan was a doppelgänger a secret. The less people who knew how valuable his blood was, the better.

"We would greatly appreciate your cooperation in this matter," Elijah told the priest.

"I don't exactly have a choice, do I?" Kieran retorted.

"Father Kieran-" Bonnie began.

"It's fine," Kieran cut her off. "We all have to play nice for the good of the city." He stood up. "Your friend can stay here. As long as he keeps to himself and doesn't feed on any humans coming by." He gave a warning look to Stefan who quietly stood in the corner of the room with Damon. Neither vampire had utter a word since their arrival at the church.

"I won't," Stefan promised.

Kieran nodded before looking directly at Klaus. "I hope the king of this city remembers this favor when the time comes." There was an edge to his voice, he almost sounded defiant.

The hybrid stood up, followed closely by Bonnie. "A favor for a favor, what an unpriestly behavior," Klaus pretended to be scandalized.

"What my brother means to say is that we will be happy to repay this favor one day," Elijah ever the eloquent politician intervened.

"I'm sure," Father Kieran mumbled. He hoped he didn't come to regret this. He felt wary of giving refuge to a vampire inside his church but at the same time, he was smart enough to realize that doing a favor for the Original family now could serve him greatly in the future. He didn't trust them but they had all the power in the city now. Only a fool would try to swim against the tide and Kieran was definitely not a fool.

"Thank-you," Bonnie's voice was sincere. She knew Father Kieran wasn't fond of Klaus and Elijah and felt wary of all the power they held in the city but she felt grateful for his kindness, not only for allowing Stefan to stay in the attic but also for the kindness he had showed Davina and Charlotte. "Thank-you for helping us."

Father Kieran nodded. He considered something for a couple of seconds before he finally decided to say what was on his mind. "Don't forget about the humans," he said to Bonnie in a quiet voice. He kept his eyes on her face as he spoke. "They are always the forgotten ones, the ones who get caught and hurt in the cross fire." There was a lot of pain in his eyes. There were times when he felt he was fighting a losing battle. "Someone needs to fight for them."

Bonnie's face softened. "We will fight for them," she promised.

"Good," Father Kieran said. He didn't have much faith in Klaus or Elijah but maybe Bonnie could make the difference and fight for those who had no voice. "Let me show you to the attic," he said turning to Stefan.

"Thank-you," the vampire whispered before following him out of the office. The others followed closely behind.

* * *

"So, what now?" Damon asked nearly an hour later, after Bonnie finished chanting. She had placed all kinds of protective spells inside the attic room where Stefan would be staying in. "How the hell do we stop the Travelers?"

"Patience it's a virtue, Damon." Elijah contemplated the view from the window, left hand outstretched as he felt the invisible barrier protecting the room. His skin tingled, Bonnie's magic was incredibly powerful. As long as Stefan remained inside the church, he would be protected against anything.

"Easy for you to say," Damon snapped. "Your brother's life is not hanging in the balance."

"Damon," Bonnie grabbed his attention. "Getting angry is not going to solve anything. We will keep Stefan safe and we will find a way to defeat the Travelers but it's not going to be easy you know."

"How do you plan on defeating them?" Damon challenged. "Elena has been kidnapped for months! Do you even know how many they are? Or where they are?"

Their eyes locked.

"I am going to contact Qetsiyah and the Bennett witches on the other side," Bonnie informed him. "Together we will find a way to stop the Travelers." She just needed to figure out a way to make the spell in Ayana's grimoire work. She had tried to use it before but for some reason none of her attempts had been successful yet. She was missing something and she felt determined to figure out what it was. She had an idea, she just needed to put it to the test. If not, she was going to have to do a variation of the summoning spell. At any rate, she was going to contact her ancestors. One way or another she would communicate with them and together they would defeat the Travelers for good.

"Why haven't you done it yet?" Damon practically yelled.

Bonnie looked to the ceiling asking for patience.

"What the hell are you waiting for?"

Elijah's hand clenched into a fist as he struggled to remain patient with the petulant vampire. Damon was lucky Klaus had received an important call and left the room to take it because if the hybrid had been present, he wouldn't have tolerated the way Damon was addressing Bonnie. Elijah himself felt ready to strangle the younger vampire.

"Damon," Stefan gave his brother a warning look. _Why couldn't Damon keep his mouth shut?_ Antagonizing the people that were helping them was not the way to get things done.

"We will find a way Damon," Bonnie snapped feeling fed up with his attitude. She knew he was worried about Stefan's safety but still. _Had he always been this annoying in Mystic Falls?_

Damon opened his mouth.

Bonnie took a deep breath and prepared herself.

"If another word comes out of your mouth, I will snap your neck and lock you up until all of this is over," Elijah hissed as he materialized behind Damon and placed a strong hand on the back of his neck, squeezing hard to ensure his words got through his thick skull.

Damon tensed and a low growl escaped him but he wisely didn't say anything else.

Elijah let him go.

Bonnie gave Elijah a grateful look before turning to face Stefan. "Klaus is probably going to send one of his hybrids to keep an eye on you."

"I figured as much," Stefan mumbled, he was for all intends and purposes a prisoner.

"I don't think we need to remind you of the importance of remaining here," Elijah muttered with a menacing look.

Stefan didn't say anything. He wasn't stupid, he knew what was at stake. As long as he was inside the church he was safe, he wasn't planning on being stupid enough to risk that. As much as he hated the idea of being locked up, it was for the best.

Bonnie stared at him with sympathy. "I know that you don't want to be locked up but this is for your own safety, Stefan."

Stefan kept his eyes on her. "You'll let me know what's going on, right? If you contact your ancestors and find a way to stop the Travelers."

"I promise we will keep you informed," Bonnie reassured him. "As soon as we know something, you'll be the first to know."

"Thank-you, Bonnie." Stefan would forever be thankful that Bonnie cared enough to keep him safe.

"You're welcome," Bonnie offered him a small smile. She glanced at Damon who had moved towards the window and had his back turned to them. He looked angry and tense and while he no doubt could feel her eyes on him, he refused to turn back to face her.

Bonnie sighed. She didn't know what the hell Damon was thinking but she hoped for Stefan's sake that he would continue to cooperate with them.

"We should get going," Elijah told Bonnie as he walked towards the door. He glanced at Stefan who stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, hands inside his pockets. "I will have someone bring you some blood bags and a T.V to keep you entertained," he added as an afterthought.

"Some bourbon would be nice."

"Of course."

Bonnie and Elijah left the two brothers alone, quietly exiting the attic.

Damon kept his back to the door and continued to stare out of the window, lost in thought.

* * *

 **West Virginia**

Lenore let out a scream as her back hit the wall for the third time that day. She landed on a heap on the floor, panting and sweating. She groaned as she forced herself to her feet. She pushed her dark hair behind her ears and prepared to try again.

"Give up already," Katherine muttered from across the room. "You won't be able to break free." Lenore's attempts had been amusing at first, now they were just pathetic. Lenore was powerful but so was the Travelers' magic. No matter how hard the witch tried, the magic did not yield.

Lenore ignored her. She closed her eyes and concentrated once more, summoning all the magic she had inside her. She needed to break free. She had to find a way to escape.

The Travelers had them in some type of basement. There were four cells with thick magical iron bars keeping them in place. Katherine was in the cell directly across from Lenore. Next to Katherine's cell was Elena's cell. She rarely spoke, choosing to sit in the corner, knees pulled up to her chest and eyes lost on the floor. The cell next to Lenore was occupied by a human man named Tom. Lenore felt sorry for him, he was so pale and weak. The constant blood the Travelers took from him was taking a toll and it showed on his face. Katherine and Elena looked no better but they had the advantage of being vampires.

Lenore wished the Travelers would come and take her blood, so she could catch them unaware and have a better chance at escaping. But the Travelers hadn't taken her blood, they were waiting for the ritual or so she had heard. She didn't know how long she had been trapped down there, or how close the day of the ritual was, the only thing Lenore knew was that the Travelers were going to use the ritual to bring down the other side for good. They were going to sacrifice them in order to do so. The Travelers were going to kill the doppelgängers and then they were going to kill her. Because Lenore was a Bennett, her blood would be the last ingredient needed to finally bring down the walls between the world of the living and the dead. Bennett blood had created the other side and Bennett blood was going to bring it down. She couldn't allow that to happen.

 _Come on,_ Lenore thought as she summoned all the power she had inside her. _I can do this, I can escape. I have to do this._ She needed to find a way out or die trying. She couldn't allow the other side to be destroyed. She couldn't allow the Travelers to get away with this. She had to stop them.

Lenore used all the magic she had summoned and blasted it towards the cell door. It rebounded with ease and slammed hard against her. She screamed as the air was knocked out of her lungs when her own magic turned against her and hit her in the chest. She landed on her back this time, a burning pain spreading all over her body.

"You're going to kill yourself if you keep this up," Katherine muttered watching her.

Lenore groaned and rolled to her side. She coughed a couple of times, spitting blood on the floor before she forced herself to sit up. "I rather die trying to escape than allow the Travelers to sacrifice me in their ritual," she snapped defiantly. "I won't give up." She met Katherine's eyes. _I won't give up like you have,_ was left unsaid.

Katherine had to admit that Lenore's courage and stubbornness was admirable. "You really are a Bennett, aren't you?" She couldn't help but think of Emily, Lucy, and Bonnie. Those damn Bennett witches were determined and foolishly brave.

"I am." Lenore whimpered as she pulled herself to her feet. Her body hurt. She felt tired and weak but she was also determined and ready to keep trying. "One way or another, I will find a way out." She was going to save herself or die trying. She was not going to let the Travelers win.

Lenore closed her eyes and summoned her magic once more.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"That's fucked up," Kol grabbed the entire bottle of whiskey and took a long gulp. Klaus had just finished telling them about Charlotte and the coven that had tried to sacrifice her. Kol wasn't particularly fond of the little _demon_ but sill, he had to admit that the little girl had a tough life. He felt sick thinking that her own mother had sold her like she was nothing.

"And Abby was involved with another branch of the same coven?" Elijah placed his half empty glass on the coffee table and looked at Klaus.

"She was," Klaus confirmed as he refilled their glasses. "Naturally, Bonnie is devastated after learning the truth."

"And I thought our mother was a cold-hearted bitch," Kol muttered. Esther was many things but she had loved her children fiercely, the same could not be said about Nancy and Abby.

"Not a single word about this," Klaus told his brothers but he was looking specifically at Kol.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Because your favorite pastime is to antagonize Charlotte."

"That doesn't mean I'm going to tell her about her evil mother and all the horrible things she was put through," Kol defended himself. He was a monster but he was not that despicable.

"I swear Kol, that if you dare to bring this up in her presence I will remove your heart and dagger you for half a millennium," Klaus hissed.

"Again with the dagger threats," Kol snapped. "I don't even know why I'm surprised, it's your favorite pastime isn't it?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Stop with the pity party."

"I'm always the one getting daggered!"

"Maybe if you behaved, you wouldn't be daggered!" Klaus fired back.

"Behaved?" Kol snorted. "You-"

"Children please," Elijah intervened before things escalated. Niklaus and Kol were very much alike and those matching tempers tended to clash more often than not. "This is not the time for arguments." He reproached both of them. "We cannot afford to let past wrongs become an issue now. We must stand united against our enemies and we must protect Charlotte." He looked back and forth between his brothers. "Ensuring that she has a happy and healthy upbringing should be our priority. For now, the best thing to do is to keep her tragic past a secret. I believe we can all agree with that, can we not?"

Kol sighed and looked at Klaus who nodded. The two brothers silently came to a truce.

"Not a single word will come out of my mouth," Kol promised. He wasn't the type to hurt innocent children and despite his constant arguments with Charlotte, Kol had no intention of making her suffer.

"Or mine," Elijah agreed.

They clicked their glasses together, symbolizing their commitment to keep what had been discussed a secret.

Silence descended over the three brothers afterwards.

"The girls are ready," Klaus stood up the minute he sensed Bonnie's presence in the hallway. His brothers followed him out of Elijah's room.

"We're ready to go," Bonnie told them with a soft smile.

Klaus's breath caught in his throat. She was wearing a black elbow sleeve lace dress which displayed her bump beautifully while her wavy hair hung loose over her shoulders. She looked stunning. She was holding Charlotte's hand while Davina stood on her other side. The three of them were dressed to impress. Lucy was the last to step out of the room, wearing a red dress with a plunging neckline that had Elijah licking his lips in anticipation.

Bonnie unconsciously touched her stomach as she saw the look Klaus was giving her.

Klaus reached out for her hand and placed a loving kiss on her knuckles. "You look positively ravishing, love."

"We'll see if you say that three or four months from now when I look ready to pop." Her heart swelled with happiness though. She loved the way he was looking at her, as if she were the most beautiful, precious thing in the world. Bonnie hoped Klaus would always look at her like that. She touched the dangling necklaces around his neck before she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

All three brothers were elegantly dressed in black, Elijah was the only one who was wearing a tie, one that matched the color of Lucy's dress.

Kol pretended to gag as Lucy and Elijah whispered quietly to each other and shared a quick kiss on the lips. Bonnie and Klaus had only eyes for each other of course, which left him to awkwardly stand on the side. He almost felt relief at the sound of Charlotte's voice.

"Do you like my dress?" The little witch asked loudly. She nervously ran her gloved hands over the silky pink material. Her white ballerina shoes were new as well and she was proudly holding a small pink designer handbag, all gifts from Aunty Bex obviously. She was looking up at Klaus, waiting for him to complement her attire.

"You look beautiful sweetheart," Klaus said with a smile. "As do you," he said glancing at Davina.

Davina flushed but her lips twitched into a pleased smile. She had pulled her hair up and was wearing a blue lace skater dress. It was a little too short in Elijah's opinion. Kol on the other hand, certainly took the time to admire Davina's legs.

"I feel like a princess," Charlotte told them with a charming smile.

"You are a princess, darling."

Rebekah and Matt stepped out of their room, elegantly dressed and holding hands. Rebekah winked at Charlotte.

"Thank-you," Charlotte dip into a cute curtsy and giggled.

"Are we ready to go?" Rebekah asked the group.

They were all going out to dinner, to a well-known restaurant in the Quarter actually. It had been Rebekah's idea, since they didn't have a chance to actually celebrate their victory together she felt that they deserved a night out. _A celebratory dinner could do us some good,_ she told her brothers when she informed them of her plans a few hours before. _We deserve a little break._ She wanted to cheer Bonnie up as well and take her mind away from all the heartache Abby had caused her (Bonnie had talked to Rebekah and Lucy about her mother) and ease some of the worry and anxiety the Travelers and Lenore's disappearance was giving her. It wasn't good for her or the babies so Rebekah felt determined to give her friend a moment of peace and joy; a moment to forget the pain and enjoy the family they had become in such a short time.

"You are going to love the restaurant," Rebekah told them as they all started to walk towards the elevator. "The food is exquisite and the atmosphere is delightful. We are going to have a lot of fun tonight," she promised feeling excited and joyful because she finally had the family she always wanted. She felt determined to enjoy it as much as possible. She shared a loving smile with Matt as they led the way.

"How is the spell coming along?" Elijah asked Lucy as they followed Matt and Rebekah.

"We can't figure out why it isn't working," Lucy told him. She looked over her shoulder at Klaus and Bonnie who were happily walking with Charlotte in between them. The three of them were holding hands. Lucy couldn't hide the happy smile on her face as she saw them. She turned back to Elijah. "Bonnie is taking it personally hard," she whispered.

After ensuring that Stefan was safe at St. Anne's church, Bonnie had returned to their hotel room and sat on the dinning table, working furiously. She had a lot on her plate, between figuring out why Ayana's spell hadn't worked the times she had tried it, continuing to work on her own locator spell to find Lenore, and looking into trying to replicate Cary's ring, she had spent the entire afternoon with her nose buried in grimoires. She had her work cut out for her and Lucy had done her best to help her. The two had tossed ideas back and forth as they brainstormed ways to contact Qetsiyah and figure out a way to locate Lenore. Rebekah gave them a helping hand until the sun went down and she had decided that enough was enough and that they need to eat something. She proclaimed that a nice family dinner was in order. Bonnie had agreed, feeling the need to clear her head and the girls were really excited about having dinner with everyone and so was Lucy. It was something that they were all looking forward to. After all the chaos of the past couple of days, they could all use some relaxing time.

"We are going to meet with the other Bennett's tomorrow, maybe aunt Vivian or our cousins can find what we're missing," Lucy continued.

Elijah nodded. He knew how important it was to communicate with Bonnie's ancestors on the other side, with Qetsiyah in particular. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Lucy smiled before pulling his head down and stealing a kiss.

Kol rolled his eyes. Elijah was completely besotted with Lucy, Rebekah and Matt were in their own little world, and so were Klaus and Bonnie. "I thought this was a family dinner not a romantic outing."

His complains fell to deaf ears.

Davina couldn't contain a giggle. It was obvious that Kol was trying to get some attention but the three couples walking ahead of them were completely oblivious or were purposely ignoring him.

"What?"

"Is being stuck with me so bad?" she asked him almost shyly. She didn't want to be presumptuous but since everyone was paired up except for them, it seemed logical to think that they were going to end up sitting next to each other. She hoped Kol and Charlotte could keep their famous arguments to themselves for a few hours at least. So far, they seemed content to ignore each other.

Kol pondered her question for a bit. He looked her up and down before his lips curled into a wicked grin. "I guess it could be worse, you're far prettier than other dinner companions I had the misfortune of being paired up with."

Davina laughed, a hint of pink covering her cheeks. "Were they really that bad?" she felt curious.

"Let me tell you about an old, stinky, clingy countess determined to make me her fifth husband," Kol said as he moved closer to her and began a delighting tale about his adventures in Vienna nearly four hundred years before.

Davina was completely enthralled by the picture he conjured up with his words. Kol made gestures with his hands and had her shaking with laughter as they all made their way to the restaurant.

For a night, the family would forget about all the pending troubles and dangers coming their way. For a couple of hours, they would enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

From the shadows, a single figure watched and followed them.

From the shadows, he waited.

 _Soon,_ he thought.

* * *

 _There is going to be a time skip in the next chapter, nothing too drastic but we will be getting closer to the long awaited birth of the twins. Thank-you for reading and reviewing! :)_


	62. Chapter 62

**A/N:** _I didn't mean to keep you waiting for this update but the end of the semester was harder than I expected. After a long and exhausting week of exams, I'm finally free! Yay! Also, you probably noticed but there was some sort of bug on the site a few days ago, I know I wasn't getting any alerts in my email for a while. I posted a new chapter for Blood on the Rails and I don't think any alerts were sent that the chapter had been updated. So, I just wanted to let you know in case you hadn't seen it. I think it's all fixed now and hopefully, you'll get the alert for this chapter. Anyway, thank-you so much for all your wonderful reviews. Enjoy!_

* * *

In the days that followed the aftermath of the battle against the Navarro clan, there were many important matters to attend to for the Original family, the Bennett coven, and their allies. The first order of business was the meeting between the factions which took place after the agreed mourning period. Bonnie, Klaus, and Elijah met with Father Kieran, Vincent Griffith, Francesca Correa, and the chief of police in a well-known hotel in St. Charles Avenue to discuss the new balance of power in the city. Klaus also invited Ishmael to come along. Not only because he considered Ishmael a wise and loyal man but because Ishmael had the respect of all the Alphas and their clans, even that of Jackson and the Crescents and that way, their species would feel respected and better represented in the negotiations.

There were many concerns to be addressed, mainly from the human factions in regards to the growing number of vampires and werewolves that now claimed New Orleans as their home. Father Kieran was obviously wary and wanted to make sure that the humans would not be attacked by either species. Elijah and Bonnie did their best to reassure him and answer all of his questions as did Ishmael. "No werewolves will venture into the city on the nights of the full moon," he promised the priest. "We will stick to hunting in the Bayou."

Another concern for the human faction was all the power the Mikaelson family now possessed, in particular Klaus.

"You are the self-proclaimed king of the werewolves, the leader of the vampires, and I have heard people call your wife the queen of the witches," Francesca Correa had no qualms about addressing Klaus directly. She showed no fear or reverence. She was a cunning business woman who was used to dealing with vampires and was not easily intimidated by them. "You seem to have all the power in the city." Something that clearly didn't sit well with her judging by the look on her face.

"As I did one hundred years ago," Klaus responded without hesitation. The triple alliance he had formed with Lana, the Alpha of the Crescents and Geneviève Claire, the Regent of the witches at that time had benefited all of them greatly and had brought peace and prosperity to the city. "I don't see why that should be a problem now." He had no intentions of sharing his power unless it was absolutely necessary. And the only people he trusted to share that power with were Bonnie and Elijah. Besides, it was his and Bonnie's family who had kept the city safe from the Navarro's. The humans had done nothing and the witches had only lent a helping hand because of Vincent. They were at the top of the pyramid of power and everyone else would have to learn to accept it.

"My brother and Ishmael will ensure that the werewolves fall in line," Elijah intervened smoothly. "And I shall ensure the vampires do the same." As the eldest of the Originals, it was up to Elijah to represent the vampire faction. Even if some vampires like Armand, wanted to be part of the high council as they had been deemed by others.

Neither Francesca nor the chief of police looked particularly happy about that but thankfully, they didn't argue the point further. They both knew when they were fighting a losing battle.

"As for the witches," Elijah continued as he looked at Bonnie.

"I'm the leader of the Bennett coven," Bonnie said quickly. There was something about Francesca that made her wary. Her instincts were definitely warning Bonnie not to trust the woman. "The other witches in this city only respond to one authority, the Regent." Bonnie continued as she looked at Vincent. There were enough rumors about her going around, the last thing she needed was for people to think she was trying to claim all the power or usurp the rightful leader of the witches in the city. Bonnie knew what an important role the Regent had in the witch community and she had no intention of taking that away from her. On the contrary, Bonnie wanted to work with Josephine and Vincent and keep the peace among their kind.

"A Regent who continues to hide in her home," Klaus muttered. The Regent was absent once more, even knowing how important this meeting was, she had opted to stay away. Klaus saw it as a slight. "Old bat." It was said in a whisper but it was loud enough for his brother and wife to hear.

Bonnie and Elijah gave him matching reproaching looks. They both knew of the importance of having the Regent on their side and they didn't want Klaus to insult Vincent's mentor right to his face.

"I'm here representing the Regent and the nine covens," Vincent said coldly. "I have been given full authority to make decisions in her name." He glared at the hybrid not liking the disrespectful way the hybrid spoke about his mentor.

Klaus seemed unperturbed by the gesture.

Vincent's intervention brought them to another matter of great concern. The obvious divide between the nine covens and the growing number of missing witches. The police had conducted an investigation and found nothing, not a single clue which led them to suspect that the disappearances were caused by something supernatural.

According to Vincent, "The elders of the covens with missing witches have done all kinds of locator spells, tracking spells, they have even contacted their dead ancestors in order to find them and nothing has worked." All the witches were scared of what could be brewing right under their noses. No one had been able to identify the root of the problem. They had no idea what they were dealing with and that made the situation all the more alarming not just for the witches but for the entire supernatural community.

"My cousin Lenore is one of the missing witches," Bonnie said sadly. "We have tried all kinds of spells as well but my coven has been unable to find her." It was a blow for all of them. All the spells used to find Lenore had not been effective and even though Bonnie was working on her own locator spell, it was taking her longer than expected to complete it. As the days continued to accumulate, she grew more frustrated with her lack of progress.

"How can we keep the witches safe?" Father Kieran asked them.

"How can we keep everyone safe?" The Chief of police asked in turn. "Witches could be going missing today but what's to say humans won't follow tomorrow?"

"Everyone is afraid, not just the witches." Mayor de la Fontaine told them. "We need to do something to keep the panic from spreading and to ensure peace and stability. This city has seen enough bloodshed and death in the past couple of months. We need to end this reign of terror." Which was the reason they were all there. They needed to work together to ensure the peace. For the sake of everyone they had to learn to put their differences aside. "We must find the culprits behind this and stop whatever evil they are planning against our city. The sooner we can put an end to this, the better."

That was something they all could agree on.

Those first few days in the conference room of the hotel were spent trying to find some type of order and establish a set of rules that would benefit all supernatural species and protect the humans who were the most vulnerable to their attacks. It was easier said than done of course. Everyone wanted something, everyone had expectations and demands that benefited their group and not the whole community. Trying to be on the same page was harder than Bonnie had first anticipated, arguments broke out as humans wanted to limit the number of vampires living in the Quarter, they also wanted to keep all werewolves far away in the Bayou while the witches wanted to be able to practice magic freely again and complete the Harvest. Not to mention that the French Quarter Coven was desperate to get their magic back. They had all petitioned Vincent to speak to Bonnie on their behalf. Bonnie refused to compromise on either of those things for now. She wasn't going to force Davina to do something she didn't want to and she didn't feel comfortable returning the magic she had taken from the French Quarter witches. They had joined forces with the Seer after all and had conspired against her family. Giving them their power back could put her family in danger once more and Bonnie was not willing to take that risk. In the end, it was decided that witch matters should be discussed and resolved during the summit Josephine was planning. Klaus for his part, wasn't going to let anyone tell him how many vampires or werewolves he could keep _in his city_. Elijah as always supported his brother while trying to appease the tempers and negotiate with the other leaders. Negotiations that would ultimately be in their family's benefit obviously.

Every time Bonnie attended the meetings she ended up with a headache. She felt like they were getting nowhere with the constant back and forth between all of them. On the bright side, Bonnie was making great progress with the spell to replicate Cary's ring. Using Esther's grimoire (which was fascinating to read and study) she had figure out that the spell needed to be bound to a stone in the same way the daylight rings needed a lapis lazuli. The stones in question were black kyanite which were apparently rare. Klaus had ordered David and his people to find the stones and bring them to her so Bonnie could complete the spell and replicate the ring.

Another bright spot, Bonnie's pregnancy was advancing normally and without complications. Since the battle things had settled down more or less and she got to enjoy her pregnancy and focus on preparing for the twins' arrival. As the days turned into weeks the flutters Bonnie had begun to feel intensified. She could now feel the babies move much more than before. She had gained a lot more weight too and had started to wear maternity clothes. Of course, her hormones were all over the place. She had scared Elijah when she burst into tears one morning because they were out of milk and she wanted to have cereal for breakfast. The ever elegant and stoic Original had rushed out of the house at vampire speed to buy more milk for her. She had also accidentally set Kol's hair on fire one night after dinner when he made a joke about her eating too much.

"Are you eating for two or four?" the young Original teased her. Kol had never anticipated for his comment to backfire so horribly, hurting her feelings was never his intention, he was only joking.

Bonnie had been in the process of enjoying another spoonful of ice cream when she froze upon hearing those words. She glared at Kol and put her spoon down. She hadn't meant to set his hair on fire but it seemed her magic reacted to her hurt feelings. Much to the delight of Charlotte and the amusement of Klaus, Kol let out a loud scream as his hair burst into flames. He had flashed around the room yelling and moving his arms up and down in a desperate attempt to stop the fire from spreading to the rest of his body.

"That's what you get for being so insensitive," Rebekah told him as she calmly finished her own dessert. She didn't seem concern about her brother.

Matt tried to suppress his laughter with a napkin while Elijah only shook his head, the corner of his mouth twitching with amusement. He had to admit that Kol looked ridiculous running around the room. In his opinion, Kol should have known better than to make such remark.

Davina was the only one who looked rather alarmed. "You are not going to help him?" she looked at Elijah and Klaus, feeling surprised at how indifferent they seemed about Kol's predicament.

"Fire can't kill an Original," Klaus easily dismissed her concerns. It hurt like a bitch but Kol would be fine. Besides the fire was contained. It was burning his hair but it was not spreading to the rest of his body. "Don't listen to that bloody idiot, sweetheart." He attempted to console Bonnie who had stopped eating her ice cream. Her bottom lip trembled as she attempted to contain her tears.

"I'm fat," Bonnie mumbled as she looked down at the big bowl of vanilla ice cream in front of her. "I'm eating too much. That's why I'm fat."

"No sweetheart, you are not." Klaus assured her. "You are a beautiful pregnant woman, that's all."

"You are not fat at all," Elijah rapidly agreed with Klaus. He looked positively terrified at the prospect of dealing with a crying Bonnie. Once had been enough for him.

"Silly Kol is on fire," Charlotte giggled as she followed the blur with flaming hair flashing around the room. She was having the time of her life watching as the Original's hair continued to burn.

"Bloody hell! My hair!" Kol hissed as he attempted to stop the fire with his hands.

"Stay still!" Lucy ordered as she tried to put the fire out.

Davina attempted to help him as well but accidentally set the curtains behind Kol on fire instead. Her magic was still out of control, despite the drops Dr. Hernandez had recommended. "Shoot!" She stared at the flames with fear. "I didn't mean to do that." It was something that was happening more often than not. Her magic was acting weird lately.

Lucy finally managed to ceased the fire in Kol's hair before it could cause any more damage to his person. Klaus ended the small fire Davina had started by dumping a pitcher of ice water on the curtains.

Charlotte's loud laughter cut through the tension in the room and the whole family soon joined in. Even Kol let out a nervous laugh as he touched his burned hair. He touched his face too, feeling happy and relieved that his handsome face had not suffered any damage. That had been a close call. Bonnie was lethal.

The laughter came to an abrupt end when Bonnie ran out of the dinning room. She was crying because she felt fat, she hadn't meant to lose control of her magic that way and provoke a dangerous situation, and because she was simply an emotional hormonal mess.

Klaus of course rushed to comfort her only to have the door shut right in his face. Bonnie locked the door with magic, preventing him entrance to their room.

"This is your fault." If looks could kill, Kol would have been six feet under by the murderous glare on Klaus's face which matched the glare Charlotte was giving him as well.

"You made Bonnie cry." The little witch accused angrily.

"Shut-up." Kol glared at her. One stern look from Elijah and another murderous glare from Klaus had him biting back whatever other insult he was thinking of. "It was just a joke. I didn't mean to make her upset!" he defended himself.

Rebekah's mocking giggles burned his ears.

Needless the say, Kol learned his lesson and never made another joke about Bonnie's appetite ever again. From that moment on, everyone was also extremely cautious and sensitive to Bonnie's mood swings.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, Bonnie spent a lot of time with her witch family.

The Bennett coven worked arduously to find Lenore and to help Bonnie communicate with Qetsiyah. Every morning after breakfast, Bonnie, Lucy, Davina, and Charlotte made their way to the Bennett mansion. While Bonnie worked with her cousins, Davina took lessons with Amina and Lucrecia. The two elders were helping her to control all the power she had inside her. Despite the potion Dr. Hernandez had ordered her to take in order to suppress the potency of her magic, Davina was still having difficulty. Thankfully, the training she was receiving from the elders of the Bennett coven was helping her understand and manage all the power inside her. Charlotte on the other hand, took lessons with Diana who was a retired school teacher. She was teaching Charlotte how to read and write, Bonnie supplemented each lesson every night by reading out loud to Charlotte and helping her identify the letters and sounds. She was a smart little girl and was learning fast. Every week, Elijah brought a new book for her to read and Charlotte was delighted by all the stories she read on the books she was collecting from her uncle.

Bonnie also relished in all the moments she got to spend with her cousins. She got to know them better and got to enjoy having them around. She also learned a lot from them. They all had different ways of thinking and using their powers which was amazing for Bonnie because they all got to exchange ideas and try new things on a daily basis. Unfortunately, not all the Bennett witches could stay, many of them had no choice but to return to their jobs and the lives they had prior to joining the coven. Scarlett, Cleo, and Octavia were among some of the Bennett's that left New Orleans shortly after the battle. They all promised to return and were determined to help in any way they could even from afar. And if the need ever came, Bonnie knew she could call upon them and they would come to help her.

Before leaving the city, Bonnie arranged for a playdate between Octavia's twins and Charlotte. The girls got along from the moment they met and Bonnie wanted Charlotte to enjoy her time with her friends as much as possible. As the girls ran around the park playing, Bonnie and Octavia sat in one of the benches watching them and smiling at their antics.

Kyra and Felix stood a few feet away from them on the opposite ends of the park. Kyra had appointed herself as Bonnie's personal bodyguard. She was a quiet shadow that followed Bonnie whenever she stepped out and Klaus always had one of his hybrids watching her as well. _One can never be too careful,_ he told her when Bonnie complained that she didn't like having bodyguards following her every move. It's not that Klaus didn't trust her abilities to defend herself, he simply wanted her to be protected at all times. Bonnie had reluctantly gotten used to the presence of her bodyguards whenever she went out. She knew her hybrid meant well with his protective nature.

As her eyes followed Charlotte and Octavia's twins, Bonnie couldn't help but think about the future and how she wanted to raise her children. "How do you do it?" She found herself asking Octavia after minutes of sitting in silence.

Her cousin's eyes were glued to the three girls laughing and enjoying an afternoon of fun. They were running all over the park, playing some game only they knew the rules of. "Do what?" she asked absently.

"You're a wife, a mom, a lawyer, a witch..." Bonnie felt impressed by her. Octavia was fierce and determined and she was a good wife and mom too. The adoration Andrea and Sylvie had for their mom was palpable and from what she had heard about Octavia's husband, the man pretty much worshipped the ground she walked on. "How do you handle it?"

"It hasn't been easy," Octavia admitted as she turned to face Bonnie. "There have been times when I just want to pull my hair out and scream at the top of my lungs. Especially when those two decide to test my patience."

Bonnie smiled at the image her mind conjured up. _Les enfants terribles,_ she had heard more than one person mutter under their breath after the twins fought or pulled a prank on them. The girls were mischievous to a fault and if they weren't fighting each other like cats and dogs they were teaming up to play a prank on an unsuspecting victim- which happened to be their other Bennett cousins more often than not. Charlotte of course had come to adore them. Every day after her lessons with Diana, Charlotte got to play with them and joined them in their pranks. The three had become rather inseparable.

"I've also been lucky enough to find a man who loves me and is willing to put up with my crazy magical heritage," Octavia continued. The dreamy look on her face was proof of how much she loved her husband. "Having his support has made things easier."

Bonnie smiled. "I want my kids to have the best of both worlds," she said quietly. "To enjoy an afternoon at the park." She glanced at Charlotte's face as she talked. Charlotte's cheeks were red and she was out of breath from all the running around but the beaming smile on her face and the brightness in her big green eyes made Bonnie's heart soar. Charlotte was a happy little girl and Bonnie couldn't be more grateful for that. Charlotte deserved to be happy after everything she had endured and Bonnie felt determined to make her so. "I want them to have sleepovers and go to the mall or the movies with their friends," she continued thinking back to her childhood with Elena and Caroline. Despite her mother's abandonment, her father's constant absences, and the lack of knowledge of her magical heritage, Bonnie had a rather happy childhood. There had been countless of moments of laughter and joy while growing up, moments that had been shared with her best friends. As the memories floated through her mind, Bonnie felt a pang in her heart. She didn't know how Elena was doing and she hadn't heard much from Caroline since her friend had returned to Mystic Falls weeks before. Bonnie had spoken to Tyler once and he reassured her that everything was fine, that Caroline was reconnecting with her mom and that things in Mystic Falls were calm and peaceful for once. _A small miracle,_ Bonnie thought. "As much as I want my children to enjoy the normal things in life, I also want them to know who they are, and where they come from. I want them to feel proud of their lineage. Sometimes I feel like I'm being too idealistic," she admitted with a little embarrassment.

"Not at all," Octavia told her softly. "I'm trying to do the same for my girls. It won't be a walk in the park but you can manage it." There was an encouraging smile on her face as she talked. "There is no manual with instructions, Bonnie. You will learn as you go along to be honest. You can read all the books in the world but nothing and no one can truly prepare you for the moment when you have your children in your arms. And it's okay to be afraid," she gave Bonnie a knowing smile. "I think you will be just fine."

"I hope so," Bonnie touched her ever growing bump. She giggled as she felt those bubbles inside her once more. They were becoming more frequent now. She could without a doubt feel her babies move and it was the most wonderful thing in the world. She couldn't wait to see them and hold them in her arms.

"They're moving, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Bonnie frowned. "They were moving the other night but Klaus couldn't feel a thing." It was rather frustrating. She had placed Klaus's hand on her belly and the two had waited for the twins to move. They hadn't. Even though five seconds before she had felt an onslaught of flutters, like a small army of butterflies floating inside her tummy as soon as Klaus touched her, the movements stopped. She had practically begged the babies to move for their daddy but the little ones had refused. The disappointment Klaus felt echoed through their bond and Bonnie felt bad for getting him all excited over nothing. Her stubborn children refused to indulge their father's desire to feel them kick for now.

Octavia chuckled. "It was the same for me and Mark," she shared with a knowing grin. "Now that you are feeling them move a lot more, it won't be long before Klaus feels them move as well, you'll see."

"I can't wait," Bonnie muttered in a hopeful voice. She couldn't wait to see the look on Klaus's face as he felt their babies kick for the first time. That, and finding out the sex of the babies were some of the things Bonnie was really looking forward to. "You'll be back, won't you?" she asked facing her cousin once more.

"Absolutely," Octavia replied. "I think I just found the perfect place to spend the summer holidays." The two shared a grin. "If you need me don't hesitate and call me, Bonnie." She had a job and a husband to go back to and she also wanted to keep her girls safe. The Navarro attack had caught them all off guard and Octavia didn't want to take any chances and put her daughters at risk but that didn't mean she would turn her back on the coven. She was already making plans to return and bring Mark along. "We're family." Octavia reached out for Bonnie's hand. "And I promise you, I will always have your back."

 _Family,_ Bonnie's face broke into a sweet smile. _What a wonderful thing it was_. Never in a million years could she have imagined that she would come to have such a big, loving, and caring family. It was almost as if the love and affection that had been denied to her by her mother was returning to her a thousand times over in the form of all the women who shared her blood and had readily taken her into their hearts.

Elijah was absolutely right, family was a powerful thing.

* * *

The moment Bonnie had been anticipated arrived one Friday afternoon.

After almost two months of living at the hotel, the compound was finally ready for the family to move back in. The walls had been repaired and repainted, the first and second floor had been completely renovated and refurnished and everyone felt happy to settle back in.

Bonnie lost herself in her thoughts as she unpacked and made herself comfortable in the master bedroom of the compound. While their time at the hotel had not been bad by any means, she felt happy to return to the house she now saw as her home. She carefully folded the knitted cream color blankets Octavia had made for the twins before leaving and placed them inside one of the drawers of her dresser, were she kept all the baby clothing she had received in the past couple of weeks. She had received a lot of gifts for the twins from her family and friends. Belle had bought ten different onesies for the babies while Josh had brought her two large teddy bears as a thank you for Bonnie making him a daylight ring. Josh was extremely happy and was definitely taking advantage of his new status as a daywalker. As were the other vampires Bonnie and Angelica made daylight rings for.

Bonnie's cousins had also gifted her with all kinds of things for the twins: towels, bottles, pacifiers, and plenty of toys for them to play with. Rebekah was always buying things online; the latest arrival had been a stroller for both babies and two car seats. She and Bonnie had already ordered the furniture online and were waiting on Dr. Mayfair to confirm the sex of the babies. The good old doctor couldn't determine the sex of one of the babies due to its position and Bonnie and Klaus had decided not to find out until she could determine the sex for both. Once she did that, they would get started painting and decorating the nursery. Of course, Rebekah was full of ideas and was constantly sharing them with Bonnie and also seeking Lucy's and even Davina's input. Rebekah, as the self-appointed godmother felt determined to supervise everything to the last detail.

Bonnie was so lost in thought that the strong kick on her left side caught her unaware. She gasped placing both hands on her stomach and marveling at the sheer beauty of feeling her children move inside her. A soft smile immediately graced her lips as she felt another kick. They were doing it a lot more now. Before she would feel them one day and then nothing for the next day or two, now it was practically an everyday occurrence. The babies' movements no longer felt like the flutters from before, those tiny butterfly flutters in her stomach had been replaced by a strong pulsing, almost like a muscle spasm or twitch. She continued to rub her belly gently. "I can't wait to meet you," she whispered lovingly. "To hold you and kiss you." She giggled feeling the tingling sensation against her fingertips courtesy of the magic radiating from her belly and enjoying each kick to the fullest. "You have a lot of aunts and uncles who want to meet you too," she continued in a gentle voice. "Your daddy and I love you, so much. The both of you are our everything and we will protect you always and forever."

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you look?"

Bonnie spun around in surprise and found Klaus leaning against the door frame. "How long have you been standing there?" She felt heat spread to her cheeks and her heart skipped a beat as it always did with him.

"Quite a while." Klaus walked further inside the room. "You looked almost entranced, I did not wish to disturb you." He had stood by the door simply watching her and enjoying the gentle sound of her voice as she talked sweetly to their kids.

Bonnie reached out for his hand. "Come here."

"Was it?" Klaus asked as she took his hand in hers.

"You'll see." Bonnie's smile was contagious as she placed his hand on the left side of her belly.

"What are-" he stopped, his blue eyes widened as he felt it. There was no mistaking what he felt the moment Bonnie placed his hand over her belly. He gasped feeling absolutely stunned.

Bonnie grinned at his reaction. "You feel that?" she asked taking in the unguarded emotions displaying perfectly across his face. How wonderful it was to see that genuine surprise and wonder.

"Is that-" Klaus couldn't believe it. He knew Bonnie had been feeling the babies move for some time now but as much as he had caressed her belly before he had yet to feel them, _until now_. He gasped as he felt it again. He tentatively placed his other hand over her belly as well, feeling completely enthralled by what he was experiencing. His throat clogged with emotion and his body trembled slightly. The happiness he felt had him shaking and feeling almost drunk from it.

Bonnie watched the array of emotions flickering in his eyes and echoing through their bond. _Shock, wonder, happiness, and love,_ so much love it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside _._ The astonished look on his face was something one didn't see often. Klaus's expression was always guarded, except when it came to her. His full lips curved into a joyful smile as he continued to feel his children move for the first time. Bonnie's eyes were glued to his face, committing every detail to memory. Years from now, she would look back to this day as one of the happiest moments of her life.

"They're moving," Klaus stared at her, a look of pure adoration on his face. "I can feel them," he whispered in awe. He felt so happy.

"They are," Bonnie placed her hand on top of his. "Our babies are kicking." Her heart swelled with so much joy, she giggled and moved closer to him. Finally, they were both basking in the utter wonder of these two little miracles hey had created.

"I love you," Klaus whispered as he looked into her eyes.

"I love you," her voice broke with emotion. Right there, in that moment she was the happiest woman in the world.

Klaus leaned down and captured her lips in a deep and sensual kiss. Bonnie responded eagerly, one hand moving to the back of his head, fingers twisting playfully on his golden locks while the other continued to rest on top of the hand he had on her belly. The three of them were connected.

Bonnie and Klaus continued to kiss while feeling the babies' strong kicks against their palms.

This was a moment they would treasure forever.

* * *

Thanksgiving was a quiet family affair. With the help of Rebekah and Lucy, Bonnie organized a big dinner for their combined families. She invited her Bennett cousins, Cary and Ishmael- Fenrir's pack didn't really celebrate Thanksgiving as they had lived in Europe for the majority of their lives but the two wolves were happy to accept Bonnie's invitation and arrived on time with big smiles and a dessert specially made by Ishmael himself.

Bonnie also extended an invitation to Damon and Stefan. She felt bad for Stefan having to be locked up inside St. Anne's church until they could figure out a way to stop the Travelers for good (something that was being more difficult than expected). Elijah helped Stefan sneak out of the church through an underground tunnel that led to the house across from the compound. It was a passageway that had been built nearly two centuries before and was only known to the family. Much to Davina's delight, Bonnie also invited Marcel to join them for dinner.

Despite the initial tension surrounding a few of the people in attendance they all had a good time. Everybody was on their best behavior even if things were a bit awkward at first as introductions were made and those who didn't really get along made it a point to ignore each other. Kol pretended that Marcel and the Salvatore brothers didn't exist while Rebekah made sure she and Matt were seated far away from the ex-king. All in all, everyone managed to keep their tempers in check and dinner went smoothly. Sitting next to Klaus and watching as everyone enjoyed the wine and the food and chatted amicably brought a smile to Bonnie's face.

After an initial hello, Damon kept to himself. He was surprisingly quiet and well behaved. Bonnie wondered if Elijah had threatened him before arriving or if he simply had realized that getting angry and demanding things to go his way was not going to work at all. Whatever the reason, Bonnie felt grateful that the dinner was a success. The only pang in her heart was her mother's absence. Joanna had tried to talk to her about Abby but Bonnie firmly avoided the subject. She knew Abby was with David and was helping him to track down the other covens that were part of the Mort-Vivants. She didn't want to see her or talk to her and as much as Joanna had wanted to help patch things between them, she respected Bonnie's wishes and didn't bring the subject again.

Another person missing during Thanksgiving was her dad. Bonnie had been blindsided upon learning that her father was dating a woman much younger than him, a newcomer to Mystic Falls- at least according to the hybrid that was keeping an eye on him. Rudy had decided to spend Thanksgiving with his new girlfriend in Paris and Bonnie was honestly shocked. The thought of her dad dating made her feel weird. He wasn't that old but still, she couldn't wrap her head around it. When she had spoken with him on the phone he had sounded so happy and carefree. He was madly in love and despite the sadness she felt at the distance between them, Bonnie wished him a happy trip and felt rather relieved that she wouldn't be seeing him face to face. She still hadn't plucked the courage to inform him of her pregnancy. She was a coward when it came to telling the truth to her dad but she didn't know how to tell him. She wanted to do it in person but she wasn't exactly packing her bags and going to Mystic Falls to share the news. Her reluctance to tell him had a lot to do with her fear. She was afraid of her father's anger and disappointment, afraid that he would not accept her children. Klaus had offered to kill the girlfriend and compelled her father to come to New Orleans for Thanksgiving dinner so that they could both talk to him but Bonnie had not been amused by his suggestion. Maybe it was awful of her as a daughter but keeping her father away from all the things brewing in the Quarter seemed like a good idea.

Caroline had also declined Bonnie's invitation to spend Thanksgiving with them, she wanted to be with her mom and Tyler but she had promised to return to New Orleans and visit soon. Bonnie had felt relieved. The little voice in her head was still warning her that Caroline was a threat. But according to Tyler and the hybrid watching them, Caroline was acting normal and was slowly going back to being her bubbly happy self. Bonnie had shared her concerns with Aunt Vivian and her aunt had suggested doing a cleansing ritual on Caroline to expel whatever darkness might be inside her. Bonnie planned to do just that as soon as Caroline returned to New Orleans.

Long after dessert, Bonnie sat on the couch close to the fire. She stared at the flames, lost in thought. Charlotte came and sat with her, snuggling next to her and giggling like crazy as she rested her head over her belly. She loved feeling the babies move. "I can't wait for them to get out of your belly," she murmured placing a gently kiss over her bump. "I'm going to love them, and play with them, and take care of them…"

"Soon," Bonnie whispered with a smile. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "You're going to be a great big sister," she murmured before placing a kiss on top of her head.

Charlotte beamed and nodded eagerly. "I promise." She snuggled closer and fell asleep against Bonnie in no time.

Klaus came a short while later and picked her up gently in his arms. "I'll put her to bed," he told Bonnie before depositing a tender kiss on her forehead.

"Thank-you," Bonnie watched them go, her heart swelling with so much joy and happiness. There was also a bit of fear. This almost felt like the calm before the storm and she couldn't help but feel anxious of what was coming.

"A domesticated Klaus," Damon muttered coming into her line of sight. "I think the world is coming to an end." He finished his whiskey in one big gulp, a rather sour look on his face.

Bonnie sighed. Things had been going so well up until that point. "Damon…" she really wasn't in the mood to listen to his complains. "If you are going to start again, I-"

"I don't want to fight," Damon interrupted her quickly.

Bonnie gave him a surprised look. "That's a first," she couldn't stop herself from blurting out.

Damon surprised her when he took a seat next to her on the couch. He didn't say anything, he simply sat next to her and contemplated the flames, a rather thoughtful and melancholic look on his face.

From across the room Elijah watched him like a hawk. He was standing close to the window chatting with Amina and Diana but keeping his eyes on Damon. Kol, Tinisha, Cary, and Matt were playing pool on the other side of the room. While Aunt Vivian, Joanna, and Ishmael were deep in conversation near the door. Rebekah, Lucy, Adriane, and Cecily sat a few feet away from where Bonnie and Damon were. While the witches chatted happily and had not noticed the growing tension in the room, Rebekah did glance at Bonnie. She was more than ready to intervene should her friend need it.

Bonnie made a subtle gesture with her head. She could handle Damon.

Stefan who had been quietly talking to Marcel and Davina also turned his head to look at them, hoping that Damon wasn't about to start something he would later regret. Marcel for his part, watched the whole exchange with curiosity.

To the surprise of many however, Damon simply sat next to Bonnie.

The young mom to be took the time to study his profile carefully. Damon looked sad and tired. It was a very different attitude from the one he had been displaying up until that point. It was almost as if he had actually aged in the past couple of weeks.

"Boys or girls?" he asked out of the blue, still staring at the flames.

"What?"

Damon turned to face her and gave a pointed look at her belly.

"We don't know yet," Bonnie replied as she placed a protective hand over her stomach.

Damon arched a brow. "Aren't you about to give birth?"

"I still have a little over two months," Bonnie replied rather defensively. "The position of one of the babies makes it difficult to tell the sex. We asked our doctor not to say anything until she knows both sexes for sure," she explained. Bonnie had an inkling as to what she was having. A soft smile graced her features as she thought back to that sweet dream she had a few days ago. Yes, her witch instincts had definitely told her the gender of both babies. She hadn't said anything to Klaus yet. He continued to believe they were having two boys and of course, the family were already taking bets. The hybrids and many of the vampires and wolves had also joined the betting pool. Kol himself had bet one thousand dollars that she would have two girls. _Karma is a bitch,_ he told Klaus with a wicked grin after he placed his bet.

Damon pressed his lips together and went back to stare at the flames. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she was pregnant with Klaus's kids. Never mind the fact that she looked huge and ready to pop the kids out at any moment. It still seemed so surreal.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked quietly.

"This is all fucked up," was the sincere reply from his lips. "My brother is locked inside the attic of a church, the people that want him and kidnapped my girl and my ex are nowhere to be found," he continued bitterly. "And you are happily living with a fucked-up version of the Adams family."

Bonnie glared at him.

"This is not how it's supposed to be," he murmured in a defeated tone. "I finally had the girl. I was supposed to be happy with the girl of my dreams," he continued staring at the flames. "But everything went to hell after Elena shut down her emotions."

 _Because you ordered her to,_ was at the tip of Bonnie's tongue but she refrained herself from saying it. That comment was probably going to cause an argument and she was not in the mood to fight with Damon.

"The world does not revolve around you and the girl, mate."

Damon and Bonnie looked up startled at the sound of Klaus's voice, neither of them had sensed him approaching. Bonnie frowned. There were times when Klaus's ability to sneak on people still surprised her. He could do it so quietly, without alerting anyone. It was an ability that definitely came in handy with their enemies.

Damon scowled as he stared at the arrogant hybrid.

There was a mask of indifference on Klaus's face as he stared at the younger vampire. He extended his hand towards Bonnie but he kept his eyes on Damon, lips curling into his all too familiar smirk. He couldn't wait until Damon Salvatore disappeared from their lives.

Bonnie accepted Klaus's outstretched hand and stood up.

Damon watched them go, conflicting emotions burning deep in his soul.

* * *

 **A few days later…**

Belle groaned in pain as she landed on her back once more. This was pure torture. She breathed heavily and blinked up at the ceiling wondering when it would all end.

"Come on princess," Alexa taunted with a smirk. "Stand up and fight."

 _I hate this,_ Belle though as she took a deep breath and stood up at hybrid speed. Her body protested for a couple of seconds before her healing abilities took care of the bruises and she was ready to face her opponent again. For the past couple of months, Alexa had been training her and while Belle begrudgingly had to admit that she had gotten better in her fighting skills, she still hated being at the mercy of the other hybrid girl.

"Ready to get your ass kicked again?" Alexa asked with a malicious smile. Oh, she was enjoying this far more than she cared to admit.

"Got to hell!" Belle raised her arms and got into a fighting stance.

Alexa chuckled before delivering one well-placed punch which caught Belle completely off guard. "What's rule number one?" she demanded.

Belle growled hybrid face surfacing. "Don't get distracted!" she flashed forwards and used all of her strength to kick and punch as hard as she could. Alexa avoided each of her blows with ease which only served to get Belle even more angry.

Alexa pinned her to the mat in a matter of seconds. "You're dead, _again._ "

"Urgh, you suck!" Belle complained as soon as Alexa got off her.

"Getting angry only gets you distracted," Alexa remarked. "Instead of thinking your attacks through you are merely reacting to my provocations and that will only get you killed."

"Then stop provoking me," Belle whined.

Alexa laughed. "You think your enemies are going to show you any mercy? They'll taunt you and you will fall for it and get killed." she shook her head. "Don't be an idiot. Come on, concentrate."

Belle barely had time to catch her breath before Alexa jumped on her again.

From the sidelines two hybrids watched the girls train.

"Alexa is taking perverse pleasure in training Belle," Riley complained as he watched the two blurs moving around the training ring exchanging blows left and right. "She's being too rough." His eyes easily followed their movements.

Jesse gave him a knowing look. "Relax lover boy, Belle can handle it." Belle had improved a lot since she had started training with Alexa. She was faster and her attacks were stronger than before. Alexa was a good teacher, tough as nails but good, and Belle was clearly learning even if she hated to admit it. "Belle will be beating your ass in no time," he teased. Jesse knew that Riley was madly in love with Belle and was worried about her getting hurt which only served as ammunition to Jesse who constantly teased him about it.

Everything came to a halt when a group of Crescent wolves led by Jackson and Hayley made their way inside the building. Even though Klaus had extended an invitation to them, this was the first time the Crescent wolves had joined the vampires and werewolves at the training gym.

Everyone fell silent and watched the new arrivals curiously.

Andrew who was sparing with Cary stopped and watched as the small group of Crescent wolves walked further inside and looked around the training gym with mild curiosity. He got so distracted he never saw the punch until it was too late and he found himself on the floor, seeing stars. His jaw hurt. It felt like it had been split open. "What the hell?" he groaned as he sat up. He spit some blood on the floor and glared at Cary.

"You lowered your guard," Cary said as he helped the younger wolf to his feet.

Andrew rubbed his chin.

Cary offered him a friendly smile while eyeing the Crescents suspiciously. Most of the wolves that had come to New Orleans had slowly tried to integrate themselves into the supernatural community Klaus and his family were creating. While they were suspicious and reluctant at first of the vampires they had slowly started to share the same training space. They mostly ignored each other and trained with their own kind. The hybrids were attempting to bring everyone together and were a bridge of sorts as they interacted with vampires and werewolves' a like, which was exactly what Klaus wanted. Old rivalries were hard to forget but at least vampires and werewolves were learning to tolerate each other and that was a nice way to bring both species closer together. Even plenty of vampires from the army Armand had recruited in Shreveport had joined them in a training session or two. The only ones who had never joined them before today were the Crescent wolves. Which was why Cary felt suspicious by their sudden appearance.

Both vampires and werewolves glanced curiously at Jackson, Hayley, and their friends before slowly resuming with their training. As long as the Crescents behaved, there would be no problems.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Jesse murmured so only Riley could hear him.

"Because we don't trust them," Riley replied in a whisper. It was no secret that the Crescents believed themselves to be better than the rest of the wolves and rumor had it that they were determined to have their own place in the meetings with the factions-something Klaus had denied them so far. Even though Jackson and Hayley had accepted Klaus as king of the wolves everyone knew and felt that they wanted more power for themselves. It was something that was brewing a strange kind of tension among the wolves as loyalties and alliances were being put to the test.

For now, that tension had yet to explode.

* * *

 **The compound**

"Move it slightly to the left," Elijah ordered.

Thierry sighed and did as he was told. He moved the statue of cupid to the left before he turned back to look at Elijah, waiting expectantly to see if this would be the last time he was going to move that stupid thing.

Elijah pressed his lips together and tilted his head to the side as he contemplated the bronze statue. It was a gift they had received from an Italian count nearly three centuries before.

Thierry's mind drifted as he waited. He was honestly getting tired of running errands for the Originals. He knew he should be grateful that Klaus had decided not to rip his head off for spying on him for Marcel but this had been going on for two months now.

 _Your treacherous deed cannot go unpunished,_ Klaus had angrily told him. And so, Thierry's torture had begun. He was no longer supervising the vampires nor was he one of Klaus's generals as the hybrid had first declared him to be. He had been relegated to be a servant for lack of a better word. He did all kinds of things for Klaus and his siblings from being the messenger boy, to buying groceries, to picking the dry cleaning, and moving furniture around the compound whenever the mood struck. Not to mention that on the day they moved back in, he had carried all sixteen of Rebekah's suitcases up the stairs and towards her bedroom.

" _Who the hell needs sixteen suitcases?" He had complained to Marcel later that night as they met for drinks._

" _That's Rebekah for you," Marcel had responded with a laugh. He hadn't been able to stop chuckling as Thierry informed him of all the things Klaus was having him do._

" _You're alive," Marcel had reminded him with a somber look. "Believe me, compared to some of the punishments Klaus has handed out, you got a nice deal, my friend. You're lucky." Despite the amusement in Marcel's eyes, there had also been relief. He didn't show it but Marcel had been worried about Thierry's fate._

Thierry didn't feel so lucky now after spending an entire afternoon moving furniture around the first floor. He couldn't wait for Klaus to release him from this _punishment_.

"Perfect," Elijah's words brought him out of his thoughts. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the vampire. "You may go now."

 _Thank-you!_ Thierry thought as he flashed out of the compound at vampire speed.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rebekah asked coming to stand next to her brother. Servants had spent the great part of the morning preparing the first floor for the celebration they were hosting. A group in charge of the decorations was going to arrive the next day to finish everything for the party they were hosting on Saturday night. As much as Rebekah always enjoyed an opportunity to dress up, she couldn't help but feel anxious about this. Their track record with parties was not exactly favorable as of late.

"When is a party not a good idea?" Kol muttered as he cheerfully descended the stairs and joined them.

"The Navarro's have been defeated, our home has been restored to its former glory, and the negotiations between the factions have finally succeeded," Elijah said as he surveyed the foyer of their home. "This party will be a nice way to celebrate our agreement." He offered his sister a mischievous grin.

"The last time we threw a party, we got kidnapped, the mansion was blown up, and my boyfriend died," Rebekah reminded him with a not so sweet smile. "We just got our home back and now you are planning to open the doors to every supernatural in the city to come and blow it up again."

"Don't be so dramatic Bekah," Kol crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at his sister with amusement. "Nothing eases sorrows and heals old wounds better than booze and music."

"Things will be different this time," Elijah assured her. "We need to bring the community together. We need to show everyone that the supernatural species and the humans can coexist in the same city peacefully."

"If we can party together then we can live together." Kol chuckled. "Isn't that right brother?" While his sister felt wary, Kol was actually looking forward to a good party. It was something he had been wanting for a long time.

"Precisely," Elijah shared a grin with him. "This party will serve to commemorate the peace treaty among the species." The contract solidifying the alliance of the supernatural species living in New Orleans had already been drawn up and was awaiting to be signed by the representatives of each species. Elijah considered it a triumph for them and for the city.

Rebekah still didn't look convinced. Words could be carried away by the wind and pieces of paper could easily be destroyed if needed be. At the end of the day when it came to war, all previous pacts were forgotten. The Originals' knew that better than most but Elijah was clearly optimistic.

"Besides," Elijah continued his dark eyes glinting. "Measures have already been taken care to ensure no violence breaks out between our guests and no bloodshed is spilled on that night."

"Of you say so," Rebekah sighed hoping that they weren't making a mistake.

Elijah's cell phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the message quickly.

"Bad news?" Rebekah asked seeing the look on his face.

"The Strix found who the other Silas doppelgänger is," Elijah muttered staring down at the message he had just received from Aya. "His name is Tom Avery and up until two months ago he was a paramedic in Atlanta, Georgia."

"Where is he now?" Kol asked intrigued.

"He's missing." Elijah showed them the picture Aya sent him. The man looked exactly like Stefan, maybe a couple of years older but he was without a doubt a doppelgänger.

"So, it's safe to assume the Travelers have him then," Rebekah couldn't wait for them to end that horrendous plague of witches. The Travelers had kept themselves well-hidden so far. Trying to find them was like trying to find a needle in a haystack but Bonnie and her coven were working on a rather bold and dangerous plan to end the threat the Travelers represented.

"Now more than ever we need to keep Stefan safe until the Bennett's can set their plan in motion," Elijah told his siblings. The Travelers were going to come for Stefan before the lunar eclipse and they had to be ready. Bonnie had a brilliant idea but the execution was going to take time and patience. Until then, they had to keep the Travelers far away from the doppelgänger they desperately needed. He sent a couple of quick texts to reinforce the security around the church and all over the city. The vampires and werewolves had strict orders to be on the lookout for the Travelers. Elijah and his family felt determined not to get caught unaware by them.

"They took this guy two months ago," Kol said deep in thought. "Why haven't they come for Stefan yet?" he pondered. "You would think they would have tried at least."

"They must know he's protected," Rebekah concluded. Bonnie had placed all kinds of spells on the church, not to mention the protection spells the old building already possessed. "They're probably waiting for us to mess up so they can get to him." She wouldn't be surprised if the Travelers were already in the city and hiding in plain sight.

"We won't give them the opportunity," Elijah swore. Kol's words had the wheels in his head turning though. His brother had proposed a legitimate concern. _Did the Travelers know Stefan was in New Orleans?_ _And if they did, why hadn't they try to get him yet?_ _What plan did those retched witches had in motion?_

The lunar eclipse was in less than a month. In a matter of weeks, things would come to an explosive clash, of that Elijah felt certain but he also felt determined to ensure that victory would once more fall on their side. They had to win this fight.

* * *

 **Lafayette cemetery**

Vincent contemplated the destroyed grave with anger lacing his veins. _Who would dare to disturb a sacred witch grave?_

"I came to bring flowers," the crying mother recounted with anguish. "And I saw the grave had been broken into and her body was gone, my poor Cassie…" she cried burying her face on her shaking hands.

"They're gone!" Francis, the elder from Algiers rushed to join them. "The two other graves have been broken into as well and the bodies are gone." He looked absolutely stunned and angry that someone had dared to defile the graves of the Harvest girls. "How could anyone dared to do something so vile?"

Murmurs broke among the small group of witches gathered around Vincent. There were looks of shock, disgust, and fear as the reality of the situation sunk in. The bodies of the three Harvest girls had been stolen right from the sacred ground they laid buried on.

"What does it mean?"

"Who would dare to do such a thing?"

"How did they get past the barrier?"

Outrageous cries were heard all around him as the witches attempted to come up with an explanation.

"Why don't you ask the Bennett witch," Kara Nguyen said as she calmly made her way towards them. "She's protecting Davina Claire," she was quick to remind the witches. "They probably destroyed the bodies of the Harvest girls to ensure the ritual is never completed. We will all lose our magic soon."

Gasps were heard all around as the witches processed her words. Many looked like they agreed with her assessment, others looked terrified, and many more were confused and angry.

"I think it's too early to make that assumption," Vincent said carefully.

"The Mikaelson's are the only ones that benefit from this," Kara insisted.

Vincent's eyes narrowed. He hated the arrogant and defiant look on her face. "This is scared ground," he reminded her. "Vampires are not welcomed here."

"Bonnie Bennett is not a vampire _yet_ ," Kara countered. "She could have easily slipped through and stolen the bodies."

"And plenty of other witches could have done the same thing."

"Are you accusing a witch from our community?" Kara looked offended and scandalized at the thought.

"You brought the matter to light," Vincent retorted. "There are plenty of witches who could have done this not just Bonnie Bennett and if I were you, I wouldn't be so quick to point the finger to the hybrid's queen." The fact that this came just as the peace treaty was about to be signed was suspicious in his opinion. Vincent definitely felt that there was something more at play here. _I'm going to find out,_ he promised.

The tension increased and the witches looked back and forth between them as if they were watching a tennis match.

"Have the Mikaelson's put you under their spell, Vincent?"

"Not at all," Vincent replied fiercely. "But I would like to have all the facts first and investigate the matter at length before I start making accusations that will only cause problems."

Kara gave him a nasty look.

"That is exactly what I'm going to do," Vincent's voice was filled with confidence and authority. He turned his back to her and proceeded to walk to the other graves. He was already murmuring a spell in order to track any magical signatures floating about the cemetery. Deep down, Vincent knew this was not the work of Bonnie Bennett. He needed to find the real culprit before the witches decided to take matters into their own hands, for that would only provoke another war.

* * *

 **The compound**

The ghost of his fingertips on her skin had her eyelids fluttering open, a lazy smile formed on her lips as she saw him. "Hi…" she whispered as she slowly stretched on their comfy bed.

"Hi," Klaus whispered back, gently tracing the outline of her chin.

"You're late," Bonnie complained getting into a comfortable sitting position. She had fallen asleep while waiting for him to return from his meeting with the wolves. She yawned. She had been feeling really tired lately and her back hurt as her belly expanded to allow more room for the two little ones growing inside her.

"I'm sorry," Klaus apologized right away. "The meeting with the wolves took longer than I anticipated." He glanced away, face twisting angrily.

"That bad, huh?"

Klaus sighed. "It could be worse, I suppose." Becoming king of the werewolves had been easy, getting them to get along and cooperate was proving more difficult than he had first thought. The Crescents in particular were giving him many headaches. He knew killing them would only bring more trouble which was why he was containing the urge _for now,_ at least. "What is that?" he asked curiously as his eyes landed on the small present lying next to her.

Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip.

Klaus finally took notice of the silky black robe she was wearing, _his robe_ to be more specific. Something clicked into place as he looked at the candles illuminating the room and the rose petals scattered on the bed.

"I wanted to surprise you," Bonnie said softly. Things had not worked the way she had expected obviously. "But I ended up falling asleep." There was a sheepish smile on her face as she took the small gift next to her and handed it to him. "Here you go?"

"What are we celebrating?" Klaus asked a bit nervously. _Had he missed an important date?_ It was not her birthday. _Their anniversary maybe?_ No, it wasn't that either. _Shit!_ He felt a moment of panic as his mind scrambled to remember.

A giggle escaped Bonnie as she felt his emotions as clearly as if it they were her own. "Open it," she encouraged with a bright smile.

Bonnie was happy and giggly and Klaus found himself curious as to the cause of her joy. He looked down at the small gift once more.

"Go on."

He carefully ripped away the colorful gift paper and stared at the small square white box. He slowly pushed the lid open and looked inside.

Bonnie's eyes were glued to his face, mesmerized by every single one of his movements and waiting anxiously for his reaction.

Klaus froze. "Is this…" he couldn't bring himself to finish the words. He looked up into her face, desperately seeking for confirmation.

"Yes," Bonnie asserted.

Klaus looked down at the two tiny knitted booties inside the box he held in his hands.

"Dr. Mayfair had no doubts when she did the ultrasound this afternoon," Bonnie hoped he wouldn't be mad that she hadn't called him right away. She was supposed to have the appointment on Monday but Dr. Mayfair had called earlier that day asking if she could reschedule for that afternoon as she would be going out of town on an emergency consult and wasn't sure if she would be back by Monday. "I know that you wanted to be there with me when we found out and I was going to ask her to wait for my next appointment so you could be there but then I thought about surprising you and-"

Her ramblings were cut off by his lips pressing against hers. Bonnie moaned into his mouth as they kissed passionately. She immediately melted against him, her body and soul completely in tune with his. Kissing Klaus was one of her favorite things to do in the world. Whenever their lips met, the rest of the world melted away. It was just him and her.

Bonnie was breathless as they pulled apart, her heart was pounding loudly, and her cheeks felt as hot as the sun.

"This is real, there is absolutely no doubt," Klaus whispered against her lips.

"Not at all," Bonnie laughed and threw her arms around his neck feeling intoxicated with happiness. "Dr. Mayfair is one hundred percent sure." Finally, after weeks of wondering they knew for sure.

Klaus pulled away and kissed her lips, her cheek, and the tip of her nose before he lowered his head and nuzzled her neck.

"Are you happy?" A giddy Bonnie asked.

"How could I not be?" He pulled his face away from her neck and shared a loving smile with her.

"I know you wanted two boys," Bonnie murmured as she gently touched his face with her hand. "You were absolutely convinced we would have two sons," she reminded him.

"Yes, well." Klaus pushed a strand of dark hair away from her face and kissed her lips sweetly once more. "I don't mind being _partially_ wrong."

Bonnie's laughter was cut off by the hot press of his mouth. Their lips met feverishly once more. The need to touch, to hold, and to show how much they loved each other was overwhelming. While her hands began tugging desperately at his shirt, his hands were already pulling the silky material of her robe down her shoulders, mouth hungrily trailing kisses down her neck and exposing those gorgeous full breasts to his hungry eyes and desperate hands.

In their desire to fuse their bodies together, the white box fell to the floor, the two different color booties slipping out and rolling onto the floor.

One pink and one blue.

A girl and a boy.


	63. Chapter 63

_The moment he opened the door, he knew something was wrong. A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach had him stepping inside the room with apprehension. He looked around the nursery with nervousness, a cold sweat descending his spine right away._

 _It was empty._

 _Everything looked nice and clean. There were no toys scattered around the floor like it was the usual. His daughter's favorite teddy bear which always sat on the rocking chair in the corner of the room was gone. His eyes moved to the wall, towards the shelve, seeking his son's favorite toy cars. The cars were gone as well. He looked around the room, noticing all the things that were missing, all the favorite things that belonged to his children. His body shook as a deep and ugly feeling took root inside him._

" _Bonnie!" Klaus called out as he practically ran out of the room. "Sweetheart, where are you?"_

 _There was no response._

" _Bonnie!" He yelled while using his supernatural senses to locate her inside the house._

 _There was no one in the hall. He couldn't feel anyone inside the house as a matter of fact. That ugly feeling inside him intensified once more. He descended the stairs in a rush. "Bonnie!" He yelled again._

 _Nothing._

" _Elijah!" He tried calling for his older brother but again, there was no response._

" _Rebekah!"_

" _Kol!"_

 _He couldn't sense Elijah, or Rebekah, or Kol inside the house. They like Bonnie, were nowhere be found._

 _Feeling agitated, Klaus closed his eyes and searched for Bonnie through their bond. They were bound by blood and magic. No matter where she was, he would always find her. The small ray of hope he had in his heart died when he couldn't sense his wife at all. He tried searching for that unique link between them, he tried reaching out to her through that invisible string that made them one. He couldn't._

 _The bond between him and Bonnie no longer existed. Bonnie was no longer a part of him. Her feelings, her presence was no longer inside his blood. She was truly and irrevocably gone from him. The excruciating pain he felt in his heart was unbearable. It felt like he had been daggered, like his heart had been ripped away from his chest in one single moment. His worst nightmare, his greatest fear had become reality._

 _Bonnie was gone._

 _His children were gone._

 _His siblings were gone._

 _He was all alone._

" _You didn't honestly believe she was going to stay with you forever, did you?"_

 _Klaus's eyes snapped open as he heard that familiar voice. He spun around and came face to face with none other than Marcel._

 _His adoptive son smirked as he walked closer. "Bonnie finally realized the truth," Marcel muttered gleefully._

" _Where is she?" Klaus demanded furiously. He moved closer, hands clenching, eyes hard and murderous._

" _She left," Marcel responded simply. "She finally had enough of the Mikaelson family drama and realized that the best thing for her and her kids is to be away from you."_

" _No…" Klaus refused to believe that. Bonnie wouldn't do that to him. Bonnie wouldn't leave him without saying anything, she wouldn't take his children away from him._

" _Your children deserve a better father," Marcel said, his dark eyes were filled with hatred. "A real father, not a monster like you."_

 _Klaus growled and sped forwards, attempting to grab Marcel._

 _The younger vampires disappeared before Klaus could catch him and materialized behind his sire._

 _Klaus turned around, ready to grab him once more but instead he felt a hot burning pain in his chest. It happened so fast, he never saw the attack coming. He gasped and fell to his knees, looking down in horror at the blood oozing from his heart. He had been stabbed._

 _A strong calloused hand grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head backwards._

 _Klaus groaned loudly. It hurt. He felt like he had been dumped into a pool of hot lava. He had never known such pain before. He had never been stabbed through his heart like this before. It was unbearable. He had been completely paralyzed by the unexpected pain._

 _The ghost of a cold breath against his ear had him trembling._

" _Did you honestly think you could play at being a daddy, boy."_

 _Klaus would recognize that sinister voice anywhere. It was the voice of the man that had hunted him like an animal for one thousand years._

" _Father…" he painfully let out the word._

" _Father?" Mikael taunted. "Still clinging to that word after all these years?" his cruel laugh echoed around the empty compound. He pushed the stake deeper into Klaus's heart._

 _Klaus screamed in agony. He tried to summon every last bit of strength he had in order to get away but Mikael's hand on his shoulder was an iron chain that kept him in place. He couldn't escape._

" _I have a gift for you," Mikael whispered. "Look." He forced Klaus's head in the direction of the front door._

 _Sunlight streamed inside the house through the open door, a beautiful golden halo that illuminated the two tiny little corpses on the stone floor._

 _Klaus's entire body went cold. He forgot the fear, he forgot the pain, and let out a heartbreaking scream that resonated throughout the house. Tears welled up in his eyes as he saw the mutilated bodies of his children. His beautiful children. He hadn't protected them. He had fail them. He had let a monster devour them._

" _This is only the beginning," Mikael hissed in his ear._

 _Klaus let out a choking sound as his father pushed the stake fully into his heart. The last thing he saw before his body burst into flames were the two tiny and bloody bodies on the floor._

 _Klaus burned._

 _Mikael watched and laughed._

 **X**

 **X**

 **X**

He woke up gasping for air, his blue eyes wide with fear. His entire body shook like a trembling newborn babe ripped from the womb. His mind was in chaos, his emotions were a mess, and his body was struggling to comprehend the different signals it was receiving.

"Klaus?"

Her gentle voice was a spark of light in the cold and sinister dark cloud that surrounded him. Her familiar scent, that sweet combination of lavender, magic, and his own scent mixed with hers penetrated his senses with ease. The smell of sex, blood, and magic lingered inside the room as well.

Klaus focused on that. He clung to those scents as he struggled to put the nightmare to rest. Other sounds and scents slowly began filtering through as well. He could hear the thunder from outside and the hard rain pelting the roof and windows. A storm had descended over New Orleans, a storm that equally matched the one inside him.

Another far more beautiful sound reached his hears as well, the steady beatings of two tiny hearts. His children. _They are alive, they are safe,_ Klaus thought with relief. In the chaos inside him, those two precious sounds were a welcoming breath of air.

"Are you okay?"

Klaus closed his eyes the moment he felt her soft hand on his shoulder. He shut down completely. He allowed himself a moment to enjoy her gentle touch before he steeled himself and sealed all that hurricane of emotions swirling inside him. He sat completely still and closed himself from everything and everyone.

Once he finally had a hold of himself, Klaus turned his head to the side, in the direction of that voice which was a soothing balm upon a fiery wound and opened his eyes.

The lamp on the bedside table turned on with a single command from Bonnie's magic. The soft light illuminated the room, casting a shadow over half of his face.

Bonnie watched him nervously. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on. His fear had awoken her from her slumber. His fear had cut through her like a knife and bolted her out of a sweet lingering dream. "Are you okay?" she whispered with uncertainty. She rubbed her hand gently over his shoulder and up and down his arm while her eyes were glued to his face.

"I'm fine," Klaus answered. His face was the perfect sign of calm and serenity. There was not a single trace of the fear, pain, and heartbreak from before. It was all gone, locked away behind a heavy door. Klaus knew how to keep his composure even when his insides were burning.

Bonnie studied his features carefully, feeling surprised at how at ease he suddenly looked.

"I'm fine, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head and offered her his trademark smirk.

It was amazing how he could look absolutely terrified one moment and the next, he looked fine and dandy; as if nothing had ever happened. Klaus was good at mastering his feelings and presenting a mask of indifference to the world.

Bonnie gave him a knowing look. She didn't believe his words, she knew better. She had felt his fear and his pain, it was what woke her.

"It was nothing," Klaus lied.

Bonnie rubbed her hand gently over his shoulder, moving it up and down his arm while keeping her eyes on his face. "Don't lie," she whispered. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to but don't pretend that it was nothing."

Klaus looked away from her.

Bonnie continued to caress his arm and even placed a sweet kiss on his shoulder before resting her head against him.

"It was just a dream," he finally murmured. He reached out and placed a hand over her bump. "It's not real." It was said more to convince himself- for the traces of that awful nightmare still plagued him.

"Why did it make you afraid?" Bonnie asked gently.

Klaus swallowed thickly. He continued to caressed her expanded stomach, listening to the steady rhythm of the twins' hearts. "You and our children were gone…" he said in a shaky voice. "And Marcel was there taunting me and then he turned into father…" as always, the thought of his father made him shiver involuntarily. After all this time, Mikael still had power over him. He hated it. "He staked me and he…" he shook his head. He was not going to tell her about the two tiny bodies. It made him sick just thinking about it. "I think now that I'm so close to becoming a father, my demons have decided to come out and torment me." While he had come to accept Bonnie's pregnancy, he was still uncertain and afraid of the kind of father he would turn out to be. The fear that he would run his children like his father had ruined him haunted him.

Bonnie moved closer to him. "You are going to be a great dad." She stopped caressing his arm and instead raised her hand up to touch his face, fingers grabbing his chin and pulling his face towards hers. "I'm not going anywhere Klaus," she reassured him. "You're stuck with me, _baby._ "

"Baby?" The corner of Klaus's lips twitched. He didn't have the courage to tell her _how much_ those simple words meant to him or how desperately he had needed to hear them so he focused instead on the pet name she used for the first time. "I'm your baby now?" he arched a curious eyebrow.

Bonnie didn't need to hear what her words meant to him. She felt it. Their bond always gave away the truth of their feelings. Her face softened as she gazed at him. She knew how much he hated feeling so vulnerable and exposed like that but she felt glad he could confide in her. She grinned up at him, feeling determined to take his mind away from the terrible dream. "Would you prefer sugar pie? Honey bunch? My boo?" She suggested with a half laugh. He eyes suddenly lit up. "Nikki-boo," she teased playfully.

Klaus looked horrified at the thought. "Please don't ever call me that." He would never hear the end of it from Kol.

"You call me sweetheart and love all the time," Bonnie pointed out.

"That's different." Klaus easily relaxed as they continued with their banter.

"Is it?" Bonnie rubbed the back of his neck, a teasing smile on her lips. "What nickname would you prefer?"

"My king," he suggested with a glint in his eyes.

Bonnie snorted. "You wish." She was definitely not calling him that.

Klaus laughed, enjoying the feel of her fingers massaging his skin. Bonnie's touch was soothing.

"I guess I can always call you _darling,_ " she purred. Her small hand moved lower, down from his neck and towards his naked back.

A slight tingle went down his spine at her warm touch. He shivered in anticipation. Klaus found himself wondering if she had any idea of the power she held over him.

Bonnie watched him with hooded eyes. She bit her lip, fingers tracing his shoulder blades and moving lower still, teasing a line down his spine, before moving up and then down again.

Klaus's eyes darkened. He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her face forward. "Thank-you," he whispered against her lips. She had easily taken his mind off the nightmare that had paralyzed him with fear upon waking up.

Bonnie smiled and moved closer until her lips were centimeters away from his. She hooked her around his neck and pulled him in for a steamy kiss.

The storm continued outside but Klaus happily locked away the dream and lost himself in her.

* * *

 **The next morning**

"We're having a boy and a girl!" Klaus and Bonnie dropped the bomb on the family as they all gathered for breakfast.

There was an explosion of happiness around the table as the news sunk in.

"What?" Rebekah squealed and stood from her seat. She rushed towards Bonnie and was the first to hug her.

"Oh my god!" Lucy placed her hands over her mouth.

Davina who had been in the process of buttering her toast, grinned from ear to ear.

"Are you kidding me!" Kol groaned upon realizing he had lost the bet. Despite his disappointment at being wrong, he found himself smiling at the news.

"Shit! I was right!" Matt couldn't stop laughing. He felt so happy for Bonnie. "I won!" he couldn't help but rub it in Kol's face.

Kol glared at him. "It was dumb luck."

"I still won!" Matt grinned. He had won a couple hundred bucks as a matter of fact.

Even Elijah who usually had a guarded expression, couldn't stop the happy smile on his face as soon as he heard the news. Everyone had been waiting for the moment Bonnie would find out the sex of the twins and the entire family was blissfully happy at the revelation that it would be a boy and a girl.

"A little girl and a little boy," Lucy muttered as she pulled Bonnie into a hug, right after Rebekah released her. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank-you," Bonnie whispered. She couldn't stop smiling.

The two pulled apart.

"I can't wait to see what Aunt Vivian will have to say to this," Lucy shared a grin with Bonnie. "The first male Bennett witch!" she exclaimed suddenly. "You sure know how to make your name legendary cuz."

Bonnie laughed.

"Congratulations," Elijah whispered before hugging Bonnie next and tenderly kissing her cheek.

"Thank-you," Bonnie smiled at him.

Matt followed Elijah, embracing Bonnie tenderly-always careful of her big belly.

Elijah turned to congratulate Klaus."You must be thrilled." _And undeniably happy,_ Elijah noted as well. He had never seen his brother so happy, not as he was with Bonnie. She was without a doubt his light.

"Yes," there was an almost a shy smile on Klaus's face. The nightmare he had the previous night was all but forgotten as he basked in the happiness his children brought him.

Rebekah wasted no time in hugging him and kissing his cheek. "This is the best news we had in months!"

"Indeed, it is."

Brother and sister shared complicit smiles.

"I'm happy for you," Rebekah whispered and squeezed his hand. "Both of you." Nik and Bonnie deserved to be happy.

"My turn, my turn!" Charlotte exclaimed pushing Kol out of the way and rushing to hug Bonnie before he could.

"Seriously!" Kol glared down at her. "Ill-mannered monkey," he muttered under his breath. The things he had to put up with.

"Kol," Elijah chided him.

Kol ignored him and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting his turn to congratulate Bonnie.

"I can't wait to meet them," Charlotte told Bonnie sweetly.

"Me either," Bonnie agreed and kissed her forehead.

Charlotte smiled at her before turning to glance at Kol. "I'm not monkey, you pig!"

Kol opened his mouth with a retort but Klaus's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Don't," the hybrid warned. He didn't want their constant bickering to ruin the happy mood.

Davina took the chance to congratulate Bonnie."I guess Klaus was half right," she mumbled after hugging her.

"And he won't let you hear the end of it," Bonnie said grinning.

"I'm very happy for you."

"Thanks."

"I do believe a toast is in order," Elijah proposed raising his glass of orange juice.

Everyone followed his example.

Charlotte happily stood in front of Klaus and Bonnie and raised her own glass, feeling like a grown up.

"To Bonnie and Klaus," Elijah said toasting in their direction. "May your son and daughter be born healthy and grow up to be as magnificent as their parents."

Bonnie and Klaus shared a loving smile.

"May they bring you all the joy in the world," Rebekah added and happily raising her own glass.

"And all the headaches when they become teenagers," Kol remarked with a mischievous gin.

Klaus rolled his eyes but his lips twitched into a grin.

Bonnie laughed and snuggled closer against him.

"And once they start dating," Kol added as an afterthought.

Klaus growled at the thought his daughter dating.

Everyone laughed.

Bonnie kissed his cheek and giggled. "Relax, papa bear." It would be years before that happen. Although she already felt sorry for her daughter's future suitors.

"May they be blessed and grow up to be happy," Lucy made her own toast.

"Surrounded by aunts and uncles who are going to spoil them rotten," Matt added as he raised his glass in their direction.

"And who will love and protect them always," Davina murmured rather emotionally. "A family," she whispered. The one thing many children in the world lacked. The one thing she had found.

Tears formed in Bonnie's eyes and she reached out and squeezed Davina's hand.

"And a big sister," Charlotte added. "Me," she pointed to herself right way in case anyone had not understood her meaning.

Everyone laughed, even Kol couldn't contain his amusement at the little demon's excitement. The girl was annoying more often than not but she genuinely loved Bonnie and already adored the twins.

"Don't cry," Rebekah told her friend seeing the tears in Bonnie's eyes.

"I can't help it," Bonnie mumbled. She felt so emotional but above all, happy.

Klaus wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He kissed the top of her head. "To the little Mikaelson's," he murmured as he raised his own glass.

"Bennett-Mikaelson," Bonnie corrected with a teasing grin.

"Mikaelson-Bennett," Elijah suggested right way.

"Alright," Lucy intervened. "We are not fighting over names right now." There would be plenty of time for that later.

There was more laughter from everyone.

Bonnie placed a hand over her belly and looked at her family, feeling absolutely grateful to have found them.

"Cheers!" They all clicked their glasses of orange juice together, toasting in the parents honor and the children who would soon make their appearance into the world.

It was a happy day for the family.

* * *

 **Later that night**

The party was in full swing by the time Marcel arrived. The alcohol was flowing, the dance floor was crowded, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. His eyes scanned the area, memories of his time living at the compound and the endless parties he once threw for his vampires came to his mind. It seemed like a lifetime ago, despite the fact that it had only been a few months.

"Marcellus," Klaus greeted politely. Bonnie was by his side. The two had been making their way around the floor, greeting all the guests when they had spotted Marcel entering their home. "You're late," the hybrid reproached.

Marcel shrugged. He had been debating whether to attend the party or not since he had received the invitation; considering what happened the last time he attended a party thrown by Klaus, he felt cautious and rather nervous about being there.

"We're glad you came," Bonnie told him with a genuine smile. She looked beautiful in a Greek style emerald dress that flowed down her body and perfectly displayed her round belly. The dangling diamond earrings on her ears and the matching bracelet on her arm shone brightly under the lights. She was the picture of perfect elegance and gracefulness.

"Thank-you for inviting me," he answered with one of his famous, heartwarming smiles. He couldn't help but like Bonnie. She was nice -it had been her idea to invite him to Thanksgiving dinner, he knew- Davina adored her, and there was something very soft and delicate about her appearance. She was rather tiny and her belly was huge, he honestly didn't know how she could handle that weight. What Marcel did know was that her pregnancy made her glow and it showed on her beautiful face. He never imagined that a pregnant woman could look so attractive but more than that, there was something about Bonnie that seemed to draw people in as soon as one saw her. She had that something.

Klaus cleared his throat and gave him a nasty look. The arm he had around Bonnie tightened in a possessive grip as well.

Bonnie gave him an amused smile.

It dawned on Marcel that he had been openly staring and smiling at Bonnie and he had done it right in front of Klaus no less. _Way to go, Marcel. This is a nice way to get along with your sire,_ he thought to himself. "I'm going to get a drink." He excused himself right away. He felt Klaus's eyes on the back of his head as he walked and a slight chill descended over his body. If looks could kill, Marcel felt certain he would be dead. Starting the night on the wrong foot was not part of his plans.

"Marcel!"

Davina's beaming smile and pretty face came into view. "You came!" she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"You're here," Marcel murmured while hugging her back. He hadn't expected Davina to be in attendance considering that the witches in the city had been invited. The witches wanted to complete the Harvest; it was something almost everyone knew. Marcel honestly didn't like the idea of having Davina and the witches under the same roof. Then again, he didn't like the idea of having all the supernatural species in the same place at once either.

"I am," Davina replied as they pulled apart. She looked pleased with herself. "I had to begged Klaus to let me come," she admitted in a whisper. "And he only agreed because Bonnie asked him. I'm only allowed to stay until midnight and I have to have a bodyguard with me at all times." She motioned with her head to the hybrid behind her.

Nate stood a few away from the teenage witch, discreetly watching over her. Klaus had assigned him to be Davina's bodyguard for the night. He had been ordered not to let her out of sight, a task he was completing to a T. Davina had felt really annoyed at first, she didn't like having a bodyguard breathing down her neck but she soon forgot all about Nate as she spent time with her friends (Josh, Belle, and Riley) and enjoyed the party. She had never attended Marcel's parties, this was a first for her and she was enjoying it to the fullest.

Knowing that Klaus had someone watching her at all times, made Marcel feel slightly better. His eyes moved around the room in search for any witch that might represent a threat to Davina. He was surprised when he only saw a handful of witches, mostly from the Treme and Algiers coven, and a handful of others from the Gentily coven. He also recognized plenty of the Bennett witches he had met during Thanksgiving dinner with the Mikaelson family. No one from the French Quarter coven was in attendance as far as he could see. As he looked over the top of Davina's head, he was surprised to see Cami, happily chatting with Rebekah's human, and Lucy Bennett.

"That's Cami," Davina said following his line of sight. "She's a friend of Matt's from work. I heard she's related to father Kieran."

"Yes, she is." Marcel stared at Cami for a few seconds (she looked stunning in her white dress) before he turned back to face Davina. "So," his lips curved into a smirk. "How about a dance?"

Davina giggled and readily took his offered hand.

The two happily chatted as they made their way to the dance floor.

* * *

Rebekah quietly made her way to Charlotte's bedroom. She, Lucy, and Bonnie had decided to take turns checking on the sleeping little witch as the night progressed. Charlotte's room had been spelled so she wouldn't hear any noises from the party downstairs and Bonnie had also added a protective spell in case anyone who wasn't family went to the second floor. Even though the guest were strictly forbidden from venturing to the second floor of the house, Bonnie didn't want to take any chances and had ensured that her little girl would be protected at all costs.

Charlotte had wanted to attend the party and like Davina, she had begged Klaus and Bonnie but had not been allowed. She was too young. The little witch had pouted and complained as Bonnie put her to bed long before the party kicked off. She had been sleeping peacefully ever since. Every hour or so, the girls would check on her.

Just as Rebekah was about to open the door, a muffled noise reach her ears. Despite her super hearing, Rebekah had to press her ear against the door to hear better. Yes, it was definitely coming from inside Charlotte's room. It sounded like a woman humming. _What the bloody hell?_ Rebekah thought. She pushed the door opened right away and stormed inside.

Nothing.

Rebekah watched the sleeping girl for a couple of seconds. She was snoring lightly, snuggled beneath a thick ivory wool blanket. It looked like she had been recently tucked in. _Had Bonnie or Lucy checked on her already?_

Rebekah frowned and looked around the room. Her superior senses expanding to their limits as she tried to find anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing. She could hear Charlotte's beating heart but that was it. There was no one else in the room.

 _How odd,_ Rebekah thought. _Where had that humming noise come from?_ Rebekah could have sworn she heard it from inside Charlotte's room. It had sounded like a woman humming a lullaby or something. She felt rather perturbed by the whole thing. So much so, that she decided to stay and watch over Charlotte for a couple of minutes. She moved towards the chair on the corner of the room. She picked Charlotte's stuffed elephant in her arms and sat down, never taking her eyes away from the sleeping and angelic looking girl.

Rebekah watched and waited to see if she would hear that humming sound again. _Was her mind playing tricks on her?_

She never heard another sound.

Later, when she returned to the party and began dancing with Matt, she forgot about the strange incident.

* * *

Klaus rested his hands on the balcony railing and looked down at the huge crowd gathered around the first floor of his home. Humans, vampires, werewolves and witches were mingling together in a rather peaceful- albeit a bit tense- manner.

"Is it too early to say this party has been a success," Elijah appeared next to him and handed him a glass of champagne. His eyes as always were drawn to Lucy who was happily chatting with Matt and some other guests. She looked stunning in her mini black dress.

"The clock hasn't struck twelve yet." Klaus took the offered glass. It was definitely too early to count this as a victory in his opinion. He knew better by now than to trust appearances, everything could go to hell in a blink of an eye. The house had been spelled from top to bottom and he and his siblings were more than ready should things take a turn for the worse but they knew better than to let their guard down. "For now, the treaty has been finally signed and things are going as planned." It hadn't been easy but they had finally succeeded.

The two brothers clicked their glasses together and shared a triumphant grin before continuing to survey the crowd below.

"Only a handful of witches have made an appearance," Elijah commented a little while later. It was probably an act of rebellion on the witches' part. Most of them hated vampires and did not wish to be associated with them unless they absolutely had to. Refusing to attend the Mikaelson's party was a good way for them to stand up to their enemies-in their eyes at least.

Klaus nodded and took a sip from his glass. There was plenty of time for more witches to arrive but for now, he kept his eyes on the wolves and the vampires. Most of the wolves seemed nervous and excited and kept mostly to themselves. The vampires on the other hand, moved more freely around the floor. There was one group in particular that had an air of superiority to them, an arrogance, and wickedness that made everyone else stay out of their way.

Armand and his group certainly believed they were superior to all others. They even thought they were better than the other vampires who in theory should be their equals.

Klaus watched them with disdain. He was no stranger to Armand's airs of grandeur. "You know that son of a bitch asked me for daylight rings for his people," he informed Elijah. Since Bonnie and Angelica made rings for the local vampires that fought on their side against the Navarro forces, Armand thought his vampires (as he continued to referred to them) also needed daylight rings.

"When you denied him, he went to Aya and asked if the Strix coven could give them rings," Elijah murmured quietly. "She denied him of course."

"That's surprising. Isn't he a high-ranking member of the Strix?"

"She doesn't trust him," Elijah confided in their mother tongue. Aya felt wary about Armand and his quest for more power. She had allowed him to raise his army and draw Elijah to them but she was also counting on the fact that Elijah would kill him and take the army for himself.

"Is that so?" Klaus glanced at his brother before looking at Armand once more. The fool was living on borrowed time and he was the only one who had not realized it yet.

The arrogant vampire was like a king holding court as he stood in one corner. His loyal group of followers stood close to him, surrounding him in a protective bubble. A great part of the vampire army that arrived with him from Shreveport had started to adapt to the rules and the way things worked in New Orleans. They were young, easily impressionable, and were awe struck by Klaus and his siblings. However, there was a good number of vampires that were without a doubt completely devoted and loyal to Armand and weren't planning on changing their tune any time soon.

Klaus and Elijah had been observing them for the past couple of weeks, watching, learning, and subtly steering many vampires away from Armand and turning them to their side. In the same way, Klaus was gaining more respect and admiration from the werewolves, the Original siblings were earning the devotion of the vampire army. Little by little, Klaus and his siblings were collecting vampires and werewolves to their side but there were still plenty of rotten apples in the basket though.

Klaus's eyes moved to the entrance. His senses alerting him to the group coming into his home long before they passed the threshold.

Jackson, Hayley, and a group of Crescent wolves had arrived to the party.

There were a few murmurs around the people closest to the door as they watched the group step inside the compound. A new kind of tension invaded the guests in that moment, a tension that escalated when Jackson and his group saw Marcel.

Klaus calmly took another sip of champagne and watched the tense exchange of looks.

"Do you think the Crescents are going to try anything?" Elijah asked suddenly.

"Perhaps," Klaus muttered. He didn't look particularly concerned about it though. "Marcel did curse them." In way, he understood the hatred the Crescents felt for Marcel and his vampires and he wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to retaliate but every supernatural also knew the rules in place now. "The Crescents are aware of the rules," he added as he witnessed the tense exchange.

One of the wolves took a menacing step forward.

Marcel looked ready to defend himself. Thierry and a couple other vampires moved closer to him, in case he needed back up.

Jackson held his packmate back and dragged him away before he could cause any more trouble.

Everyone visibly relaxed.

Mayor de la Fontaine exchanged a nervous but happy grin with his wife. He looked pleased that the wolves were trying to uphold the peace.

With the crisis avoided, everyone went back to their business and continued to enjoy the party.

"I don't get him," Elijah muttered his eyes following Jackson around the room. "There are times like right now when he seems like a reasonable leader and others when-"

"He's an annoying pain in the ass," Klaus interrupted.

Elijah nodded. He didn't know what to make of Jackson or how much of a threat he could become to them. The one thing Elijah and Klaus had noticed was the power and influence Hayley had over her husband.

"The problem with the Crescents is their pride," Klaus told his brother. They considered themselves as werewolf royalty and wanted to have power and influence in the city because they once ruled it. Klaus had denied Jackson and Hayley a place in the meetings between the factions. The Crescents had kneeled before him, they had accepted him as their king, and Klaus was not willing to give them more power. The Crescents were not the first wolf bloodline, they would always be beneath Fenrir's pack, and Klaus was always keen to remind them of that. They of course, were having a difficult time accepting the fact that they were not as important as they thought themselves to be.

"Just like Armand, they are too pretentious for their own good."

"Precisely," Klaus agreed with his brother. "Keep an eye on Armand." He wouldn't put it past Armand and his crew to start trouble at the party. They were the sort to ruin things for everyone else. "I will keep the Crescents in line." He glanced at the door that led to the study, wondering how Bonnie's conversation with Vincent was going.

"Very well," Elijah murmured.

The two brothers continued to watch the crowd below.

Klaus kept looking at the door that led to the study from time to time.

* * *

"So, the witches are blaming me for the missing bodies?" Bonnie couldn't believe it.

"There is a great number of witches that feel suspicious of you and your family," Vincent told her softly. The minute he arrived at the party, he asked to speak with Bonnie in private. The two of them were inside the study of the compound locked under a powerful silencing spell. "They think you did it to stop the Harvest."

"I didn't do it."

"I know."

Their eyes met. In the few months they had known each other, a begrudging respect had developed between the two. They weren't friends by any means but they both had a common goal and were working hard to achieve it.

"We can't keep prolonging this," Vincent said in a serious and worried voice. "The end of the year is around the corner and the time to complete the Harvest is slipping through our fingers. The witches are not going to let that happen, even if it means taking matters into their own hands." As much as he hated to admit it, plenty of witches had turned their backs on the Regent and were doing their own thing. "The witch summit is in two days," he continued watching her carefully. "I'm sure Marguerite Lescheres, Kara Nguyen, and the witches that follow them will make many demands. The Harvest being one of them."

"I can't force Davina to do something she doesn't want to," Bonnie retorted. She had tried talking to Davina about the Harvest but the girl refused, changing the subject immediately when it was brought up. She had even refused to speak with Josephine. Davina was very stubborn and above all, she was afraid. Bonnie hadn't been able to convince her, not that she had pushed much. There was a part of Bonnie that thought that they should do the Harvest but there was another part of her that felt worried and distrustful of giving all that power to the witches. It was a very complicated situation and Bonnie hoped to get a better sense and understanding of the witches during the summit.

"Bring her to the Summit," Vincent suggested.

"With the witches that want her dead?" Bonnie snapped. "I won't put her in that kind of danger."

"Davina needs to know what's at stake," Vincent insisted. "She needs to understand what's going on and why the Harvest is so important to us."

"I'm not going to risk-"

"Davina is a New Orleans witch," Vincent cut her off. "She is the last of the Harvest girls. She is involved in this whether she wants it or not. She needs to be there," he insisted. "Josephine wants her there and more importantly it is her duty as a New Orleans witch to be present on such an important occasion."

Deep down, Bonnie knew Vincent had a point. As worried as she was for Davina's safety, Bonnie knew she had to attend the summit. "Fine," she relented. "But I'm warning you right now. If any of the witches try anything against Davina during the summit, I won't hesitate to defend her."

Vincent nodded. He had expected as much. "You have my word that I won't let anything happen to Davina during the summit and neither will Josephine." For the sake of the alliance and the good of witch community, he hoped none of the witches attending the summit were stupid enough to challenge Bonnie. "You need to be prepared," he warned the young queen. "Kara and Marguerite won't hold back any punches."

"They haven't even met me and they already seem to hate me," Bonnie complained.

"Your reputation precedes you."

Bonnie looked away from him, choosing to walk around the desk, and stand close to the window. She knew she had made a name for herself with her defeat of the Seer. The summit was going to be decisive not just for the witch community but for Bonnie's image. This was her opportunity to show the witches who she really was. She could only hope that things would work out in the end.

Silence descended over them.

Vincent watched her quietly.

Bonnie in turn stared out of the window, there were a good number of people gathered outside, curious onlookers, guests making their way in, and a couple of tourists attempting to sneak in without invitation. They were easily sent on their way with the help of compulsion. So far, the party was a success and Bonnie felt grateful.

"Are there any other suspects?" she asked after a long time in silence. "Anyone else who could benefit from taking the girls' bodies?" _Why would anyone do such a thing?_

"Anyone could have done it, even other witches attempting to do the Harvest on their own," Vincent admitted.

"Is that even possible?" Bonnie turned back to face him, a worried look on her face. Davina was in even a greater danger if that was the case. If any witch could perform the ritual than they were in trouble.

Vincent leaned his elbows against the leather chair in front of him, the one across from the desk. "Honestly, I don't know."

Bonnie gave him a curious look.

"A few weeks ago, I would have said no. Only an Elder or a Regent are capable of doing such powerful ritual but now…" he paused. "I don't know." There was a sinister force out there, something extremely dark and powerful making moves from the shadows.

"Do you have any other clues?"

"The magical residue left around the cemetery…" Vincent stopped abruptly. He wasn't sure if he should be telling her this or not. It was a sensitive thing. He considered it for a moment, wondering if the idea had crossed Bonnie's mind. In the past couple of weeks his suspicions had grown and there was a part of him that wanted to share them and get another perspective but he didn't dare voice such things with the friends he had from his coven. He hadn't even dared to bring it up with Josephine again.

Bonnie waited expectantly for him to continue. "What about the magical residue?" she probed. There was something he clearly wanted to say to her.

"It was familiar," Vincent finally admitted. "It was powerful, far too powerful than a single witch."

"Are you saying an entire coven is involved?"

"Maybe," Vincent muttered deep in thought. "I couldn't find the identity of the witch or witches who took the bodies but the magic left behind felt familiar to me. The imprint left around the graves was intoxicating. I…that kind of power…" he struggled to find the right words. "It wasn't natural…it didn't feel like it was from this earth."

Bonnie frowned and contemplated his words.

"There is something at play here," Vincent continued. The words escaped his mouth in a rush, he felt the need to pour out his thoughts and that is exactly what he did. "Something bigger, darker than we can imagine." He pulled away from the chair and began pacing around the study. "First, it was the missing witches and now the bodies of the Harvest girls are gone. There is no trace of them at all." He turned back to look at Bonnie. "No locator spell that can find them, no clues, nothing. That's the thing that gets me, that…" it angered him. "They couldn't have disappeared into thin air." Vincent was convinced that they were hidden somewhere in the city, possibly somewhere in plain sight but no one had been able to find them yet. It had been months since it all started and there had been no progress. It was frustrating.

For weeks, the elders of many different covens had been attempting to locate the missing witches, as had Josephine and Vincent himself but nothing had worked. He knew Bonnie and her coven had also attempted to locate Lenore to no success. None of the magic they had used had worked. _Why?_

 _Who took the witches?_

 _What was the purpose of taking them?_

 _How were the Harvest girls involved?_

Every time he thought about it, Vincent came back to the same frightening conclusion. "How is it possible that none of the attempts to find them have worked?" He asked.

Bonnie didn't say anything, that was exactly the thing that got to her to. She had as many questions as Vincent but listening to him say the words out loud also brought other kinds of thoughts to her mind. She suddenly felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach while an idea began forming in her mind. It was a sinister thought but one that made sense. It was scary how much sense it made actually. _Why hadn't it occur to her before?_

"Who could be so powerful as to block all of us like that?" Vincent continued with his questions. He knew the answer in his heart. His suspicions had been accumulating for the past couple of weeks and he wanted to see if Bonnie came up to the same conclusion as he. "What kind of magic in this world is strong enough to evade the power of entire witch covens, of the Regent herself?" He dared to ask Bonnie. _Do you see what I am seeing?_ He wanted to ask. _Do you see where this is going? What is happening?_ "Who is pulling the strings and more importantly, what is their ultimate goal?"

Bonnie didn't say anything at first. She stood quietly, mulling over his words. The answer seemed so obvious and yet, she couldn't bring herself to say it at first. She studied Vincent's face carefully.

Vincent waited for her to say something.

"There is one group of individuals that I consider powerful enough to hide witches in plain sight, to fight against the magic of powerful covens and win," she bit her lip nervously, thinking back on the encounters she had with them. Her hand immediately went to her bump, remembering the last time she came face to face with _them._ "They are powerful enough to pull the strings." Bonnie shivered. _Why hadn't she seen it before?_ The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. "The Spirits," she said at last. "The spirits are the only ones who can be so powerful to do something like this." The realization felt like a bucket of ice water falling on her.

"Or the Ancestors as we know them in New Orleans," Vincent muttered in agreement.

As soon as the words were spoken out loud, the lights flickered on and off inside the study. It was only for a couple of seconds but it was enough to have both of their hearts racing.

"What the-" Bonnie didn't get to finish.

The wood on the fireplace erupted in flames.

Vincent spun around immediately surprised by the strong current of magic he felt in the air.

Bonnie gasped upon feeling it as well.

"Did you…?" Vincent asked turning to face her.

Bonnie shook her head. The magic in the air wasn't hers, or her children's for that matter, and judging by the look on Vincent's face, it wasn't his either.

Vincent looked around the room with apprehension.

The temperature dropped and a sudden cold descended over their bodies, despite the burning flames from the fireplace.

Bonnie stood anxiously clutching her stomach. _What was going on?_

 _Was this a warning? A message from beyond?_

Bonnie and Vincent exchanged nervous looks, waiting to see what would happen next.

Nothing.

The cold disappeared as quickly as it had come, the lights stopped flickering, and the flames died out in a blink of an eye. The whole thing had been rather weird. It had only lasted for a few seconds but it left both of them feeling shaken and troubled. They were clearly on to something.

The Spirits or Ancestors were somehow involved in what was happening in the city and that made the situation all the more dangerous, especially for those who wanted to stop them.

Bonnie took the magical display as a sign that they were right.

* * *

Davina grabbed a cup and began serving herself some fruit punch from one of the tables set up with refreshments. Her cheeks were flushed and she felt out of breath. She had danced with Marcel, Josh, and even Matt as she enjoyed her time at the party before her curfew. Which according to the ancient clock in the corner, she still had about twenty minutes left.

She drank the fruit punch in one go and proceed to make her way back to Belle and Riley. She easily spotted Rebekah being twirled around the dance floor by Matt. The two of them looked so happy and in love, it brought a smile to Davina's face. Elijah and Lucy were also dancing, completely oblivious to anyone else around them, they were lost in each other. Not too far away from them, Cami was blushing at something Marcel was saying as he guided her with expert ease in his arms.

Everyone was clearly having a good time.

Davina's eyes moved around the many familiar faces scattered around the first floor of the compound. Klaus was talking quietly with Ishmael and a couple other werewolves whose names she didn't know. One of the leaders of the human faction, Francesca was in deep conversation with a famous politician and his wife. Felix and Angelica were quietly talking in another corner, while Alexa had conceded another dance to Jesse. Davina watched them curiously, the two hybrids had spent the entire night together, just like Belle and Riley who had finally stopped dancing around each other and had started officially dating. Davina felt happy for her friend if not, a little envious. She wished she had someone like that in her life.

The only ones who sad a sour look on their faces were the Crescent wolves who looked rather out place and uncomfortable by their surroundings. Most of them kept giving wary and hatred glances in the vampires' direction. With the exception of Hayley and Jackson, who seemed to be enjoying themselves on the dance floor.

When Davina's eyes landed on Kol, the smile dropped from her face. The young and handsome Original was in a dark corner, whispering seductively in the ear of the red-haired girl on his lap. The woman's eyes were closed and her lips were parted in ecstasy. More than whispering, it looked like Kol was sucking her neck.

Disappointment filled her belly, Kol had not given her a second look since the party had started. He had been enjoying himself, flirting and dancing with any girl that got in his way. He hadn't even noticed her watching him. _Why would he?_ Her mind wondered suddenly. _Just because he has been nice to you on some occasions doesn't mean he likes you. Don't be stupid._ Davina shook her head and looked away from the horrible scene that left a bitter taste in her mouth. She made her way quickly towards her friends only to bump into someone along the way.

"I'm sorry," Davina apologized quickly. She had been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't seen him at all.

The curly blond haired guy cursed loudly; his beer had fallen all over his dark blue shirt.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking…I…" With a wave of her hand a bunch of napkins from the refreshment table flew straight into her hand. "Here." She handed him the napkins.

"Thanks," he mumbled as he attempted to clean his shirt.

"I'm sorry about your shirt," Davina apologized. His shirt looked new and she had ruined it.

"At least you didn't ruin my new shoes," he snapped, dumping the napkins he used on one of the servers that was passing by.

Davina was taken back by the harsh tone of his voice. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"Sorry," he apologized right away. "This party has my nerves on edge, you know."

Davina nodded. He was a werewolf, she could tell right away. She wondered if he belonged to Klaus's pack or one of the other ones from the Bayou. He was pretty good looking. He was tall, with green eyes, long blond hair, and facial hair that made him look more mature and sexy than many of the guys she had seen at the party. He was definitely older than her.

"What's your name?" he asked curiously, there was a strange glint in his eyes as he looked her up and down.

"Davina," she introduced herself. She felt a little self-conscious in the white short dress she had chosen to wear. From over his shoulder she could see the curious looks on Belle and Josh as they watched the exchange. Riley was looking at the guy, a serious look on his face. She wondered if they knew each other.

"A pretty name for a pretty girl."

Davina flushed, facing him once more. "What's your name?" she wondered a bit nervously. She wasn't really good at the whole flirting thing. _He was flirting with her, right?_

"My name is Oliver," he introduced himself while extending his hand in her direction.

"Nice to meet you," Davina replied shaking his hand. A gasp immediately escaped her lips as Oliver took her hand and placed it against his lips, kissing her lightly.

No one had ever kissed Davina's hand before. She turned red from head to toe and felt a thrill deep in her belly. It felt nice to be treated like that by a guy.

Oliver held her hand on his and stared into her eyes. "Would you like to dance?" he asked her while giving her a heated look.

Davina let out a nervous giggle. "Okay," she agreed right away. This was the first time an older guy was showing interest in her and she rather liked it.

Nate watched them with a frown, sending an icy glare in Oliver's direction. It was a look that clearly implied what would happen to Oliver should he misbehaved.

Belle exchanged a nervous look with Riley, neither of them were fond of the Crescent wolves. Oliver in particular, was an asshole.

"He's an ass," Josh muttered as he watched Davina dancing with Oliver. "But I have to admit, he's good looking. He has the whole savage look to him, with that hair and beard. It's kind of sexy."

"Since when are you pro-Crescents?" Riley gave him a weird look.

"I'm not," Josh replied right away. He raised his drink to his lips, his daylight ring gleaming with the candlelight. "I know their bite can kill me and we're supposed to be mortal enemies and all that jazz but there are some pretty good looking guys in the pack." His eyes landed on a tall, dark haired, olive skinned, sexy wolf who had a serious look on his face as he followed Oliver and Davina with his eyes. Almost as if sensing Josh's eyes on him, the guy turned to stare at the vampire. Josh gave him a friendly wave. The guy immediately looked away, feeling embarrassed. Josh only chuckled, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Belle slapped him on the shoulder.

"Ouch!" Josh turned to face her and glared. "What the hell was that for?" He asked rubbing his shoulder. It hurt. She was stronger than him.

"Stop flirting with the enemy!" Belle snapped.

"There is no harm in looking," Josh retorted still clutching his arm.

Riley laughed at their exchange.

The three of them went back to look at Davina and Oliver who continued dancing, oblivious to the commotion they were causing on the people watching them.

* * *

Marcel sopped dancing with Cami as he saw his adopted daughter twirling around the dace room with a Crescent werewolf of all people.

"They're just dancing," Cami placed a hand on his chest and stopped him from making his way to the couple. "Relax, big guy. There is no need to overreact."

Marcel growled and gently pushed Cami's hand away. There was a murderous look on his face as he made his way towards Davina and Oliver.

Cami sighed and watched him go sadly.

A few feet away from them, Cary had also noticed Oliver dancing with Davina and felt extremely suspicious of the wolf's motives. "What the hell is he playing at?" he asked out loud. Cary did not like or trusted the Crescent wolves at all.

"They are not doing anything wrong," Ishmael said in a clam voice. "Everyone needs to learn to get along." His eyes landed on another couple dancing nearby. "They are not the only witch and werewolf getting acquainted tonight," he pointed out.

Cary saw Andrew and one of Bonnie's cousins dancing not too far away from Davina and Oliver, Sofia he was pretty sure her name was. Andrew had been smitten form the moment he saw her and it had taken him nearly two hours, three glasses of whiskey, and the encouragement from most of his pack to ask her to dance. The poor boy had nearly fainted when she said yes.

"Don't compare Andrew to Oliver," Cary told his grandfather. There was no point of comparison really. Andrew liked to ramble and could be annoying at times but he was a good guy. He and his pack had adapted quickly to living and sharing the Bayou with the other wolves. Andrew had a bit of hero worship when it came to Klaus and was an overall nice guy, Oliver on the other hand was an ass who could make enemies easily. None of the wolves really liked him, except the ones from his pack.

Klaus remained silent. He had briefly looked at Davina and Oliver when they started dancing before focusing on Jackson and Hayley who had stopped dancing to look at the couple. While she looked rather pleased, Jackson seemed as surprised as Cary that Oliver had asked Davina to dance. _Interesting,_ the hybrid thought. There was something odd there. Something was going on with the Crescents and he didn't like it. His eyes went back to Davina and Oliver.

"A pretty girl like you must have an endless list of guys wanting to date her, huh?" Oliver was saying to a red face Davina.

Klaus rolled his eyes. _Davina couldn't seriously be falling for that crap, right?_ Surely the girl was smarted that that? No, judging by the flustered look on her face, Davina was completely enjoying the attention Oliver was giving her and Klaus knew he had to step in and do something about it.

He and Marcel got to the couple practically at the same time.

"Oliver!" Klaus cheerfully said his name and clamped one hand on the wolf's shoulder.

Oliver winced and immediately let go of Davina.

"Long time no see mate," Klaus dug his fingers painfully on Oliver's shoulder and pulled him even further away from the witch.

Oliver growled and attempted to rip his arm away, it was in vain. Klaus was ten times stronger than him and easily kept him in place.

Davina frowned. She looked between Marcel's furious face and Klaus's far too cheerful expression before she looked back at Oliver who looked in pain.

"Time to go to bed, sweetheart." Klaus's voice was calm and gentle as he looked at Davina but it was also filled with authority.

"But-"

The clock struck midnight.

Davina groaned in frustration, just when she was having a good time. She gave a pleading look at Klaus, hoping that he would allow her to stay in the party for a few more minutes. The hybrid was not swayed at all by her pleading looks.

"Now," Klaus ordered. His tone left no room for argument.

"Come on," Marcel attempted to grab her arm.

Davina pulled away from him. "We're not doing anything wrong, we're just dancing." She didn't like the scene they were causing with their overprotectiveness, everyone was staring at them. "I'm not a child, you know." She glared at both Marcel and Klaus before she ran out of there and made her way up the stairs. She was having a good time and they had ruined it.

Neither Klaus or Marcel seemed bothered by her outburst. They both turned to Oliver, matching evil grins on their faces.

"Now," Klaus said in a cheerful voice. "We need to have a serious conversation."

"Let me go!" Oliver growled. "You son of a-" his words turned into a groan of pain as Klaus literally squeezed the life out of him.

Marcel grabbed his other arm in a tight grip. Between him and Klaus they dragged Oliver towards the garden at vampire speed.

Jackson attempted to follow them and help his friend but he was immediately blocked by Felix and Jesse.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Felix warned him.

"Stay put," Jesse ordered.

"If they hurt Oliver-"

"They won't," Elijah's calm voice interrupted him.

Jackson turned to face him. He hated the arrogant son of a bitch and his superior attitude.

Elijah's lips twitched in amusement. It was amazing how arrogant some wolves could be. "My brother and Marcel simply want Oliver to understand the horrible fate that would befall him should he decide to play, hurt, or take advantage of Davina." In other words, if Oliver got near Davina again, he would die in the most painful way possible.

Jackson open his mouth.

"Let's not make a scene, shall we?" Elijah cut him off easily and motioned for the band to continue playing. "Everyone is having a good time, let's not ruin it."

Jackson growled and had no choice but to stay put.

Everyone slowly began to relax and the incident was soon forgotten.

* * *

Davina mumbled angrily to herself as she made her way up the stairs. She couldn't believe Klaus and Marcel had teamed up to scare Oliver like that. It was just a dance for god's sake. Oliver had been nice and flirted with her and Davina had liked it but that didn't mean she was planning to date him or run away with him or whatever other crazy idea Klaus and Marcel had in their heads.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Kol's voice stopped her.

 _Fantastic!_ Davina closed her eyes. Just what she needed. "What?" she turned around to face him.

"Dancing with that idiot, seriously?" Kol gave her an incredulous look. He had not missed the little spectacle she had made of herself with that retched creature. "I thought you would have better taste in men."

"Like you have a good taste in women," Davina snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. The nerve of him! After the way he had been sucking on the neck of that red haired bitch, he had no right to judge her.

Kol was momentarily taken back by the angry look on her face. If he didn't know any better he would think she was jealous. "Don't be an idiot and make the mistake of falling for that stinky wolf," he cautioned in a superior tone. "They're beneath you." The Crescents in particular were filth in his eyes _._

"Who the hell are you to tell me what I should or shouldn't do?" Davina challenged.

"Listen, Davina-" Whatever he was going to say died on his lips. Kol's eyes went suddenly wide and his lips parted slightly as he saw a figure standing behind the young witch. "No…" it couldn't be. His blood went cold as he stared at the familiar face.

Davina was shocked by the sudden fear she saw reflected in his eyes, he even looked paler than usual. "What's wrong?" the anger and annoyance she felt died right away upon seeing the look on his face. She looked over her shoulder but didn't see anything.

Kol flashed down the hall.

"Kol!" Davina rushed after him. _What the hell was wrong with him?_

Kol looked around the hall, eyes wildly searching for something. He looked from one side to the other, hands balling into fists.

"What's wrong?" Davina questioned coming to stand next to him. She didn't understand why he was acting so weird.

"I thought I saw…" he shook his head. He had definitely indulged in too much alcohol and blood. He was imagining things. It had to had been a figment of his imagination. He refused to believe that the figure he saw was real. It couldn't be real.

"What did you see?" Davina had never seen that look on his face before. It was a mixture of shock, surprise, and fear. _What could possibly make Kol Mikaelson afraid?_

"Nothing," Kol lied. He felt a slight tremor roll down his body. The apparition had shaken him to the core. _Your mind is playing tricks on you that's all,_ he tried to reassure himself. _What you saw wasn't real._

"But-"

"Forget it," Kol used his vampire speed and went straight into his room, locking himself inside.

Davina watched him go feeling conflicted.

 _What the hell had Kol seen that scared him so much?_

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

Stefan sighed and threw the book across the room. He was sick of staring at the same four walls for days to no end. It was driving him crazy. While Damon tried to spend as much time with him as possible and keep him entertained, Stefan longed to be out.

He flopped down on the bed and contemplated the ceiling wondering when it would all come to an end. Apparently, the Travelers had yet to make a move. Weeks, months actually since they took Elena and Katherine from the Navarro mansion and they had not come for Stefan. _What the hell are they waiting for?_ Stefan wondered. The lunar eclipse would be in a few weeks' time. Why had no Travelers attempted to come for him yet?

 _What were they playing at?_

Stefan wasn't an idiot. He knew Elijah and Klaus were counting on the Travelers coming to get him, so they could set their trap for them. He was the bait and so far, the Travelers had refused to fall for it.

He rubbed his face and closed his eyes. Damon had gone out to get more bourbon and blood bags for him, at least having his brother near him made this imprisonment more bearable for Stefan.

"You really need to find something better to entertain yourself."

Stefan gasped and sat up as the all too familiar voice reached his ears. He looked around the attic room and stopped in bewilderment when he spotted Lexi, his dead best friend looking down at the book he threw on the floor.

"Shakespeare, really?" She shook her head and turned to face him. She was about to say something else but stopped upon noticing the look on his face. She looked rather taken back.

"Lexi…" Stefan muttered feeling absolutely shocked by what he was seeing.

Lexi's eyes went wide and her lips parted slightly. "You can see me?" she took a step forward, her entire face filled with happiness. "You're actually looking at me right now?" she asked, still unable to believe that he could see her. After all this time of watching over him, he had finally noticed her.

"Of course, I can see you." Stefan stood up immediately. "How are you here? How-" He felt stunned but above all happy, so happy to see her again. If he had been human, his heart would've burst out from his chest. He stood staring at her like an idiot.

"Shit!" Lexi looked alarmed. She placed her hands on her head. "You can't be seeing me, this is not supposed to happen. Shit. Shit. Shit," she mumbled to herself.

"Lexi, what's going on?" Stefan asked, taking a step closer.

Lexi turned back to face him, a sad look on her face. "I'm always with you Stefan," she said with a sweet smile. "But you never see me, you're not supposed to." There was a strange look on her face. "The barrier," she realized. Her eyes opened wide. "It must-"

She vanished.

"Lexi!" Stefan yelled her name. He looked around the room, desperate to see her once more. "Lexi!" he called out again, moving from one side to the other. "Lexi, are you still here!"

Nothing.

Lexi was gone. She had disappeared as quickly as she had come.

Stefan closed his eyes briefly. _Was his mind playing trick on him? Had he imagined Lexi standing in the attic room with him?_

 _Am I going crazy?_ Stefan wondered upon opening his eyes and looking around the empty room once more. _Had his imagination gotten the best of him?_

Stefan had absolutely no idea what was going.

* * *

 **The compound**

"You and Vincent believe that the spirits have something to do with the missing witches?" Elijah questioned later that night.

The party had ended well past three a.m. and after all the guests had left, Bonnie had gathered the family in the living room to share the suspicions she and Vincent had.

"Yes," Bonnie confirmed. She was sitting on the couch next to Klaus. Matt and Rebekah sat across from them, while Lucy sat on the leather chair to her right. Elijah paced behind Lucy's chair. The party had been successful and everyone was in good spirits, saved for Kol who was rather quiet and pensive. He sat far away from the group, on a chair close to the fireplace.

"It makes sense," Lucy murmured. "None of the spells to find the missing witches have worked, all our attempts have been blocked somehow. The spirits have the power to that and more." She couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to them before.

"But aren't the spirits trapped on the other side?" Matt spoke up. "How can they interfere with what's going here?"

"The other side is under constant attack from the Travelers," Bonnie reminded them. "The barriers must be really weak and the spirits on the other side are using it to their advantage."

"The spirits, the Ancestors, it doesn't matter who they are, we need to stop them," Klaus muttered. He had not forgotten all the pain and suffering they had caused Bonnie.

There was thoughtful look on Kol's face as he spoke for the first time, "there has to be someone helping them in the living world."

"What do you mean?" his sister questioned.

"The Ancestors live on the Ancestral plane which is another realm within the other side," Kol explained. He better than anyone knew how the other side worked. "They, like the spirits of all the other witches are powerful but they can't influence the world of the living without help. As long as the other side still stands, they can't cross between worlds and carry out their evil deeds. They must have someone, a witch no doubt, helping them here." _Had the strange apparition he had seen earlier that night had to do with whatever was going on with the other side?_ He wondered with apprehension. He was still debating whether he should tell his siblings about it.

"A living instrument to carry out their plans," Klaus muttered thoughtfully.

Kol nodded.

"If that is the case then we must find this witch," Elijah said. "If we find her, we will probably find the missing witches." Things had finally started to make sense in regards to the missing witches. They finally had a break through.

"We also need to know what exactly is going on with the other side right now," Bonnie suggested. "Who knows how much damage the Travelers have caused already." She was working on a plan to stop them but she needed to talk to Qetsiyah and her Grams to work out a few details.

"But how?" Lucy asked. "All the spell to contact Qetsiyah have failed. We couldn't even make the summoning spell work, remember?"

Bonnie's eyes landed on Matt. Since she had spoken with Vincent an idea had begun forming in her mind. "I have a plan," she informed the group. A rather risky plan but it was the best she had.

"What sort of plan?" Klaus turned to face her, wondering what her brilliant mind had come up with this time.

"We can't bring Qetsiyah to us," Bonnie said. "So, we are going to go to her."

"What?" Everyone practically said at once.

"I need to talk to my ancestors," Bonnie told the group. "I can't bring them to me so I'm going to send someone to talk to them on my behalf." The whole time she spoke she kept her eyes on Matt. "Someone who can go to the other side and come back without problems." In theory, she could always try to teleport herself over there but that was extremely dangerous and given her condition Bonnie would never attempt to do that. Besides, there was an easier way to access the other side. One that was sitting right in front of her.

Her best friend swallowed nervously and met her eyes. "You mean me?" Matt asked. He immediately touched the ring on his finger.

"When you die, your spirit goes to the other side," Bonnie said calmly. "You can find Grams, Ayana, and even Qetsiyah there." She knew that what she was asking was risking but they were running out of time, they needed to talk to her ancestors. "You are the only one who can go there and come back freely. I need you to talk to Grams and Qetsiyah for me, Matt. It's the only way we will know for sure what the hell the spirits are planning." She felt certain that Grams and the other Bennett's must know something and that was the reason her spells weren't working. The spirits were probably blocking her. Since her talk with Vincent, Bonnie became convinced the spirits were the root of all the difficulties she and her coven had been having. She felt kind of stupid that she hadn't thought of it before.

"But Matt doesn't remember," Rebekah reminded her. "When he died during the ball he came back and didn't remember anything. How is your plan going to work?"

Lucy's eyes went wide when an idea hit her. "We can make a potion to help keep his memories intact," she suggested. She had seen many potions like that in one of the grimoires Aunt Vivian had at her disposal. "I'm sure we can make one." She glanced at Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded. She had thought the exact same thing. "I'll ask Aunt Vivian to help me make it." She gave Matt a pleading look. "I know that what I'm asking you to do is risky but-"

"I'll do it," Matt didn't hesitate to respond. He was determined to help in whatever way he could and if that required him to temporarily die, so be it.

Rebekah squeezed his hand. She felt really worried.

"I'll be fine," Matt told her before giving her a peck on the lips. He trusted Bonnie implicitly.

"Thank-you," Bonnie whispered and offered him a grateful smile.

Matt smiled back.

"How soon do you think you can have the potion done?" Elijah asked curiously.

"A few hours, it shouldn't take long." Bonnie replied before she turned to look at Kol. "You know the other side better than anyone. Do you think you make a map or a guide for Matt. To make his journey easier?" She didn't want Matt to wander aimlessly on the other side. They needed a good solid strategy to make his journey easy.

"Sure," Kol responded right away. "I can do it."

"We are all going to help you," Rebekah promised Matt.

"I know." Matt felt confident and also trusted them to make this plan work.

"We also need to prepare for the witch summit," Lucy mumbled. She felt nervous and excited about the summit. All the witches in New Orleans were going to come together at last.

Klaus and Elijah were not exactly looking forward to that, neither of them would be able to attend and protect Lucy and Bonnie should they need it. They knew they wouldn't be alone, they would have the other Bennett witches with them and both women were more than capable of defending themselves but still, they worried.

"We'll be fine," Lucy gave her boyfriend a knowing look. "The witches have no idea what the Bennett coven is capable of." The Bennett's were a force to be reckon with and the witches in the city were going to learn a hard lesson if they dared to cross them.

Elijah rested his hand on her shoulder and looked down at her. "They're in for quite a surprise, I'm sure."

Lucy stared up at him and grabbed his hand in hers. The two smiled at each other.

Rebekah rested her head against Matt's shoulder and he in turn, wrapped an arm around her. The two snuggled on the couch.

Klaus and Bonnie laced their fingers together and shared a tender smile.

Kol watched them from his place by the fireplace. What was that saying Elijah always loved to say to them, _family is power._

 _And it can also be your greatest enemy,_ he thought worriedly. He looked down at his hands, the apparition he had briefly seen haunted him still.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Caroline and the leader of the Travelers waited by the sign that read, _Welcome to Mystic Falls._ In the past couple of months, they had succeeded in infiltrating and taking over the town without any problems. Not even the hybrids assigned to watch over Caroline and the Mayor had gotten in the way. The Travelers had successfully neutralized them. Everything was going according to plan.

The leader of the Travelers' was a woman named Sloan. She had brown eyes, a dust of freckles on her nose, olive skin and straight, long brown hair. She had an athletic physique and was undeniably beautiful and lethal. With her beauty, she had easily seduced Mayor Hopkins into her bed, which had paved the way for the Travelers to take over the town. Now, they were in the final stages of their plan.

Two red trucks stopped right in front of them.

"Is that them?" Caroline asked, her real name was Lara. She was the passenger that had taken over Caroline's body thanks to Luis's Navarro schemes. After the demise of so many Travelers during the battle in New Orleans, Lara was now Sloan's second in command.

Two unconscious young women and one man were inside one of the trucks. A witch and a wooden coffin were on the back of the other truck.

Lara watched the doppelgängers with curiosity before setting her eyes on the wooden coffin. "Is that-" she asked, heart skipping a beat. The wooden coffin contained the most valuable treasure the Travelers' possessed and the most important piece of their plan.

Sloan's lips curled into a smirk. "The anchor to the other side," she confirmed. Since ancient times, the Travelers had been in charge of guarding the anchor and keeping her safe. Now they would be the ones to destroy her and with her, the other side. "We have all the pieces together at last."

"Except for one," a muscular man who had been driving one of the trucks added.

Sloan grinned in his direction. "Oh, don't worry about that." She sounded really confident. Her plan was coming along perfectly and she didn't really foresee any trouble.

"The team is ready," the man insisted. "We know he's inside St. Anne's church. All you have to do is give the order and we'll bring him to you."

"We won't go to him," Sloan told him. She had been warned not to attempt to take the doppelgänger by force. "He will come to us." That's what _they_ had told Sloan to do. With their help, the Travelers had a great weapon on their side.

"Are you sure, _she_ will bring him to you?" Lara dared to question her leader.

"She won't have a choice if she wants her father to live," Sloan replied with an evil smirk. Bonnie Bennett was not going to have a choice but to consent to all of Sloan's demands if she wished to see her father again.

"She's extremely powerful," Lara said nervously. She had access to Caroline's mind, to her memories, to all of her knowledge, she knew what the Bennett witch was capable of. "The magic she practices…"

"Even with all her power, she won't be a match for us," Sloan arrogantly replied. "We are not alone in this. Queen of the Bennett coven or not, Bonnie won't stand a chance against the combined power of the Travelers and the Spirits on the other side."

The living and the dead had joined forces to destroy the other side and no one was going to get in the way of that.

* * *

 **A/N:** _The witch summit is going to be in the next chapter! Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing._


	64. Chapter 64

**I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"What do you think of the name Humbertus?"

Bonnie who had been meticulously crushing the roots needed for the potion looked up in Tinisha's direction. "I'm not naming my son Humbertus," she told her cousin in a rather serious voice.

Lucy snorted while Beatrice tried to suppress a giggle. Sofia for her part, choked with laughter.

"It's a strong name," Tinisha defended herself.

"Not gonna happen," Bonnie shut down the idea quickly. Ever since she had shared the gender of her twins with her family, they all had been bombarding her with names that they liked for the babies. Tinisha's names were by far the weirdest of the bunch.

"What about Anthony?" Sofia suggested. She was standing by the stove and glanced at Bonnie over shoulder. "I think Anthony is a good name."

"Or you can pick the French version and name him Antoine," Cecily offered as she came into the kitchen carrying a small basket filled with herbs from the garden. Charlotte was by her side, holding a small red bucket in her arms, it was filled with pebbles she had collected from the garden, as Aunt Vivian had instructed her to do.

"French is nice," Charlotte said with a smile while Beatrice helped her and placed the bucket on the counter.

"Anthony Bennett," Bonnie said thinking over it. She shook her head. It didn't sound quite right to her ears.

"Or you can name him Bartholomew."

All eyes turned to Tinisha once more.

"What is it with you and those horrible names?" Lucy asked her cousin while continuing to crush rose petals into a bowl filled with water.

"It's not a horrible name," Sofia defended Tinisha. "It's just different."

"Sounds horrible to me," Beatrice mumbled.

Tinisha shrugged. "The kid is special, he should have a strong name that people won't ever forget about."

"Nope," Bonnie muttered. She was definitely not naming her child Bartholomew. "Having the Bennett and Mikaelson name combined is enough for people not to forget my kids' names." The burden of belonging to two of the most well-known and influential families in the supernatural world was something her children were going to have to carry with them always.

"I guess," Tinisha went back to reading the grimoire she had on her lap.

"You could always take the easy way out and name him Klaus Jr.," Beatrice told Bonnie.

"I've considered it," Bonnie admitted with a bit of embarrassment. It was rather cliché to name her son after his father but the thought had crossed her mind. She had dozens of pages worth of baby names for her son and daughter and had not come close to narrowing the list down and considering how everyone in the family was always suggesting names to her and Klaus, she didn't think she would be making her mind any time soon.

"Nik Junior doesn't sound too bad," Lucy intervened with a wink. "With how arrogant Klaus can be, he'll probably be happy to have his son named after him."

Everyone laughed.

"If you are truly having a boy, that is."

Everyone looked at Aunt Vivian who had until then, been quietly supervising everyone's progress. She was standing opposite Bonnie, perfectly dressed as usual, while her ancient grimoire was spread out to her left.

"Dr. Mayfair has confirmed the sex of both babies," Bonnie told her aunt with a tight smile. "I'm having a boy and a girl, Aunt Vivian." They had this discussion before but her stubborn aunt was adamant that Bonnie was having two girls.

"There has never been a male witch in this family," Vivian replied calmly. "Your two little ones are clearly magical, they must be girls." It seemed so obvious to her. "Even with today's technology mistakes can still be made," she proclaimed confidently.

Bonnie sighed.

"Here we go again," Lucy muttered under her breath.

Tinisha rolled her eyes while Sofia and Beatrice shared amused grins. They had come to know the General enough to know that she was not going to change her mind. Until the babies were born and proved her otherwise, Aunt Vivian would continue to believe that Bonnie was having two girls.

"If you say so," Bonnie replied.

"We'll just have to wait for them to be born to know for sure," Cecily added.

"Indeed," Vivian agreed with her granddaughter. She looked at her watch and turned to Bonnie. "It's time to add the powder, dear."

"Right," Bonnie scooped the powder into a small bowl and carried it towards the stove, where Sofia was dutifully mixing the stainless-steel stockpot filled with the potion. She carefully added it in and the two stepped back as a white smoke shot up.

"Good," Aunt Vivian murmured. "That is very good."

"That means the potion is perfect right," Sofia turned to her great aunt.

Aunt Vivian nodded. "White smoke signals that you are doing everything right. While some potions can still be salvaged if you make a mistake, for this particular one, we need everything to be perfect." The mind was a dangerous thing and they couldn't take any risks. She turned to Lucy. "We'll let the potion simmer for an hour and then you will add the soaked petals." That was the last ingredient on their list. "It should be ready by this afternoon."

Lucy nodded, she had just finish crushing all the petals into the bowl.

Aunt Vivian looked down at Charlotte. "Now, let's see those rocks you collected."

Charlotte beamed. "I got you many, many, many rocks, Aunt Viv." She had spent over an hour collecting rocks from the nearby pond and putting them in her little red bucket, under the watchful supervision of Cecily obviously.

"Good girl." Vivian smiled at her before she turned to the counter and began inspecting the rocks inside the red bucket.

Charlotte climbed on top of the chair close to her and leaned over the counter so she could see better. Bonnie moved to her side.

"Why do we need those rocks for?" Beatrice asked curiously as she too stood around the counter.

"I will enchant these stones for Matt," Aunt Vivian explained as she carefully selected each one. "They will help him while on the other side. They will be his light."

"So, he won't get lost!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Exactly," Aunt Vivian murmured. The potion would keep Matt's memory intact but the stones would help guide him and find his way back to where he needed to be in order to return to the land of the living.

"I used those before."

All eyes turned to the youngest Bennett in the room.

"When?" Bonnie asked Charlotte.

"To learn my way around," Charlotte responded right away. "The first witch made stones like that for me when we first met. They were different colors, very pretty. I always found her like that." Eventually, she had learned how to move around the other side and had no need for the stones anymore but it had been a fun game. The first witch had other ways of finding her too, nothing and no one could stay hidden from the mother of all witches.

"She always kept you safe," Bonnie murmured pushing a stray curl behind Charlotte's ear. She felt glad that Charlotte hadn't been completely alone while on the other side. She felt grateful to the first witch for taking care of her.

Charlotte nodded. The first witch had always been there for her. She had been her protector, her friend, her mother for many years, and Charlotte loved her dearly.

Vivian glanced curiously in the little girl's direction. She had subtly tried to question Charlotte about her time on the other side, her time with the first witch to be more specific but Charlotte hadn't been so forthcoming. The little girl had cleverly answered all her questions without divulging anything of importance and Vivian's attempts to read her mind had been completely blocked. She still hadn't figure out if Charlotte had done it unconsciously or not. There was something about the little witch, an aura of power that was kept well hidden under her sweet and charming disposition. _Why did the first witch chose to show herself to you?_ She wondered. She couldn't help but feel rather envious of Charlotte's good fortune. _Who wouldn't want to meet the mother of all witches?_ She hoped that one day Charlotte would open up more about the first witch and the things she had learn from her. _Was Charlotte even aware that she had formed a connection with the most powerful of all witches?_

"How will Matt be able to take the stones with him to the other side?"

Bonnie's question brought Vivian out of her thoughts. "I will ensure it," she assured her niece. "It's an ancient spell," she explained. With a single look to her grimoire the pages flipped to the one that had the spell. She pushed the book in Bonnie's direction using her magic. "You can charm different objects in order to find your way if lost. More competent witches are able to enchant animals to keep an eye on the little ones when they ventured out of the house, birds were commonly used in the Middle Ages."

"That's so cool," Sofia leaned over Bonnie's shoulder to look at the spell. She could understand a few words but not everything. She was still learning Latin from Diana.

Bonnie read the spell, it was pretty straight forward.

"Let's us hope this plan works," Beatrice muttered.

"It will," Bonnie replied with confidence. It was the best plan they had so far. All their other ones had failed miserably. This was their best shot at communicating with their dead ancestors. She trusted Matt and felt confident that he would carry out his mission.

Silence descended over the room for the next couple of minutes. Aunt Vivian continued picking the rocks. Bonnie, Beatrice, and Charlotte flipped through her grimoire laughing when they found a spell to turn a man into a rat.

"She did that to one of my ex boyfriends," Cecily remembered.

"He deserved it," was Aunt Vivian's defense.

They all laughed.

"Hey, what do you think of the name Henrietta for a girl?" Tinisha's voice cut through.

"Oh my god!" Beatrice looked irritated.

Charlotte giggled. "Henria…what?" she found it really funny.

"Henrietta, seriously?" Lucy shook her head.

Bonnie looked at Tinisha. "You're not going to give up, are you?"

"Nope," Tinisha grinned from ear to ear.

Despite not liking any of the names Tinisha had suggested, Bonnie found herself laughing. Her cousin was amusing her to no end. Her laughter was shared by the others as well. Even Aunt Vivian couldn't stop the small smile gracing her lips.

"Would you prefer Petronilla?" Tinisha asked Bonnie. Her eyes were filled with mischief. She was enjoying tormenting her cousin with all the usual names she could come up. "I'm pretty sure she was a saint."

"Petronilla Bennett," Lucy choked out. "That's a strong name, I'll give you that." She burst out laughing.

"Stop," Bonnie couldn't stop laughing. She felt like she was about to pee from it.

"Never," Tinisha vowed with a grin. She had only just begun.

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

"Let me get this straight," Klaus said leaning against the old dresser and staring at Stefan with curiosity. "You saw an apparition the other night, a vampire friend of yours who was killed by your brother," he glanced at Damon who was standing by the window before continuing, "she's apparently watching over you and you managed to see her but she disappeared just as quickly."

"Yeah, that sums it up," Stefan replied with melancholia in his voice. He still felt perturbed about seeing Lexi. He had finally decided to call Klaus and asked him to come to the church so they could talk about it. It was clear that something was happening to the other side, something bad. "Lexi said that I wasn't supposed to see her," he informed Klaus. "She mentioned something about the barrier but she was gone before I could ask her about it."

"The barrier between the living in the dead," Klaus mumbled deep in thought. "The handy work of the Travelers no doubt." He looked into Stefan's eyes. "Every day that goes by the Travelers grow stronger and the other side weaker, that's probably how you were able to see your friend."

"And what the hell are we doing about it?" Damon spoke for the first time. "Nothing," he sounded angry and frustrated. He felt like he was going crazy.

Klaus happily ignored his outburst and focused on Stefan instead. The youngest Salvatore continued to sit on the bed, a sad look on his face.

"You told me that Bonnie had a plan to talk to Qetsiyah," Stefan stared at Klaus. "When is she going to do it?" he was desperate to put an end to this and get out of the attic; being locked up was driving him crazy. Damon's company helped but Stefan felt ready to tear his hair out.

"It's not that simple mate," Klaus responded with annoyance. "Bonnie's plan involves killing her best friend so he can go to the other side and talk to her ancestors for her. She's not going to do it until every measure has been taken to ensure Matt will be okay."

Damon opened his mouth.

"She's currently working on an important potion that will help Matt in his journey," Klaus said before Damon could utter another word. "Once that is ready, we'll put her plan into motion." _If everything works according to plan, we shall do it tonight,_ he kept that to himself.

"Have the Strix found anything else about the Travelers?" Stefan asked. He was eager for some good news. The last thing he had been informed of, was that the Travelers had a Silas doppelgänger named Tom. It was still surreal to him to think that there was someone out there who looked just like him. He was a doppelgänger just like Katherine and Elena. Another wave of sadness invaded him as he thought of Elena and yes, even Katherine being in the hands of the Travelers. _Will this ever come an end?_ He wondered.

"Nothing much," Klaus replied with a hint of anger. "The Travelers know how to cover their tracks. Aya did receive a report about a strange group believed to be part of the Travelers who dug up a coffin from a church's graveyard some weeks ago." It had been a rather strange incident.

"How do hell does that help us?" Damon questioned.

Klaus shrugged. "Aya thinks it's a good lead and her people are investigating it." He studied Stefan's face carefully. "What I find strange is that the Travelers have yet to come for you." The end of the year was fast approaching and so far, no Travelers had been spotted in New Orleans. "Why is that?"

"I often ask myself the same thing." Stefan stood up. "I find it hard to believe that they haven't tracked me down yet."

"I'm sure they have."

"So, what are they were waiting for?"

"That's the million-dollar question." Klaus moved his eyes around the room as he contemplated the situation. The fact that the Travelers had not come for Stefan disturbed him greatly. Something was up and it wasn't good for them.

"What if we put a trap for them?"

Klaus and Stefan turned to look at Damon.

"The Travelers probably know you're here," Damon said to his brother. "They found the other doppelgängers, so they probably know who you are and where you are. They must be waiting for the perfect opportunity to get to you. We should beat them at their own game and set a trap for them." He turned to Klaus. "Stefan can be the perfect bait to lure those fuckers and finish them once and for all."

"Stefan _is_ the perfect bait," Klaus agreed. "One that I'm not planning to use just yet."

"Why not?" Damon snapped.

Stefan was taken back by how readily Damon seemed to want to use him as bait.

"The Travelers are powerful, smart, and resourceful," Klaus snapped. "If they haven't made a move yet it's because they have something up their sleeve, something that in their eyes will give them a sure victory. Trying to lure them into a trap with the eclipse so close, could backfire terribly."

"So, we're just going to keep waiting for them to make a move first and hope the eclipse will pass before then?" Damon asked.

"For now, yes."

Damon didn't seem pleased by that. Luckily, he kept his mouth shut. He knew better than to argue with Klaus.

"They need your blood," Klaus told Stefan. "They will come for you sooner or later, of that I'm certain." His eyes glowed with mischief. "And when they do, I will be happily waiting for them."

Stefan studied Klaus's face in detail. "What are you planning?"

"I'm planning to wait and let them make the first move," Klaus replied with an innocent look on his face. His lips however, twisted into a devious smirk.

Neither Damon nor Stefan believed him. In their minds, Klaus was clearly planning something.

* * *

 **The Bayou**

"What the hell are you playing at?" Jackson questioned Oliver as soon as he saw him. The other wolf had been avoiding him since the party, keeping himself locked up in his cabin and only venturing out when he knew Jackson was not there.

"What?"

"Dancing with that witch girl," Jackson clarified. "You need to stay away from her."

"I didn't know dancing was a crime," Oliver responded defensively.

"Don't go near her again," Jackson ordered.

Oliver scoffed. "You may be the Alpha of this pack but that doesn't give you the right to tell me who I should see or not."

"I mean it Oliver, don't go near her or…"

"Or what?" Oliver challenged him. He took a menacing step closer, his eyes turning an amber hue for a quick second. "What will you do?" he hissed while his hands clenched into fists.

Jackson was surprised by the challenge he saw reflected in Oliver's eyes. "What the hell are you playing at?" he asked. Oliver had never acted like this before. Jackson didn't know what to make of it.

"Stay out of my business," Oliver snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?"

Both wolves stood facing each other, bodies tense, and senses alert and ready for a fight, neither was willing to back down. They had butted heads before but this felt different. Something had changed. Jackson didn't like the defiant look in his friend's eyes. For a moment, he wondered if Oliver was going to challenge him in an actual fight. Something like that could be interpreted as a wolf trying to show his dominance and take over the pack by defeating his Alpha. _Was that what Oliver wanted?_ Jackson was not going to allow that.

"What the hell is going on?" Hayley asked as she came out of her cabin and saw the two wolves glaring at each other.

"Nothing," Oliver replied looking away from Jackson and staring at her. "Just Jackson that worries over nothing." He relaxed his posture right away.

"That girl-"

"It was just a freaking dance, Jackson!" Oliver snapped angrily. "Don't overreact, okay." With those words, he turned around and made his way to the other side of the camp.

Jackson watched him go, a suspicious look on his face.

"What was that about?"

"I don't want him near that witch girl, the one he danced with at the party," Jackson told Hayley.

"Seriously?" Hayley crossed her arms over chest, an incredulous look on her face. "You were about to fight over some stupid girl."

"She's a Harvest girl," Jackson reminded her. "She's under Klaus's protection, that'll only bring Oliver and us trouble."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "God forbid we do something that will anger the mighty Klaus," she muttered angrily.

Jackson's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed angrily. "You're still angry because I refused to accept that witch's deal?" He had assumed the issue had been dropped, it seemed he had been wrong.

Hayley looked away from him. "You did what you thought best," she said finally. She didn't necessary agree with him but she understood where he was coming from. If she was being honest with herself, she felt relieved. There had been something about Sophie that had made Hayley scared. Maybe it was for the best that Jackson had said no in the end, despite Sophie's sweet promises of power for their clan.

"But you don't agree?" Jackson watched her, eagerly waiting to hear her answer, and have her approval.

Hayley sighed. "Some days I feel like we should have taken that deal and others I'm glad we didn't," she admitted.

"I couldn't do what she asked of me," Jackson muttered quietly. While he liked the idea of his pack having rings that would protect them from the curse of the moon and being as lethal as any of Klaus's hybrids he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had gone through with that deal.

"I know," Hayley gave him a sympathetic look. She took a step closer and grabbed him by the back of the neck, their eyes connecting. "You're a good man Jack."

Jackson smiled sadly at her. "I wish I could warn them," he whispered with a hint of sadness.

"You know you can't," Hayley reminded him. "We made an oath remember." The minute they divulged their conversation with Sophie to anyone, they would die. The oath was the price Sophie had demanded from them in order to let them go. _Or I can always kill you,_ she had offered with an evil smirk. Sophie had changed so much and she had so much power now. Hayley shuddered.

"I know," Jackson whispered. His hands were tied in that regard.

"What happens to them is not our business," Hayley remarked. _Who knows,_ she thought. _We might even benefit from it._ She didn't dare to say that to his face of course.

Jackson opened his mouth but Hayley stopped whatever he was going to say by kissing him.

As always, Jackson lost himself in her.

* * *

 **The compound**

"Careful," Klaus murmured as he guided Bonnie down the hall later that day.

"I don't like this," Bonnie pouted while touching the blindfold with one hand. She couldn't see anything and while she trusted Klaus to guide her in the right direction she was also eager to find out what kind of surprise he had in store for her. As soon as she had arrived from the Bennett mansion, Klaus blindfolded her, and told her he had something to show her. "I feel like I'm going to bump into something." Going up the stairs had been a pain in the butt.

"I won't let that happen, love."

Bonnie touched the blindfold once more.

"Don't you dare take it off," Klaus ordered before he moved her hand away from her face. He wasn't taking any chances.

"I'm not…I'm just…"

"Cheating?" he asked with a chuckle.

"I wasn't!" was her indignant reply. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost." He pushed the door open and slowly guided Bonnie inside the room. "Here we are," Klaus whispered before he moved behind her. "Are you ready?"

Bonnie nodded.

Klaus took the blindfold off.

A loud gasp escaped Bonnie's lips upon opening her eyes and seeing the room for the first time. It was beautiful. "Oh my god." She gazed at the nursey with utter wonder. The walls were a soft grey, the ivory furniture had been neatly arranged around the spacious room while the two identical cribs were directly across from the big window, the afternoon sunlight casting a glowing light over then. A grey swivel glitter chair was in the corner, a brown teddy bear sitting on it. There were a couple of stuffed animals on the shelve next to it, along with some other toys and trinkets that added a nice touch to the simple yet elegant room. It had everything they needed for the twins and had been decorated in a similar fashion as one of the pictures she had circled in one of the décor magazines she had. "When did you do this?" Bonnie turned to Klaus, her eyes filled with happiness. She almost felt like crying. It was just like she had imagined.

"Last night," the hybrid replied, placing his hands behind his back and offering her a grin. The furniture she had order arrived in the afternoon but he hadn't said anything to her as he had wanted to surprise her. "Do you like it?" He had spent the entire night putting the cribs together and arranging the furniture in the style she had liked from one of her magazines.

"I love it!" Bonnie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "It's perfect," she whispered against his lips when they pulled apart.

Klaus smiled proudly.

She began walking around the room, touching the smooth surfaces with her hands and marveling at the beautiful polished wood before opening the drawers and smiling upon seeing the baby clothes neatly folded inside. She also touched the delicate ornaments on top of the dresser. Two wooden horses caught her attention immediately. "This is amazing," she murmured staring at the intricate details, the eyes, the mane, all of the wood had been beautiful carved to perfection.

"I made them," Klaus told her coming to stand next to her.

"Really?" Bonnie didn't know why she felt so amazed that he had created something so beautiful and delicate out of wood. Klaus was an artist. She had seen his paintings and drawings many times before. This shouldn't surprise her for she knew the talent he possessed. "They're beautiful," she whispered. She picked the other wooden horse with her left hand. They were identical. One for each of the twins.

"Father used to make us toys like this," Klaus confessed in an almost whisper.

Bonnie looked up into his face. There were times when Klaus could open up about his father with so much ease and others where it was incredibly painful. Theirs was an extremely complex relationship.

Klaus's eyes were fixed on the horses in her hands. "On the cold winter nights after supper, we would all sit by the fire," he recalled with fondness. "Mother would braid Rebekah's hair and sing softly, father often sat next to her and carved things out of wood while Finn and Elijah told stories of great warriors and ancient gods." He looked up briefly, eyes filled with mischief. "I think story time was the only time Kol kept his mouth shut."

Bonnie laughed. "Is that how you learned to make these?" she asked gently. "From your father?"

Klaus nodded. "He made all of our toys from wood. He also taught us how to make our own, Finn cut himself once and ran away crying, he never wanted to do it again after that. Father was furious of course." A dark look crossed his features but it was replaced quickly. "Elijah tried but he could never make anything remotely decent." His mouth curved into a playful smirk. "He's a decent swordsman and brilliant strategist but he has no artistic talent in his blood and neither does Kol. I have always been the best in that regard," he boasted without shame. None of his siblings had inherited his talent for drawing or painting. He often wondered if it came from his mother's side of the family.

Bonnie smiled. The pictured he painted of his mother singing and his father making them toys while his brothers told stories by the fire sounded lovely. "It wasn't always terrible, was it?" There were so many layers to the complicated relationship of the Mikaelson family. Each day, Bonnie learned more.

"No," Klaus acknowledged. "There were moments…" he swallowed thickly and looked away. "Brief moments when we were a real family…" so long ago, buried underneath all the anger, pain, and resentment accumulated through the centuries. "Small moments of joy," he whispered. Those precious moments however, had not lasted long. They had certainly shattered completely after Henrik's death. The slash of hurt at thought of his baby brother echoed painfully through their bond.

Silence descended over them.

Bonnie looked down at the wooden toys and smiled. "I'm sure when the time comes, you'll show our kids how to paint and how to carve things from wood." She hoped their kids would inherit his artistic talent.

Klaus immediately brighten up at the thought of sharing his passion for painting with his children.

Bonnie placed the two wooden horses back on the dresser. "Speaking of family…" she turned back to Klaus. "I've been thinking of going back to Mystic Falls."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. That was something he had not been expecting.

"I have to talk to my dad," Bonnie said to him. "I need to tell him about us, about my pregnancy. I…" she was a coward. She had taken the easy way out and had avoided the subject completely. _What was that saying?_ Out of sight out of mind. Bonnie had to face her fears and talk to her father once and for all. "I also want to meet this girlfriend of his." The idea of her father dating was something she was still struggling with. "You know he never dated before, after mom I mean…"

"Does it bother you?"

"I don't know how to feel about it," Bonnie admitted. "I want my dad to be happy but it's just weird." Her father had never brought anyone home so in Bonnie's mind he never fell in love or dated anyone after divorcing her mom. "I used to think he was still in love with mom." When she was little, she even used to fantasize that her mom would return, her parents would get back together, and the three would live happily ever after. How utterly naïve she had been. Thinking of her mom hurt.

"What do you know of this woman he's with?"

"She's pretty amazing according to him, younger too, has her own business or something," Bonnie made a face. She honestly didn't think her dad's girlfriend was that impressive, certainly not as he made her out to be.

Klaus chuckled.

"I have to go to Mystic Falls and talk to him," Bonnie said with determination. She also wanted to see Caroline as well. She was apparently doing okay from what Klaus's hybrid had said and she had sounded fine when Bonnie spoke with her over the phone but still, Bonnie was worried about her. She rested one hand on her growing stomach. She was going to give birth in about two months. She had to speak to her dad before then. "I have to face my fears and speak with him." She felt a particularly strong kick, it was like an encouragement from her babies.

Klaus sighed. "If you want to go to Mystic Falls then we'll go to mystic Falls," he stated. He wasn't particularly looking forward to it but he also understood her desire to talk to her dad. Plus, it would be good to see what Caroline and Tyler were up to. Maybe they could even do that cleansing ritual on Caroline and put to rest whatever darkness had plagued her after her rescue from the Navarro brothers.

"You'll come with me?"

"Of course," Klaus seemed offended that she didn't think he would go with her. "I'm not going to let you go alone. You're not alone, sweetheart." He reached out and cupped her cheek. "I think is only right that I talk to your father as well, considering…" he looked down at her big bump.

"That you knocked me up?" Bonnie offered with a teasing smile.

Klaus chuckled.

"He has a gun you know," Bonnie moved her body closer to his. "He's very good with a gun as a matter of fact."

"Are you telling me that I should expect him to shoot me?"

"Probably."

"Well, it's a good thing a couple of bullets won't kill me." He would gladly face a firing squad and the all mighty wrath of any army for her.

Bonnie hoped it wouldn't come to that. "Thank-you," she whispered. She knew the meeting with her dad was not going to be easy but it was something she had to do.

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Because you are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me," Bonnie's voice cracked with emotion. "You and our children are my everything." Overtaken by the emotion she was feeling, she got on her tiptoes and deposited a quick kiss on his lips.

Klaus who wanted to deepen the kiss growled because she pulled away far too quickly for his liking. "As you are to me," he murmured staring into her eyes. "Promise me you'll be careful tonight." He placed his hand over her belly, smiling at the strong kicks he felt against his palm; feeling the twins move was his favorite thing in the world. "The witches..."

"I know," Bonnie interrupted.

Klaus leaned down and rested his forehead against hers while keeping his hand tenderly over her belly.

Bonnie placed her hand on top of his. "They're very active today," she commented. The twins were moving more than usual. It was a bit uncomfortable actually.

"Does it hurt?" Klaus wondered, there was some discomfort echoing through their bond.

"It's not pleasant," Bonnie replied. "But I wouldn't change it for the world. I think it's getting really crowded in there."

Klaus smiled. "Soon," he whispered. Soon they would have their children in their arms. "About tonight..." he looked into her eyes.

"Don't worry," Bonnie whispered against his lips. She could feel how anxious he felt about the witch summit, not only because he didn't trust the witches but because he wasn't going to be there with her. Klaus hated that above all. In his eyes, no one could protect her better than him. But Bonnie wasn't going to be facing the witches alone. She was going to be with her coven. If the witches knew what was good for them, they wouldn't dare to try anything against her. "I will be with my coven. We will take every precaution necessary," Bonnie assured him while nuzzling her face against his. She had to admit she also felt nervous about the summit. It was going to be a decisive moment for the witch community in the city and she could only hope that everything was going to be okay.

Before Klaus could say anything else, Bonnie kissed him. She didn't want to talk anymore, she just wanted to enjoy the moment.

* * *

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"

Elijah snapped out his thoughts and looked up startled. "Forgive me, I…" He had been sitting on their bed, watching as Lucy got ready and had completely drifted off. "I didn't mean to ignore you." He stood up.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked with concern. Elijah had been in a rather somber mood throughout the whole day. She had an idea as to why but she was waiting for him to bring it up.

"I have a lot on my mind, that's all."

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the sofa. "Thinking about your nightmare?" she hesitantly asked. Elijah had woken up that morning with a wild look in his eyes, mumbling something about a red door, his father, and Tatia, the anguish on his face had scared Lucy. She had tried to comfort him but Elijah had immediately schooled his features and told her he was fine, looking as composed and stoic as usual. He got into the shower soon after and the matter was not brought up at again, until now that is.

"It was nothing," Elijah lied. He didn't want to discuss his disturbing dream with anyone. He still didn't know what to make of it.

"If you say so," Lucy didn't believe him. The nightmare had shaken him and while Lucy felt curious about it, she also didn't want to push him. She was letting the matter drop for now, hoping that Elijah would eventually come to her should he need to talk about it. She moved away from the sofa and made her way towards the walk-in closet to get her Jacket. She and Elijah had been happily sharing a room for months now. Lucy liked to joke that he had more clothes and shoes than she did. The man had more suits than an Armani store.

"Be careful tonight," Elijah said following her inside. "The witches in this city are cunning and-"

"I won't be going alone," Lucy interrupted while putting her jacket on. "Bonnie and I will be with our coven, we'll be fine." She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't worry." She kissed him on the lips. She felt confident that everything was going to be fine.

Elijah groaned in protest when she pulled away. He didn't like the thought of her and Bonnie facing the witches without him and his siblings to offer support. He knew Lucy and the Bennett coven were a force to be reckon with but he still felt worried. Tonight, was going to be an important night for the witches. They all felt anxious about the outcome even if they didn't dare voice it too much.

"As I was saying before you spaced out," Lucy said wiping her red lipstick off his lips. "My mom is staying and will be helping you out with Matt." While Lucy, Bonnie and the rest of the Bennett coven attended the summit, the Originals were going to put Bonnie's plan in motion and sent Matt to the other side. The potion for his memory was ready and so were the rocks aunt Vivian had enchanted to help him. Joanna had volunteered to stay behind and monitor everything. "She's probably on her way as we speak."

"Very well." Elijah placed his hands on her hips and pulled her body closer.

"Don't get any ideas," Lucy warned. She had seen that look on his eyes more often than not. She placed her palm on his chest and pushed him away. "We can't be late for the summit." She tried to move away only for Elijah to wrap his strong arms around her middle and pulled her back. "Stop it!" Lucy giggled and tried to get away again. It was a rather lame and weak attempt to be honest.

Elijah nuzzled her neck. "We have time," he whispered huskily against the smooth skin of her neck. The summit was at sundown and they still had a couple of hours before then. "You smell really good," he murmured.

Lucy turned around in his arms. "I don't think so, mister." She tried to push him away.

"Yes, we do." Elijah insisted as he pulled her harder against his body. "We have a couple of hours."

Lucy giggled feeling thrilled by his desire. The fact that he couldn't seem to keep his hands off her, that he couldn't get enough of her, had her ego soaring. Playful Elijah was so damn sexy. She loved it. "What will we do to pass the time, I wonder?" she asked with a saucy grin. She had just gotten dressed but oh well! Decorum be damned!

Elijah's response was to take possession of her mouth in a heated kiss.

Lucy moaned and eagerly returned his kiss, pulling him closer against her. The passion between them was stronger than ever. Lucy felt so happy to be with him. When they were together nothing else mattered. Elijah's strange dream, the summit, the plan to send Matt to the other side, all was forgotten.

Before long, Elijah flashed them towards their bed, clothes began flying about as hands and mouths explored every inch of exposed skin. The world could wait a couple more hours.

* * *

 **Later that night**

"Are you ready?" Joanna asked a nervous looking Matt.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." He was scared to be honest, but he knew how important this mission was. He had spoken with Bonnie before his friend had to leave for the summit. Bonnie had handed him a small vial with a purplish liquid that was going to help him keep his memory intact upon returning from the other side while Aunt Vivian had given him a small heavy pouch filled with magical rocks. They were supposed to help him find his way in case he got lost over there.

"Do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah," Matt touched his pocket where the pouch was safely tucked inside and showed them the vial with the liquid.

"Remember that things over there are dangerous," Kol said. He stood in between Klaus and Elijah. He had drawn a map for Matt and the human had spent the past day or so studying it in detail. "Be ready to run should things turn bad."

"If at any moment the situation becomes dire, do not try to be the hero," Elijah cautioned. "Come back immediately, even if you can't find Bonnie's ancestors. Do not take any unnecessary risks."

Matt nodded.

"Don't get yourself killed," was the only advise Klaus gave him.

"Right," Matt turned to Rebekah who was really quiet and serious. "I'm going to be fine," he told his girlfriend with a small smile. "I'll find Grams and Ayana and I will be back before you know it."

"You better," Rebekah threatened.

Elijah motioned for his brothers to quietly follow him out, Joanna did the same. They all left the couple alone. While the three brothers headed towards the study to talk and share a drink, Joanna drifted towards the kitchen, her mind on the summit currently taking place. Upstairs, Angelica kept Charlotte entertained while outside, a cold wind hit the windows hard.

It was going to be a long night.

 **X**

"Be careful," Rebekah threw her arms around Matt's neck. "Don't you dare get yourself killed for real."

"I won't," Matt promised as he hugged her back.

"I love you," Rebekah whispered against his ear. She didn't know why she felt so emotional all of a sudden.

Matt's face was blissfully happy. "I love you too," he whispered back. And then, they were kissing. They kissed as if it were the end of the world, as he were going to war and she didn't know whether she would ever see him again. They kissed and kissed and held each other for what seemed like an eternity.

For the first time in her life, Rebekah was truly happy and she felt terrified of losing that happiness. Because that was usually the story of her life. Every time she was happy, something happened-her brother more often than not-that would snatch her happiness away.

 _Not this time,_ Rebekah swore as she kissed Matt once more. _This time will be different._ The feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach was unavoidable, Rebekah did her best to push it away.

"I have to do this," Matt muttered as he clutched the vial with shaky fingers.

"I know."

Matt drank the liquid in one gulp, he made a face of disgust. "It's bitter," he complained. He placed the empty vial on one of the tables and looked back at his girl.

"Good luck," Rebekah murmured.

Their lips fused together once more, their bodies practically melting against each other. Matt was so lost in her scent, in her delightful mouth and tongue, he never saw it coming. While they were kissing passionately, Rebekah moved her hands to his face, gently caressing him before moving down to his neck.

Matt moaned against her lips, arms circling around her waist and crushing their bodies together while their tongues met in a heated frenzy. He was completely lost in the kiss and Rebekah took full advantage of that. She snapped his neck in one quick move.

Matt's body slumped forward and Rebekah caught him in her arms. She gently deposited him on the couch and sat next to him. She took his hand in hers, watching over his peaceful and handsome face and began her vigil.

Rebekah watched and waited for her lover's safe return.

Outside, the wind grew colder.

* * *

The witches of New Orleans met at sundown.

The moment they all had been eagerly anticipating had finally arrived and everyone was nervous and excited for what was to come. The location chosen for the summit was the garden of a beautiful Greek Revival plantation house located a couple of miles outside the Quarter.

As soon as they set foot inside the property, Bonnie's skin prickled. Her senses alerting her to the presence of dozens of witches nearby. She touched her stomach, feeling strong kicks from the twins. She did her best to calm her nerves and anxiety. She didn't want those feelings to alarm her babies. This was going to be a long night. _Everything is going to be fine,_ she told herself. She knew it wasn't going to be easy but she hoped the outcome of this meeting would benefit the witch community as a whole.

Bonnie turned to her right and glanced at Davina. The dark-haired girl looked nervously around the property, eyes cautiously moving from the trees that surrounded the backyard to the white house with the wrap around porch on the first and second floor. She even looked a little pale. Bonnie reached out and grabbed her hand in hers. "Everything will be fine," she reassured her with a gentle squeeze of the fingers.

"I hope so," Davina muttered fearfully. She didn't want to be there. Her stomach was in knots and her entire body was trembling lightly.

"Remember what we talked about," Aunt Vivian said to the group, she was walking right next to Bonnie, Davina was on Bonnie's other side while the rest of the Bennett coven followed a few steps behind them. "Keep your eyes open, your senses alert, and your magic ready. Who know what this night will bring." She didn't want to be a pessimist but one better be safe than sorry.

The witches nodded.

The air around them was filled with nervousness, excitement, and magic; so much magic, it made them all jittery.

All eyes turned in their direction as they rounded the property and walked towards the large group of witches already gathered near the fountain. The magic in the air increased as the different auras mixed together due to their close proximity.

The backyard was illuminated by Tiki torches which allowed the witches to see clearly. Bonnie's eyes scanned her surroundings, seeing a couple of familiar faces-the witches that had attended the party a few nights ago- but she didn't see Vincent or Josephine among them.

Many of the witches parted like the sea and made way for Bonnie and her coven. Whispers and murmurs accompanied their steps, while curious eyes fell on each of them as they came to stand near the great fountain.

Davina fidgeted nervously as curious, judging, and even angry eyes fell on her. Two women in particular looked at her with something akin to hatred. Davina knew who they were, Marguerite Lescheres and Kara Nguyen. She gulped and tried to avoid their judging eyes.

"The Harvest girl makes her presence known at last," Kara muttered her eyes pinning Davina to the spot.

There were more whispered from the witches surrounding them.

Davina glared at the woman.

Kara had a twisted smirk on her lips as she looked away from Davina and focused on Bonnie instead. "Along with the _infamous_ Bennett witch," she observed while looking her up and down. Her eyes studying Bonnie's obvious pregnant belly for a couple of seconds before looking back at her face. "Bonnie Bennet," she drawled.

"And you are?" Bonnie asked with a blank look on her face.

The nasty look Kara sent her way would have paralyzed anyone, Bonnie didn't even bat an eyelash as she calmly waited for a response.

Tinisha laughed. Beatrice elbowed her while Amina ordered them both to behave.

"Kara Nguyen," The woman introduced herself while glaring at the witches behind Bonnie. "Elder of the Ninth Ward Coven."

Lucy didn't look impressed and neither did the rest of the Bennett coven.

"Nice to meet you," Bonnie replied with a polite smile. "I'm Bonnie Bennett and this," she motioned to her coven with one hand. "Are my cousins," she happily introduced. "The Bennett coven."

While most of the witches had heard the rumors that Bonnie had a coven of her own, they still found themselves gasping at the confirmation. The Bennett name was legendary. One Bennett witch was a formidable force on her own, an entire coven of Bennett witches would be unrivaled. Many witches shuddered at the thought.

"You seem different," one elderly witch said quite stunned by what she was witnessing. "You are not what we were expecting," she candidly confessed.

"And what were you expecting?" Bonnie asked gently.

"A psychotic bitch who likes to murder witches," a dark-haired teenager replied quickly.

Davina recognized her immediately, they had gone to school together.

Aunt Vivian's eyes narrowed in the girl's direction.

"Watch your mouth!" Tinisha snapped at her while quickly taking a couple of steps forward.

Diana grabbed her arm and forcibly pulled her back. "Behave," she ordered.

Tinisha crossed her arms over her chest and pressed her lips together in an angry pout.

"Valerie!" The girl's mother chided her right away.

All eyes turned to Bonnie waiting to see what her reaction would be.

"The rumors about me have been greatly exaggerated," Bonnie kept her cool as she looked at the girl. "I assure you that I'm not crazy."

"That's what all crazy people would say!" The girl retorted quickly.

"Valerie!" He mother felt appalled by her behavior. "Be quiet!"

The witches from the girl's coven shifted nervously and some even looked fearfully at Bonnie.

"Touché," Bonnie muttered.

"So, you haven't come here to kill us?" Valerie eyed her suspiciously.

Her mother closed her eyes and prayed that the earth would swallowed her whole. Only her daughter would be so defiant.

"I have come here to discuss matters of importance to the community," Bonnie replied. She looked from Valerie, to her mother, to the coven behind her before slowly moving her eyes over the other witches around her. "I have no intention of hurting anyone. My coven and I come in peace." She said loud enough for all the witches to hear. She was not only assuring Valerie but she was also letting the rest of the witches know that her intentions were pure. "There has been enough bloodshed in this city already, there is no need for more."

"Are we supposed to forget what you did to the Seer and her coven, then?" Another witch dared to question her.

"Or what you did to us?" A younger red haired woman asked loudly. "You took our magic away!" she accused angrily. The many men and women behind her all nodded in agreement.

"You protect the Harvest girl!" A man shouted. "That traitor who sided with the vampires!"

Davina flinched.

"The Seer was no friend to any of us," Francis, the elder from Algiers intervened quickly. "Don't lie and pretend you care about what happened to her. All of us breathed a sigh of relief upon learning of her demise."

"I quite agree with that," another older male witch added. "Cassandra deserved to be burned for all the crimes she committed." He looked directly at Bonnie. "While I do not condone your actions, I do not judge you for it either."

"That doesn't excuse her actions," The red-haired woman snapped. "Who is she to decide who lives and who dies!"

Loud murmurs broke over the entire group of witches, they all became electrified as more voices began to loudly state their opinion.

Bonnie watched them warily. Many of them watched her back in turn, ready to pounce at the slightest sign of weakness. Rather than being surrounded by witches, she felt like she was being circled by starving wolves. _Things could quickly get out of hand,_ she thought worriedly.

Davina looked on the verge of tears while Tinisha was shouting insults at the witches and Kyra was already summoning her magic in case she needed to defend Bonnie from the mob.

The loud voices, the magic in the air, the agitation from the witches closest to her and the sense of danger surrounding her had the twins responding right away. Bonnie pressed her lips together and clutched her stomach as one strong kick after another was felt. One of the twins was pushing painfully against her bladder, the other against her rib. It hurt.

"And who are you to question her?" Aunt Vivian's commanding voice silenced all the whispers at once. "By what right do any of you dare to question the actions of our queen?" she challenged everyone. "We have not come here to judge or pass a sentence against anyone," she reminded all of them. "We are here to discuss the future of our community and the role we wish to play in the new supernatural world that is being forged."

"Our community?" Marguerite laughed bitterly. "Las time I checked, you are not one of us." She openly gave a hateful look towards the Bennett witches. "You are not part of this community. You do not follow our traditions, you do not respect our Ancestors, nor is your magic bound to this land like ours is. You are not one of us," she hissed. "Do not pretend otherwise."

"I suppose you are right," Vivian conceded smirking. "Unlike the rest of you, our magic is not bound to anything, nor does it depend on a ritual to survive." She took a couple of steps closer to Marguerite, proudly standing with her head held high and her back straight. "I suppose one could always argue that you are beneath us."

The words were an electric current that stirred a lot of anger and resentment from the group. Many witches gasped and cursed at the Bennett's.

"Oh snap!" Tinisha cheered. "You tell her what's up, General!" she shouted proudly.

Diana pulled her ear and ordered her to behave once more.

Tinisha happily ignored her. "You have no idea who you're messing with!" She shouted. "She's gonna eat you alive!" She promised.

"If things continue like this, it's going to end badly," Adriane murmured fearfully.

"If things continue like this, we need to get Bonnie out of here," Cecily told her sister.

"Agreed."

Marguerite saw red and attacked without thinking. Her anger fueling the wave of magic that erupted from her. Kara gave her a warning look while a couple of other elders moved out of the way. Many witches got ready to attack as well.

"How dare you!" One hissed joining Marguerite in her attack.

Vivian deflected both waves of power with ease, she didn't even move a muscle. One look was all it took to squash Marguerite's and the other witch's magic like a boot stepping over a cockroach would. "Is that the best you got?" she taunted with malice. "For someone so arrogant you clearly don't have the magical skills to back you up."

Marguerite's entire face went red, her coven pushed forward. They all wanted blood.

"I don't think-" Francis tried to intervene and put an end to the conflict but he was roughly pushed back by Kara's magic.

"Stay out of this," the witch hissed. She moved to stand next to Marguerite as did the witches of her own coven. They were showing their support to Marguerite and her witches.

Vivian arched an eyebrow and chuckled. She was clearly not afraid, if anything she seemed to be enjoying herself. Cecily and Adriane moved closer to Bonnie. Lucy kept a protective stance next to Davina, while the rest of the Bennett coven moved towards Vivian. They were all ready to fight back.

The magic swirling in the air was a tempest of angry power. The bolts of electricity from the three covens met and clashed against each other, dangerous sparks flying about.

The other covens and their elders watched them nervously from the sidelines, some looked like they wanted to join the fray, others chose to stay neutral, while many more moved out of the way, but they all feared what was coming.

Before anyone could attack again however, a commanding voice rendered everyone immobile.

"Enough!"

One single word was it all it took for the currents of power clashing in midair to cease at once.

Without anyone realizing it, Bonnie had walked right into the line of fire. She calmly stood in the middle of it. Her coven on one side and Kara and Marguerite and their respective covens on the other. "We have not come here to fight," she reminded her aunt with a reproachful look.

Despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to teach a lesson to those two arrogant witches and their useless followers, Vivian nodded and complied with her queen's wishes, all of the Bennett's did as a matter of fact. Bonnie's word was law.

Bonnie turned to Marguerite and Kara. "The two of you might be more than eager to start a war among the witches but I am not." She stared them down. "Fighting with your own kind is not the answer. Put your pride and your anger aside and think of what's best for this community not your own selfish gains."

"You don't belong here," Kara spat. "You have no right-"

"Whether I belong here or not is not for you to decide," Bonnie cut her off. "I am here. I am a part of this city, of this community, and you will have to accept it."

"We don't have to listen to you. You have no authority over us," Marguerite hissed. "If you think-" Her words died on her lips as Bonnie glared at her and shut her up with a single spell. Marguerite opened her mouth but no sound came out, she looked helplessly at Kara.

Okay, so Bonnie had copied that move from aunt Vivian but it was worth it. She felt rather pleased at the shocked look on the older witch's face. Aunt Vivian definitely looked at her with pride. "I have every right to voice my opinion," Bonnie told them fiercely.

"You don't belong here!" The red-haired woman yelled at her.

"On the contrary," an icy voice calmly interrupted. "The Bennett coven is now part of the witch community in this city, Mrs. Bennett is more than welcome to voice her opinion."

All eyes turned in the direction of that authoritative voice.

The witches gladly parted for the small, dignified figure walking towards the fountain. Vincent proudly walked a step behind her.

The Regent of the nine covens had made her presence known at last.

* * *

 **The other side**

Matt woke up with a gasp. He shuddered as a strange cold sensation invaded his body. He laid on the ground for a couple of seconds blinking with a bit of confusion before getting himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his neck. Rebekah's quick movements had completely caught him off guard. She had snapped his neck as they kissed and now here he was on the other side. He looked at his surroundings and jumped out of his skin when he saw his own body to the side, a few feet away from him.

 _Each time you will wake up further and further away from your body,_ Kol's voice echoed inside his mind. _All you have to do is touch your body, the moment you come in contact with it, your spirit will go back, and you will wake up._

Matt gasped as the memories of the last time he visited the other side and met Kol flashed before his eyes. He took a moment to digest the new memories in his brain and stood up nervously.

Everything was quiet.

Matt frowned as he saw the empty street. The pavement looked wet, maybe it had rained a few minutes before? He touched his pocket and to his relief the magical stones Aunt Vivian had enchanted for him where inside. He pulled the pouch out and slowly began walking down the street. As he walked, he threw the stones on the floor, they glowed a deep red as they landed on the pavement, their magic taking effect right away. The stones were meant to help him find his way back to his body in case he needed to get out of there in a rush or if he got lost.

 _This is different from last time,_ Matt thought as his eyes landed on the ruined buildings on either side of him. It looked like a hurricane had passed through, most of the buildings were nothing but a pile of rubble and trash.

 _Where am I?_ Matt wondered as he kept on walking. The afternoon sunlight guided each of his steps. He needed to find Grams before darkness descended over this place. Kol had said that there were many realms within the other side and had drawn him a map of the forest, the one where Matt had landed the last time. That's where most supernatural seemed to go to after dying. Kol had explained that the forest was a gateway of some sort. This was completely different though. _Shit!_ Matt thought. _Now, what do I do?_ Nothing in this place looked familiar. Nothing looked close to the map Kol had made for him. _Where the hell had he landed?_

He looked back over his shoulder, seeing the trail of red stones behind him, lighting the way back to his body which was barely visible now. He felt a chill run down his spine as he looked back at the road in front of him. It seemed to stretch on forever with nothing else on sight but ruined buildings.

"Grams!" Matt shouted. "Ayana!" he tried a few seconds later. His heart pounded loudly in his ears. "Vicky!" he tried at last.

Nothing.

 _Something is not right,_ Matt thought but he kept on walking. Despite of the apprehension he felt, he had a mission to complete. He needed to find Grams and the other Bennett witches. Bonnie was counting on him to do so. _I can do this, I can find them._

A strange noise caught his attention.

Matt glanced to his left, frowning. He didn't see anything. He continued walking down the empty road, wondering if there were other spirits nearby. The other side was supposed to be crawling with supernaturals after all. There was a part of him that hoped he would find his sister. What he would give to see and talk to Vicky again. "Vicky!" "Grams!" He yelled once more. "Can you hear me? Is anyone here?"

Nothing.

Matt came to an abrupt stop, a small tremor rolling down his body. The hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood up. He let out a shaky breath. He felt really cold all of a sudden. He squeezed the bag with the magic rocks and slowly turned around to look behind him.

A strange swirling shadow was speeding right towards him.

 _Shit!_

Matt gasped and stupidly stared at it for a couple of seconds before his survival instincts kicked in and he took off running.

Another dark swirl appeared to his left and zeroed in on him.

Matt panted as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He needed to get away from those things.

There was another swirl forming to his right, a small tornado of black that seemed to sense him for it headed straight towards him as well.

Matt's entire body was filled with fear and his heart pounded so hard against his chest, it hurt.

When he saw the black swirl materializing in front of him, his stomach dropped. "No…" Matt whispered as he came to a stop. He was completely surrounded.

The dark swirls combined forming a black vicious cloud that trapped him.

Matt felt absolutely terrified. _What happens if you die on the other side?_

The small bag with the rocks fell to the ground as Matt braced his arms over his face in a protective gesture.

The dark cloud engulfed him completely.

Matt squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the worst.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

All eyes were on the Regent of the witches as she proudly stood by the fountain. Josephine stood with her back straight, her eyes unreadable, and her face expressionless. Her icy composure giving her an aura of serenity and also making her quite intimidating. Her eyes moved over each and every one of the witches gathered in the backyard of the mansion. She looked at Bonnie and Davina a little longer than usual before addressing all of them. "Witches of New Orleans," she said in a loud and authoritative voice. "Thank-you for coming." Her bright and intelligent eyes landed on Marguerite and Kara. "Some of you have been planning this summit for months," she said calmly. "I am glad that we finally have the chance to meet and talk."

Josephine's presence was so powerful no one dared to say anything, they simply watched her. They listened and waited. It was not every day that the Regent reunited with most if not all, of the witches in the city. This was a monumental event for their community and everyone knew it.

The tension that had surrounded everyone dissipated completely as the Regent spoke. For now, it seemed like the waters had gone back to normal.

"Things have changed drastically in the city in the past couple of months," Josephine continued. "Not only is there a new King who has claimed this city as his own but a new coven of witches who have chosen New Orleans as their home." She nodded in the direction of the Bennett coven. "I would like to officially welcome the Bennett coven into our community," she said without preamble. "I trust that we will all come together and establish a long-lasting alliance for the greater good of our kind." She looked directly into Bonnie's eyes. "From this day forward you are officially one of us," she proclaimed.

There was a spark of magic in the air as her words took effect.

"Blessed it be," Josephine nodded in their direction.

"Blessed it be," a great majority of the witches imitated the Regent's gesture.

"Thank-you for welcoming us into your community," Bonnie responded in turn. "My coven and I look forward to working alongside all of you." She glanced at the rest of the witches, giving a pointed look at Marguerite and Kara who looked pissed.

"There are many important things we need to discuss tonight," Josephine said to the witches. "I know you are uncertain of what is happening, angry with the way things are, and afraid of what's to come." Her eyes softened as she looked over at the younger scared witches present. "I arranged this summit so that we could all come together and address all that needs be said. I want to give you all the chance to speak your mind," she said sincerely. "I am here to listen to your concerns, to find a way to help you, and above all, I am here to reassure you that whatever comes our way we will faced it together. I stand before you not only as your Regent but also as another New Orleans witch who is tired of this violence, of this bloodshed, and darkness that is surrounding us. It must end. We must end it."

A few whispers broke through and Josephine received many looks of admiration.

"Something is brewing right under our own noses and if we continue to be divided, we won't stand a chance against it," Josephine continued with conviction. "We must set our differences aside, we must find a way to solve all these rivalries among the covens and come together as one. Only then, we will be able to come out triumphant."

A moment of absolute silence followed Josephine's opening speech.

Bonnie and Lucy shared hopeful looks and smiles. Many of the witches around them looked touched by Josephine's heartfelt words, Davina included, even aunt Vivian looked quite impressed as she regarded the Regent carefully.

"Who among the elders gathered here tonight wishes to speak first?" Josephine asked. She was going to give all of them a chance to speak openly. This was their opportunity to bring forth their concerns to the highest authority in the city.

Marguerite and Kara turned to each other whispering quietly, Francis also turned to the two elders close to him and exchanged a couple of words with them. The only elders that did not move a muscle and continued to stand like statues were a man and a woman both with short blond hair and serious faces. The man had a scar on his left cheek while the woman had an identical scar on her right cheek.

Bonnie felt intrigued by them. The dark power radiating off them was dangerous, she could feel it in her bones. _Keep your guard up with them,_ her magic warned her.

"I would like to speak first."

The new voice cut through the different murmurs going around and silenced them in a second. Everyone soon turned to stare at the newcomer with shock.

The temperature in the backyard dropped.

The fire on the torches shot up into the air.

Vincent and Josephine exchanged curious looks. They could both feel the dangerous and threatening aura of the witch making her way towards them.

"Who the hell is that?" Lucy asked, a shudder invading her body as she stared at the woman with curiosity.

"Is it just me or this witch reeks of dark magic?" Cecily whispered to her sister.

"She does," Adriane confirmed. She didn't like it one bit.

Vivian and Amina looked at each other, both of them felt wary. Beatrice moved closer to her grandmother Diana, while Lucrecia began murmuring a protective spell in her head. Davina tensed and clutched Lucy's hand fearfully while Kyra watched the witch with suspicion.

All the Bennett witches had a bad feeling about the new arrival and judging by the looks on the faces of most of the New Orleans witches, they felt the same way. For once, all the witches seemed to be in agreement.

Bonnie watched her carefully while placing a protective hand on her belly. She didn't like the aura of darkness surrounding her, it had not been there before. This woman that stood before all of them looked differently than the one she had met months ago. Something wasn't right about her. The kind of power coming from her was unlike anything Bonnie had sensed from any other witch before, not even Cassandra had this kind of raw energy engulfing her. Bonnie looked in Vincent's direction. It was obvious he felt the same way. Vincent was worried. This was something none of them had been expecting.

The dark-haired witch dressed in a long black gown walked with the confidence and the arrogance befitting a queen. Her power was indeed intoxicating. The woman stopped right in front of Josephine. She looked directly into the Regent's eyes; there was no fear, there was no respect, only pure hatred reflected in her cold and calculating gaze.

"Sophie Deveraux," Josephine greeted the younger woman. Her face did not betray her feelings. To her credit, the Regent was the perfect picture of calm and control. She proudly stood her ground and did not let the younger witch intimidate her.

Sophie only smirked. "The Ancestors have no use for you anymore," she hissed.

It was the only warning they got.

No one could have foreseen what happened next.


	65. Chapter 65

**Thank-you so much for all your support. Let me know what you think of this chapter. :)**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

While Rebekah watched over Matt and waited for him to return to the land of the living, Klaus, Kol, and Elijah gathered in the study. The strong wind from outside rattled the windows as the three brothers sat in silence. They all seemed to be in a rather melancholic mood.

"I dreamed about father," Elijah's voice cut through the quietness in the room.

Kol who had been in the process of refilling his glass of whiskey froze and gave a startled look in Elijah's direction.

Klaus's head also snapped towards his elder brother. "What?" he needed Elijah to repeat what he had just said because he was certain he must have heard wrong. The nightmare he had about Mikael immediately came back to his mind.

Elijah contemplated his half empty glass of whiskey for a couple of seconds before lifting his face and looking back and forth between both of his brothers. "I had a dream about father," he said once more. "I was chasing Tatia through the forest." He focused on Klaus. "Do you remember? She loved that game."

"She did," Klaus concurred while contemplating his own drink. In their youth, they had spent countless hours playing in the forest surrounding their hut. Tatia in particular had loved being chased by them. The reward for the one who managed to catch her was a kiss on the lips. Klaus and Elijah had competed arduously against each other in order to get a kiss from her sinful mouth.

"Father came out of nowhere and killed her," Elijah finished. The dream had disturbed him greatly, not only because of his father's unexpected appearance but because Originals rarely had dreams. They had no need to sleep, therefore they rarely lowered their guards to the point of falling into a deep slumber and dreaming. Elijah had not done that in a long time.

"I had a dream about him too," Klaus confessed before taking a sip of his whisky. _Could both dreams be connected somehow?_ They lived in a world that was far too dark and dangerous for things like this to be mere coincidence.

"Did you really?" Elijah felt intrigued by the revelation.

"He took perverse pleasure in tormenting me as usual," the hybrid muttered darkly. _And killing me,_ he thought angrily. The horrible dream of being left alone by his family had left him quite shaken. The fear of being alone still prevailed inside him.

Elijah glanced at Kol who had remained very quiet.

Klaus also stared at his younger brother, waiting for him to join the conversation.

"I haven't dreamed about father," Kol answered their inquisitive looks. He looked down, fingers tightening around the glass in his hand. "I saw him," he confessed in a whisper.

"Saw him?" Elijah repeated thinking he heard wrong.

"What the bloody hell are you saying?" Klaus questioned immediately.

"It was just a flash." Kol looked up right away. "The night of the party," he licked his lips as he recalled those terrifying few seconds. "I followed Davina up the stairs and we were talking when he was just there…and then he was gone…" Kol placed the glass down on the coffee table before running his fingers through his hair in a nervous manner. "He was gone in a second, I…" _Had it been real?_ Kol did not want it to be real. "I wasn't even sure if actually saw him. It happened to fast."

"Did you see him, yes or no?" Klaus demanded, his angry blue eyes pinning Kol to the spot.

"I don't know!" Kol snapped. He didn't like the way they were both staring at him. "I told you, it happened so fast. It could've been a trick of the light, or I could have imagined the whole thing…I..." he trailed off in frustration and looked away from them. "I haven't seen him since then." He had been waiting but nothing strange like that had happened again.

Klaus cursed under his breath and stood up.

"I don't think this is coincidence," Elijah told his brothers. Their father coming back from the grave to haunt them. It was a frightening thought.

"No. It is not," Klaus muttered as he paced around the room. "Stefan saw a dead friend of his on the night of the party as well," he informed his siblings. "She appeared to him for a brief moment and was gone before saying much but she apparently mentioned the barrier."

"The barrier between our world and the other side," Elijah whispered. It made sense. "The Travelers have weakened the other side to the point that some spirits managed to slip through the barriers and show themselves to the living," he theorized.

"Ayana and the other Bennett witches were working together to try and counter the Traveler's magic," Kol told them. "But with all the power they possess and the doppelgänger blood they have at their disposal, who knows just how damaged the other side has become thanks to those bloody witches."

"That doesn't seem so far-fetched," Klaus muttered. "We need to end them for good."

"Do you think father found a way to get inside our dreams?" Elijah asked his siblings.

"He is hellbent on tormenting us," Klaus replied. "If anyone can find a way to come back or find a loophole to torture us, it's him." Mikael had always been determined to end him and had decided to punish his siblings as well for they took Klaus's side and not his. "Remember that Ayana warned you about mother and father plotting on the other side?" he asked Elijah.

"She did." Elijah suddenly turned towards Kol. "Did you ever see them?"

Kol shook his head. "I never ran across them while over there, not even Finn." He pressed his lips together and thought back to his time on the other side. "There are many different realms, witches have kind of taken over certain areas and stay clear of others. The Bennett's had their own domain, that's where I spent most of my time. Mother would have never dreamed of getting close to them."

"What about Henrik?" Klaus asked suddenly. "Did you see him?" Kol had never mentioned him and Klaus had not dared to ask before. There was a part of him that feared that Henrik hated him for getting him killed.

Kol gave him a sad look. "I looked for him," he admitted. "When I first got there, I searched all over but I never saw him." He swallowed the lump in his throat. Henrik's death was a raw wound that had never healed for either of them. "Ayana told me he was at peace."

The emotion they all felt while thinking of their baby brother rendered them silent.

A silence that was broken by a loud gasp from Klaus.

"What is it?" Elijah asked taking a couple of steps closer to him.

Klaus touched his heart.

"Nik, what's wrong?" Kol stood up and walked towards him as well.

"Bonnie…" Klaus murmured while rubbing his chest. He had felt a spike of fear followed closely by a slash of pain. "Something is not right." Bonnie's emotions had suddenly become muted. "I felt fear and pain and now…"

"What?" There was a worried look on Elijah's face. He was not only worried for Bonnie but also for Lucy.

"Nothing," Klaus felt confused by the abrupt change. "It's like she felt asleep or something." He used the bond to dig deeper and try and find more about Bonnie's well being but there was nothing. Bonnie hadn't closed her side of the bond, she just wasn't feeling anything. There was a strange quietness coming from her side that had Klaus feeling nervous and uncertain. _What had happened?_ "I have to go." Klaus flashed out of the room at hybrid speed.

Elijah didn't hesitate in following him.

"What the-" Rebekah who had been heading towards the study took a step back when the two blurs passed her, her blonde hair flowing with the wind they created. "What's going on?" She asked bumping into Kol.

"It appears something went wrong at the summit," Kol responded. "We're going to investigate."

"I-" Rebekah didn't have the chance to respond before he cut her off.

"Stay here," Kol blurred out of the house and followed his siblings.

Rebekah watched him go, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like it one bit.

* * *

 **The other side**

Matt squeezed his eyes and waited for the worst to happen as the black cloud engulfed him fully.

There was a loud screeching noise.

The sound made his ears ring and his head hurt. _Is it me?_ Matt vaguely wondered. He expected to feel pain when the dark swirl of power attacked him but he felt nothing. He waited but he felt absolutely nothing. _What the hell?_ Matt opened his eyes and gasped.

The black cloud that had been trapping him with its dark power a few moments before had completely disappeared. Everything stood still and looked exactly the same as when he had first arrived. There was not a single trace of the terrible black cloud that had been surrounding him just seconds before. _How could that be?_

Matt stood alone on the empty road, the pouch and rocks on the floor by his feet. He looked around the street with the crumbling buildings and felt confused by this unexpected turn of events. _Where had the swirling cloud gone to?_

"You should not be here."

Matt spun around at the sound of that familiar voice. "Grams," he breathed with happiness.

Sheila Bennett stood before him. She looked exactly as Matt remembered her. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line and the stern look on her face reminded Matt of the many times she had scold him and the girls when they were children and got into trouble. "You need to leave."

"I need your help," Matt said as he began walking towards her. "Bonnie needs your help."

Sheila's face softened at the mention of her granddaughter. "Things over here are unpredictable," she said to Matt while looking nervously over her shoulder. "We don't know when the shadows will attack or how many they will be. You are risking too much by being here, Matt. It's too dangerous."

"You destroyed that shadow, didn't you?" Matt glanced around the empty street.

"It will regenerate," Sheila replied sadly. "Which is why you must go, before it's too late."

"The Travelers have the doppelgängers, except for one, Stefan."

Sheila nodded. She and the other Bennett witches had figured as much, the mention of Stefan's name took her by surprise however. "Stefan?"

"He's a doppelgänger," Matt informed her. "He's in a safe place right now but the Travelers need him and all the others to finally bring down the other side. We believe they are going to do it during the lunar eclipse. The one at the end of this year."

Sheila nodded and listened attentively to everything he was saying.

"Bonnie has been trying to communicate with you for weeks, none of the spells she tried worked. That's why she came up with this plan."

"We closed the gateways," Sheila explained. She looked over her shoulders once more. She knew she didn't have much time. The shadows tended to regenerate quicker these days. "Things over here have turn for the worse, the barriers protecting the other side have grown considerably weaker and in order to prevent a catastrophe we closed all the portals, and other means of communication between the living and the dead. That's why Bonnie couldn't contact us."

"Bonnie is hoping that you and the Bennett's here can help us," Matt told her. "Not only to stop the Travelers but the spirits are plotting something in New Orleans, a couple of witches have gone missing, including Lenore and-"

"Lenore has been taken by the Travelers."

"What?"

"Listen very carefully Matt, I don't have much time," Sheila told him in a serious voice. "The other side came to life with Bennett blood that's why they need to sacrifice a Bennett witch in order to fully destroy it. The Travelers are going to sacrifice Lenore and all of the doppelgängers which also includes the anchor."

"The anchor?" Matt repeated. He felt stunned by all the things Grams was divulging.

"The spell that created the other side is bound to the anchor," Sheila revealed. "Qetsiyah needed to bind the other side to something that would never die. That something is a woman by the name of Amarah. She is a true immortal like Silas and the originator of the Petrova bloodline," she explained quickly. "They were lovers and they betrayed Qetsiyah so she took her revenge by entombing him and making her the anchor to the other side."

"Shit," Matt cursed.

"The Travelers have her. They are going to sacrifice all of them on the night of the ritual. When Amarah dies, the other side will cease to exist."

"But you said she's immortal," Matt pointed out quickly. "How can they kill her if she's a true immortal like Silas?" Silas had been killed because he drank the cure. "Do the Travelers have a cure too?"

"They have magic and Bennett blood," Sheila responded. "That's all they need."

"How can we stop them?"

"We're working on something here to preserve the other side."

"What?"

A strange noise interrupted them.

"It's coming," Sheila muttered in a rather fearful tone. She glanced over her shoulder at the rumbling darkness awakening once more. "You need to go."

"But-"

"Tell Bonnie we are working to preserve the other side, tell her that as soon as we have a concrete plan we will reach out to her." Sheila said turning back to face Matt. "The biggest problem right now, are the Ancestors of New Orleans. They are planning something but we don't know what. Their realm is impenetrable. We have been unable to enter their domain." There was look of pure anger on her face. "They want Bonnie and her children, that much I know for sure. You have to warn her Matt. Bonnie needs to be careful."

"They are using someone, a witch we think." Matt swallowed nervously. "Witches have been disappearing for days and magic has been unable to find them."

"The Ancestors are extremely powerful and they don't play by the same rules like the other spirits." Sheila and the other Bennett's had stopped the spirits that had attacked Bonnie when she had ended up on the other side. They had locked them up in various prison worlds. The Ancestors however, were far more devious and had secluded themselves in their realm to plot their evil deeds. The Bennett witches had not been able to reach them.

The noises grew stronger and a gust of wind slammed into them.

"You have to go now."

Matt glanced to the red rocks on the ground. "They'll help me find my way back."

"Good."

A cold sensation descended over his body. Matt's eyes went wide when he saw the black wave of swirling power heading their way. It was bigger and faster than the one from before.

Sheila's eyes narrowed. She summoned her magic and sent a spiraling chain of fire towards it. The black wave ate the fire like it was nothing. The magic chain easily evaporated without causing any harm to its nemesis.

Matt felt absolutely terrified.

"Run," Sheila ordered. "Run as fast as you can and don't look back."

"What about you-" The words died on his lips when he was flung back by a wave of Sheila's magic.

"Get out!" She ordered before turning back to face the wave of black heading their way.

Matt's eyes burned with tears. Another wave of Sheila's magic and he was flung back again.

"I will be fine," Sheila said glancing at him. "Leave now!"

Matt nodded fearfully and took off running, he followed the trail of red rocks on the ground.

Sheila summoned all the power she could muster and erected a barrier of fire behind her, in an attempt to keep Matt safe while he made it back to his body. She fired all the energy she had inside her against the black sinister void which seemed to be growing by the second. A small whimpered left her lips as she sent wave after wave of the magic she possessed against it.

The void fed on her power with glee. None of Sheila's attempts could hurt it.

"It can't be…" Sheila whispered as a cold sinking feeling took hold of her heart. She kept trying though, she wasn't going to give up. Not now, not ever. She was going to fight to the very end.

While Sheila refused to run or surrender to the void, Matt made his way back to his body. He was out of breath and feeling scared out of his mind. He also felt guilty for leaving Grams to face the black cloud on her own but he also knew that she had a better chance at fighting it than he did.

"Please let her be okay," Matt murmured as he kneeled next to his body. He glanced over his shoulder before touching his body.

The last thing Matt saw before returning to the land of the living was a blinding light that seemed to be engulfing everything. _Where had that light come from?_ It hadn't been there before. _Was it Gram's magic?_

The last thing Matt heard was a horrible screeching noise. _The sound of void dying,_ he thought closing his eyes and shivering slightly.

There was a blast of while light that penetrated the darkness, the rays so grand and beautiful they shone like diamonds against the sun. There was so much energy engulfing the area that some of the rays even managed to reach him.

The last thing Matt felt was a warm sensation that made his entire body tingle and which filled his soul with peace. Somehow, he knew Grams was going to be okay.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Klaus honestly didn't know what he was expecting when he arrived at the house where the summit was taking place, all he knew as that he needed to find Bonnie and ensure she was okay. Finding a bunch of unconscious witches scattered on the grass was definitely something he was not prepared for. "What the bloody hell is this?"

Elijah and Kol came to a halt right next to him. The three brothers contemplated the surreal scene for a few seconds before turning to each other, matching looks of confusion on their faces.

The witches laid on the ground, eyes closed, bodies completely still. They looked like corpses but Klaus knew they were alive, he could hear their heartbeats resonating all around him. _Had they all fainted at once?_

The scent of magic lingered in the air.

"I can hear their heartbeats," Kol commented taking a couple of steps closer.

Klaus's eyes moved rapidly over the bodies as he desperately tried to locate Bonnie. He couldn't feel her in the property. _She's not here,_ the bond confirmed his suspicions almost at once. Bonnie was nowhere near the house or its surrounding land. _Where are you?_ Klaus's gaze became lost in the trees.

"Lucy!" Elijah spotted his lover right away and rushed to her side. "Lucy." He got on the ground and picked the unconscious witch in his arms. "Darling, can you hear me?" he touched her cheek. She was cold but her heart beat was strong. He contemplated Lucy's peaceful face for a few moments. Lucy seemed fine but for some reason she wasn't waking up. He couldn't help but wonder how long she had been like this. "What's wrong with them?" he looked up and asked his brothers. His voice was calm and composed but the worried look on his eyes told a different story.

"I think it's some kind of spell," Kol crouched down near the body of a young dark-haired witch. It was one of Bonnie's cousins, Sofia. He reached out and grabbed her left arm, inspecting the strange symbol on her hand. "Look!" he pointed to the tiny red mark on Sofia's skin. It was in the shape of a star. "They've been hexed."

"What kind of hex?" Elijah asked while tenderly cradling Lucy in his arms. "How can we break it?"

"A sleeping curse maybe," Kol ventured a guess. He began walking around and inspected the hands of the unconscious witches. They all had the same strange star symbol on their skins. Yes, they had definitely been hexed. "They all have the same mark on their hands." His eyes searched for a dark haired pretty witch in particular. There was no sign of her. Kol felt a strange sensation in his stomach. _Where are you Davina?_

"Bonnie is not here," Klaus growled. He felt agitated and above all angry. His eyes became liquid gold and his hands balled into fists.

"Neither is Davina," Kol muttered standing up.

"I don't see Vincent either," Elijah looked around the many witches laying on the ground but there was no sign of the future Regent. "Who did this?"

"This has to be the work of a witch," Klaus hissed. Whoever that witch was, her days were numbered. "When I get my hands on her, I…"

"This kind of magic can't be the work of a single witch," Elijah cut him off. It looked like every single witch in New Orleans had been put under a sleeping curse and that kind of magic was not only extremely dark but also taxing. A single witch wouldn't be able to do it or hold that kind of spell for long. "This must be the work of a coven." But it didn't make any sense. All of the nine covens had been summoned to attend the summit. _Had one of them betrayed the Regent and done this? And if so, for what purpose?_ Elijah's mind was in overdrive working hard to come up with a logical explanation for this. "Why would anyone do this? What is the ultimate gain?"

"Does it bloody matter?" Klaus snapped. "What we need to do is find Bonnie and wake this lot!" The hybrid was like a ferocious wolf pacing against a cage.

"How much do you want to bet this is probably connected to the missing witches?" Kol intervened. It was the only thing that made sense in his head. "The same person who took those witches is probably behind this."

"If the spirits are involved in this…" Elijah gave an alarmed look in Klaus's direction.

Klaus's stomach sank as a terrifying realization hit him. "The spirits want to kill Bonnie and our children," he muttered. The current of rage slamming through him had his entire body shaking. The spirits had tried to kill Bonnie on two occasions already. The second time they had nearly succeeded in killing the twins when they teleported Bonnie to the other side. "Fuck!" he cursed. He couldn't believe this. "I have to find her!"

Elijah and Kol exchanged worried looks.

"Can you sense her?" Kol asked, a hint of the worry he felt echoing in his voice. He better than anyone knew how relentless the spirits were.

Klaus closed his eyes, shutting everything out, and concentrated on finding his mate. Their connection was unique. He tapped into the bond and expanded his senses to their limits. He could tell right away that Bonnie was still in New Orleans. She was somewhere close, he could feel her. "She's in the city, she's rather close," he whispered as he pushed further. _Come on,_ he urged the bond. _Show me where she is,_ he demanded. He concentrated with all his might, determined to locate her at all cost. _Show me,_ he commanded as he pushed their connection to the limit. Different images suddenly flashed inside his mind.

 _Flowers_

 _Candles_

 _Tombs_

 _Lafayette_

The name came to him like a bolt of lightning. Klaus's eyes snapped open. "She's in Lafayette cemetery." His face shifted, his nails elongated into claws, and a low rumble was heard from within his chest. He was more than ready to blur out of there but Elijah got in his way.

"We cannot go there without a plan," Elijah said placing a hand on his chest and pushing him back slightly.

Klaus growled.

"That cemetery is more than likely protected by powerful magic," Elijah tried to reason with him. "We are going to need witches to help us get through. We need to wake Lucy and the other Bennett's, they can help us-"

"And how long is that going to take?" Klaus snarled taking a couple of menacing steps forward.

A lesser vampire would have flinched at the acid voice and cowered in fear against the ferocious beast in front of him. Elijah instead calmly pushed Klaus back a couple of steps with his hand. "You need to think clearly!" He snapped. "I know how worried you are about Bonnie and your children but you cannot allow those emotions to cloud your judgment. Brother, I am begging you to think with a clear head. I know that is not an easy task but we must be smarter than our enemies."

"We're wasting time!" Klaus growled.

"We are not a hundred percent sure on what we're dealing with," Elijah insisted in that authoritative older brother voice he often used to keep his siblings in check. "We need a plan."

"I know you don't want to hear this," Kol muttered materializing next to Elijah and preventing Klaus from taking off in an angry huff. "But Elijah is right. We need a good plan of attack."

Klaus could barely contain the rage he felt inside him but deep down he knew they were right.

"I'm going to call Aya and see if the Strix's coven can help break this hex," Elijah said calmly. "I'm also going to call Angelica and Joanna and ask them to meet us at Lafayette cemetery. We need powerful witches on our side." He looked down at Lucy's unconscious body. The ideal thing to do was to wait for the Bennett coven to wake up and head with them to confront whoever was behind this but he didn't know how long it would take to break the hex. Bonnie and the twins' safety was their priority. They had to rescue them and Davina before it was too late.

"I'll order some of the vampires to come and help us," Kol said right away. Vampires might not have a great chance against witches but they sure as hell could offer a distraction. "I'll call Bekah too."

"I'll order the wolves to secure this place and help as well," Klaus said through gritted teeth. He wanted nothing more than to rush to Lafayette cemetery and get Bonnie but he also knew they had to be careful. The spirits were extremely powerful, who knew what nasty surprises awaited them. "I'm going to call Marcel as well." Marcel loved Davina as if she were his own daughter and he would definitely want to help get her back. Not to mention that they were going to need all the help they could get.

They all pulled out their cell phones at once and started making calls.

 _Hold on sweetheart,_ Klaus projected his thoughts to Bonnie. He wasn't entirely sure if she would hear him. He didn't know if Bonnie was awake and aware of what was going on or if she had been placed under a sleeping curse as well. _I'm coming for you. Hold on._

Whoever was behind this was going to suffer a horrible death, Klaus vowed.

* * *

 **The compound**

"You have no idea how happy I am," Rebekah murmured while hugging Matt with all of her strength. The happiness and relief she had felt when he woke up was incredible. She had been so worried over him.

"You have no idea how happy I am to be back," Matt whispered with a half laugh. For a moment there, he had come close to not coming back at all. He shivered slightly as he recalled the black cloud. He didn't tell her that he almost didn't make it back. He didn't want Rebekah worrying about that.

The two pulled apart.

Matt opened his mouth but whatever he was going to say was stopped by the heated kiss Rebekah planted on him. He eagerly responded, wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her closer to him. Rebekah's fingers twisted on his shirt as their mouths continued to arduously clash together. It had only been a couple of hours but for them it had felt like they had been apart for an eternity.

Matt reluctantly pulled away a few minutes later when the need for air became too much. He smiled and pushed a strand of hair away from her pretty face.

Rebekah smiled back and took his hand in hers.

"I talked to Grams and learned some interesting things," Matt told her while still trying to catch his breath.

"The potion worked then."

"Yeah," Matt remembered everything that had happened while he was on the other side. He even had the memories of his first trip there. "I would rather have the entire family together in order to explain everything at once. Grams warned me about the Ancestors, they are apparently planning something. Is Bonnie back yet?" The house was really quiet. He wasn't sure how long he had been gone but it looked like it was pretty late.

"Not yet," Rebekah bit her lip.

"What is it?" An uneasy feeling suddenly invaded him.

"I think something went wrong," Rebekah told him in a worried tone. "Nik sensed something and left. Elijah and Kol went after him."

"Damn it," Matt cursed. Something had probably gone wrong at the summit.

"I haven't heard from them yet," Rebekah said nervously. Despite how happy she felt at having Matt back safe with her, the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach had intensified. She was really worried for Bonnie, Lucy, and Davina. She knew they were powerful and could handle their own but witches were tricky and who knew if the summit had turned into a battlefield. She hoped not.

Before Matt could say anything else, a piercing screamed was heard from upstairs. He and Rebekah looked at each other. "Charlotte," they both said at once before the two of them rushed up the stairs towards her room.

Rebekah arrived first. "What's wrong sweetheart?" she asked upon opening the door.

The lights in the room were on and Charlotte was sitting up in her bed, hands twisting the bed sheets. Her tearful green eyes were open wide in fear.

Rebekah rushed to her side, sitting on the bed and wrapping her arms around the little witch's shaking frame. "It's okay, darling. You're okay." She did her best to comfort the crying girl.

Charlotte whimpered and shifted closer to her.

"What happened?" Matt asked coming inside the room. He was followed closely by Angelica who had also heard Charlotte's scream and had come to check on her.

"Is everything okay?" the witch asked. She frowned as she stepped inside the bedroom. There was a strange cold sensation invading Charlotte's room. Her skin prickled and goose bumps formed on her flesh. Something felt wrong.

"There was someone in my room…" Charlotte hiccuped while snuggling closer to Rebekah. "Someone in a red robe…" she tearfully described. "Holding a knife."

Matt and Rebekah exchanged worried glances.

"It was just a horrible dream, darling." Rebekah had not sensed anyone inside the house, saved for Angelica, Joanna, and Matt. The compound was protected by all kinds of spells, if anyone had sneaked into Charlotte room they would have known.

Charlotte whimpered and more tears slipped down her cheeks. "I screamed when I saw it."

"It's okay, sweetheart. You're safe, I promise." Rebekah kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. "No one is going to hurt you. You're safe with us."

Charlotte buried her head against Rebekah's chest and cried some more. "I want Bonnie."

The words were muffled by her crying and by having her face pressed against Rebekah's chest but the Original girl heard her plea crystal clear. "Bonnie will be back soon," she promised.

"I'll go downstairs and make her some tea," Angelica offered.

Rebekah nodded.

Matt took a seat on the bed and grabbed Charlotte's hand. "Hey, it's okay. Don't be afraid." He squeezed her hand reassuringly while Rebekah continued to rocked her gently.

Charlotte squeezed his hand back and sniffled a couple of times but she seemed to be calming down. Rebekah continued to gently hold her in her arms, rocking her back and forth and reassuring her that everything was going to be fine.

All three of them looked up when Joanna and Angelica stepped inside the room. Joanna looked rather pale and her eyes were filled with worry.

Matt frowned.

"Something is wrong," Charlotte whispered upon seeing both witches. Their auras were filled with a cold and scary sensation. She didn't like it.

"What is it?" Rebekah asked them.

Angelica swallowed nervously.

"I just got a call from Elijah," Joanna informed them. "We have a problem."

* * *

 **Lafayette cemetery**

Drip

Drip

Drip

It was the sound of water dripping onto the floor that woke her. A low groan escaped her lips as she slowly regained consciousness. Her eyelids fluttered open and she licked her lips, feeling a bitter taste inside her mouth. Her throat felt really dry was well. _What happened?_ She felt rather sleepy too.

Bonnie laid on the ground for a couple of seconds, staring at the black and cloudless sky. The low rumbling of thunder and the cold wind hitting her cheeks didn't seem to bother her as she contemplated the sky above her. She felt weird, there was a strange feeling inside her and she couldn't really describe what it was. It wasn't fear, or pain, but something else, something that made her uneasy. It didn't feel right. _Where am I?_ she wondered before pulling herself into a sitting position. A yawn escaped her lips. _Why did she feel so tired?_

Bonnie touched her pregnant stomach, a small smile forming on her lips as she felt the strong kicks from the twins. Her kids seemed to be having a soccer match inside her belly. She allowed herself a moment of happiness before taking in her surroundings. She looked around with confusion. There were a bunch of tombstones enclosing her, water was dripping down from the one behind her. She was in a cemetery, Bonnie realized and in front of her was an altar of some sort, with candles, sage, and three clothed bodies lying on the ground as some type of offering.

 _What the hell?_

 _How did I get here?_

As her mind struggled to put the pieces together, Bonnie's eyes landed on the two figures to her left. Vincent and Josephine laid unconscious inside a circle of salt and white candles which flickered from time to time due to the cold wind. For a moment, she felt terrified that they were dead but she could hear their heartbeats. Vincent and Josephine were alive, just unconscious. _What happened to them?_

Bonnie stood up and tried to get a better look. There was a strange symbol carved into Vincent's and Josephine's foreheads, it looked like a pentagram but she wasn't sure. She stood slowly and tried to get a better view. Her heart jumped to her throat when she finally noticed that she was also inside a big circle. However, hers was made of black ash with black candles in the shape of skulls surrounding the outside. _Black magic,_ Bonnie thought fearfully. Not only in the circle keeping her trapped but all around the cemetery. She could feel it. Her nose twitched as she sniffed the air. The scent of death and decay lingered; it made her nauseous.

Bonnie's own magic came alive then, her senses alerting her to danger she was in.

 _How in the world did she ended up in the cemetery?_

Her brows knitted together trying to remember what had happened. The summit, she had been in the backyard of the mansion, attending the summit with her coven, and Sophie had shown up and said something to the Regent and then-

Bonnie's mind went blank.

She couldn't remember what happened after Sophie arrived. _An explosion maybe?_ She recalled hearing a loud bang but she wasn't fully sure. Sophie had done something to them, she must have knocked them out unconscious and brought them here, why? Where was her coven? Where was Davina? A strong current of fear invaded Bonnie then. How long had it been? Did Klaus know something had happened? Was her coven looking for her? Or had Sophie brought them here as well?

There were many questions flying around in her head. The only thing Bonnie felt certain of, was that she needed to get out of there. She took a couple of steps forward and raised her arms as she came to the edge of the circle. She tentatively extended her arms and touched the invisible barrier keeping her trapped inside. She pulled back right away, hissing in pain when she felt a burning sensation on her skin. She looked down at her hands, the burning sensation thankfully disappeared in a matter of seconds. The twins had no doubt healed her.

 _I need to break free,_ Bonnie thought. There were murmurs somewhere close to her. A group of witches, she could feel them. Sophie probably had other witches helping her. There was a familiar scent lingering in the air as well, Bonnie wondered if Davina was somewhere inside the cemetery, trapped as she was. _Come on, Bonnie. You need to concentrate._ Taking a deep breath, Bonnie summoned her magic and used it to destroy the barrier holding her captive.

The entire cemetery shook by the blast of power that slammed against the invisible barrier. The black candles flickered for a couple of seconds but the black ash remained in place.

Bonnie gasped as the air was knocked out of her lungs in the proceeding moment. A sharp burning pain exploded inside her head while red blotches began forming on her caramel skin. It hurt. She had not been anticipating the pain. She closed her eyes and clutched her stomach, feeling afraid for her children. Her spell had not rebounded on the contrary, her magic had been swallowed by the barrier. _So where was this pain coming from?_ Bonnie wondered. She breathed in and out as her body slowly began to relax and the pain dissipated almost as quickly as it came.

A mocking laugh had her opening her eyes.

Sophie made her way towards her, the sound of her heels hitting the pavement echoed all around them.

Bonnie felt a chill go down her spine as the intoxicating power Sophie wielded engulfed her. It was dark and dangerous. The Ancestor's vessel, Bonnie realized with a cold sweat. Sophie was the witch the Ancestors were using to carry out their evil deeds.

"Long time no see," Sophie greeted as if they were old friends.

"What have you done to me?"

"I hexed you," Sophie calmly stated. A handful of other witches followed her and began walking towards the altar.

Bonnie recognized all of them at once. She had seen their pictures scattered all over the city in the flyers their families had posted on every street corner. The missing witches, they were all there with Sophie. Her eyes zeroed in on Katie. Thierry and some of Klaus's hybrids had carried flyers with her face on it. She looked different. The girl looked thinner, her face sickly, her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were completely devoid of any emotion. She looked like a zombie and the other witches didn't look any better either. They all seemed to be under some sort of spell. _What had Sophie done to them?_

Bonnie desperately searched for Lenore but she didn't see her. _Where was her cousin? Why wasn't Lenore there with the other missing witches?_

Sophie suddenly snapped her fingers in front of Bonnie's face, bringing her attention back to her.

"What?" Bonnie gave her a confused look.

"I just told you that you are hexed," Sophie said coldly.

"And what? You want me to tremble in fear and beg you to take the hex away," Bonnie snapped. She raised her chin and stared at Sophie with defiance. "I'm not afraid of you." She would find a way to remove the hex.

"You should be," Sophie muttered. She clearly didn't like Bonnie's attitude. "You are very arrogant, aren't you?"

"So are you," Bonnie retorted. "What did you do to us?"

"I put you to sleep," Sophie informed her. "Then I brought you here."

"How long have you been planning this?"

"For a while now. The summit made my plan so much easier."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "Why are you doing this?"

"Someone had to take a stand," Sophie responded. "The Ancestors chose me, they have deemed me worthy of fulfilling their wishes." She studied Bonnie's face with calculating eyes. "Tonight, the Harvest will be completed and a new Regent will rise to lead the witches into greatness."

"A new Regent?" Bonnie glanced nervously at Vincent and Josephine.

"They will both die tonight," Sophie told her while glancing at her other prisoners as well. "They are of no use to the Ancestors. They can't be trusted."

"They're not puppets like you," Bonnie snapped.

Sophie's eyes narrowed and if looks could kill, Bonnie would've been six feet under. "Watch your tongue," she hissed.

"Let me guess, you'll become the next Regent?"

"I will."

Bonnie contemplated the proud witch in front of her. Sophie reeked of dark magic and looked very different from the Sophie she had encountered months before. It was obvious that the Ancestors had altered her somehow. "Can't you see that they are only using you?" she asked in an attempt to get through to her. The real Sophie had to be there somewhere, right? "This isn't right, Sophie. You must know that, deep down."

"I have been blessed by the Ancestors," Sophie stated.

"What have you done to Vincent and Josephine?" Bonnie demanded. "To the others?"

"They're in a deep slumber. All of the witches attending the summit actually," Sophie responded. The curve of her lips and the glint in her eyes told Bonnie that there was more to what she was saying but Sophie didn't elaborate.

"You put all of them to sleep?"

"Don't look so surprised," Sophie smirked. "The power of the Ancestors knows no limits and it's all at my disposal," she proudly declared.

"Where is Davina?" Bonnie took a step closer. "What have you done to her?" Her hands balled into fists as she angrily stared her down.

"Davina is waiting to fulfill her destiny," Sophie responded.

"Why am I here?"

Sophie's lips twisted into an ugly grin. "You took my coven's magic away." she took a step closer to Bonnie, coming to stand right at the edge of the barrier. She met Bonnie's eyes unflinchingly. "I made one last ditch effort and contacted the Ancestors. They bestowed all this power on me and only asked for one thing in return."

"Me," Bonnie deduced. She fought to stay still as a cold and dreadful sensation invaded her. "They want me."

"You," Sophie agreed before looking down at Bonnie's big belly. "And the parasites growing inside of you." She raised her emotionless eyes once more.

Bonnie's entire body shook with rage. The wave of magic that was unleashed from her had lightning flashing across the sky while a strong wind blew inside the cemetery. The light from the candles shot up high into the sky, nearly melting them completely.

Sophie took a startled step back as she felt Bonnie's magic surface all around her. The strong current of power the petite witch had summoned had a chill descending over Sophie's body.

The witches that were preparing everything for the Harvest ritual looked in Bonnie's direction, they all felt the great power she commanded. They looked fearfully between both witches.

Sophie watched and waited.

Bonnie ordered her magic to destroy the circle of black ash and release her from her prison. Her magic happily obeyed and attacked the barrier. No sooner had she unleashed all that power and she found herself out of breath, her knees gave out, and she collapsed on the ground, an anguish scream escaping from her parted lips.

The pain was excruciating, the burning sensation spread from her head all the way down to her toes. Tears burned in Bonnie's eyes, her vision became cloudy, and a wave of nausea rose in her throat. This wasn't supposed to be happening. _What was wrong?_

Sophie laughed.

Bonnie gasped, body trembling uncontrollably. She looked down at her shaky hands and noticed the angry bleeding blisters on her skin. "What…" her head burned, her body hurt, and her vision was blurry. "What have you done to me?" she asked fearfully. She had never had this kind of reaction to using magic before.

"I hexed you while you were sleeping," Sophie told her as calmly as if they were discussing the weather. "You are going to die a slow and painful death."

Bonnie looked up, her body rocked by uncontrollable trembles still while blood began oozing from her nose. She grabbed her stomach feeling absolutely terrified of what was happening to her. She could feel the vampire blood in her system rapidly trying to heal all her aches and wounds. The bleeding stop, the blisters disappeared, but the pounding in her head and the nausea did not.

Sophie raised her left arm and looked at her watch. "You have a couple more hours or so." Her eyes gleamed as she looked down at Bonnie. "The use of magic will cause the poison in your system to spread twice as fast," she gleefully informed Bonnie. "It's quite an ingenuous hex, don't you think?"

"You…" Bonnie pressed her lips together in order to suppress the nausea.

"The Devil's curse, they call it." Sophie's lips curved. "It will weaken you, eat you from within, a poison so vile and effective there is no cure for it."

Bonnie shook her head. She refused to believe that.

"Don't think that those little creatures will help you," Sophie continued in a triumphant voice. "They can try and slow down the poison I suppose but ultimately they will succumb to it. They will die right inside your belly and there is nothing you can do about it."

Bonnie's entire body went cold.

"Magic is such an incredible thing, isn't it?" Sophie tilted her head to the side and regarded her carefully. "Who would have thought that the mighty Bennett queen would be reduced to a pitiful trembling creature at my feet." She laughed. "Well, that's what you get for betraying your kind."

Bonnie closed her eyes. Sophie's mocking laughter was a dagger to her heart. It made her angry as well and her magic flared which caused the hex to do its evil work and increase the poison invading her system. Bonnie whimpered as the burning pain melting her insides intensified, a cold sweat trickled down her spine, and she gasped pitifully as she attempted to get some air into her lungs. _This can't be happening._ Bonnie thought feverishly. She felt ready to pass out. There was some relief as the twins' healing abilities worked furiously once more to cure her. _But for how long can they keep on doing it?_

Sophie's next words stung.

"You will die tonight Bonnie Bennett and so will your little monsters."

Bonnie bit back a whimper.

Sophie turned her back on Bonnie and proceeded to walk towards the altar. "Bring the Harvest girl," she ordered two of the witches helping her. "It is time."

* * *

Joanna screamed in agony and sank to her knees as another attempt to break the barrier surrounding the cemetery failed. She was covered in sweat and her body felt like she had been run over by a truck from all the pain she felt. Next to her, Angelica also sank to her knees. Both witches were out of breath.

"I can't…" Joanna muttered. She was exhausted.

"The magic is too strong," Angelica wiped some of the blood trailing down her nose. She felt so cold and her body was trembling nonstop. "We can't break the barrier."

"Try again," Klaus ordered.

"They need to rest and regain their strength," Rebekah told her brother. She had left Matt with Charlotte at the house and had come with the witches to the cemetery. They were standing outside the gates. Felix and the group of vampires Kol had called were on the other side, waiting for the barrier to be broken in order to storm inside.

"We can't be wasting time!" Klaus yelled as he paced like a madman. He could feel Bonnie's pain. She was hurting and that made him want to tear his hair out and unleash all kinds of hell on earth. _Hold on sweetheart. I'm close,_ he did his best to reassure her through their bond. _Hold on, love._

Joanna used all of her strength to pull herself to her feet. "The magic surrounding this place is incredible, I have never seen anything like this before. We can't destroy the barriers on our own. If we wake up Lucy and the others, then all of us-"

"The Strix's coven is working on that," Elijah assured her. He also wanted nothing more than to wake up Lucy. He had reluctantly left her with Klaus's wolf pack as he and his brothers headed to the cemetery. "They will find a way to wake them up." Aya had promised him.

"You need to keep trying, Bonnie needs us!" Klaus insisted. Judging by the lightning flashing across the sky and the strong scent of magic something big was happening inside the cemetery. Something that was causing Bonnie pain. "We need to get inside." He was losing his mind as he felt Bonnie's pain and fear as if it were his own. The last wave in particular had been a painful blow to his heart. He was worried. Every second they wasted, Bonnie and his children were in more danger.

"I know," Joanna said wiping the sweat from her brow. "We're doing our best Klaus," she pleaded with her eyes for him to understand. "None of our spells are strong enough to bring down the barrier. I-" She didn't know what to do and that killed her. Her daughter and the rest of their family were in a sleeping coma, her niece was inside a cemetery surrounded by dark magic and nothing that she was doing worked. Joanna felt like a failure. She didn't know what else to do.

"Maybe this will help."

They all turned to the sound of Marcel's voice. He dropped a black duffel bag by Klaus's feet. The former king of the city was accompanied by Father Kieran and to Klaus's surprise Damon Salvatore.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the hybrid snapped in Damon's direction.

"What is this?" Elijah got down to inspect the bag.

"My collection of dark objects," Father Kieran replied.

Angelica and Joanna looked at each other, different ideas already forming in their heads. Dark objects were created by powerful dark magic which they could combined with their own magic. That could definitely do the trick. Hope rose in Joanna's chest as she got down next to Elijah and inspected the objects inside.

"Your collection?" Kol arched an eyebrow as he too studied the dark objects inside the bag. "Funny. I seem to recall making most of these." He glared at the priest. "That fucking traitor witch," he hissed while thinking back to the witch he had given the objects to for safe keeping nearly one century before.

Father Kieran ignored him.

"I was with Kieran when you called," Marcel told Klaus as he tried to ease some of the tension. "They both insisted on coming with me," he glanced at the priest and the younger vampire. Marcel hadn't felt the need to stop Damon from tagging along. Stefan had also wanted to come along but they hadn't let him. "I figured we could all use the help."

"Is that so?" Klaus's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I'm not going to sit back and do nothing while Bonnie has been kidnapped by an evil witch," Damon snapped. He didn't want any harm to come to Bonnie. Not to mention that he was itching for a good fight to blow off some steam. "What's the plan?" he got down to business.

"As soon as the barrier is down, we'll storm in and rip as many hearts and heads as we can," Rebekah responded with a sweet smile.

"Sounds like old times," Marcel smirked in her direction. He was more than ready to unleash his wrath on the witch who had taken Davina. The Ancestors and the witches helping them were going to regret this. He looked past the iron gate, his stomach lurching. _I'm here D. I will keep you safe,_ he swore.

Rebekah only shook her head. _Who could have thought they would all end up joining forces?_

"Can you do anything with the objects?" Elijah asked Angelica and Joanna.

Angelica nodded. "We can channel the power inside the objects and lower the barrier."

Joanna continued to pull more objects out of the bag. "You must do it quickly," she advised them. "Who knows how long we'll be able to keep the barrier down."

"Good thing we're all vamps then," Damon muttered.

Kol gave him an annoyed look.

"You should stay with them," Marcel told Father Kieran.

The priest nodded.

"Get ready," Elijah advised as both witches got down to business.

Rebekah placed a hand on Klaus's shoulder and offered him a reassuring smile. "We'll save them," she whispered in their mother tongue.

Klaus nodded. He had to believe that they would get inside in time. The alternative was not an option.

* * *

The sun burned her skin, the heat made her thirsty and the insects chewed on her flesh with great glee, making her itch all over. She scratched her face and her arms and kept on walking. She was tired and had no idea where she was going or what her purpose was.

 _Where am I?_ Lucy wondered fearfully. _Where is everybody? Why am I alone?_

The Bayou was deadly quiet.

She had been walking for miles and miles and had not come across a living soul at all.

 _What is my purpose?_

She struggled to remember what she was doing here but there was nothing. Her mind was completely devoid of any memory of her life or her past. She didn't know anything. She only knew that her name was Lucy and that she was in the Bayou for whatever reason _. Was her home nearby?_

 _Do I have a family?_

Lucy looked nervously around the tall trees and wondered if anyone was looking for her. Something about this didn't seem right but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Lucy's boots sank into the mud and she let out a shriek when strong hands suddenly grabbed her ankles and pulled her deeper into the swamp. "No!" She tried to pushed the hands away. "Get away!" She struggled but it was in vain. The harder she tried to break free the more the hands pulled her down. "Help!" she screamed as the hands dragged her down into the abyss. "Someone help me!"

No one heard her pleas.

Lucy cried out as her body was pulled deeper into the swamp. _I don't want to die!_ She thought. She struggled and fought to pull away from the hands but they kept pulling her down. "Help!" Lucy tried again.

There was no one to help her, no one to answer her call for help. She was all alone.

"Please!" Lucy begged. "Help!" She continued to struggle against the hands, attempting to get away but she couldn't. The grip on her ankles was too strong. The hands were unyielding. Lucy managed to take one big gulp of air before her entire body was dragged down beneath the murky waters.

In the real world, Lucy's body began convulsing and water began spilling out of her mouth.

The one thing that no one knew was that the Ancestors' had helped Sophie hex the Bennett witches as well. They were all trapped inside their minds, subjected to all kinds of horrors. Anything that happened to them inside their dreams would affect them in the real world as well.

If the Bennett witches were to die while in dreams, they would be dead for real.

The Ancestors had deemed them all as traitors and would show them no mercy.

* * *

 **The compound**

Charlotte was dozing off, safely tucked in her bed. The tea had helped calm her fears and uncle Matt had told her a funny story that took her mind off the strange figure she had seen in her room. It wasn't a dream like aunt Bekah thought. Charlotte felt sure she had seen someone with a knife leaning over her. The moment she screamed the figure disappeared but Charlotte had seen it clearly.

A strange white light appeared out of nowhere, its gentle rays spreading all over the room, creating a halo of warmth, peace, and familiarity.

Charlotte's eyes snapped open, her skin felt tingly, and her heart skipped a beat. She knew this feeling. It was comforting. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes.

The ball of light grew bigger and bigger, sparks of swirling magic dancing all around the pink walls of Charlotte's room.

"Mama?" The little witch whispered. "Is that you?" She hadn't seen a ball of light like this in a while, not since she had come to live with Bonnie and Klaus. She stared at it feeling completely hypnotized by it.

 _Sweet Charlotte,_ the all too familiar voice greeted her.

"It is you," Charlotte's eyes lit up and a beaming smile graced her lips. She felt so happy. She had not seen or talked to the first witch in a long time. "I missed you."

 _I missed you too, my darling girl._ The ball of light moved closer.

Charlotte happily reached out and touched the tendrils of white magic. It made her skin tingle and her belly feel warm and funny. She giggled. The first witch always took different shapes, sometimes she would be a ball of light, or a ghostly figure, others she would be an animal, or simply a beautiful lady with bright green eyes who held her in her arms and sang her to sleep. She had never told that to anyone though. No one knew that Charlotte had seen her face. It was their secret.

 _They need your help Charlotte,_ the first witch said. _You family needs you. Bonnie needs you._

Charlotte gasped. Her magic surfaced at the mention of Bonnie needing her help. She loved Bonnie. She couldn't let anything happen to her. They were family and they had to protect each other.

 _You must help the Bennett's wake up,_ the first witch's gentle voice echoed inside her mind. _The Bennett coven must help their queen._

Charlotte jumped out of bed, a look of fierce determination on her face. "What do I do, mama?"

 _I'll show you._

The door to her bedroom flung open.

The ball of light flew towards it and Charlotte ran after it.

* * *

 **Lafayette cemetery**

Bonnie's breathing was ragged as she sat on the floor, head slumped forward. The burning sensation in her skin continued despite the vampire blood in her system which was doing everything to help her fight the poison. As her body continued to battle the hex Sophie had placed on her, Bonnie's mind worked furiously to find a way out of this.

 _Hold on sweetheart,_ Klaus's voice echoed inside her mind. He was close. Bonnie could feel him just on the edge of the cemetery. He and his siblings were struggling to get inside Klaus had told her telepathically.

 _Hurry,_ Bonnie urged. Sophie told her that she just had a couple of hours left and every minute that went by Bonnie felt herself grow weaker. She needed to find a way to cure herself from the hex. She touched her stomach, gently rubbing her big belly. _Please hold on._ _We need to be strong. Daddy is close. We are going to be okay,_ she promised her children. The feeling of dread and despair however, left a bitter tasted inside her mouth. Bonnie didn't know if Klaus and his siblings were going to make it in time or not. If only Josephine and Vincent could wake up. If they could help her somehow.

 _You can break the circle,_ her mind supplied. _You are strong enough to break free and kill that evil witch._ The problem was the hex. Bonnie could summon enough power to break free but the hex had ensured that if she were to use magic, the poison in her system would spread more rapidly and kill her and her children. Sophie and the Ancestors had bested all of them. They had completely neutralized her and the other witches so that they could carry out their plans.

 _How are we going to get out of this?_ Bonnie wondered fearfully. Her trembling hand reached out towards the necklace around her neck, the one she always wore since the day it came to her. _Help me,_ Bonnie pleaded. _I need you._

The medallion with the strange swirling pattern glowed and it grew warm against her hand.

Bonnie's eyes were suddenly drawn to a pale and tearful Davina. She was being dragged to the altar by two witches.

"Bonnie!" Davina tried to run towards her but she was roughly pulled back by the witches. Davina had no choice but to fall in line. She had a magical chain around her wrists which prevented her from using her magic against them. She also felt dizzy and nauseous. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me," Bonnie did her best to appear calm. She wanted nothing more than to tell her that everything was going to be okay but no words came out of her mouth as their eyes met. _I'm sorry I can't protect you._

The witches pushed Davina forward, urging her to walk towards the altar where Sophie was waiting for her. The bodies of the three other Harvest girls laid by her feet.

"The time has come," Sophie said as she grabbed the sacrificial knife in one hand. "You must believe in the ritual," she said to Davina with surprising gentleness. "You must accept the Ancestors' will and believe in their power."

Davina glared at her. The two witches held her in place, ensuring that she wasn't going to try anything foolish. _What could she tried to do anyway?_ Her hands were bound by the chains, she couldn't use her magic to protect herself. The moment she had always feared had come for her at last.

Sophie looked up into the sky and began chanting, calling to the Ancestors to accept her offering.

Lightning flashed across the sky.

The wind picked up.

The candles surrounding the bodies of the Harvest girls lit up at once.

The Ancestors answered Sophie's call.

Davina turned her head and looked directly at Bonnie.

Bonnie had pulled herself to her feet, a worried expression on her sweaty face as she helplessly looked at the scene unfolding before her. _You can do this,_ Bonnie's said with her eyes.

Davina nodded, her bottom lip trembling slightly. She looked so young and scared. Bonnie's heart ached for her. _She'll come back to life,_ Bonnie assured herself. Josephine and Vincent believed in the Harvest. Bonnie and Davina had to believe in it too. They had no other choice now.

 _Where are you Klaus?_ Bonnie thought. After the Harvest Sophie was going to kill Vincent and Josephine and become the new Regent. They had to stop her before then. They also needed to stop the hex assaulting her body.

Sophie raised her right hand, lifting the blade up into the sky. The ancient blade glowed for a couple of seconds. Sophie lowered her hand and walked until she stood in front of Davina. "Do you believe in the Harvest, Davina?"

Davina steeled herself as best as she could, raising her chin, a scared but also determined look on her face. "I believe," she said in a steady voice despite the nerves and fear that invaded her body.

Sophie slit her throat open.

Bonnie turned her face away and squeezed her eyes shut.

Davina gasped, eyes open wide as blood poured down freely from the open wound on her neck, drenching her white dress in a deep red. Davina looked into the night sky before her eyes closed and her body slumped down to the floor.

Sophie smiled as did the witches helping her.

The Harvest had been completed at last.

The candles burned out.

The wind stopped.

A strong surge of magic was suddenly felt all around the cemetery.

Bonnie eye's snapped open, tears blurring her vision as she saw Davina's dead body. _Come on, wake up._ Bonnie waited with her heart beating erratically against her chest. _Wake up, Davina._ _Please wake up,_ Bonnie begged.

Sophie and her witches also watched and waited.

Time seemed to stand still.

None of the girls woke up.


	66. Chapter 66

_A/N: Here is the new chapter. I hope you like it!_

* * *

Matt let out a shaky breath as he looked up into the dark sky. The cold wind was like a knife slicing his skin open. He shivered and placed his hands inside the pockets of his jacket in an attempt to retain some heat. Everything was eerie quiet. There was a stillness in the air that had goosebumps forming on his skin while a strange fog descended all around them. From what he could see, the streets of the French Quarter were nearly deserted. Only a few brave souls were out and about, nervously looking over their shoulders, and hasting their pace as they disappeared frown view. Something was coming, something bad, Matt could feel it in his bones. He was no supernatural but his own survival instincts warned him that something bad was brewing in the city. It was the same instinct that had the people rushing down the foggy streets and making their way home.

Turning his head to the side, Matt stared at the little witch that had dragged him out of the safety of the compound and into the street. "Are you sure about this?" he asked her once more.

Charlotte nodded. "We have to help them," she whispered quietly. In her arms, Charlotte was carrying a jar filled with strange little sparks of light. _Magic,_ Charlotte had told him as the two headed outside. The jar contained the combined magic of the witches that formed the Bennett coven. Charlotte had collected it on the night the coven had officially been activated by Bonnie. It was Bennett magic, Bennett blood, Bennett power and they were going to need it to help the Bennett witches for they were in trouble or so the first witch had told Charlotte.

Matt didn't know what to make of the connection Charlotte had with the first witch. He had found Charlotte rushing down the stairs with the jar in her arms and had questioned her about it.

 _I can hear the first witch's voice in my head,_ was Charlotte's explanation. _We have to help Bonnie and the Bennett coven._ The fierce determination on her face destroyed whatever Matt was going to say. He just went with the flow. Years of knowing Bonnie had taught him that magic worked in mysterious ways and that if the Bennett's were in trouble and the first witch wanted to help them, Matt would to everything in his powers to help her in turn.

Charlotte placed the jar on the floor and took a couple of steps back. The jar had been sealed by Aunt Vivian-who had also collected a good number of jars filled with the sparks of power for herself.

"How exactly is this going to help them?" Matt asked as he stared at Charlotte who was still clad in her pink Hello Kitty pajamas and bunny slippers. Matt had hurried to drape one of Rebekah's shawls around her shoulders so she wouldn't catch a cold as the two hurried out of the house.

"It will wake them up," Charlotte replied simply.

Matt nodded, feeling satisfied with her answer. He moved to stand a couple of paces behind her and let her do whatever it was that the first witch had asked her to.

Charlotte took a deep breath.

 _You must concentrate,_ the first witch's voice whispered inside her mind. _Close your eyes and repeat after me,_ she carefully instructed.

Charlotte did as she was told and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. They had practiced this before. The first witch had taught Charlotte the proper way to get in tune with her magic, to connect with that incredible power inside her countless of times before while on the other side. The first witch had always tried to teach her things and while she had complained a couple of times of Charlotte's laziness, the little witch had definitely learned a lot from her. Now, the time had come to put that learning to good use.

Matt watched her, his heart pounding loudly like a rabbit running away from a hunter. He felt nervous and uncertain about this but he also trusted Charlotte's instincts and her desire to help Bonnie and the rest of the Bennett witches.

Charlotte raised both of her hands in the direction of the jar and began chanting in a strange language. It was a language long dead, forgotten really as no one knew the words anymore. But the power each word carried, was felt like an earthquake that shook the entire earth.

Matt gasped as he felt every hair on his body stand up.

A single bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens and shattered the jar with a blast that illuminated the entire street and which pushed Matt to his knees.

The surge of power that the sparks of light emitted as they slowly rose into the air was a beautiful sight to behold.

Matt's eyes went wide and his lips parted as he felt a tingling warm invading his body. The sparks of magic looked like fireflies, glowing brightly and spiraling up above their heads.

Charlotte's eyes snapped open, a strange glint illuminating her bright green eyes as she continued chanting, using her magic to guide the sparks of power where they need to be. "Go to Bonnie." Her voice was clam and filled with authority. "Go to every Bennett witch who is in need of you," she ordered. "Help them, free them, go to the Bennett witches at once, I command you."

The swirls of magic flew higher and higher into the sky before dispersing into three different groups and floating away in separate directions.

Matt watched in awe as they disappeared from view.

Charlotte's cheeks were flushed, the tip of her nose was red, and her little body was trembling slightly as she stared at the sky. "It is done," she whispered before a strong tremble rolled over her body. She whimpered as her knees gave out and she fell down on her butt.

"Charlotte!" Matt stood up and rushed to her side.

Charlotte blinked in confusion. Her breathing was uneven and her body was shivering still. She felt really cold all of a sudden.

"Are you okay?" Matt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his chest. "Does anything hurt?" He asked worriedly.

Charlotte shook her head. "I did it uncle Matt," she sounded very proud of what she had accomplished. "It worked," she looked up into his face, a happy smile on her lips.

"Yeah," Matt laughed. There was a part of him that couldn't believe that a small little girl like her had that kind of power. Then again, Charlotte was a Bennett witch. "You did it."

 _You must go inside._

Matt looked up startled. "What was that?" he asked as he looked around the street in bewilderment. _Who had said that?_

"We must go inside," Charlotte told him.

Matt looked down at her face before looking around once more.

"Come on, uncle Matt."

Matt easily picked her up in his arms and began making his way inside the house.

 _Stay inside._

Matt stopped right at the entrance to the compound and turned to glance over his shoulder. This time he felt certain he had not imagined it, he had heard the voice of a woman. But there was no one except for them. The street was deserted. _Weird,_ Matt thought as he stepped inside the house.

"We will mama," Charlotte murmured while snuggling closer to him and closing her eyes. She fell asleep in an instant, the spell probably tiring her. "Sleepy now…." She mumbled.

 _Sweet dreams my darling girl._

Charlotte smiled as she felt the ghost of a fingertip against her cheek while a familiar perfume reached her nose.

Matt didn't feel a thing nor did he hear that voice again. He locked the doors and carried Charlotte up the stairs to her bedroom. There, he waited to hear good news.

* * *

 **Lafayette cemetery**

The world stood still.

The witches inside Lafayette cemetery stared at the corpses of the four Harvest girls and waited. No one dared to move, no one dared to say anything. They were all completely still, waiting for the four girls to rise from the dead. As the seconds went by however, they all began to fidget nervously. They were not at their best mentally, for the magic controlling them had pretty much turned them into living corpses who were completely at the mercy of Sophie and the Ancestors but they were lucid enough to know that something was wrong, that this was not supposed to happen. Something had clearly gone wrong with the Harvest. They all turned to face Sophie and waited expectantly for her to explain to them what was going on.

Sophie who was still holding the sacrificial knife covered in Davina's blood stood still, her eyes focused on the bodies of the Harvest girls. "Come on," she whispered. She had felt the magic in the air, she had felt the power released as the Harvest ritual was completed. _So why weren't the girls back to life yet? What had gone wrong?_ He heart was beating wildly against her chest and her body trembled with nerves. "Wake up," she mumbled. "Wake up," she said again. It was almost a plea.

Bonnie stood with her eyes glued to Davina's body, pleading and hoping with all her heart for the young witch to wake up. _Come one Davina, please wake up._ She couldn't bear the thought of the Harvest not working. Josephine and Vincent believed in it, they trusted the ritual, so did Sophie. She had done all of this because she truly believed it would work. It had to work. Bonnie waited and waited, her heart on her throat and her eyes brimming with tears.

Nothing happened.

The wind had stopped, the candles had long burned, and the Harvest girls laid dead.

"I don't understand," Sophie murmured her face twisting in painful confusion. "I did everything right," she looked at the witches helping her before she looked up into the sky. "I did everything you asked of me!" she shouted. "Bring them back!" she ordered, her voice breaking and her eyes watering. "You promised!"

There was no response form the Ancestors.

Sophie choked back a sob and kneeled down near her niece's body. "Monique…" her hand shook as she slowly touched Monique's curly hair. "Oh Monique…" she cried.

Under different circumstances Bonnie would have pitied her, she might had even offered a word of comfort. Right now, the only thing Bonnie felt towards Sophie was anger.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Sophie yelled looking up at the sky once more. "Why?" Her hands shook and angry tears spilled down her cheeks. "Bring them back," she pleaded. "You have to bring them back, bring Monique back...you promised…" she looked down at Monique once more.

The witches helping Sophie looked at each other, neither of them knowing what to say to her or what to do. They had all been counting on the Harvest to work. The idea that the ritual would fail had never crossed their minds at all.

Tears spilled down Bonnie's cheeks as she continued to stare at Davina's dead body. She couldn't believe this was happening. The sorrow, the guilt, and the anger she felt was overwhelming. Davina was just a sixteen-year-old girl, she didn't deserve this. _Why?_ Bonnie wondered while silently crying. _Why were the Ancestors doing this?_ They were just girls, innocent girls. _Why take their lives like this? It wasn't fair._

"Why are you doing this to me?" Sophie asked the Ancestors once more. "You promised me." She threw the knife on the floor and stood up on shaky legs. "I did everything!" she yelled. Her eyes were red and wild and her lips twisted into a grimace while her hands shook uncontrollably. Sophie suddenly turned towards Bonnie, an enraged look on her face. "You!" she took a couple of menacing steps closer. "You did this!" she accused angrily.

"What?" Bonnie stared at her with confusion. "What are you talking about?" She wiped the tears from her cheeks not understanding why Sophie was blaming her.

"What have you done?" Sophie came to stand right in front of Bonnie, right on the edge of the barrier the skull candles and black ash created. "You fucking bitch, this is all your fault."

"I haven't done anything!" Bonnie fired back. "I'm trapped in here, remember?" In Bonnie's opinion, Sophie had lost her mind.

"Don't lie to me, you did something to mess the ritual!"

"I didn't!" Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How the hell am I going to ruin the ritual when I'm trapped inside a prison of your ow making?" Her eyes were filled with anger as she stared at Sophie. "You did this." The anger she felt had her magic surfacing which worked against her as the hex continued its evil work. Bonnie winced as a wave of pain invaded her body, blisters began forming on her skin once more while her head burned. It was only for a couple of seconds before the vampire blood in her system healed the blisters and eased the pain rolling over her.

Sophie glared at her, eyes filled with barely controlled rage.

Bonnie met her gaze unflinchingly.

"You are going to pay for this," Sophie hissed. She raised her hand and summoned her magic.

Bonnie stood her ground. She was at a disadvantage but she was not going to cower in fear.

Sophie opened her mouth but before she could utter a single spell or instruct her magic to hurt Bonnie, a blur pulled her away.

Bonnie gasped, her eyes following the blur that slammed Sophie against the nearest tomb. _Klaus,_ she couldn't stop the smile on her lips. The bond confirming what her witch senses had already deduced. Klaus had come for her as he promised and he wasn't alone. Pure joy engulfed Bonnie as she watched as Klaus, his siblings, Marcel, Damon, and a group of hybrids and vampires made their way inside the cemetery.

The witches scrambled to their feet as the blurs invaded their refuge, heading straight towards them with murderous intent. While they were filled with terror, Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

"Grandfather!" Cary yelled the moment he spotted Lucy convulsing. Fenrir's wolves along with a couple other wolves from the different packs that now inhabited New Orleans were looking after the witches that had fallen under a deep slumber. Elijah had told them that he had a coven of witches working on waking them up before he and his siblings rushed to the cemetery in search of Bonnie. Cary and his pack had been watching over them since. What Cary had not anticipated however, was that Lucy would start to convulse and make strange noises as water poured out of her mouth. He immediately got down in front of her and picked her up in his arms.

Ishmael made his way towards them as quickly as possible. "What is it?" He peered down at the sleeping witch in his grandson's arms and noticed the water right away. He frowned.

"It's like she's drowning." Cary didn't know what to do. He looked helplessly at his grandfather.

Ishmael stared at Lucy before moving his gaze around the witches laid around the house. It had turned rather cold outside and a strange fog had begun creeping in, so the wolves moved the witches inside the mansion. Most of the Bennett's were lined up on the first floor.

"What do we do?" Cary asked worriedly. "How can we help her?"

Ishmael had no idea how to answer that. He wasn't even sure what they were dealing with.

"This one has a cut on her cheek!" Charles yelled from the other side of the living room. "She just got it, look!" he pointed out to witch on the couch. It was Bonnie's great aunt, Vivian.

"This one is moaning in pain," Mila murmured as she clutched the hand of the witch who was sweating and moaning in pain from time to time. She looked at her pack, feeling confused and alarmed by the whole thing. "What's wrong with them?" Klaus had quickly explained that the witches were in some type of sleeping spell but he never made mention of them getting hurt on their own like this.

"It could be part of the sleeping spell," Ishmael said more to himself. Something purposely hurting them as they slept.

"Sofia is really cold, ice cold," Andrew held the young woman in his arms as if she were the most precious jewel on earth. He looked pale and grief stricken which was to no surprise to them, Andrew was crushing hard on the pretty young Bennett and all the wolves knew it.

"It's only the Bennett witches," Charles pointed out- his eyes moving over the different Bennett women scattered around the ample living room. "The other witches seem fine."

"How can we stop it?" Andrew questioned them while clutching Sofia even tighter to his chest.

Ishmael and Cary exchanged worried glances. Magic was clearly at fault and they had no means to fix it, not directly at least. "There isn't really much we can do," Ishmael told them. "Elijah has a group of witches trying to wake them up."

"We're running out of time," Mila murmured as she continued to clutch the witch's hand. She was so young and she looked like she was dying. "Don't give up," Mila encouraged softly. "Whatever is hurting you, don't give up. Fight it." It was the only thing she could do until Elijah's witches woke them up.

The witch moved her head from side to side and continued to moan in pain.

"Please fight it," Mila kept encouraging her. "Don't give up."

Cary took his cue from her and did the same with Lucy. "Come on Lucy, fight it!" he told the witch in his arms. "You have to fight this, don't give up." He didn't even want to think what would happen if they were to lose the Bennett witches to this sleeping spell.

More water continued to spill from Lucy's mouth while her body shook uncontrollably.

Ishmael murmured something under his breath, eyes focused on the struggling witch.

"What is that?"

All eyes turned to Andrew who was looking up at the ceiling.

"Fireflies," Charles responded quickly. He squinted and got a better look at the little bright lights that slowly began to rain down on the Bennett witches. _Where the hell had they come from?_

"I don't think so," Mila watched the little sparks warily.

"It's magic," Ishmael realized.

The swirls of magic floated down towards the sleeping witches, falling down on their foreheads like drops of rain.

Lucy's body went completely still.

Cary watched nervously as the water disappeared from her mouth and her body slowly relaxed.

Andrew smiled as Sofia's body temperature returned to normal. "You are going to be okay," he whispered to her.

The cut on Vivian's cheek healed instantly.

Mila watched mesmerized as the witch- whose hand she was still holding- stopped moaning in pain and went completely still.

For a couple of seconds, the only sound in the living room was the erratic hearts of the wolves as they watched and waited to find out what was happening with the Bennett witches. They could all feel the magic in the air, the power that was inside the little swirls that had come of out nowhere and fallen down on them.

Seconds ticked by, maybe a full minute before it actually happened.

Lucy's eyes snapped open, a loud gasp escaping from her lips as she was awakened from her deep slumber. She sat up immediately, her wide eyes looking around in confusion.

Cary breathed a sigh of relief while the corner of Ishmael's lips twitched into a smile.

Mila and Charles also exchanged happy grins while Andrew didn't dare to breathe as he gazed down at Sofia, waiting expectantly for her to wake up as well. He didn't have to wait long.

One by one, all of the Bennett witches opened their eyes.

Their _own magic_ had been the cure, their own blood and power combined had soothed their fears, healed the pain inflected upon their bodies, and ended the curse keeping them asleep. While all the other witches of New Orleans continued to sleep, the Bennett women woke up, and stood up.

The Ancestors magic was powerful but it was no match for the power of the Bennett bloodline.

* * *

 **Lafayette cemetery**

Klaus's fingers squeezed Sophie's throat as he slammed her with all of his strength against the concrete surface of a crypt. He easily lifted her a couple of inches from the ground and growled, hybrid face looming over her, sharp fangs in clear display.

Sophie groaned in pain and struggled to break free from his hold.

"You," the hybrid snarled.

Sophie's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she summoned her magic and used it to push him off her. Except nothing happen. A cold fear descended over her as she tried again.

Klaus tilted his head to the side, amber eyes glowing, and lips curling into a devious smirk. "What's the matter witch? Have you lost your magic?" he taunted.

Sophie screamed and used of all of her strength to summon her magic once more and push him away from her.

Nothing happened.

Klaus chuckled. He had not felt a thing. Whatever was going on with her magic, it clearly worked to his advantage. He stared in amusement at the fearful, trashing creature doing her best to pull away from his mighty grip.

Sophie's eyes were wide, pitiful sounds escaping her mouth as Klaus continued to squeeze the life out of her.

"I should rip every single one of your bones out," he snarled. "I should peel your flesh before feasting on your organs as you die a slow and painful death," he lowered his head. "You made the biggest mistake of your life coming for my family," he hissed. "And of that, I will make your pay."

Sophie struggled, a pleading look on her tear stained face as they locked eyes. "I…" there was so much she wanted to say. _I did it for my niece, I did it to help my coven, please_. No words came out of her mouth though. Klaus's grip was too tight on her throat, he was blocking the air from her lungs and was crushing her bones with his fingers. "They…lied…" she let out. The Ancestors had betrayed her and she didn't understand why. "They…" she struggled to speak once more. "Please…" she begged even though deep down she knew it was in vain.

"You brought this upon yourself," Klaus snapped. With his right hand still wrapped around her throat he forced her body into a kneeling position. He raised his left hand, the fingers elongating into sharp claws.

Sophie's eyes burned with tears, her throat hurt, and her body shook fearfully as she saw the sharp claws looming over her pale face. "I…" she couldn't really form a coherent sentence, the lack of oxygen was making her dizzy and her eyes moved around, desperate to find some release from the crushing pressure against her neck.

Klaus used his claws and gauged both of her eyes out.

Sophie's heart wrenching screams were muffled by the pale fingers still squeezing her throat, a river of blood poured down her face as her body convulsed in pain.

Klaus brought his head to the side of her neck and sank his fangs on her throat, feasting on her flesh like the hungry wolf he was.

Sophie screamed as the excruciating pain took complete hold of her. There was nothing she could do as the hybrid devoured her. She had no strength left in her.

Klaus took a couple of sips of her blood-it tasted like dirt-before he ripped part of her flesh with his sharp teeth.

Blood oozed out of Sophie's mouth, her body shook violently, and a pitiful sound, a mixture between an agonizing cry and a scream came out of her. All of which were silenced in the next second when Klaus's right hand swung down and ripped her head from her body in one quick move.

The headless corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud, the head rolled once on the floor before twitching and staying completely still.

Sophie Deveraux was dead.

Klaus walked towards the head and slammed his foot down hard, crushing it with his strength before calmly making his way towards Bonnie.

* * *

Sophie was not the only one of the witches who didn't have magic, Katie and the others found out the hard way that they too had lost the magic the Ancestors had granted them as they helped Sophie with her plans. It was disconcerting and terrifying for that left them at the mercy of their mortal enemies.

Some of the witches stayed and bravely tried to fight with whatever means they had at their disposal, others like Katie decided to run. She didn't make it very far as Thierry wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him.

Katie growled and struggled to break free from him. "Let me go!" She jabbed him on the ribs with her elbow and kicked him a couple of times too.

"It's okay. It's me!" Thierry tried to persuade her to stop fighting him. "I'm not your enemy. I just want to help you!"

Katie bit his hand. The surprise attack made Thierry lose his grip on her and she took the opportunity to run away once more.

Thierry desperately followed her.

Rebekah got in Katie's way, preventing her from exiting the cemetery. "Going somewhere?" she asked vampire face surfacing.

Katie took a fearful step back, her eyes wild and unfocused.

"Don't hurt her, please!" Thierry pleaded with the Original vampire was he got close to them.

Rebekah gave him an annoyed look but she made no move to attack Katie. She knew the Romeo and Juliette thing Thierry and the witch had going on. She wasn't planning on killing Katie unless the witch decided to pull some crazy stunt and attack her first.

"Don't hurt them!" Bonnie's loud voice could be heard by all the vampires in the cemetery. "They've been brainwashed by Sophie. It's not their fault. Don't hurt them!" she continued to shout as the vampires' cornered Sophie's helpers left and right.

"Don't kill them!" Felix ordered the group of vampires and hybrids accompanying him. "Knock them out instead." He yelled as he easily knocked a witch unconscious by hitting her on the back of the head.

Thierry had grabbed Katie in his arms again and was struggling to keep her in place as she once more attempted to escape. Rebekah solved the issue by grabbing a rock and knocking her unconscious with a single blow.

"No need to thank me," Rebekah smirked at Thierry before flashing towards Bonnie's side.

Thierry glared at her and picked an unconscious Katie in his arms. He felt relieved to have found her alive but also worried about the condition she was in.

Not far from him, Elijah easily avoided the blows of one witch holding an iron rot as she attempted to hit him with it. He made no move to kill her, not only because he heard Bonnie's pleas but because he could see that the witches were really not themselves. Their wild and unfocused eyes, the constant shaking, and empty expression on their faces told him that they were under some kind of thrall. Whatever hold Sophie or the Ancestors had on them was pretty strong. They looked more like zombies than people. With inhuman speed, Elijah slammed the witch against a crypt and knocked her out.

While Elijah and Rebekah showed the witches mercy as did the other vampires -albeit a bit reluctantly- Kol wasn't so merciful. He snapped the neck of the witch trying to stake him.

Elijah gave him a reproachful look.

"She was trying to kill me," Kol defended his actions. He looked around the cemetery feeling rather disappointed by the lack of fighting from the witches. _How come they hadn't used their magic?_ He had been expecting more from them. _This was a piece of cake,_ he thought. He didn't like that if he were being honest. Something about this anticlimactic confrontation set his nerves on edge. Where witches were concerned, appearances could be deceiving, Kol knew that better than most. He was honestly waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something about this whole thing did not feel right. His eyes finally landed on the altar. The grin on his face fell when he spotted Marcel holding Davina in his arms. Kol's entire body went cold as he saw the blood on Davina's neck which also covered her chest, her white dress was smeared with a huge red stain. He couldn't hear Davina's heartbeat. Davina was dead. Kol flashed towards the altar, moved by an impulse he couldn't control.

Marcel cradled Davina in his arms as gently as a new mom would with her child. His head was bowed and his body was shaking as he struggled to contain his tears. There were no words to describe the grief he felt. Josh stood a couple of feet away from him, openly crying while Jesse and Riley watched the scene sadly.

Kol felt his own throat constrict.

No one said anything. _What was there to say?_ Davina was dead. It was a blow for all the people that knew her, for her friends and most of all for the family she had made for herself in the past couple of months.

Elijah walked slowly towards them, an unreadable expression on his face as he contemplated the familiar face of the teenage girl. How many times had he had breakfast with Davina? How many times had he seen her smile or shyly ask him permission to read one of his first edition books? Playing or laughing with Charlotte around the house, gossiping in a fit of giggles with Rebekah and Lucy, or happily reading and studying magic on her own or with Bonnie. In a short amount of time, Davina had become part of the family and now she was dead. Elijah was not prepared for the sudden grief that engulfed him or for the wave of anger and hatred he felt towards the Ancestors. This was their doing. Sophie and the Ancestors had killed Davina and Elijah hated them for it.

Rebekah who had been making her way towards Bonnie stopped abruptly upon noticing Marcel holding Davina's body. There was a moment of shock, anger, and distress. She openly wept as the realization hit her, it was like a stake through the heart. Davina was dead. "It can't be…" she whispered. This couldn't be happening. She placed a hand over her mouth as more tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I don't understand," Elijah finally found his voice. He looked around the cemetery his mind spinning.

"The Harvest," Marcel replied, his voice laced with anger and sadness. He had saved Davina once from it and now he had arrived too late. He had failed her. He had promised to protect her and he hadn't done it. He had let the witches murder her.

"Yes," Elijah whispered that much was obvious. "But, aren't they supposed to come back to life?" From what Bonnie had told the family, Josephine and Vincent truly believed in the Harvest as did every other witches in the city. _Had they all been wrong?_

Marcel didn't say anything, he simply rocked Davina's dead body in his arms, his eyes wet with tears. He didn't care who saw him, he didn't care about anything. His family, _his daughter_ was dead. Marcel's heart was broken.

Kol stood rooted to the spot, arms to his sides, hands balled into fists and eyes lost on the girl that had died without any of them being able to do a single thing about it. It wasn't right, Davina deserved better. "We need to fix this," he found himself saying. Magic always had a loophole, they had to find a way around this. "We have to bring her back."

All eyes turned to him.

Elijah watched him curiously while Rebekah nodded eagerly.

"We will bring her back," Marcel muttered. It was a promise. Even if it was the last thing he did on this earth, Marcel was going to find a way to bring Davina back to life. One way or another, he was going to find a way.

* * *

While the vampires attacked the witches, Damon made his way to Bonnie who was trapped inside a circle of candles in the shape of skulls and strange black ash.

"Be careful!" Bonnie warned him when he got too close.

Damon stood as close as the skulls and black ash would allow him to. He could feel the magic surrounding Bonnie, it was dark and powerful, it made him shiver. He slowly reached out and touched the barrier with his hand. He hissed and pulled his hand back because the barrier burned him.

"Black magic," Bonnie told him. "It's keeping me trapped inside."

Damon watched as his hand healed before looking up into her face. "We'll get you out," he promised. He frowned when he noticed how tired Bonnie looked. She looked sick, really. Something wasn't right with her, he could tell. He was about to ask when Bonnie's eyes were drawn to the blurs moving around the cemetery and attacking the witches Sophie had brainwashed to help her.

"Don't kill them!" she yelled when she saw Felix cornering a witch against a crypt. "They've been brainwashed by Sophie. It's not their fault. Don't hurt them!" Bonnie yelled loud enough for all the vampires to hear. "Please don't kill them, it's not their fault."

Damon rolled her eyes. Trust Bonnie to be the noble one and worry about the witches safety rather than focusing on getting out of her magical prison. "Is there any way you can use your magic and get out?" he asked bringing Bonnie's attention back to him. It seemed like something so obvious, _why hadn't she done it already?_

"I can't," Bonnie whispered. A small tremor rolled over her body and she closed her eyes briefly. For a moment, she looked almost in pain.

"Why not?"

Bonnie looked up, her eyes moving past Damon's shoulders and landing on Klaus and Sophie. She gasped upon witnessing Klaus's wrath descending over the witch. Whatever she was going to say was completely forgotten as she watched them.

Damon winced as he also turned to look at the scene unfolding a few feet away from them. "And that's the guy you're happily shacking up with," he muttered darkly.

"She deserves it," Bonnie hissed. In a different world, she would have pitted Sophie. Bonnie could understand her desperation to get her niece back, which had led her to turn to her Ancestors for help but that didn't mean she could forget and forgive what Sophie had done to her, to her _children_. It was cruel and unjust.

Damon felt startled by the acid in Bonnie's voice. He turned back and studied her face carefully. "I didn't know you could be so vengeful, witchy."

"You have no idea what she has done," Bonnie retorted while one hand moved towards her belly. She could feel it, the poison was slowly eating her insides. _Hold on,_ Bonnie pleaded with her children. _Hold on, please._ _I will find a way to fix this._ Almost as if her children were responding to her pleas she felt their strong kicks against her palm. It was comforting and a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. They were okay and that was the only thing that mattered.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked. _What had Sophie done to her?_ He didn't like the worried look on Bonnie's face, nor the way she was clutching her pregnant belly. "What did she do to you?" he asked as he looked her up and down. "Did she hurt you?" He couldn't smell any blood or see any nasty wounds on her person.

Bonnie swallowed the lump on her throat. _The devil's curse,_ Sophie had called it. There was apparently no cure. Bonnie could feel its evil work in her aching bones and in the dread and coldness that invaded her. All because of Sophie. Her eyes found the witch once more. She didn't even flinch when she saw Klaus rip Sophie's head off her body. _What did it say about her that she felt nothing when she witnessed the hybrid kill her?_

"Bonnie…" Damon was practically pleading with her to answer his question and tell him what was wrong so he could find a way to help her but Bonnie's eyes were focused solely on Klaus. It was Klaus Bonnie wanted to talk to, it was Klaus Bonnie needed, not Damon. He sighed.

Bonnie looked up suddenly.

"What is it?" Damon questioned as he looked up as well, trying to figure out what had her so captivated.

Small dots were lighting the dark sky.

 _Like Christmas lights_ , Damon thought as he continued to gaze at them. There was strange tingling in his body, a warmth that penetrated his dead skin and made him feel strangely at peace. He moved his eyes away from the small little balls of light in the sky and focused on Bonnie once more. His breath caught in his throat.

Bonnie was completely enthralled as she continued to gaze at the sky. The tendrils of light floated above her head, casting a glowing light down her body. Soon enough, bright rays of magic engulfed her fully, making her shiver slightly as she felt their intoxicating power. All that glorious power washing over her, helped to ease her fears and renew her strength.

Damon witnessed as all the worries, the fear, and the fatigue that had been invading Bonnie disappeared from her face. It was all replaced by a serene expression. _What was happening?_ He had never seen or felt anything like this before. The currents of power had a calming and energizing effect on her.

Bonnie closed her eyes and laughed, a sweet musical sound that escaped her unexpectedly while a soft smile graced her lips as the currents of magic continued to surround her. She stretched her arms out as the drops of power rained down over her body. It was soothing; a healing balm of sorts that told her that everything was going to be okay. She felt better all of a sudden.

Klaus who had been making his way towards her, stopped in his tracks and watched mesmerized as the small tendrils of magic blessed Bonnie with their incredibly power. She was smiling and glowing and there was a sense of peace and serenity about her. It was almost as if the sun had decided to make his presence known and shine just for her. Klaus found himself utterly fascinated. She looked radiant and so beautiful, she even made his heart skip a beat. _Where had this magic come from?_ He wondered while watching her with a soft smile. Whatever it was, it did Bonnie good.

One drop fell right on the candle in the shape of a skull and melted it to the ground in a matter of seconds. Another drop of magic followed suit and had the same effect, it was like acid.

"What the-" Damon watched as more drops fell down on the candles until all of them were nothing more than a puddle of black sizzling goo. The black ash burned as the drops fell on top of it, melting it into a puddle as well. In a short amount of time, the black magic entrapping Bonnie had been destroyed by the strange swirls of power that poured down from the sky.

Damon took a startled step back as he felt the power surrounding Bonnie increase rapidly. His vampire senses alerted him of the great threat she was to his species. No vampire in his right mind would dare to mess with all that magic floating over Bonnie. Damon even moved a couple of steps back, guided by an innate sense of self preservation.

Bonnie's eyes snapped open before she stepped out of the circle with ease. She was free, thanks to the magic that had melted her prison into nothing.

Klaus was there to meet her.

Bonnie barely acknowledged Damon before rushing to her lover's waiting arms. Bonnie didn't care that Klaus's hands were covered in blood, all she wanted was to feel his arms around her, she was desperate for it. The hybrid happily reciprocated her enthusiastic hug.

The world stood still as the two of them embraced.

Damon rolled his eyes and turned away from the scene.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Lenore was curled up into a fetal position on the dirty floor of her cell. She was so cold and tired. She had lost count of how many days she had been in captivity or how many times she had attempted to escape only to fail miserably.

Tom's pitiful moans echoed in the darkness. The poor man was weak and sick after all the blood the Travelers had taken from him. They only cared to keep him alive long enough for the ritual to take place and could care less if he was in pain or hungry or in need of something. All that mattered was that he was still breathing and 'donating' blood to their cause.

Katherine and Elena were as quiet as any mouse. They rarely spoke, choosing to keep to themselves, and perhaps even lose themselves in some type of memory that gave them the strength to keep going. Even as vampires, they weren't faring any better. Frankly, it was a miracle that neither of them had gone crazy yet. Although the temptation to take drastic measures was there.

Lenore trembled and squeezed her eyes shut. _When will this torture be over?_ She pondered sadly. There were moments when she felt inspired to keep trying, to taunt the Travelers, and attempt another crazy plan of escape but there were also moments like this, where she just wanted to give up. The moments where the hunger, the pain, the feeling of helplessness got to her and invaded her mind with dark thoughts of ending it all.

 _You're going to die anyway, what's the point of waiting for the ritual?_ Her treacherous mind whispered. _End it and perhaps you will ruin the Travelers' plans._

Lenore whimpered while struggling to keep those kinds of thoughts away. Much to her shame, she had to admit that there was an allure to death.

 _Your family is not coming for you, Lenore._ _Your pitiful attempts at contacting them have failed,_ her mind reminded her. _Finish this. End this once and for all. Make it all go away._

Lenore did her best to ignore that dark part of her mind. She laid on the floor, conjuring thoughts about her mother instead, about her husband, about the family she had turned her back on once and had found again. Her family had always been a source of strength and courage and it would continue to be so. Lenore clung to the love and devotion she felt for her family to keep on going.

A small glowing light suddenly descended over her, illuminating her dark cell with bright sparks of power that came out of nowhere and which seemed to be growing with each passing second.

The coldness making her bones hurt disappeared, so did the hunger, and the pain, and the feelings of despair. Lenore was suddenly engulfed in a cocoon of warmth and strength. It was a familiar feeling, a power she knew well. She had felt it before. The night the Bennett coven was officially formed came to her mind.

Lenore pulled herself into a sitting position and looked up. She gasped as she saw the burning lights floating above her head.

 _Magic_

She could feel it. Not just any magic, Bennett magic. Oh, how wonderful it felt to have that power descending over her aching body. It immediately injected her with life, strength, and replenished her own magic to the fullest.

Lenore stood up at once, feeling a new strength and determination coursing through her veins. _The time has come,_ she thought. _This is it, Lenore_. This was her chance to escape. She closed her eyes and summoned her magic. She used the sparks of magic floating all around her and combined them with her own power. _It was now or never._ A golden opportunity like this would never present itself again, she knew that well and planned to take advantage of it.

Katherine's eyes flew open, her skin prickling as the power inside the basement intensified. She was in the cell directly across from Lenore and could clearly see what was happening. "What the-" she used the little bit of strength she had to drag herself closer to the bars of her cell so she could see better. _What in the world was that Bennett witch attempting to do now?_ Katherine was not a stranger to Lenore's fail attempts to escape but this felt different.

Lenore had her eyes closed and her hands outstretched in front of her as she chanted furiously.

Elena who had been asleep rubbed her eyes and shivered as she also felt the magic surging all around them. Even Tom's eyes snapped open as he felt the power engulfing the entire basement. His heart skipped a bit and he rolled to his side, adrenaline suddenly pumping his veins. Something was happening, they all felt it. Deep down they all knew this was going to change everything.

The entire basement shook as the blast of power brought down the magical iron bars keeping them prisoners. The magic locking them up in their cells was completely annihilated by the combined power of the sparks of light and Lenore's own magic.

They were free at last.

* * *

 **Lafayette Cemetery**

"Are you alright?" Klaus asked when they pulled apart. "Are you hurt?" His eyes moved over her body, desperately seeking any injury.

"I'm fine, I think." Bonnie placed her hands on his chest and stared into his eyes. "Davina…" she choked back a sob. Davina was dead and she hadn't been able to do anything to help her. She had failed to keep Davina safe and it killed her. "She's dead." God, how it hurt.

"I know sweetheart," Klaus had seen Davina lying dead with the other Harvest girls as he had made his way inside the cemetery minutes before. He offered Bonnie a sympathetic look, he could feel her grief as if it were his own. "I'm sorry."

"I have to…" Bonnie pulled away from Klaus and attempted to make her way towards the altar where Davina was with the other girls. She needed to find a way to bring Davina back. There had to be a reason as to why the Harvest ritual had not worked. Bonnie had barely taken a couple of steps when her vision suddenly blurred and her body swayed from side to side.

"Easy there, love." Klaus appeared in front of her and placed his hands on her arms. "I got you." He steadied her.

"I…" Bonnie felt nauseous. The warmth, the sense of peace, and the reassurance she had felt when the sparks of magic washed over her and freed her from her prison was gone. It had been replaced by a feeling of dread once more. She placed a hand over her mouth. _Don't throw up,_ she told herself.

"What's wrong?" Klaus asked. He touched her forehead and noticed right away that she was burning up. "You have a fever," he murmured as he traced his fingers over her sweaty face. Bonnie looked sick and that worried him. _Why weren't the twins' healing abilities working on her?_

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut, feeling determined not to throw up.

"Bonnie," Klaus tenderly grabbed her sweaty face with both of his hands and stared into her eyes. "Tell me what's wrong, love?"

"I'm cold…." Bonnie mumbled while her body was invaded by uncontrollable trembles. Her body hurt too. She felt like she had been run over by a truck.

"It's alright, sweetheart. Everything is going to be alright." Klaus moved his hands up and down her arms. "We need to get out of here." He glanced at his siblings as he spoke.

"What do we do with them?" Felix asked while approaching him and pointing towards Josephine and Vincent who were still unconscious on the floor.

"We need to find a way to wake them up." Klaus ordered. Vincent and the Regent were the only people who could fix whatever mess Sophie had made with the Harvest. His eyes moved to Marcel who continued to hold a dead Davina in his arms. He looked devastated. Klaus took his eyes away from the girl's corpse. He didn't want to have the memory of a dead and bleeding Davina burned in his mind, he would rather remember her laughing with Charlotte.

"Something went wrong with the Harvest…" Bonnie told him as her body continued to tremble. "Even Sophie seemed surprised." It had all been rather strange. There was something at the back of her mind, something important but it was gone before she could grasp it. She felt so tired and the nausea continued too, she just wanted to curl into bed and sleep. "I think…" she trailed off and clamped her mouth shut as another wave of nausea invaded her.

Klaus pulled his arm up and bit into his wrist. "Drink," he told Bonnie. His blood would heal her, his blood could heal practically anything.

Bonnie blinked a few times in confusion, her vision was really blurry, she could hardly make out Klaus's face. "What?" she asked feeling disoriented.

Klaus held the back of her head and shoved his bloodied wrist into her mouth, forcing her to drink his blood.

Once she got over the shock, Bonnie sucked weakly on his wrist. There was a strange bitter taste in her mouth, Klaus's blood didn't have the same rich and addictive taste as before. She almost gaged as she forced the blood down her throat, it was like swallowing dirt. Alarm bells rang in her head. Klaus's blood had always been delicious to her, _why had that changed?_ Bonnie had to pull away as the need to vomit intensified.

Everything began to lose focus.

The smells, the sounds, the horrible acid taste lingering in her mouth, it made Bonnie sick. A wave of dizziness and another wave of nausea hit her then and her knees nearly gave out.

Klaus opened his mouth to say something but Bonnie only heard a distant echo. She saw the blurry shapes that stood behind Klaus, vampires, hybrids, Original siblings. She thought she heard Damon and Marcel speak but she wasn't really sure. She felt so out of it.

"Sweetheart, are you listening?" Klaus asked as he stared into her glassy eyes.

Bonnie shivered and a slight moan of pain made its way past her lips.

"Call Dr. Mayfair," Klaus ordered Rebekah as he threw his cell phone at her.

Rebekah caught the object in her hand and found his contact list, dialing the doctor's number at vampire speed.

"Felix, get Angelica or Joanna to break the barrier keeping Vincent and Josephine here and get them out of the cemetery as soon as possible," Klaus ordered.

The hybrid nodded and disappeared at vampire speed, following his Sire's orders.

"I'll call Aya and see if the Strix's coven has done any progress in waking the witches," Elijah volunteered.

"Right now, we need to get everyone out of here."

"Of course," Elijah agreed right away.

"The rest of you," Klaus turned to the vampires that had come with Felix. "Grab the other witches and get them out of here. We'll lock them up until we know for sure they are no longer under Sophie's or the Ancestors influence."

Thierry and the vampires did as they were told and made their way out of the cemetery as quickly as possible. Josh gave one last worried look in Bonnie's direction before he followed the vampires and hybrids out.

"We need to leave as well," Elijah reminded them. Who knew how long Joanna and Angelica were going to be able to keep the barrier down. The last thing they needed was to be trapped inside Lafayette cemetery as it was protected by ancestral magic and it could turn against them at any moment. "Kol, Damon, help me take the Harvest girls to the compound." The first order of business was to get out of the cemetery, then they could figure out what went wrong with the Harvest and fix it.

Neither Kol or Damon complained about Elijah's orders, they each grabbed a Harvest girl and sped out of there.

"We will find a way to bring her back," Elijah told Marcel as he bent down and picked Monique in his arms.

"I will hold you to that," Marcel said before carrying Davina out of the cemetery.

Elijah took after Marcel while Rebekah and Klaus- who carried Bonnie in his arms- followed them out.

Everybody was speeding towards the compound where they could regroup, think, and find a way to fix the mess Sophie had created. Rebekah and Klaus had barely made it outside the gates when Bonnie ordered that he put her down. The demanding tone in her voice and the urgency echoing through the bond had Klaus doing just that. He gently placed her on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Rebekah asked feeling worried.

Bonnie looked down at the floor and grabbed her stomach. She couldn't stop it this time, she had tried but her stomach lurched violently and demanded to find some type of release.

Klaus placed a hand on her shoulder. _Had his blood not helped her at all?_

"Bonnie!" Joanna- who had been waiting for them- smiled happily despite the exhaustion invading her bones. She and Angelica had channeled an incredible amount of power in order to allow Klaus and everyone else inside the cemetery. "What's wrong?" her happiness died as soon as she saw how pale and sickly Bonnie looked. Joanna turned to look at Klaus and then at Rebekah who both had matching confused and worried looks on their faces. She approached her niece slowly. "Tell me what's wrong?"

Bonnie couldn't respond because she proceeded to vomit. Klaus pulled her hair back as she emptied her stomach near the cemetery gates.

"It's okay," Rebekah moved to her other side and rubbed her sweaty back. "You're going to be okay. I called Dr. Mayfair, she's own her way." Despite the comforting words leaving her lips, Rebekah was panicking inside. She had a horrible feeling about this and judging by the look on Klaus's face, he felt the same. Klaus's blood had not helped Bonnie at all and that was a red flag, whatever sickness was plaguing Bonnie was bad and they needed to find a way to cure her before it hurt the twins.

Bonnie whimpered before lifting her face and wiping her mouth. Tears had already formed on her eyes. She felt like she was dying. Her bones hurt and her insides felt like they were being melt by acid.

Joanna's eyes were drawn to the floor, right where Bonnie had vomited. Her gasp had Klaus and Rebekah looking down was well. They both froze.

Bonnie followed their gazes and let out a horrified shriek as she saw the blood mixed with dirt piled at her feet. But that was not the worst part, there were yellowish looking worms and tiny black snakes mixed with the blood and dirt. She had vomited that. "Oh god!" just the sight of it had another wave of nausea invading her. It was disgusting. She couldn't believe that had come out of her mouth.

Klaus moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her in order to prevent her from sinking to the floor when her knees threaten to give out.

"What the hell?" Rebekah turned to Joanna, a clear question in her eyes.

"Oh Bonnie," Joanna touched Bonnie's face tenderly, a look of realization on her face.

"She hexed me…" Bonnie managed to let out in a shaky voice. She continued to tremble against Klaus and used every last bit of strength she still possessed to keep her eyes open. "Sophie hexed me," Bonnie told them weakly. "The Devil's curse…I..." she had foolishly thought that the magic that had freed her from the circle keeping her trapped in the cemetery had cured the hex Sophie had placed on her. It had felt like that for a few minutes. During a few precious minutes, she had felt perfectly fine but now the hex had returned with a nasty vengeance. "She said there was no cure," Bonnie informed them sadly. Her heart constricted and fear took root inside her. _How could they stop the hex from spreading?_

"Sophie," Klaus growled wishing to have her in front of him so that he could rip her to pieces once more.

Bonnie nodded before a moan of pain escaped her once more. Everything hurt. It hurt so much.

"We'll find a way to break the hex," Klaus promised while depositing a tender kiss on the top of her head. "Don't worry, we'll fix this."

"How long ago did she place this hex on you?" Joanna asked. She needed to know how much time they had to end the hex.

Bonnie opened her mouth to reply when her face froze in absolute horror.

"What is it?" Klaus asked upon feeling the echo of her fear resonate through their bond.

Bonnie placed both hands on her stomach and moved them around, desperately searching for something. "No…" she whimpered. The fear inside her increasing tenfold. "No...please…" she continued to touch her stomach.

"Bonnie, what is it?" Joanna questioned her next.

"Does it hurt?" Rebekah asked while continuing to rub her back.

"Love, what's wrong?" Klaus asked as well. Her fear cut through him like a knife. He didn't like it. Above all, he didn't like that he couldn't make the fear go away.

"I can't feel them…" Bonnie's voice broke. She turned around and stared into Klaus's face, a look of pure agonizing fear on her face. "The twins, I can't feel them move." They had been active throughout the night, Bonnie had felt them kick a lot during he summit and while at the cemetery but not anymore. Her children had suddenly stopped moving. "I can't feel my babies move," Bonnie cried out in anguish. She suddenly felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. It was a blow that took away whatever little strength she had left in her. No sooner had the words left her mouth and Bonnie fainted.

The Devil's curse was unstoppable.


	67. Chapter 67

**The compound**

There was a lot of commotion as everyone burst through the doors and stepped inside the house. Matt left a sleeping Charlotte in her room and headed downstairs to see what was going on. He wasn't prepared for awaited him. Nearly bumping into Marcel who carried a dead Davina in his arms was the last thing Matt expected to see. "No…" he whispered. His body went cold and he felt like he had been punched in the gut. He stood by the stairs watching the procession of people that came following Marcel. He didn't know what to say or do to help. Davina was dead, he couldn't really wrap his mind around it. In the short amount of time that he had known her, Matt had come to care for her. It hurt to see her dead.

Marcel ignored Matt and headed straight to the living room. Elijah, Kol, and Damon followed closely behind- each carrying a Harvest girl in their arms. A few moments later, Felix came in carrying Josephine LaRue while Jesse carried Vincent, Angelica was right behind them. Riley, Thierry, and the other vampires took the witches that had been helping Sophie to the building next door, where they were promptly locked in the basement. The witches were going to remain under arrest until they could figure out a way to free them from whatever mind control Sophie and the Ancestors had placed on them.

Joanna, Rebekah, and Klaus -carrying an unconscious Bonnie in his arms- were the last to arrive at the house. While Joanna joined Angelica so that the two of them could work to create a cure for Bonnie's hex, Klaus took Bonnie up to their room.

"What's wrong with Bonnie?" Matt asked a heartbroken looking Rebekah. Bonnie looked pale and sickly and she was shivering uncontrollably in Klaus's arms. Matt had never seen her look so sick before. "And Davina...she's..." he couldn't even bring himself to say the words.

"Yes," Rebekah's face broke. "Something went wrong with the Harvest, we don't know…" she shook her head. "Bonnie's been hexed."

Matt didn't like the worried look on Rebekah's face. "Is it really bad?" he asked feeling his heart constrict. He was still trying to process Davina's death and now Bonnie was in danger. He felt scared of what could happen.

"We're not sure," Rebekah whispered fearfully. She took Matt's hand in hers. "Come, we have to help her as best as we can." She dragged him up the stairs.

"Shouldn't we take her to a hospital?" Matt suggested worriedly.

"I doubt the hospital knows how to cure an evil hex," Rebekah told him. "Dr. Mayfair is on her way," she assured Matt. "I'm sure she will find a way to help Bonnie. Joanna and Angelica said they were going to work on a potion to help her too." She hoped with all her heart they could come up with a cure to end the nasty hex Sophie had placed on Bonnie. _She said there was no cure,_ Bonnie's words echoed inside her mind. _There has to be a cure,_ Rebekah thought. The alternative was too terrifying to even consider it.

The two of them stepped inside the master bedroom.

"The other Bennett's will be here soon," Matt said. "I'm sure they will help Bonnie." Matt knew how powerful the Bennett's were, if anyone could cure Bonnie it was them.

"They're under a sleeping curse." Klaus had placed Bonnie on the bed and was sitting next to her.

"Charlotte woke them up," Matt informed them. He couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips. Charlotte's display of magic had been incredible to witness, he still felt goose bumps on his skin.

Rebekah and Klaus both turn to him, matching looks of surprise.

"What?"

"She heard the first witch's voice inside her head," Matt explained. "She told Charlotte to use the magic she had inside a jar."

"The one she got when Bonnie reinstated the coven?" Rebekah wondered. She remembered the way Charlotte had proudly showed them her jar filled with the sparks of swirling magic. She had kept it in her room ever since.

"Yeah. She used that power to wake the Bennett coven." Matt told them. "Charlotte seemed convinced it work." Matt himself had seen and felt the incredible power inside the jar. Charlotte had commanded it to help all the Bennett's in need. "I wonder why it didn't help Bonnie?" he frowned at that. Bonnie was definitely in need at the moment.

"They did help her," Klaus realized as he remembered the magic that had rained down on Bonnie. "Sophie had her trapped in the cemetery and those sparks of magic freed her." He gave Matt a look of disbelief. "Charlotte did that?" he felt really impressed by the little witch's display of power.

"Yeah, she ordered the magic to help all the Bennett's in need." Matt grinned proudly. "She's very powerful."

"I'll be damned," Rebekah beamed. "That little girl is something else."

"Yeah," Matt nodded.

"She's a Bennett," Klaus grinned. His heart swelled with pride. He couldn't wait to tell Bonnie about Charlotte's accomplishments. Bonnie was no doubt going to feel as proud as him. As he thought of how proud Bonnie would feel, he gazed down at his witch. His heart bled. Bonnie was still feverish and a few quiet whimpers continued to escape her. _When was that bloody doctor going to get there?_ Bonnie needed her. Klaus felt like they were running out of time. He placed a gentle hand over Bonnie's forehead. "Hold on, sweetheart." He focused on that _thump, thump, thump,_ he knew so well. Bonnie had fainted after she said she couldn't feel the twins but Klaus could hear them perfectly. Klaus knew that for now they were okay. It was that small ray of light that gave him hope that everything was going to be fine.

Matt also looked down at Bonnie. His face fell and the anxiousness and fear grew in the pit of his stomach once more. "She's going to be okay, right?" he looked at Rebekah before glancing at Klaus. He needed both of their reassurance that his best friend was going to be okay. Bonnie and her twins had to make it through this.

Klaus didn't say anything; his throat was clogged with emotion. _What if? No, don't you dare think like that,_ he chided his own mind. Bonnie was going to be okay, Klaus would accept nothing else.

"She's sweating through her clothes," Rebekah remarked. "We should changer her into something more comfortable," she suggested to Klaus who nodded right away.

"I'll go get some rags to wet and put over her forehead," Matt volunteered.

"There are some in the bathroom," Klaus told him.

While Matt went to get the rags, Rebekah helped Klaus change Bonnie into a nightgown. She was burning with a fever and angry red blisters were already forming on her caramel skin. A few groans and moans of pain escaped her lips from time to time but otherwise she was unresponsive.

"Where the bloody hell is she?" Klaus hissed as he clutched Bonnie's hand in his. He was going mad with worry and was keeping track of the twins' heartbeats like a hawk. It was the only thing keeping him sane through this ordeal.

"I'm sure Dr. Mayfair will be here soon," Rebekah told him as she fixed Bonnie's blanket.

Matt placed a rag under the sink, letting it soak with cold water before he made his way towards Bonnie and placed it on her sweaty forehead.

"We just have to keep the fever down," Rebekah continued as her eyes moved over the angry blisters forming on Bonnie's skin.

"It must be the hex," Klaus muttered as he took notice of the blisters as well. "The twins are not healing her." He didn't know why the twins' healing abilities were not working. _Had the hex blocked them somehow?_ Or worse still, _was the hex attacking his children and therefore they were healing themselves and not their mother._ There were so many thoughts running through Klaus's mind, he was going crazy. The thought of the hex hurting his children was a dagger to his heart. He had to focus on that steady _thump, thump, thump,_ once more. _They're okay,_ he told himself.

Rebekah didn't know what to say to him, she was as worried as he was. "You think your blood might help her?" She pondered. "At least until Dr. Mayfair gets here." They were both counting the minutes and seconds for the doctor's arrival.

"Maybe." Klaus had already given Bonnie some of his blood earlier that night. It couldn't heal her from the horrible hex Sophie had placed on her but at least it might help to give her the strength to fight it. And it would help the twins as well.

Rebekah carefully parted Bonnie's lips and opened her mouth so that Klaus could feed her his blood.

Klaus bit into his wrist before placing it over Bonnie's mouth.

Bonnie moaned and tried to move her face away, some of the blood spilled down her chin as a result. "No…" she protested weakly.

"You have to drink it," Matt encouraged Bonnie.

"This is going to help you, love." Klaus continued to press his bloodied wrist against her mouth while Rebekah kept her head in place.

Bonnie whimpered in protest but had no choice but to swallow the blood. She shivered and continued to sweat like crazy.

"The blisters are getting worse," Rebekah muttered as she saw the way the hideous things continued to grow on Bonnie's skin. _Why wasn't Klaus's blood helping her at all?_

"So is the fever," Klaus added as he pushed the rag aside and touched Bonnie's forehead. She was burning.

Bonnie whimpered as her body continued to be rocked by trembles.

Klaus sat by the bed and took her hand in his. "It's going to be alright, love." He kissed her hand. "I promise you are going to be okay. Just hold on." He did his best to reassure her through their bond. He hope that would help her in some way.

Matt continued to hold the damped rag over Bonnie's forehead. "Hold on, Bonnie."

A few minutes later, Dr. Mayfair arrived much to their mutual relief. She was carrying a big leather bag with all her equipment which she placed on the foot of the bed.

"Took you long enough to get here," Klaus muttered angrily.

Rebekah gave her brother a reproachful look which he happily ignored.

Matt stayed quiet.

Dr. Mayfair barely acknowledge them, choosing to focus on her patient instead. Her eyes scanned Bonnie's feverish and blistered cover body. "What happened?" She grabbed Bonnie's wrist and checked her pulse.

"She's been hexed," Klaus informed her.

"Can you hear the twins' heartbeats?" Dr. Mayfair questioned him right away.

"Yes," Klaus responded. "It sounds normal." The steady beating of the twins' hearts was keeping his calm and focused.

"Bonnie called the hex the Devil's curse," Rebekah told the doctor. "She said there was no cure," she added worriedly. "That can't be true, right? Magic always has a loophole." There was a hopeful look on her face as she looked into Dr. Mayfair's eyes.

"The Devil's curse?" Dr. Mayfair repeated-her face deep in thought. She had come across many hexes in her years as a doctor but she had never heard of this one before.

Rebekah nodded.

"Have you heard of it?" Matt asked her.

"No." Dr. Mayfair replied and it troubled her greatly. Less known hexes were intricate and in some cases lethal in a short amount of time. She pulled out a thermometer out and placed it inside Bonnie's mouth. She also began pulling other equipment out of her bag which included a small ultrasound machine and a fetal heart rate monitor. "Which means is going to take longer to find a cure for it," she continued. "I need to identify how this hex works in order to destroy it. The problem with that however, is that the longer Bonnie is exposed to the hex, the higher the chance is that the twins will get infected, if they're not already."

Rebekah and Klaus exchanged nervous looks.

Doctor Mayfair pulled the thermometer of out Bonnie's mouth. "Her fever is high." She placed the thermometer on the bedside. "I have to reduce her fever first," she muttered while her mind worked in overdrive over a plan of action. She raised on of Bonnie's arms and inspected the blisters. "This is malevolent magic," she noted. "Really powerful too. I can feel it on the surface of her skin." She looked up at Klaus. "How long has she been hexed?"

"An hour or two," Klaus replied.

"Is almost as if her insides were filled with poison," she murmured. It was a great clue as to the potency of the hex. "A poison that is making her flesh rot." She pulled the covers away from Bonnie and pushed her nightgown up, so she could see and touch her belly. While the blisters covered most of her skin, her chest, her arms, and legs and part of her neck, Bonnie's pregnant belly was without blemish. She didn't even have any stretch marks, all thanks to a lotion she had made for herself and which she applied every morning and night on her skin. Klaus had teased her about her vanity but he had also happily and tenderly helped her apply it over her pregnant belly. Dr. Mayfair probed Bonnie's belly gently with her fingers before attaching the fetal monitor so that she could keep track of the twins' heart rate.

"This is good," Dr. Mayfair told them as she continued to inspect the smooth skin of Bonnie's belly. "It looks like the hex has not reached the twins, this is very good." She wondered if the twins had placed themselves under that protective cocoon that had saved them of the virus Bonnie had been infected with months ago. _Where they doing something similar now to keep the hex hurting their mother at bay?_ With how incredible Bonnie's children were, Dr. Mayfair wouldn't put it past them.

Klaus, Rebekah, and Matt watched as she grabbed the small ultrasound machine. She rubbed gel over Bonnie's belly. The feverish witch whimpered and moved her head to the side. Klaus clutched her hand in his and gave her a gently reassuring squeeze.

"Their heartbeats look good," Dr. Mayfair murmured while moving the wand over Bonnie's belly.

"She couldn't feel them move earlier tonight," Klaus whispered as his eyes looked at the monitor. Unlike the high-tech equipment Dr. Mayfair had at her clinic, this monitor didn't show much in his opinion.

"Lack of movement doesn't always mean something is wrong, the babies could simply be asleep." Dr. Mayfair said gently as she continued to move the wand over Bonnie's belly. "I think this little one is sucking his thumb," she murmured with a smile. The small image was grainy but she could see the small hand on the mouth.

Rebekah and Matt moved around her and tried to get a good look at the image. Even Klaus's lips twitched into a small smile which dropped upon hearing Dr. Mayfair's next words.

"This will buy us time."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked curiously. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and he didn't like it one bit. He shared a nervous look with Rebekah.

"If the lives of the twins are threatened by this hex, I will have to induce labor," Dr. Mayfair informed them without preamble.

Her words were like a bucket of ice cold water hitting their skins.

"It's too soon!" Rebekah exclaimed. "She still has two months two go."

"Will the babies be okay if you deliver them now?" Matt wondered fearfully.

Klaus didn't say anything, he didn't even move a muscle. He was completely still as the impact of Dr. Mayfair's words hit him like a ton of bricks. He squeezed Bonnie's hand harder.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure Bonnie is healed from this hex," Dr. Mayfair told them fiercely. "I will take care of the fever first," she looked directly at Klaus. "Then I will apply an ointment on her skin to help with the blisters and then I will focus on finding a cure for this hex. With the help of the other witches in this house and my team back at the clinic I trust we can figure it out soon but you have to understand what's at risk here," she paused and let her words sink in.

"I will help too," Rebekah said. "We have an immense collection of grimoires and every magic shop in this city at our disposal. We will find a cure for this hex."

Dr. Mayfair continued to keep her eyes on Klaus as she spoke. "If this poison or bacteria or however this hex is attacking Bonnie gets to her bloodstream it will be lethal to the twins. Bonnie might be able to withstand the hex's attack for a longer period of time but the twins won't. If the situation becomes more dangerous inducing her labor will give your children the highest chance of survival. Do you understand that?"

Klaus couldn't find his voice so he simply nodded.

"Alright then," Dr. Mayfair said. "Let's get to work."

Time was of the essence and they needed to figure out a way to cure Bonnie before it was too late.

* * *

"Something about this doesn't make any sense," Kol muttered as he continued to scan the grimoire he had in his hands. He, Marcel, Father Kieran, and Elijah were gathered in the living room. The Harvest girls laid on the floor a few feet away from them, inside a circle of white candles. Father Kieran had placed the candles around them and said a prayer to bless their souls as soon as he arrived at the compound. Angelica had done a quick spell to ensure their bodies would not decompose as they didn't know how long it was going to take them to bring the girls back.

Damon had wondered off somewhere while the four of them were trying to figure out what had gone wrong with the Harvest and what they could do to bring the girls back to life. Klaus and Rebekah were upstairs with Bonnie who was fighting the hex Sophie had placed on her. Dr. Mayfair had arrived a few minutes before and while they waited to hear good news regarding Bonnie, Kol and Elijah busied themselves trying to find a way to bring Davina back to life. Bonnie and the twins were not far from their thoughts though. Kol hoped everything would be okay with Bonnie. He didn't even want to think about what Klaus would do if they couldn't find a way to heal her. He shuddered. The world was not ready for the wrath his brother would unleash. The wrath they would all unleash.

"The witches were wrong," Marcel hissed, his hands clenching. "The girls were never meant to come back to life. This was all a set up."

"A sacrifice needed to retain their power," Father Kieran murmured. _Was the girls' death needed to maintain the balance? Is that why they didn't come back to life despite what the witches believed?_ _Were the Ancestors really that cruel?_

"Sophie was the Ancestor's vessel on earth," Kol reminded them. "This entire time they have been helping her. They gave her the power to put all the witches in this city under a sleeping spell including the Bennett coven, they gave her the power to place the missing witches under her control and to even hex Bonnie and you're telling me that the Harvest was a lie?" No, Kol didn't believe that. "The witches of this city believe in the Harvest, Bonnie told us that the Regent assured her of the Harvests' validity. They all could not be wrong."

"The Ancestors turned their backs on Sophie and that's why the Harvest didn't work," Elijah suggested. He kept checking his cell phone, waiting to hear some good news from Aya and the Strix's coven who were working to break the sleeping spell. Aya had only messaged him saying _that they were having some difficulty._ Elijah was starting to feel desperate and he didn't like it. The thought of Lucy still under that sleeping spell made him angry and anxious. Trying to figure out what went wrong with the Harvest kept his mind occupied and he welcomed that distraction. Maybe the sleeping spell was connected with the Harvest as well? "The Ancestors clearly betrayed Sophie," he added.

"Why?" Kol questioned him. "Sophie did everything they asked of her, why betray her like that?" It didn't make sense to him. They were missing something, Kol felt certain of it. There was something more at play here.

"Maybe they didn't turn their backs on her," Marcel theorized. "Maybe Sophie did something wrong with the ritual itself."

"You think Sophie messed it up?" Kol and Elijah asked almost at the same time.

Marcel shrugged. "Only an Elder witch or the Regent have the power to perform that kind of magic," Marcel recalled some of the things he had learned about the witches while he had been the king of the city. "Maybe Sophie's meddling upset the balance or something and that's why the Harvest didn't work."

"It's certainly plausible," Elijah murmured. There was an order to things and even among the witches there was a hierarchy. Sophie was definitely no Elder material. Then again, the Ancestors had chosen her for a reason.

"But the Ancestors chose her," Father Kieran intervened almost as if reading Elijah's thoughts. "She had their blessing to do what she did, right?"

"Exactly," Kol nodded in his direction. It was the reason this whole thing didn't make sense to him. The Ancestors had chosen Sophie and she had done everything they asked of her. It didn't make sense that the Ancestors had suddenly betrayed her, not after all the trust they had put in her in the first place. "As their vessel, Sophie was granted incredible power by the Ancestors," Kol continued. "She was practically raised to the level of an Elder or heck even the Regent."

"So, what are we missing here?" Father Kieran asked all of them.

"I think the better question is, how the hell are we going to bring Davina back to life?" Marcel asked instead. They needed to do something before it was too late.

"If we can find out why the Harvest didn't work, then we can find out a way to fix it," Elijah told him.

"It's a good thing we're awake then."

They all turned to at the sound of that feminine voice.

"Lucy," Elijah couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her standing in the doorway.

Lucy offered him a small smile. Cecily, Adriane, and Aunt Vivian stood a few feet behind her. "Hi," Lucy whispered as their eyes met.

The wave of relief, of happiness Elijah felt was overwhelming. He moved towards her at the speed of light and Lucy happily met him halfway. No one said anything as the couple embraced.

Lucy wrapped her arms around Elijah and closed her eyes, allowing herself a moment to breathe his scent and enjoy the feel of his arms around her trembling body. The past couple of hours had been hell but now that she was with him again, she felt like she could finally breathe.

"Are you alright?" Elijah asked as soon as they pulled apart. He stared deeply into his eyes.

"Yeah," Lucy responded with a small smile. She was still shaken by her near-death experience inside the dream world but she was pushing it aside in order to focus on the problems at hand. "Is Bonnie okay?" she asked. "Klaus's wolf family told us she had been taken."

"It was that wicked witch, wasn't it?" Vivian's eyes were cold and angry. "When I get my hands on her…"

"Sophie," Kol supplied with a smirk. "Klaus killed her."

"Good," Vivian replied glancing in his direction. "I'm going to make sure her soul knows no peace," she muttered, the wheels in her head already turning as she thought of the nasty ways that evil witch would suffer while on the other side. "But first, I need to help my niece. Where is she? Is she alright?" Her eyes moved around the room in search of Bonnie.

"Bonnie has been hexed," Elijah informed them. "Dr. Mayfair is with her right now and Joanna and Angelica are helping her find a cure."

"I'll go help them," Adriane volunteered.

"They're-" Kol began.

"Moving between the greenhouse and the kitchen," Adrianne replied with a smile. "I know."

"Right," Kol remembered that Adriane was clairvoyant. It was a handy ability to have.

The witch quickly left the room.

Lucy finally took notice of the girls laying on the floor. "Oh my god. Davina!" She rushed towards the circle of candles where the four Harvest girls laid. She stood right at the edge contemplating Davina's pale face. She chocked back a sob.

Elijah came to stand behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "We are going to bring her back, darling. I promise you." He kissed the top of her head.

"How did you wake up?" Father Kieran asked curiously while looking between Lucy and her cousins. He glanced at Elijah. "I thought you said your friend's coven was having some difficulty."

"Yes," Elijah confirmed. "Aya said her coven was struggling to end the sleeping curse." He looked at Lucy. "How did you wake up?" he asked intrigued.

"We just did," Lucy replied, her eyes still on Davina. They had all woken up practically at once.

"Where is the rest of the family?" Kol asked. "We could use all the help we could get to fix this mess."

"The other elders of the coven stayed at the mansion to help the witches that are still asleep," Cecily responded. "Only the Bennett coven woke up. We don't know how or why." She turned to her grandmother. "We should tell them to come, Bonnie needs us."

Vivian nodded.

Cecily grabbed her cell phone and stepped out of the room in order to make the call.

"We will find a way to wake the rest of the witches," Vivian assured them. "We will figure out what went wrong with the Harvest and fix it," her eyes moved over each of them as she spoke. "But Bonnie comes first, saving her and her children are our priority right now."

"Of course," Elijah wholeheartedly agreed.

Marcel nodded as well. He had absolutely no problem with that.

"Come along, Lucy." Vivian ordered her niece as she stepped out of the room. "We have much to do."

Elijah easily caught Lucy's wrist before she could exited the room. "Are you sure you're alright?" he studied her face in detail.

Lucy touched his cheek. "I'm fine." She reassured him. "Our sleeping curse came with a few nasty surprises," she admitted, her voice shaking slightly. The curse had played on one of her greatest fears and she was still shaken after the experience but she would be okay. Right now, she needed to help Bonnie and see her mom. Lucy wanted one of her mom's bear hugs, the ones that always made her feel better.

Elijah opened his mouth but Lucy silenced him by placing her fingers over his lips. "Not now," she whispered. "Bonnie needs our help." They would have time to talk about it later, right now the main concern Lucy had was to ensure her cousin and her babies were going to be okay.

Elijah nodded. He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles before reluctantly letting her go. Now that the Bennett's were awake and had arrived, he knew everything was going to be okay.

* * *

 **The other side**

Davina constantly looked over her shoulder as she hurried down the dark street. She was in the Quarter, that much she knew but everything was surrounded in darkness and a cold fog that made the buildings hardly visible to her frightened eyes. She could still feel the cold blade against her neck, the sharp pain, and the sensation of floating to an unknown abyss. _I'm dead,_ Davina whimpered coming to stop right in front of the compound. The building looked scary with its imposing façade and the lights off. There was no one inside she knew. She had been going in and out of the different buildings in a desperate search to find a familiar face but there was nothing. She was alone in some unknown limbo that resembled New Orleans.

As she stared at her home, Davina couldn't stop the tears that spilled down her cheeks. She thought of Bonnie and Charlotte, of Klaus and his siblings, and Marcel. Her heart broke. _I don't want to be here,_ she thought with anguish. _I want to go home._

"Davina."

Davina spun around and wiped the tears from her face. She was momentarily stunned as she came face to face with the familiar witch.

Sophie Deveraux stood a few feet away from her, a look of bewilderment on her face. She seemed as shocked as Davina to have found each other.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Davina hissed. Sophie was the reason she was in this horrible place. Sophie had killed her and Davina hated her for it.

Sophie looked at her with sadness and if Davina didn't know any better with regret. "I'm dead," she stated. "Klaus killed me."

"Good." The viciousness in Davina's voice was as lethal as any poison. "I hope he made you suffer." In her eyes, she would consider Klaus a hero for ending Sophie's life.

Sophie looked surprised by Davina's remarks. "How can you-"

"You deserve to be dead!" Davina took a step closer and stared at Sophie with anger and hatred. "You stole the bodies of the Harvest girls, you planned to kill the Regent and take her place, you want Bonnie's babies dead, and you murdered me!" She spat. "You deserve to be here for all the horrible things you have done!"

Sophie took a step closer. "Davina, listen to me-"

"Don't come any closer or I swear-" Davina raised her hand feeling more than ready to blast her to the next millennium. She wasn't sure if she still had her magic here but she didn't care, if she couldn't use her magic against Sophie she would use her hands.

"You don't understand Davina, they lied." Sophie took another step closer. Davina moved back a couple of steps in turn. "They promised to help me and they didn't. They betrayed me!" She was practically pleading with her eyes for Davina to understand.

"They…" Davina frowned. "The Ancestors you mean?"

Sophie nodded. "I made a deal with them but something went wrong. The Harvest worked I know it did. I felt it." Tears formed in her eyes.

"Then why am I dead?"

"I don't know!" Sophie looked desperately around the foggy streets. "I don't know why they did this. I don't know why they didn't bring you and Monique back. They wanted to complete the Harvest, I know they did…" She turned to look back at Davina. "I felt the magic in the air, the Harvest was completed, it worked but for some reason the magic was not released back into the earth. Why would they do that? Why would they keep the power meant to bring you and the other girls back? The magic meant for all the witches of our community, why keep it?" she mumbled incoherently for a few more seconds. "Have you seen Monique in here?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

"Monique is probably in the Ancestral plane," Davina answered coldly.

"And we're not…" Sophie realized with a bit of horror.

"Duh," Davina snapped. _Didn't Sophie know all of their traditions?_ "Monique and the others were consecrated after the first Harvest failed. Their spirits are in the Ancestral plane because of it but we…" she looked around feeling sad and afraid. "We're in limbo, I guess." Until their bodies were consecrated like the others, only then they would join their Ancestors. Davina was not looking forward to that. She shook her head and began walking away.

"Davina, wait!" Sophie attempted to follow her.

"Stay away from me!" Davina yelled back. "I don't want to see you. I don't want you near me. This is all your fault and I hope you get eaten by an evil black hole."

Almost as if her words had ignited some type of curse a loud rumbling was heard in the distance.

Davina and Sophie both turned to look at the building across from them. A black swirling mass was forming in the sky above.

"What the hell is that?" Sophie stared at the growing cloud of blackness wondering where the hell it had come from. She had never seen one before.

Davina swallowed painfully as she too stared at the cloud of blackness that seemed to be growing bigger with each passing second. A conversation she had with Kol suddenly came to her mind.

" _The other side is chaos,"_ _Kol said to her once after she asked him what the other side was like._ " _It looks like the real world you know and people are wondering around from place to place. It can easily fool you into a sense of security and before you know it, the voids show up and kill you."_

" _Voids?" Davina gave him a curious look._

" _Black swirling clouds or waves depending how big they manifest," Kol responded. "If they get you, that's it. You're dead for real. Spirits who are caught by the voids cease to exist." He shuddered recalling a particular close encounter with one of them. "Trust me, you don't want to get caught by those things."_

" _How did you avoid them?"_

" _I had the best shield in the world."_

 _Davina arched an eyebrow. "And what kind of shield is that?"_

" _I had a Bennett witch watching my back," Kol replied with a grin. "If it weren't for Ayana, I probably would be truly dead."_

"The voids," Davina was absolutely horrified. It finally dawned on her that she wasn't on some sort of limbo but on the other side. In the traumatic death she had experienced, the confusion and panic that followed when her spirit woke up, she didn't remember that all supernatural creatures ended up on the other side when they died. The other side which was under constant attack by the Travelers and plagued by the voids Kol had mentioned. "This is bad…" she muttered under her breath. "Really bad."

"What?" Sophie turned to her, a look of confusion on her face.

Davina didn't respond. She took off running for her life, not caring if Sophie was left behind. The only thing she knew was that she needed to run and get far away from the voids.

"Davina!" Sophie yelled after her.

The rumbling the black cloud made intensified as it continued to grow and began moving towards them at rapid speed.

Davina didn't look back. All she knew was that she had to hide. She had to keep herself alive. As long as her spirit remained alive on the other side, there was a chance to come back to the life for real. Kol had done it, Bonnie had even brought Charlotte with her, and Davina knew in her heart that as long as there was a chance, her family would bring her back.

Davina kept on running and never looked back.

* * *

 **The compound**

Damon paced like a lion inside a cage as he waited to hear some good news. He and Matt were quietly waiting outside Bonnie's room. From time to time, a Bennett witch would run past them with some ointment or potion that they had made to help Bonnie. A few minutes later, she would come out of the master suite with a defeated look on her face. The potions they created only helped ease Bonnie's pain for a few minutes before the vicious hex attacked once more. The ability of the hex to regenerate and fight off the healing creams and potions of the Bennett witches had them stunned and utterly terrified as the minutes ticked by. Each time, they arrived in Bonnie's room filled with hope that they had found the cure at last and each time, they came back devastated.

Damon had lost track of how many times he had witness such scene. The only one who remained an impeccable icy fortress that did not give away any of her thoughts and feeling was the great aunt. Vivian Bennett elegantly entered and exited Bonnie's room with the same unreadable mask on her face. The old witch made Damon nervous so he avoided even looking at her. The moment he heard those heels clicking on the hardwood floor, Damon looked the other way, Bonnie's great aunt gave him the shivers.

The hardest part of waiting was how useless he felt.

Everyone inside the house had split into small groups, each with their own tasks to do, except for Damon. He wasn't part of Klaus's hybrids or vampire army so he wasn't guarding the witches in the building next door and trying to figure out if they were still brainwashed. He wasn't a witch so he couldn't help Lucy and the rest of Bonnie's family to come up with a cure for her. He had wondered into the kitchen a couple of hours before and had been kicked out by an obnoxious girl name Tisha or something. She had threatened to set his ass of fire and Damon took her threat seriously, staying far away from the kitchen since then. He wasn't family so he wasn't allowed inside Bonnie's room either. He had peeked his head inside only once, only for Bonnie's doctor to kick him out and for Rebekah to compel him to wait outside. He had caught sight of Bonnie laying on a huge bed, Klaus sitting by her side before he was thrown out. That had been nearly an hour ago.

Matt had been allowed inside but when Bonnie's condition worsen he opted to come out of the room and wait in the hall, keeping Damon company.

"That bad huh?" Damon had commented the moment he saw the human stepping out. His tone had been light but inside he felt afraid. Bonnie couldn't die. The thought of it make his heart ache in ways he had not expected. What hurt the most was that he could no nothing to help her. He hated how useless he felt in that moment.

"The blisters on her skin," Matt had closed his eyes and dropped himself on the floor, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Have they found the cure yet?" He knew they hadn't but he still asked anyway. Hope could be a very strange thing.

"No," Matt hadn't said another word since then.

Damon continued to pace up and down the hall. From time to time he could hear Bonnie's groans of pain and the low murmurs as the doctor and Klaus talked.

"Her condition is deteriorating," he heard the doctor said.

Damon's stomach sank. He closed his eyes and zoned out. He didn't hear what Klaus's response was but he heard the agonizing gasp from Rebekah and the sniffles that followed. Damon's hands balled into fists. He wanted to kick something, he wanted to yell, but more than anything he wanted to see Bonnie. He found himself walking towards the door, he even managed to get right in front of it, but that was as far as he could go. When he tried to grab the doorknob, his hand did not move. His body stood rigidly in front of the closed door to Bonnie's bedroom. Rebekah's compulsion pushing him away with ease, commanding his body to turn around and move away from the door. That's exactly what he did.

Damon had no choice but to pace like an angry beast and wait.

Every minute that went by, had his stomach twisting painfully and his heart constricting to the point it hurt. As every minute became an hour, the horrible feeling that he was about to lose Bonnie intensified. _Why did the thought of Bonnie dying hurt so much?_ He wondered as he continued to pace and keep vigil by Bonnie's door. He had not realized how much he cared until he was confronted with the thought of losing her for good.

 _Since when had he started to feel so strongly for the witch?_

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Tom let out a loud groan as Katherine and Elena dumped him next to a tree. His body was invaded by shudders as the cold air chilled him to the bones. Despite the fact that he felt like he was freezing, he was grateful to be alive and to be free at last. After months of horrendous captivity, he was free. He felt almost euphoric.

Elena slumped on the ground next to him while Katherine fixed her hair. "I'm starving," she complained. The blood she had taken from one of the Travelers that had attempted to stop their escape had not been enough. She had not properly fed in months, she needed to drink more.

"Me too," Elena muttered.

"We have to keep going," Lenore urged them. "We can't stop now. They could be following us."

"And you can easily kill them with a flick of your wrist," Katherine pointed out. Lenore had displayed some awesome magic by blowing their cells apart and helping them escaped from the old building in the woods where they had been kept prisoners.

"We don't even know where we are…" Tom panted. "How are we going to make it out here?" he asked. His mind was still processing everything he had learned while in captivity. Vampires, witches, doppelgängers, sacrificial rituals and a bunch of other things that nearly made his mind explode. He could hardly keep up to be honest.

"This is going to sound crazy but I think we're in Mystic Falls," Elena stood up. "This reminds me of the woods near the Lockwood property." She was pretty sure they were in Mystic Falls. She was a bit disoriented courtesy of all the blood the Travelers had taken from her, the starvation she had been subjected to, and the wave of the emotions she carried with her again but she knew Mystic Falls like she knew the back of her hand. "We're in Mystic Falls," she said to Lenore.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this," Katherine glanced at her copy. "But I agree with mopey over here."

"Don't call me that," Elena glared at her.

"Aww did I hurt your feelings?" Katherine taunted. "Does it hurt to have your emotions back?" She asked innocently. "To carry the guilt of all the innocents you murdered?"

Elena looked on the verge of tears as she recalled all the horrible things she had done while her emotions had been off. The only good thing that had come out of this ordeal was that she was back to being herself.

Katherine smirked, feeling very pleased with herself.

"We have to make our way to New Orleans," Lenore said as she thought about the long journey they had ahead of them.

"I live in Georgia," Tom was quick to say. "I want to go home."

"And I'm not going anywhere near Klaus Mikaelson," Katherine retorted. "In fact, this is where I get off." She glanced at Tom. "It's been nice meeting you handsome," she blew him a kiss.

"You can't leave," Elena protested. "The Travelers are still going to come after you. They need us for the ritual remember?"

"I can't take care of myself," Katherine snapped. She turned to Lenore. "Thanks witch, I owe you one." She winked and sped out of there much to Elena's horror and Tom's surprise. He was still getting use to the whole supernatural speed thing.

Katherine didn't make it very far. She was pulled back by an invisible string and landed on her butt, a few feet away from Elena and Tom who had matching looks of surprise on their faces. "What the-" she stood up and turned to Lenore. "What did you do?" she hissed vampire face flashing.

Lenore raised her chin and stared her down. "I linked all of you together," she responded calmly. She had done it right after she rescued them to be precise. "The three of you must remain close to each other at all times, the link won't allow you to be apart for more than a few feet."

Katherine growled and jumped on her. It was a terrible idea. She ended up on her knees while her hands went to her head as her brain exploded with the power of the aneurysm Lenore gave her.

Tom's eyes were wide as he looked back and forth between the witch and the vampire girl.

Elena looked impressed by Lenore's cleverness and she even felt satisfied that she was putting Katherine in her place.

"I wasn't born yesterday," Lenore told Katherine as she stopped the spell. "I know better than to trust vampires like you. I saved you which means you are in my debt so you better play nice and do as I say."

Katherine struggled to catch her breath but she still managed to send a mean glare in Lenore's direction.

"The Travelers are going to hunt us down, they are not going to stop until they bring down the other side," Lenore told them. "The only place where we will be safe from them is New Orleans and that's where we will go." Her tone left no room for argument. "Help Elena to carry Tom," she ordered Katherine. "We need to get as far away from the Travelers as we possibly can before they realize we are gone." As luck would have it, not many Travelers had been guarding them that night. They had either gone somewhere or the majority stayed at a different location. At any rate, things had played in their favor and Lenore was going to take full advantage of it.

Katherine and Elena pulled Tom to his feet and proceeded to follow Lenore.

"We're not seriously going to walk all the way to New Orleans, are we?" Elena voice's broke the silence that followed Lenore's orders.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Idiot," she mumbled under her breath.

Elena send her a nasty look.

Tom sighed and look at the sky. _This was going to be a long journey,_ he thought.

Lenore was about to answer when her senses alerted her to the dangerous predator moving close to them.

"What is it?" Tom asked worriedly.

Elena felt a chill go down her spine and glanced over her shoulder, all she could see were trees but she felt something.

"Something is out there," Katherine whispered. Her senses had also alerted her that there was something bad heading their way.

Lenore tried to use her magic to identify the threat but before she could, a howl echoed in the darkness of the woods.

"You got to be kidding me," Katherine cursed loudly.

Elena looked up at the sky. "It's not a full moon tonight," she said panicking. _Why was there a wolf out there?_ Werewolves only turned on the full moon.

"It's just a wolf," Tom commented innocently. He didn't understand why they all seemed so nervous. With their strength and the magic Lenore possessed they could clearly beat any fierce animal. They could probably take on an entire pack of wolves. No sooner had he said that when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He didn't like it.

"It's not just a wolf," Lenore whispered. She looked at both vampire girls, a sudden realization dawning on her. "There is only one kind of creature that can shift without the need of the full moon."

"A hybrid," Katherine and Elena said at the same time. They both looked nervously at each other. One bite that was all it took for them to die in a slow and painful manner.

 _Could it be?_ Lenore wondered fearfully. Her senses were never wrong and they were clearly telling her that the wolf was a supernatural creature. She only knew of the hybrids Klaus had sired and as far as she knew Klaus didn't have hybrids in Mystic Falls, or did he? Somewhere out there, somewhere close to them was a werewolf, a hybrid which meant he was far more lethal than a normal wolf and Lenore had the sinking feeling that it was hunting them. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

They all began walking at a faster pace. It was difficult to trek through the woods in the dark and without their full strength but they had no choice.

"Keep your eyes open," Lenore instructed as she led them. She was following a path that would lead to the nearest road. She was using her magic to guide her. It was that same magic that warned her that the wolf was getting closer. "Hurry."

Another howl was heard, this time it sounded closer than before.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

She was swimming in a pool of different sensations. There was a cold that chilled her to the bones before an intense scorching heat melted her flesh and had her panting and gasping for air. Her throat was as dry as the desert, her body was burning, and all her mind could think of was water. She felt so thirsty.

"Water…" her parched lips whispered incoherently as she continued to float in an endless sea. "…Water…" her body felt heavy, her mind was in torment and her eyes were still closed despite the desperation she felt to come out of the darkness and see the light. Her body hurt, each breath she took was embedded with pain. "Water…" she pleaded.

A cool damp cloth was placed on her forehead and she welcomed the refreshing sensation. _More,_ she wanted to say but no words came out of her mouth. _Water, give water please._ The cloth on her forehead helped to alleviate some of the heat that burned her skin but it was not enough.

Angry whispers floated to her ears. At first, they seemed like a distant echo but little by little, as she began to regain her consciousness they grew stronger and she began to make more sense of them.

"I have done everything I can to cure this hex but nothing is working," a female voice said fiercely. It sounded like doctor's Mayfair voice but Bonnie wasn't entirely sure. A moan of pain slipped past her lips again. _Water,_ Bonnie wanted water. _Why couldn't they give her water?_

 _Is anyone there?_

 _I'm thirsty._

"Keep trying!" Klaus shouted.

Bonnie whimpered in pain as the slash of anger, hurt, fear, and desperation echoed through the bond. _Klaus, I'm here, don't be angry_. She wanted to tell him. _Klaus I'm thirsty. I'm burning._ She tried to move but it was a lost cause. She was unable to move at all. Her body felt heavy and it was completely pinned to the mattress. She couldn't move a muscle, she couldn't even open her eyes. It felt like she had been glued to the bed.

"Nik, you need to calm down."

"How the hell do you expect me to be calm at a moment like this!" Klaus fired back.

Bonnie could hear and feel all of them standing outside the room. Their voices where whispers but to her sensible ears it sounded like they were standing right next to her, shouting at the top of their lungs. It made her head hurt. She whimpered once more.

"If you give us just a little more time," Lucy pleaded. "We're working on finding the cure. We just need more time."

"It's not up to me," Dr. Mayfair told them. She sounded sad and tired. "The twins' heartbeats have dropped considerably. They're in danger."

 _No, not my babies,_ Bonnie thought with anguish. _Please save my babies._

Klaus's emotions had the force of a tsunami as they washed over Bonnie but she pushed them away, focusing instead on the only thing that matter to her, the twins.

 _Save my babies,_ Bonnie thought. _I don't care what happens to me, save them._ She wanted to yell at the top of her lungs. She wanted to tell Dr. Mayfair to do everything in her power to keep her twins alive no matter what everyone else said. _Please save my babies._ But once again no words came out of her mouth, while her mind moved a mile a second, her mouth couldn't seem to keep up, only a string of incoherent sounds and moans of pain fell through her dry lips.

The damp cloth was moved from her forehead to the side of her face and down her neck. The cool sensation helping to soothe the burning on her skin.

"Everything is going to be fine," a soft voice whispered.

Bonnie hadn't even realized that there was someone else in the room with her until she heard that calming voice.

The voices from outside stopped as did the fear and the pain invading her body. The words immediately had a soothing effect on Bonnie. Her aching and burning body relaxed instantly and her eyelids fluttered open guided by some unknown boost of strength.

The lights nearly blinded her, and for the first couple of seconds everything was blurry but eventually she managed to see the stranger sitting next to her on the bed.

A dark-haired woman with light caramel skin and the brightest green eyes Bonnie had ever seen was staring down at her and gently moving the damp cloth over her face and neck. Her face was delicate and beautiful, she looked really young too, perhaps a few years older than Bonnie but not by much.

Bonnie groaned and blinked a couple of times trying to determine if the woman by her bedside was real or a vision. _Why hadn't she sensed her before?_

"I'm quite real, I can assure you of that," the woman murmured before turning her body away and grabbing something from the bedside table. The scent of roses and herbs lingered inside the room.

Another moan made its way past Bonnie's lips. She felt so tired, thirsty, and disoriented. _What happened?_ She wondered as bits and pieces started to flash through her eyes. The cemetery, the failed Harvest, Davina's death. Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut as the wave of pain cut through her heart. Davina was dead and the pain was more than she could bare.

"Drink this," the woman ordered as she lowered the glass towards Bonnie.

Bonnie blinked in confusion once more. Her head moved from side to side. She was pretty sure she was in her bedroom. From outside she could still hear the lingering voices. More memories flashed to her mind then. She remembered Klaus killing Sophie, the sparks of magic raining down on her and which helped her escape from the magical circle. She could also still feel the acid taste left on her mouth after she had vomited worms and snakes. She shuddered. _How long had she been out?_

"A couple of hours," the woman responded her unspoken question.

Bonnie gasped and turned to stare at her with shock and confusion. _Had the woman read her mind?_

"You must drink this," the woman insisted lowering the glass to Bonnie's mouth.

"What…who…" Bonnie couldn't form a coherent sentence.

The woman placed one hand on the back of Bonnie's head and helped raised her upwards so that she could drink from the glass.

Bonnie let out a whimper as a wave of pain invaded her body at the movement. It hurt. _Why did it hurt to move?_ "What…" she finally took notice of her arms and hands. A loud gasp followed when she saw the blisters covering her skin. Some looked red and angry, others looked like small little yellowish bubbles that seemed ready to burst. "Oh…god…" Bonnie stared at her arms and hands with absolute horror. _What is this?_

"It's alright," the woman said in a soothing tone. "You're going to be alright. Don't worry."

"I…" Bonnie continued to stared at the nasty blisters adorning her skin, blood and a strange yellowish liquid oozed out of some of them already. There was a foul smell coming from them too. It was a hideous sight. She didn't even want to think what the rest of her body looked like _. Is that why she was in so much pain?_ The hex, Bonnie recalled right away. This was all the work of the vile hex Sophie had placed on her.

The woman pushed the glass against Bonnie's mouth and the witch had no choice but to swallow the liquid inside. _Water,_ Bonnie thought happily. That's what it tasted like, fresh water with just of a hint of rosemary. It was a breath of fresh air to her system. The cool liquid went down her throat and Bonnie felt like she had been dumped into a pool of ice. It was a wonderful feeling. She eagerly drank the rest of the water, taking large big gulps. Finally, her thirst was sated. Her body began to relax.

Once Bonnie finished drinking the water, the woman lowered her head against the pillow once more and placed the empty glass on the bedside table.

Bonnie stared at her with curiosity. There was something about the woman, something familiar. Bonnie felt like she had seen that face before but she couldn't remember where. The pain and the burning sensation in her body came to a stop. Bonnie felt definitely better, albeit a bit tired. "Who are you?" she asked the woman by her bedside. "I've seen you before." Her brows furrowed in confusion as she struggled to remember where.

The corner of the woman's lips twitched as she looked down at her charge. "You have," she conceded. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes. "But you don't remember."

"Are you a nurse?" Bonnie wondered suddenly. She had to be one of Dr. Mayfair's nurses. She had so many working for her at the clinic. Bonnie knew Dr. Mayfair was outside her room with Klaus. She could hear snippets of their conversation even through the closed door. "Dr. Mayfair brought you to look after me, didn't she?"

"I've always been looking after you," the woman replied simply. She brushed Bonnie's hair away from her face and traced her sweaty forehead gently with her fingertips. "The fever is going down," she murmured. "This time it will stay down for good and those horrible blisters will be gone before you know it."

Even her touch was soothing. Bonnie couldn't help but enjoy the gentle caress on her forehead. It reminded her of Grams. Her grandmother had used to do the same whenever Bonnie didn't feel well. She smiled at the nurse, feeling absolutely relaxed in her presence. "Your eyes are so green…" Bonnie mumbled. Two vibrant pools that shone with kindness as they gazed down at Bonnie but underneath there was steel as well. Bonnie could see a mixture of cunning and wisdom reflected in those bright green eyes. Those eyes looked older and far more experienced than the youthful face staring down at her. It was such a familiar face, _where had Bonnie seen it before?_

"Sleep now. You've been though a lot." the nurse said gently. "I should have come sooner," she murmured with something akin to regret. "I didn't know they had dared to use _this_ curse," her eyes burned with barely controlled rage. "But everything is going to be fine now. I promise."

Bonnie nodded dutifully. She was hardly paying any attention to what the nurse was saying, she felt really sleepy. Her body definitely took the nurse's words to heart and began shutting down. She found herself yawning, eyes dropping, and body slowly submerging into a slumber. "My babies…" Bonnie whispered. She moved her hands slowly towards her belly, it didn't hurt to move anymore. The pain was gone and had been replaced by a sense of peace and serenity. It felt wonderful. "I couldn't feel them before…" her palms rested on her bump. "I…" she felt a strong kick then. A powerful jolt of life and strength that had her smiling blissfully. "They're okay," Bonnie gasped as another strong kick followed. "I thought…I was afraid…I…" it had been awful when she hadn't felt them move. Those moments had been filled with so much terror she had fainted from the shock of it and also from the exhaustion plaguing her body due to the hex.

"Your children are fine," the nurse whispered with a soft smile. "You must rest now," something flickered across her eyes, an emotion Bonnie couldn't quite describe. "You must regain your strength, you are going to need it."

"The hex…" Bonnie murmured before another yawn escaped her. "There is no cure…I…the babies…danger…"

"There is nothing to fear my dear," the nurse reassured her. "The hex is gone. You're going to be fine."

Bonnie nodded. She believed her. She knew in her heart that the nurse spoke the truth. Everything was going to be fine. With that powerful reassurance Bonnie's eyes fluttered closed. "I've seen you before," she mumbled while she began to drift off. "I know you." In her heart, she knew.

The nurse didn't say anything. She simply continued to rub Bonnie's forehead and lulled her to sleep. Once she was certain the young witch was fast asleep, she fixed her blanket and tucked Bonnie in like one would with a small child. With a wave of her hand, the ingredients she had used for the concoction she had given Bonnie vanished from the bedside table. No evidence was left behind of the cure she had created for Bonnie or of her presence in the room. The people standing in the hall didn't even feel her. Not even Klaus with his sharp hybrid senses could detect that there was someone keeping Bonnie company while they talked outside. They had stepped out of the room because _she_ had commanded them to, without them knowing it, without them feeling it, they had done as she had wanted. Once they made their way back inside the room, they would see that Bonnie was cured from the hex.

The Devil's curse was one of the most vile and vindictive of all ancient curses, fueled with incredible dark magic, meant to not only kill but to cause excruciating pain and anguish in the process. Few had dared to invoke it. No one had ever found a cure for it. No witch had ever survived it. Until now. As powerful and clever as the Ancestors were, they were no match for _she_ who was magic itself.

The Ancestors had crossed a line and they were going to regret it.

"They will feel my wrath," the first witch promised Bonnie while tracing her cheek tenderly. "Sweet dreams, my darling Bonnie." She kissed Bonnie's forehead before disappearing from the room. She disappeared in the same way she had come, in a quick flash of white light.

The first witch was a power beyond anyone's comprehension, an eternal creature that roamed the earth freely, and a divine force that shared a special bond with Bonnie, although the young witch did not remember it.

* * *

 _A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank-you for reading and reviewing._


	68. Chapter 68

A/N _: I'm sorry for the late update but I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank-you so much for all your lovely reviews. I'm absolutely grateful for all the support I have received with this story. It means the world to me, thank-you._

* * *

 **The compound**

The feel of his knuckles tenderly tracing her cheek was the first thing Bonnie became aware of. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she came to face to face with Klaus. "Hi," she whispered with a content smile on her face.

"Hi," Klaus whispered back. The happiness, the relief, the adoration he felt for her echoed across their bond and was also reflected on his face.

Bonnie loved the way he looked at her, like she were the most precious thing in the world. She certainly felt so with him.

Their eyes met and two contemplated each other in silence for a couple of minutes.

The balcony doors were open and a soft breeze greeted her while the morning sunlight illuminated their bedroom. Bonnie yawned and stretched her arms above her head. She felt well rested and relaxed. Her body had been re-energized and her mind and soul felt at peace. A soft smile graced her lips as she stared at Klaus's face once more, her heart even skipped a beat like it always did when it came to him. Klaus always had that effect on her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly. The anguish and the uncertainty of the night before was all gone by now. A perplexed Dr. Mayfair had examined her and declared her free of the hex. There were many questions in regards to her miraculous recovery but Klaus felt happy knowing that the danger was gone. Bonnie and his children were fine and that was all that mattered.

"Hungry," Bonnie muttered, her stomach made a loud grumbling noise in agreement. She gave Klaus a sheepish smile before pulling herself into a sitting position. Klaus helped her and fixed her pillows so she would be more comfortable. Bonnie took the time to look at her arms and hands, the blisters were gone from her skin. There was not a single trace of the terrible curse that had afflicted her the night before. She touched her arms and marveled at the softness of her skin before gently touching her pregnant belly. She smiled brightly when she felt the twins kick. "Ouch!" she made a face when one of them jabbed her in the ribs while the other kicked near her bladder. She felt like she was growing bigger by the second, her skin stretching to the limit and the twins were certainly fighting for space while they continue to grow inside her womb. While it was amazing to feel them move it could also be really uncomfortable sometimes, she was a tiny person after all.

Klaus took a seat on the bed next to her and placed his hand gently over her belly. "They're very active this morning." His lips twitched into a soft smile as he felt his children kick in greeting. No matter how many times he had felt the twins move against his palm, that precious feeling of wonder would never go away. Klaus certainly treasured every single time he got to feel them. _Who could've ever imagined that those kicks would come to mean the world to him?_ Nothinghad ever prepared him for the love he already felt for them in his heart.

"Yeah," Bonnie felt happy and relieved to feel them move. "I was so afraid when I didn't feel them move…I thought…." She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head. The twins were fine and it was best not to remember the panic that had invaded her the night before. She had been terrified that she was going to lose them.

Klaus watched her carefully. Bonnie's miraculous recovery had stunned everyone. They had stepped outside to discuss her condition and minutes later when they returned, the blisters on Bonnie's skin were gone. Dr. Mayfair had no explanation for her sudden recovery. No one knew how exactly Bonnie had been healed. Rebekah had theorized that maybe it had been the twins who healed her but Dr. Mayfair had been unable to determine if that was the case. To everyone's puzzlement, the curse had disappeared as quickly as it had come. "How did you do it?" Klaus asked her suddenly. "How did you heal yourself?" While Klaus felt curious, more than anything he felt relived and happy that the curse was gone.

"I didn't," Bonnie replied sincerely.

Klaus didn't look like he believed her.

"We have Dr. Mayfair and the nurse to thank for my recovery," Bonnie told him with a smile. "Are they around? I would like to thank them for what they did last night."

"Dr. Mayfair is still in the house, yes."

"And the nurse?" Bonnie questioned him.

"What nurse?" Klaus asked in turn.

"The one doctor Mayfair brought, the one who gave me the cure," Bonnie explained. "Whatever healing potion she gave me worked wonders."

"Sweetheart, doctor Mayfair did not bring any nurses with her."

"Yes, she did," Bonnie insisted. "She was here last night, I didn't ask her name. I was so out of it but I saw her." When she saw the look on Klaus's face, she hurried to explain. "While you and doctor Mayfair were out in the hall, she gave me something to drink, the cure for the hex obviously. I fell asleep after that." There was a thoughtful look on her face as she tried to think back to where she had seen the nurse before. Her face had been so familiar. "I've seen that woman before. I know I have," she muttered struggling to remember where.

"There was no nurse, Bonnie." Klaus stated. "Doctor Mayfair came on her own." She had dropped everything to come to Bonnie's aid after Rebekah's emergency call. The only thing the doctor had brought with her was her equipment.

"I saw her!"

"You had a fever," Klaus murmured. "Perhaps-"

"I'm not making it up Klaus. I know what I saw," Bonnie snapped feeling irritated that he didn't believe her. "There was a nurse in my room last night and she gave me the cure for the hex." _Why did he believe her?_

"Bonnie, there was no one in the room with you when we were outside. If there had been, we would've known. _I_ would've known." His senses were sharper than anything.

"Who healed me then?"

Klaus did not have an answer for that. Bonnie's healing came so suddenly, no one was really sure what exactly happened.

"I didn't imagine her, Klaus. I know she was here. I talked to her, she touched my forehead."

Klaus frowned. "If someone had been in the room with you, we would've known," he insisted. "I would have sensed her. I didn't sense anybody last night."

"So, how do you explain my recovery?" Bonnie challenged him.

Klaus pressed his lips together and continued to stare at her face. He had no explanation for Bonnie's recovery, which is why he had asked her how she healed herself. Bonnie's response of course, took him by surprise.

Bonnie gave him a knowing look. "I didn't heal myself, the twins didn't do it either." If the twins had been involved in destroying the hex Sophie placed on her, Bonnie would've felt it. She knew the twins had not been involved at all. "The nurse, the woman whoever she was healed me."

The idea that someone could sneak into his home without his knowledge disturbed Klaus. Someone had been with Bonnie while they were outside and he had not sensed or heard anyone with her. _How was that even possible?_ His senses were extraordinary, above those of any vampire and werewolf, his senses surpassed even those of his siblings.

"Who was she?" Bonnie wondered out loud.

 _Who was she indeed?_ Klaus thought. "Why couldn't I sensed her?" he asked instead.

"I've seen her before," Bonnie continued deep in thought. "But I can't remember where, maybe at Dr. Mayfair's clinic but…"

"But?"

Bonnie looked into his eyes. "This is going to sound strange but I feel like I know her from before, since forever I guess…" she couldn't really explain it. "It's just a feeling I have." Everything surrounding her mysterious savior was weird but the sense of familiarity remained.

Klaus reached out and grabbed her hand in his. "We'll figure it out," he promised bringing her hand to his lips. "What matters is that you are safe now, all three of you," he whispered while depositing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

Bonnie smiled, a simple kiss against her skin and she was practically melting. She even felt her cheeks burn at the look Klaus gave her.

Klaus bowed his head in order to capture her mouth with his own, Bonnie raised her chin and met him eagerly. She sighed as their lips touched in a breathless kiss. Klaus's lips were soft and warm against hers. She sighed contently and slowly parted her mouth to allow his tongue access. Klaus growled while deepening the kiss. Bonnie hooked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Their mouths hungrily possessing each other.

They lost themselves in the moment.

Kissing Klaus was one of Bonnie's favorite things to do in the world. She could do it all day, every day. She yearned for him, even with how far along she was into her pregnancy, the desire she felt for Klaus burned like a thousand suns. She could never get enough of him and judging by the way he was kissing her, neither could he.

They were still kissing when a gentle knock on the door interrupted them.

Klaus made a sound of protest when Bonnie pulled away from him. He gave a murderous look in the direction of the closed door, knowing full well who was behind it. He hated the interruption.

Bonnie took a couple of seconds to catch her breath. Her heart was beating erratically and her cheeks were burning while her bruised lips were tingling from his heated kiss. "Come in," she managed to say.

A smiling Rebekah stepped inside followed closely by Matt who carried a tray filled with food. "We brought you breakfast," he beamed.

"We figured you would be hungry," Rebekah helped Matt set the tray on the bed.

Bonnie's mouth watered at the sight, the delicious scent of the food reached her nose and had her stomach rumbling loudly. The hunger she had pushed aside while kissing Klaus, returned at full force. "Thank-you." She was starving.

"It was my idea," Rebekah declared. "But Matt did all the cooking." She gave her boyfriend a sweet smile.

Bonnie smiled at her best friend. Everyone enjoyed Matt's cooking, to be honest.

"I didn't know what you wanted so I made you a bit of everything," Matt murmured.

"Trust me, I'll eat everything," Bonnie promised and grabbed the fork. She licked her lips in anticipation. _What to try first?_ The toast or the ham and eggs. _No, the pancakes,_ she decided. They looked really good.

Lucy and Elijah stepped inside the room right after Matt and Rebekah. Lucy immediately rushed to Bonnie's side and embraced her. "I'm so happy you're okay." She kissed her cheek before pulling away.

"We both are," Elijah smiled softly at her.

Bonnie smiled back. "You're awake." She gave Lucy a questioning look. "Sophie said-"

"Apparently, we have the little demon to thank for that," Kol muttered as he too made his way inside the master bedroom. "I still don't believe OUCH!"

"I'm not a demon!" Charlotte kicked him from behind. Kol knew how much she hated being called that.

Bonnie couldn't stop smiling at the familiar sight of those two fighting. She had come to the conclusion that they did it on purpose.

Kol turned around and flashed his vampire face at Charlotte. He had attempted to scare her like this many times but like usual, Charlotte didn't even bat an eyelash. She was clearly unimpressed by his vampiric face, if anything she looked rather bored and even stuck her tongue out at him. It seemed to be her favorite pastime.

"Kol!" Bonnie, Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah chided him at once. He should know by now that Charlotte was not afraid of him. His attempts at scaring her were fruitless.

Kol's eyes narrowed as he attempted to intimidate Charlotte with his hard gaze.

With a flick of her wrist, Charlotte used her magic to push Kol aside and make her way inside the bedroom. She wanted to be close to Bonnie and he was in the way.

"You little," Kol growled when his body was pushed aside and his shoulder smashed against the wall. "Did you see what she did!" he asked his siblings. "She pushed me!" he pointed his finger at the culprit.

"Dude, grow up," Matt muttered under his breath. Kol could be such a kid sometimes.

"She started it!"

"I didn't!" Charlotte exclaimed in a rather offended voice. "It was you!"

"I'm rather impressed," Klaus muttered looking at Charlotte with pride. Magically pushing an Original aside was not an easy task, especially for a child. "You have proven to be an exceptionally talented witch, love."

Charlotte's cheeks turned pink. "Thank-you," she whispered, feeling giddy by the compliment.

Kol opened his mouth to protest.

"You started it," Rebekah interrupted while giving Kol a warning look. He needed to stop fighting with Charlotte.

"You're always going to take her side, aren't you?" Kol crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Rebekah.

"Us girls have to stick together," Rebekah retorted with a sweet smile.

"That we do," Lucy agreed right away.

Bonnie nodded.

Kol rolled his eyes and looked at Klaus, hoping to get some support.

"Don't look at me mate," Klaus muttered. "You're never going to win against them."

Kol turned to Elijah.

"You should know better than to fight with a child," his older brother reproached.

"Figures," Kol mumbled.

Klaus helped Charlotte climb into the bed. The little witch who was still in her pajamas happily snuggled against Bonnie. "Hi."

"Hi." Bonnie wrapped her arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"Are you and the babies okay?" Charlotte asked with a hint of worry. She had heard that Bonnie's doctor was in the house and it worried her that something might be wrong with her or her babies. The house was buzzing with activity and her witch senses had immediately alerted her to the presence of a lot of people downstairs. It could be scary and overwhelming considering she was very sensitive to all their auras. Charlotte knew something big had happened the night before and it was probably the reason there were so many people in the house but when she tried to make her way downstairs to investigate, she had been intercepted by uncle Elijah who carried her back to her bedroom. Charlotte didn't know why he didn't want her to go downstairs.

"We're fine, sweetie. Don't worry." Bonnie smiled down at her.

Charlotte nodded. "Where is Davina?" she asked suddenly.

It was an innocent question but everyone tensed immediately.

Bonnie's throat constricted and her heart hurt. Davina was dead. She had been killed right before her eyes and she had been unable to do anything about it. She looked at Klaus, not knowing how to begin answering that question. _Should they tell Charlotte Davina was dead but they were planning to bring her back?_ Bonnie didn't want to traumatize her but she didn't want to lie to her either. Charlotte would probably sense that she was being told a lie. Bonnie didn't know what to do.

"Why isn't she here?" Charlotte looked at all the adults in the room and waited expectantly for an answer. Davina was part of the family why wasn't she with them?

Rebekah bit her lip and glanced between Bonnie and Klaus, waiting to see how they would approach the subject with Charlotte. Matt for his part looked away, feeling afraid that his face would give everything away.

Lucy bit her lip nervously while Kol studied the painting hanging above the four poster bed. He wondered if Bonnie knew that Nik had stolen that painting from the Louvre.

Elijah cleared his throat and prepared himself, seeing how everyone had gone mute and could not give the little girl an answer. It was going to be up to him to break the horrible news.

"Davina is with Marcel," Klaus answered calmly. He wasn't outright lying to Charlotte, Marcel was guarding Davina's body downstairs. Klaus omitted the gory details and didn't elaborate on his statement; he chose to distract Charlotte with a simple question instead. "What exactly did you do last night, little witch?"

Everyone could breathe easily once more.

Bonnie had a look of relief on her face and offered Klaus a grateful smile.

"Do tell us," Klaus continued with a smirk. Matt had already told them what Charlotte had done but he wanted to hear it from her own lips and he also wanted to distract her from asking more questions about Davina. In Klaus's opinion, there was no need to upset the girl yet. Not unless they couldn't find a way to bring Davina back. For now, it was best to keep Davina's fate a secret.

"Yes, tell us." Rebekah sat on the edge of the bed and gave Charlotte an expectant look.

"We all wish to know," Elijah added.

Kol didn't say anything but he had to admit he felt very curious about the whole thing. Charlotte's relationship with the first witch puzzled him.

Lucy and Matt also gave her encouraging smiles.

Charlotte's eyes lit up and her lips curled into a pleased grin. She felt very proud of what she had done the night before and was more than happy to share it with them. "It started when I was sleeping in my room and then I felt something and there was this bright light and I knew…" she happily began recounting the tale of how the first witch had enlisted her help to help the Bennett coven.

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

"So, Bonnie is fine?" Stefan asked. He had just finished the blood bag his brother had brought for him. While Stefan drank the blood, Damon put him up to speed with everything that had happened the night before, including the nasty hex that had been placed on Bonnie.

"A miraculous recovery," Damon told him standing close to the window. "That's what the doctor said." No one was exactly sure how it happened though. Damon had waited with Matt and had been there when a joyous Rebekah shared the news of Bonnie's recovery. Damon had not been able to see Bonnie. First, because Bonnie had been asleep, resting after the grueling night she had endured and second, because he had not dared to follow the _family_ as they went upstairs to see her in the morning. He wanted to but he hadn't felt welcomed. No one had extended an invitation for him to go up either. Now more than ever, Damon felt like an outsider. While the Mikaelson's had seamlessly embraced Bonnie, Matt, and the witch girls into their family, Damon clearly didn't belong. It _bugged_ him more than he cared to admit. Things had been so different in Mystic Falls.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asked sensing the melancholic mood his brother was in.

"I'm still not used to it," Damon admitted while looking out of the window. "Bonnie being part of the Original family." He shrugged. "I still don't know what she sees in _him._ " He felt many conflicted emotions regarding Bonnie and Klaus.

"Bonnie made a choice," Stefan said quietly. "We have to respect that." Bonnie didn't need their permission to do with her life as she pleased, they were lucky she was helping to keep him safe from the Travelers. "They're not so bad," he added. As much as Damon might hate to admit it, Klaus and his siblings cared about Bonnie. That had been more than obvious during Thanksgiving, that night Damon and Stefan had witnessed the closeness, the bond, the family the Originals had become with Bonnie, Matt, Lucy and the girls. Thinking of the way Bonnie had been with the girls made Stefan feel bad. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Davina. "Do you really think they can bring her back?" he asked Damon. She was just a teenage girl.

"Maybe," Damon kept his eyes on the window. "If anyone can do it, is Bonnie." He looked down at the street below and couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. It was a beautiful sunny morning, a cool breeze moved the leaves on the trees and rattled the windows from time to time but everything looked nice outside, it was another normal day in the French Quarter. Damon couldn't help but feel on edge. His vampire senses were clearly picking something. "Do you feel that?" he turned to his brother. He couldn't shake the strange feeling invading him.

Stefan stood up and walked towards the window.

"I don't know if it's just me but…" Damon couldn't put his finger on it but he felt something.

"I've been feeling it since last night," Stefan confessed as he too looked out of the window. They were protected inside the church. Father Kieran had all kinds of protective spells guarding the property and Bonnie had reinforced them and added a couple of her own, especially in the attic where Stefan was living but his senses were picking a threat. "Something is out there," he whispered. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"Do you think it could be a Traveler spying on us?" Damon wondered. He had used the tunnel to move between the compound and the church, taking blood bags from the stash the Mikaelson's kept at their home. Damon had not felt threatened while at the compound even with all the vampires and witches inside, he had been fine. Looking out of the attic window however, made that strange feeling increase.

"Maybe," Stefan wouldn't put it past them. "We're only a few days away from the eclipse, they are going to come for me sooner or later."

The two brothers continued to stare out of the window, watching and waiting. If a Traveler was really out there and planned to attack, they would be ready to fight back.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tom nervously asked them. He flinched and stumbled back when the loud growling noises from the young man grew. "I don't think the chains are going to keep him down for long." He was afraid that the ferocious man was going to break free at any moment and attack them.

"They have been magically enhanced," Lenore muttered while moving around the Lockwood cellar murmuring protective spells under her breath. "They won't break, I promise." She had used all the knowledge she had in her arsenal in order to capture Tyler Lockwood, the hybrid that had been following them the night before. He was a friend of Bonnie and Elena and was a hybrid sired by Klaus, one who was now under the control of the Travelers. The poor young man heard no reason, he hadn't said much either, he simply growled and flashed his hybrid face at them. He acted more like a feral animal than a human, whatever the Travelers had done to put him under their control was very strong and clouded his judgment completely.

"I say we kill him and be done with it," Katherine suggested. She was covered in mud and dirt after spending the better part of the night running away from the crazy hybrid. The bastard had come really close at taking a bite out of her. Luckily, Lenore had intervened and captured him before he could make Katherine his next meal.

"We're not going to kill him!" Elena hissed angrily and even took a protective step in front of Tyler. "He's my friend!"

Tyler growled and launched forward attempting to take a bite out of her.

Elena gasped and quickly flashed away before he could sink his fangs on her shoulder.

"Don't get too close," Tom warned.

"You see that?" Katherine gave Elena a superior look. "He nearly killed us last night," she reminded the group. "He's obviously been brainwashed by the Travelers, one bite and we're dust. We're better off killing him."

"We're not going to kill him," Lenore said firmly. "We need to free him of whatever control the Travelers have over him."

Elena nodded eagerly while Tom looked uncertain.

"I've secured this place with my magic." Lenore looked around the old place and let out a tired sigh. They had spent one hell of a night running through the woods while Tyler chased them. She had succeeded in breaking his neck and with Katherine and Elena's help they had dragged the deranged hybrid to the Lockwood cellar and locked him inside. They had found chains and a cell there and Lenore had enchanted them in order to keep Tyler trapped. "We'll be safe here."

"How much do you want to bet that the Travelers can track him down and find us through him?" Katherine turned to her. "They sent him after us for a reason."

Tom look nervously between the two. "Can they do that?" he asked fearfully. The thought of getting captured again by that crazy group of witches scared him.

"We have to help him," Elena pleaded.

"We will," Lenore assured her. "I can do a cleansing ritual on him and free him from their control but I need a couple of things, some herbs, candles, salt…." She bit her lip. Things that they didn't have inside the cellar. They didn't have food or water either.

"We can find all of that in the town," Elena told her.

"We can't just walk into town unprepared," Lenore told her. "The Travelers are probably searching for us and that's where they will look first. We have to be careful and not be seen by anyone."

"Fantastic," Katherine paced around the room. "So, what's your plan?" she asked Lenore. "Hide in here until the Travelers get tired and then make our way into town?" Her eyes glinted. "It's a very bad idea to be locked up with two starving vampires."

Tom's eyes went wide at the implicit threat.

"I won't hurt you," Elena told them quickly. "I promise."

"I will," Katherine hissed and flashed her vampire face at Tom and Lenore.

With a flick of her wrist, Lenore slammed her against the wall and glued her to it. "How are you going to hurt us when you won't be able to move at all?" she challenged.

Katherine growled and cursed in Bulgarian.

Elena gave her a smug look. "You should know better than to threaten a witch."

"Shut up!"

Lenore walked towards the corner of the room and sat down.

"What are you doing?" Tom and Elena asked at the same time.

"Something tells me that getting out of this town is not going to be as easy as we want," Lenore responded. "Call it a witch a sense but I have a feeling that there are more Travelers in Mystic Falls than we think." She looked at both of them. "Which is why I'm calling some reinforcements."

Elena frowned.

"How?" Tom asked. "We don't have a phone."

Lenore smiled. Tom was so naive in regards to the supernatural world still. "I don't need a phone," she explained. "All I need is my magic."

Katherine gave her a curious look and stopped struggling against the invisible glue keeping her tied to the wall.

"I need you all to be quiet while I concentrate," Lenore said to them.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Elena asked.

"I'm going to contact my family," Lenore informed them. "I'm a witch but I can't face all the Travelers alone. We're going to need all the help we can get to get out of here." Now that she as free from the magical cage the Travelers had locked her in, Lenore felt certain she could contact her coven and alert them of what was going on. "Now be quiet and let me do this," She ordered.

The three doppelgängers did as they were told. The only sounds echoing around the old and dirty cellar were Tyler's growls and fruitless attempts to break free from the chains Lenore had thrown around him.

Lenore took a deep breath and closed her eyes, tapping into her magic and concentrating hard. The Bennett coven needed to know what was going on. _Witches of the Bennett bloodline,_ Lenore thought while using her magic to send a powerful message. _I need your help. Can you hear me?_

It didn't take long for her skin to prickle and for her magic to sizzle when a clear response echoed inside her mind. Lenore smiled.

The Travelers had no idea what the Bennett coven was capable of.

* * *

 **The compound**

After Dr. Mayfair checked her once more and gave her some recommendations to follow-just in case the evil hex tried to make a comeback-Bonnie took a shower and changed into comfortable clothes. Klaus had kicked everyone out of the room with the exception of Charlotte who after eating with Bonnie, happily lounged on their bed and watched cartoons while Bonnie got ready. Klaus insisted that she needed to rest but Bonnie refused to stay in bed doing nothing. She felt fine and there was a lot that needed to be done. The first order of business was finding a way to wake up the sleeping witches. If they could wake up Vincent and the Regent, they could work together to figure out what went wrong with the Harvest.

While Matt kept an eye on Charlotte upstairs, Bonnie and Klaus made their way to the living room where Davina was.

All eyes were on Bonnie as the two stepped inside the room.

Belle's tear stained face made Bonnie's heart ache. She knew that Belle and Davina were really good friends. The young hybrid girl was inconsolable, Riley kept his arm firmly around her shoulders and was giving her all the support she needed. Josh stood close to them, a devastated look on his face although he was trying to be strong. But there were matching hopeful looks on both of their faces as they gazed at Bonnie, Belle and Josh hoped Bonnie would be able to bring Davina back.

Marcel nodded in her direction before going back to the grimoire on the table. He had been flipping through all the grimoires he could get his hands on in order to find a way to help Davina.

Father Kieran held a cup of coffee in one hand while he rubbed his tired eyes with the other. He and Marcel had been tossing ideas back and forth throughout the night. Kol and Elijah had joined them from time to time, but so far, they had not found anything useful.

The Bennett witches were there as well, smiling and feeling relived that their queen was fine.

Joanna embraced Bonnie warmly. "I'm glad you are okay," she whispered before pulling away. "We were really worried." She took Bonnie's hands in hers and smiled.

Bonnie smiled back before her eyes moved towards the circle of candles, inside were the Harvest girls. Her throat constricted when she stared at Davina's lifeless body. The blood on her throat had been cleaned up but the red stain remained on her dress.

"I put a spell on them to ensure their bodies won't decompose," Angelica told Bonnie with a sad smile.

"Have you made any progress?" Bonnie asked all of them.

"We have some theories," Elijah responded. "But nothing in concrete to back them up." He glanced at his cell phone. It was something he had been doing since the night before, waiting to hear good news from Aya. "The Strix coven are also helping us."

"Do they have any thoughts on why the Harvest didn't work?" Bonnie inquired.

"Aya's witches are of the belief that the Harvest worked," Elijah informed her. "We just don't know what happened to the magic that was supposed to be released back into the earth and bring the girls back to life." He glanced at his younger brother. "Kol, had a rather sinister thought."

Bonnie turned to look at the younger Original and waited for him to elaborate.

"Someone stole that magic," Kol suggested. He was pretty sure now that was the reason the Harvest hadn't work. It was one of the things that made the most sense to him. "I don't think the Ancestors would betray Sophie like that and sabotage the Harvest. They were also helping Sophie with everything, it's doubtful that she would mess up the ritual under their tutelage. So, the theory that has been gaining a lot of support in the past couple of hours is that the Harvest worked and someone stole the magic instead of giving it back to the community. Hence the reason the girls are still dead."

"The question now is who did it?" Angelia murmured.

"Only a witch could've done that," Klaus remarked. "And last time I checked, all the witches in New Orleans were under a sleeping curse while the Harvest was taking place."

Kol's suggestion made sense but Klaus also had a great point.

"A witch that is not from New Orleans did it," Tinisha said with a shrug.

"Or one of the witches helping Sophie," Bonnie murmured thinking back on the missing witches that had fallen under the Ancestors control. "Then again, they were helping Sophie with the Harvest." It didn't make sense that they had sabotaged the ritual.

"Why would any witch go through all the trouble of hijacking a ritual?" Klaus pondered. _Why would any witch steal the magic from the Harvest? "_ What could they possibly gain from it?"

"We're back to square one," Marcel muttered. He was angry and frustrated with their lack of progress. Nothing about this made sense.

Bonnie continued to stare at Davina, her mind going over all they were saying. _What were they missing? "_ We need to wake up Josephine," she said. "We need her help."

"We will find a way to bring her back," Aunt Vivian reassured Bonnie as she came to stand next to her. "We have an idea, as a matter of fact." She glanced at the Bennett witches.

Bonnie turned to her. "What kind of idea?"

"We're thinking of using the magic Aunt Vivian saved in the jars, the one from the night the coven was formed," Lucy explained with an excited grin. "We have Charlotte to thank for that actually."

"You want to use the sparks of magic in the jars to wake them up," Bonnie realized. "Just like Charlotte did with the Bennett coven."

"Yep." Lucy had told her cousins about what Charlotte had done and while they all felt amazed by the little girl's power and curious about her connection with the first witch, they had also realized that they could do something similar in order to wake the witches from their sleeping curse. "It's worth a shot."

Hope flourished in Bonnie's chest. "That's a great idea!"

"You really think it will work?" Marcel looked back and forth between the Bennett witches. He had heard about Charlotte waking them up by using a jar filled with Bennett magic. Lucy had happily told her cousins about the little girl's intervention in their favor but Marcel wasn't sure on the specifics of it.

"You have more of those magic jars?" Josh asked. He had a hopeful look on his face.

Bonnie nodded. "Aunt Vivian saved a couple of jars," she murmured thinking back to the sparks of Bennett magic that had rained down on them the night the Bennett coven had been reformed.

"I always knew that power would be useful one day," Aunt Vivian stated.

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Marcel couldn't keep the excitement from his voice. "Let's do it."

"I will summon the jars," Aunt Vivian told them.

"We'll work on the spell," Bonnie said while looking at her cousins who nodded. "We also need to find a way to bring Lenore back."

"What are you talking about?" Cecily questioned. "Do you know what happened to her?" No matter how hard they had tried, they had been unable to locate Lenore since she had gone missing during the battle against the Navarro clan.

Bonnie and Lucy exchanged knowing looks.

"Matt found some valuable information regarding Lenore and the Travelers," Elijah commented. Matt had told them about his talk with Grams earlier that morning while they all had gathered in Bonnie's room.

"The Travelers have Lenore," Bonnie informed her coven. "We have to find them and bring her back." The Travelers were going to regret taking a witch from her coven.

"I know where she is."

All eyes turned to the doorway where a breathless and excited Adriane stood. She looked directly at Bonnie as she spoke. "I know where the Travelers took her."

"How could you know where she is?" Lucy asked curiously.

"She just contacted me," Adriane responded with grin. Lenore had tried to get in touch with the Bennett coven and Adriane had been the first to pick up the message.

Murmurs broke around the group gathered in the living room.

"Where is she?" Klaus and Bonnie asked at the same time.

"Lenore is in Mystic Falls with the doppelgängers," Adriane replied quickly. "And one of your hybrids," she added while glancing at Klaus. "She managed to escape and is in need of our help to get out of there."

To say that everyone was shocked by the revelation was an understatement.

The message Lenore had given Adriane, changed everything.

* * *

 **The other side**

She walked with confidence, her bare feet gently touching the wet soil. The wind blew her dark long hair while her flowing gown trailed after.

A black snake slithered underneath the dried leaves that had fallen from the two huge trees who guarded the entrance like two ferocious gargoyles chasing intruders away. The creature hissed and bared its fangs at her in warning. Hardly anyone came to this place and those who dared suffered a terrible fate.

She arched an eyebrow and with a single look from her icy green eyes, the snake burst into flames. She stepped over the charred remains and crushed them with her feet before resuming her walk. She was a woman on a mission, nothing and no one was going to get in her way.

An invisible barrier blocked both entrances, a barrier that kept those who were not consecrated on New Orleans soil away. A barrier that easily gave away as she walked through it. Magic could never hurt her or prevent her from entering a place. Magic could never turn against its creator.

The Ancestral plane looked exactly like Lafayette cemetery, the New Orleans witches had made it so in order to feel more at home. They had created this realm within the other side in order to keep themselves way from the other witches.

It didn't take her long to reach them. Their insipid voices carried with the wind. _How arrogant they all were,_ she thought. They needed to learn their place.

The Ancestors of New Orleans were all gathered at the heart of the cemetery, discussing the latest development in the land of the living. They had been meddling from the very beginning, actively trying to destroy Bonnie and her children but none of their attempts had ever gotten as close as the Devil's curse had the previous night. The time had come to pay.

"The creatures still live," one witches was saying. "Our plan failed."

"Something went wrong," another witch said fearfully. "The Devil's curse is effective; how did she escape it?"

"We must end her before those monsters are born!"

None of the Ancestors sensed her presence, none of them saw her either. _How could they?_ For all their arrogance and power, they were nothing more than tiny bugs that could easily be squashed beneath her feet.

With a single wave of hand, she unleashed her wrath against them. They had crossed a line by attacking Bonnie with the Devil's curse and now they would pay for it. There was a reason she had banned that cursed from existing and the Ancestors had not only dared to defied her laws but they had also used it to attack her own blood with it. She didn't hesitate to teach them a lesson, to remind them that in the grand scheme of things, they were nothing, that even in their own territory there was one who stood above them all.

The attack caught the Ancestors unaware.

They were all brought down to their knees by the force of it.

The curse uttered from her lips hit every single of one of them at once.

The pain was unlike anything the Ancestors had ever experienced before, their screams resonated throughout the cemetery as they were hit by the blast of magic without mercy.

They felt their blood burn.

They felt their bones being crushed.

They felt their heads explode.

They felt their strength and vitality sucked out of them, drained by a vicious force.

They couldn't move, they couldn't fight back, they couldn't do anything but scream in agony.

"From this moment on, you will no longer have dominion over the living," the first witch proclaimed. "From this moment on, the witches of New Orleans are free of you. There shall never be a Harvest again, the witches won't have to sacrifice their children in order to receive your favor and obtain power. I free them of that burden. You will never hurt Bonnie and her children, you will never attack another witch from my bloodline again. You are no more."

The first witch clenched her hand into a fist and the Ancestors ceased to exist.

* * *

Darkness

Josephine LaRue walked surrounded by dark shadows and strange noises. The road before her was endless. From time to time, she would hear footsteps behind her, mocking laughter close to her shoulder, or a scream or two in the distance that would set her nerves on edge.

She never looked back. No matter what she heard, she refused to cower in fear. Josephine continued walking calmly down the dark and deserted road. She paid no attention to the ghastly sounds or the spirits attempting to scare her from the shadows. She could feel them. The strange noises always sent a chill down her spine and there were times when she caught ghostly silhouettes from the corner of her eyes. Many times, her heart constricted with fear but despite the apprehension, the tiredness, and the sense of despair she felt, she didn't give up. Showing fear meant giving them power and by empowering them, she would be lost in this abyss of darkness forever.

Josephine had long ago learned to keep her emotions in check and to think rationally. She was a woman who had faced many hardships throughout her life, particularly since she became Regent. Her dedication, her resilience, and the stubbornness she had from her youth had helped her immensely. She saw this as another test and was determined to prevail. One way or another, she was going to find a way out. No matter how long it took, no matter how hard it was, she would not be trapped here forever.

Josephine had walked for miles and miles, always feeling like she was being watched, always aware of the strange noises and sounds that accompanied each of her steps. There were times when she could have sworn she heard a child crying in the distance. A ghostly plea for help that tugged at her heart. _It's not real,_ she told herself. _Keep going, don't look back, don't let them win._ She walked and walked but so far, she had been unable to find a way out of this horrible nightmare. Her senses guided her through the darkness while she attempted to break whatever spell had been placed on her body.

The magic keeping her inside her own mind was strong but Josephine fought it. She felt determined to end this dream. She had to. She felt tired and thirsty, her legs hurt, and her heart pounded loudly against her chest while she struggled to catch her breath but she didn't stop. She never stopped walking. _Keep going,_ she told herself. _Don't stop, if you stop you'll be trapped here forever._ She had to keep moving and keep her wits about her if she wanted to defeat the dark magic keeping her inside her mind.

Suddenly a strange white light in the distance caught her attention. Josephine frowned. That was new. That was the first time she saw a light in the darkness. She stopped walking, her breathing ragged, and her body trembling slightly. From behind her she could hear the sinister shadows whispering maliciously against her ear, she felt their dangerous presence grow behind her. She had stopped and that gave them the advantage. But Josephine was entranced by the ball of light which grew bigger and bigger and it seemed to be flying straight towards her.

 _Where had it come from?_

The evil shadows haunting her hissed angrily for they sensed the threat the white light represented.

Josephine gasped and raised her hands in a feeble a tempt to use her magic and stop whatever attack was coming her way. She couldn't. Not even with all the power she possessed, Josephine could not stop the ball of light from hitting her right on the chest. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in a shocked gasp as the light slammed right through her, its great power jolting her entire body and pulling her from the abyss of darkness consuming her.

In the real world, Josephine's eyes snapped open at last.

Vincent woke up a few seconds later.

* * *

Davina was out breath when she came to a stop. Her legs hurt from all the running she had done and she had no choice but to lean against an old looking car. She had no idea how far into the other side she was, all she knew was that the void was not within close proximity and that made her relax and take a moment to regain her strength. She closed her eyes and slumped down on the floor, leaning her back against the car _. I have to keep going,_ she thought. She couldn't let her guard down. She had to keep moving. The last thing she needed was to be caught off guard by the voids. Kol had explained to her that there was no pattern, the voids materialized anywhere at any moment, which was why she had to keep moving. Staying in the same place for too long posed a greater risk of getting sucked into oblivion.

 _The only way you have a chance is if you keep moving,_ Kol had said. _Or if you have a Bennett watching your back._

 _What are the chances that I can find a Bennett witch to help me out?_ Davina thought opening her eyes and standing up. Her body protested the movement. She was exhausted but Davina pushed away the tiredness and the pain invading her. The need to keep herself alive prevail over everything else.

A cool breeze rustled the leaves from the tree nearby. Davina looked around the deserted street, she was in New Orleans still. She wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing. It was eerie how the other side resembled the city she loved. Her home. _Was it like this for everyone?_ Davina wasn't really sure how it worked. She recalled Bonnie saying something about the other side being composed of different realms. She also knew that things over here were really bad. _Were any Bennett witches nearby?_ Davina wondered while her gaze moved around the deserted street. Her eyes landed on the gates on the other side of the street, a shiver went down her spine right away. _Lafayette cemetery,_ the place where she had been killed. A strange nervousness invaded her belly all of a sudden. There was something about that place. Without meaning to, Davina walked towards the gates. She felt a strong pull urging her to go inside.

She couldn't walk past the gates however, an invisible barrier held her back.

 _What the hell?_ Davina raised her hand and slowly touched the barrier. _Why couldn't she go in?_ Her fingers were still probing the invisible surface when a strange white light began to descend over her. Davina gasped and looked up into the sky. _Where had that light come from?_ It had not been there before. Davina gasped as the ball of light grew over her.

The bright light slammed through her without warning.

Davina screamed feeling a hard pull. Everything happened so suddenly, she had no way to fight it. She helplessly felt herself being carried away by the strange white light. The wave of power ripped her soul form the other side and returned it to her body in one single blast of light.

The candles surrounding the Harvest girls blew out.

Davina's eyes snapped open, a loud gasp escaping her mouth. The adrenaline pumping her veins had her sitting up at once, a terrified look on her face as she looked around the room.

A few seconds later, the three other Harvest girls woke up as well.

Back in the mansion where the summit took place, all of the witches under the sleeping spell woke up at once.

The first witch had made it so.


	69. Chapter 69

**Enjoy!**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Davina was in a state of shock upon returning to the land of the living. Her body was rocked by uncontrollable trembles, her eyes were unfocused, and her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest. Being yanked out of the other side and sent back to her body had been a disconcerting and terrifying experience.

"Oh my god!"

"Davina!" A joyful Rebekah exclaimed upon seeing her.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Kol couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"She's alive!" Josh was practically jumping from excitement.

"You're back!" Belle threw her arms around her but Davina flinched at the contact.

"Give her a moment," Elijah's calm voice filtered through Davina's foggy mind. He gently pulled Belle away.

Davina was breathing heavily as different voices and sensations slammed through her at once. She was still adjusting to her resurrection and her witch senses skyrocketed with the presence of all the supernaturals around her. They were all circling her, watching her with a mixture of curious, stunned, and happy faces. It overwhelmed her and her magic deemed all of them as threats. Davina did her best to tune all the noise out and focused on her breathing, she didn't want to lose control of her magic and hurt them. She just needed to catch her breath and process everything.

"How is this possible?" A stunned Father Kieran asked.

"Davina, can you hear me?" Marcel's voice was comforting amid the chaos she found herself in.

Davina opened her mouth but no sound came out. Her shaky hands reached out to touch her neck, remembering the pain from the blade and the cold, that horrible cold that had engulfed her in darkness. The moment she had died would forever be engraved inside her mind. She shuddered and a strange squeaky noise managed to escape her.

Everybody started talking at once, asking her questions, pulling her attention from side of the room to the other. Davina whimpered and hugged herself. Her magic flared on instinct, sensing her distress and more than ready to defend her.

"Give her some space," Klaus snapped and began shoving people out of the way. "All of you need to shut up and get away."

"Let the poor girl breathe," Aunt Vivian agreed.

Davina felt scared and disoriented but Bonnie's gentle voice broke through the chaos inside her mind and pulled her out of the darkness. Davina opened her eyes and felt relieved upon seeing the familiar face. Bonnie's presence was like a beacon of light. It was comforting and her magic had a soothing effect over Davina's trembling body. How Bonnie used her magic to put her at ease, Davina didn't know nor did she care. She welcomed it.

"Just take a deep breath," Bonnie placed her hand on Davina's trembling shoulder. "Just breathe," she whispered looking into her frightened eyes. "You're going to be okay. Just breathe."

Marcel wrapped his strong arms around her. "I got you D." Marcel whispered in her ear before picking her up in his arms. "You're safe. I promise." He kissed the top of her head and held her tenderly in his arms, like a father would with a small and scared child.

Davina wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head against him. With Bonnie and Marcel, Davina knew she was safe. The nightmare was over, she was alive. She needed to focus on that. She was alive and that was all that mattered.

"Let's take her upstairs," Bonnie suggested.

Marcel nodded.

Davina closed her eyes feeling safe in Marcel's arms. She could sense all the gazes of the people gathered around her, she could hear their voices although she couldn't understand what they were saying. She was disoriented still and very much afraid that this was all a dream and she would wake up on the other side dead. She clung to Marcel and told herself that everything was going to be fine.

"Everything is going to be okay now," Marcel echoed the sentiment.

"You're safe," Bonnie whispered giving her arm a reassuring squeeze.

Davina believed them.

* * *

While Marcel, Bonnie, and Rebekah tended to Davina, Klaus and Elijah remained in the living room helping a disoriented Josephine LaRue and a confused Vincent to their feet. They had both woken up shortly after Davina and so had the other Harvest girls. Father Kieran and Angelica were helping them and attempting to calm them down. The girls like Davina were all were confused, scared, and in shock. They were all processing their resurrection differently. One of the girls was crying hysterically, the other was in a state of shock, not saying a single word and blinking rapidly while Monique Deveraux looked at the vampires surrounding her with suspicion. She looked ready to bolt out of the room.

A few minutes later while everyone was still trying to figure out how the hell they all managed to wake up at once, Klaus got a message from Cary. "All of the witches are awake," he said to Elijah. "They all woke up at the same time." His eyes moved towards the Regent and her protégé.

"What happened?" Vincent asked as he helped Josephine to sit on the leather chair close to the fireplace. He looked around the room and realized he was inside the Mikaelson's home. "How did we get here?" The last thing he remember was the witch summit.

"It's a rather long story," Elijah commented. He glanced at the girls who looked uncomfortable in the presence of so many strangers. Almost as if sensing his gaze on them, one of the girls looked up and met his eyes. She glared at him before looking away and crossing her arms over her chest in a protective gesture.

"We'll take the girls to the kitchen," Angelica offered. "I'll make tea to calm their nerves." With Father Kieran's help, Angelica began ushering the girls out of the living room.

Vivian for her part, took the Bennett witches to the study. "We must figure out a way to help Lenore," was all she said before leading the coven out of the room.

Once they were left alone, Josephine looked between Klaus and Elijah a clear question in her eyes. "Tell us what happened?" she asked in a rather shaky voice.

"You need to rest," Vincent looked at her with concern, Josephine looked tired and pale. If his dream reality had been anything to go by, he knew she had been put through hell in hers. This wasn't good for her health.

"How are you feeling?" Elijah asked instead of answering. He was very observant and had noticed how frail Josephine looked.

Josephine closed her eyes briefly, gathering her strength.

"We can prepare one of the guest bedrooms for you," Elijah kindly suggested. "You can rest and we can discuss this later."

Josephine shook her head and opened her eyes.

"I should call the doctor," Vincent took her hand in his, a worried look on his face.

"I'm fine," Josephine dismissed his concerns. She looked around the room in confusion not recognizing where she was. "The mansion, the summit," she whispered. That was the last thing she remembered. "What happened?" she asked once more. Something had changed, she could feel it. It felt like she was missing an important part of herself and as she slowly caught on to what had happened, she realized that she felt different, her magic felt different. _Why?_

Vincent didn't look like he believed that she was fine but he knew better than to push her. He turned to look at Klaus instead, waiting for him to fill them in. He could also feel a slight change in him, not in the same way as Josephine but he was aware that something had shifted with his magic. Something had definitely changed.

"Sophie Deveraux happened," Klaus replied rather angrily. He regretted the fact that he hadn't killed that treacherous witch sooner and that he had not made her suffer as much as she deserved for what she had put Bonnie through. "After she made her appearance at the witch summit and put you all to sleep, she kidnapped Davina and Bonnie and completed the Harvest…" he began explaining everything.

* * *

Katie groaned and stared at the ceiling with confusion. The first few moments after she woke up were strange. She felt tired, physically and mentally exhausted to be more specific. _What happened?_ She wondered pulling herself slowly into a sitting position. She rubbed the back of her head, feeling a dull pain.

"Katie?"

She would recognize that voice anywhere. Katie looked up and smiled as she spotted her lover outside her cell. "Thierry!" It felt so good to see him. She felt like she hadn't seen him in ages. "What's going on?" She felt confused. "Why am I in a cell?"

Thierry smiled. "Is it really you?" he asked in a hopeful tone. He took a couple of steps closer and searched her eyes and face for any indication that this could be a trick. She looked like the Katie he knew not the one that had been brainwashed and tried to escape from him the night before.

"Who else would it be?" Katie asked pulling herself to her feet and walking towards him.

The two of them stood on the edge of the cell, facing each other.

"Do you remember what happened?" Thierry asked.

Katie cleared her throat. She had a really bad headache and was still confused about everything. "I'm not sure," she replied honestly. There were flashes of different memories that came to her mind and she was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Sophie…" her eyes looked fearfully around the basement. "She came…she…. what…the Harvest…" she mumbled incoherently. She had been helping Sophie complete the Harvest. "It was like she was inside my head, I couldn't…I…" It had felt like she had been possessed but whatever had taken hold of her was gone now.

"It's okay," Thierry tried to calm her down. "A lot has happened, you were being manipulated by Sophie."

"…What…"

Thierry reached out through the bars and took her hand in his. "I missed you," he whispered. It had been so long. "There were moments when I thought…" he shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about that now. "Everything is going to be okay, I promise."

Katie nodded and squeezed his hand. Despite her confusion, she felt happy to see him. The two of them shared a loving smile.

"I'll get you out of this cell," Thierry promised. He had to talk to Klaus first obviously, but Katie was herself again. She was no longer under Sophie and the Ancestors' influence. He didn't think Klaus would have a problem letting her go. "It's over now." He felt like he could breathe again. The anguish of the past couple of weeks melted away and left him feeling ecstatic. "I love you."

Katie moved her face closer, the bars got in the way but she didn't care. She looked into his eyes and grinned. "I love you too."

There was a lot they needed to talk about, Thierry had to explain to her what had happened during the time she was missing and the night before during the ritual but for now, he allowed himself a moment to simply stare at her pretty face and share a smile with her.

She loved him and he loved her, they were together now, that was all that mattered.

* * *

 **The compound**

Davina took a sip of her chamomile tea and sighed contently, enjoying the warm tingle in her belly. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the pillows, cradling the red mug in her hands. She felt much better thanks to the tea Lucy brought her and the shower she took. Rebekah and Bonnie had helped her to wash away all the blood on her neck and chest. Her dress was in the trash now, the red stain a painful reminder of what transpired in the cemetery. Davina shuddered recalling all the red water going down the drain, if she touched her neck she could still feel the cold blade piercing her skin open. That was something she wasn't going to forget any time soon. She was probably going to have nightmares about it.

"How are you feeling?" Marcel asked worriedly. He was sitting on the chair in front of the bed and was watching her nervously, not knowing what kind of state she was in. Davina had not said much. He knew she was still in shock but he was eager to hear her voice and ensure she was alright.

"I'm okay," Davina mumbled while looking down at the mug on her hands. She still felt a little out of it but she was definitely in a better state than when she first woke up.

Bonnie who was sitting on the bed with her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "I'm so happy you are alive," her voice broke and she struggled to contain her tears, watching Davina die had been one of the hardest things she had ever witnessed.

Davina rested her head on her shoulder and smiled. "Me too." The previous night had been one of the most terrifying moments of her young life. "Are you okay?" she asked her suddenly.

"I'm fine," Bonnie replied feeling touched by her concern.

"We are all happy to have you back," Rebekah took a seat on the edge of the bed and smiled at her.

Lucy nodded. "We can't even begin to imagine the ordeal you have been through but we're here for you."

Davina offered her a grateful smile, Lucy's words meant a lot to her. "I went to the other side…" she found herself saying in a whisper. A small trembled rolled over her body as she recalled the experience.

"You don't have to talk about it," Bonnie told her softly.

"You've been through a lot D," Marcel added. "You need to rest." He reached out and grabbed her hand.

Davina smiled and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Sophie was there. I saw her," she continued. Her voice broke a bit. "I think the void got her." She wasn't really sure but there was a part of her that hoped that Sophie had been swallowed by it. It was the least that evil witch deserved.

"That bitch deserved it."

Davina looked up upon hearing the familiar accented voice and smiled. Kol stood in the doorway. Klaus and Elijah were behind him. The three brothers stepped insider her room and Davina couldn't stop grinning. "Hi!" She felt happy to see them. _Her family_ , she thought while her throat clogged with emotion. A few months ago, she would have never come to imagine that she would be calling the Originals her family but that's who they were to her now.

"We do not wish you to disturb," Elijah stood next to Lucy and place a hand on her lower back. "We just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"It was scary," Davina choked, feeling very emotional still.

Bonnie pulled her closer. "It's okay."

"I'll be fine," Davina cleared her throat. "I'm just happy to be back."

"And we're happy to have you back," Klaus murmured placing his hands behind his back and offering her grin. "It's not every day one returns from the dead. I think you just made a name for yourself."

Davina's lips twitched.

"You're trying to steal my thunder," Kol intervened as he casually leaned back against the door and smirked at her. "Up until now, I was the only supernatural who could claim to have been resurrected and now you took that from me. What do you have to say for yourself witch?"

Davina's eyes opened wide.

"Kol," Rebekah glared at him over her shoulder, Lucy also gave him a dirty look. Elijah for his part, frowned in his brother's direction.

"You really have to make a joke about this?" Marcel snapped feeling annoyed by Kol's presence and insensitivity. After what Davina had been put through this was the last thing she needed.

Kol kept his eyes on Davina, his eyes glinting while a devil-may-care smirk graced his lips.

Davina burst out laughing upon realizing that he was teasing her. It felt good to laugh. Her ordeal had been traumatizing but Kol easily took some of that burden away with his teasing. "Someone had to bruise that ego of yours," she retorted with a smirk of her own.

Kol smiled. "It's good to have you back, darling." He meant every word. He liked seeing that big smile of hers making that pretty face glow. It was how she should always be. That was the kind of image he wanted to keep in his mind, not the bloody and dead corpse she had been just a few hours before.

"It's good to be back."

Marcel frowned. He glanced at Klaus but the hybrid merely shrugged.

"How did you do it?" Davina suddenly questioned Bonnie.

"Do what?"

"How did you bring me back?"

"I didn't," Bonnie confessed sadly. "I wish I had but you came back on your own."

Davina frowned. If Bonnie hadn't brought her back with her magic then how had it happened? She looked at Marcel before glancing at everyone else. They were all watching her.

"Perhaps you could enlighten us as to how you came back?" Klaus asked her curiously.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Bonnie was quick to say.

"It's fine," Davina would like to know how it was possible for her to return. "I was on the other side, it looked like New Orleans actually." That had been really weird. "After I ran from the void, I ended up in front of Lafayette cemetery and then there was this light…" she looked down at her mug remembering the light smashing through her, pulling her out of there and returning her back to life almost with a blink of an eye. "The light pulled me out of there and brought me back, I guess." She didn't know where the light had come from. She had assumed upon returning that Bonnie had something to do with it but apparently that wasn't the case.

There was a moment of silence as everyone pondered her words.

Klaus's eyes met Bonnie's, they were both thinking the exact same thing. Charlotte had talked about the first witch showing herself in her room as a ball of light that told her that her family needed her help. That wasn't the first time a ball of light came to Charlotte's aid. The little witch had been saved from the evil coven that was trying to sacrifice her by a bright light, a light which had taken her to the other side. Bonnie also had a dream of the bright light that turned into the figure of a woman. _Could it be?_ She wondered suddenly.

"Where did that light come from?" Davina wondered out loud.

"That's how Josephine and Vincent woke up," Elijah murmured deep in thought. "They both saw a bright light that pulled them out of the sleeping curse they were in."

"I supposed it's safe to assume that's how the Harvest girls came back to life, as well as the other witches," Klaus added.

"So, does that mean the Harvest worked?" Lucy asked looking around the room for an answer.

"Sophie was convinced the Harvest worked," Davina told them. "She thought the Ancestors betrayed her because something went wrong but she didn't seem to know what."

"Kol came up with a different theory," Rebekah informed her before looking at her brother.

Davina turned to Kol and waited for him to explain.

"Someone stole the magic from the Harvest," he answered with a slight shrug. It was the one thing that made sense.

"It's that possible?" Davina asked Bonnie.

"It's not impossible," Bonnie replied. "The thing is that all of the witches in New Orleans were asleep when that happened, so we're not sure who stole that magic, if that's even the case." She glanced at Klaus and Elijah. "We have to speak with Josephine and figure this out." That magic released during the Harvest was extremely powerful and the thought of anyone using it worried her. If that magic fell on the wrong hands. She didn't want to think about what kind of consequences that would bring.

"We do," Klaus agreed. He and Elijah had left Josephine and Vincent alone so they could talk and deal with the aftermath of their sleeping curse. Now they needed to figure out how they would proceed and how the new turn of events would affect the witch community. There was also the matter of Lenore being in Mystic Falls, they had to get her back and find out what the Travelers were up to.

A knock on the door had Kol stepping aside.

"Hi!" Charlotte poked her head inside the room, followed closely by Matt whose jaw dropped when he saw Davina. He and Charlotte had heard the commotion downstairs but he had never thought Davina would be back to life so soon. He felt extremely happy and relieved upon seeing her. Charlotte's face instantly brightened when she saw her as well. "Davina!" she squealed and wasted no time running inside.

Marcel easily picked her up and helped her climb into the bed. "There you go little lady."

"Thank-you," Charlotte gave him a sweet smile before snuggling closer to Davina.

Davina felt so happy to see her, she nearly burst into tears. "Hi," she whispered. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Charlotte until that moment when she saw her. Charlotte had definitely become her little sister.

"What's wrong?" Charlotte asked seeing her watery eyes. "Why is everyone in your room?" She didn't like that she hadn't been included in the family reunion in Davina's room. "Why didn't you guys invite me?"

Davina turned to Bonnie who subtly shook her head, letting her know that Charlotte had no idea what had happened to her.

"We were just talking," Bonnie told Charlotte.

"There is no need to be jealous little witch," Klaus winked at her.

Charlotte giggled. "I'm not jealous," she pouted. "Okay, maybe a bit." She made a motion with her hand and everyone laughed.

"I'm just happy to see you," Davina whispered. Charlotte and her antics always put a smile on her face.

"I'm happy to see you too," Charlotte said while giving her a hug which Davina happily reciprocated.

Bonnie's heart melted upon seeing the two of them like that, even Lucy teared up a bit. Elijah pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. Matt for his part stood next to Rebekah and took her hand in his. It was moments like this that they all treasured.

"Do you want to watch a movie with me and uncle Matt?" Charlotte asked. "He's going to make popcorn."

Davina chuckled. "I would love too." She didn't think she would be able to sleep any time soon, a movie sounded like a nice distraction at the moment.

"Sounds like fun," Matt grinned from ear to ear. "I'll ask Josh and Belle to join us."

Davina's eyes lit up at that. "That sounds wonderful!" She felt so happy. The Harvest was over, it had finally happened. Just like she had feared, she had died but she had come back to life. The heavy burden she had carried since that fateful night when Marcel saved her life was finally off her shoulders. She could breathe again, she was finally free. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world and what made it a thousand times better was the fact that she had people she loved and cared about to share it with.

Davina had found the family she had always longed for.

* * *

Bonnie met with Josephine later that day. She had left Davina and Charlotte upstairs watching a movie with Marcel, Matt, Belle and Josh. Everyone was absolutely thrilled by Davina's miraculous return. While Davina rested and reconnected with her friends, Bonnie, Elijah, and Klaus spoke with Josephine and Vincent about everything hat had happened and how things had changed by Sophie's intervention with the Harvest. What they didn't anticipate was the startling revelation Josephine made to them.

"My connection with the Ancestors is gone," the Regent of the nine covens informed them in a sad and worried voice. Since the moment she woke up from the sleeping spell Josephine had struggled to find that unique link that tied her to the Ancestors. A link that had been forged from the moment she became Regent and which was now gone completely. She could not feel them any longer. It had taken her by surprise, this was something she had never anticipated. She was no longer connected to the Ancestral plane and the witches that resided there. "I can't feel them anymore," she said sadly.

"What does that mean exactly?" Elijah had an inkling but he wanted to hear it from her own lips.

"How can that happen?" Klaus asked almost at once. He and Bonnie exchanged nervous looks. _What had the Travelers done?_ They both wondered. It was logical to think that the Travelers had somehow managed to destroy a part of the other side. That was their goal after all.

"Maybe the connection was temporarily severed," Bonnie suggested. She felt agitated by the thought of Josephine losing that connection. She reached out and took Klaus's hand. _Grams,_ she thought worriedly.

 _Calm down, love._ Klaus offered her reassurance through their bond.

"Do you think that whatever went wrong with the Harvest could have affected your connection with the Ancestors?" Elijah questioned. "Block it somehow?"

"It's not blocked," Josephine replied in a somber tone. "I can't sense them at all, they're gone. The Ancestors are gone," she stated clearly. There was no mistake, she knew the truth for what it was.

"You can't be sure of that," Bonnie murmured.

"I am," Josephine looked into her eyes. "As the Regent, I was connected to them," she explained. "I was linked to them from the moment I ascended to this position. That linked has been destroyed completely. The Ancestors are no more." She felt it in her heart. When she first woke from the sleeping curse she had been disoriented and had sensed something amiss, now she knew for sure. "The Ancestors no longer exist." She looked directly at Bonnie.

Bonnie felt a chill upon hearing those words. There was no hesitation in Josephine's voice, she had no doubt the Ancestors were gone.

"How can that be?" Vincent asked. He looked rather conflicted. He had been questioning the Ancestors lack of support to Josephine but the thought of them not existing at all worried him. More importantly, _what did that mean for the witch community in New Orleans?_

Josephine kept staring at Bonnie. "Did you do something?" she questioned without hesitation.

"I didn't do anything," was the honest reply Bonnie gave. "Why would you think-"

"You're a Bennett," Vincent remarked. He easily followed his mentor's line of thought and deduced that Bonnie and her family were the only ones powerful enough to do something like that. "The queen of the Bennett coven. You and your coven have the power to destroy the Ancestors."

Klaus's eyes narrowed and a low growl erupted from his chest. "Watch your words," he warned with a low hiss. He was not going to let anyone wrongly accuse Bonnie of something she clearly had not done. At any rate, he actually felt glad to hear those damn meddling witches were gone for good.

Elijah immediately took a protective stance next to Bonnie who was sitting on the couch with Klaus, right across from where Josephine and Vincent were. He watched the two witches like a hawk. He didn't think Josephine and Vincent would dare to attack but he stood protectively next to Bonnie nonetheless.

"Your bloodline created the other side," Josephine added. Those icy blue eyes of hers were disconcerting but her voice was calm. She knew of the power of the Bennett bloodline. She knew better than to underestimate Bonnie and her family. After what Sophie and the Ancestors had done, it made sense to think that the Bennett's had destroyed them. "The Ancestral plane exists within the other side and now it's gone. I know it is." She waited for Bonnie to say something, to let them know if she knew or had any idea as to what happened to the Ancestors. "Your family has done extraordinary things, it is not without reason to think that you might have done this."

Bonnie looked away, the intensity of Josephine's eyes making her uncomfortable. _Could it be?_ She felt a spike of fear and anxiety. _If the Ancestral plane _had ceased to exist did that mean the other side was gone as well?_ _ She thought of Grams and the Bennett's on the other side and her fear increased. __No,__ Bonnie told herself. If the other side had collapsed she would know it, she would have felt it. The Bennett's on the other side were okay, Bonnie knew that deep down. _For how long through?_ Her mind wondered. But more than that, she wondered who could have possibly destroyed the Ancestral plane?

Vincent and Josephine were watching her and waiting for her to say something.

"I don't know who or what destroyed the Ancestral plane but I can assure you it wasn't me." Bonnie said turning to face Josephine once more and meeting her eyes unflinchingly. "I didn't do this and neither did any of the Bennett witches under my command."

For a long time, the two of them sat staring at each other. Finally, Josephine nodded. She knew Bonnie was telling the truth.

"Who else could have the power to do such a thing then?" Vincent asked after a while in silence.

"There is a group of witches who want nothing more than to destroy the other side," Klaus remarked.

"Who?" Vincent asked.

"The Travelers," Elijah divulged.

"The witches that helped the Navarro clan," Josephine seemed intrigued by that.

"They are determined to bring down the other side," Bonnie informed them. "They have been weakening the barriers for months now. They might be responsible for this."

"They are the likely culprits for the Ancestral plan being gone," Klaus continued. "But don't you worry, the Travelers' reign is coming to an end."

"Is killing the way you handle every threat?" Vincent asked him.

"As a matter of fact, it is." Klaus proudly replied with a smirk on his lips.

"What happens to the witch community if the Ancestors no longer exist?" Bonnie changed the subject and broke the tense silence that followed Klaus's words.

"We still have our magic," Vincent glanced at Josephine who nodded. They could both feel their magic inside of them. "I always assumed that if the Ancestors no longer existed then we would lose our magic completely."

"That has always been our belief," Josephine concurred. "But the Ancestors are gone and our magic remains intact, for now at least." That could change quickly. It would be a cruel fate but it was something that could happen. With the Ancestors gone, the witches of New Orleans could lose their magic forever.

"Perhaps the Travelers did you a favor then," Klaus retorted.

"If they are really the ones behind this," Vincent mumbled under his breath.

Bonnie watched him curiously. His words were definitely interesting to think about. _Why would the Travelers only destroy the Ancestral plane? Were they planning to tear the other side little by little? Could someone else be behind this?_ She thought back to the bright light that woke the witches and resurrected the Harvest girls, the bright light associated with the first witch. Her hand unconsciously went to her necklace. _Are you the one behind this?_

"We will get to the bottom of this Madame LaRue," Elijah promised.

"We will," Josephine remarked. She was determined to find out what exactly happened and more importantly what kind of impact this was going to have on everyone. Little by little, the witches in the city were going to realize they were no longer connected to the Ancestors, their magic was no longer bound to them. What was interesting about that, was that the witches always feared that without the connection to the Ancestors their powers were no longer going to exist. It was something that had not happen. Their magic was intact and that meant that they were free from following the Ancestors' way. Whether this freedom would bring something positive or negative to their community remained to be seen.

"The harvest girls are anxious to return to their homes, being in a house full of vampires is making them nervous," Klaus said after another long pause. "I'm sure all the witches in the city have plenty of questions to keep you occupied." He looked back and forth between Vincent and Josephine. "I think it would be best if you were to escort them home."

"We will," Vincent stood up. They had overstayed their welcome and had a lot of work to do.

"We will address all of the witches' concerns in due time." Josephine stood up as well. "First we shall return the Harvest girls to their homes and ensure that everyone is safe."

"They all have families to return to with the exception of Monique," Vincent gave a pointed look in Klaus's direction. "She'll be staying with us. Sophie was the only family she had left." Monique was an orphan now. She had lost her mother and her aunt.

Bonnie felt sorry for the poor girl and she also felt guilty. She felt guilty for _not feeling guilty_ about Sophie's dead.

If Vincent expected Klaus to feel any remorse, he was going to keep on waiting. Klaus felt absolutely no pity for Monique and no regrets about killing Sophie. Klaus's only regret was he didn't make Sophie suffer more. "Sophie Deveraux got what she deserved," Klaus sneered. "Let her death be a lesson to those who think they can hurt my family and get away with it."

Vincent didn't say anything, he simply watched the hybrid.

"Sophie planned to kill you both," Elijah added. "If my brother had not killed her she might have succeeded. Not to mention that she placed a horrible hex on Bonnie, one that could have killed her and her children." His lips twisted into a sardonic smirk. "You should be thanking us for getting rid of such a threat to you, to all of us." At the end of the day, the Originals were not going to hesitate to kill whoever they had to in order to protect the ones they loved.

Vincent had a neutral expression on his face as he took Josephine's arm. He quietly escorted her out. There was a part of him that understood where the Mikaelson's were coming from but his heart also went out to the poor girl who had lost everything. Monique was a victim. All the Harvest girls were victims actually. Maybe it wasn't so bad that the Ancestors were gone. The Harvest had started all of this and if the Ancestors no longer existed, there would be no Harvest ritual ever again. Maybe something good could result from this. _We have to make something good out of this,_ he thought feeling determined to change the witch community for the better.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"Where are they?" Sloan hissed as soon as she got out of her car and met with the three Travelers waiting for her in the woods. She had left in order to do something extremely important and had come back to find that her valuable hostages had escaped, right from under the very noses of the people she had entrusted to keep an eye on them. "How could you let them escape?"

"We're not sure where the witch got so much power-" one of them begun feeling absolutely terrified of his leader's wrath.

"There were guards watching them, we-"

She shut them up with a single look and turned to her second in command instead.

Lara-the Traveler possessing Caroline- winced at the hard look her leader gave her. "I sent the hybrid after them, I've been tracking them all night."

"And?" Sloan looked ready to burn everything to the ground. She hated failure and the three of them had disappointed her greatly.

"They're at the Lockwood cellar," Lara replied quickly. "Finding them was rather easy."

"And why have you not retrieve them yet?"

"The magic the witch put in place to protect the cellar is strong," Lara answered nervously. "We can't get through, we tried but-"

"If I want something done right, I have to do it myself," Sloan muttered walking past her. "Let's go," she ordered. "We can't keep wasting time." She pulled her cell phone out and began issuing instructions to all the Travelers she had in the city. The majority of them had been on the lookout for the missing hostages, patrolling the city and doing their best to catch the Bennett witch and the doppelgängers before they slipped out of their clutches completely. But Lenore had been a step ahead of them and rather than head straight into town in order to escape, she had chosen to hide instead. The witch clearly knew she was outnumbered. She had probably already called for reinforcements. _Damn it!_ Sloan thought. This was not going the way she had planned. She should have used the cards she had long ago.

"It's just one witch, I'm sure we can-"

"Shut up," Sloan snapped feeling irritated by her own people. She was not in the mood to hear anyone talking. She was calling reinforcements and preparing for a confrontation. Something told her this was going to end badly. "If she chose to hide rather than attempt to escape it's because she knows or senses that we have the town under our control," Sloan muttered. "We need to be ready. For all you know her coven could be making their way here as we speak."

Lara nodded and fell into a step next to her. They were all heading towards the cellar, the others would join them later. "We have to be ready for a confrontation then."

"Why don't you tell me something I don't already know?" Sloan glared at her. _Were all the people working for her so incompetent?_

"I'm sorry," Lara looked away.

"They were on your watch," Sloan reproached. "And you let them escaped."

"I had to get away for a minute," Lara defended herself. "I was having problems with _her_ ," she mumbled ashamed to admit her weakness. Caroline Forbes was fighting her every step of the way. The girl wanted her body back and had taken Lara by surprise a couple of times. Those episodes did not last long, a couple of seconds, maybe a minute or two before Lara managed to suppressed the vampire once more but they worried her. No one had given her such a fight for control before. Deep down, Lara was afraid that Caroline was going to reclaim control of her body for good.

"You said you could handle it," Sloan's eyes narrowed with suspicion. She stopped walking and stared deeply into Lara's eyes. "How many times has she gained control this week?" she demanded to know.

"Once," Lara lied. She did not look away from Sloan. Her father had always said that the best lies are those said with a straight face. "Only for a few seconds."

Sloan pressed her lips together and studied her face carefully.

Lara did her best not to tremble and give herself away under that scrutinizing gaze. Sloan was really intimidating and she was afraid of what her leader would do if she were to learn that Lara had lost control at least four times in the past week alone.

The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever. The two other Travelers watched them nervously, not knowing what to do.

"A single second could make a big difference," Sloan said in a menacing voice. "Be careful," she warned before she resumed walking. "You know what happens to the passengers who can't control their hosts, don't you?" her eyes glinted maliciously.

Lara nodded and swallowed the lump on her throat. It was the thing Lara feared the most.

Sloan didn't say anything after that. She pulled her cell phone out again and sent a quick message to Rudy. If Lenore's coven was coming for her, that meant that Bonnie Bennett would lead the rescue mission and Sloan had a surprise planned for her. She had won a tremendous victory the night before without anyone knowing it, now the time had come to win the war.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

After their talk with Vincent and Josephine, Bonnie and Klaus reunited with everyone in the living room of the compound to discuss the mission to rescue Lenore. Bonnie had called Stefan and Damon and informed them that the Travelers had Lenore and Elena in Mystic Falls, naturally the two brothers came right away and were more than ready to go back home to rescue the girl they both loved.

"You're staying here," Klaus ordered Stefan who didn't look too happy about staying behind.

"I can help!" The younger Salvatore's protests fell to deaf ears.

"It's best if you stay at the church," Damon told Stefan in a commanding voice. "So, what's the plan?" he asked Bonnie. He felt happy that she had completely recovered from the evil hex and the happiness she felt that Davina had come back to life showed on her face. Bonnie was glowing. Bonnie looked beautiful even with the big bump. Damon found himself smiling as he watched her.

"Calm down Romeo," Klaus didn't like the stupid grin Damon had on his face. In fact, he wanted to wipe it off with a good punch. Almost as if she were reading his thoughts, Bonnie gave him a look. Klaus only smirked.

"I communicated with Lenore telepathically," Adriane explained to the group. "She's with Elena, Katherine, Tom, and Tyler," she glanced at Klaus. "She said the Travelers messed up with his head and used him to chase them down. They capture him but he's still not himself."

"They must have gotten to the other hybrids I have there as well," Klaus murmured. He felt pissed about that. The hybrids had been reporting that everything was fine, which was clearly a lie. He looked at Bonnie who was quietly sitting next to him, she looked deep in thought. Klaus knew she was thinking about her dad, Bonnie was very worried about him.

"Those pesky Travelers are smarter than we gave them credit for," Rebekah made a face. "I can't wait to get rid of them."

"You and me both," Kol mumbled. He didn't care for Elena and the other doppelgängers but he definitely didn't want the Travelers destroying the other side. That was only going to bring more problems for his family.

"What are we waiting for?" Tinisha looked around the room anxiously. "Shouldn't we leave now? Lenore needs us."

"We can't just rush into anything without a plan," Vivian chided. "Who knows what could be waiting for us there. We need a good plan of attack." She looked at Bonnie and Klaus.

"Lenore feels that there are many Travelers in Mystic Falls," Adriane continued sharing with them the conversations he had with Lenore through their minds. "She has secured the Lockwood cellar and they are safe for now but who knows how much longer that could last."

"For all you know the Travelers let them escape to lure you into a trap," Marcel spoke up from his spot by the window. "The Travelers were smart enough to join forces with the Navarro wolves and make it out alive, most of them at least. They were smart enough to get almost everything to bring down the other side." He looked at Stefan as he was the missing link in their plans or so Marcel had learned. "What's to say that they haven't planned this and are waiting with their army." He looked at Klaus. "You have underestimated them before," he reminded his sire. Marcel had witnessed the powerful magic the Travelers displayed during the battle against the Navarro pack and after learning that they planned to destroy the other side he knew they shouldn't underestimate them again. "And now you're going into their turf, you'll be fools to think this will be an easy mission."

"Marcel has a good point," Elijah agreed. "Which is why you need to stay here." he looked at Stefan. "We can't risk you falling into their clutches. Without you, the ritual won't work."

"What about Caroline?" Stefan asked worriedly. "And Bonnie's dad?"

"We will ensure their safety," Elijah promised.

Bonnie stared at her hands, she had tried calling her dad earlier that day but he had cut her off, telling her he had an important meeting. Caroline had not answered her calls at all.

"We will take a group of witches, vampires, hybrids and werewolves to Mystic Falls and end those bastards once and for all," Klaus hissed. "Army or not, we can finish them." He alone could crush them with his bare hands. "They won't even know what hit them."

"We don't know how many they are," Joanna pointed out. "Engaging them in a confrontation will cause a lot of damage and put everyone in the town at risk. Do you really want that?"

"Which is why we are sending a small group to rescue Lenore first," Elijah said right away. "We won't engage in a battle right away, not unless we absolutely have to. We need the element of surprise on our side." Instead of arriving with a full army ready for combat, they would try to sneak a small group inside and rescue Lenore and get Bonnie's dad and her friends out of there. They would try to ensure everyone's safety before attacking the Travelers.

"We'll send a small group first to test the waters," Klaus continued. "If things turn for the worse, we'll send the big guns and fish them off."

"Who's going then?" Kol asked.

"Me!" Damon was the first to volunteer. He was more than ready to kick ass and get Elena back. He was growing impatient. The sooner they could figure this out, the sooner they could leave.

"I will go as well," Vivian said next. "I'm taking Adriane, Joanna, and Lucy with me. The rest of you must remain here to protect Bonnie," she ordered the rest of the Bennett coven. She didn't know how long this would take and she didn't want to leave Bonnie unguarded in the mean time.

"I'm going with a group of vampires and some of the Strix," Elijah volunteered.

"I'll take Jesse, Alexa, Cary, and Riley with me," Klaus said. "Angelica will stay here with Felix as will the two of you," he glanced at Rebekah and Kol.

"Fine by me," Kol mumbled. "We wouldn't want anyone to get any ideas about taking over with the two of you gone." He gave a suspicious look in Marcel's direction. The ex-king of the city happily ignored him. Marcel's only concern was Davina. He didn't care about the throne or plotting behind Klaus's back. There were enough problems in the city already. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched as Klaus and Elijah continued to give out orders and organized everyone into a plan of action.

Rebekah looked ready to protest. "I can-"

"Someone must keep order in the city while we are gone," Elijah cut her off. "The two of you will be in charge of keeping the vampires in check. Not to mention someone has to look after Davina and Charlotte." He also gave a meaningful look in Bonnie's direction.

Rebekah nodded, keeping Bonnie and the girls safe was a priority for all of them.

"I'm going!" Matt proclaimed.

"You should stay here with me," Rebekah insisted.

"I can help, I can-"

"You're staying," Klaus ordered.

"But-"

Klaus waved his hand and dismissed him easily. "Ishmael will help with the werewolves and Felix with hybrids," he continued.

"Why Mystic Falls?" Lucy asked everyone. "Why take them there out of all places?" She couldn't help but feel like there was a special reason for it.

"That's where they will perform the ritual no doubt," Elijah responded.

"I doubt it's a coincidence they chose that town," Vivian murmured.

"Mystic Falls draws supernaturals like a moth to a flame," Rebekah put in her two cents.

"It's the perfect place to bring down the other side," Bonnie spoke for the first time. She had been quietly watching and listening as Klaus and Elijah planned everything and gave orders to everyone. While everyone talked, Bonnie had been making plans of her own.

All eyes turned to look at her.

"Why do you say that?" Stefan questioned her.

"The Expression triangle," Bonnie replied. Since learning that the Travelers were in Mystic Falls she had been thinking a lot. She had also come to some interesting conclusions. She met Klaus's eyes and thought back to that night when they had defeated Silas for good. "Silas wanted me to activate it in order to destroy the other side. I think the Travelers might try to do something like that," her eyes moved around the room. "I think that they are going to channel the power of the Expression triangle during the eclipse and use that combined power to destroy the other side for good."

"Channeling that kind of power during the eclipse is dangerous," Diana commented. "All that magic could destroy the entire town if they're not careful."

"They could," Bonnie cleared her throat. Her heart ached for her dad, for Elena, for Caroline and Tyler, all caught in the Travelers web of destruction. She knew what she had to do.

Damon and Stefan looked nervously at each other. Mystic Falls was their home, their town and they wanted to keep it safe. The Travelers were ruthless, they didn't give a damn about destroying an entire town and all the innocent people living there if it meant that they could fulfill their plans.

"I doubt the Travelers care about that," Vivian muttered. "They are the kind of people who won't hesitate to murder innocents in order to bring their plans to completion."

"Indeed," Elijah was watching Bonnie curiously and so was Klaus.

"This needs to end," Bonnie said while her eyes moved around the room. She was tired of constantly being attacked. Her life as of late was one battle after another. She felt like she could hardly breathe sometimes because something always came up. She touched her pregnant belly. All she wanted was to ensure her babies were born healthy and safe. She didn't want to bring them into a war zone. "This ends now." She stood up, a determined look on her face. "It's going to take all of us to stop the Travelers from destroying the other side. We can't keep waiting for the eclipse to come about, the time has come to put an end to this. We know where they are, we know what they want, we know what's at stake. So now we must act and finish this once and for all."

The Originals shared knowing looks, they had a feeling where this was going and neither of them liked it.

"I'm going to Mystic Falls," Bonnie declared. "I am going to ensure the Travelers' plans fail."

There was a single moment where everyone was quiet, where a single pin could have dropped and they all would have heard it as it hit the floor. A couple of seconds later, everything exploded as they all regained their wits and began talking at once.

"You are not going," Klaus was in front of her in a flash. "After what you have been through you need to stay here."

"I won't stay here while my dad and my friends are in danger," Bonnie told him calmly.

"I'm not going to let you anywhere near the Travelers, we will handle this," Klaus insisted.

"Bonnie in your condition-" Rebekah began nervously.

"I know what I'm doing," Bonnie cut her off.

"I think Klaus is right," Lucy said taking a couple of steps closer to her. "You should stay with Charlotte and Davina and-"

"You can't put yourself in such risk," Elijah was saying as well.

Damon was surprisingly quiet, simply watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. Stefan looked anxiously at everyone who had suddenly surrounded Bonnie with their concerns. Marcel was the only one that kept his distance.

"My dear we are going to handle this," Vivian intervened right away. "You have no reason to go to Mystic Falls and given recent events, you need to stay and rest. I promise you, I will take care of this and bring Lenore back safely."

"Your dad as well," Adriane hurried to add. "We will make sure he's safe."

"You don't have to do this," Vivian continued.

"If you want to go, I'm game," Tinisha decided.

"I will do whatever you decide to do, my queen." Kyra bowed her head in Bonnie's direction.

"Me too," Sofia agreed.

"I don't think you should go," Kol said to Bonnie in a serious and rather worried voice. "Davina needs you and so does the little demon. She'll probably burn the house down if she doesn't see you. Kids are crazy these days."

"Davina has been through a lot," Klaus followed Kol's cue and tried to convince Bonnie that the best was to stay. "You need to stay with her."

Bonnie gave them an exasperated look. "I'm not asking for your permission," she easily shut everyone up. "I know how dangerous the situation is. I am not going to put myself in unnecessary risk but I need to see my dad," she looked at Klaus as she spoke. "I need to make sure that he's okay. I need to make sure that Tyler, Caroline, Elena and Lenore are okay." She wouldn't be able to handle staying back in New Orleans while her friends and her cousin were at risk, while her dad could be caught in the cross fire. "I'm going to Mystic Falls and that is final." She had made up her mind and she was not going to keep arguing it about it.

"Sweetheart," Klaus gave her a look. He didn't want her anywhere near Mystic Falls, he didn't want her near the Travelers at all.

"I am not going to sit back and let the Travelers continue to do as they please," Bonnie said fiercely. "This has to end." She took his hand in hers. "I'm going to Mystic Falls," She stated and left no room for argument. "Don't worry," Bonnie whispered feeling the concern he felt through the bond. "I have a plan."

Klaus frowned.

"I promise that I won't put myself in the line of fire," Bonnie gave him her word. Protecting her children was her number one priority but in order to make her plan work she had to go to Mystic Falls. "We will send a small group first to get Lenore and everyone out of the cellar. If things get complicated you and the rest of our army will go in. But I need to be in Mystic Falls, Klaus." She looked into his eyes, her lips curling. "I need to be in Mystic Falls in order to make my plan work."

"What are you going to do?" Klaus asked. He could feel how determined, how confident she felt about her success.

Everyone was watching her carefully.

"I'm going to take a page out of the Ancestors book in order to defeat the Travelers," Bonnie replied with a smile. "I won't have to fight at all," she murmured. "But I will ensure they remember the Bennett name for all eternity."

The Travelers were probably waiting for them to arrive in Mystic Falls, they were probably ready to fight them and Bonnie knew that no matter how many Travelers were waiting for them, no matter how smart and powerful they were, the Travelers didn't stand a chance against their combined forces. She had a plan to save the other side, a plan that included getting rid of the Travelers for good.

If the Travelers thought they could could win this war, they were in for a rude awakening. The Travelers were not only going to face the Originals and their army, the Travelers were also going to have to face the entire Bennett bloodline, dead and alive. For Bonnie was counting on her dead Ancestors to be the element of surprise.


	70. Chapter 70

Saying goodbye to Charlotte and Davina was one of the hardest things Bonnie had to do. She didn't want to leave them and they didn't want Bonnie to leave either.

"Why can't we go with you?" Charlotte asked innocently, after Bonnie explained to them that she would be going to Mystic Falls for a few days.

"It's best if you both stay here," Klaus told them in a rather stern voice.

"I could help you," Davina offered with a fierce look on her face.

Bonnie politely declined the offer, neither she or Klaus wanted to put the girls in unnecessary danger. They would be safer staying in New Orleans with Rebekah, Kol, and Marcel. So, would Bonnie, in Klaus's opinion but the young queen had made up her mind and there was no changing it. Bonnie also felt touched by Davina's determination and loyalty, and guilty for leaving her so soon after her ordeal. Davina was a strong girl but she had been through a lot with her death and resurrection and Bonnie wanted to be there for her. She did her best to explain the situation to both of them, she didn't want Charlotte and Davina to worry but she also didn't want them to think she was abandoning them. She reassured them that she would be back as soon as possible.

"It's only for a few days," Bonnie told them.

"We'll be back before you know it," Klaus added with a wink.

"Do you promise?" Charlotte looked back and forth between them, the trust in her bright green eyes was unwavering.

"We promise." Klaus and Bonnie vowed at the same time.

Charlotte seemed content with their promise, Davina on the other hand looked worried. She definitely understood the threat the Travelers represented and knew that the fight against them was not going to be easy. "Promise me you'll be careful," she said looking at Bonnie.

"I promise," Bonnie assured her. "Everything will be fine."

"There is no need to worry love, the Travelers don't stand a chance against us," Klaus arrogantly proclaimed. "Bonnie has a brilliant plan in mind." There was a proud grin on his face as he said it. He better than anyone knew how successful Bonnie's plans had been against their enemies before.

"Good," Davina felt a bit better upon hearing those words.

The hours that followed were spent organizing everything for their trip to Mystic Falls. Klaus gave instructions to his people and talked endlessly with his siblings and Marcel in order to ensure that everything would be in order during his absence. He and Elijah spoke at length with Kol and Rebekah who were left in charge of the city. Klaus also gave detailed instructions to Felix and Angelica as well as to Josh, Belle, and Ishmael.

Matt was originally supposed to stay but he ended going with them, a decision Bonnie had supported fully. Matt was Tyler's and Caroline's friend, Mystic Falls was his home, and he knew the town like he knew the back of his hand. Matt was determined to help despite Rebekah's protests and Klaus's reluctance to take him. The ring Bonnie made for him offered him some extra protection but that didn't mean he was invincible which was why Klaus had argued for him to remain behind. In the end, Matt was ordered to stay close to Jesse and Alexa at all times. Riley and Cary were going to assist Aya and her group which included vampires from the Quarter and from the Strix. Elijah had called her and she had happily offered to help end the Travelers for good, for they were a threat to everyone.

Stefan had tried to go with them but neither Elijah nor Klaus would allow him to. Damon didn't want him tagging along either which Stefan was kind of hurt about. While Stefan tried to argue his case, Damon sneaked behind him and snapped his neck, effectively silencing his arguments. "Problem solved," he muttered. Stefan was going to be pissed but Damon didn't care. Keeping his brother safe was Damon's priority and if it meant breaking his neck and locking him in St. Anne's church until their return so be it.

The group left New Orleans in the early morning hours, after a night of endless preparations. No one knew what to expect or if the Travelers would be waiting for them as soon as they arrived. They needed to be very careful.

"As soon as we arrive in Mystic Falls, Lucy, Adriane, Damon and I shall head to the Lockwood cellar and rescue Lenore and the doppelgängers," Elijah said to them while on the plane. "Riley, Cary, and Aya will head into town, that will likely draw the Travelers' attention and keep them entertained while Bonnie carries out her plan."

"Do we know how many Travelers are in Mystic Falls?" Vivian asked them.

"We're not sure," Elijah responded.

"Probably far more than we expect," Klaus muttered, leaning back against the seat and taking a sip of his whiskey. "The hybrids I have there have been reporting that everything is fine."

"So, they betrayed you," Tinisha muttered.

Klaus didn't like that.

"Or the Travelers found a way to manipulate them and make them turn against us," Jesse snapped. "We're are loyal to our side," he said in rather defensive voice.

"Except for Tyler," Damon added his two cents.

"That's different," Alexa shot a nasty glare at him.

"From what Lenore told me, they definitely did something to Tyler," Adriane got everyone's attention. "If they got to him, then they probably got to the other hybrids."

Klaus growled. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the Travelers and start ripping them apart. He turned his head and glanced at Bonnie. She had been quietly sitting next to him and mumbling to herself as she scribbled notes on her grimoire. She would occasionally look at her phone, none of the calls she had placed to her father had been answered, neither had the texts messages she had sent prior to their departure. The bond told him how anxious and worried she felt for her father's safety and while she was focused on the spell she was working on, Klaus knew how desperate she was to hear from her dad. One of Bonnie's fears was that Rudy might get caught in the crossfire which was why Klaus had tasked Jesse and Alexa to find Rudy and get him to safety as soon as they arrived in town.

"Who knows who else they got to," Lucy said from her spot next to Elijah. "Or what kind of welcome we'll receive." She looked out of the window, a worried look on her face. "For all we know we're heading into a trap."

"It's a risk we're going to have to take," Elijah took her hand in his.

"We need to be prepared for a surprise attack," Aunt Vivian warned all of them. "They must know Lenore escaped by now and will more than likely anticipate an attack from us. We need to be ready for whatever nasty surprise they throw at us as soon as we arrive."

"Do you really think they'll use the Expression Triangle to bring down the other side?" Lucy asked looking in Bonnie's direction. All eyes moved towards the queen of the Bennett coven. It was the reason Bonnie presumed the Travelers had gone to Mystic Falls of all places and Lucy felt curios to know more.

Bonnie stopped writing in her grimoire and looked up, she cleared her throat and shifted in her seat feeling a little self-conscious under everyone's curious eyes. The fact that she practiced Expression was something everyone knew by now, it had definitely caused mixed reactions with her coven. They had all sensed and known to a degree that the magic their queen practiced was different but it wasn't until now that they knew exactly what that magic was. Expression after all was considered the most powerful and darkest of all magic. It was also the most dangerous.

"Three massacres took place in Mystic Falls; humans, hybrids, and witches," Bonnie began to explain. "Silas was the one who orchestrated them as a means to bring down the other side," she continued looking down at her notes briefly. She couldn't believe that she had let Silas manipulate her into practicing Expression. She had been so lost and had easily fallen down a path of darkness and destruction but thankfully, she had learned to control Expression and was now using it to her advantage. Her bond with Klaus had definitely helped her to regain control and establish her dominion over the dark magic flowing inside her veins.

"Each of the places where the massacres took place represent a point of the Expression triangle," Klaus continued for her. "Silas wanted to activate said points and bring down the other side, which is what we believe the Travelers will try to do."

"The power of the Expression triangle combined with the power of the lunar eclipse will be lethal to even the most powerful of witches," Joanna murmured. "Can the Travelers really handle that?"

"They have the advantage of practicing magic in numbers," Vivian answered her question. "They will channel the power as a group, decreasing their chances of dying of magical overuse." That was what usually stopped many witches; no matter how powerful they could be channeling too much power always led to death. Since the Travelers worked as a group, they had the advantage in that regard.

"Without Lenore and the doppelgängers, their plan will fail," Elijah said confidently.

"They don't have Stefan either," Damon added. "That's another point in our favor."

"They still have the anchor," Matt's nervous voice intervened. "Grams said that the spell that created the other side is bound to the anchor," he reminded the group. He had already spoken about this before but he felt the need to bring it up again. "If the anchor is destroy so will the other side."

"We will still have the advantage if we get Lenore and the doppelgängers out of their clutches," Klaus said. "That's where we need to focus first, we need to get them out of there."

"Unless the Travelers have something up their sleeve," Aunt Vivian murmured quietly.

"Why do you say that?" Joanna asked nervously.

"We should not underestimate the Travelers," Aunt Vivian replied in a somber voice while her eyes moved over everyone. "We are all assuming that we'll rescue Lenore and everything will go according to plan but we should not claim victory before the battle begins. The Travelers have not come this far by being stupid. We must be prepared for the worse."

Everyone took Vivian's wise words to heart. The Travelers were smarter and far more determined not to mention, far more powerful than the Navarro clan had been, underestimating them would be a fatal mistake, one they could not afford to make.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"They're coming," Lenore had a hopeful smile on her face as she informed the group of their future rescue. Adriane had communicated with her telepathically, letting her know that the Bennett coven was on their way to Mystic Falls. "They will be here in a few hours." Lenore's heart was pounding wildly with excitement. This was all going to be over soon. Her family was coming for her.

Tom breathed a sigh of relieved upon hearing the good news. Since Lenore had started talking with her coven he had been on edge, now he was filled with hope.

Elena also looked relived while Katherine pressed her lips together. She didn't look particularly happy but wisely kept her mouth shut. Deep down, Katherine knew that sticking with Lenore and the Bennett coven was a much better deal than being caught by the Travelers again. Even if it meant being on Klaus's radar once more.

"Do you really think we'll be safe in New Orleans?"

Lenore turned to face Elena who despite the visible relief on her face, was still worried about the Travelers coming for them. "We'll be safer there than here," Lenore promised her. Her coven was in New Orleans, as were the Originals and their allies. The Travelers would not stand a chance against all of them, Lenore felt sure of that.

"The Travelers are not going to stop," Katherine remarked. "They will keep coming for us, no matter where we go." From the moment, she became a vampire she had been running for her life and that it seemed she would never stop. "We have a better chance at surviving if we split up," she suggested. "If we stay together we'll be sitting ducks."

"We can't spend the rest of our lives running," Lenore responded. "We must end this." She felt confident that with her coven helping them, they could stop the Travelers for good.

"The Travelers are very powerful," Tom murmured nervously. "I don't you can defeat them easily."

"So is the Bennett coven," Lenore gave him a reassuring look before glancing at the two Petrova doppelgängers. "The Travelers may be powerful but we have the advantage now."

No sooner had those words left her mouth when there was a loud explosion that shook the entire cellar. Tyler growled, hybrid face angrily moving from side to side, and eyes gleaming gold. He looked ready to burst out of his chains and begin to hunt his prey.

"What was that?" Tom said in a shaky voice. _Had it been an earthquake?_ It had felt like one.

Elena glanced nervously around the cellar, her senses easily picking up voices from outside. "Someone is coming," she murmured fearfully. "I can sense a lot of people nearby, witches I think."

"You were saying," Katherine had a smug look on her face as she looked at Lenore. "It's the Travelers," she stated the obvious. Katherine could not only sense their presence but feel the magic surrounding them. "They've come for us."

Lenore's magic immediately recognized the threat. "So, they have," she whispered unafraid of the group of witches standing at their door. She commanded her magic to reinforce the protective spells and barrier she had placed on the cellar. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up, sensing the growing danger. The Travelers were determined to get inside and trap them once more but Lenore was equally determined to stop them.

"What do we do?" Elena asked nervously.

Lenore ignored her, closing her eyes and concentrating on keeping the barrier in place. She needed to focus and channel her magic accordingly. She had to keep the Travelers at bay until she had some reinforcements.

"Lenore!" Elena shrieked. The magic pulsing inside the cellar and outside was driving her crazy. She could feel both super powers struggling to destroy each other. Even Katherine closed her eyes and winced in pain as the magic continued to grow and pulse all around them. The two mega forces of power met viciously bouncing off each other and affecting the people standing in the line of fire. "This is bad." Elena took a step closer to Lenore. She felt like she was suffocating. "Oh god," she cried out sinking to her knees.

Tom grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Are you okay?" he could feel the magic to a lesser degree so he wasn't as affected as the vampires. "She's doing something." He kept his eyes on Lenore who was mumbling under her breath. He felt sure Lenore was using her magic to keep them safe and he hoped that whatever it was it would work. Lenore and her magic were the only thing protecting them from the Travelers.

"Like that is going to be of much help," Katherine groaned before squeezing her eyes shut. She felt like she was compressed into a tight spot, as if the magic bouncing inside the cellar were squeezing the life out of her.

"Shut up," Tom snapped.

Katherine's eyes narrowed but she didn't say anything else after that, the walls were closing in on her and she didn't like it.

Lenore ignored their voices and continued chanting under her breath, using every bit of power she had inside her to keep the Travelers at bay. She had to be strong and hold up, she had to keep them away.

 _Just hold on,_ she told herself while she fought against the malicious magic the Travelers sent her way. _You need to be strong, your family is coming._ She just needed to hold on until then. _The Bennett coven is coming, hold on._

* * *

 **The Compound**

"What the bloody hell is all this?" Kol demanded to know as soon as he descended the stairs. There were a bunch of boxes scattered around the foyer and Rebekah, Davina, Charlotte, and Angelica were searching through all of them. It looked like they had gone shopping and brought the entire store with them. Klaus and Bonnie had only been gone for a few hours but Rebekah was already spoiling the girls rotten.

"What do you think it is?" Rebekah didn't even bother to glance in his direction.

"We bought a tree!" Davina exclaimed happily while holding a cardboard box filled with Christmas ornaments. She was definitely in good spirits.

Kol's eyes were immediately drawn to the huge tree near the staircase. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was all Rebekah's doing. His sister loved the holidays, she never missed a chance for a family celebration and Christmas was a big deal for her.

"Christmas is around the corner," Rebekah reminded him as she handed Charlotte a small box. "We are going to decorate the house and get everything ready for the holidays." _This will be a nice and exciting distraction for the girls,_ was left unsaid but Kol read the implicit message as he looked into her eyes. Neither Davina or Charlotte liked the thought of being away from half of their family and Rebekah wanted to cheer them up. Considering all the crazy things that had happened lately, it seemed like a good idea to start celebrating and what better way than by decorating the house. "Make yourself useful and help us with the lights." Rebekah ordered.

Kol hesitated. Rebekah could go overboard sometimes but he also knew how much she was looking forward to this holiday in particular. Rebekah had always been the one to embrace the human celebrations around the world, Christmas was a big deal for her and her siblings had always indulged her. They had definitely enjoyed all kinds of parties throughout the centuries and even though he pretended not to enjoy Rebekah's enthusiasm and celebrations, Kol was actually looking forward to them this year. Having been dead for months, definitely changed one's perspective about family and the holidays. Kol reluctantly did as he was told. Besides, he knew better than to argue with Rebekah about this.

Rebekah grinned and continued to rummage through the different shopping bags on the floor.

"Pretty," Charlotte eyes were filled with wonder as she stared at the red ball with gold swirls she had plucked out of the box Rebekah gave her. She held the precious bauble with both of her hands, feeling a little scared that she could drop it on the floor and break it. "We are going to put this on the tree aunt Bekah?"

"We are," Rebekah smiled down at her.

"All of them," Charlotte looked around the many ornaments neatly packed inside the boxes, a mixture of red, green, and gold which sparkled with the morning sunlight.

"All of them." Rebekah felt absolutely thrilled. This was going to be the first holiday with all of them as a family and she could hardly wait. The Mikaelson family had grown quite a lot in the past couple of months and Rebekah felt sure this would be the first of many family traditions to come. Next year, the twins would be included and that would make things even better.

After treating the girls to breakfast in a well-known restaurant in the Quarter, she took them shopping. They picked the biggest tree and spent hundreds of dollars in all the ornaments, lights, and decorations for the house. Rebekah had even sent a quick video to Bonnie of the girls filling the shopping cart with everything they could get their hands on. Charlotte had a vague idea about Christmas, what she knew came mostly from movies and cartoons and Rebekah and Davina happily explained the rest and answered her endless questions regarding the holiday. The little witch had been sad about Bonnie and Klaus's departure but the excitement Davina and Rebekah shared over Christmas was contagious and now she was enthusiastic about decorating the house.

"You know what we're missing," Angelica said suddenly. "Christmas music and hot chocolate."

"With whip cream!" Charlotte's eye lit up. "And cookies!" She loved Angelica's cookies and could eat them all day.

"I'm going to make some," Angelica winked at her before disappearing towards the kitchen.

Charlotte smiled and licked her lips in anticipation. "I think I'm going to like Christmas," she declared with a happy grin.

"Wait until you get to open your presents," Davina murmured. "You'll love it even more then."

"How many presents am I getting?" Charlotte asked.

"You'll have to wait and find out," Rebekah giggled. There was also her birthday to think about, with everything that had happened, Rebekah didn't know if Bonnie and Klaus planned to celebrate Charlotte's birthday. _Did Charlotte even know what day she was born?_ _Would Bonnie and Klaus even be back by then?_ Rebekah looked down at the ornaments she had on her hands, feeling suddenly sad. She hated that their countless of enemies always got in the way, because of them if felt like they hardly got to catch their breaths. _It won't be like this forever,_ Rebekah consoled herself. _No one is going to ruin Christmas for us,_ she vowed. And she was definitely going to do something for Charlotte's birthday even if it was something small, she would give Charlotte the birthday she deserved.

"I don't mind the hot chocolate," Kol's voice brought Rebekah out of her thoughts. He was dutifully placing the lights on the tree. "But I swear if you start-" His words were cut off by the beginning notes of _Jingle Bells._ Kol closed his eyes and groaned, feeling mortified. He knew he was in for an endless torture of horrid Christmas music. He glared at Davina who was the one responsible for the horrendous music. "Really?"

"I love Christmas music," Davina said as she turned the volume higher on her ipad. "Get used to it."

"Great," Kol mumbled while attempting to tune out the song which he couldn't really do because Rebekah and Davina began singing at the top of their lungs while Charlotte burst into a fit of giggles. The little demon always got a kick of seeing him in pain. Her head was already moving from side to side with the beat of the music. She was definitely enjoying herself.

"Don't be a Grinch," Davina told Kol upon noticing the scowl on his face.

"Kol has never been a fan of Christmas music," Rebekah muttered with a grin on her lips.

"That's because you like to torture us with it!"

"It's once a year Kol, I'm sure you can endure it."

"I like it!" Charlotte exclaimed happily. "Play another one D!"

"No! Don't you dare!"

"Oh, I will." Davina grinned. "We'll only getting started. I have an entire playlist," she offered Kol a devilish grin as _Rudolf The Red Nose Deer_ began playing.

Kol groaned.

Davina and Charlotte laughed.

"You are going to kill me."

"You're already dead," Davina pointed out.

"Shut up!"

Davina's only response was to giggle. And to make matter's worse, Charlotte's loud screeches reached his ears next. She had never heard the song before and was butchering the lyrics as she attempted to sing along. "Play it again," she practically demanded.

"No!" Kol's protests fell to deaf ears.

Davina smirked at Kol as she took pleasure in replaying the sound.

Charlotte clapped and cleared her throat, ready to sing once more.

"You're creating monsters!" Kol told his sister.

Rebekah only laughed. "Stop being a baby."

"I hate you all," Kol muttered under his breath. All three girls happily ignored him. Kol couldn't wait for his brothers to return.

The Christmas songs continued as they decorated the tree and the rest of the house. It was a moment of peace and quiet and they enjoyed it tremendously. Even Kol, although he would not admit it out loud. It certainly helped to distract the girls and put them in happy spirits. Rebekah's and Kol's thoughts however, were drawn to the rest of the family and to the fight they were about to engage with the Travelers. Even as Rebekah joined Davina and Charlotte singing at the top of her lungs, her heart and mind worried for Matt, Bonnie, Klaus, Elijah, Lucy and everyone that had gone with them to Mystic Falls.

 _Let them win and come back safe_ , she thought. As much as she wished to be there with them, to help them fight, Rebekah knew Davina and Charlotte needed her. Bonnie had entrusted them to her and she was determined to ensure the girls' safety and happiness.

For the next couple of hours, Davina and Charlotte got to enjoy themselves without a care in the world. It was a wonderful thing for a change, to do something so normal and which gave them the happiness they deserved.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Bonnie took a deep breath and stared at the old abandoned witch house. The pillars were covered with vines and plants while dried leaves piled all around the grounds. A cold breeze greeted them as they slowly made their way towards the house. It looked the same as she remembered, the grounds had more wild plants covering the entrance but the spark of magic in the air was incredible. It definitely felt stronger; Bonnie felt it in every inch of her body and so did the witches from her coven. This place was marked by the death of one hundred witches, their presence still lingered in the grounds as did their magic. Bonnie felt more connected to them now. She understood the great power that resided in the house and its surroundings far better than she had two years ago.

"This place gives me the creeps," Tinisha mumbled nervously. Her eyes darted around the huge trees looming over the property. The house was secluded and nature was already reclaiming the place making it creepier than she had first anticipated.

"Witches have died here," Aunt Vivian murmured, her green eyes were transfixed on the rundown house in front of them. "Bennett witches." She turned to her side and gave a questioning look in Bonnie's direction.

"Yes," the young queen confirmed, her eyes lost on the old house. She had lost count of how many times she had come here, seeking the help of her dead ancestors. "A hundred witches were burned to death in this place." Witches from the Bennett bloodline, the spirits her grandmother had contacted when she was alive, the same spirits that had given Bonnie their power in order to stop Klaus from breaking his curse. "Emily Bennett died here," she continued her eyes moving over the cracks on the walls and the peeling white paint. "My mother died here too." Damon had turned Abby into a vampire in this very same place. "This is a magical hotspot."

"Is this why you brought us here?" Joanna asked her.

Bonnie nodded. "All the witches that have died here were from the Bennett bloodline, their magic still lingers in the air and that creates a link." She turned her back on the house and faced her coven. "My Grams used this place to communicate with our ancestors. I've also used this place before to communicate with them, and to even channel their power." She looked at Klaus as she said the last part. "I'm going to use the magic lingering in this place as a portal and summon the Bennett witches on the other side back to life…temporarily," she clarified after seeing the shocked looks on everyone's faces.

"Can you really do that?" A wide-eyed Sofia asked.

Bonnie gave a confident nod. "I've summoned them before, I can do it again." As the Bennett queen she had the power to do so. "We are going to need their help. It's going to take all of us to defeat the Travelers and save the other side." The last time she had summoned them she had used the power of the full moon, she didn't have that now which was why she was going to use the power lingering in the property as the anchor to the spell. She needed the Bennett witches back for a longer period of time as well and that meant that the summoning spell needed more than the power of the moon to sustain it. _What better anchor than Bennett magic itself?_

"Let's go inside," Bonnie said. They need to start everything for the spell before the Travelers got wind of their arrival in Mystic Falls and tried to stop them.

The Bennett coven began making their way towards the front door. Each of her cousins were carrying candles, grimoires, salt, and herbs that would help them in the hours to come. The first part of the plan was the summon the dead Bennett's, the second part was to combined their powers with the sparks of magic aunt Vivian had brought in the jars and to use it to stabilize the other side. Bonnie felt rather excited about what was to come but the hint of nervousness echoing through the bond had her turning to face Klaus. The hybrid had been quietly standing next to her, deep in thought. "What's wrong?" she asked him. Klaus seemed apprehensive of going inside the old house, which she found strange.

He squeezed her hand but kept his eyes on the house. "Vampires are not really welcomed in this place," he whispered. "The last time I was here, your ancestors attacked me." His lips curled into a grin as he glanced at her. "Until I threatened them of course."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Klaus chuckled. "Are you sure about this?" There was a serious look on his face as he looked into her eyes. He was worried. He didn't show it of course, but Bonnie could feel it in their bond.

"I need them for my plan to work," Bonnie replied. "Qetsiyah in particular will be of great use against the Travelers, she knows them better than anyone." She was gambling a lot with her plan but she had to take the risk, it was worth it in order to stop the Travelers for good.

"You really think she will help?"

"Her own people turned against her and murdered her, I'm sure she'll be more than happy to inflict her revenge on their descendants."

The Travelers were not going to stop until they destroyed the other side and Bonnie was going to ensure that never happened but in order to accomplish that, she needed the help of her coven. "Come on," she urged tugging at his hand. "The magic in this place won't harm you, I promise." They were bound by blood and magic, Klaus was an extension of her now. He wouldn't be harmed.

The two of them walked hand in hand towards the entrance of the old house where her coven was already dusting the living room and setting everything up for the summoning ritual. Lucy, Elijah, Damon, and Adriane were currently making their way to the Lockwood cellar. They were going to get Lenore and the doppelgängers while the members of the Strix that had come with Elijah, were in charge of finding any Travelers hiding in the town and eliminating them. Matt, Jesse, and Alexa had been tasked to find Bonnie's dad and bring him to safety. They were also going to get Caroline and her mom.

Thinking of her dad and Caroline made Bonnie sad and deeply worried, neither of them had answered any of her calls and texts. She didn't know where they were of if they were okay. If she didn't hear from Matt soon, Bonnie planned to stop by her house and look for her dad herself. The first and most important thing she needed to do however, was summon her coven. With them by her side, Bonnie knew she would win. She was doing her best to keep her fear at bay and focus on the task at hand but Klaus could see beyond the mask. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as the two walked inside.

"Everything is going to be fine, love."

Bonnie hoped he was right.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, Bonnie's entire body was jolted by the powerful magic floating inside the house. Even Klaus shivered for he felt it as well.

 _Bennett magic_

It was reaching out for her, penetrating every inch of her skin and combining with her own magic until they were one and the same. Haunting whispers and murmurs were suddenly heard throughout the house, the greetings of the dead, the acknowledgement that the Bennett queen was home once more. Bonnie took a deep breath and let go of Klaus's hand. "Let's begin."

The success of this ritual was crucial for their victory.

* * *

 **Lockwood cellar**

Damon knew something was wrong the moment they got to the entrance of the cellar. Actually, he knew something was wrong the minute they set foot in Mystic Falls. Maybe it was the cold wind and the dark clouds looming over them, or the fact that the town looked deserted, or simply his instincts as a vampire but from the moment he crossed the town's limit, he felt on edge. The anxiousness invading the pit of his stomach only intensified when he they headed towards the woods and arrived at the Lockwood cellar. Damon didn't hesitate at all, he flashed inside the cellar as fast as his vampire nature would allow him. The hope filling his heart turned to bitter disappointment, one that cut as sharply as the blade of a knife.

The cellar was empty. There was no sign of Lenore or Katherine and Elena, they were gone.

"Where are they?" Damon turned to Elijah who had followed him inside. He felt desperate. This couldn't be happening again. He refused to believe that fate would be so cruel as to rip Elena away from him once more. He had been so close.

The elegant Original ignored Damon and crouched down on the floor, noticing the metal chains and the blood splatters on the concrete floor. He dipped his index finger on the still wet crimson liquid and brought it to his mouth, tasting it. "Human blood," Elijah murmured, an image coming to his mind as soon as he tasted the blood. A young man who looked just like Stefan, a look of pure agonizing fear on his face. "Doppelgänger blood," he deduced. He looked around the cellar trying to find the answers to what had transpired before their arrival. The blood was still wet, it had not been that long since they had been taken. Katherine's and Elena's scent still lingered in the air.

"There was a protective barrier in place," Adriane said as she and Lucy joined them a few minutes later. "There was a magical fight, I think." Her eyes shone with a strange kind of emotion as she studied the walls, the floor, and used her rare talent to get the answers they all desperately needed. "The Travelers were here, they took them." She stared at the blood splatters on the floor. "Not too long ago," she added quietly.

"Fucking bastards," Damon cursed loudly. He hated the Travelers with passion and wanted nothing more than to squeeze the life out of them with his bare hands. They had taken Elena from him and for that, they would pay. "They're probably out of town by now." With how sneaky the Travelers were, Damon wouldn't put it past them to be half away across the country by now.

"They're close."

All eyes turned to Adriane.

Damon made a face when he noticed the way her pupils had turned completely white. He knew she was clairvoyant but still, it was a creepy thing to witness. He found himself looking away but his heart pounded with excitement once more. _They were close, Elena was close._ Maybe it was stupid of him to think that he would finally get her back considering the circumstances, but Damon had plenty of hope in his heart still.

"Can you see them?" Lucy asked nervously. She glanced at Elijah before focusing on her cousin once more.

"Do you know where they are?" Elijah asked almost at the same time.

"They're close," Adriane whispered. "They're…" she gasped and moved her head from side to side. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, grabbing her head with one hand.

"Are you okay?" Lucy placed a hand on her shoulder, a concerned look on her face.

"I'm fine," Adriane opened her eyes. The images had been fast but the warnings she got were explicit enough to draw a solid conclusion. "There is a group of Travelers heading our way right now. They were hiding in the woods, they have been waiting for us."

Elijah cursed under his breath. "How many?" he questioned.

"Too many to count," Adriane replied fearfully. "I can see more not far from here," she let out a shaky breath. The images had not been as clear as she would have liked. "I can see them underground. A cave maybe, I'm not sure." She shuddered. She had practically been given a taste of the triumph the Travelers felt in their blood. "They seem so sure of their victory." She hated that. She hoped it was just the Travelers' arrogance and not something dangerous they in store for them. "They knew we were coming."

Damon's hands balled into fists. He turned to Adriane. "You think you can use your witchy powers to locate Elena and the others?"

Adriane nodded. "I just need to concentrate."

"We'll get to that once we make it out of this alive," Elijah intervened. "The Travelers are getting closer." He could feel the Travelers approaching them. Many strong heartbeats made it to his ears, there was a big group of Travelers heading towards them, a good thirty or so.

"They feel so confident of their triumph," Adriane whispered. "Why are they so sure they will win?" she wondered.

"They are in for a rude awakening," Elijah said in a menacing voice. He pulled his cell phone out and begun texting with vampire speed. Adriane's revelation had altered things a bit but the general outcome would be the same. He needed to warn the others.

Lucy and Adriane exchanged nervous looks. They were both thinking the same thing, _this is not going to end well._ The Travelers clearly thought they had the advantage and at this point, it felt that way. They needed to come up with a solution and quick. They were running out of time. The Travelers were closing in on them, they could all feel it.

"What the hell do we do now?" Damon asked them.

"Rip as many hearts and heads as we can," Elijah declared. He had sent a quick message to Klaus and another to Aya to inform them that the Travelers had recaptured Lenore and the doppelgängers and to be wary of an attack.

"Let's finish this, shall we?" Before anyone could answer, Elijah used his vampire speed to get out of the cellar, Damon followed him.

The two vampires were met by a group of at least fifty Travelers.

"Shit," Damon hissed as he saw them, he hadn't expected them to be that many.

With a flick of his wrist, the leader of the group flung Elijah and Damon to the side. The two crashed against the trees, their bones breaking upon impact.

Lucy and Adriane rushed out of the cellar a couple of seconds later.

"Elijah!" Lucy screamed in the direction of her lover. She was running towards him when a nasty curse flew past her. She screamed and stopped abruptly, feeling the hot burning pain on her cheek. "What the-" Lucy touched the area and saw the red stain covering her fingers. "Son of a bitch," she waved her and slammed her attacker to the ground. Three other Travelers decided to attack her then. Lucy proceeded to blast them away from her.

Adriane was already engaging in a vicious fight against six Travelers, evading their curses and sending a handful of her own.

Elijah recovered quickly and flung himself to the closest Traveler, his hand tearing through the man's back and ripping his spine out. He dropped the bloody corpse to the ground and proceed to rip the heart of another Traveler woman before he let out a groan of pain as three Travelers waved their hands in his direction and broke both of his legs. He growled, his vampire face surfacing momentarily.

Damon recovered a couple of seconds after Elijah and managed to snap the neck of one Traveler before he was lifted into the air, his body contorting at weird angles as a group of Travelers channel their power at him. Damon screamed in pain and hovered in the air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elijah struggling a few feet away from him. He practically saw stars when he was slammed against the ground a few seconds later. He was still gasping and could hardly make out the face of one of his attackers as he loomed over him. "What…" Damon could hardly forma coherent sentence, blood was already oozing from his mouth. He felt an invisible hand tug at his heart and his eyes went wide. "No…"

The Traveler smiled maliciously, waving his hand above Damon's chest.

Damon nearly choked on his own screams as he felt another painful tug at his heart, in that agonizing moment, he couldn't help but remember Klaus's hand squeezing his heart with his fingers as he threatened him. Before the Traveler could end his life however, Lucy set him aflame.

"Incendia!" Lucy shouted left and right and burned the Travelers that were attacking Damon and Elijah.

While Damon took a couple of seconds to recover, Elijah moved at the speed of light and proceeded to rip some hearts out.

Damon pulled himself to his feet, vampire face surfacing before he joined the fight. He managed to snap the neck of one Traveler who had managed to knock the air out of Adriane and was about to attack her with some spell.

"Thanks," Adriane whispered before pulling herself to her feet and flinging two other Travelers out of the way.

Damon flashed towards another trio of Travelers but screamed in pain before he could reach them. The bones on his legs were suddenly crushed by their nasty hex "Fuck!" The Travelers were definitely determined to kill them.

Adriane used her magic and snapped the trio's necks at once, killing them with a single flick of her wrist.

Damon let out a breath of relief. "Nice one," he complimented her.

A few feet away from them, Lucy was helping Elijah, lifting the two Travelers attacking him and sending them crashing against the trees. A bunch of roots suddenly sprang from the ground and twisted themselves on the Travelers bodies, pinning them against the trees. "You guys keep doing your thing and we'll cover your backs!" She shouted.

Elijah nodded.

"Sound like a good plan to me," Adriane muttered.

"Our speed is our greatest advantage," Elijah told Damon. The younger vampire nodded and the two proceed to use their superior speed to break as many necks and tear as many hearts out while Lucy and Adriane used their magic to protect them while simultaneously dogging attacks from the Travelers. No more words were exchanged for the next hour or so, they were all concentrated on winning the fight.

* * *

"Where the hell is everybody?" Cary wondered as he, Riley, and Aya walked through the town square. Mystic Falls was a ghost town, there was no one on sight. The shops were closed, the parks were empty, and the people were gone. Everything was quiet and there was a strange feeling floating in the air, a sense of doom neither of them could quite explain. As they made their way through the empty streets, Cary had the feeling of being watched. It was eerie.

"They knew we were coming," Aya muttered while keeping her eyes open for any surprise attack. She was an ancient vampire and her senses were sending clear warnings of a threat nearby. "They recaptured the doppelgängers and the Bennett witch." Elijah had informed her of finding the Lockwood cellar empty, he had also warned her that the Travelers knew about their arrival and were probably waiting for the best moment to attack. Aya was not one to back off from a fight, so while she was being careful, she was also more than ready to fight back. She was looking forward to putting the Travelers in their place.

"They couldn't have emptied the town overnight," Riley glanced at the top of the buildings and used his senses to try and detect where the Travelers could be hiding. He knew they were out there, it was just a matter of time before they decided to make a move. "What did they do with the town's people?" That worried him the most, _how the hell did the Travelers managed to evacuate everybody? What exactly had they done the people of Mystic Falls?_

"They could have locked them up somewhere," Cary suggested. His nose twitched, there was a rather repugnant scent in the air, he didn't like it one bit. It was almost the scent of death. "A church, a school," he murmured. "A place big enough to keep them out of the way."

"Perhaps," Aya shared a knowing look with one of her vampires. The simplest explanation could also be that the Travelers had killed everyone and taken over the town. It would be the easiest thing to do. Vampires had been doing that for centuries. She didn't say that out loud of course. "Keep your eyes open," she instructed. They couldn't afford to be caught unaware.

"I feel like we're being watched," Cary whispered. The vampires heard him perfectly, their eyes and ears perking up for any sudden noise or movement.

"We are," Aya agreed. Centuries of experience told her that they were walking right into where their enemies wanted them. Then again, that was exactly the plan. They needed to keep the Travelers occupied and off Bonnie's back so she could do her plan. "I'm not in the mood for games," she said and flashed a couple of meters away from the group. She looked left and right and opened her arms wide, in clear invitation. "Come out, come out," she shouted. "I can feel you!" she yelled, her lips curling maliciously. She was actually looking forward to murdering them, it had been quite a while since she had gone on a rampage. "Show yourselves COWARDS!" She taunted them. No sooner had those words left her lips when she jumped up, doing a flip in the air and landing gracefully in a different spot. The three arrows sent her way fell to the ground, landing right on the spot Aya had been standing a few seconds before. Aya smirked. _This is going to be fun,_ she thought. "Is that the best you got?" she challenged.

"Damn!" Cary's eyes went wide. He actually whistled feeling impressed by Aya's fierceness and gracefulness.

Riley and all the other vampires got into fighting positions, they were all ready for what was coming.

They didn't have to wait long.

A group of about a hundred vampires carrying different weapons, guns, knives, crossbows, and even an ax or two began coming out of the buildings surrounding the group. Their vampiric features were in full display, their sharp teeth gleaming while their loud growls and hisses echoed down the street.

"What the hell?" Riley's eyes moved over the group of vampires with disbelief.

Aya arched an eyebrow, feeling also surprised by the large number of vampires in the city _. Since when had the Travelers joined forces with the dead?_ She wondered curiously. The human scents still clinging to the vampires' skins made her realize that they were newborns, maybe a few weeks old. _Who the hell had turned them?_

The group of newborns was led by a group of three Travelers who wasted no time and signaled the vampires to attack.

"Time to fight boys." Aya flashed to the nearest vampires without preamble. The Strix under her command, followed her lead and attacked as well.

Cary and Riley looked at each other, nodded, and joined the fray soon after.

* * *

 **The witch house**

Klaus leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, watching mesmerized as Bonnie summoned her dead ancestors. She was standing inside a pentagram of salt and candles, her coven forming a circle around her. She had her eyes closed and her hands were outstretched on either side of her. She had a bleeding cut in one of her palms, the blood falling down on the salt at her feet, tainting it with a deep crimson color. His gums itched as the scent of her delicious blood lingered around the living room. Blood was the key ingredient after all.

Klaus didn't know how long they had been inside the house or how long the spell had been going on. Bonnie kept her eyes closed and continued to call upon the witches of the Bennett bloodline. He knew the exact moment the spell took effect though. The temperature in the room increased, the candles shot up into the air, and the spark of magic in the house intensified to the point that he felt like he was being bathed by hot lava. Even the hairs on his neck and arms stood up. The powerful display of magic was intoxicating, he had to admit that he felt aroused by the magic swirling around Bonnie and spreading throughout every fiber of his being. She was powerful and beautiful and there was no denying that she could command a raging storm with a single word. Klaus was so in awe of her that it took him a while to perceive the threat making their way towards them. The moment he sensed them however, he flashed out of the house. Bonnie and her coven didn't even notice. They were so enraptured by the summoning spell, they didn't pay any attention to him.

Klaus flashed out of the house and into the frown lawn. It didn't take him long to spot _them_.

A group of about twelve Travelers were gathered by the edge of the property.

Klaus waited to see what they would do. He didn't know how much longer Bonnie would need to finish the spell but whatever the case, he was going to keep the group entertained until she completed the ritual.

One of the Travelers sent a yellow streak of magic in his direction, Klaus moved out of the way by reflex. He needed to avoid getting hit. There was no need to move however, the yellow streak rebounded and hit the man who sent it in the chest. He let out a surprised groan before falling the ground dead.

Klaus raised an eyebrow before his lips curled into a pleased smirk. The magic protecting the house was stronger than he first anticipated, the Travelers were in for quite the nasty surprise it seemed. "You're going to have to try harder than that," the hybrid taunted as he took a couple of steps closer to them. His skin prickled as he sensed the magical barrier protecting the house.

The dozen Travelers raised their hands at the same time and began shouting all kinds of spells at him.

Klaus watched fascinated as each of the spells sent his way were easily swallowed by the barrier, others were sent back, hitting the Travelers left and right. Some fell to their knees, others on their backs, but the one thing that was fairly obvious was that the Travelers' magic was nothing compared to the Bennett magic protecting the property. He felt rather amused to see the Travelers attacks being easily deflected by an invisible barrier.

Klaus being Klaus wasn't content to just sit back and enjoy the show, he wanted to take part in the action too. He took advantage of the help the barrier provided and used his superior speed to flash towards the Travelers, materializing right behind them. He snaps the necks of two women and tore the heart of one man before flashing back inside the barrier. The Travelers didn't anticipate that move from him and once they recovered to attack, their spells rebounded once more. Klaus grinned like a Cheshire cat and repeated his attack a couple of seconds later, killing a couple more Travelers. He repeated the process two more times until all the Travelers laid dead at his feet.

"Fools," Klaus muttered. The Travelers arrogance was going to be their own undoing he thought as he made his way back inside the house, feeling satisfied with the kills but also wanting more. By the time he made it back inside the living room of the old house, Bonnie was surrounded by Bennett witches. She had completed the spell while he had been fighting the Travelers. Klaus stopped abruptly, his eyes moving over all the Bennett witches gathered inside the house. His senses were going crazy, he was surrounded by hundreds of the most powerful witches the world had ever seen.

The beaming smile on Bonnie's face was contagious and her eyes were filled with tears of joy. She held her grandmother's hand in hers as she looked at him. "It worked."

"Of course it did," Klaus's lips twitched. Bonnie Bennett could do things no other witch could even begin to imagine.

"So, this is the creature that knocked you up," one Bennett witch commented while looking him up and down. "He's handsome I suppose."

Klaus arched an eyebrow at the comment.

Bonnie gave him a sheepish smile.

All kinds of murmurs broke around the Bennett coven as they all looked at Klaus. He ignored them in favor of staring at the woman on Bonnie's other side. She looked exactly as he remembered. He found himself back in time for a few seconds. Those wise eyes and that warm and loving smile that offered him so much comfort as a child were still the same. "Ayana," he whispered with awe and respect.

"Niklaus," Ayana calmly made her way towards him.

"It's been so long," Klaus whispered once she stood in front of him. _How many times had he gone to_ _Ayana for comfort? How many times had she protected him and his siblings?_ Ayana had always been like a mother to him.

"Far too long, my child." Ayana reached out and traced his cheek with the same gentleness that he remembered. "I have been watching over you, all of you," she whispered. "I am so proud of you, so happy to see the family you and Bonnie have created."

"Thank-you for all you have done for us," Klaus replied. He cleared his throat, hating how it clogged with emotion. He could feel the curious gazes of all the witches on them and it made him uncomfortable. He wasn't one to openly share his feelings, let alone allow an entire bloodline of witches to witness such private moment.

Ayana smiled knowingly.

"I guess he's trustworthy then," one young Bennett witch murmured.

"He wouldn't have been allowed inside if he weren't," Emily Bennett reminded all of them.

"He was allowed in before," Pauline Bennett said.

"He threatened us, that's why." One of her cousins glared at Klaus.

"Klaus is on our side," Joanna intervened.

"Yes, he is." Bonnie reassured them. She knew there was a lot of bad blood between witches and vampires and unfortunately, her family also held prejudices against Klaus due to his nature. She could only hope that her family would come to respect him and get along with him. "He's part of the family." She and Klaus were a package deal and her ancestors were going to have to accept that.

"Lucy's new boyfriend is his brother, isn't it?" Natalie seemed rather excited. "Do you think I'll have the chance to meet him? I hope he's nicer than Kol."

"How do you-" Joanna gave her youngest daughter a questioning look.

"You would be surprised of all the gossip that makes its way to the other side," Ayana's daughter responded before eyes moved towards Klaus. "It's good to nice you again, Niklaus."

"Likewise," Klaus replied with a fond smile. He and Alina had been friends growing up and seeing her again brought many treasure memories to the front of his mind. "You haven't aged a day," he murmured with amusement.

"She's quite vain," Ayana teased her daughter. Despite the fact that she had lived to be over a hundred, Alina still looked rather young and beautiful.

Alina only laughed. Everyone knew how proud she was of her looks, she had been one of the first Bennett witches to learn how to slow down her aging.

"All Bennett's are vain. I know one in particular wins the crown," Diana slid her gaze to Vivian who pretended not to listen.

"Enough with this!" The ever regal and intimidating Qetsiyah stepped up from behind the crowd and glared everyone. "We should not be wasting our time in mindless chatter, there is a lot to be done. Or have you all forgotten the reason we have been summoned?"

Everyone sobered up immediately. With the joy and the awe, they all felt at being temporarily back to life, they had forgotten the dangerous situation they found themselves in. There was a battle to be won and they needed to focus on that.

Aunt Vivian cleared her throat. She took a moment to marvel at the incredible moment they were sharing, it was not every day that the dead and living Bennett witches came together. It was something to be treasured for sure, something she would remember to her dying breath. "The Travelers have the anchor and the doppelgängers saved for one," she informed them. Elijah had called Klaus to inform him that Lenore and her group had been recaptured by the Travelers which meant that their enemies had the advantage now.

"About a dozen Travelers are dead on the front lawn," Klaus said to them.

"What?" Bonnie wasn't expecting that.

"They tried to get inside the house while you were summoning your coven," Klaus explained with a shrug. "I killed them."

"Good," Qetsiyah's lips curled into a pleased grin. "It's nice to know you're good for something other than defiling Bennett witches."

Bonnie glared at her.

Klaus simply rolled his eyes and ignored her. He had little patience for arrogant and annoying witches.

"Lenore's escape precipitated their plans and the Harvest magic they stole has benefited them greatly," Sheila said, a thoughtful look on her face.

"They stole the Harvest magic?" Klaus and Bonnie asked at the same time.

"They did," Ayana confirmed. "We think they are going to use that powerful magic to activate the points of the Expression Triangle."

"The power of the Expression triangle combined with the sacrifices of the doppelgängers and the anchor should be enough to bring down the other side," Qetsiyah added angrily.

"They won't need the eclipse," Joanna realized with horror.

"They don't have a need for Stefan either." Klaus pressed his lips together, his mind racing. _Fucking Travelers,_ he thought angrily. With the power of Expression, the Travelers could be unstoppable.

"I don't like this," Sofia whispered fearfully.

A tense silence fell over all of them.

"They can't use Expression," Bonnie's confident voice brought everyone out of their thoughts. She looked into Klaus's eyes before moving her gaze over her coven. "Their plan can't work." She turned to her grandmother. "We're missing something." She could feel it in her bones.

Sheila nodded, she knew exactly what Bonnie was thinking and she agreed.

"Why is that?" Cecily asked her.

"Even if they somehow manage to activate the points of the Expression Triangle, the Travelers have no control over Expression," Bonnie said. "Only someone practicing Expression can channel the power of the Expression triangle."

"And Expression can only be practiced by one witch at a time," Sheila added.

"There is only one witch on this earth practicing Expression," Klaus said as their eyes connected. "You."

Bonnie nodded.

"You are the only one who can channel the power of the Expression Triangle, you are the only one powerful enough to bring down the other side with that magic," Klaus continued.

"Are you sure?" Cecily looked back and forth between the two of them.

"It was the reason Silas needed me," Bonnie murmured. "There is no way the Travelers can use Expression to destroy the other side, not without me." If that was the Travelers' plan, it was bound to fail.

"I don't understand," Joanna said suddenly. "The Travelers of all people must know this, why activate the power of the triangle if they know they can't use it?" She looked towards her ancestors, waiting to see if they had some answers.

Natalie bit her lip nervously. "What are we missing?"

Ayana and Qetsiyah shared knowing looks.

A sinking feeling began forming in the pit of Bonnie's stomach. _Unless they are planning on forcing me to do it,_ she realized with dread. _What if that was the Travelers' plan?_ To force her hand and have her destroy the other side.

Klaus frowned as her thoughts easily projected inside his mind.

Before anyone could respond, Bonnie's cell phone rang.

Her fingers trembled as she pulled the phone from the pocket of her leather jacket. "It's my dad!" The happiness she felt was undeniable. Finally! after what seemed like an eternity her father had answered her calls. She picked up without thinking. "Dad! I've been worried sick!" The words rushed out of her mouth. "I really need to talk to you. I'm in Mystic Falls right now. where-"

"I know you are," a feminine voice drawled.

Bonnie froze.

Klaus who could hear the conversation perfectly tensed. He and Bonnie shared confused looks.

"In fact, I have been waiting for you."

"Who is this?"

"We haven't had the chance to meet yet but I have heard so much about you from _Rudy_."

The way she said her father's name sent a shiver down Bonnie's spine. _Her dad's girlfriend_ , it suddenly dawned on her. The happiness Bonnie had felt was suddenly smashed into tiny pieces that were small cuts to her heart. Something finally clicked into place and judging by the anger she saw reflected in Klaus's eyes, he had come to the same conclusion."I want to talk to my dad."

"He's indisposed at the moment," the woman replied with a short laugh. "We had to be a little rough with him."

"I swear that if you hurt-"

"If you wish to see your father live another day, you will come to the cave beneath the school before midnight," the woman interrupted. " _Come alone_ ," she instructed in a menacing voice. "If you don't, I will know and I won't hesitate to kill him."

The line went dead.

Bonnie's entire body shook, with fear and worry but above all with rage. The Travelers had dared to go after her dad. The Travelers were going to use him to force Bonnie to channel the power of the Expression triangle and bring down the other side. She knew that was what they were going to demand of her. The Travelers had her dad and her friends and were calling the shots and that infuriated her to the point that she crushed her cell phone with one hand.

The Bennett witches were taken back by the display of strength Bonnie showed, they were all watching her curiously.

"Sweetheart," Klaus rushed to her side. He opened his mouth to offer her some words of comfort and promptly shut it when he felt the magic radiating off her body. His skin burned as wave after wave of magic was released from her small trembling body. The twins' heartbeats increased as Bonnie became agitated.

"Bonnie," Sheila was watching her granddaughter with concern. "Take a deep breath and calm down." She gently placed her hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "You need to calm down child."

"I'm fine," Bonnie whispered. The twins' heartbeats returned to normal but the magic rolling off her in waves only increased with each passing second.

Klaus didn't take his eyes off her, something was happening and he wasn't exactly sure what it was.

All the Bennett witches were watching her as well. They could all feel the power that pulsed inside the house, the incredible magic that emanated from Bonnie was like water cascading from a fountain. It surged and surged until they all felt electrified by it.

Qetsiyah pressed her lips together, her eyes studying Bonnie's face with keen interest. Black veins had begun forming beneath Bonnie's eyes, and down her neck, chest, and arms. Her eyes suddenly changed color as well.

"What the hell?" Tinisha actually took a step back.

Klaus watched mesmerized as Bonnie's green eyes suddenly became a gleaming gold.

The Travelers had made their move and now it was time for the Bennett witches to respond in kind. The Travelers had made the biggest mistake of their lives taking her dad and they were going to regret it. They were going to regret taking Lenore and her friends and they were definitely going to regret thinking that they could force Bonnie to do their bidding.

A loud crack of thunder was heard outside the house.

Dark clouds began forming on the sky.

The wind blew so hard, it nearly rip the ancient trees looming outside the house from the ground.

The entire house shook.

The three points of the Expression Triangle were activated at once, she didn't even have to visit the place where the massacres took place in order to do it. The burning rage she felt inside her was enough to fuel her power and command Expression to do as she pleased.

 _You want Expression,_ Bonnie thought, her hybrid eyes blazing with fury and thirsting for blood. _I will give you Expression. I will unleash all of it against you._

Her coven watched her warily, not knowing what to say or do.

Sheila looked concerned, but Qetsiyah looked positively gleeful at what she knew was coming.

"This is what we're going to do..." Bonnie said in a commanding voice. Her plan needed to be modified a bit but the outcome would be the same. The Travelers were going to die.

* * *

 _A/N: The final battle between the Travelers and the Bennett's will be in the next chapter. Thank-you so much for all your continued support with this story. See you next time!_


	71. Chapter 71

**Mystic Falls**

"There is no one here," Matt said as he stepped out of Bonnie's house. They had found no trace of her father inside. All of Mystic Falls looked like a ghost town as a matter of fact. There were no people walking about, no cars passing by, no kids playing in the park. Nothing. It made Matt nervous.

"We should go. This place is giving me a bad feeling." Alexa kept glancing over her shoulder and looking suspiciously around the neighborhood, as if expecting an attack at any given moment.

"Where the hell is everybody?" Jesse asked as the three of them began making their way out of the property. "I can't hear anyone, it's like this whole town has been deserted."

"They could all be dead," Alexa replied with a shrug.

"Don't say that," Matt gave her a look. The thought of the Travelers killing the entire town set his nerves one edge. _Could they really be so evil?_ Yes, was the immediate response his mind gave him. The Travelers were ruthless and it wouldn't be so far fetch to think that they had disposed of the entire town in their quest to destroy the other side. It made him sick. "What are we going to do?" he asked the two hybrids.

"We should continue to look for Bonnie's dad," Jesse muttered as the three walked down the street. "Klaus ordered us to get Bonnie's dad to safety and he's not going to be pleased if we show up empty handed."

"Where else can we look for him?" Alexa turned to Matt, he knew Bonnie's dad better than they did. "Where do you think he could be?"

Matt thought about it for a bit. "His office, the police station maybe, Caroline's mom is the sheriff, maybe they're together, fighting whatever-"

"Did you hear that?" Alexa interrupted Matt.

"No," Matt followed her gaze and waited to see if he would hear anything. "I don't hear anything."

Jesse suddenly flashed out there and into the backyard of the house next to Bonnie's, Alexa took after him.

"Wait!" Matt yelled before running after them. He crouched down and placed his hands on his head when two loud shots rang out about a second later. "Shit!" His heart dropped to his stomach and he was still for a couple of seconds before pulling himself to his feet once more. When he got to the back of the house, he saw Jesse on the ground, hissing angrily while pulling a bullet form his leg.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll live," Jesse muttered, angrily pulling the bullet out of his leg and standing up like it was nothing. The wound was closing already. "She took me by surprise." He glanced at the police woman that had shot him.

Matt followed his gaze and gasped recognizing the woman immediately. "No!" he screamed when he noticed that Alexa had her by the throat. "Don't killed her." He made his way towards Alexa who had lifted the blonde woman a couple of inches from the ground and had her by the throat, fingers digging painfully around her neck.

"She tried to kill us!" Alexa hissed, her hybrid face was in full display. She was pissed.

Matt stop a few feet away from her and noticed the wound on her left shoulder, it was an obvious bullet hole, thankfully it was already healing.

"That's Liz Forbes. She's Caroline's mom," Matt said in a much softer voice. "Please let her go."

Alexa's jaw clenched painfully, she didn't let go; if anything, she looked ready to snap Liz's neck.

"Alexa, let her go." Jesse flashed to Alexa's side and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Matt watched nervously as the two of them had a conversation with their eyes. Alexa finally relented and dropped Liz on the ground. The poor woman gasped and clutched at her throat, the angry red marks of Alexa's fingers were visible on her pale skin. Mat ran to her side and crouched down in front of her. "Are you okay?"

Liz nodded, her tearful eyes looking suspiciously at Jesse and Alexa.

"It's okay, they're good vampires," Matt said helping her to stand up.

Liz didn't seem like she believed him. She looked from Matt to the two hybrids, a serious and thoughtful look on her face. Jesse and Alexa were also watching her. Alexa looked rather tense and ready to attack should Liz try to hurt them again, Jesse on the other hand, was simply watching the older woman with interest.

Liz touched her tender neck and cleared her throat. "I.." she struggled to get the words out. Her neck hurt, she had certainly seen her life flash before her eyes when Alexa grabbed her.

Matt gave her a sympathetic look, Alexa had nearly crushed her neck with her fingers and it was obvious Liz was in pain. "Maybe you should give her some of your blood," he pleaded with Jesse because something told him Alexa was not going to be so kind, even if he asked nicely.

The hybrid hesitated. He didn't know if they could trust Liz and he didn't feel comfortable sharing his blood with a stranger. There was something about her, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He didn't like it.

"Please…" Matt insisted.

Jesse nodded albeit reluctantly. He bit his wrist and offered it to Liz, it surprised him how eagerly she took his offered arm and drank a couple of sips of his blood. For someone who had shot them on sight she seemed awfully trusting of Matt's companions. The again, she was Caroline's mom, she probably knew Matt since he was a baby and trusted that he and Alexa were _'good vampires'_ as the human had called them.

"Thank-you," Liz murmured wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Jesse nodded.

Alexa crossed her arms over her chest and gave her a hard look. "Why did you attack us?"

Liz's eyes narrowed."Isn't it obvious?" She snapped. "I thought you were one of them."

Alexa and Jesse shared confused looks.

"Are they your friends?" Liz turned to Matt then.

"Yeah…kind of," Matt answered. He got along better with Jesse than he did with Alexa, but they weren't exactly best buddies.

"One of them?" Alexa stayed on topic. "What do you mean by that?"

"The number of vampires in this town has increased in the past couple of weeks," Liz explained while looking around the backyard nervously. "People have been acting weird too," she shook her head, it was almost as if she couldn't believe what she had been seeing lately. "They almost look like zombies, empty eyes, dull voices, always lurking about town and since last night things have intensified, it's so strange."

Jesse and Alexa looked at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking. It wasn't hard to deduce that it was the work of the Travelers.

"My next door neighbor attacked me," Liz continued. "He was mumbling in a strange language and he tried to grab my head…" she trailed off, a sad and guilty look on her face. "I thought he was going to kill me, I shot him," she admitted in low voice.

"What are you doing here?" Alexa questioned.

"I came looking for Rudy. He wasn't home, so I decided to check the neighbor's houses."

"We came looking for him too," Matt told her. "Do you know where he could be?"

"We had a meeting the day before yesterday and talked about the strange things occurring in town, I haven't seen him since then. He's been rather busy with his girlfriend."

Matt had heard about that, he still found it weird that Bonnie's dad was dating. "And Caroline?" he asked.

Something flickered across Liz's eyes, a strange emotion none of them could decipher. She looked away quickly. "I don't know where she is, she's been acting strange too." The last part was said in a fearfully whisper. "Something is wrong with her."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, feeling confused by her words.

"She came back wrong," Liz sounded so sure, there was no doubt in her mind. "She's not my daughter."

Matt frowned upon hearing those words.

The silence that followed Liz's words was interrupted by the sound of Jesse's cell phone ringing. "Klaus," he said looking at the screen. He answered the call quickly. "Hey boss, we're at Bonnie's house and-" Jesse shut his mouth quickly and listened tentatively to everything Klaus was saying.

Alexa's eyes went wide as she heard Klaus's words.

"What's going on?" Matt asked as he looked back and forth between both hybrids. Unlike them, he didn't have the luxury of super hearing.

"Yeah, okay, we'll be there." Jesse looked really worried after hanging up.

"What happened?" Matt demanded to know.

"There's been a change of plans," Jesse informed him. "The Travelers have Bonnie's dad, Klaus wants us to meet up with him and the Bennett witches close to the high school."

Liz looked worried. "Travelers? what-"

"The high school?" Matt frowned. "Why?"

"It seems the Travelers are hiding in the caves beneath the school, it's important for the ritual or something," Jesse responded. "Bonnie has a plan and Klaus wants us to there as quickly as possible. It seems a large number of Travelers are gathered there."

Matt looked at Liz with uncertainty.

"We can take her to the safe house," Jesse said quickly. It was where they were going to take Bonnie's dad once they found him. "Liz will be safe there until all of this is over."

Liz opened her mouth ready to protest but Jesse used his super speed to pick her up in his arms and flash her out of there.

Alexa threw Matt over her shoulder and carried him towards the safe house at hybrid speed as well. There was no way they were going to let Matt be part of the fight, he could stay with Liz and be out of harm's way.

Neither Liz or Matt had a chance to protest.

* * *

When the fight came to an end, Lucy was out of breath and ended up leaning against a tree. She was covered in sweat, mud, and blood. Her body still tingled from the aftershocks of all the magic she had used.

Adriane slumped to the ground close to her, her face and neck covered in sweat. Elijah and Damon dispatched the last two Travelers and took a moment to observe the carnage before focusing on the two Bennett witches that had kept them safe. Without Lucy and Adriane watching their backs, they would not have been so successful.

"Is it just me or was this group stronger than the ones we faced when the Navarro's attacked New Orleans?" Adriane asked while taking a big gulp of air. She was tired, physically and magically.

"They were," Lucy agreed, the Travelers had been far more vicious with their attacks this time around. Her eyes met Elijah's. The Travelers had inflected a couple of cuts and burns on his skin but they had all healed by now. Lucy offered him a soft smile. This was not the first time they had fought side by side and it probably was not going to be the last.

The Original was in front of her in a blink of an eye. He pricked his thumb and smeared the red dot of blood on her cheek, where the nasty gash from one of the Travelers' hexes had cut her skin open.

Lucy smiled, feeling the powerful Original blood mending her skin. Elijah traced her cheek with tenderness and Lucy lifted her own hand and placed it on top of his. "I'm fine," she answered his unspoken question. "Stop worrying." A nasty cut on her face which was healing nicely and a few bumps and bruises weren't bad compared to how powerful the Travelers' attacks had been. Things could have been a lot worse.

Elijah didn't say anything he simply cupped her face and kissed her. Lucy moaned against his lips and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him back with equal passion. Neither of them cared if they had an audience as they lost themselves in the taste of each other's mouths.

Damon's face was comical upon gazing at the lovers. One, he never thought that the arrogant and stoic Elijah would openly show that kind of affection towards someone and two, he felt rather uncomfortable seeing it. He looked away quickly. He didn't need the image of Elijah shoving his tongue down Lucy's throat burning in his mind, thank you very much. He looked awkwardly at Adriane who stood up and cleared her throat. Elijah and Lucy paid her no mind.

"You fought well," Adriane said after a couple of uncomfortable seconds in silence.

"You too," Damon muttered. The witch had put up one hell of a fight and saved his ass on more than one occasion. He felt compelled to thank her, without her and Lucy's magic, Damon and even Elijah would have been toast. Okay, maybe not Elijah since he was an Original and all that jazz but still. "Thanks for your help." Bonnie's cousins were definitely above average witches.

Adriane nodded and smiled. "We all helped each other," she crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip. She glanced back at the kissing couple and cleared her throat again, hoping that they would take the hint. They didn't.

"I swear, if they start ripping their clothes off, I'll snap his neck," Damon promised glancing back at the couple.

Adriane laughed.

She was a pretty girl, Damon found himself thinking while staring back at her face. She looked like Bonnie in a certain light but Adriane seemed to be of a much calmer nature. If Bonnie was fire, Adriane was probably water.

"Lucy will set your ass on fire."

"Yeah well, I rather deal with her anger than watch her and Elijah have sex in the woods," Damon made a face of disgust.

"You do realize that I can hear you perfectly, don't you?" Elijah's voice reached their ears. He looked as perfectly composed as always, Lucy on the other hand was breathless and grinning from ear to ear. The two stood holding hands.

"Whatever," Damon mumbled. "Do you think you can track Elena and the others, now?" he asked Adriane in a hopeful voice.

Adriane nodded. "Just give me a moment." She closed her eyes and began concentrating on the locator spell which she combined with her clairvoyant powers in order to enhance their precision.

Damon, Lucy, and Elijah watched her quietly. The moment was interrupted by Elijah's cell phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket, Klaus's name flashing across the screen. Elijah picked the call right away. "Hello brother," he greeted warmly.

Lucy stared at Elijah's face which remained impassive but whatever Klaus said wasn't good judging by the widening of Damon's eyes and the curse that fell from his lips. Unlike her, Damon could hear the conversation between the brothers perfectly. Adriane's sudden intake of breath had Lucy staring at her instead. _Had she seen something?_ "What's wrong?" Lucy asked her.

"Can you feel that?"

"What?" Lucy wasn't sure what she was supposed to be feeling.

"The magic in the air," Adriane replied fearfully.

Lucy frowned and looked around the forest, the torn and bloodied corpses of the Travelers were scattered on the ground. The scent of magic lingered in the air courtesy of all the spells that had been traded between them but there was something else, something far more dangerous lurking about. Lucy allowed her own magic to surface and connect with whatever was floating in the air around them. It was like being shocked by a high voltage of power. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open with a startling realization. "Does that mean what I think it means?" Lucy asked in a rather nervous but excited voice.

Adriane nodded, a small nervous smile forming on her lips as well. "I think so." The magic floating in the air was familiar, ancient, different from anything they had ever known. There was only one witch capable of wielding so much power, so much _Bennett power._ "It has begun," Adriane whispered.

"What?" Damon looked between both witches not understanding what the hell they were talking about.

Before either of them could reply, Elijah informed them of the latest development. "There has been a slight change of plans," he said in a rather angry voice. "The Travelers have Bonnie's dad and they want her to go to the caves beneath the high school. That's the center of the Expression triangle," he explained. "Bonnie has a plan of attack and this is what we are going to do…" He began filling them in.

* * *

 **The witch house**

Klaus's jaw clenched while his eyes followed Bonnie like a hawk.

The Bennett witches had all been tasked with something and were currently moving back and forth around the house and getting everything ready to execute Bonnie's plan. Bonnie was mumbling to herself as she looked through the pages of her grimoire. While she looked calm and composed on the outside, inside she was burning with fury.

Klaus cleared his throat.

"If this is the part where you tell me that I should stay here, save it." Bonnie used her index finger and magically flipped the pages of her grimoire, until she reached the notes she had scribbled on the plane. She looked over the spell she had created. She had already talked to her coven about it and now it was time to put it into practice.

"You promised that you were not going to put yourself in the line of fire," Klaus snapped. The anger he felt was barely contained. It didn't matter anyway, Bonnie felt it echoing through their bond.

Bonnie sighed and looked up from her notes. She was not in the mood to fight, the rage she felt towards the Travelers was blocking everything else. She needed to get her dad back. The thought of him getting hurt had the veins in her body growing more pronounced while her still golden eyes sparked with hunger, a hunger that could only be sated by blood. "I can handle the Travelers."

"I have no doubt about that," Klaus retorted. If her eyes were any indication, Bonnie was ready to unleash all hell on earth. "I don't want you to put yourself in unnecessary risk."

Sofia scrambled out of the room feeling the tension surrounding the couple and knowing that it was best to leave before things escalated. Kyra-who had assigned herself as Bonnie's personal bodyguard- also walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Both witches knew this was a conversation the couple needed to have alone. Neither Klaus or Bonnie noticed when the two witches left.

"You're pregnant! You can't-"

"They have my dad!" Bonnie shouted back. The entire room shook by the magic radiating off her body.

"You will be walking straight into a trap!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Bonnie snapped. "I'm not an idiot Klaus." They had already established that the Travelers had set a trap for her, Bonnie was one step ahead of them. "I know that they want to force my hand and I won't allow it. I can handle this and besides I will be with my coven." She felt confident the Travelers were no match for the Bennett coven. "I have the spell ready, once I execute it, the Travelers will be out of the equation."

"Your plan involves coming face to face with the Travelers."

"Obviously."

"Bloody hell Bonnie," Klaus muttered in exasperation. He combed his finger through his curls and growled. "That's too risky."

"I have so much power inside of me, that nothing they do will hurt me." As if to prove her point, the old chair slumped against the corner of the room burst into flames, the cracked glass of the windows shattered instantly and Klaus's skin prickled as the waves of power coming off her intensified.

Bonnie's magic pulsed around the small room, a dark sinister kind of power that seemed to choke the life out of every broken object inside. A lesser vampire would have flinched and cowered in fear, Klaus stood his ground. He was not afraid of her or her magic, even knowing what she was capable of, he trusted her enough to know that she would never hurt him. "I don't think I need to remind you that you are pregnant," Klaus said in a dangerously low voice.

"I am not going to put our children in danger," Bonnie hissed, she came to stand right in front of him, a determined and somewhat arrogant look on her face. "The Travelers won't hurt us," she replied confidently. "They are no match for us."

"Is this really you talking or is it Expression talking through you?"

"Damn it, Klaus!"

Their eyes locked and another old piece of furniture burst into flames. The veins underneath her eyes became more pronounced, and her heart quickened as well. She was furious and Klaus was pissing her off even more. "You of all people should know that I'm in control," Bonnie replied fiercely. "I control Expression. It does not control me." The flames stopped and the windows repaired themselves. She had the power of the triangle cursing through her veins, fueling Expression in a way she had never done before but that didn't mean Bonnie would be consumed by it. "I'm channeling all the power of Expression and I can assure you, my magic will never turn against my children. This won't hurt them or me." Because if there was ever a slight indication that Expression could turn against her babies, Bonnie would give it up in a heartbeat. She would give up being a witch if it meant saving them.

"Stay here," Klaus said in much gentler voice. Fighting with her was not going to get him anywhere. He knew he needed a different tactic. "Elijah and I can help your coven take on the Travelers while you remain safe in this house."

"I can't do the spell from this house," Bonnie said in a calmer voice. "I would if I could. I have to be close to heart of the Triangle, I have to be close to Sloan." She said the name with disdain. Sheila had told her all she knew about the leader of the Travelers, the woman who had seduced her dad. "I have to link all of them together and I will do it through her." Bonnie's face softened. "I know you are worried but I will have Grams and Ayana, and even Qetsiyah by my side. Do you really think the Travelers will get through them?"

"You have a good plan," Klaus admitted. He held her gaze and walked towards her, placing his hands on her arms and pulling her closer. "A really great plan," he felt proud of her, in awe of her brilliant mind really but he also knew of the risk she would be in, a risk he could not afford to allow her to take. "But if something goes wrong and you get hurt-" he couldn't finish. One of his hands reached out and touched her pregnant belly, his lips instantly twitched into a small smile as he felt the strong kicks.

Bonnie smiled as well, that feeling of wonder would never get old. She looked away briefly, feeling the conflict he felt. Klaus loved her, he was worried about her and their children and wanted to protect them. She understood that, she really did. But she also knew what she needed to do in order to finish this once and for all. "You have to trust me," Bonnie said looking back into his face. She reached out and traced her fingers over his chin. "You have to trust that my plan is going to work, you have to trust that my coven will keep me safe, that I will keep our children safe."

Klaus's lips parted but Bonnie didn't give him a chance to say anything. She silenced him by placing her lips against his. The kiss was quick, just a soft brush of lips against lips before she pulled away. "I know what I can handle Klaus, I know how far I can take this without putting our children in harm's way. I won't be doing this alone. I will be with my coven and I can promise you, the Travelers magic won't touch me." Her eyes bored into his. "Please, believe that I know what I am doing." She pleaded with him in the same way he had pleaded with her a few moments before. "Don't worry, my love."

Klaus sighed and looked away, knowing that he wasn't going to change her mind.

Bonnie watched him and waited to see what he would say.

"I will drag you away," Klaus said turning back to face her. "If things turn bad, if the Travelers pull some stunt against us, I will take you out of there. You can fight me with your magic if you want but I swear Bonnie, I will get you out of there. The spell be damned." Her safety was all that mattered.

Bonnie nodded. "That sounds like the perfect plan." They both leaned forward at the same time, until their foreheads were touching. They allowed themselves a tender moment, a small moment of peace before they faced their enemies and fought another war. With luck, this would be the last battle they had to face, or at least, that's what Bonnie hoped.

* * *

 **The cave**

Low voices murmuring in an ancient language was the first thing Lenore became aware of. She slowly regained her consciousness and blinked her eyes open, staring at the dark and rocky surface of the ceiling above her. She groaned feeling a dull pain on the side of her face. _What the hell happened?_ She couldn't remember where she was or what had let to this moment. Her head hurt and her body felt really heavy. It was a struggle to pull herself into a sitting position. "…What…" Lenore rubbed the back of her head and looked around in bewilderment. She was inside a circle of salt and dozens of candles were scattered around the cave. Her eyes easily spotted the three figures lying a couple of feet away from her, inside another circle of salt and candles. "Oh my god!" she stood up. Her body swayed and her vision blurred while a slight moan of pain made its way past her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a couple of calming breaths before staring at the unconscious figures once more.

Elena, Katherine, and Tom looked like they were sleeping. There were dozens of Travelers surrounding them in a circle, they had their heads bowed and their lips were moving furiously as they chanted in their ancient language. Their chanting was what Lenore had first heard when she woke.

Lenore's heart jumped to her throat, it was a ritual of some sort, she could feel it. _Damn it!_ She thought feeling a moment of panic. The Travelers got to them. She had a vague recollection of being inside the cellar, of trying to keep the barrier in place and fighting the Travelers' magic. She was pretty sure there had been an explosion of some sort, one that knocked them all out. They had once again been captured by the Travelers after that _. I need to get out of here,_ Lenore took a deep breath and concentrated on summoning her magic. She needed to stop whatever ritual the Travelers were performing before it was too late.

"You put up a good fight," a tall brunette woman said as she broke away from the circle surrounding the doppelgängers and calmly approached Lenore. "I was impressed."

"Who the hell are you?" Lenore's eyes narrowed in her direction.

"My name is Sloan," the woman introduced herself with an arrogant tilt of the head. "I am the leader of the Travelers."

Lenore was not impressed and it showed on her face. "My coven is coming," she stated while meeting Sloan's eyes. "Whatever you're planning, you won't get away with it. We'll stop you."

"Your coven is already here," Sloan replied taking a couple of steps closer towards her. Her lips curled into a vicious smirk. "I have quite the surprise in store for them."

Lenore watched her suspiciously. She didn't like how confident Sloan seemed. While she kept her eyes on the woman's face, Lenore's mind was racing with the possibilities.

"You're in for quite a show," Sloan promised. She stopped right in front of the barrier of salt and studied Lenore's face carefully. "You nearly ruined my plans," she hissed. "Because of you, I have to this sooner than I anticipated." Something flickered across her eyes. "Then again, if everything goes the way I want it, I might just have to thank-you."

Lenore frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I want," was Sloan response.

"You really think you can bring down the other side?" Lenore questioned without any hint of fear in her voice. Despite the turmoil she felt, her voice gave nothing away. "You and your people might be powerful but without the eclipse you won't succeed. Your people can't channel all the power necessary to destroy the other side and live to tell the tale," she reminded Sloan. "Even the most powerful of witches have limitations when it comes to magic. You can try all you want but you will fail." They didn't even have all the doppelgängers. It was something Lenore wanted to rub in her face but decided against it.

"I quite agree with that sentiment," Sloan replied calmly. "Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be possible but thanks to your niece and her friends we have quite the unlimited source of power at our disposal."

Lenore frowned at her words.

"Did you know there were three brutal massacres here in Mystic Falls?"

Lenore remained quiet.

"The massacres that took place at each location marked the earth with incredible power. It is known as the Expression triangle," Sloan continued. "By activating these focus points, we can channel the mystical energy of the triangle and bring down the other side for good without the need of the eclipse. A little magic, a little blood, a little sacrifice, and voila."

Lenore felt a cold sweat descend down her spine, her entire body tensed.

"We are right at the center of the Expression triangle," Sloan's eyes glinted. "Once we active all of its points we will channel the power of the triangle and combined it with the power of the sacrifice to destroy the other side."

"There is no way you are that strong." Lenore's mind worked furiously as she processed everything Sloan was saying. "Even if you somehow manage to activate the power of the triangle, your body won't be able to resist channeling all it. That kind of magic is unpredictable, it's dangerous, you can't control it." Not to mention that only a witch who had access to Expression could fully access the power of the triangle. _Was Sloan so arrogant that she couldn't see that?_

"Oh but we will," Sloan sounded so sure. Lenore wanted nothing more than to wipe that stupid triumphant smirk from her face. She hadn't even won yet but she was already sure of her victory. "Thanks to the magic we took from New Orleans," Sloan finished.

"You…what?" Lenore was caught off guard but that revelation.

"The magic from the Harvest," Sloan specified.

"You bitch!" Lenore of all people knew how powerful that magic was, how important that ritual was to the witches of the city.

Sloan laughed. "I have some very powerful friends on the other side," she boasted. "Friends who always offer valuable information and suggestions. Thanks to them, I am always one step ahead."

"It won't work," Lenore told her. "Expression and the magic from the Harvest are two different sources of power, you can't combine them. Combining different forms of magic is a death sentence for anyone," Lenore insisted. "You could end it up destroying this entire town."

"And you think I care?" Sloan arched an eyebrow. "It's all or nothing."

"You're insane."

"There is a fine line between madness and brilliance," Sloan retorted.

"You won't get away with this."

"I already have," Sloan murmured while an evil grin formed on her pink lips.

Silence followed her words and the two witches stared into each other's eyes. Sloan with her glinting eyes and wicked smile and Lenore with her hands balled into fists at her side, a defiant look on her face.

"Don't worry," Sloan told her. "I will ensure your death is quick."

"Go to hell."

Sloan only laughed.

A strong gust of wind suddenly flew inside the cave.

Lenore felt a jolt throughout her body and she gasped.

The candles inside the cave blew out.

The Travelers' eyes snapped open.

"What the hell was that?" One of them asked. Their concentration had been broken by the strong pulsing of magic felt inside the cave, magic that was not coming from them.

Sloan moved away from Lenore and looked around the cave, her senses trying to understand where the sudden surge of power had come from. The magic of the triangle was acting out on its own and she didn't like it.

"Something is not right," another Traveler woman muttered.

The entire cave shook by some unknown force. The force of the quake had the Travelers swaying from side to side, others fell to their knees, and many more looked around the cave fearfully.

"Earthquake!"

"We'll be trapped here!"

"What's going on?"

The magic pulsing inside the cave felt like a wave of fire assaulting their bodies and melting their flesh. The air left their lungs, feeling like their bodies were tightly compressed together. Everyone was surprised by the unexpected magical outburst, no one knew where it had come from.

Lenore and Sloan both managed to remain standing. The Bennett witch's heart rammed painfully against her chest while her eyes darted nervously around the Travelers. _What was going on?_ Lenore wondered. _Where had this sudden power come from?_ She looked at the ceiling of the cave fearfully, if the tremors continued, the ceiling could collapse on them and they would certainly die. But just as quickly as the tremors had come, they suddenly stopped. Lenore's eyes moved towards the leader of the Travelers. _What the hell was happening?_

Sloan's eyes were two pools of fury. "Stupid girl," she hissed knowingly. "The time has come," she shouted towards her people. They clearly knew what that meant because one by one the Travelers stood up and proceeded to form a circle around the doppelgängers once more. Their fear of the earthquake forgotten by their determination to succeed. "Get ready!" Sloan roared.

There was an anxious look on Lenore's face as she stared at the Travelers, whatever spell they were performing, it was clearly affecting the doppelgängers. Their bodies began to twitch and blood started oozing down their noses and ears, a few moans of pain escaping them from time to time.

 _The ritual is killing them,_ Lenore realized with horror. They were going to be sacrificed in a slow and painful manner in order to fulfill the Travelers' plans. She was so focused on the scene in front of her, she didn't see it coming. A prickle at the back of her neck was the only warning Lenore felt. When she turned back to face Sloan, all she saw was the malicious smile and the dark eyes like thunderous clouds.

Sloan stabbed her in one swift move, the blade slicing her stomach open and ripping her insides apart.

Lenore let out a painful cry. _Why hadn't she seen the knife?_ Tears blurred her vision as the pain escalated. Sloan pushed the knife deeper into her flesh, Lenore let out a strangled sound at the pain she felt. Sloan pulled out the knife and Lenore sank to her knees, a burning pain invading her body and dulling her senses. Everything was in slow motion as she gasped for air and struggled to remain conscious. Her trembling hands clutched her bleeding stomach, her lips murmuring an old healing spell. It didn't work.

"It begins." Sloan loomed over her with the bloody knife in hand. "You are linked with the others now, the death of all of you shall be the catalyst we need." She turned away from Lenore. "Bring the anchor," she ordered one of her followers. "No matter what you hear or feel, do not stop the ritual," she instructed her people before disappearing from the cave, a small group of Travelers following her out, the rest remained inside and began to chant once more. Nothing was going to deter the Travelers from their plans.

* * *

The two armies met right outside the high school.

Sloan waited with a large group of Travelers by her side, dozens of men and women all ready to die for their cause. Her plan was very simple, keep Bonnie occupied until midnight, until her people finished the ritual and brought down the other side for good.

Bonnie led her coven, walking right at the front of the group and flanked by her Grams, Qetsiyah, and Ayana. The rest of the Bennett witches followed a step behind. She looked fierce, and was equally determined to carry out her plan.

The spark of magic in the air was undeniable as both factions came face to face at last.

"I told you to come alone," Sloan said in a menacing voice.

Bonnie stopped a couple of feet away from her and met her eyes without fear. "You really think I'm stupid enough to come alone and fall into your trap." Bonnie was furious, the anger she felt was turning her blood to fire. The green of her eyes had completely disappeared and been replaced by a yellow hue that shone like gold. The black veins beneath her eyes were visible as were the veins running down her neck, arms, and hands. Expression wanted blood, Expression was ready and Bonnie was not going to hesitate and unleash it all. Sloan didn't know she was channeling the power of the Expression triangle, Sloan didn't know that Bonnie was going to use that power to destroy the Travelers for good.

"The famous Sloan," Qetsiyah muttered looking her up and down with amusement. "I must say, I'm not impressed."

"Who the hell are you?" A woman behind Sloan snapped.

Qetsiyah merely raised an eyebrow. She couldn't even find the time to be insulted because of fact that the Travelers had no idea that Bonnie had temporarily resurrected the dead Bennett witches and that played in their favor. So as much as Qetsiyah wanted to start listing her titles and accomplishments, she knew the best thing for now was not to give their secret away, until the moment was right of course. "Your death," she replied instead. No sooner had the words left her mouth and Qetsiyah hexed the woman with a quick spell, the poor fool didn't even see it coming, she fell dead to the ground in an instant.

Loud gasps and murmurs broke through the group of Travelers at the powerful and quick display of magic. Sloan watched the exchange curiously. She didn't know Qetsiyah's identity but she could definitely sense her great power, all of the women surrounding Bonnie were bathed by an aura of strength, magic, and danger. Many other witches would have trembled in fear at the formidable sight Bonnie and her coven presented but Sloan stood her ground. She was not easily intimidated and neither were her people, who proudly supported her, and were waiting for her command to attack. She scanned the group of women before setting her eyes on Bonnie once more. "You're different than I expected," she commented calmly, _and far more powerful too,_ although she would never admit that out loud.

"Where is my dad?" Bonnie demanded angrily. She needed to rescue her dad and her friends. "What have you done to him?"

Sloan's lips curled maliciously. "Your father is inside the school," she informed Bonnie. "The only way you will see him is if you come inside, if you dare that is."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Both women locked eyes.

Joanna and Aunt Vivian exchanged nervous looks. Neither of them liked how eager Sloan seemed for Bonnie to enter the school. They both knew that was probably part of the trap the Travelers had set for her.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Sofia whispered fearfully. She was keeping her eyes on the Travelers, feeling a little jumpy and uncertain with all of them standing so close. Tempers were flaring and things were about to get crazy.

"That bitch has something up her sleeve," Tinisha whispered while keeping an eye on Sloan.

Sloan's gaze was challenging, she was daring Bonnie to step inside the school.

Bonnie had an equally determined look on her face. She turned to Ayana who gave a slight nod, that was all the reassurance Bonnie needed. She took a confident step forward, and then another, and another.

Sloan grinned. What that stupid little girl didn't know was that Sloan had placed a powerful barrier around the high school, a barrier that would temporarily block the magic from anyone entering inside. Her group of Travelers-who knew of the barrier in place- smiled in triumph, victory tasting sweet on their lips. The Bennett's would be rendered powerless and they were going to take full advantage of that.

Bonnie's coven followed her lead and began walking towards the school entrance where Sloan and her people were waiting.

Sloan's grin fell.

Nothing happened to Bonnie and her coven as they stepped inside, their magic was intact.

All the smiles died down when Bonnie and her witches set foot inside the barrier. The Travelers behind Sloan, tensed at the unexpected turn of events. The barrier was hidden by a cloaking spell that would ensure her enemies would not detect it. Bonnie certainly gave no clue that she felt the magic protecting the school, surely if she had, she would not have stepped forward. _Or did she?_

What Sloan didn't know was that Bonnie felt the barrier long before they came face to face. She knew the barrier would block their magic and that the Travelers would attack then, so while Bonnie asked questions, and Qetsiyah added a comment or two, Ayana destroyed the barrier protecting the school before the Travelers could even sense what had happened. Bonnie in turn used the same spell and placed it on Sloan and her people, blocking their magic instead.

"You're not as clever as you think you are," Ayana remarked, her hard haze pinning Sloan in place. "We are not easily fooled, child."

Sloan looked murderous.

"Don't worry my dear, you are not the first, nor the last pathetic witch who thinks she can take down a Bennett," Vivian added more salt to the wound.

The Travelers who were still in shock, recovered quickly upon hearing Vivian's insult. They threw daggers at her with their eyes and some even dared to take a step forward. Vivian was unperturbed by the hostility they showed. She lifted her chin and summoned her magic with a fierce and determined look on her face. A satisfied smirk graced her lips when she saw how some of Travelers cowered after sensing the full potential of her power.

"Do you really believe you can use a spell created by a Bennett witch against us?" Ernestine laughed.

"What else can you expect from amateurs," Pauline added.

"You don't even know your own history, do you?" Qetsiyah questioned Sloan when she noticed the confusion on her face. "All the spells you know, all the power you hold, you don't know where it came from. You don't know who bestowed all that knowledge on your people," her voice was bitter, angry and her eyes became two dark pools that were like daggers to her enemies' hearts. "How could you?" she sneered. "I doubt your ancestors passed down the tales of their betrayal."

"Why do you even care?" A tall, rather handsome man asked suddenly.

"Because hell hath no fury like a witch scorned."

There was something about Qetsiyah, an aura of ancient power that sent warning signs to the Travelers that this was a witch you did not want to mess with. Sloan frowned, watching her intensely. "Who are you?" she finally asked.

Qetsiyah only smirked, "I am Qetsiyah," she finally revealed. "The one who created your people, the one who was betrayed by them."

The loud gasps and murmurs that broke after that revelation were incessant while the Travelers' shocked and even horrified faces were comical for the younger Bennett witches to see.

"Bet you weren't expecting that, bitch." Natalie looked positively gleeful.

"Watch your language," Joanna chided immediately.

Natalie smiled sweetly at her mother before focusing on the surprised group of witches before them.

"Impossible!"

"You're supposed to be dead."

"That can't be!"

The murmurs continued.

Qetsiyah smiled. "Oh but it is."

While the Bennett's waited for that revelation to sink in, Bonnie's eyes were drawn to a window on the far end of the building. Her dad was there, she could feel him. He was in that room and so were at least five Travelers. Her hybrid eyes landed on Sloan who had effectively masked her surprise and was now calculating her next move. Bonnie was done talking. The spell was in place and she didn't hesitate to make the first move.

All the Travelers were blasted a couple of feet away by a single wave of her magic. There were loud groans of pain as many bodies slammed against the building behind them, others ended up in a pile on the floor. They quickly picked themselves up and scrambled together, ready to fight back. The Bennett's were more than ready to take them on.

Sloan practically growled and flicked her wrist in Bonnie's direction, a nasty spell already bouncing off her lips.

Nothing happened.

The Travelers followed her example and attacked Bonnie's coven practically at the same time.

Once again, nothing happened.

Sloan tried again, her arm trembling slightly. This was something she had not been anticipating. _What the hell had happened to her magic?_

Bonnie's lips curved, her amber eyes glinting. With a wave of her magic she broke both of Sloan's legs. "That is for kidnapping Lenore and my friends," she said angrily.

The leader of the Travelers screamed in agony as the bones in her legs shattered completely.

"This is for using and hurting my dad." With another flick of her wrist, she broke the bones on Sloan's arms. "This is for trying to destroy the other side." Bonnie waved her hand over Sloan's head and her blood began to boil. Sloan let out a terrifying scream of pain.

"This is for thinking you could force me to finish your evil plan," Bonnie hissed lifting her right hand and clenching her fingers into a fist. Sloan's entire body convulsed as wave after wave of pain assaulted her body.

While Bonnie took care of Sloan, the rest of the coven met the Travelers head on.

Aunt Vivian raised her hand and a couple of Travelers were lifted into the air. They struggled to fight back but the magic blocking their powers was too strong, they couldn't do anything against the elder witch. With a snap of her fingers, Vivian broke their necks, before dropping their corpses to the ground.

Qetsiyah was not so merciful, with a flick of her wrist she set the rest of the group in flames. Their anguished screams filled the air as did the smell of their burning flesh. She smiled, enjoying the sight of the pitiful creatures burning to death. What a glorious thing it was to be back in action.

"Come on!" Tinisha whined, looking at her aunt and glaring at Qetsiyah. "I wanted to have some fun too, you know." She had not been as quick as the two elder witches and had missed her chance to kick some Traveler ass.

Sofia who was next to her, looked horrified at the burning Travelers attempting to flee and find a way to cease the fire consuming them. She looked away from the scene.

Vivian ignored Tinisha, and so did Qetsiyah.

Sloan's eyes were wide, her face was contorted in pain, and sweat was raining down her face. Moan and grunts of pain escaped her mouth as she struggled to break free of the powerful magic gluing her in place. Bonnie had paralyzed her body but Sloan was attempting to free herself before the other witch could kill her. The problem was she didn't have her magic.

"Bonnie is suppressing all of your magic," Sheila explained as she, Qetsiyah, Ayana, and Vivian surrounded Sloan.

Bonnie was more than ready to deliver the final blow when her head snapped to the left, her instincts warning her of an attack. She turned her head just in time to see the ball of fire heading her way.

"What the hell?"

"More Travelers," Beatrice whispered.

Sofia screamed while Joanna and Cecily combined their magic to stop the massive fire ball heading their way. Their attack deflected the fireball towards a lamp post, setting it aflame.

"Move out of the way," Diana ordered the Bennett witches as another fireball followed and then another. They were heading right for their queen.

"Watch out!"

"Bonnie!"

Sheila took a protective stance in front of Bonnie and stopped one ball of fire with her hand pushing it back to their attacker, but the other slipped past her.

One look from Bonnie, that was all it took for the fire ball to freeze in midair before it evaporated into a white steam. She did the same thing to the two others that followed in quick succession. Once the white cloud dispersed, the Bennett witches saw the dozes of Travelers heading in their direction, Sloan's reinforcements had arrived. They weren't alone either, there was also a good number of vampires with them.

"Vampires, just what we needed," Emily muttered darkly.

Kyra summoned a ball of fire of her own and sent it towards the newcomers. It took three Travelers but they managed to deflected it towards the parking lot, setting three cars on fire.

Sloan took the opportunity to escape, or attempted to escape because she couldn't move an inch. Bonnie's magic had her paralyzed still. Even when her attention was elsewhere, Bonnie's magic did not relented.

Bonnie wasn't even paying attention to her, she was focused on the new group. _Since when did the Travelers had vampires helping them?_ Her eyes moved over the army of Travelers and vampires, they were more than Bonnie had expected. A familiar blonde head suddenly caught her attention.

 _Caroline_

Bonnie was completely caught off guard. Caroline was the one leading the group of Travelers and vampires. _No!_ Bonnie thought. She watched in surprise as Caroline waved her arm left and right and began sending hexes towards Bonnie and her coven. _How in the world was Caroline using magic?_

"What the hell have you done to my friend?" Bonnie hissed glancing back at Sloan.

Caroline's hexes were easily deflected by Qetsiyah. "There is a passenger inside that vampire," she commented, her eyes studying Caroline in detail. "I'll take care of it." She glanced briefly at Bonnie before making her way towards the vampire. There was a group of Travelers that ran straight to her but Qetsiyah waved her hands in front of her and they parted like sea, flying high into the air and crashing on either side of the street.

Everyone was so focused on the group Caroline led, they didn't realize that there was a smaller group coming out of the school and making their way towards them from behind. Neither did Bonnie sense the threat, the shock of seeing her friend fighting on her enemy's side proved to be a fatal distraction. While the group didn't have magic because Bonnie's spell suppressed it, they had other weapons with them.

It was Kyra how saw the man with the knife first. He was leading the charge. "Behind you!" she shouted at Bonnie.

Bonnie turned her head just in time to see the sharp blade heading towards her face. Her heart skipped a beat, a spell already falling from her lips.

The man froze midway and fell to his knees in front of her, blood trickling down his chin. He let out a horrendous wail of pain before he was decapitated. Klaus stood proudly behind him. The hybrid had been by Bonnie's side the whole time, carefully hidden by a powerful cloaking spell. He was there for whatever Bonnie needed him for and was determined not to let anyone hurt her.

Bonnie smiled at Klaus.

"Finish this," Klaus said to her. He didn't want her to get caught in the crossfire of the battle taking place all around them.

Bonnie nodded. "I'm almost done," She had been silently finishing the spell in her head. Her eyes suddenly looked at the school. "My dad is in there," she said looking at the classroom where she knew her dad was. She gave Klaus a pleading look. She needed to complete her spell but she also couldn't wait to get her dad out of there.

Klaus wanted to protest, he didn't want to leave her alone.

"You can flash in and out easily," Bonnie said quickly. "Once the spell takes effect, the Travelers won't be an issue." Klaus could easily take them by surprise with his speed as well.

"I will be right here with Bonnie," Sheila said to Klaus. "I won't let any harm come to her."

"I will be with her as well," Ayana murmured. While the rest of the coven had immediately dispersed and began fighting the Travelers, Sheila and Ayana remained with Bonnie. "We won't leave her side," she promised.

"Fine," Klaus relented. He took Bonnie's hand in his and squeezed her fingers, he met her eyes briefly, and flashed towards the school's entrance.

Bonnie watched him go for a few seconds before turning back to face Sloan. Her clothes were soaking wet from her sweat, her nose and ears were bleeding, and her body was rocked by trembles. She looked like a pitiful creature. A creature that had one foot on the grave.

Ayana and Sheila stood on each side of her, keeping an eye out for any stray spell or surprise attack that might head their way again; a protective ring had already been placed around all of them as well.

Bonnie took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

It was time to complete her plan.

* * *

The moment Sloan's reinforcements arrived, the Bennett witches sprang into action and fired back. Soon, different color streaks of light were flying back and forth between the two groups. The parking lot was a war zone as the two forces clashed together. Their magical attacks met in midair, currents of electric wind grew and blew stronger with each passing minute, and the earth trembled at their feet.

Vampires fell quickly.

The Travelers despite their resilience were set in flames by the dozen.

The Bennett witches fought side by side and unleashed all their creative arsenal on their enemies without mercy.

While Bonnie, Sheila, and Sloan were inside a protective barrier, where no one could get to them. The rest of the Bennett's engaged in a violent fight against the Travelers and their vampires. The school became a battlefield with blood, magic, and growls mixing together.

Tinisha and Sofia were back to back trading spells left and right.

Pauline and Ernestine were blowing things up, the thick smoke caused by the fire created a heavy fog all around them.

Vivian eliminated vampires and Travelers a like with a single flick of her wrist. All the attacks thrown at her rebounded before they could even touch her.

Diana and Amina covered the backs of the younger Bennett's with one hand while they attacked their enemies with the other. They were a formidable duo whose spells could not be blocked or stopped, not even by a group of ten Travelers. At one point, Amina let loose an army of snakes that hissed and bit all the Travelers they could get to, killing them with their poison in seconds.

"Remember, attack and defend," Vivian shouted angrily. That was one of the first lessons she had taught the girls and the one they easily forgot in the heat of the battle. "Keep your guard up," she reminded them.

"Don't hesitate," Lucrecia yelled at another group.

"Stop blowing things up!" Beatrice coughed and glared at Ernestine. "I can't see a damn thing."

"You're a freaking witch, cast the smoke away you idiot!" was the angry response from another Bennett fighting close to her.

"Shit!" Another one shouted as she crouched down and nearly avoided being burned alive by a fireball thrown by Kyra. "Hey!" she yelled at the witch. "I'm on your side! Don't kill me!"

"You're already dead," her sister pointed out. "Just temporarily resurrected."

"Next time, don't get in my way!" Kyra threw another fireball over the top of her head. The ball expanded like a balloon before bursting into five different trails of fire which flew straight into the chests of five vampires. With her other hand, Kyra created another ball of fire that rose into the air and became arrows which flew straight towards the vampires ganging up on a tiny Bennett girl. They all burst into flames.

"Hey, those were mine! I had them!" The girl glared at Kyra before jumping on top of a car. She waved her hands and shouted spells which fell down on the vampires close to her like confetti, except that as soon as it touched them, the vampires were turned to stone.

Kyra was really impressed.

The girl gave her a - _see I can take care of myself_ \- look before disappearing through the fog.

"That's so cool!" Natalie whistled. She was a few feet away from Kyra and had stopped to see the brilliant attack she had sent. "I wish I could do that and turn people to stone too," she added.

"Don't get distracted!" Joanna grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away before a vampire could jump on her.

"Sorry!" Natalie quickly paralyzed the vampire and Joanna blasted him off into a pile of ash. Her daughter's mouth dropped open. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I learned that from your grandma," Joanna replied while looking down at her hands. "It's been years since I used that shattering spell."

"Well, you might want to use it again!" Tinisha said as she paralyzed another vampire. "Here you go!" She waved her hand and flung the vampire in Joanna's direction before disappearing from sight. She had more vampires to hunt.

Joanna blasted the vampire into ashes.

"Way to go mom!" Natalie cheered. "You're a badass!"

Joanna smiled but the smile dropped from her lips almost immediately upon seeing the yellow streak of light heading straight for the back of Natalie's head. "Look out!" She raised her hand hoping to be able to stop the attack.

Natalie turned around and gasped. She froze.

The yellow streak stopped inches from her face before it rebounded and was sent back to the attacker, hitting the man right on his chest. He let out a groan of pain before his skin melted to the bone.

"Woah," Natalie let out a breath of relief. She and Joanna both turn to see Alina who had casted a powerful protective spell on each of them.

"Thank you," Joanna whispered.

"Don't forget that protective spells have to constantly be re-energized, otherwise they stop working," Alina reminded them. She kept walking and chanting under her breath. Spells flew right at her but they were rebounded or swallowed by her protective magic. She continued to walk through the chaos of the battlefield, reinforcing the protective spells all the Bennett witches had on them and placing new ones on the Bennett's that had forgotten to cast them.

Qetsiyah for her part, managed to get to Caroline after roasting all the Travelers that got in her way obviously. "Passengers are like parasites," she hissed coming face to face with her.

Lara-who was the passenger inside Caroline- unleashed all the magic she possessed and her enhanced speed to attack Qetsiyah. In the next second, she was on her knees. Her attack easily deflected.

"Fool," Qetsiyah muttered. She calmly came to stand in front of Lara, holding her captive with her magic. It was rather pathetic how easily she had stopped her, then again, there were only two witches capable of going head to head with Qetsiyah and they were both from her bloodline. And in Qetsiyah's not so humble opinion, only one would succeed in winning against her.

Lara growled, her vampire face contorting in pain as Qetsiyah's magic slipped inside her mind with ease.

"You will leave this creature in peace," Qetsiyah commanded. "You will leave this body for good," she waved her hand in front of Lara's face. The passenger let out a screech, followed closely by a string of moans and curses. Her neck slumped back, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Qetsiyah pressed her palm against her forehead and began chanting in ancient Greek.

A black cloud emerged from Caroline's body, rising above her head and swirling like a small hurricane, Lara's spirit wanted to jump into another victim, Qetsiyah's magic did not allow it. She kept her palm against Caorline's forehead and with her other hand, she crushed the passenger that had been possessing her for weeks.

The black swirl disintegrated into nothing by a violent wave of Qetsiyah's magic. In a matter of seconds, Lara ceased to exist. She had put up a good fight against the other Bennett's but she never stood a chance against Qetsiyah.

Caroline gasped. There was a moment of complete shock and she took big gulps of air, her body trembling uncontrollably as she slowly came back to her senses. Despite her exhaustion and confusion, her mind was free. She was free at last. She looked up into Qetsiyah's face and offered her a weak smile. "Thank-you," she whispered. There were no words to describe how happy she felt to be herself once more. "Thank-you," she repeated on the verge on tears.

"Vampires are leeches," Qetsiyah sneered down at her. "I don't like your kind. I am of the believe that you should not exist but alas," she trailed off, her icy eyes pinning Caroline in place. "The only reason I am allowing you to live, is because you are Bonnie's friend," Qetsiyah's voice was laced with venom. "Betray her and you shall suffer the same fate as the one who took over your body."

Caroline gasped, startled by the woman's words. She hugged herself; the spike of fear she felt invading her body was unlike anything she had ever felt before. The witch's eyes did not lie. She meant every word.

"Is this in any way unclear?" Qetsiyah asked in a disturbingly sweet voice.

Caroline gulped and shook her head.

"Good." With those parting words, Qetsiyah turned around and left a confused and shaky Caroline behind. She waved her hands in front of her and continued to incinerate vampires and Travelers alike, all of those that got in her way perished under her formidable magic. Qetsiyah would never admit it out loud, but she had come to respect Bonnie. She would not be at her beck and call like all the other dead Bennett's, Qetsiyah was above that, but she would protect her, not just because Bonnie was the queen of the coven but because Bonnie was her blood, and Bennett's always protected their own.

* * *

"How…" Sloan managed to let out. The arrogant woman's nose was bleeding, her body was shaking, and her eyes were two volcanoes who wanted nothing more than to melt Bonnie into nothing. As Travelers and Bennett witches fought each other, Sloan had kept trying to break free from Bonnie's powerful magic, but all of her attempts had been in vain. Not only that, she had noticed that while everyone else fought and deflected spells left and right, none ever fell on Bonnie. The young Bennett queen seemed to be inside a protective cocoon of magic, immune to all harm.

"Expression," Bonnie replied simply. She kept her eyes closed, chanting the finishing touches of her spell inside her mind. "I'm channeling the power of the triangle."

Sloan's eyes went wide, a sudden realization hitting her like a thousand bricks. "You can't!" she spat. Her people had to channel the power of the triangle, not her, without it their ritual would fail. "No!" she screamed.

"She can do that and more." Sheila proudly declared.

Bonnie's lips twitched into a smile.

Ayana who had been watching the battle unfolding across the parking lot, frowned and turned around to face Sloan. "You wanted to use that power for yourself," she noted. Her eyes were twinkling as she said her next words. "Once again you have been bested."

Sloan pressed her lips together and growled which quickly turned into another moan of pain.

"I will use that power to stop you and your clan for good," Bonnie took a step closer and placed her hands on Sloan's head. "The Travelers will be no more."

Sloan struggled but there was nothing she could do, she was at the Bennett queen's mercy. "No…no…" she kept saying. "Need…time…"

"You don't have any time left," Sheila said. "This ends now."

Ayana looked back and forth between Sloan and the school, a thoughtful look on her face. She suddenly took off in the direction of the school.

"Where are you going?" Sheila yelled after her.

"We should get Lenore and the doppelgängers out of the cave," Ayana glanced over her shoulder. "We should get them away from the triangle." In the heat of the confrontation it seemed everyone had forgotten about the doppelgängers. "She has done something," she looked at Sloan.

"Done what?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm not sure, I couldn't see into her head clearly," Ayana told her. Sloan's thoughts had been mixed with pain and anger and it was hard to make sense of it all.

"Elijah and Lucy are probably there already," Bonnie said. That was the plan, using the tunnels that connected the Lockwood cellar to the school, Lucy, Elijah, Adriane, and Damon were to sneak inside the cave and get Lenore and the others out.

"Don't worry," Ayana said with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure they have everything under control. I just want to make sure there are no nasty surprises left."

Bonnie nodded.

"Finish the spell," Ayana said before she went inside the school.

Bonnie watched her retreating form. Klaus had not come out with her father either, a hint of worry and fear slammed through her then. _What if the Travelers had done something she hadn't anticipated?_ "What have you done?" she asked Sloan.

Sloan pressed her lips together and suppressed another moan, she refused to meet Bonnie's eyes or say anything.

"Finish the spell, Bonnie." Sheila encouraged. "Don't waste time. That's probably what she wants."

Bonnie took a deep breath and grabbed Sloan's head with both of her hands, "From this moment forward, you will no longer have your magic," Bonnie said in a commanding voice. "Neither in life nor in death, no Traveler will have power ever again." Sloan gasped as she felt her magic being sucked right out of her. There was a look of pure disbelief on her face. "No…" she whimpered. "Can't...No..."

One by one all of the Travelers began losing their magic.

They shared the same blood as Sloan and Bonnie had used that connection to link them together, a spell that was empowered by the power of the Expression triangle. "From this moment forward you will all cease to exist." Expression slithered from one Traveler to another, attacking all of them without their notice. The magic Bonnie had been harvesting since she activated the triangle was finally released to complete her plan. Under normal circumstances such spell would not be possible, not for a single witch that is, but thanks to the power of the triangle, a witch of Bonnie's caliber could do that and more. "When you die, you and your people won't join your friends on the other side," Bonnie said in a low growl. "Your souls will be trapped forever in a prison of my ancestors' making. For all eternity your clan will remember the price they paid for going against the Bennett bloodline," Bonnie hissed. She lowered her head against Sloan's ear and placed her hands on her delicate neck before whispering the final words.

Sloan's eyes opened wide. "No… please…" she begged. _This could not be her end._ With the horror of her last moments, Sloan swallowed her pride and begged, "Please..."

It was too late to plead for mercy.

Sloan had fought, Sloan had gambled on a plan, and lost.

The golden hybrid eyes and the veins beneath were the last thing the leader of the Travelers ever saw.

Bonnie snapped her neck with both of her hands.

Sloan and the Travelers were no more.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing._


	72. Chapter 72

**A/N:** _I'm sorry for the late update. I've been really busy lately and haven't had much free time to write but here is the new chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Thank-you for your patience and support._

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Klaus used his hybrid speed to enter the school and headed straight for the classroom where Bonnie's dad was kept captive. He could easily sense the five Travelers guarding him, his skin tingled as the powerful magic floated out of the room and into the corridor. The strong scent of blood also lingered in the air, Bonnie's dad was hurt and Klaus didn't hesitate to storm inside the classroom. He kicked the door open, hybrid face growling menacingly, and went straight for the kill.

The three men and the two women surrounding Bonnie's dad were startled by the surprise attack but they recovered quickly, raising their hands at the same time, and shouting different spells towards him.

Klaus managed to kill two of them, ripping their hearts out and throwing the bleeding organs on the floor before the spells hit him. He hissed in pain when small cuts formed on his face and neck. He groaned as the cuts penetrated his flesh; deep gashes that had rivers of blood oozing out. Another nastier spell burned half of his face but despite the pain and the momentary dizziness, Klaus did not stop. His healing abilities kicked in and helped him not to budge an inch, he still had three Travelers to kill. His golden eyes promised blood and he delivered. He killed another Traveler with a finesse that would have made Elijah proud. But just as he moved closer to Bonnie's dad and the last two Travelers still standing, a blur appeared out of nowhere and intercepted him.

 _Tyler._

Klaus growled as the younger hybrid grabbed him from behind, locking an arm around Klaus's neck and pulling him away until they crashed against the opposite wall. Tyler was quick and strong, he was perhaps one of the strongest hybrids he had ever sired but even then, Klaus easily yanked himself away from his grasp, turning around, and punching Tyler in the face with all his strength.

The blow knocked Tyler to the ground but he managed to recover quickly, throwing a couple of punches back at his sire. Klaus chuckled, easily avoiding each of the blows Tyler threw at him. _Did the stupid boy honestly believed he stood a chance against him?_ If it weren't for the fact that he was Bonnie's friend, he would have been dead on the spot.

The Travelers that remained alive moved closer, eyes darting from one blur to the other. This was their chance and they knew it. They held hands, opened their mouths ready to unleash another powerful spell against the hybrid, one that would take him out of the game completely. They didn't have the chance though. They waved their hands in front of their bodies, a litany of ancient words falling from their lips but nothing happened. Their magic did not work.

As the hybrids continued to fight, the Travelers looked at each other with confusion. Something had changed, they could feel it. Something had gone wrong.

"Our magic is gone," the woman murmured fearfully. "How can that be?" It seemed impossible to think that their magic that disappeared just like that. It was frightening.

Before the man could respond, both of their eyes went wide, their lips parted, and they fell to the ground dead. It was quick, the Travelers were not prepared for the lethal attack. They could have never predicted how efficiently Bonnie's spell would take them out. No one expected a spell like that. In a blink of an eye, the Travelers ceased to be.

Klaus and Tyler didn't even notice, they were too busy kicking and punching each other, or more like Klaus was doing the kicking and punching while Tyler attempted and failed to hurt him back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Klaus snarled at the younger hybrid.

Tyler's only response was to growl and launch himself at him again and again, each attempt failing miserably. Klaus was faster, stronger, and was avoiding his attacks with ease. His mocking laughter only helped to infuriate Tyler more. Truth be told, Klaus was having a bit of fun with the younger man.

"Enough!" Klaus finally got tired of playing games. He grabbed Tyler by the throat and brought him down to his knees in one quick move.

Tyler continued to growl while struggling to break free. Not even with all the strength he possessed, could he rip himself away from his sire. If he had been thinking rationally, he would have known better than to keep trying, he would have known better than to attack a vampire that was ten times older and stronger than him, but Tyler wasn't thinking. He was simply following the orders that had been burned in his brain by the Travelers' magic. He was like a starving, ferocious beast who could listen to no reason, and whose thirst for blood blinded everything else.

Klaus's fingers squeezed his throat harder as he looked down into Tyler's bloodshot eyes. "Stop moving," he commanded. Despite the Travelers' magic, Klaus's compulsion halted all of Tyler's movements. He tilted his head to the side and studied the angry beast in front of him. "What have they done to you?" he wondered. It was obvious Tyler was not himself.

Tyler's only response was another angry growl. In his state, that was the only way he knew how to communicate.

"Do you even understand what I'm saying?"

Another growl.

Klaus sighed in frustration, it was obvious he wasn't going to get anywhere with him. Frankly, he didn't have time for distractions. He had wasted more than enough time with Tyler and the Travelers guarding Bonnie's dad. He snapped Tyler neck and dropped his body to the floor as if he were a ragdoll. He would have to deal with him later.

Once he inspected the dead bodies of the Travelers inside the classroom, he moved his attention to the shivering man tied to a chair in the corner of the room. He looked on the brink of dead. Klaus materialized in front of the unconscious Rudy and quickly took stock of his injuries. He had been stabbed multiple times, his white dress shirt was soaked with blood. He also had a bump ion his forehead and was shaking and sweating while murmuring incoherently. His heartbeat was really low, Klaus had difficulty hearing it.

Rudy was dying.

That was something Klaus could not allow, for Bonnie's sake he had to save the man.

Klaus brought his wrist to his mouth and bit his flesh without preamble, quickly shoving it against the man's trembling lips. "You need to drink," he told Bonnie's father. "You must if you wish to live."

Rudy moaned in pain and Klaus took the opportunity to force his bloody wrist harder against his mouth, helping him to swallow the blood by massaging his neck. It seemed like an eternity before Rudy finally swallowed enough hybrid blood to begin closing the nasty wounds on his chest and abdomen.

Only when Klaus was satisfied that the man would live, did he pull his arm away.

* * *

 **The cave**

While Bonnie and her coven confronted the Travelers outside the school, Elijah, Lucy, Adriane, and Damon made their way to the cave. The Lockwood cellar was connected to the cave under the school by a series of tunnels and they slowly made their way towards it, under the protection of powerful cloaking spells.

The cave shook from time to time as the witches above traded spells back and forth. The magical fight ensuing outside was incredible and they all felt the currents of power that sparked from it. They also felt the sparks of magic radiating from inside the cave; the closer they got, the more it intensified.

"There is strong magic here," Lucy noted. The torch she held in her hand nearly blew out by a strong surge of wind coming from inside the cave. "We're getting close."

"Bonnie needs to complete the spell," Adriane murmured as they slowly made their way deeper inside. "Once she completes the spell, all the Travelers shall fall at once." Her eyes were glassy, lost in some sort of vision or feeling.

"Are you sure?" Damon asked from behind them.

"Bonnie is brilliant," Adriane replied confidently. "Her spells are effective."

A faint sound reached Elijah's ears, it sounded like chanting. "We're close," he murmured. "I can hear the Travelers chanting."

"From outside," Damon suggested.

"No," Adriane and Lucy said at the same time. "It's coming from the cave." As witches, they both could feel the powerful magic surging inside the cave.

"I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Elena is there." The hope in Damon's heart burned as bright as the torch Adriane held in her hand.

"We're almost there," Elijah murmured. "Don't do anything stupid," he cautioned the younger vampire. Elijah knew that out of all of them, Damon would be the one to ruin things.

Damon glared at him but kept his mouth shut, holding back a nasty rebuff.

"Remember the cave lies right at the center of the Expression triangle," Lucy warned them. "We have to be careful, all that power mixing with whatever spell the Travelers are doing is not good."

"There is at least a dozen Travelers in there," Elijah informed them. "I can smell blood too, lots of blood."

"Elena's blood," Damon's face shifted as the scent of his lover's blood reached his nose. "She's hurt." He was like a hurricane as he sped towards the cave.

"Damon, wait!" Lucy shouted after him.

"Idiot," Elijah hissed.

"Be careful!" Adriane's warning came too late, Damon tried to get inside the cave only to be forcibly pushed back by the invisible barrier protecting the people inside.

Damon groaned when his back connected with one of the cave walls. He stood up right away, and sped to the entrance where the invisible barrier prevented him access once more. "Damn it!" His eyes desperately searched for Elena. It didn't take long to find her. She was inside a circle of Travelers; Lenore, Katherine, and a Stefan look alike were with her. He pressed himself as close as possible to the barrier but didn't touch it. He was so close and yet, so far away.

The candles around the cave burned brightly as the Travelers surrounding them continued to chant furiously in their ancient language. Damon's throat went dry and his stomach coiled with fear when he saw the blood on Elena's abdomen. All of them were bleeding. "What the hell have they done to them?"

"It's part of the ritual," Adriane came to stand next to Damon. "Mixing their bloods together." Her eyes moved over the people inside the circle and then over the Travelers that continued to chant furiously. Above their heads, sparks of magic clashed together forming a dark cloud of power that grew with each passing minute. "This is not good," she murmured while raising her hands and lightly touching the barrier. "We need to stop this now," she closed her eyes and began chanting, desperate to break the barrier keeping them away and stop the ritual the Travelers were performing.

"Who is that?" Lucy asked while staring at a third Elena look alike with bewilderment. She knew Katherine, and she had briefly seen Elena while in Mystic Falls but she had no idea where the third woman sharing their face had come from.

"Another Petrova doppelgänger?" Elijah frowned as he too stared at the young woman who looked exactly like Katherine and Elena. She was dressed in a white flowing dress which was stained with her blood. "She's human." He stared at the blood flowing out the wound on her stomach before moving his eyes over the other four people inside the circle, they were all bleeding. Tom and Lenore in particular looked near the brink of death. He reached out and touched the barrier, pushing his hand against it until it burned. Elijah pulled his hand away, hissing in pain. He looked down at the nasty burn mark on his palm. His hand healed rapidly but there was a slight sting left. He turned to Lucy. She was already chanting and holding hands with Adriane as the two combined their magic in order to break the barrier.

"Hurry up," Damon desperately paced back and forth.

"Just give us a moment," Lucy whispered. "We're almost there."

"Just hold on Elena," Damon murmured frantically as he looked at her once more. "Juts hold on." His heart ached upon seeing Elena look so vulnerable. He knew that as a vampire, Elena could resist more than most but still, he was deeply worried. He would not know peace until he had her in his arms once more.

The black cloud swirling above the doppelgängers continued to grow and expand all over the cave, a strange hissing noise coming off it. It sounded like a horrendous screech to Damon's ears. "Come on," Damon turned to look at the Bennett witches. "Hurry." They were running out of time he could feel it.

"Shut up and let them do their work," Elijah snapped.

Damon pressed his lips together and kept his eyes glued to Elena's pale and sickly complexion, she looked like her life was being drained from her. A few moans of pain escaped her and it broke Damon's heart. "You're going to be okay Elena," he murmured, not taking his eyes away from her sickly face. "I promise."

"Almost there," Lucy whispered, sweat was already trickling down her face. "We're close, really close."

Adriene's eyes snapped open and she let go of Lucy's hand, a loud gasp escaping her lips.

Suddenly all the Travelers began falling to the ground. The magic protecting the cave gave away and the barrier disappeared instantly.

"What the hell?" Damon turned to Elijah feeling confused.

"Bonnie's spell," Elijah deduced quickly. "She did it," he whispered in awe. It shouldn't really surprise him considering how powerful Bonnie was and yet, it did.

"We need to get out of here now," Adriane cautioned them. "Get them out of here, now!" She screamed.

Damon didn't need to be told twice, he rushed inside the cave and picked Elena in his arms. He was a blur as he sped out of there.

"Get Lenore out of here!" Adriane pleaded with Elijah.

The Original nodded and rushed towards the Bennett witch, picking her in his arms. She was so pale and her heartbeat was almost nonexistent, he didn't hesitate and bit his wrist. Lenore moaned when he placed his bloody wrist against her mouth, it took a couple of seconds but she slowly began drinking his blood.

Elijah looked towards the others and turned his face away in pain when a swirl of dark magic burned him, he growled. His superior senses warned him of the danger as well. "The magic is getting out of control!" he yelled.

The Travelers were all dead, the barrier was down, but whatever spell they had been working on had not ceased upon their demise. The black swirl of dark magic grew around the cave creating powerful currents of electricity, wind, and dust. With each passing second, the dark magic grew out of control, making the air thick, and attacking their senses until it hurt.

"GET HER OUT!" Adriane shouted. "LEAVE NOW!"

"Elijah!"

Lucy was about to run towards him when Adriane grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"We must contain it," Adriane looked positively terrified. "We have to contain all this magic before it destroys everything." She stared into Lucy's eyes. "If it explodes…" she let the rest of the sentence hang in the air.

Lucy nodded, she understood what Adriane was trying to tell her. The Travelers had been defeated thanks to Bonnie's brilliant spell but the ritual they had started was about to culminate in an explosion of powerful magic that could kill all of them, even the whole town. She took Adriane's hand in hers, their powers joining once more.

The two cousins looked towards the black cloud surrounding the cave and raised their hands at the same time.

Elijah flashed towards them, carrying an unconscious Lenore in his arms. "I'm not leaving without you," he told Lucy.

"Get her out of here and come back for the others," Lucy ordered not even bothering to open her eyes. She wanted to look into his face and reassure him that everything was going to be okay but she had to concentrate on the spell. "Hurry!"

"Lucy…"

It was a painful plea and it tugged at her heartstrings. Her face softened for a second before a determined look crossed her features. "Go!" Lucy sent a wave of her magic and flung him out. They were running of time, he had to hurry. "Go!" she screamed.

Elijah had no choice but to obey, he gave one last look in her direction before using his vampires speed to get out of the cave with Lenore.

A couple of seconds later, the ground trembled forcibly.

Lucy and Adriane whimpered. Their magic was struggling to contain the dark cloud of power that had been created by the Travelers, the ripples of dark magic viciously tore through the barrier they had created to contain it. It grew and grew until it began to suck the life out of them.

The cave continued to be assaulted by powerful ripples that created an earthquake.

 _We won't be able to hold on for much longer,_ Lucy thought fearfully. Blood was running down her nose and ears, her body swayed from the trembles rocking the cave, and her head hurt. She felt lightheaded. In the distance, she could hear painful moans. The three people left inside with them were dying, she knew it. _Come on,_ she urged her magic to attack the wave, to suppress it, to keep it contained within the cave and tunnels and prevent a catastrophe. She hoped that the doppelgängers could hold on until then. She hoped that she would be able to hold on as well but she couldn't breathe. The dark magic was suppressing the oxygen in the cave, tainting the air with its toxic power, poisoning every living thing inside.

Tom moaned and coughed blood, his body began convulsing.

Katherine's body on the other hand began desiccating.

The other girl that looked like her, moaned and moved her head from one side as the magic touched her.

The magic was killing them.

The magic was killing Adriane and Lucy too.

"I can't…." Adriane sank to her knees, blood spilling from her eyes and mouth.

Lucy followed next, a chocking sound escaping her.

There was a loud BOOM!

Lucy's eyes snapped open just in time to see the black flames heading towards her. She gasped. Her mind screamed at her to run, to get the hell out but she couldn't move at all. She felt too tired.

Adriane screamed when she saw it but she couldn't move either.

 _This is it,_ Lucy thought closing her eyes and feeling the scorching heat on her skin. Her throat bled from the anguish screams that followed but she could hardly focus on that. There came a point when the pain was too much and she became numb. She thought of her mom, of the grief she would feel. _I'm so sorry mom_. she thought of her sister, Natalie. _I'll be with her on the other side._ Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Her last thought was of Elijah. _I love you…_

The black flames spread from deep under the ground, through the tunnels and eventually made their way up, engulfing the school in an inferno.

There was a sudden burst of light that engulfed the cave and cut through the dark flames.

A single figure slowly made her way through the inferno and extended her magic towards the people inside the cave, protecting them from the dark flames and soothing their wounds with her healing power.

Lucy fell to the ground, a small smile of relief on her face upon feeling the cool, familiar, and protective magic cocooning her in a bubble of strength. _Bennett magic,_ Lucy smiled and allowed the darkness to claim her.

* * *

As soon as she spotted Klaus, Bonnie let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. The hybrid flashed out of the high school carrying her father and Tyler on his shoulders. He dumped Tyler on the ground without care but carefully placed Bonnie's dad by her feet.

"Is he okay?" Bonnie asked worriedly, her eyes immediately spotted the blood soaking her father's white shirt. "Oh dad…" tears formed in her eyes.

Klaus helped her get down on her knees. "They stabbed him multiple times but I gave him my blood," he informed her. "He'll be fine." He gave her a reassuring smile. "He just needs to rest, that's all."

Bonnie's hand shook as she touched her father's sweaty forehead. Her magic swirled into her father's body and searched for any injures that still needed healing. She found none, Klaus's blood had taken care of it. Bonnie felt herself relax with the knowledge that her father would be okay. "Thank you," she looked into Klaus's eyes before glancing at Tyler. "Is he okay?"

"Tyler has been brainwashed by the Travelers. I snapped his neck but who knows if he'll be the same again."

"We can help him with that," Sheila replied with confidence. She glanced at Rudy before staring at the school, a rather worried look on her face.

"What is it?" Klaus asked, he had not missed the worried look on Sheila's face.

"I just have a bad feeling."

Bonnie glanced at her grandmother before focusing on Klaus once more. "Ayana went to the caves," she told him. "I haven't heard anything from Elijah and Lucy, have you?"

As if on cue, a blur sped out of the high school and materialized close to them. It was Damon and he had Elena in his arms.

"Is she okay?" Bonnie immediately noticed the blood on Elena's clothes. Klaus helped her to her feet.

"She was stabbed and so were the others," Damon responded. He deposited Elena on the ground and bit into his wrist, feeding her his blood. "Something is going on down there, something bad." He looked from Bonnie to Klaus. "There is this evil cloud of magic I think." His eyes darted to Sheila and he did a double take."You're a live!" he blurted out.

"Temporarily," Sheila's lips twitched at the look of awe she saw reflected in Damon's eyes.

"The Travelers," Bonnie murmured. "They must have started the ritual." She began walking towards the school without thinking.

Klaus grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "You will stay here," he hissed. "I'll go see what's going on."

"We don't have much time; the cave is about to explode."

Bonnie jumped back startled when she heard Elijah's voice next to her. He had appeared out of nowhere.

"Lucy and Adriane are trying to stop it." Elijah placed Lenore on the ground and looked at his brother. "The magic growing inside the cave is too dangerous to let loose on the town."

"Where is Lucy?" Joanna approached them and kneeled next to Lenore.

"I'll bring her back," Elijah promised and sped back inside the school without saying anything else.

"Don't let Bonnie go inside," Klaus ordered Sheila before he followed his brother back inside the school.

Bonnie didn't even have time to protest as the two disappeared from view. There was an anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Something bad is going to happen," she whispered. Her eyes were fixed on the school, the feeling of dread increasing with each passing second. She found herself taking a couple of steps forward.

"Don't," Sheila grabbed her hand and stopped her. "You must stay here."

"But…"

One stern look from her grandmother and Bonnie's protests died on her lips. She knew better than to contradict Sheila Bennett. She might be the queen of the Bennett coven but under her grandmother's stern look, Bonnie felt like a little girl again.

"Everything will be fine," Sheila said in a soothing voice. "You'll see."

The two of them stood side by side, contemplating the school while the rest of the Bennett witches began cleaning up the mess on the school grounds and parking lot. There were a lot of bodies that they needed to dispose of.

"Bonnie…" a timid voice said from behind her.

Bonnie spun around and found herself face to face with Caroline.

For a while they simply stood staring at each other, feeling unable to say anything. Neither of them knew where to start.

"Hi…" Caroline fidgeted nervously. Her eyes moved curiously over Bonnie's golden eyes and the pronounced veins covering her face and neck. She bit her lip. _Had Bonnie been turned?_ She wondered. _No, she still smelt human_. Caroline glanced at her big pregnant belly. She could hear Bonnie's heartbeat beating in tune with her children's.

Bonnie smiled and stared into her eyes. There was no sense of dread, no warnings ringing inside her head, and no strange feelings as she stared into Caroline's face. "Hi." There was so much Bonnie wanted to say but she couldn't find the words. "Are you okay?" she asked looking her over for any sign of injuries.

"I think so," Caroline swallowed nervously. She looked from Bonnie to Sheila who had a warm smile on her face. "How…" she made gestures with her hand. "You're here how…" She couldn't find the words to say all she wanted to say, to ask the million questions flying inside her mind. "All these women…" she looked over her shoulder and glanced back at Bennett witches surrounding them. "Your family how…" There was so much she didn't understand. She gave a quick look in Damon's direction, half expecting him to make some witty remark about her lack of intelligence but the vampire kept quiet. He watched her while cradling Elena tenderly in his arms.

"Bonnie willed it so."

Sheila's voice brought Caroline's attention back to her.

"Cause you're the queen of the witches, right?" Caroline gave Bonnie an unsure look. "I think I heard that, or you told me that…" her brows furrowed in confusion. "I don't know…" Caroline's mind was a mess. Her own memories were mixed with Lara's memories while she had been possessing her body. All the blood, gore, and evil deeds she had done in the past couple of weeks haunted her. Caroline did her best to try and block them for now because she felt like she was about to have a mental breakdown.

"Oh Caroline," Bonnie murmured sadly. "I'm so sorry. I should have known what was wrong, I should've helped you. I…" She felt guilty and ashamed that she had done nothing for her friend.

Caroline shook her head. "It's not your fault. I…" tears welled up in her eyes and her bottom lip trembled. "I'm sorry. I helped them. I…"

"You weren't yourself," Bonnie was quick to point out. "It's not your fault."

"I've done horrible things, Bon…I…" Her voice broke and she took a couple of steps closer. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…." She cried. She couldn't stop thinking about the awful things she had done while under Lara's control.

"It's okay," Bonnie met her halfway.

The two friends embraced warmly, they were both tearful but happy to be reunited again.

"I'm sorry," Caroline kept saying against Bonnie's shoulder.

"It's okay," Bonnie whispered back. "Everything is going to be okay."

Damon and Sheila watched them.

The loud BOOM shook all of them to the core.

"What the hell was that?" Tinisha asked worriedly nearly stepping over the body of one burned Travelers.

"An explosion," Sofia whispered fearfully. "Look!"

Bonnie and Caroline broke apart, both turning to stare at the school.

There was a hissing sound before a cloud of black power erupted from inside the school and exploded in the air.

"Oh my god!" Caroline placed he hand over her mouth and watched horrified as the black huge wave swirled towards them. She was frozen in fear.

"It's coming for us!" Damon stood up with Elena in his arms and glanced nervously at Bonnie. "Got any ideas witchy?" he asked, hoping that she would know how to fight that thing.

"One or two," Bonnie took a couple of steps closer.

"Bonnie!" Sheila tried to pull her back.

"Fuck!"

"Watch out!"

Bonnie paid no attention to the worried voices of her coven, she raised her hand and used Expression to create an invisible wall.

The dark cloud hit her wall head on. It made a horrible screeching sound like if someone were dying but it continued to push against her wall, determined to be set free.

Bonnie winced when she felt the heat on her hands and arms, her barrier was not going to last long. She summoned all the power of Expression and began to push back, forcing the dark magic to retreat. The stubborn and deadly force fought tooth and nail against her. Bonnie growled, her face twisting angrily as her hybrid abilities worked furiously to keep her on her feet and give her the strength she needed to destroy the sinister cloud. She had the power to do it, with Expression she could destroy it she knew but it was going to take a lot from her.

"You don't have to do it alone."

Bonnie turned to her right and stared at her grandmother.

"You're not alone, child." Sheila took her hand in hers and linked their magic together. At the end of the day, Bonnie was still a human pregnant woman, using so much of her power to destroy the dark magic could hurt her and her children. Sheila was not going to let that happen. "We're in this together," Sheila reminded her.

Bonnie gasped, feeling her grandmother's powerful magic connecting with hers, binding themselves together.

Expression roared happily as it was infused with more magic.

The dark wave of power was pushed further away from them.

Bonnie smiled.

Qetsiyah came to stand beside her and took her other hand.

Bonnie shivered and closed her eyes as the voltage of Bennett power increased, combining and fueling Expression even more than before. Aunt Vivian and Joanna linked their hands together. One by one all the Bennett's moved closer together, clasping their hands and forming a chain, linking their magic as one. Soon, the coven and Bonnie were one and the same.

It was the most exhilarating magical moment of her life.

Bonnie smiled as she felt them all, as their magic connected in ways it never had before. They were one and the same, a single unit, a single force of power that channeled the Expression triangle and unleashed all of its force on the swirling enemy in front of them.

The horrible dark flames slammed again and again, fighting to retain its strength, to break free and destroy all. The dark magic had been fueled by the blood of the doppelgängers, the anchor, and a Bennett witch, it had been blessed by the magic of the Travelers and had been formed at the center of the Expression triangle. But even with all of that in its favor, the current of dark magic was no match for the Bennett queen and her coven.

Caroline watched in awe as the huge black wave began to diminish, losing its strength and power under Bonnie's command. She stared at Bonnie and her family, at their joined hands, and felt the warmth, the vitality, the pure raw light that emanated from all of them.

 _The darkness always fears the light,_ she had heard someone say once. That saying had never been truer than in that moment. Caroline felt completely mesmerized by all of them. She knew Bonnie was capable of extraordinary things but this, it went beyond anything Caroline thought possible. As she stared at her best friend, Caroline couldn't help but admire her.

Damon clutched Elena tighter to her chest and also watched the incredible display of magic. The Bennett's were an orchestra of power and Bonnie was its conductor. There was so much light, so much raw magic floating about, the night became day. The school and its grounds were bathed with light for a couple of electrifying minutes.

Bonnie let out a ferocious growl and with one last wave of her hand, she destroyed the dark cloud of magic.

The flames disintegrated completely, dispersing like dust with the wind.

Sweat trickled down her face and a shaky smile formed on her lips. The combined power of the Bennett coven had completely destroyed the dark cloud that had threatened to spread throughout town and destroy everything in its path. It was over at last. Bonnie smiled before looking nervously at the school. She thought of Klaus and Elijah and her cousins down in the cave. As the queen of the coven she could feel Lucy and Adriane, she could tell they were alive still. _But had they been harmed? Was everyone safe?_ She wondered fearfully. The school was damaged and inside it was probably worse. Bonnie kept staring at the burned building and waited for Klaus and Elijah to return. _Please let them all be okay._

There were murmurs behind her as the Bennett's came down from their magical high. Their bodies were tingling, their breathing was uneven, and their combined magic radiated sparks that supplied the atmosphere with raw magic that flowed freely. All around them, the combined Bennett power could be felt. It reminded them of the night the Bennett coven had officially been formed again.

"Woah," Beatrice's legs were shaky but she had a stupid grin on her face.

"That was awesome," Tinisha and Natalie hi fived while Sofia grinned from ear to ear. Even the usually cold Qetsiyah had a small smile on her face.

"It's over," Diana whispered with relief. "We did it."

Aunt Vivian nodded and smiled proudly.

"We did," Sheila squeezed Bonnie's hand and smiled. _Don't worry,_ her eyes said. _Everything will be fine._

 _I hope so,_ Bonnie thought.

* * *

As the magic floating about finally began to dispersed, Bonnie saw Klaus and Elijah calmly steeping out of the ruined school building. Klaus was carrying Adriane while Elijah carried Lucy in his arms, both girls were unconscious. Ayana walked in between them, a girl in a flowing white dress soaked with blood floating by her side.

Bonnie let out a breath of relief as soon as she spotted them.

"Lucy!" Joanna rushed towards her daughter. "No…" she muttered fearfully.

Natalie peered down at her sister before staring at the tall, dark, and handsome vampire holding her. "Is she…" she couldn't even bring herself to say the words.

"She's fine," Elijah said with a reassuring smile. "Ayana kept them safe." He glanced at the woman he considered his second mother feeling extremely grateful for her quick thinking. He was pretty sure his dead heart had stopped when he saw the inferno engulfing the cave. The fear and anguish he had felt for Lucy had been unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He and Klaus had been consumed by the flames, their skins melting to their bones but they had still pushed inside the cave. The moment they felt Ayana's familiar presence, they knew all would be well.

"She used her magic to protect them from the explosion," Klaus added. The admiration and respect he felt for Ayana was visible on his face and voice. "She helped us as well."

"I did as much as I could," Ayana replied sadly. "It was not enough."

"What do you mean?" Damon and Bonnie asked at the same time. Lucy and Adriane looked okay.

"Tom and Katherine are dead," Klaus looked at Bonnie as he spoke. "By the time we got there, her body had desiccated and his heart had stopped beating. Lucy and Adriane were barely clinging to life." He had never seen Elijah look so worried and desperate. Klaus could only image what been going through his brother's head at that time.

"By the time I got there, they were already dead," Ayana's somber voice was filled with regret. After realizing what was happening, she had focused her power on keeping Lucy and Adriane alive and to keep the flames from consuming them until Bonnie and the rest of the coven destroyed it.

Bonnie gasped and immediately glanced at Damon. It was no secret Damon had been in love with Katherine after all. She also felt sad for Tom, the poor man had been kidnapped and scarified by the Travelers. He didn't deserve to die like that.

"She's dead…" Damon murmured with incredulity. Katherine Pierce had always been a survivor, he found it hard to believe that she had finally met her end. He honestly didn't know how to feel in that moment. He glanced down at Elena. The one thing he felt though was relief, he was glad it had been Katherine and not Elena.

"She got what she deserved," Klaus spat. He hated Katherine and he felt glad she was gone for good. He hadn't forgotten that Katherine had helped Sophie and her sister kidnap Bonnie with the help of the Navarro wolves. For that alone, she deserved to die.

"Tom didn't deserve to die," Caroline whispered. She had seen the man who looked like Stefan a few times when he had been captive. While Lara hadn't interacted much with the prisoners, Tom had seemed like a nice and descent human being. She felt sorry for him.

Klaus studied her face carefully, wondering if she was truly herself. He looked at Bonnie for confirmation. He wasn't getting any weird vibes from Caroline but still, one could never be too careful.

 _She is,_ Bonnie answered with her mind. _Caroline is her old self again._

Klaus nodded. He placed Adriane on the ground, next to Bonnie's dad and walked to stand beside Bonnie, taking her hand in his.

Caroline watched their interactions with curiosity.

"It's for the best," Qetsiyah's voice got everyone's attention. "All doppelgängers should die." She looked directly at Elena who was still unconscious in Damon's arms. "Their existence only causes trouble." Her eyes gleamed with malice.

Damon growled in warning.

Qetsiyah chuckled, feeling amused by the young vampire.

"Who is she?" Tinisha pointed out to the young woman in the flowing white dress.

"She was harmed but her wounds healed on their own," Elijah remarked. He couldn't deny he felt intrigued by the mysterious woman. "She's human though."

"Another doppelgänger," Emily crossed her arms over her chest. She definitely did not feel sorry about Katherine's death. She had come to realize that doppelgängers were indeed trouble. Nothing ever good came with associating with them, she had learned that the hard way.

"She's much more than that," Qetsiyah hissed while looking at the floating girl next to Ayana. There was no denying the hatred reflected in her eyes. "She's the anchor to the other side," she revealed at last. "A true immortal."

There were many gasps and murmurs from all the Bennett witches surrounding her. Qetsiyah was a woman of many mysteries and she had kept the anchor's identity close to her heart for centuries.

"You used a doppelgänger as the anchor?" Ernestine asked incredulous.

"Amara and Silas betrayed me," Qetsiyah sneered. "They took the immortality elixir and shared it together. I took my revenge on both of them." She looked at Bonnie. "As a true Immortal, Amara was the perfect candidate to anchor the other side. The Travelers knew it and that's why they tried to destroy her with their ritual."

"As long as she exists so will the other side," Elijah murmured.

Qetsiyah nodded.

Many of the Bennett women shook their heads, Qetsiyah was notorious for her pettiness and her obsession with Silas.

"What will happen to her now?" Damon asked curiously.

"We must hide her," Aunt Vivian was the one to respond. "We must ensure no one will use her again to destroy the other side." She looked at Bonnie. "We can't allow her to fall in the wrong hands."

Bonnie nodded.

"I will take care of it," Klaus volunteered. "I know a place where no one will ever find her."

Qetsiyah watched him suspiciously but refrained from making any nasty remarks. Bonnie trusted the hybrid after all.

"We must also ensure that the Travelers spell did not cause too much damage to the other side," Alina added as she came to stand next to her mother.

"The veil between both worlds is definitely weaker as a result of the Travelers spell," Ayana commented.

"You must send us back," a worried Pauline said to Bonnie. "We must restore the barrier before it's too late."

"Can anyone escape from the other side with a weak barrier?" Elijah asked in a neutral voice. He and Klaus shared knowing looks.

"They can make their presence known in the world of the living," Sheila responded.

"They can't return to the land of the living on their own," Ayana continued. "But if someone helps them…" she trialed off. She knew exactly who Elijah and Klaus were worried about returning to the land of the living.

"We can't waste time," Ernestine added worriedly. "We need to stop those witches who wish to return to life from achieving their evil goal. Sent us back," she urged Bonnie.

Bonnie felt a pang in her heart at the thought of saying goodbye to her family. "Don't be sad," Alina whispered. "This won't be the last time you will see us." She gave a pointed look at her pregnant belly.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked intrigued by her words.

Alina only smiled.

"Let's do this," Qetsiyah interrupted and motioned for the dead Bennett's to gather together in a circle. "The sooner we get this over with, the best it will be for all."

"How exactly are we going to restore the other side?" Natalie asked them.

"The same way it was created," Bonnie replied while meeting Qetsiyah's eyes. "With Bennett blood and magic." She had the perfect solution to heal the other side from all the damage inflicted by the Travelers and now it was the time to put her plan into action. She moved her eyes over each and every one of the Bennett women present. "It's going to take all of us," she said with determination. "Our combined magic and blood to repair the other side, we must do it together."

Her coven nodded.

Qetsiyah raised her left hand and split the skin of her palm open with a simple spell, blood flew out of the wound and dripped down to her wrist, a crimson river of ancient power that fueled the earth with a sweet and intoxicating aroma. "Shall we begin?"

The Bennett witches moved and formed a circle, all of them cutting their palms open and letting their blood trickle down their arms and fall on the ground so it could mix together. The earth was charged with their combined magic, sparks of light began forming and floating all around them.

Bonnie took a deep breath and began chanting.

* * *

 **Later...much later...**

The Bennett's returned to the other side with the first morning rays of the sun. It was a bittersweet moment for Bonnie, the sweetness of their victory against the Travelers combined the bitterness of saying goodbye to her family, to her Grams, to the many women she admired and respected. Bonnie had been really sad to see them go, her Grams in particular.

Sheila had hugged her and kissed her cheek, telling her how proud she felt of her. "We will always be with you," her grandmother vowed as she cupped her cheek. "You might not see us, you might not feel us but we are with you always." She kissed her forehead and disappeared with the morning mist.

Long after her family returned to the other side, Bonnie stood breathing the cold morning air and staring at the clear blue sky. Now that the fight was finally over, she could rest. The pronounced veins over her body disappeared with the cool breeze caressing her skin. The golden hue of her eyes returned to their normal vibrant green and the magic of the Expression triangle became dormant once more. Her body swayed slightly and Bonnie closed her eyes, touching her forehead with one hand.

She felt Klaus's strong arms wrapping around her and pulling her closer to him. He stood behind her, her back pressed to his chest. His hot breath tickled her ear and Bonnie sank into him, her body melting against him. "I'm fine," she murmured before he could even ask. "Just tired."

"Let's go home then."

Home for now was the Mikaelson mansion, the house Klaus had lived in while in Mystic Falls. The place had been secured with lots of protective enchantments and served as a safe house for Matt and Liz while they waited for the battle to be over.

Bonnie only felt the wind hitting her cheeks as Klaus used his hybrid speed to take her there.

There was a lot to be done still, Mystic Falls was in chaos after the battle against the Travelers. Aya and her group had destroyed the vampires that attacked them and found many humans hidden in the town's church and local bar. Those humans had to be compelled, the bodies of the vampires and Travelers had to be disposed of, and everyone needed to rest and recharge their batteries. Her cousins and friends had already made themselves at home, picking rooms upstairs. Even Damon had taken one of the guest bedrooms of Klaus's home instead of going to the boarding house. Bonnie felt glad because she wished to speak to Elena, she wanted to see how her friend was doing after her ordeal. She also needed to check on Lucy, Adriane, and Lenore. They were currently resting upstairs, as were Caroline and Tyler. Her hybrid friend had been cleansed and freed from whatever spell the Travelers had put on him, all thanks to Bonnie's grandmother. Bonnie also wanted to talk to him and Caroline, but for the time being she was letting them get some well needed rest.

She let out a big sigh when Klaus deposited her gently on the couch in the living room. It was over, at last. The Travelers had been destroyed and the other side was safe. They had done it. She and her coven had succeeded in preserving the other side. _I could use some rest too,_ Bonnie thought feeling rather sleepy. She felt a little tired but overall, she felt fine. She hadn't over exhausted herself and that was really good, especially for her little ones.

Bonnie placed her hands over her big belly and a soft smile formed on her lips upon feeling the twins' hard kicks. She rubbed her stomach and even winced when one of them kicked her really hard on the ribs. The further her pregnancy progressed, the more uncomfortable it became for her. _Soon,_ she thought dreamily. Soon, she would have her babies in her arms.

The gentle feel of Klaus's fingers tracing her cheek had her moaning contently and leaning into his touch, like a flower against the rays of the sun.

"How are you feeling?"

Bonnie opened her eyes and offered him a reassuring smile. "My feet are killing me," she mumbled. Her feet and ankles were very swollen as a matter of fact.

Klaus took a seat on the coffee table and carefully pulled her legs onto his lap, Bonnie leaned back against the cushions. He took her flats off and discarded them on the floor before gently rubbing her feet.

Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and moaned as he began to massage her swollen feet. "That feels so good," she bit her lip, feeling embarrassed by the noises coming out of her mouth. Who knew that something so simple could bring her so much pleasure and make her feel so relaxed. After the eventful day they had, she was ready so succumb to Klaus's gentle hands. "You're really good at this."

Klaus chuckled, applying a little more pressure and making her moan in delight. Her cheeks were flushed, her heart was pounding loudly, and small trembles rolled over her body causing him great pleasure. He would never get tired of feeling and seeing the effect he had on her, the way his touch could arouse her and made her tremble with want.

"From now on, I demand that you rub my feet every night."

"It would be my pleasure, love."

Bonnie's heart did flip flops and her lips twitched into a happy grin. "How is everything?"

"All the newborn vampires had been taken care of," Klaus responded. "Aya and her vampires found many humans locked at the Grill and a couple other places in town, they have all been compelled to think there was a massive gas leak which caused the school to blow up. I'm sure everything will start to return to normal soon."

"Where do you think the vampires helping the Travelers came from?" Bonnie wondered suddenly.

"They were newborns," Klaus stared into her eyes. "Recently turned."

Bonnie studied his features, there was something in the way he was looking at her. "You don't think…" _could Caroline and Tyler had sired all those new vampires?_

"Caroline and Tyler were the only vampires in town," Klaus answered. "Who else could have done it?"

"The hybrids you had watching over my dad," Bonnie reminded him. "Were they brainwashed by the Travelers too?"

Klaus nodded. "Alexa and Jesse took care of them."

Silence descended over them after that.

Bonnie continued to moan softly as Klaus massaged her feet. His fingers left a trail of scorching heat on her skin, a heat that spread from the tip of her toes to the top of her head. It made her feel hot and wanton. Her green eyes darkened with desire and she suddenly grabbed him by his shirt, fingers clenching on the fabric and tugging hard, until she pulled his body towards her.

Klaus who continued rubbing her feet, arched an eyebrow at the sudden strength she displayed. Her eyes had returned to normal, her skin was no longer covered in veins but she was clearly taking advantage of her enhanced strength. The bond allowed her to tap into his hybrid abilities and Bonnie was taking full advantage of it.

Bonnie's eyes flickered to his full lips before she looked up into his stormy blue eyes. The desire, the love, and adoration she saw reflected back in them had her melting into a puddle of goo.

Klaus smirked, easily reading her thoughts. The bond pulsed with their need for each other, it was a call to both of their bodies to move, to act, and come together like they had done a thousand times before.

They shared a loving smile before their lips met in a passionate kiss.

It was like fireworks.

The kiss was long and deep. The world faded away as their tongues danced together, as his body pressed her firmly against the cushions, and his hand cradled her face tenderly.

Bonnie moaned, feeling out of breath but refusing to pull away from him. She could never get enough from him.

Someone cleared their throat and the two lovers broke apart.

"Dad!" Bonnie froze, her eyes going wide. She felt like a small child who had been caught with her hand inside the cookie jar. Her lips parted and she stared her dad, not knowing what to say. "You're awake!" she pulled her legs away from Klaus and attempted to stand up but it proved to be a difficult task given her big belly. She groaned when she sank back in the couch.

Klaus calmly stood up and helped her to her feet. He frowned when he heard the thundering beating of her heart and felt the anxiousness and fear building inside of her. Bonnie was really nervous.

"How are you feeling?" The words rushed out of her mouth while a hint of red colored her cheeks. She couldn't believe her dad had caught her kissing Klaus.

Her father stood by the door. He looked tired but he was standing tall and proud, one hand still on the doorknob. His eyes were glued to her belly.

Bonnie's heart dropped and her body tensed.

Klaus stood protectively by her side, his face a mask of indifference.

Neither of them said anything, they simply watch Rudy. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her father lifted his face and stared into her fearful eyes. There were so many different emotions crossing his features. He didn't say anything but his jaw clenched and he swallowed hard.

"Dad…I…" her courage failed her and she looked down. Bonnie could face an entire army of witches and live to tell the tale but she could not find the strength to face her father. The guilt, the nerves, the uncertainty, all of it tore at her heart as she contemplated her bare feet. This was definitely not the way she wanted to tell her dad about her pregnancy.

"I would like a moment alone with my daughter."

Rudy's voice was harsh, he could barely control the emotions slamming through him. He wasn't asking Klaus to leave them alone, he was ordering him to do so. He hardly spared a glance at the hybrid, choosing to focus on his pregnant daughter instead.

Bonnie swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to Klaus.

Klaus's face twisted angrily as he contemplated the human.

Bonnie tensed once more. _Don't make this worse,_ she thought. She didn't know what to expect. Her father was angry and so was Klaus and she hoped for all of their sakes neither man would decide to start throwing blows. She glanced nervously at Klaus, sensing that he did not wish to leave her alone. _Just give us a moment alone._

Klaus turned to face her. _I should be here_.

 _I need to speak with him first_ , Bonnie countered.

Klaus didn't look pleased but he eventually gave a curt nod.

"I will be right outside," Klaus said looking at Rudy with defiance. _You don't intimidate me,_ his eyes seemed to say. When he turned to face Bonnie once more, his eyes softened. He took both of Bonnie's hand in his and squeezed her fingers.

Bonnie nodded. _I will be fine, don't worry._

Klaus raised her hands and placed a gentle kiss on each of her knuckles.

Bonnie's entire body was set aflame by the romantic gesture. She felt thrilled, embarrassed, and uncertain by the whole thing. Her father was watching them with an unreadable expression on his face and Bonnie wondered if Klaus had done it on purpose. _Did he want her father to see how much he cared?_

Klaus's eyes lingered on her face before finally leaving the room.

Once they were alone, father and daughter contemplated each other in silence.

Rudy closed the door and locked it. He didn't want anyone interrupting their conversation. He took a couple of steps closer to her and stared into her eyes. "When were you planning on telling me?" he demanded to know while looking down at her pregnant belly. His eyes returned to her face quickly. "How long where you planning on keeping your pregnancy a secret from me?"

Bonnie swallowed painfully and took a deep breath. _This is it,_ she thought and met her father's hard gaze. The moment of truth had arrived.


	73. Chapter 73

**I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Bonnie had imagined this moment many times. She had rehearsed what she would say, she had thought of ways to soften the blow, to let the words out and explain things before her father could ask too many questions but now that the moment had arrived at last, she didn't know where to begin.

 _How can one begin to explain this?_

Her mind supplied her with many different ideas but none made it past her lips, her throat was clogged, and her courage and determination seemed to have disappeared with the morning sunlight. She was a witch, a wife in every sense of the word, a mother to be, and the queen of a powerful coven but staring into her father's hard face and angry eyes made her feel like a child; a very scared child.

The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever as Rudy waited for her to answer his questions. Bonnie wanted to, she really did. But she couldn't find her voice. She shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her feet. Not even facing an entire coven of witches on her own had made her so afraid.

"When were you going to tell me?" Rudy asked. He kept his back to the door, choosing to stand far away from her. "Why have you kept this from me?"

"I…" Bonnie's throat constricted. She raised her face and met his eyes once more. "I'm sorry," she managed to say. "I'm really sorry dad."

Rudy didn't say anything, he simply watched her. His face was a poem of sadness, regret, worry, and so much more that Bonnie couldn't really keep up.

"I didn't know how to tell you…" her voice sounded strange to her own ears. _Was she trembling? Or was it her imagination?_ She suddenly felt really cold. I…" She swallowed hard. "I was afraid," she admitted at last. "I didn't know how you were going to react and-"

"Afraid," her father repeated. He looked away and rubbed his hand over his face.

Bonnie bit her lip.

"I suppose I've never made it easy for you to come to me."

There was so much sadness in her father's voice, so much guilt as well. Bonnie stood rooted to the spot, not knowing how to respond. She had been expecting him to lash out. She had expected to hear his anger and disappointment but she had never expected him to sound so sad and look so remorseful as he did in that moment.

Rudy's sad eyes lowered towards her belly before moving up to her face again. "Ever since you were a little girl," he began, his voice trembling with emotion. "You never came to me, not really. Whenever you were afraid, angry, or sad it was always _Grams._ " He laughed, a painful sound that echoed around the room. "You always preferred Sheila over your mother and me," he stated. There was no anger in his voice, only acceptance.

 _You always preferred her over me,_ Abby had said to her when Bonnie had confronted her about her real reason for leaving. She had said the words with a bitterness even Bonnie had tasted. Not her father though. Rudy did not seem to resent Grams in the same way Abby did.

"You always loved her more than anyone."

"Dad…I…"

"It's okay," Rudy whispered. "It's my fault," he confessed with emotion clawing at his throat. "This distance between us, this wall that separate us…" He glanced away, his face breaking. "It's my fault," he repeated.

Silenced descended over them.

Bonnie took the moment to study her father. He looked tired, and much older than his years. It struck her how frail, how _human_ he was. Bonnie's body was pumped with magic, with raw power that flowed through her veins and made her feel alive and gave her unimaginable strength but her father had none of that. He didn't even have the inhuman strength that came with being a vampire. When she was little, her father had always seemed so tall and strong. There was none of that now. Even the light in his eyes had diminished.

"Tell me."

Bonnie felt startled by the sound of his voice.

"Tell me what's going on?" Her father took a couple of steps closer. "What happened out there while I was kidnapped? Sloan she-" there was a guilty look on his face at the mention of his former _girlfriend_. "We…" he couldn't even begin to explain his relationship with Sloan so he settled for a simple sentence. "It's complicated."

"I'm sure," Bonnie replied lamely. She still couldn't believe her father had been seduced by that evil woman. She also felt angry, not at her father but at herself. She should've been more suspicious. Bonnie should have investigated the woman dating her father and learned of her plans long before the Travelers made a move against her dad and friends.

Rudy looked away from her, feeling guilty and angry at himself. He finally turned back and looked at her big pregnant belly once more. "How could you keep something so important from me?" he reproached her. It was easier to focus on Bonnie's pregnancy than deal with the fallout of his relationship with the leader of the Travelers. "Where you ever going to tell me?" he wondered, a wounded look crossing his features.

"I was planning to," Bonnie replied quietly. She looked away from him guiltily. She hadn't exactly been rushing to do so. It was something she had always been pushing to the back of her mind. She had always been waiting for the perfect moment and that moment had never arrived. Not when she had been constantly battling foes.

Her father's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Were you?" he didn't look like he believed her.

 _Where had everything gone wrong?_ Bonnie wondered absently. _Had this endless and turbulent sea separating them always existed?_ It hurt.

"So much has happened," Bonnie began nervously. "It's been one thing after another, I couldn't find the right time. And I didn't want to do it over the phone either." _Excuses, excuses, excuses,_ her mind chanted. _It was easier if he didn't know, admit it._

"So, you kept quiet for months," her father muttered.

"I thought you would be safe if I kept you in the dark but you weren't…." She trailed of, a wave of guilt slamming through her then. If only she had been able to anticipate the Travelers' plans from the very beginning. They wouldn't have come to Mystic Falls, they wouldn't have put her father in danger.

Rudy watched her carefully.

Bonnie could practically see the wheels in his head turning. His father's mind was filled with endless questions, he was dying the shoot all of them at once but he also seemed apprehensive of the potential answers. There was a part of her that wanted to start blurting everything out, a part that needed to lay it all out in the open but she managed to control herself. She decided to let her father set the pace of their conversation, to dictate how he wanted to approach the elephant in the room, and seek the answers he needed.

"When are you due?" he asked suddenly.

"February," Bonnie responded timidly. "Valentine's day, actually."

Rudy's jaw clenched. "Over seven months," he whispered and shook his head. "This whole time I've been thinking you were at Whitmore, enjoying your first semester of college."

"I'm sorry."

"He's the father," Rudy's hands clenched painfully. "That creature you were kissing-"

Bonnie flinched. "His name is Klaus," she snapped defensively. She felt very protective of Klaus and wasn't going to let anyone insult him, not even her dad. "And yes, he's the father of my children."

Rudy stared at her in bewilderment. He blinked a few times, thinking that perhaps he heard wrong. The look on his daughter's face told him that he had heard right. "Children?"

"Yes." Bonnie watched the different emotions playing across his face and waited for him to process the news.

"Twins," he stammered while gawking at her belly. "You're carrying twins?"

"Yes," Bonnie confirmed. "A boy and a girl." She couldn't stop the soft smile forming on her lips at the thought of the little boy and the little girl growing inside her.

Her father's body trembled, from anger, from shock, Bonnie wasn't completely sure, so she waited. She wanted to reach out and touch him but something held her back. The fear that her father would reject her was too powerful.

"I need a drink," Rudy looked desperately around the living room but there was no alcohol in sight.

With a wave of her hand, Bonnie conjured a bottle of whiskey and a glass from Klaus's study.

Rudy snapped his head in her direction, his eyes went wide and his mouth opened in surprise. He watched with a mixture of fascination and uncertainty as the bottle floated in between them and poured some of the liquid inside the crystal glass which then floated towards his hand. He licked his lips, a nervous gesture since he was a boy and stared at the floating glass of whiskey before looking at Bonnie who shrugged. His hand shook as he finally accepted the glass. He drank all of it in one go and squeezed his eyes shut while the alcohol burned down his throat.

"You haven't been at Whitmore, have you?" he finally found his voice again after another couple of minutes of painful silence.

Bonnie shook her head, a guilty look on her face.

"I never questioned anything. I never worried, I never doubted you," he murmured, the pieces of the puzzle coming together. "Why?" his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Bonnie looked away.

"Did he compel me?"

"Not Klaus," Bonnie turned back to face him. "One of his hybrids did, they were watching over you." The wounded look in his eyes cut through her like a knife. "They made you think we spent the summer together before I went to Withmore. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry dad," she apologized sincerely. "Klaus didn't want you to worry about me or come looking for me, it would've been too dangerous for you. I'm sorry."

"Where have you been?" Rudy demanded. "What else have you been keeping from me?" he sounded desperate and hurt. Her father looked devastated and Bonnie held back a sob. "I want the truth, I _need_ to know the truth." He looked into her eyes. "No more lies, Bonnie."

Bonnie let out a shaky breath and nodded slowly. "No more lies," she agreed.

* * *

Lucy's eyes blinked open and the air left her lungs at the sight that greeted her. Elijah's naked back was the first thing she saw, a white towel hung low around his hips while droplets of water slid down the hard muscles of his perfect back. A low moan escaped her, remembering the times her nails had raked down his back as he moved inside her. Lucy sat up right away, heart skipping a beat and mind fully alert.

Elijah was smirking as he turned around to face her, a navy-blue dress shirt in hand. "Good morning," he greeted softly.

"Morning," Lucy mumbled while her eyes moved over his well sculptured chest. _He was so sexy!_ She bit her lip and imagined her hands touching that pale skin.

Elijah placed the shirt at the edge of the bed and flashed towards her side, sitting next to her. "How are you feeling?" he asked while tracing his knuckles over her cheek.

"I feel great," Lucy's brows furrowed. "It's weird, the last thing I remember was that wave of dark magic, the heat, and the pain…" she shivered. "You gave me your blood, didn't you?" there was not a single scratch on her, that much she knew.

Elijah nodded. "Do you have any idea how I felt when I went back into the cave and saw the flames consuming everything," Elijah's voice sounded strained and he pulled his hand away from her face and clenched it into a fist. "Lucy, I thought…" he couldn't even bring himself to finish the sentence. Never before had he experienced so much fear.

"What happened?" Lucy asked him softly as she took his hand. "How did you get me out? Where are we?" there was no doubt in her mind Elijah had rescued her. "My mom? Bonnie? Adriane? She fired one question after another, eager to know the fate of her family.

"They're fine. It's over," Elijah was quick to assure her. "The Travelers are gone. The other side still stands and we're at the mansion. Everyone needed to rest after the battle."

Lucy felt relieved to hear that.

"Ayana saved you. She used her magic to keep you and Adriane safe," Elijah explained. "She also helped Klaus and I get you out of there without getting hurt." The respect and adoration he felt for Ayana was palpable.

Lucy got the feeling that there was a but coming. "But…" she almost felt afraid to ask.

"Tom and Katerina did not make it."

"Oh." Lucy looked down at their joined hands. She felt sorry for Tom, he was the most innocent out of all of them, a human that got caught up in the drama of the supernatural world because he had the misfortune of being a doppelgänger. He didn't deserve to die. As for Katherine, Lucy honestly didn't feel a thing. "Are you okay?" she asked Elijah, raising her face to meet his eyes. She knew Katherine and Elijah had a thing, he had told her about it.

"It's strange," Elijah murmured. "Katerina always found a way to win, to escape the fate of all doppelgängers. She was a survivor." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "Her death did not affect me in the way I thought it would," he admitted. The intensity of his gaze had Lucy's body erupting in flames. "Whatever feelings I once believed to have towards Katerina died long before she did."

She didn't show it but the relief and happiness Lucy felt upon hearing those words was incredible. Elijah was a thousand years old, he was a man who had loved and been loved more than once throughout that time and while she understood that he had a past, there were parts of her that felt a bit jealous. Tatia, Celeste, and Katherine were three women who had marked Elijah's life in different ways, women he had loved once and she couldn't demand for him to throw away those memories. Elijah was the kind of man who cherished that past in his own way and Lucy would not judge or resent him for it, she couldn't.

"If I'm being honest, my only concern was you," Elijah continued.

Lucy's heart skyrocketed. There was a pleased smile on her face and her eyes lit up with happiness.

"For a moment, I feared-"

Lucy placed her fingers over his lips silencing him. "I know." She understood perfectly well what he had felt. She had feared the same thing. She had thought she was going to die and her last thought had been of him, of how much she loved him. As she recalled those horrible moments and stared into his handsome face, she couldn't stop the words that came straight from her heart. "I love you," she said suddenly.

Elijah smiled, a rare and unguarded smile that lit up the entire room. Few had been privileged to see such an unguarded and happy expression on his face. He nibbled on her fingers before he pulled her hand away from his mouth, lacing their hands together and meeting her eyes one more. "And I love you," he confessed with pure adoration.

How sweet, how utterly wonderful it felt to hear those words, it made her blood sing and her heart leap with joy. She had never been so happy, and so in love as she was now. They both leaned forward at the same time. "Say it again," Lucy whispered, her lips mere inches from his.

"I love you, Lucy."

His voice was rich, sinful and it made her tingle from head to toe. Lucy laughed happily and threw her arms around his neck. "I love you," she whispered against the skin of his neck. "So much," she pressed a soft kiss there before pulling her face away and bumping her nose against his. She grabbed his face with both of her hands and pulled him into a heated kiss.

Elijah smiled against her lips before crushing her to him, arms holding her tight against his naked chest as he returned her kiss with equal passion.

Lucy moaned as he pushed her back against the bed, his strong body caging her underneath him. Their hands began exploring while their mouths devoured each other and their bodies melted together, joining as one.

They were both incredibly happy.

* * *

Bonnie gave her father a summarized version of events. She was honest but she didn't go into much detail on certain matters, too many things had happened since she left Mystic Falls so she carefully went over the big events and chose to skip some of the less pleasant moments she had endured while in New Orleans (Franco's obsession with her, her miscarriage threat, and the horrible truths she had uncovered about her mother to name a few). She knew that if her father were to find out all the times her life had been in danger, he would demand for her to return to Mystic Falls. That was the last thing Bonnie needed or wanted.

"You've been living with _him_ in New Orleans," Rudy repeated after another long silence. His face was a mixture of different emotions as his brain processed everything Bonnie had shared with him. "You reformed the Bennett coven and have been fighting all kinds of supernatural creatures in New Orleans while pregnant." There was a reproachful look on his face at that.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Bonnie began nervously.

"The life you are leading in New Orleans is filled with constant danger," Rudy remarked. "And something tells me you are not being completely honest about everything you've been up to since you left." He gave her a knowing look. Rudy knew that she didn't want him to worry and was probably making things lighter than they had actually been. "You're pregnant, Bonnie. You shouldn't-"

"There is no need to worry, dad," she interrupted quickly. "You would be surprised at what your grandchildren are capable of doing from the womb." _If he only knew the half of it,_ Bonnie thought.

"How can you expect me not to worry when you're telling me you've been fighting evil witch covens, werewolves, and trying to stop the other side from collapsing!"

"I haven't been doing it alone!" Bonnie snapped back. "This is not like when I was here and I had to shoulder all the responsibility." Long gone were the days when it was her against the world, now she had her family watching her back, and she had Klaus at her side. "This is different."

"But you're still putting yourself in danger," Rudy countered. "You are still battling evil forces and risking your life, your children's life when you don't have to-"

"I'm a witch dad!" Bonnie yelled. "I'm a part of the supernatural world whether you like it or not. Things are changing, the balance of power is shifting and-"

"And you have to be a part of this change?"

"I've been at the center of it without even knowing it," Bonnie responded. "By virtue of my name alone. You of all people should know that the Bennett name carries a lot of weight in the supernatural world. And this pregnancy has had a lot of impact too." She placed her hand over her belly. "My pregnancy set a lot of things in motion. This wasn't supposed to happen but it did and it sent witches into a frenzy. Half of them decided my children didn't deserve to live and the other half saw it as an opportunity to use them in order to bring their evil plans to fruition," she explained. "Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I've been fighting to keep them safe, to destroy all of those that wish them harm. Is not like I'm purposely seeking out enemies to fight. They are the ones that have come for me, for my family, and I had to fight back. It's been like that since Sophie and her sister kidnapped me."

"Elena's friend," Rudy recalled, he shook his head. "Katherine's friend," he amended thinking back to what he and Bonnie had just discussed. Bonnie had explained about Sophie and her sister and their idea of using her baby as a way to control Klaus. "Katherine whom the Travelers used along with Elena and a cousin of yours to bring down the other side." Everything was connected in a way.

Bonnie nodded.

"That was their ultimate goal. Sloan-" his face twisted angrily at the thought of Sloan's lies and betrayal. "I am a fool." He cursed under his breath. "A pathetic fool who fell right into her trap." Rudy began pacing around the living room. His mind reeling with all the information he had received in the past couple of hours. He felt angry, hurt, but above all sad.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, dad."

"I should've seen this coming. I should've known better!" Rudy continued to pace angrily. "She could have hurt you and your children." His hands balled into fists. "I would've never been able to forgive myself, Bonnie I-"

"She didn't," Bonnie assured him. "She tried and she lost. Sloan and the Travelers will never hurt anyone, ever again. I made sure of it."

Rudy stopped pacing and faced her once more. "Is this really the life you want to have, Bonnie?" He was watching her with an intensity that made her nervous. "Being tied down to a hybrid, living in a city where war is just around the corner, leading a coven of witches and facing countless of dangers. Is that how you really want to raise your children?"

Bonnie flinched back, not liking his tone. She had told him about the enemies she had faced but she had never expected her father to reproach her for fighting back. "Things in New Orleans have calm down considerably," Bonnie replied defensively. "Klaus and I will make sure our children are born in a city that is at peace. And I told you already, I'm not the one seeking to fight. I'm just defending my family."

"And you consider Klaus and his siblings your family?"

"Yes."

"Does this mean you are not coming back home?" Rudy asked sadly. "You're going back to New Orleans?" his voice broke at the last question.

Bonnie's face softened. "Yes, I'm going back." There was no hesitation in her answer. New Orleans was her home now, it was where she and Klaus were going to raise their children, where Charlotte and Davina were.

"What about school?"

"What about it?" Bonnie snapped.

"Are you even planning to continue your education?"

"Whitmore is not going anywhere, dad." Bonnie replied with exasperation. "I can go to whatever university I want. I can go to Tulane and get my degree when the twins are old enough." She didn't understand why he was making a big deal out of this.

"And how are you going to support yourself in the meantime?" Rudy questioned. "How are you going to support your children?"

"Grams left me some money," Bonnie answered with a frown. She didn't like all the questions her father was throwing at her.

"How have you been supporting yourself for the past couple of months?" Her father wondered. "How have you been paying rent, food, medical bills?"

"Klaus," Bonnie replied feeling a wave of shame slamming through her. "He's been paying for everything," she confessed in a an almost whisper. She couldn't really explain it but under her father's hard gaze she felt guilty and ashamed for not being able to provide for herself and her children. Even Matt had gotten a job at a local bar in order to pay for his own things. Bonnie on the other hand, had been contently living of Klaus's money. She felt bad, really bad.

"So, you're going to depend on him for everything."

Bonnie felt like she had been slapped. "I'm not with him for his money!"

"I didn't say that," her father retorted. "I just want to make sure that you know the responsibilities that come with having children."

Bonnie laughed. "Because you took your responsibilities as a farther seriously. Right?" It was a low blow and Bonnie took some perverse pleasure in watching her father flinch at her words.

"I deserve that," Rudy said after a long moment of silence. He knew he had failed her with his long absences and she deserved to be angry for it. "But you need to think about how you are going to provide for your kids. You need to have a plan, a way to ensure that if things don't work out with Klaus you will be able to stand on your own two feet without having to beg anything from him."

"It's not like I've had time to go job hunting dad!" Bonnie snapped angrily. "I had more important issues to deal with! I had to fight to keep my children safe! That's all I've been doing since I left Mystic Falls, you know!"

"And that is exactly the problem, Bonnie!"

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"This isn't how your life should be Bonnie," Rudy's voice was surprisingly gentle. "You shouldn't have people wanting you and your children dead. You shouldn't be fighting every single day of your life, you're not even twenty years old yet-"

"I'm not a child. I know what I'm doing."

"The life you're leading is dangerous," Rudy raised his voice once more. "You should be in school," he told her. "You should be worrying about your next exam. You should be having a normal life, enjoying your youth and doing things your age, not this! This shouldn't be your life Bonnie."

"But it is!" Bonnie fired back. "And you can't change that just because you don't like it!"

"Are you telling me you're happy fighting endless enemies? Constantly putting yourself in danger, living with a murderous hybrid and his evil family? Bonnie, do you have any idea the things they've done, he-"

"I don't need you to lecture me about Klaus and his family," Bonnie interrupted him. "I know who they are."

"Bonnie-"

"I don't have the perfect, normal, and boring life you want for me and guess what? I wouldn't change what I have for the world."

"You don't mean that."

"I do."

Her father opened his mouth with a retort but Bonnie was quick to cut him off again. "My life is not perfect," she hurried to say. "It's not what you wanted for me, it's not even what I imagined I would be doing at my age but it is what it is." She paused and took a deep calming breath before continuing. "I'm a witch dad," she smiled as she said it. Magic had irrevocably changed her world and opened an endless galaxy for the taking. "I was born with magic and despite what mom or you wanted, I was never meant to be a normal girl. I don't want to be an ordinary girl with normal problems," she confessed. "I'm not actively seeking to fight wars and face countless of supernatural foes but I'm not going to run away and hide either. I will face whatever storm comes my way. I won't hesitate to defend those I love, especially when I have the means to do so." She took a moment before continuing. "I love what I am. I love being a witch," Bonnie proudly proclaimed. "I love doing magic. I have embraced my legacy and I have no regrets." She looked into his eyes as she spoke. "This is what I'm meant to be. You have to accept that."

For the first time Rudy was looking at her, really looking at the person she had become in the past couple of months. Long gone was the confused, angry, and unpredictable teenage girl who was spiraling out of control because of the magic flowing inside her. This girl was sure of who she was, of what she wanted, and he couldn't help but feel surprised by how much she had grown since the last time they saw each other.

"I'm sorry if I disappointed you," Bonnie choked back a sob. "I'm sorry if I'm not the daughter that you wanted. I'm so sorry that I kept my pregnancy from you. I never wanted to hurt you dad, I swear."

"You've never been a disappointment Bonnie," Rudy's voice was soft and his eyes were filled with tenderness.

This time the tears cascaded down her cheeks freely. She had no idea how much those words meant to her until she actually heard them coming out of his lips. The emotions they provoked in her were overwhelming.

"I'm worried about you." He walked closer to her. "I'm not asking all these questions to hurt you. I'm doing it because I'm worried about you." He came to stand right in front of her. "You're my little girl," Rudy said with so much love and conviction, it made her heart swell with joy. "It doesn't matter if you're twenty or fifty, I'm always going to be worried about you. That's what father's do."

Bonnie sniffled and managed to smile despite her tears.

Her father took her hand. "I'm not a good a father." Rudy felt ashamed to admit his shortcomings as a father but it was the truth and they both knew it. "I have failed you, Bonnie. I haven't been there for you like I should have. I appeased my conscience by telling myself you preferred Sheila, by believing that she was all you needed. I wronged you. But I want you to know that despite all my failures as a father, I love you. I always have, I always will."

"I love you too," Bonnie cried.

"This is not what I wanted for you, that's true. But what I want doesn't matter," Rudy told her firmly. "What matters is what you want. What makes you happy. All I want is for you to be happy, Bonnie."

"I am happy," Bonnie said in low murmur. "I love him Dad. I know that is probably hard for you to understand but I love Klaus and he loves me." She looked into his eyes, pleading with him to understand. "I'm happy with him and with the family we have created. I know you think I'm too young but I know my heart. I'm sure of my feelings for him."

"You really love him?"

"I do."

"And he treats you well? He supports you?"

"Yes, he does."

There was an anguished look on her father's face. "This is not easy for me," he confessed. "I still can't believe I'm going to be grandfather." He glanced at her belly. "Twins," he repeated in awe. "I think twins run in the Bennett family."

"Yes, they do."

Rudy looked up into her face. "They're helping you?" he asked. "The Bennett's..." he paused. "Your coven."

"Yes."

"Sheila always said the Bennett's look after their own."

"They do." Bonnie squeezed his hand. "I know you don't like or approve of Klaus," she said quietly. "I know this is not what you want for me and I can't ask you to support my choices but I hope that you can at least respect them."

It was a hard pill to swallow for Rudy, to realize that his little girl wasn't a girl any longer but a woman grown, a woman who knew her own mind and heart. He swallowed the knot in his throat and nodded. At the end of the day, no matter their differences, Bonnie was his daughter and he loved her. He wanted to be a part of her life, of her children's life and that realization was more valuable than anything else. He didn't want to lose Bonnie. Rudy could see it in her eyes, she was really in love and determined to have a life, a future with the hybrid. Bonnie wasn't going to change her mind about that. No matter what he did or say, he knew Bonnie's heart and mind were set. If he didn't accept her choices, he would lose her. All he could do now was support her.

"For you, for my grandchildren," Rudy whispered at last. He couldn't make any promises, he doubted he and Klaus were going to become the best of friends and play golf together every Sunday but for his daughter he was willing to try and get along, for Bonnie he was willing to understand and accept. "I want to be a part of their lives," he whispered while placing a gentle hand on her bump. "If you let me."

Bonnie smiled. "I would love that." She threw her arms around his neck and embraced him with a fierceness that reminded him of when she was a child. Rudy hugged her back, holding her against him with all the love and protectiveness only a father could feel.

Things were not perfect between them. This hug was not going to erase years of abandonment and indifference, nor would it change all that had happened between them but it was a nice start; a beautiful way to begin healing and slowly mend the distance between them. There would be plenty of time to figure out the rest but for now, this was enough.

* * *

They were both a mess of tangled sweaty limbs against the silky dark sheets. The world had come to a stop, the onslaught of pleasure had assaulted all their senses at once and the newly formed link between had left them completely and utterly wrecked.

There was a crack in one of the windows, the lamp had fallen from the bedside table and the sheets laid scattered on the floor while the smaller objects in the room floated about without purpose. The air was heavy with magic, blood, and sex.

Lucy could hardly breathe. Her brain had turned to mush and her body was still dealing with the aftershocks. She blinked the tears from her eyes and stared stupidly at the ceiling for who knows how long before she slowly began regaining her senses. She licked her lips, the traces of his powerful blood still on her tongue. _Did my heart stop beating?_ She wondered while gently tracing her hands over his back. He was still buried inside her and his body was hard and deliciously pleasant above hers. She squeezed her legs around him and enjoyed the string of moans that fell from his lips. The wave of desire that movement created, ignited their bodies like a match would a flame. _We should stay like this forever_ , she thought placing a quick kiss on his shoulder.

Elijah shifted his weight. He was supporting himself on his elbows above her, his body rocking with small trembles while his head was buried against her neck. He nuzzled her pulse point, licking away the remains of her intoxicating blood before depositing a tender kiss on her heated skin. He pulled his head up and stared into her face with a childlike grin on his face. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently.

"Like I've been run over by a truck," Lucy murmured with a pleased smile. She was going to be sore but she didn't care, she welcomed it. She raised one hand and traced his face lovingly "I can feel you," she whispered with wonder. The experience had been brutal but now that the explosion had passed she could take notice of the subtle differences, of the change that had occurred within her. "It's like you're a part of me."

"I am a part of you now," he gave her a long and passionate kiss. "And you are a part of me," he whispered as he pulled away from her swollen lips. "You are mine Lucy Bennett and I am yours." He kissed her lips again. "My love." Another kiss. "My bonded…"

Lucy giggled, feeling happy and carefree. "I like the sound of that." She rested her hands on his shoulder and pushed her face up so she could kiss him. She felt so happy. "Love you," she murmured lovingly against his lips. She couldn't stop kissing and touching him, she couldn't get enough of him.

The newly formed bond between them pulsed with life and strength.

They were one now.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"We're out of popcorn," Charlotte complained without taking her eyes from the big screen. Her small hand had reached into the big yellow bowl of popcorn only to find it empty. "I want more," she pouted. "Can we get more please?"

Davina who was sitting next to her, absently passed the bowl to Kol. She didn't take her eyes off her phone.

"Do I look like a maid to you?" Kol snapped.

Davina looked up. "You could be a gentleman and get us some popcorn." She offered him a sweet smile.

Rebekah snorted. "The day Kol behaves like a gentleman is the day hell freezes over."

Charlotte giggled and snuggled closer to her, the two were sharing a blanket. It was raining hard in New Orleans and Rebekah had decided that a movie day was in order. Charlotte had Ms. Cuddles clutched tightly to her chest. Since Bonnie's departure, the little girl had adopted the teddy bear as hers, proclaiming that she was going to keep her safe until Bonnie's return.

"I'm not getting you any popcorn."

"You're not even watching the movie," Davina accused. "All you do is complain about the plot."

"You're not watching either," Kol retorted. "Who the hell are you texting so much?" He tried to grab her phone.

"None of your business," Davina pushed his hand away.

"You guys need to be quiet. I'm watching the movie," Charlotte chided them.

Kol rolled his eyes. "You've seen this movie a thousand times."

"I like it."

"It's stupid."

"It's not!" Charlotte fired back and gave him one of her meanest glares. "And you're stupid!"

"You are!"

"Kol!" Rebekah gave him a warning look.

"If you don't like it, why are you here?" Davina questioned suddenly.

"Because he has nothing better to do," Rebekah mumbled.

Kol glared at her before focusing on Davina once more. While Charlotte and Rebekah had been absorbed watching the movie, Davina hardly took her eyes off her phone. Kol felt rather intrigued by the constant buzzing and the secretive smiles he had seen on her lips as she read the messages. "Give it here." Kol tried to wrestle the phone out of her hands, _tried_ being the key word. If he had truly wanted to, he would have taken her cell phone away from her hands before she could even blink.

"No." Davina scooted closer to Rebekah and dodged Kol's attempts. "Stop it!"

Rebekah watched them curiously. "Kol, don't be an ass."

"Kick his butt aunty Bex!" Charlotte encouraged.

"Oh I think I will, darling." Rebekah's winked at her before looking at Davina and Kol, she couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on with them. They had been strange lately.

"Stop it!" While Davina's voice was rather serious, a small giggle escaped her lips when Kol leaned forward and pushed her against the cushions. He was practically pinning her arms above her head, their chest pressing together, and breaths mingling. The cell phone was all but forgotten.

"Are you ticklish?" Kol's eyes glinted.

"No." Davina shivered and it was not due to the cold.

"I think you are."

"Don't…"

Her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks burned at the devilish grin he gave her. For a single moment, Davina forgot to breathe. She hadn't realized how close Kol's body was to hers, how hard his chest felt pressed against hers. _Could he feel the wild pounding of her heart?_ Her eyes lowered towards his mouth then, staring at his lips and feeling a strange sensation in her belly. _Was it fear? Anticipation? Desire?_ She wasn't sure. There was a funny feeling in her belly and her palms were growing sweaty. Something flickered across Kol's eyes, an emotion Davina could not understand but he didn't look away from her. Their eyes held as their bodies molded together, sending a delicious sensation over both of them.

The temperature in the room increased.

Davina bit her lip.

Kol let out a half groan as he stared at her lips.

"I want more popcorn."

Charlotte's voice was like a bucket of cold water for both of them.

Kol pulled away from Davina as if he had been struck by lightning. He stood up and turned his face away from her, placing his hand on the back of his neck.

It was a nervous gesture, one Rebekah recognized well. She studied her brother's profile before glancing at Davina who seemed equally nervous and uncertain. _Oh boy,_ Rebekah thought worriedly. Kol was lucky that neither Marcel or Klaus were present. She stood up and grabbed the yellow bowl from the couch. "Let's go make some popcorn," she said shoving the bowl into Kol's hands. Her tone left no room for argument.

Kol nodded, still refusing to look at Davina, and dutifully followed his sister out of the family room and into the kitchen.

Davina watched them go, her heart nearly bursting from her chest while small trembles rolled over her body. _What the hell was that?_ She wondered, feeling slightly disoriented and dizzy. Had it been her imagination or had Kol been about to kiss her? _Oh my god!_ She placed a hand on her chest and struggled to contain her uneven breathing.

"Do you like Kol?"

Charlotte's curious voice brought Davina out of her thoughts. "What?" she looked at the little girl, her face red.

Charlotte tilted her head to the side and gave her a knowing look. "I think you do," she said softly. "I think he likes you too." The last part was said in a whisper.

"…No…I…" Davina stuttered.

"You were about to kiss him," Charlotte made a face. "Yuck!"

Davina shifted nervously. "I wasn't!"

Charlotte didn't look like she believed her.

"I wasn't!" Davina insisted.

"Okay," Charlotte turned back to watch the movie. She still did not look convinced.

Davina looked down at her phone, a thoughtful look on her face. "Do you really think he likes me?" she asked.

Charlotte smirked and glanced back at Davina.

The lights in the room flickered on and off before she could give her answer.

Davina sat straighter and looked around the family room, goosebumps forming on her arms and the back of her neck. "Can you feel that?"

Charlotte nodded and crawled closer to her. "Something bad," she whispered pushing herself against Davina who immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Very bad."

The rain fell down hard against the roof, the wind blew against the windows, and a sudden chill descended over them. There was a feeling of dread and despair coiling inside of them.

"Davina," Charlotte's tiny hand fisted on Davina's shirt while the other pointed to the corner of the room.

Davina squinted and gasped. "Is that…" she shivered and swallowed thickly. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her.

Shadows formed around the room, faceless creatures that surrounded them and seemed to grow bigger and bigger with each passing minute.

Charlotte whimpered.

Davina pulled her closer and began murmuring a spell under her breath. _Where the hell had all those shadow creatures come from?_

One shadow in particular floated towards them, a figure wearing a mask and a red cloak.

Charlotte gasped the minute she saw it. She had seen that figure before. It was the one that had been in her room. Her heart jumped to her throat and her face went pale.

When the red hooded figure raised its hand, the girls saw the blade.

Davina and Charlotte screamed in unison.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

"Here you go," Matt pushed a plate filled with scrambled eggs, ham, and toast towards Bonnie.

"You're the best," the witch grinned at him. Her mouth watered and her stomach grumbled loudly. She was really hungry. "This looks so good." She wasted no time eating her food. After the emotional conversation she had with her dad, she was in desperate need of nourishment and a good nap.

Matt leaned back against the counter and watched her eat. It was almost noon but everyone was resting still, saved for Klaus, who was talking with Aya and Cary outside as the cleanup continued around town. Matt had not participated in the fight, he had spend the night with Liz at the Mikaelson mansion but he felt relieved to know that the Travelers had met their end and that the other side had been saved.

"It's weird, isn't it?"

"What is?" Bonnie gave him a curious look.

Matt shrugged. "I don't know, I keep wondering when are we going home." He glanced at his shoes, feeling almost shy. Bonnie was the only person who understood what he was feeling. He looked up into her face before continuing. "Do you think it's weird that I consider New Orleans my home now?" That had never been the plan, he had always assumed he would come back to Mystic Falls but now all he wanted was to leave. He missed Rebekah, he missed Charlotte's sweet face, and Davina's smile. He couldn't wait to get back to them.

"It's where your heart is." Yes, Bonnie understood exactly what Matt was feeling. She felt the same way. "I miss them too," she admitted. She couldn't wait to see Rebekah and Davina and she couldn't wait to have Charlotte in her arms again.

Silence fell over them after that.

Bonnie finished her breakfast and contemplated going upstairs to Klaus's room and sleep for the rest of the day. It had been a long night and an equally long morning. Her conversation with her father had left her exhausted and it had also given her a lot to think about. There were still a couple of things to take care of before they could go home as well. Amara had to be taken to a safe location, where no one could get their hands on her. Bonnie still hadn't seen Elena and Klaus wanted to talk to her dad. The hybrid had been waiting for her outside the living room and expressed his desire to speak with her father but Bonnie had persuaded him to wait. Her father had expressed similar wishes but Bonnie wanted to give him some time to think and process everything before he came face to face with Klaus. She was nervous about how that conversation could go and wanted to give both of them time to cool off. She felt happy at least that her father had not rejected her or her babies. Things were far from perfect but Bonnie hoped to have a better relationship with her father from now on.

Bonnie's senses suddenly alerted her to the presence of a vampire making her way towards the kitchen. She pushed her empty plate away and sat up straight, knowing exactly who it was. Caroline poked her head inside the kitchen a few seconds later. "Hey," she said looking from Matt to Bonnie.

"Hey," Matt smiled brightly upon seeing her. He had seen her and hugged her when she arrived at the mansion earlier, he was also aware that she had been possessed by a Traveler.

Bonnie smiled as well. Once again, she felt no warnings, no sense of doom, or bad feelings when she looked at Caroline. Her friend was herself again and Bonnie couldn't be happier.

"Are you hungry?" Matt asked. "I can make you something if you want."

Caroline smiled and stepped inside the kitchen a bit nervously. "It's fine. Thank-you."

"How's Tyler?" Matt asked pulling a stool for her so she could sit.

"He's angry that the travelers used him," Caroline took a seat across from Bonnie. "He shifted and took off running into the woods earlier today." She suddenly looked really sad. "He said he needed to clear his head. He's been through a lot."

"So have you," Bonnie murmured. Caroline had endured a lot being at the mercy of the Navarro brothers first and then under the control of the Travelers.

"It's my fault the Travelers got to him," Caroline admitted. "Our relationship is so messed up." She doubted things would ever be the same again.

"I'm sorry." Bonnie reached out and took her hand in hers. "I'm really sorry Caroline."

"Everything is a mess, I…"

"You'll figure it out," Matt placed his hand on Caroline's shoulder. "You're one of the strongest persons we know Care. And you're not alone," he glanced at Bonnie. "You have us, for whatever you need."

"Thank-you," Caroline gave them both a grateful smile. "I missed you guys, so much."

"We missed you too," Bonnie squeezed her hand.

Both girls turned their heads towards the entrance at the same time. They both felt Elena's presence before she tentatively made her way inside the kitchen. Matt was the last one who turned to the entrance. The three of them stared at Elena, no one knowing what to say.

Elena stood nervously, hands to her sides, and face a mixture of sadness and regret. She opened her mouth and then closed it. She didn't know what to say either.

"You have your humanity back," Matt noted right away. This Elena was very different from the vampire without a care, from the girl that had been parading around town before he and Bonnie left for New Orleans. That Elena had been fierce, unapologetic, and deadly. This Elena looked fragile, and utterly remorseful.

Elena nodded. She took a step closer, focusing on Matt first before slowly moving her gaze towards Caroline and eventually Bonnie, who stood up. Elena's eyes went wide. "You're really pregnant," she stared at her belly with wonder. "Damon was right." Damon had told her a lot of things when she woke up and Elena was still struggling to make sense of half of them. Her mind was a jumbled mess.

"I am," Bonnie said softly. It was strange to be talking to Elena after prom. The feel of her fangs piercing her flesh was still vivid in Bonnie's mind. She absently touched her neck, recalling that moment. It seemed like a lifetime ago, so much had changed since then. Their lives couldn't be more different than they had been that fateful night. Prom night had been a catalyst of sorts, the beginning of a new chapter for Bonnie.

"So, it's true then..." Elena said. "About you and Klaus being together, the Bennett coven, you being a queen…" she trialed off.

"It is," Bonnie answered. She placed a hand on her belly, the twins were actively moving, kicking each other and making her wince slightly.

"You okay?" Caroline and Matt turned to her at once.

"Yeah, the twins are having a soccer match at the moment."

"Or a boxing match," Matt suggested with a playful grin.

"Both, I think." Bonnie mumbled, feeling another hard kick to her bladder.

Caroline giggled.

Elena's eyes were drawn to Bonnie's belly. "I still can't believe you're going to be a mom of twins," she whispered. When Damon had informed her, she had assumed he was joking. Bonnie and Klaus together and having twins, it was surreal. "So much has happened," she murmured sadly.

A somber look crossed Caroline's features and Matt stopped smiling as well. Elena and Bonnie studied each other carefully, so many different emotions flickering over their eyes.

"I'm sorry," Elena blurted out. She had intended for her apology to be more eloquent than that but when the time came, she said the first thing that came to her mind. "I'm so sorry." She looked on the verge of tears as she contemplated Bonnie. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you. I'm so sorry Bonnie." She turned to Matt and Caroline. "I'm sorry," she told them as well. "All the horrible things I've done…I…"

"I've done some horrible things too," Caroline offered her a sympathetic smile.

"My hands are stained with blood, so much blood," Elena broke down crying. "If you knew the things I've done, I…" she could hardly let the words out through her tears. She was clearly still struggling to balance all the emotions that she was now feeling.

Tears welled up in Caroline's eyes. "You're not the only one who has done horrible things, Lena. My hands are stained with blood too."

"And mine," Bonnie whispered feeling emotional.

They all had done terrible things, for different reasons obviously. So many things had happened, they all had their own demons and battles to face but this was the first time that all of them were in the same room together for months. It was a special and emotional moment for all of them. They were no longer the innocent children who used to run around town playing silly games, they were no longer the teenagers who thought they had everything under control and who felt at the top of the world. Life had thrown many curveballs at them. And while Matt and Bonnie had been living in a much bigger fish pond since arriving in New Orleans, Caroline and Elena were waking up for the first time in a new world, a new reality, one they had to catch up to. The rules of the game had changed. Mystic Falls was no longer at the center of it, and neither were Elena or Caroline. Before, Elena had been the driving force of their dealings with the supernatural, before it had been about saving her and staying alive in the process. That had changed. It was Bonnie who was at the center of the supernatural world now.

As they stood facing each other and reminiscing about their childhood, their lives growing up in Mystic Falls and the things they had endured, they broke down crying. It was a response to the magnitude of the moment, to finally being together after so many months apart.

Bonnie wasn't sure who made the first move. It didn't matter either. One moment, they had all been crying and the next they were hugging each other fiercely.

Matt suppressed a sniffled before he rushed to them and threw his arms around them, joining them in their group hug.

They had been friends since childhood, they had played together, they had laughed together, they had fought and protected each other and now here they were crying their eyes out and clinging to one another like children. They needed this moment. They all needed a good hug and a good cry.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Kol stood rather awkwardly and placed his hands on his pockets as Rebekah took care of making more popcorn. He watched and waited to see what she would say. Rebekah was angry he could tell. _What the hell are you thinking?_ Kol shook his head, feeling like a complete idiot. He knew he was in for a good tongue lashing from Rebekah. _Better her than Nik,_ he thought.

"What was that all about?" Rebekah finally turned to face him. "What were you thinking?" she placed her hands on her hips and fulminated him with her eyes.

"What?" Kol asked with the most innocent look on his face.

"Don't play the fool, Kol."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Rebekah gave him a knowing look. She obviously didn't believe him, how could she? They were brother and sister and while most times they could be at each other's throats, they could also be as thick as thieves. They knew each other too well after centuries of roaming the earth. As much as Kol wanted to, he knew he couldn't fool her.

"She's sixteen years old, Kol."

Kol winced and looked away. _Yeah, he didn't need to be reminded of that_.

"Bonnie won't like it. Not to mention that Nik and Marcel will kill you." Rebekah waited for Kol to make a joke and dismiss her concerns, to call her an idiot for making assumptions but to her utter surprise and fear, he didn't.

Kol's lips were pressed together, his hands on his pockets still. He couldn't even look at her in the eyes.

"Kol…" Rebekah began in a much gentler tone. She approached him slowly, unsure of what exactly she was dealing with at the moment. "Do you like-" she trailed off, her eyes catching the figure standing in their kitchen. Rebekah's eyes went wide and she had to do a double take because surely her mind was playing ricks on her. Her blood turned to ice, her face went pale, and the shocked gasp that fell from her lips caught her unruly brother's attention.

"What is it?" Kol asked her, finally facing her. Rebekah's change in demeanor worried him. "Bekah…" he touched her arm. "What's wrong?"

Rebekah didn't say anything; her face was frozen in fear and surprise.

Kol felt a chill descent down his spine, a strange sensation that was like a warning and a threat all at once. _Turn around!_ his mind screamed. _Danger!_ Kol swallowed thickly and spun around, prepared to fight whatever thing was scaring his sister and sending his nerves on edge. "What the bloody hell?" He snapped as he came face to face with the least expected person. "You're not real." He had seen his fair share of ghosts but this one, was one he wished never to see. He moved closer to Rebekah, taking her trembling hand in his. It was a similar posture as the one they adopted as children, when they got into trouble and faced their father's wrath. They felt like children under that cold and calculating gaze they knew so well. Only she could reduce two of the most powerful creatures on earth into stunned silence.

The lights inside the kitchen flickered on and off.

The storm outside raged with the force of a hurricane.

Lightning struck a tree outside the house.

A sinister coldness creeped inside the kitchen, bringing the scent of death with it.

Rebekah was completely fixated on the ghostly figure standing in front of them, her body had gone numb, and her face and eyes were a sea of conflict. Only the warmth of Kol's hand in hers snapped her back to reality. "Mother," she muttered shakily. She blinked a few times, thinking that the vision would disappear but it didn't, the figure remained as emotionless and cold as Rebekah remembered her to be.

Kol squeezed her fingers as the two faced the ghost of the woman who had brought them into this world.

"You're really here," Rebekah whispered.

"I am," Esther Mikaelson smiled and took a step closer to her children.


	74. Chapter 74

**Thank-you for your continued support. Enjoy!**

* * *

"How are you here?" Kol finally found his voice. At first, he thought he was imaging things but the longer he kept staring at his mother, the more he realized that she was indeed in the kitchen with them. She looked just like the last time he had seen her in Mystic Falls, the same cold demeanor and calculating eyes. "You're not real." Maybe if he said it enough times, he would believe it.

"You are not imagining things Kol," Esther said. "I am real."

No, she wasn't, Kol noted. She was not flesh and blood and that gave him some relief. Esther looked and sounded the same as he remembered but she was not fully there, she was a translucent figure, a spirit who had somehow managed to appear before them. _How in the world had she escaped the other side?_ He wondered fearfully.

"You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment."

"Have you come to kill us?" Rebekah asked raising her chin. She sounded cold and sure of herself but she was afraid. She was gripping Kol's hand so tight, that she would have broken his fingers had he been human. Their parents were the only people in the world that could scared them so much.

Esther's face fell, a strange emotion flickering across her eyes. "No, Rebekah." She sounded regretful. "What I did was out of desperation."

Kol sniggered. "Of course, it was."

"I love all of you and it broke my heart seeing the monsters you had become. I had to do something-"

"The monsters that you created!" Kol snarled, vampire face surfacing. "We are what you and father made us," he reminded her. "Don't play the victim now, mother. It does not suit you."

"We were trying to protect you," Esther countered. "The decision we made was done out of the love we felt for all of you. We wanted to keep you safe, we wanted to ensure no child of ours would ever suffer Henrik's fate…" her voice broke as she spoke her youngest son's name. "It was a decision that I regretted deeply," she told them solemnly. "One that has haunted me for all eternity and brought me unimaginable pain and sorrow. But I will make amends," Esther took a step closer. "I will make things right, I promise."

Rebekah and Kol looked at each other, matching looks of confusion and disbelief on their faces.

"I have an offer to make you," Esther said sweetly. "A chance to make things right, to make our family whole again and heal the wounds that tore us apart."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Kol yelled. "You tried to kill us and now you want to make amends?" _Had he suddenly walked into some alternative universe or something?_

"I can give you what you desire most in the world," Esther was looking at Rebekah, her eyes twinkling knowingly. "I can ensure you live a happy and human life with your beloved Matt."

Rebekah gasped.

Esther walked closer. "I tried to cleanse my sins by killing you and that was wrong," she said in a pleading voice. "Let me make amends by giving you the life you should have had, the life you deserve to have." She came to stand right in front of them, her hypnotic voice and eyes trapping Rebekah with ease.

"Don't come any closer," Kol growled. He tugged at Rebekah's and pulled her away.

"Why would you do that?" Rebekah asked in a shaky voice. It sounded tempting, far too tempting to her ears. "What's the catch?"

"She's lying!" Kol snapped.

"I am your mother Rebekah. I love you and I want you to be happy," Esther responded in that sweet and gentle voice she had used when they were children and she sang them songs to sleep. "Let me help you, let me make you happy," she offered her hand to Rebekah. "Wouldn't you like to be human, Rebekah? To have a family of your own, to feel a child grow in your belly?"

Rebekah gasped and her bottom lip trembled. _A family with Matt,_ how sweet that sounded. "How would you do that?" she asked, her body trembling.

"I am a witch my darling girl," Esther smiled sweetly. "I can do that and more."

"Don't listen to her, Bekah." Kol once again pulled Rebekah away. He didn't know what to make of the apparition that was their mother, or what to think of the words coming out of her mouth. This was wrong, very wrong. "Don't fall for her tricks," he urged his sister. "It's a trap."

"I just want to help you, Kol." Esther gave him a sad look. "You are so lonely," she said softly. "So unwanted and unloved. Niklaus has his own family, Elijah has his witch, and Rebekah her human but you…" she regarded him with pity. "You have nothing. Who could ever love you as a monster that thirsts for blood?"

"Shut up!" Kol growled.

"I can make you human," Esther said with that extra sweet and alluring voice. "You could be a witch again. Don't you miss having magic, Kol?"

Kol pressed his lips together. The temptation was there, he couldn't deny it. One of the reasons he had been so unstable in his early years was due to his lost connection to nature. He missed having magic and the temptation to get it back…he shook his head. His mother was a snake charmer and she was using all her tricks to get to them. _Don't fall for it,_ he kept telling himself. _It's a trap, don't believe him._

"I am offering you the chance to be human," Esther continued. "I took your life, your magic, your chance to be happy. I made you into cruel monsters and I want to change that. I want to give you back all I took. I love you and I wish nothing more than to make you happy." She looked at Rebekah once more offering her hand again. "Please don't throw this opportunity away."

Rebekah bit her lip, her mind swirling with the possibilities. Her hand itched to reach out and accept her mother's offer. She could be human, grow old, and live a happy life with Matt. _We could have children,_ she thought dreamily. She didn't know what to do. The offer was far too tempting to refuse outright. Kol stood like a statue next to her, his hand painfully squeezing her fingers. They had both been caught completely off guard.

Rebekah took a step closer.

Esther smiled and offered her an encouraging nod.

Kol continued to stand and watched her with a guarded expression. He wasn't as easy to trap as his sister. Rebekah let go of his hand and reached out towards her mother, accepting her offered hand. Esther smiled in triumph.

A piercing scream echoed throughout the first floor of the house.

Rebekah froze. "Charlotte," she whispered fearfully.

"Davina," Kol hissed, his eyes darkening, and his vampire face surfacing once more.

Neither of them hesitated as they ran out of the kitchen, Esther's proposition forgotten by the need to protect the girls.

Esther's lips curled angrily as she watched them go.

A flash of lightning illuminated the kitchen and the lights flickered off. A heartbeat later, the lights flickered back on again,

Esther's ghost was gone by then.

* * *

Davina wasn't entirely sure what happened. The shadow creatures jumped on them and she and Charlotte closed their eyes and screamed in unison as they huddled together in fear. The protective spell she had been murmuring all but forgotten as the panic invaded her senses and clouded her judgement.

"Mama!" Charlotte screamed fearfully.

There was a blast of light, a hard pull, and a wave of dizziness that had Davina nearly passing out. Her body was yanked upwards and then it felt like she was being squeezed into a plastic tube before finally being dropped on the ground. It could have been seconds, or minutes, or more, she wasn't entirely sure, everything happened too fast.

When Davina opened her eyes, she was lying on the floor, sparks of light floating above her. It took her a couple of moments for her to realize that it wasn't really light but a stunning chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. _What the hell?_ She groaned, feeling nauseous and confused by the sudden change of scenery. She slowly pulled herself into a sitting position. She didn't know where she was and she wasn't exactly sure what had happened, the one thing that was fairly obvious was that she was no longer at home. She found herself in the foyer of a mansion, a stunning spiral staircase right across from her. _Where am I?_ Davina wondered while looking around the massive and elegant place. A low moan of pain had her turning to look down at her right side. "Charlotte!" Davina yelled upon seeing the unconscious little girl lying next to her. "Oh my god."

Charlotte was completely still; her face was pale and blood oozed down her nose and ears. She laid on the floor near the brink of death.

Davina touched her arm, her skin was ice cold. "Charlotte," she shook her gently. "Please wake up." She was so terrified that she didn't even think of casting a healing spell. Her brain was still processing and her mind was a mess of fear and uncertainty. "Charlotte, please." She shook her again. "Please wake up." Charlotte moaned in pain and her little body began trembling uncontrollably. It broke Davina's heart.

"What the bloody hell?"

The sound of that accented voice cut through the haze inside Davina's mind. She lifted her face and looked at the top of the grand staircase. Klaus was standing there, a surprised look on his face. He opened his mouth as if to say something but Davina did not give him time. "Charlotte is hurt!" she shouted frantically. "I don't know what's wrong with her. You have to help her, please!"

Klaus used his superior speed and appeared in front of them before Davina had finished her request. He crouched down next to Charlotte. "What the hell happened?" He asked before he bit into his wrist and placed it against Charlotte's lips.

"We were at home, watching a movie…" Davina's throat constricted as she recalled those terrifying moments. _Please let her be okay,_ she prayed while clutching Charlotte's cold hand in hers. "These shadow figures appeared out of nowhere, there was this mask figure with a knife too." Her voice trembled and a few tears spilled down her cheeks. "They came at us and then we weren't there anymore. We-" She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I'm pretty sure Charlotte teleported us out of there." She had done it before, during the Navarro attack, Charlotte had teleported them out of the house.

"What in the world is going on?" Aunt Vivian's voice reached their ears. "What are you two doing here?" She looked at Davina before moving her eyes over Charlotte.

Klaus cradled Charlotte against his chest. "Come on sweetheart, you have to drink," he urged, pressing his bloody wrist against her lips.

"She teleported us here," Davina told Vivian without taking her eyes off Charlotte.

Aunt Vivian got down next to Charlotte. "She magically exhausted herself," she deduced while gently touching the little girl's forehead. "She could have easily killed herself."

More tears spilled down Davina's cheeks when she heard that.

"Who are they?" Bonnie's dad tentatively made his way towards them, followed closely by Joanna. The two had been talking quietly in the living room when they heard the commotion and decided to investigate.

"The girls Bonnie has practically adopted," Damon responded. He too had come to investigate what was going. Elena was next to him, watching the scene with curious eyes.

"What?" A bewildered Rudy asked him.

Davina hardly paid them any mind. She was focused on Charlotte and Klaus -who was trying to feed her his blood.

"Come on sweetheart, drink." The hybrid urged gently. It seemed to take forever but Charlotte finally parted her lips, a moan of pain escaping her as her tongue slowly began licking the powerful hybrid blood. It was like a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The relief Klaus felt was visible on his face. Now that his blood had entered her system, Klaus knew Charlotte would be okay. He looked at Davina who was pale and crying still. "She'll be fine," he promised the young witch. "My blood will hear her. She will be fine."

He sounded so sure, Davina believed him at once. She let out a breath of relief and wiped the tears from her face.

"I'll make her a re-energizing potion," Joanna volunteered before disappearing towards the kitchen.

"She teleported herself from New Orleans all the way to Mystic Falls," Vivian murmured while gently tracing her fingers over Charlotte's clammy forehead. "She even made it through the barrier protecting the house," she was clearly in awe of the powerful display of magic Charlotte had done.

"We're in Mystic Falls." It dawned on Davina just how far Charlotte had taken them. "Where is Bonnie?" she asked almost at once. She recognized the Bennett witches lingering around the foyer and Damon but she didn't see Bonnie at all. "Where is she?" she frantically turned to Klaus.

"She's sleeping," Klaus responded. He didn't say it but he felt glad that Bonnie had not witnessed the girls' arrival. He looked down at Charlotte, she had stopped shaking and moaning in pain and the color was slowly returning to her cheeks.

Davina closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"Come on," Klaus stood up, holding Charlotte with infinite tenderness in his arms. "You both need to rest."

Davina stood up on shaky legs and quietly followed him up the stairs.

"Is anybody going to explain to me what the hell is going on?" Rudy asked them. "What do you mean Bonnie adopted those girls?" he turned to Damon, hoping that he would give him all the answers he needed.

"I don't think we need to explain to you what the definition of adoption is," Vivian remarked dryly.

Rudy's eyes narrowed in her direction, he had never liked the arrogant woman. The dislike was mutual judging by the look on Vivian's face. She ignored him and headed towards the kitchen, she was going to help Joanna with the potion and add a couple of her own ingredients to ensure Charlotte would recover as quickly as possible.

Rudy turned to Damon once more, hoping that he would elaborate more on the subject.

Damon shrugged. "You should ask Bonnie."

"Bonnie is really raising those girls as her own?" Elena asked him.

"Yeah."

"She's going to leave, isn't she?" Elena glanced up the stairs, a sad look on her face. Rudy also looked sad at the thought. "New Orleans is her home now." She turned to Damon and was startled to catch the conflicted look on his face. Damon was sad at the thought of Bonnie leaving.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

Bonnie slept like the dead.

After talking with Caroline, Elena, and Matt she made her way upstairs and checked on Lenore and Adriane before making her way into Klaus's room. Her cousins were fine, Lenore was upset about Tom though. She felt guilty for not saving him and Bonnie had done her best to comfort her. After spending some time with Lenore and Adriane, she stopped to check on Lucy but judging by the moans and sighs she could hear coming from inside Elijah's room, Bonnie knew better than to disturb the couple. She decided to go to Klaus's room instead and took a long hot shower before getting into bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She woke up hours later, feeling well rested and surrounded by darkness. Night had fallen, which meant she had been asleep all afternoon. She sensed Klaus inside the room and searched for him. The lights in the room flickered on thanks to her magic. She spotted Klaus standing by the window, a pensive look on his face. Bonnie sat up and yawned.

Klaus turned to face her.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked alarmed. The emotions coming from his side of the bond were chaotic, he was angry, confused, and there was also a hint of fear echoing through, although it was a fading emotion. "What happened?"

"Esther."

A single word and it was like being thrown over a furious volcano.

"Esther…" Bonnie repeated, hoping that she had heard wrong. She hadn't of course.

"It seems she escaped from the other side," Klaus delivered the news in a surprisingly calm voice. If it weren't for the fact that she felt each of his emotions, Bonnie would think he was unaffected by the terrible news. Klaus had always been good at hiding his emotions and thoughts from everyone, except her of course.

"The Travelers' spell," Bonnie realized right away. She didn't have to be a genius to know that was the window of opportunity cunning spirits like Esther needed in order to escape. "She must have found a way to escape then." She got up from the bed. Her mind swirling and her heart pounding loudly. "She came to you?" she looked frantically around the room, half expecting to see Esther hiding in a corner. "Where…"

"She made her presence known in New Orleans, she spoke to Kol and Rebekah," Klaus informed her. "And that's not all." He moved to her side and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Charlotte and Davina were attacked by shadow spirits."

"WHAT!" Bonnie practically screamed. "Are they okay? Have you talked with them? We have to go back, we-"

"They're okay," Klaus was quick to assure her. "Charlotte teleported them here."

Bonnie's mouth dropped open as she took in the news. "They're here, like here in Mystic Falls…" Bonnie stammered.

Klaus nodded. "The spell took a toll on her but I fed her my blood and Vivian made a potion for her too. They came while you were sleeping."

"Oh my god," Bonnie felt her knees grow weak. She would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Klaus's arms supporting her.

"They're fine," Klaus's voice was soothing as he caressed her upper arm. "She's resting, Davina is with her. They're in the room next door."

"I need to see them." Bonnie practically ran out of the room, Klaus on her heels.

She opened the door of the room next door and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Davina and Charlotte curled together on the bed. They were sleeping peacefully. There were two mugs of tea on the bedside table and someone had thrown a thick wool blanket over them.

"I told you, they're fine." Klaus came to stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"If anything had happened to them-" Bonnie's voice broke.

"I know, love." Klaus kissed the side of her neck and pulled her closer.

The two of them stood in the doorway contemplating the sleeping girls in silence. In a short amount of time, Davina and Charlotte had become part of their family and Bonnie couldn't image a world without them in it.

"What are we going to do about Esther?" Bonnie asked in a whisper. She still couldn't believe that evil witch had found a way out of the other side. "And the spirits that attacked the girls?"

"We'll figure it out," Klaus replied calmly. "From what Kol said, she's a spirit at the moment."

Despite his mask of indifference, Bonnie could sense the turmoil he felt inside. She felt his anger, his pain, his worry as deeply as if it were her own. "A loose spirit hellbent on destroying you," Bonnie turned to face him. "The last time…" she thought back to her encounter with Esther, that fateful night when her mother had been turned into a vampire. "She channeled the Bennett bloodline in an attempt to turn you and your siblings' human and then kill you." She traced his cheek. "When Damon turned Abby, Esther lost the connection but who knows what she's planning now."

"Something quite similar, I'm sure."

It hurt him, Bonnie realized. It pained him still that the woman that had given him life wanted him and his family dead.

"Bonnie?"

Klaus and Bonnie turned to the bed where Davina sat, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She greeted them with a bright smile. "Hi."

"Hi," Bonnie smiled back before rushing towards her and embracing her warmly.

"We're okay, don't worry," were the first words that came out of Davina's mouth once they pulled apart. Bonnie was in a delicate condition and Davina did not want to worry her more than necessary. She didn't want anything bad happening to Bonnie or the babies because she was worried over them.

"It was scary," Charlotte's tiny voice soon joined them.

"Oh sweetie," Bonnie sat on the bed and pulled her into her arms. "I'm glad you're okay, both of you." She took Davina's hand while hugging Charlotte. Davina soon threw her arms around them and hugged them both. The three of them were extremely happy to be reunited.

"We missed you," Davina murmured.

"I missed you too."

"You did something quite extraordinary and risky," Klaus came to stand beside the bed, his eyes on Charlotte. There was a serious look on his face as he contemplated the little girl. "Do you have any idea how dangerous teleporting yourself and Davina was?"

Charlotte looked down guilty.

"You could have killed yourself-"

"Klaus," Bonnie gave him a warning look. She could feel how worried he was for Charlotte but she didn't want him to scare her either.

Klaus took a deep breath and calmed his tempter.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte whispered.

"It's okay," Bonnie pulled her closer. "We're just worried about you, that's all."

"I don't know how I did it," Charlotte confessed. "I just wanted to be with you." She looked into Bonnie's face. "I knew we would be safe with you, both of you." She glanced at Klaus and chewed on her bottom lip nervously.

Klaus's face softened at her words. "You gave us quite a scare," he admitted in a low murmur.

Charlotte's eyes went wide. "You were scared for me?" she asked, her heart pounding loudly. "Really?"

Klaus nodded and then looked away. Her pale face and the blood coming out of her nose and ears was an image he would never forget, nor would he forget the fear he had felt. It surprised him how much the thought of losing her scared him.

"You are safe with us," Bonnie kissed the top of her head. "We're not going to let anything happen to you. Either of you," She threw one arm around Charlotte and the other around Davina, pulling them closer. Both girls happily snuggled against her.

A small smile formed on Klaus's lips as he contemplated the three of them. _Bonnie and her girls_ …no, he realized. _Our girls_.

"Do you think those spirits will attack again?" Davina asked fearfully.

Charlotte shivered and held to Bonnie tightly. "I hate them."

"If they do, they shall suffer our wrath," Klaus vowed meeting Bonnie's eyes. "No one gets away with hurting our family. I promise you, those who try will suffer a terrible fate."

Charlotte grinned. She stood up on the bed and threw her arms around Klaus. The hybrid happily picked her up in his arms. "I missed you," she said placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"And I you, love."

Charlotte rested her head against his shoulder and snuggled closer to him.

 _We are a family_ , Bonnie thought happily. _As long as we are together, we will be safe._ No matter what Esther or any other spirit were planning against them, they would defeat them. Together, they would defeat any enemy that came after them.

"Can we get something to eat now?" Charlotte asked suddenly. "I'm hungry." She rubbed her tummy which made a loud growling noise as if to prove her words.

They all laughed, even Klaus momentarily forgot all his worries in regards to his mother. The tiny witch had a way of making them all smile even in the darkest of times.

* * *

 **Later that night**

"Are you certain?" Elijah paced back and forth around the living room, one hand inside the pocket of his pants. "Our mother is back." He cursed under his breath and thought of the endless ways Esther could try and hurt them. He looked at Lucy, feeling worried and extremely protective. He wouldn't put it past Esther to try and hurt him by hurting her. _It will never happen_ , he vowed.

"I spoke with Rebekah and Kol earlier today," Klaus confirmed. "Esther appeared to them, wanting to make amends and offered to turn them human. Rebekah assumes the offer extends to all of us." He rolled his eyes. "Naturally, our sister was tempted."

"Did she tell you that?"

"I know Rebekah better than anyone," Klaus snapped. "Mother's offer tempted her, even if she would never admit it to my face."

"It's obviously a trap," Lucy said. She was sitting next to Matt on the couch, Bonnie and Klaus were across from them while Elijah continued to pace around room. "How the hell did she get out?" She knew little about Esther but everything she had heard from Elijah and Bonnie was enough to convince Lucy how evil and cunning the Mikaelson matriarch was.

"She probably escaped before we fixed the other side, when the barriers were weak," Bonnie responded. She studied Lucy's face carefully. There was something different about her, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Bonnie felt sure something had changed with her cousin. She gave her a questioning look.

Lucy's eyes shone with happiness and her lips curled into a mischievous grin. _Later,_ she mouthed.

Bonnie nodded.

"Do you think this escape was temporary or a more permanent thing?" Elijah asked Bonnie.

"I'm not sure." She thought about it for a couple of seconds. "Her appearance could've been a temporary thing like my family or she could've found a way to come back for good." She looked down at her hands feeling suddenly guilty. "The spell I used to bring the dead Bennett's opened a gateway of sorts between both worlds, maybe she came back that way." _I should've have been more careful,_ she thought.

Klaus reached out and took one of her hands. "It's not your fault, love." He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. "If that were the case, she would've disappeared with the other Bennett's," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess."

"I think she took advantage of the spell the Travelers used to destroy the other side," Lucy shared her thoughts. "That was the perfect window of opportunity. Right before the Bennett coven fixed the other side with their blood and magic." Esther was without a doubt a force to be reckon with.

"I think the better question is why did she make her presence known?" Klaus addressed the group.

"What do you mean?" Lucy questioned him.

"If she's plotting to kill us once more, why show herself to Rebekah and Kol," Klaus elaborated. "Why not jump back into her body and deliver the final blow when we least expect it?"

"Because she knows Kol and Rebekah are the weakest link," Elijah muttered.

All eyes turned to him.

"Exactly," Klaus grinned.

"Rebekah is not weak!" Matt proudly defended his girlfriend.

"Not in the physical sense." Klaus rolled his eyes. "Rebekah has always wanted to be human, remember how willing she was to take the cure?" As much as he loved his sister, he also knew her well. Klaus knew that in Esther's eyes Rebekah would be easier to manipulate than him or Elijah.

"And Kol?" Matt snapped. "I doubt Kol would ever want to be human." Kol enjoyed being a vampire, everyone knew that.

"You would be surprised," Klaus muttered. "Apart from Rebekah, Kol was the one who was more in tune with his magic," he explained. "Father wanted his sons to be warriors not witches but Kol always found ways to learn, to practice…when we turned and he lost that connection, he was never the same."

"It was hard for him," Elijah agreed with Klaus's observations. "The loss of his magic affected him deeply."

"So, how do we stop Esther?" Lucy asked them. "Do we know where she is? What her next move is? Why didn't she jump into her body?"

"Maybe she can't," Bonnie murmured. "Maybe she hasn't truly escaped from the other side yet." She moved her eyes over all of them. "Maybe she found a loophole to communicate with the living world and needs help in order to fully come back."

"She needs us, her blood." Elijah followed Bonnie's train of thought. "It would explain why she told Kol and Rebekah she wanted to make amends, because she needs us to help her somehow."

"I already ordered Felix and Angelica to guard her coffin with their lives," Klaus informed them. "We can't allow her spirit to return to her body." That was probably going to be her priority and it would also serve them to stop her.

"Can she really do that?" Matt asked Bonnie, a fearful look on his face.

"I'm honestly surprised she hasn't done so already," Bonnie admitted. "Unlike Kol, who's body we had to restore, Esther's is intact. She could've easily jumped back into her body."

"Unless something is holding her back," Lucy added.

"I'll contact Grams and Ayana," Bonnie told them. "We have the advantage, as long as we have her body and keep her from fully coming back, she'll be easier to defeat."

Everyone nodded.

"We must return to New Orleans immediately." Elijah looked at Klaus as he spoke. Esther could try and get inside Kol's and Rebekah's head again and that wouldn't be good.

"We leave tomorrow." If it were up to Klaus, they would have left that very night but he knew Bonnie wanted to say goodbye to her friends and he still needed to talk to her dad. "You must take care of the anchor first," he said to Elijah.

"Brother, I think it's best if-"

"We need to ensure the anchor is never used to destroy the other side," Klaus cut him off. "You know what to do." _You're the only I trust to do it_ , was left unsaid. Klaus would do it himself but he did not want to leave Bonnie alone when she was so close to giving birth and with his mother's appearance, there was no way he would travel away from his family.

Elijah nodded, understanding the true meaning behind his words.

"Take Lucy with you," Klaus slid his gaze towards the witch, his lips curled knowingly. He could sense the change in both of them. He knew they were a bonded pair now. "A Bennett witch sealed the place with her magic after all, Lucy can reinforce it."

"Where exactly are you taking her?" Matt asked curiously.

"Somewhere safe, where no one will ever find her." Klaus responded without giving any details. Only he and Elijah knew of the old church in Hungary and its grounds. The woods were said to be haunted, a myth the two of them created to keep the locals far away from their hiding place. The place Sarah had made sacred with her magic. Amara would be safe there.

"I placed a unique blood signature spell on the coffin," Bonnie informed them. Aunt Vivian had showed her how to do it, it was in the best interest of the Bennett coven to preserve Amara's safety after all. "Only I can open her coffin."

"Good," Elijah murmured.

"Did she ever wake up?" Lucy wondered suddenly.

"Qetsiyah placed her under a sleeping spell," Bonnie told her. "She will never wake up." It was cruel to think that Amara had been condemned to be immortal and sleep for all eternity but it was the price Qetsiyah had made her paid.

"It's for the best," Klaus said. "The last thing we need is for her to wake up and escape."

Everyone agreed.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Rebekah asked from the bed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned back against the headboard.

"This is to keep evil spirits at bay," Kol said while walking around the room. He had a burning plant in his hand, the white smoke engulfing Rebekah's bedroom with its strange flowery scent. "Mother can try all she wants but she won't be able to reach us again."

"Do you think she meant it?" Rebekah asked in a small voice.

Kol gave her a weird look. "You don't honestly believe all the lies coming out of that snake's mouth, do you?"

"She's our mother."

"Who turned us into monsters and tried to kill us!"

"And she wants to make amends," Rebekah reminded him of what Esther said. "Maybe-"

"For fuck's sake Bekah!" Kol felt exasperated by her attitude. "We'd be fools to believe her, deep down you know that."

Rebekah looked down.

"As tempting as her offer sounds, you're smart enough to know that it comes with a catch," Kol said in a much softer voice. "That kind of magic always comes with a price."

"I know," Rebekah mumbled. "But for a moment, I could see myself as a human, growing old with Matt," she felt ashamed to admit it, it was a weakness she knew better than to have but she couldn't help it. Esther's offer had been sweet music to her ears. "I could be a witch like Bonnie and Lucy…I could have children of my own…" the last part was said in a soft low murmur, almost as if she were afraid that anyone would hear them.

Kol heard her perfectly of course. He took a seat next to her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close against him. "I would like to have my magic back," he confessed quietly. He kept his gaze on the window across from them, he couldn't look at his sister as he admitted such thing. "But I don't trust her."

"She loves us," Rebekah said. "In her own way, I know she loves us."

"I'm sure," Kol muttered dryly. "But, making us human is not going to erase the past one thousand years, or take away all the enemies we have made in our miserable existence. If anything, it would cause us more problems, deep down you know that."

Rebekah's face fell at that.

"Even without magic, we are some of the most powerful creatures in the world, Bekah." This time he did look at her. "We can't be killed. And that is exactly how we must remain if we want to protect our family."

"The twins," Rebekah whispered. Their niece and nephew needed them. They had to be at the top of their game in order to protect them.

Kol nodded.

Rebekah rested her head on his shoulder, a melancholic look on her face. "Do you think he escaped as well?" she wondered suddenly. She couldn't even bring herself to say their father's name, so much was the fear she felt at the thought of him.

"For all our sakes, I hope not." Kol shuddered just thinking about it.

They all feared Mikael far more than they did Esther.

* * *

 **Mystic Falls**

It was the sound of Charlotte's giggles that had Bonnie walking towards the family room after her meeting with Elijah, Lucy, and Matt. Her dad was sitting in between Davina and Charlotte, the three of them huddled together and cheerfully looking at the photo album Rudy had on his lap.

"And this is the time Bonnie decided that her bowl of spaghetti looked better on top of her head," her father was proudly showing the girls.

"Oh my god!" Davina gushed at the candid of Bonnie with the bowl in her head and spaghetti sauce all over her face.

Charlotte covered her mouth with both of her hands, hardly able to contain her giggles.

"Really?" Bonnie made her way towards them. "Why do you have to show them my most embarrassing pictures?"

"They're not embarrassing honey. I think they're cute." Rudy grinned. "I forgot all the great pictures we took of you as a child." Photography had been a hobby of his back in the day and he had countless of albums filled with family pictures. After Abby left, the hobby had stopped.

Bonnie frowned when she noticed the sad look that came to his face.

"You were a naughty girl," Charlotte said, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"You spray painted your cat pink. That's animal cruelty you know," Davina teased her.

Bonnie snorted. "I forgot I did that," she glanced down at the album and winced when she saw the picture of herself holding the pink cat in her arms. She had a proud grin on her face, the cat on the other hand, looked like she had been gutted. "Poor Luna," she whispered. "She was Grams' cat," she explained to the girls. "I tortured her regularly."

"Where is she now?" Charlotte wondered as she contemplated the picture.

"She died," Bonnie replied sadly. "We buried her in the backyard." She and Grams had both cried as they gave old Luna a proper funeral. A rose bush had grown over the grave, one who always gave beautiful pink roses.

"We should get a cat," Charlotte said suddenly.

"Nah, I think a dog would be better." Davina murmured while flipping the pages of the album.

"I want a cat," Charlotte proclaimed. "Can we get one please?" She looked eagerly at Bonnie. "We can name her Luna if you want."

"Not right now sweetie."

Charlotte pouted.

 _Maybe for your birthday,_ Bonnie thought. She and Rebekah were planning Charlotte's birthday party and no matter what was going on in New Orleans with Esther, Bonnie felt determined to celebrate it. It would be Charlotte's first party and they wanted to make it memorable.

"You're leaving tomorrow," Rudy stated with sorrow.

Bonnie looked into her father's sad face. "We are," she confirmed. "I wish I could stay a bit longer but something came up in New Orleans."

Rudy placed the photo album on the coffee table and stood up. Davina and Charlotte looked back and forth between them. The two had been quietly sitting on the couch while the adults talked when Bonnie's father had approached them. He had introduced himself and started a conversation with the girls Bonnie was raising as her own. Rudy wanted to get to know them, he wanted to know more of the life his daughter had built for herself with them.

"What kind of thing?" Rudy questioned.

Bonnie tensed.

"It's late, we should get ready for bed," Davina suggested, she could sense that Bonnie and her dad needed to speak alone.

"Okay," Charlotte got down from the couch. "Good night Bonnie's dad." She threw her arms around Rudy's legs.

Rudy was momentarily stunned by the gesture but he found himself smiling all the same. He got down on his knees so they could be at an eye level. "Good night sweetie." He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

Charlotte beamed.

"It was nice meeting you," Davina told him.

"Likewise," Rudy hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Have a good night."

"Good night."

"I'll be there in a few minutes," Bonnie promised them.

The girls nodded and exited the room quietly.

"There is a lot that I need to do here," Rudy began after a couple of moments in silence. "Bonnie, I wish-"

"I understand," Bonnie replied with a knowing smile. "I know as the Mayor you have a lot of responsibilities dad. The people of Mystic Falls need you."

"So, do you." Before Bonnie could respond, he was quick to add, "but you would prefer that I stay here."

Bonnie sighed. "I thought you were safer here and the Travelers proved me wrong." She glanced at the photo album on the table before looking into her father's face once more. "I don't know if any of us are safe anymore."

"What's going on in New Orleans?" Rudy asked. "How bad is it?"

"It's Esther Mikaelson," Bonnie replied honestly. "We don't know what she's planning or how her spirit was able to get out from the other side. We need to prepare."

Rudy rubbed his face. "Another enemy you have to face." He contemplated her with so much sadness and regret, it made Bonnie's heart hurt. "You have barely been able to get some rest from the Traveler and now this..." his hands clenched into fists. He felt angry on her behalf. She should be worrying about the twins' nursery, about figuring out names and planning for the delivery, not preparing for another war. "Will this ever end?" he wondered. "Are you ever going to know peace?"

"I hope so," Bonnie prayed that there would be a time where she didn't have to go to sleep with one eye open and wondering who her next enemy was going to be. She had to believe that things would be different one day.

"Bonnie, this shouldn't-"

"This shouldn't be my life, I know," Bonnie finished for him. "I won't be doing it alone," she did her best to reassure him. "Please don't worry about me. I will be fine." She placed her hand on his arm.

Rudy touched said hand and smiled sadly. "I will always worry about you, Bonnie."

"I know."

Silence followed his words.

"They are nice girls," Rudy said after a while. Even though he was sad and worried about Bonnie, he couldn't help but smile as he thought of the girls. "Davina and Charlotte, they love you. They look up to you."

"I love them too."

"They live with you and Klaus," Rudy remarked. "You are taking care of them."

"We are."

"It's a big responsibility."

"They're alone dad, they need us." Bonnie responded. "I know this probably seems crazy to you but I love them. I want to protect them, I want to give them a home, a family. The family they never had, the family I-" she trailed off, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

"The family you never had either," Rudy filled in for her.

Bonnie nodded. "Charlotte's mother abandoned her, just like mine." Her voice broke as she thought of all the horrible things Charlotte's mom had done, all the horrible things Abby had done as well. There was a part of her that wanted to ask if her father knew. _Did he know what Abby had done after she left them? The crimes she had committed?_ But she didn't ask. She didn't feel ready to talk about Abby with her dad yet. "Davina has been used because of her magic, just like I have."

"You see yourself in them."

"In a way," Bonnie admitted. "I want to help them dad. I want to give them the love and protection they never had."

"You have a good heart Bonnie," Rudy said. "Those girls are very lucky to have you in their lives." He felt proud of the wonderful person she was, of the woman she had become.

Bonnie smiled. "I'm the lucky one."

"Promise me we'll spend Christmas together," Rudy gave her a hopeful look. "Here or in New Orleans, it doesn't matter where. Promise me you'll keep me in the loop." Rudy looked into her eyes. "I meant what I said Bonnie, I want to be a part of your life, of your children's life, Charlotte and Davina included."

Tears formed in her eyes upon hearing her father's words. "We will, I promise." She threw her arms around her father and engulfed him a fierce hug. "Thank-you for being so understanding," she whispered against his ear before pulling away. "I love you dad."

"I love you too, honey." Rudy kissed the top of her head. "There is one more thing I need to do before you leave," he said in a solemn voice. "I want to talk to Klaus."

Bonnie nodded. "He wants to speak with you too," she felt extremely nervous about that. She wished there had been more time for her father and Klaus to get to know each other better, to spend some time together at least and find a common ground but she knew that they had to return home. The longer they stayed away, the more dangerous it was for them as Esther could be gaining new ground with her evil plan. "He's waiting for you in the study."

Rudy offered her a small smile and kissed her forehead once more before slowly making his way out of the family room and heading towards Klaus's study.

Bonnie's heart jumped to her throat and her palms became sweaty. She felt anxious about her father's talk with Klaus. She hoped it wouldn't end badly.

* * *

The air was filled with tension when Klaus and Rudy came face to face in the study. Once the door clicked shut, both men stared at one another, neither willing to show any fear or weakness in front of the other.

Klaus stood close to the desk, a bottle of whiskey and a small glass laid on top of it. He had been quietly drinking and contemplating the grounds while he waited for Bonnie's dad to show up. He would never admit it out loud and he definitely didn't show it, but he felt nervous.

"I don't like you," was the first thing Bonnie's dad said to him.

"I didn't think you would," Klaus murmured.

Rudy took a couple of steps closer. "Carol Lockwood had a file on you and your family," he began, his jaw clenching slightly. "I doubt very much it was a complete list of deeds but it was enough for anyone to get an idea of what kind of…" he paused. "... _man_ you are."

"Such as?"

"Cruel, vengeful, a liar, a manipulator…" Rudy listed. "A killer."

Klaus did not deny it nor did he made any attempts to try and excuse himself.

"That's not the kind of man I want for Bonnie," Rudy told him bluntly.

 _That's not the kind of man I would want for my daughter either,_ Klaus thought bitterly.

"If it were up to me-"

"But it's not up to you, is it?"

Rudy sighed. "No, it's not." He glanced a way, a pensive look on his face.

Klaus kept his eyes on his face, waiting to see what else Bonnie's father had to say.

"She's so young," Rudy continued. "She's good, noble, and kind. I have no doubt she is going to be a great mom." He was proud, Klaus could tell. "Bonnie has so much love to give," he paused. "She's about to become a mother and is living a life of constant danger…fighting enemies left and right," he spat angrily, his eyes accusing. "That's not the kind of life she deserves."

"No, it is not," Klaus agreed, a wave of guilt washed over him then. If Bonnie were not carrying his children, half if not all of her problems would be gone.

"That's not the kind of life I want her to have. I am worried," Rudy confessed with raw honesty. "I'm worried about her and the twins."

"I won't let any harm come to them," Klaus vowed. "I will keep them safe."

"You're a thousand years old," Rudy said while studying his face in detail. "You have lived a thousand different lives, you have probably been with countless of women, do you really expect me to believe that you care about my daughter?"

"I love her."

Rudy was definitely taken back by that simple statement and it showed on his face. He was momentarily stunned. He didn't know what to make of the infamous hybrid.

"I love her," Klaus said, meeting Rudy's eyes unflinchingly. "I want to marry her."

"If you're just saying that because she's pregnant-"

Klaus pulled out a small velvet box from the inside pocket of his jacket. "I asked her to marry me and she said yes." He showed Rudy the box, holding it in his hand with infinite care. He had been carrying it for a while now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to make their engagement official. "I will marry her," he declared.

Rudy stared at the box, his face hard, and his eyes unreadable. He looked back and forth between the box and Klaus's face, judging the veracity of the hybrid's words. "You don't deserve her," he said at last, it wasn't meant to hurt or to mock, it was simply the honest thought of a father who thought his daughter deserve a better man.

"I don't deserve her," Klaus agreed, surprising Rudy once more. "But she has chosen me, she loves me, and you can't change that. We are building a home, a family, and you can't change that. She is the mother of my children, my wife in every way that matters, and you can't change that. No one can."

A defeating silence followed his words. Both men stared at one another, a hurricane of different emotions swirling in between them.

"You killed Jenna, you killed Carol, you turned Tyler," Rudy began listing some of the crimes Klaus committed during his time in Mystic Falls. "Anyone who gets in your way dies."

"As will anyone who comes in between Bonnie and I," Klaus hissed. "I can assure you that the things I did to Jenna, Carol, and Tyler will be nothing compared to what I will do to those who wish Bonnie and my children harm. All the heinous things I've done, I will gladly do again to those who come for my family."

Rudy believed him. "Do you even feel any remorse?" he asked after another long pause.

"No," was the honest reply. "I won't lie to you and pretend to be something I'm not." Klaus knew better. "I am a killer. I am the monster lesser man fear, the monster other monsters fear."

"And you're proud of that?" Rudy questioned. "Is that how you want your children to see you as, a monster?"

Klaus's jaw clenched at that. Rudy's questions stung more than her cared to admit.

"Do you really want to raise your children in a world of blood and death, do you-"

"You're the least qualified person to give me advise on how to raise my children," Klaus spat. "You hardly even raised Bonnie."

Rudy flinched at that.

Klaus grinned at his reaction; he had turned the tables on Bonnie's dad. "Bonnie is the woman she is today because of Sheila."

"You don't know-"

"I know more than you think," Klaus cut him off. "You don't deserve a daughter like Bonnie."

Now it was Rudy's turn to clench his jaw.

"You don't like me," Klaus stated the obvious. "I don't like you either and that won't change. We both can agree on that."

Rudy nodded.

"But for Bonnie's sake, we can at least be civil to one another."

"We don't have a choice, do we?" Rudy said in a resigned voice. He was smart enough to realize that Bonnie had chosen Klaus and he had to respect her decision if he wanted to be a part of her life.

"No, we do not."

Silence befell them then. Both met continued with their hard stares, neither was willing to back down or show any reverence to the other. They were both proud. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Rudy took a couple of steps closer and approached Klaus carefully, until they were standing merely inches away from each other's faces.

"I can be civil with you," Rudy said in a defiant tone. "For Bonnie's sake, for my grandchildren's sake, I can get along with you. As long as we both respect each other and what we mean to Bonnie, we should be fine. Can you agree with that?"

"I can," Klaus agreed.

"If you ever hurt her," Rudy hissed, his dark eyes pinning Klaus in place. "I don't care how powerful you are, I will find a way to kill you. Even if it's the last thing I do on this earth," he threatened. "If you hurt my daughter, I will kill you."

"I would expect nothing less from you," Klaus retorted. Had he been a human man perhaps he would have been intimidated by Rudy's heartfelt threat, but it was hard to be intimidated when he could smell Rudy's apprehension, when he could easily crush the man's head and heart with a hand. He felt glad at least that Bonnie's dad showed concern for his daughter, it was definitely more than what he had done in the past. He and Rudy would never be friends, he doubted they would ever have anything other than a cold and distant relationship but he was fine with that. He wasn't asking for Rudy's blessing, he had simply wanted the man to know what his intentions with Bonnie were. Now, that he had made his intentions clear and knew where he and Rudy stood, he could leave in peace, knowing that Bonnie's dad would not get in the way of their relationship and that they had come to an understanding.


	75. Chapter 75

Saying goodbye to her dad and her friends was easier than Bonnie anticipated. Her father embraced her fiercely and promised to stay in touch as well as spend Christmas with her in New Orleans. Elena and Caroline understood that she had a life, a home, a city that needed her. Bonnie's place was no longer in Mystic Falls. Things had changed dramatically for all of them in the past couple of months, their lives were completely different now. While Bonnie had responsibilities in New Orleans, Caroline and Elena were just beginning to figure out what they were going to do with their lives after all the things they had been through.

"We're definitely spending Christmas together," Caroline proclaimed as the three girls shared hugs and goodbye kisses.

"I'm really looking forward to that," Bonnie couldn't wait to have everyone together for the holidays. It was a couple of weeks away, giving them all enough time to figure everything out. She knew Caroline wanted to spend time with her mom and reconnect with her after being possessed. Elena on the other hand, was still adjusting to having her emotions back, and was probably going to spend all her time with Damon.

"I'm going to miss you," Caroline hugged her again.

"I'm going to miss you too," Bonnie hugged her back. "Both of you," she said pulling away from Caroline and hugging Elena next.

"We'll see each other soon," Elena murmured with a small smile.

"I don't care what Rebekah wants, I'll be planning your baby shower," Caroline declared enthusiastically.

Matt and Bonnie shared amused grins at that.

"I don't think she'll let you," Matt muttered under his breath.

Caroline looked determined though.

Tyler was the last to say goodbye. He stood a couple of feet behind Caroline, hands inside the pockets of his jeans as he watched Caroline and Elena said goodbye to Matt and Bonnie. When his turn finally came, he hugged Matt first before offering Bonnie a tight smile.

"How are you doing?" Bonnie asked him.

"I'm good," Tyler responded. "I'm going back to Tennessee today."

Bonnie immediately looked at Caroline when she heard that, her friend avoided her eyes and looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. Judging by the shocked faces of Matt and Elena, neither of them had known that Tyler was leaving.

"I contacted some of my pack," Tyler continued. "We're regrouping if you will, some of the wolves that survived the fall of the Navarro's are joining us as well. I spoke with Klaus so, all it's good."

"Since when do you need Klaus's permission to go to Tennessee or form a pack?" Elena questioned him suddenly.

Tyler scowled at the word permission, Caroline and Matt tensed and looked nervously at Tyler.

"I don't need his permission," the hybrid hissed angrily at her. "I just wanted to make sure that he didn't see me forming my pack again as a threat," he looked at Bonnie as he spoke. "The fall of the Navarro's left a big void in the werewolf community, some of their associates who did not participate in the war are reforming into smaller packs of wolves."

"How do you know all that?" Bonnie asked him.

"Werewolves talk."

"Does Klaus-"

"He knows." Tyler responded before she could finish asking. Klaus was always aware of everything. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know as well. You're my friend and if you and your kids ever need anything, don't hesitate to contact me."

Bonnie felt touched by his words. "Thank-you, Tyler." Bonnie threw her arms around him.

Tyler hugged her back. The need to protect her and her children was still there, he felt an intense desire to keep them safe, and he doubted that would ever change. As much as he hated it, Klaus's blood ran through his veins as well.

"You are more than welcome to spend Christmas with us," Bonnie said as they pulled apart.

"I'll keep it in mind." He kissed her cheek. "Be careful," he said glancing at her big pregnant belly. "And remember what I said."

Bonnie nodded, feeling grateful for Tyler's support. She hoped that in Tennessee, Tyler could find the solace he desperately needed. Tyler left shortly after, not even bothering to say goodbye to Caroline.

"What happened between you guys?" Elena asked as soon as he had left.

Caroline looked on the verge of tears but she managed to compose herself. "We had a fight and broke up," she said in a shaky voice. "I wanted him to stay and work on our relationship after the mess with the Travelers and he wanted to leave so…" she swallowed painfully. "It's over." She looked away.

"I'm sorry, Caroline." Bonnie hugged her.

"It's okay," Caroline said as they pulled apart. "I'll live."

Matt threw an arm around her and pulled her close. Caroline rested her head on his shoulder, and smiled weakly.

Bonnie took notice of the person standing in the doorway then.

Damon was watching them, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Stefan is on his way back," Bonnie informed Damon as he came inside the room. "He'll be here tonight." Stefan was over the moon with joy to be free. After all the time he had spent locked up in the attic of St. Anne's church, he finally had the freedom to leave and return home to his brother and Elena.

"Yes, I spoke with him earlier." Damon contemplated her face.

"What?" Bonnie asked upon seeing the strange look on his face.

Elena frowned looking back and forth between the witch and the vampire.

"What?" Damon repeated.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Damon asked defensively.

"I don't know, you have a weird look on your face," Bonnie muttered, she felt rather uncomfortable under his intense gaze.

Damon shrugged, his eyes glinting with malice. "Don't look so heartbroken witch. I know you will miss me but don't worry, you'll see me for Christmas." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and winked.

Bonnie snorted. Caroline shook her head, a small smile on her lips while Matt actually laughed out loud. The only one who didn't seem so pleased was Elena.

Bonnie was taken by surprise when Damon hugged her. It was a fleeting hug, a quick moment in which he wrapped his arms around her and breathed her scent before he pulled away. Damon had never really been affectionate with her, so it threw Bonnie off for a bit. "You smell like him," he muttered, a strange emotion flickering over his eyes.

 _Duh,_ Bonnie wanted to say. She and Klaus were a bonded pair, it was normal that his scent had impregnated every inch of her skin. She stopped herself at the last second though. There was something about the way Damon was looking at her, it unsettled her.

"See you," Damon muttered before he left the room at vampire speed. He almost seemed embarrassed by the fact that he had hugged her in front of everyone.

Matt frowned at the strange goodbye from the vampire.

Caroline made a face and looked quizzically at Bonnie. "What was that about?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know." Damon was acting weird. She felt her skin prickle and turned to look at Elena. Her friend had a serious look on her face, and if Bonnie didn't know any better, she would have thought Elena looked a bit jealous. She dismissed the silly thought as soon as it came, there was no reason for Elena to be jealous of her.

* * *

 **Hungary**

Elijah woke up with a gasp, his body trembling from the horrendous nightmare he had just experienced. Lucy mumbled something under her breath and shifted away from him, rolling onto her stomach. The silky blue sheet pooling low on her hips.

Elijah rubbed his face and got out of bed, searching for his pants which had been thrown on the floor the night before. Once he found them, he put them on, and quietly exited the bedroom, giving one last glance at the exotic beauty lying naked on the bed. Elijah closed the door and made his way towards the small kitchen inside their suite. The dream had disturbed him greatly. He looked around the elegant suite, eyes searching for the slightest moment, the slightest change that could alert him to an evil spirit lurking about. He found none of course. He knew he and Lucy were the only ones inside.

He rarely allowed himself to surrender completely to sleep. As an Original one could not allow himself to let his guard down but he had been doing just that with Lucy. He trusted her and now that they were bonded, their union was stronger than ever. Despite the lingering fear and uncertainty the nightmare left in him, Elijah found himself smiling as he thought of his beloved. Lucy had stormed into his life and completely taken him by surprise. He had never felt this happy. He had never been so in love with anyone as he was with Lucy and the thought of losing her. He closed his eyes, the horrible images of Lucy's broken and mauled body assaulting his mind. His nightmare had been about her death at the hands of Mikael and it had shaken him to the core.

 _It wasn't real,_ he told himself. _It will never happen. I will ensure he never hurts her._

Elijah filled a glass with water and made his way towards the balcony which had a gorgeous view of the city below. The sun was rising and the people below were already out and about. Elijah could sense them, hear them, and easily follow them with his eyes despite the high altitude he found himself in. His senses were unrivaled after all-well, except for his hybrid brother that is.

 _Was father tormenting Niklaus as well?_ Elijah wondered suddenly, as he drank all the water in one go. _Were Kol and Rebekah dreaming of him too?_ He hated it, he hated the power Mikael had over all of them. He hoped that his mother's visit had just been nothing more than a desperate plea, an attempt to escape the other side and that she wasn't actually fully back. He certainly hoped, Mikael had not followed her.

As Elijah stood contemplating the morning sunlight bathing the surrounding buildings, he slowly began to relax and forget the terrible nightmare. Amara had been laid to rest inside the old sacred church and Lucy had reinforced the spells Sarah had placed centuries before. Elijah had shown her a bit of the city afterwards, walking hand and hand through the narrow cobblestone streets and pointing out some of the most interesting places in the small town a few miles away from the still believed haunted woods. He wished they could stay longer, he wished he could take her to Budapest and show her the magnificent views of the Danube, take her to visit the caves of Lillafüred, or simply spend a few days in his favorite villa. None of that was possible right now. Their family needed them back as soon as possible not only to face the storm to come but to celebrate Charlotte's birthday.

A soft smile formed at the corner of his lips as he thought of the sweet little girl that had captivated their family. Rebekah and Bonnie were already finalizing everything for the party and Elijah had already ordered Charlotte's gift from his jeweler in Paris-a beautiful necklace with the first letter of her name. He hoped she liked it. Focusing on his family, helped ease the tension and forget- at least for a while- the threat looming over their heads. Whatever Esther and even Mikael thought they could do against them, Elijah felt confident that it would fail.

 _Family is power._

The Originals were the most powerful supernatural family in the world, nothing and no one was going to win against them, not even their own parents. Elijah would make certain of it.

* * *

 **New Orleans**

Klaus muttered to himself as he looked through his mother's possessions. He felt determined to find a clue, anything that could give them an insight into his mother's plans. Esther had made a move by appearing to Kol and Rebekah but she had not been seen or heard from since then. Since they arrived in New Orleans, everyone had been tensed and alert, waiting for Esther to make her move. She hadn't. He didn't know what to make of his mother's appearance. To complicate matters, he had a city to rule and people demanding his attention left and right. He and Bonnie had been busy meeting with the different factions in the city and ensuring the peace treaty was respected by all. His alliance with the Crescent wolf pack was still fragile, he didn't trust Armand and his vampires-although he and Elijah had succeeded in turning many of his followers to their cause, which was definitely a plus-and there were smaller wolf packs forming after the demise of the Navarro clan. So far, they didn't seem interesting in conquering the supernatural world or in following Franco's ideology which was the reason they were still breathing. Nonetheless, Klaus kept eyes and ears in Baton Rouge to ensure none of those packs got any silly notions or became a threat to his family. The witch community was still recovering after the Sophie debacle. Klaus left that to Bonnie and her coven as he had no patience at the moment to handle arrogant witches. Bonnie and the Regent were the ones to handle all matters of the witches in the city while he focused on the bigger threats. He was driving everyone crazy apparently. His temper had surfaced more often than not lately, his paranoia had increased tenfold, and according to Bonnie, he saw enemies left and right. She didn't like how much time he was spending locked away in his study, plotting and secretly meeting with his brothers. What Bonnie didn't like the most was the fact that she, Rebekah, and Lucy were not included in said meetings.

"Just what exactly are the three of you plotting?" She would ask from time to time.

"We're just spending some brotherly time together, love." Klaus would give her his most innocent look, with matching dimples that made him look like a cherub and then he would attempt to distract her with his kisses and while Bonnie allowed herself to be distracted, she knew better than to believe his words. She thankfully, wasn't pushing the issue so far.

The harsh truth was, that all three of the Mikaelson men were being plagued by nightmares involving their father. It seemed both of his parents were determined to make their lives a living hell.

 _"In my dreams he kills Lucy," Elijah confessed to them the night of his return._

 _"In mine he kills us all," Kol whispered quietly. "There are times when I feel like he's here watching us, following our every move." He found himself constantly looking over his shoulder, always tense and alert. "Your paranoia has definitely grown on me."_

 _"My paranoia is what has kept me alive this far," Klaus snapped. The last time he had felt Mikael this close to them, he had cut ties with everyone, even Elijah. He had surrounded himself with a group of witches and had spent decades without being seen by the supernatural world which led the younger generations of vampires to believe that he was just a myth._

 _"What do you dream about?" Elijah tentatively asked him._

 _A fat sage candle burned in the small coffee table in between them as the three of them met in Klaus's study. Another plant was burning in the corner-courtesy of Kol. Its strong scent was meant to keep evil spirits away. The entire house had been cleansed by the Bennett coven. Vivian and the other elders had performed all kinds of protective spells as well. The compound was practically impenetrable but still, Klaus worried as did his brothers._

 _"Sometimes he takes Bonnie and the twins…" Klaus begun, a slight tremor in his voice. The fear of being alone, of having his family ripped away from him was greater than ever. "There are times when he has the white oak and is hunting us, killing everything and everyone in his path."_

 _"But the white oak is safe, right?" Kol looked into his face._

 _Klaus was momentarily reminded of his childhood, when Kol would look up to him to appease his fears. "Yes." He assured his younger brother. "None of our enemies will ever get their hands on it, not even father." He had personally taken the white oak to the only place where magic, supernaturals, and even their parents would never be able to access it._

Klaus hadn't told Bonnie about his nightmares although he had a feeling she knew. Elijah had not shared his with Lucy either. It wasn't because they didn't trust their women, it was simply the fact that they didn't want to worry them more than they already were. The fear and shame those dreams brought to them was powerful. In their one thousand years on this earth, Mikael was the only person Klaus had ever feared, the only demon that still had power over him. The one person in all the world, all of the Originals were absolutely terrified of, even more so than Esther.

 _Are they plotting together?_ Klaus wondered suddenly as he sat and looked through his mother's grimoire. _Had Esther and Mikael joined forces in their deep hatred of him?_

 _Are you watching me right now?_

His eyes moved around the study, the light from the lamps casting shadows over the furniture and the shelves filled with first edition books. The windows were thrown open, a slight cold breeze carrying from outside, as well as the lively notes of a violin. The city was at peace, the Quarter was filled with tourists enjoying another late night of entertainment. He could sense a couple of young wolves and hear their happy chatter as they returned home after a night at the movies. He could sense the hybrids and vampires patrolling the city and keeping an eye on the compound, like he had ordered them to. There was so sign of his mother, no sense of a ghost or evil spirit lurking about. But that didn't mean she wasn't out there.

"What are you plotting against us?" Klaus mumbled to himself while flipping the pages of Esther's grimoire. It was one of the most sought out magical books in the world, an ancient collection of spells, curses, and deadly potions that plenty of witches would cut an arm off to obtain. It had the most powerful and desired spell of all _, the immortality spell_. His fingers traced the page, reading the words that had changed his family's destiny. Even though he was deep in concentration he still heard the shuffle of feet and the pounding of a small human heart. "I know you are there, you can come in." He didn't even bother looking up as he spoke.

The door opened slowly and Charlotte poked her head inside the study. "Hi," she greeted.

Klaus closed his mother's grimoire and looked at the little girl clad in her pink pajamas and bunny slippers. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" he glanced at the clock on the wall, it was thirty minutes past three a.m.

"I was cold," Charlotte replied. "And thirsty," she added walking around the desk and coming to stand close to him. "What are you reading?" she stood on her tiptoes and looked up at the desk with mild curiosity.

"Nothing important," Klaus replied.

"I am going to have a party today," Charlotte said with a soft smile.

"Yes, I know." Klaus smiled back. Rebekah, Lucy, and Bonnie had spent the better part of the day setting everything up for Charlotte's party. Charlotte placed her hands behind her back and watched him, curls bouncing as she tilted her head to the side. "I never had a birthday party before."

Klaus felt a mixture of sadness and anger at her admission. For a child so young, Charlotte had suffered tremendously. It was something the family was slowly remedying but the anger he felt at her retched mother was still there. He hoped she was burning in the deepest of hell for her cruelty towards her own child. "Is that the reason you couldn't sleep?" he teased.

Charlotte shrugged before she tentatively began to climb on his legs. Klaus easily picked her up and sat her on his lap. She happily snuggled against him. "I couldn't sleep cause I was cold but also cause of my party. Aunty Bex said I will get many presents and that I will have a cake and that I have to make a wish when I blow the candles."

"Yes, that's right. It's tradition."

Charlotte smiled and began paying with the necklaces around his neck. She studied them and moved her fingers over the beads with fascination. Bonnie was the only other person in the world who was allowed to do that. "Can I tell you a secret?" she glanced into his face and chewed on her bottom lip. She seemed a little nervous.

"Of course." Klaus gave her an encouraging smile.

"I don't have to make a wish because it already came true."

Klaus arched an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he gave her a curious look, waiting for her to elaborate on her statement.

Charlotte nodded and smiled sweetly at him. "All I ever wanted was to have a mom and a dad," she admitted in a shy whisper. She stared into his eyes, her heart pounding loudly, and her cheeks the color of apples. "And I have them now."

Invisible hooks took over his heart and his throat was suddenly tight with emotion. Klaus let out a shaky breath, his arms tightening around her small frame. "Yes..." he agreed. "You do." He kissed the top of her head.

Charlotte beamed and rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes. Her small fingers continued to play with his necklaces as her body began to relax before it finally succumbed to a deep slumber.

Klaus continued to hold her tenderly in his arms, a feeling of pure adoration washing over him.

* * *

Charlotte's birthday party was a success.

Children from Fenrir's pack and the witch community of New Orleans were invited into the compound to accompany her in her celebration. Klaus begrudgingly invited children from the Crescent moon pack as well, and that was only because Bonnie reminded him that it would be rude to invite everyone else expect for them.

The entire first floor of the compound was richly decorated with balloons and ornaments and there were refreshments, games, and even clowns happily keeping the children entertained. Klaus had spared no expense to make sure Charlotte would have the best birthday party ever.

The little girl couldn't believe her eyes at the mountain of presents she received or at the number of kids that came to her party. It seemed like the entire city had been invited. She soon made friends with all the kids in attendance as they were around her age and spend the better part of the afternoon happily playing with them.

Bonnie was a proud mom as she saw Charlotte interact with all the children. She looked so happy. Tears of joy formed in her eyes as she contemplated her little girl. Rebekah felt much the same way, she had been the one to come up with most of the ides for the party and couldn't stop grinning at how successful it was turning out to be.

Klaus watched from the balcony in the second floor, his eyes following the tiny girl dressed in a puffy soft pink dress and matching headband and shoes. He had never seen Charlotte so happy. She was clearly enjoying herself. There was a proud grin on his face as he followed her with his eyes.

The minute Charlotte spotted Marcel, she rushed towards him a happy smile on her face.

"Happy birthday, little lady." Marcel picked her up in his arms and threw her up in the air.

Charlotte squealed with delight and hooked her arms around his neck as he held her in his arms. "Did you bring me a present?" she asked eagerly.

"A present," Marcel pretended to think about it. "No, I didn't," he responded in a serious voice.

Charlotte's face fell.

"I brought you two presents, actually."

The little witch grinned. "Yay!" she hugged him.

Marcel kissed her forehead and set her down on the floor gently. He was still laughing as she ran away from him and towards the group of friends she had made that day.

"Come on, hurry." A brunette girl grabbed her hand and led her towards the group of children in the far corner of the room, where they watched enthralled as a clown did a couple of magic tricks. They cheered and clapped completely submerged in the moment.

The smile on Marcel's face died as soon as he spotted a certain Crescent wolf talking to his adoptive daughter.

"I would appreciate it if you don't make a scene," Bonnie's voice reached his ears.

Marcel turned to face the pregnant queen of the city. "You okay with that?" he asked pointing to Oliver and a giggly Davina, they were sitting on the couch, heads bent together as they talked quietly. Seeing the werewolf so close to his daughter, made Marcel's blood boil with rage.

"There is no crime in talking," Bonnie muttered as she rearranged the presents in the big long wooden table and made more space for the new arrivals. She was pretty sure Rebekah alone had given Charlotte at least six different gifts. _Are we spoiling her too much?_ Bonnie asked herself suddenly. Charlotte was definitely living the life of a princess.

"That wolf wants more than a few words." Marcel's hands itched to throw a couple of punches in Oliver's annoying face.

Bonnie sighed. She was starting to get a headache, between Klaus's glares and biting remarks, Elijah's threatening and calculating eyes, and Marcel murderous gaze she rather felt sorry for Oliver. "You do realize that Davina is at age where liking boys and wanting to go on dates is perfectly normal, right?"

Marcel looked gutted at the thought of Davina going out on a date. "Not with that pup."

Bonnie mentally counted to ten. She had had a similar conversation with Klaus the night before when she informed him that Oliver was coming to the party.

" _I don't recall inviting that boy," Klaus hissed._

" _No, but Davina did."_

" _And who gave her permission to do so?"_

" _They are friends. They have been talking for the past couple of days and Davina asked me if he could come and I say yes."_

" _Why the bloody hell would you do that?" Klaus snapped angrily. "I don't want the girls associating with that clan."_

" _That's how you want to promote peace and unity in the city?" Bonnie retorted. "By constantly looking down on the wolves that are not your blood."_

" _I don't trust the Crescents and there is something about that boy-"_

" _Would you prefer to have Davina sneak around with him?" Bonnie countered. "I think she likes him and I rather get to know him and spend time with him than have Davina lie to us and see him behind our backs."_

" _She's not old enough to be dating!"_

 _Bonnie burst out laughing. "Are you serious?" She couldn't believe he had just said that, judging by the serious look on his face, she knew he meant it. "Elena and Matt were already sleeping together at her age and I wasn't that much older when I started dating Jer-"_

" _I really don't want to know the details," Klaus cut her off._

 _Bonnie suppressed a giggle at the hint of jealousy echoing through their bond at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. "Is this how you are going to act when Charlotte starts liking boys?" The horrified look on Klaus's face was comical. It was quickly replaced by a murderous look. Bonnie felt pity for Charlotte and any boy that would want to take her out one day. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. "While I think it's adorable how protective you are of the girls, you can't keep them locked up in a glass cage forever. They are going to grow up, fall in love, date,-"_

 _Klaus opened his mouth to protest but Bonnie didn't let him say anything._

" _You can't threaten to murder any of their future suitors you know."_

" _Who says that I will do that?" Klaus looked offended by her comment._

" _Really?" Bonnie gave him a knowing look._

" _I will behave like a perfect gentleman and I expect the same thing from them," Klaus told her in a deadly voice. "If not, I shall compel them to the priesthood."_

 _Bonnie laughed and kissed him on the lips. Despite her laughter at his words however, she knew Klaus would do that and much more._

Bonnie pulled herself out of the memory of the previous night and study Marcel's angry face. "Davina is not a kid anymore," she told him. "And she's not doing anything wrong."

"She's fraternizing with the enemy."

"There is a peace treaty in place, Marcel." Bonnie was quick to remind him. "The wolves are no longer enemies but allies."

Marcel scoffed at that.

"Don't you dare make a scene and ruin Charlotte's party." Bonnie warned before walking towards the entrance of the house, to greet the new guests that had arrived. She was happily playing the role of hostess, aided by Lucy and Matt who both managed to make the guest feel at ease despite all the supernatural currents of power floating about. Klaus for his part, stood like a king holding court from the second floor balcony. He made quite an intimidating sight and many people glanced up nervously from time to time, feeling in awe of the imposing figure he made, and the handsome face that gave nothing away of his inner most thought.

Marcel watched her go before he decided to make his way towards Davina, only to be intercepted by Elijah. "Don't waste your time," he said happily leading him to the opposite corner of the room. "The women have threatened mutiny if we ruin Charlotte's party with _our alpha male over protective tendencies_ ," or so Lucy had said to him earlier as she warned him not to kill Davina's _friend._ Kill? Elijah had actually scoffed at that. He had much more imagination than that, thank you. Needless to say, Lucy had not been amused.

"I don't like him."

"Neither do I." Elijah stopped one of the servers and grabbed two glasses of whiskey from the tray the young man was carrying.

Marcel looked at the drinks and back into Elijah's face. "I thought this was a children's party."

"It is," Elijah replied with a smirk. "But there are plenty of adults as well." He handed him a glass. "Cheers."

Marcel reluctantly took the drink and clicked his glass against Elijah's before drinking the whole think in one go. His eyes did not leave Davina and Oliver.

"Tell me," Elijah began, his calculating eyes focusing on Marcel's face. "How did Armand and his group of vampires behave while we were away?"

"Didn't Kol and Rebekah keep you informed?" Marcel snapped.

"They did," Elijah responded calmly. "But now, I would like to hear your report." The tone of his voice made it perfectly clear that he wasn't asking.

Marcel sighed. "There is not much to tell, they mostly kept to themselves. Kol did a surprisingly good job at keeping them in line, not that it wasn't that hard when he threatened to unleash Klaus's wolf pack on them if they didn't behave."

"That sounds like Kol," Elijah murmured with a secret proud smile.

"Armand is an arrogant asshole but so far, he's playing by the rules."

"So far," Elijah repeated while taking a sip of his drink. He knew better than to fully trust Armand and his group.

* * *

"Who killed your favorite cat?" Belle teased as soon as she saw the scowl on Kol's face.

Riley gave her a warning look. She should know better than to be provoking an Original. Belle of course had absolutely no sense of self preservation and ignored him.

"Go to hell," the Original snapped as he took a swing of his bottle of scotch. His eyes were set on the couple happily chatting a few feet away from him. Davina giggled at everything Oliver said and every time she did so, Kol gritted his teeth.

Belle followed his line of sight and grinned. "If I didn't know any better I would think you were jealous."

"Belle," Riley tugged at her hand and pulled her away before Kol decided to snap her neck.

Kol growled and glared at her.

The hybrid girl stuck her tongue out at him and walked away with her boyfriend, mumbling about how rude he was. Riley neither agreed or disagreed with her.

Kol followed them with his eyes, watching as the couple joined Davina and that stinky werewolf whose name he couldn't care to remember. _What could Davina possibly see in that bastard?_ He wondered angrily. He was dull, with stupid curly hair, and dirt inside his brain. Davina could do better than him. He still couldn't believe Nik had allowed that stinky dog to attend the party.

"Only you would get drunk at a children's party," Lucy took the bottle of Scotch from his hand and handed it to one of the Bennett witches nearby to put away. The girl however, took a swing and ran to her younger cousins to share the delicious drink.

"Hey!" Kol protested. "Just because you and Elijah finally decided to make your union official with a bond doesn't mean you can boss me around." By now, all of the Originals and most of the Bennett witches had sensed the blood bond between the couple. While Aunt Vivian had expressed her disappointment that Lucy preferred to make her life with the undead instead of a good witch husband to make Bennett babies with, Rebekah was static and so was Bonnie. Kol could care less or so he pretended. He was actually quite happy that his older and reserved brother was in love-with a woman that wasn't in any way associated romantically with Nik, perhaps there was a god after all-and that he was finally living his life and not obsessing about their brother's redemption like years past.

"We're about to cut the cake," Lucy informed him. "And Rebekah wants to take some family pictures."

Kol groaned. "We already took a hundred bloody pictures before all the screeching little parasites arrived!" he complained.

Lucy's mouth dropped open. "Did you just call the kids, parasites?" she couldn't believe how rude he was being.

Kol shrugged.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"None of your damn business!" Kol snapped before using his vampire speed to walk away. As of late, he had been in a foul mood, his legendary and irritable temper surfacing more frequently. He was angry at everyone and everything.

"Unbelievable!" Lucy mumbled before walking in the opposite direction. She was half tempted to tell Elijah to have a serious talk with his rascal of a brother because he was being more annoying than usual.

* * *

There was a rather sad look on Rebekah's face as she contemplated the children running around the compound. Charlotte was grinning from ear to ear and Rebekah's heart ached with a longing that cut through her to the core. Charlotte's arrival in their lives had brought out Rebekah's maternal instincts with a force that scared her. She loved that sweet little girl and spoiled her rotten. But Charlotte would never be her daughter. She had chosen Bonnie to fulfill that role and while Rebekah did not resent her sister in law for the place she occupied in Charlotte's heart, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like, to be a real mother.

Rebekah moved her eyes from the tiny witch to Bonnie who was chatting amicably with two other witches that had dared to come into the Mikaelson's den with their kids. Bonnie was doing an excellent job with the witch community, working arduously with Vincent and Madame Josephine to improve relations between their family and the magical community. She was also glowing and looking happier and healthier than ever as she neared her due date.

Bonnie's eyes shone happily, her hand resting tenderly on her huge belly. She looked ready to pop at any moment. Rebekah contemplated Bonnie's pregnant belly wondering what it felt like to carry a child inside the womb. She had placed her hand on Bonnie's pregnant belly many a time and had marveled at the wonderful experience of feeling the twins move but it was a completely different thing to carry them for nine months. Once again, her mother's words echoed inside her mind. She hated the thoughts that consumed her since Esther had made her presence known to her and Kol. She hated the anguish she felt and the temptation that haunted her since then.

 _What if you accept her deal?_ A terrifying part of her mind whisper. The voice in her head sounded suspiciously like her mother's. _Your brothers don't have to do it._ The voice whispered. _They can remain vampires forever and protect Bonnie and the twins but you can become human and have a child with Matt. Wouldn't you like to feel a child grow inside your belly? Wouldn't you like to be a mother? To have your magic back? To have the life you were meant to have._

After the whole Silas fiasco, Rebekah had been content to put her desire to be human to the back of her mind. Then she had started dating Matt and the happiness invading her heart was beyond anything she had ever experienced before. But now, that desire to be human intensified.

"Hey," Matt suddenly appeared next to her and took her hand. "I thought we were going to cut the cake."

His voice startled her and brought her out of her dangerous thought. "Yes, of course." She did her best to hide her pain.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked with concern.

"I'm perfect," Rebekah leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. "Shall we go get the cake?"

Matt studied her face for a couple of seconds without saying anything. Rebekah had been in a rather melancholic mood lately. He knew why of course, she could pretend all she wanted but Matt knew it had to do with Esther's offer.

"Come on," Rebekah tugged at his hand and let him towards the kitchen where the big chocolate cake made by Angelica waited.

For now, Matt was giving her time but he hoped Rebekah would be comfortable enough with him to talk about her fears and doubts.

* * *

 **Later that night**

"Did you like your party?" Bonnie asked Charlotte as she helped her into bed. Her bedroom was filled with all the toys she had received and there were a couple of colorful balloons floating about too.

"I love it! It was the best day of my life," Charlotte proclaimed. She had indulged in all kinds of games, sweets, and even ate three slices of cake. She had also spent the better part of the night opening presents.

Bonnie smiled, feeling extremely happy at the joy she saw reflected in Charlotte's face. She tucked her in and sat with her, listening to all the things Charlotte enjoyed about her party, from the clowns, to the delicious chocolate cake, and the new friends she made. "Can my new friends come to play again?"

"Of course, they can." Bonnie definitely planned to make a playdate with some of the witch children Charlotte had easily gotten along with. Bonnie had spoken with their mothers and they seemed inclined to it, so she didn't think there was going to be a problem with that.

"I can't wait for the pictures," Charlotte continued talking. "I'm going to put them in the photo album uncle Matt gave me." Rebekah had hired a professional photographer to take pictures and another person to record the most memorable moments during the party. Bonnie was also looking forward to seeing the pictures and helping Charlotte to organize them into the album Matt had given her. Charlotte had been fascinated with the album Bonnie's father had and had told everyone she wanted to collect pictures too which was the reason for the gift.

A meowing sound had Bonnie looking down at the covers. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Charlotte replied innocently.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed when she saw something moving under the covers.

Charlotte gasped and squirmed, pulling the covers up to her chest.

"Did you sneak-" Bonnie tried to lift the covers.

"No. I didn't!" Charlotte pushed her hands away but it was too late, the orange ball of fur peaked its small head from under Charlotte's comforter. "Oops." There was a guilty look on her face as she picked the small creature in her arms. "I told you to stay hidden…" she mumbled under her breath while craddling the kitten to her chest. It was the gift Bonnie and Klaus had given her and the one she treasured the most.

"Charlotte," Bonnie gave her a disapproving look. "I thought we agreed he would sleep in his own bed." If fact, Bonnie and Davina had helped Charlotte pile blankets inside a box so Charlotte's new furry pet could sleep in, said box had been placed by the window.

"I don't want Peanuts to be lonely or afraid," Charlotte muttered as she petted the animal's soft fur. He was a small thing with orange-white fur and big sleepy green eyes.

Bonnie sighed.

"Can he stay with me please?" Charlotte begged. "Just for tonight."

"And tomorrow you'll ask the same thing," Klaus muttered as he stepped inside Charlotte's bedroom. There was a teasing smile on his lips though.

Charlotte pouted and Klaus laughed.

"I promise, just for tonight." Charlotte turned to look at Bonnie once more. "It's his first day with us and I don't want him to be scared or lonely. Pleaseeeeeee…" She gave Bonnie a desperate pleading look.

Bonnie tried to be firm, she really did but those big and innocent eyes had a way of making her crumble.

"Look at him!" Charlotte said holding the kitten up. "He's so tiny, we can't leave him on his own. That's cruel," she finished in a dramatic voice.

Peanuts blinked and let out a yawn right in Bonnie's face. He was a cute kitten, from the moment Bonnie saw him at the pet store, she knew Charlotte was going to love him dearly. Klaus had wanted to get a dog instead as according to him they were better protectors, Bonnie however was determined to fulfill Charlotte's wish for a cat. The hybrid had relented, after all there was nothing he could deny his girls. "Fine." Bonnie decided to allow the cat to sleep with her. "Just be careful, okay. He's tiny and-"

"You could crush him in your sleep," Klaus finished for her.

"Never!" Charlotte shouted at once. "I'm going to love him and protect him with my life," she declared before pulling the kitten up to her face and rubbing her nose against its soft fur. "He's perfect and I love him." She kissed his fluffy head with infinite tenderness. "This is the best gift ever!" she told them. "Thank-you for letting him stay with me." She gently brush her fingers over the kitten's head. "Peanuts says thank-you too."

Klaus chuckled.

Girl and kitten looked so cute together that any of Bonnie's apprehension melted completely. "Alright, time to sleep."

Bonnie tucked her in once more. Her heart melted at the sight of Charlotte and her kitten curled together on the bed. They were adorable. "Good night peanuts," she murmured while gently rubbing behind the kitten's ears. "Goodnight, sweetie." She whispered kissing Charlotte's forehead.

"Night...mommy."

Bonnie froze, her heart leaping into her throat. This was the first time Charlotte had referred to her as mommy and Bonnie was not prepared for the onslaught of emotions that washed over her. Her eyes watered, and she placed another kiss on Charlotte's forehead. "I love you," she whispered tenderly. She had never felt so happy, so utterly in love with that sweet and innocent child that had miraculously found her way into her life. Bonnie contemplated _her daughter_ for a couple of moments as she snuggled contently against her new pet.

Klaus came to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her back against him.

"She called me mommy," Bonnie whispered, her voice trembling with emotion, even her knees felt weak.

"Yes, she did." Klaus deposited a tender kiss on the side of her neck.

Bonnie shivered and leaned into his touch. "Can someone explode from happiness?" she wondered while smiling crazy. She felt the ghost of a smile against her neck and another tender kiss on her skin, making her pulse jolt at the heated touch. "Our little girl."

"Our little girl," Klaus repeated as the two contemplated the little angel on the bed.

There were really no words to fully encompass how happy Bonnie felt in that moment.

* * *

"How much longer do we have to wait?" his voice was like acid, his face hard, and his eyes cold and calculating. He was tired of being stuck here, constantly waiting, only able to see the world from time to time. He was a man of action, a warrior, and he hated not being able to do anything.

"Just a bit longer," was the confident reply he received from his estranged wife.

"We've been stuck here for days!"

"By all means, if you are not pleased go back to the other side." She was frankly getting tired of all his complains. Her words had the desired effect for he instantly stopped harassing her, choosing instead to pressed his lips together, jaw tightly clenched. "We were successful to escape while the barrier was down but we're trapped in the in-between."

"And how exactly do you plan to get us out of here, mother?" another younger voice asked.

"There is an eclipse coming and with it, there will be a strong surge of magic in the air." She looked at both of them, in a certain light father and son could pass off as brothers. "That will be our chance to come back fully." Her eyes glinted with malice. "The eclipse will grant me the power I need and we shall be free at last."

 _Just a few more days,_ she thought eagerly.

* * *

 **Days later**

He found her in the nursery, muttering to herself while neatly folding the twins' clothes and placing them gently inside the drawers. Bonnie was so focused, she didn't even notice his presence in the room. He let his eyes move over her beautiful pregnant body without shame. He could hear the two tiny beating hearts and the love and adoration that cascaded over him made him giddy. "What are you muttering to yourself, love?"

Bonnie jumped, startled by the sound of his voice. "Jeez, why do you always love sneaking on me?"

Klaus chuckled, leaning one shoulder against the door frame. "We're bonded you should be able to sense me long before I get this close."

"I was distracted."

"So, I see."

Bonnie finished placing the clothes inside the drawers and looked into his eyes. "I just talked to my Dad," she informed Klaus. "He and my friends will be arriving tomorrow to spend Christmas with us."

"Does this include the annoying Salvatore brothers?"

"Yes."

Klaus didn't look pleased by that.

"Don't pretend like you don't like Stefan." Bonnie knew they had been friends back in the day, when Stefan and Rebekah had a thing.

"Stefan, I can tolerate. His brother on the other hand…" he let the sentence hang in the air.

Bonnie walked towards him, Klaus met her half way. "I was hoping you could talk to Kol," she began nervously. "Elena is coming with Damon and I don't know how Kol is going to react." Elena was Kol's least favorite person. She was probably one of the top three people Kol wanted dead for good.

"Kol has every reason to hate that girl."

"I know." Bonnie placed her hands on his chest. "But she's my friend and she's been through a lot-"

"That does not excuse what she did," Klaus hissed.

"I want all us to spend Christmas together, as a family." Bonnie gave him a pleading look. "I'm not asking Kol to forgive her just to ignore her and have dinner with all us. Elena and Damon are only staying for a couple of days. They're going to celebrate the new year in the Caribbean." Or so Elena had told Bonnie. "I'm going to talk to him myself and ask him to play nice." She frowned. Kol had been so moody lately she wasn't sure how much he would actually listen to her which was why she was asking Klaus to intervene. "He'll listen to you."

"I suppose I could always dagger him while your friends are here," he suggested, a devilish grin on his face.

"Klaus!" Bonnie slapped his chest playfully. "That's not funny. Kol is part of the family." Although he had been more annoying than usual. Bonnie had a feeling as to why Kol's temper was flaring more than usual. While yes, there was a part of him that was worried about Esther, the real reason behind Kol's sour mood had to do with Davina. He thought he was being clever but Bonnie has seen the way he looked at the teenage witch when he thought no one was looking. And Davina was not doing any better either. She was hurt that Kol was ignoring her and was using Oliver to make him jealous, whether consciously or not, she wanted Kol to notice her. Bonnie had a feeling that things were going to explode sooner or later between those two and she wasn't sure what the outcome would be.

"I'll speak with him." Klaus tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He frowned when he took notice how hot her face felt. "Are you alright?" he asked, feeling concerned about the sweat forming around her forehead.

"Yeah…." Bonnie mumbled. "I'm just tired." She had been more tired than usual and more irritable too. "My back is killing me." She had been having a back ache since earlier that morning and it was only getting worse.

"Sweetheart-"

"It's probably all the weight I gained," Bonnie dismissed his concerns. Every day, the twins seemed to be fighting for space inside her belly.

"Perhaps you should sit down," Klaus suggested as he wrapped an arm around her and led her towards their bedroom. "I can call Dr. Mayfair."

"I'm fine." No sooner had the words left her mouth, when she felt a cramp. The unexpected pain took her by surprise and she froze. It was similar to the ones she got before her period.

"What's wrong?" Klaus asked noticing the slight worried look on her face. They had stopped walking, right in the hallway of the second floor.

"I…oh god," Bonnie grabbed her stomach as she felt another cramp, this one was stronger than the one before. Her knees buckled over and Klaus held her back before she could fall. There was a popping sensation and Bonnie gasped feeling something warm gush out of her, soaking her pants. She looked down at the floor, seeing the water pooling at her feet. She felt horrified at first, for she thought she had peed on herself. When another stronger cramp followed, realization dawned on her. There was a terrifying feeling that chilled her to the bones. "Klaus…" Bonnie let out in a shaky voice. "I think my water just broke." What she thought were cramps were actually contractions and she was pretty sure she had just gone into labor.

The color drained from Klaus's face at her words. "It's too soon," he whispered feeling stunned by the unexpected turn of events. She still had about a month and a half before her due date. She couldn't go into labor two days before Christmas.

Bonnie cried out as another strong contraction hit her. Klaus held her tightly and steady her as her knees wobbled from the pain. "I'm in labor," she gasped, this time there was absolutely no doubt about it.

* * *

 _A/N: The moment everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived! Thank-you for reading and reviewing. See you next time!_


	76. Chapter 76

_**A/N** : Alright here we are at last! _

_Just a friendly reminder, I have never been inside a delivery room. I did some research on the subject and I hope that I managed a decent portrayal but this is obviously not 100% accurate and it's a supernatural birth too, so keep that in mind please. Thank-you and enjoy!_

* * *

An unexpected storm descended upon New Orleans with strong hurricane type winds and rumbling thunder which took locals and tourists alike by surprise. The cold rain came down hard, pouring over the entire city and engulfing everything in its destructive powers.

The sunny afternoon with clear blue skies had suddenly turned dark and sinister. The air not only crackled with the lightning that descended with a viciousness that terrified people but with magic as well. There was so much power floating in the air, moving silently from one corner of the city to another, jolting every single supernatural out of their skins and letting them known of the extraordinary event that was taking place that day.

The bells of the churches began tolling on their own accord and slight tremors rocked the earth; not enough to cause damage but enough to make people aware that something big was happening. The storm was not a creation of nature, it had been summoned by Bonnie's magic, by the currents of powers that eased out of her body as each contraction hit her.

Every witch in the city felt the sudden change. They all became aware at once that something big was happening in their city. They all felt nervous as their magic pulsed with a strange kind of intensity that they had never felt before. The magic already floating about the city surged and became ten time stronger than before but despite all that incredible power, the witches were unable to perform a single spell properly. They didn't understand why or how it was possible but not a single witch could control their magic that day.

"Our magic is out of control," Vincent commented worriedly. For the past hour or so, he had been trying to light up a candle but instead he had made at least three candles explode, turn another into a puddle of wax, and nearly burned Josephine's living room. "I can't make a single spell work. How can this be?" he looked up into his mentor's face, wondering what the hell was going on. "Magic is increasing all around us, we should be preforming once in a lifetime spells and yet, we can't even do a simple, _incendia._ "

Josephine sat across from him, hands on her lap, a pensive look on her face. "Our magic is responding to an exterior stimulation," she concluded wisely. "Something has awakened all the power in the city, something beyond our control."

"You seem awfully calm about this," Vincent noted. While he was worried and fearful about what this could mean for the witch community, his mentor didn't look worried at all.

Josephine smiled. "I don't believe is anything we have to fear." She glanced out of the window. Outside the sky was dark, rain and wind pelted the roof and windows hard. It was going to be a long night. "Whatever it is, it shall pass." Something inside her told her so. "Do not be afraid."

"I hope you are right," Vincent murmured.

The witches were not the only ones who felt something.

The vampires and hybrids felt on edge. As the currents of magic increased all around the city, the vampires tensed not knowing whether to be worried or fearful. They couldn't exactly explain what they were feeling, only that there was something in the air that was making them nervous and alert.

Belle rubbed her hands over her arms. "My skin is all tingly and I feel nervous and I don't even know why."

"Just calm down, it will pass soon." Riley pulled her into his arms, holding her tenderly.

"Join the club," Josh muttered, he winced with each new clap of thunder. "I don't like this," he complained while pacing like a lion inside a cage. "A part of me wants to run, another part of me wants to hide, while another wants to fight. It's crazy!"

"She's doing this."

All the hybrids and the couple of vampires in the room turned to Alexa. She was standing near the balcony, pressing her face really close to the glass. She was in perfect view of the compound.

"Why do you say that?" Jesse asked her curiously.

"Didn't you noticed?" Alexa glanced at him over her shoulder. "The storm, that strange feeling that is invading us, the magic lingering in the air…it all started when Bonnie went into labor."

"Are you saying she's causing all of this craziness?" Nate hadn't really connected the dots until Alexa had pointed out the obvious. "Shit!" he cursed. "At this rate, she'll bring the entire city to the ground."

"Don't say that!" Belle snapped at him.

"It makes sense," Felix muttered. He was calming sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace which provided the only source of light in the room. "It's not every day that witch/vampire/werewolf hybrids are born."

Silence descended over them then.

Once Bonnie gave birth to the twins, the storm would pass, the darkness would give in to the light, and the peace and tranquility would return to the city. For now, all they had to do was wait.

The werewolves were not immune to the strange supernatural storm either; to the magic sweeping in from the city into bayou, bringing a feeling of tension and even fear to the whole community.

"What the hell is going on?" Hayley felt agitated, she wanted to claw at her skin. She had the strong urge to shift but also to curl up into a ball and hide from the world. She couldn't understand where these conflicting feelings were coming from.

"I don't know," Jackson wasn't doing any better. He kept staring at the candle on the table, hands balled into fists at his sides. He wanted to run, he wanted to hide, he wanted to shift and fight, he didn't know what the hell was causing him to feel so crazy.

"Jack, I don't know how much longer I can stand this." Hayley grabbed her hair and growled.

"It's the witch," Oliver burst through their cabin door, wet and covered in mud up to his knees. "Klaus's witch has gone into labor," he informed them out of breath.

"Are you sure?" Jackson asked him.

Oliver nodded and stepped further inside the cabin. "I heard some of the vamps talking when I went to the Quarter to investigate. Her labor came early and her magic is going out of whack."

Jackson and Hayley exchanged nervous looks.

The coming of new life into the world should make anyone feel happy but for the two Alphas of the Crescent Moon pack, the arrival of the Mikaelson twins only filled them with dread.

* * *

 **The compound**

"What the bloody hell is taking so long?" Kol angrily paced around the first floor of the compound. His skin felt irritated, his senses were on high alert, and he was tired of waiting. Actually, tired wasn't the correct word. Kol was worried, freaking terrified to be more specific.

"She's in labor Kol," Rebekah reminded him.

"I know that!" Kol flashed towards the mini bar the men had set up in a corner of the room. Alcohol was keeping their nerves under control but it could only do so much. He had never thought birthing babies could be this complicated. Bonnie had been at it for hours… _hours!_ He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that the babies hadn't just popped out of her belly like he had assumed.

"When mother birthed you, she was in labor for over a day," Elijah commented as he stood close to the window. It was pouring down hard, the entire city was drenched in darkness, cold, and rain, lots of rain. "She always said your birth was the hardest for her."

Kol winced. "And yours was the easiest?" he wondered with a roll of his eyes.

Elijah turned around, a sad smile gracing his lips. "Henrik," he answered simply.

 _Of course, it was Henrik_! Kol thought as he took a swing of the bottle of whiskey he had in hand. _How could it not be?_ Henrik had always been the nicest out of all of them, a gentle soul who had parted this world far too soon.

"I should be in there with her," Lucy muttered as she paced around the room, her arms crossed over her chest. She had wanted to stay with Bonnie during her labor but Dr. Mayfair kicked her and Rebekah out of the room. She didn't want anyone getting in the way or distracting Bonnie. The old doctor had only allowed Adriane who was a nurse and Klaus to stay with Bonnie.

"Me too," Rebekah agreed sadly. She rested her head on Matt's shoulder. The two of them were sitting on the couch, nervously waiting for some good news.

"Are the babies here?" Charlotte asked once again. She was on the floor, playing with her kitten and waiting eagerly to hear about the twins' arrival.

"Not yet, love." Rebekah smiled at her.

"Okay," Charlotte continued to move a white feather above peanuts's head, giggling as the kitten attempted to grab it, only for her to pull away at the last second.

"At least Klaus is with her," Ishmael's calming voice was heard through the rain and thunder. "When my wife gave birth, the midwife kicked me out."

Cary snorted. "Where you there when I was born?" he asked suddenly.

"They kicked me and your father out," Ishmael responded. "The midwife said the birthing bed was no place for men." Laughter followed his words. The two wolves from Fenrir's pack had arrived about an hour after Bonnie went into labor, they had sensed something and had come to the house to investigate. They had been waiting patiently with the Mikaelson clan since then.

Everyone inside the compound was nervous and anxious to hear some good news.

Davina was nervously sitting on the couch opposite Matt and Rebekah. She was biting her nails and tapping her foot against the floor. She kept glancing at the clock, each hour gone was an agonizing torture. She kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong and went into full panic mode. Not even Angelica's tea had helped to calm her nerves. "We should have taken her to the hospital," she mumbled worriedly.

That had been the plan at first. As soon as Bonnie went into labor, everyone had sprung into action. Rebekah used her vampire speed to pack a bag for Bonnie and the twins while Klaus contacted Dr. Mayfair and Lucy helped Bonnie keep track of her contractions. They were going to have Dr. Mayfair meet them at the nearby hospital but that plan had been quickly disregarded when it became apparent that Bonnie was in active labor and her magic began acting out, first with the storm, then with the power going out, and the strong currents of magic swirling all around the city and making every supernatural feel uncomfortable in their own skin. It seemed Bonnie's labor was not going to be completely normal.

The Bennett coven had arrived first, Adriane who was a nurse took charge, and ordered Lucy, Angelica, and Rebekah to help her prepare everything for the delivery, gathering hot water, towels, and stripping Bonnie off her clothes. Dr. Mayfair had arrived shortly after and confidently told Bonnie she could deliver the twins at home. That had been nearly eight hours ago.

"What if something is wrong," Davina continued fearfully. "What if-"

"Dr. Mayfair is a capable witch doctor," Elijah gave her a sympathetic look. "If she believed the best course of action was to take Bonnie to the hospital, she would have said so."

"But-"

"Everything is going to be fine," Elijah was quick to reassure her. "Bonnie is in good hands."

Davina rubbed her hands on her jeans and nodded. She felt so nervous and worried but Elijah's voice had a soothing effect on her.

"Women have been birthing babies since the dawn of time," Aunt Vivian told all of them. "Bonnie and the twins will be fine." Her words were filled with such confidence and were said in a commanding tone that many took as law. Vivian was the only one who was not going crazy as the minutes and hours ticked by. She and the three other elders of the Bennett coven-Lucrecia, Diana, and Amina- were happily sitting around a table, playing cards as they waited. The rest of the Bennett coven remained at the mansion, waiting to hear the good news- with the exception of Joanna, who was with Angelica in the kitchen making some refreshments and keeping busy so they wouldn't go crazy with worry and Kyra who stood by the door, leaning back against the wall, and arms crossed over her chest. She was as somber and quiet was usual.

"Everything is going to be fine," Diana murmured. "It's almost time."

"That it is," Lucrecia agreed with her. They could feel it, the magic pulsing around the compound had picked up in the past half an hour or so, the surge of power was so intense, it was making them almost dizzy.

Even Charlotte as young as she was, felt the tendrils of powerful Bennett magic flying about. It made the hairs on her arms stand up, and her body feel giddy with excitement. She didn't fully understand what giving birth meant or why it was taking so long but she knew it was a special moment, an important moment for her family. She gasped all of a sudden when a loud crackle of thunder vibrated through the compound.

Davina nearly jumped out of her skin.

Kol and Elijah gritted their teeth. Their skins prickling and their senses going overboard with all the warning bells ringing about. Rebekah closed her eyes and buried her nose against Matt's throat, inhaling his scent and enjoying the calming sensations his arm around her provoked.

Cary winced and closed his eyes and his grandfather let out a shaky breath.

The candles flickered, a few blowing off completely, and one of the windows cracked by the intensity of the wave of power that pulsed inside the home. The compound was at the center of the storm, it was where all the magic was concentrating the most as well.

Charlotte hugged herself when the rumbling thunder had the entire house shaking. Lightning illuminated the room and the candles blew out completely surrounding everyone in darkness. She whimpered pitifully while peanuts scrambled around the rug and hid under a cushion.

"It's all right darling," Elijah rushed to her side, picking her up in his arms and holding her gently. "There is no need to be afraid, it's just a storm."

Charlotte rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, trembling slightly when another loud crack followed. "The sky is falling, uncle Elijah."

"No, darling it is not. I promise." Elijah rubbed her back and whispered sweetly against her ear. "You're safe."

Lucy immediately used her magic to light up all the candles inside the room once more.

Davina got on her knees on the floor and pulled peanuts from the cushions, the little kitten was trembling. "It's okay," she murmured cradling the tiny creature in her arms and petting the soft orange fur reassuringly. Small tremors rolled over her own body, she shivered feeling really cold all of a sudden.

"What the hell?" Cary looked around the room, wondering if a window had broken or something because the temperature dropped abruptly.

Davina squeezed her eyes shut, shivering and holding back a whimper by chewing on her bottom lip until she drew blood. The magic in the air was too much, it was making her go crazy with its dangerous currents floating about. A familiar scent reached her nose and Davina opened her eyes when she felt a warm blanket around her shoulders. She gasped when he found herself face to face with Kol. He had not said a word to her since that day when he had almost kissed her. If anything, Kol had been avoiding her like a plague. But now, here he was, kneeling in front of her and placing his jacket around her shaky shoulders. There was a soft meow from peanuts, the sound so distant it didn't even register in her mind. Davina was completely entranced by the Original vampire in front of her. Kol in turn, was entranced by the small pearl of blood on her lower lip. His eyes were completely fixated on that red spot, he licked his lips unconsciously and looked into Davina's pretty face. He leaned forward without even realizing it. Davina's breath hitched, her arms tightening around the small kitten, while her heart rate increased.

The clock struck twelve.

Whatever spell Kol and Davina had been under, broke. He stood up quickly and Davina looked down at the floor, tongue licking the blood on her lip. Peanuts jumped out of her arms and began circling Elijah's feet, meowing for his owner.

"It's time," Aunt Vivian said and stood up.

"The witching hour," Diana murmured knowingly.

"The birth of the next queen," Amina whispered.

"The future of our bloodline," Lucrecia remarked almost at the same time.

The time had come at last.

The elders of the Bennett coven held hands and formed a small circle. They began to chant under their breaths, an ancient prayer to bless the birth of the next generation of Bennett's, and welcome their future queen to the world.

* * *

Bonnie was sweating and panting, ripples of pain rolling over her petite body as she pushed hard. _Will this be the one?_ She wondered. She desperately hoped that was the case. She didn't know how much longer she could continue doing this.

"That's good, very good. You're almost there," Dr. Mayfair said as she looked between Bonnie's legs. "Push!"

Even without Dr. Mayfair's encouragement, Bonnie would have pushed. There was no way she could fight it, the urge to push was too strong. She pushed and squeezed Klaus's hand painfully in the process. Had he been human, she felt certain she would have broken his hand already from the way she was gripping him. _Just breathe_ , she told herself. _Just take a deep breath and push._

 _Why is this taking so long?_

Bonnie wasn't entirely sure how long she had been in labor; hours, minutes, it didn't matter really. She felt exhausted. "I can't," she mumbled. As her labor progressed, the pain became stronger and no matter how hard she pushed the babies refused to come out. "I can't…" she felt so tired. She just wanted to close her eyes and rest.

"Yes, you can love." Klaus kissed her sweaty forehead. "You can do this." He was on the bed with her, holding her, and coaching her through the labor pains. He had been doing his best to calm her through the pain, offering sweet words against her ear, and reassuring her through their bond.

Bonnie was inconsolable. The longer it took, the weaker and tired she felt. There was part of her that felt like she was fighting a losing battle. Bonnie wanted to cry in frustration. She was pushing and nothing was happening and it hurt. _It's too soon,_ she kept thinking. _I haven't even gone to my first birthing class,_ Bonnie thought as another contraction hit her. She had scheduled them after Christmas because she had foolishly believed she had time to prepare for the birth of the twins. _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ Bonnie whimpered. Hadn't doctor Mayfair said the twins could be born early? Why had she waited so long? _Because you were busy fighting enemies left and right,_ was the swift reply from her mind. She had at least watch a few birthing videos on YouTube (and traumatized Lucy for life along the way) but the videos had not prepared her for the reality of giving birth. For the pain, the fear, and the frustration at her lack of progress.

"Please make it stop," Bonnie begged.

"It's almost over, my love," Klaus promised.

"Here," Adriane brought a cup to her trembling lips.

Bonnie drank the potion with greed. The mixture eased her thirst and helped her body relax and withstand the pain rocking through every pore. It was a special potion that her cousin had prepared under Dr. Mayfair's detailed instructions. Bonnie felt grateful for it, the potion helped to give her strength and allowed her a few moments of respite before she continued pushing.

"I need you to push Bonnie," Dr. Mayfair said firmly. "You're almost there."

"I can't," Bonnie muttered faintly. She leaned back against Klaus's chest, the momentarily relief the potion provided would disappear soon and she was savoring the calm before the storm. "Get them out," she said struggling to contain the tears. "Cut me open, get them out. Please!"

Klaus looked horrified at the thought of anyone cutting Bonnie open even if it was to get their children out. _Wouldn't that be riskier?_

"I can't…" she had been doing this for hours. "Tired…" She cried out when a painful contraction hit her once more. It was one after the other, coming so close together, Bonnie could hardly breathe through the pain.

"You're doing great Bonnie," Dr. Mayfair looked up into her sweaty face. "The head is crowning, you need to keep pushing. This is it."

"I can't…I…"

 _Yes, you can,_ a familiar voice whispered.

Bonnie gasped when she felt her grandmother's soft hand in hers. "Grams…" she muttered, blinking a few times to ensure she was not imagining things. The pain was momentarily forgotten as she stared into her Grams's smiling face. "You're here…" She wanted to cry with relief. Grams always made everything better.

" _Of course, I am here."_

" _We all are."_

One by one, the spirits of the former queens of the Bennett coven appeared inside Bonnie's bedroom. They were here to bear witness to one of the most important moments for their bloodline. The spirits of Qetsiyah, Ayana and her daughter Alina, Ernestine, Amelia, Grams and all the others first born Bennetts gathered around Bonnie as she prepared for the final push.

Their presence was comforting.

Their magic mingled with hers, with the magic swirling around the bedroom, and spreading out of the house and into the streets.

 _You can do this Bonnie_ , Ernestine smiled kindly at her.

 _You are not alone, we are with you,_ Ayana said to her. _We will always be with you._

Adriane trembled as she felt their familiar presence in the room, surrounding everything with a strange light and warmth that eased her nerves instantly. Even Dr. Mayfair looked up around the room, feeling something but unable to see what it was.

Bonnie was the only one who could see them clearly, Bonnie was the only one who could hear their voices, and feel their love and strength washing over her rocking body. She smiled, feeling comforted by her family's presence.

 _You can do this, Bonnie._

Bonnie nodded and gathered her strength. With one hand, she held onto Grams and with the other, she held onto Klaus and pushed with all the strength she had in her.

The hybrid could sense the presence of powerful witches nearby, although he could not actually see them. "Come on love, that's it." Klaus kissed the top of her head and kept looking back and forth between Bonnie's face and Dr. Mayfair.

"You're doing great Bonnie," Dr. Mayfair told her. "You're almost there. I got the head." She smiled encouragingly. "Give me one more push Bonnie. Just one more. Push!"

Bonnie screamed in agony and pushed so hard, she felt dizzy. Her scream was accompanied by something rushing out of her.

The candles inside the room blew out.

There was a massive gust of wind that threw the balcony doors open as ripples of power flew out of the bedroom.

Lighting struck a tree outside and it erupted in flames.

The tremor that ripped through the earth had the magnitude of a small earthquake but thankfully, it didn't hurt anyone or damage the city.

The blast of power was felt all over New Orleans.

While everyone wondered what it was and where it had come from, Bonnie felt relief wash over her body. She sank back against the pillows, her hand slowly relaxing around Klaus's.

Dr. Mayfair suctioned the baby's mouth and nostrils with a bulb and there was a tiny cry, a small roar of life that was music to Bonnie's ears.

"You have a beautiful baby daughter," Dr. Mayfair told the couple. She made sure the baby girl could breathe on her own before gently placing her against Bonnie's chest.

Klaus had a stunned look on his face, he was completely rooted to the spot. He had just witnessed his daughter being born and he had no words to describe what he felt inside.

"She's okay?" Bonnie asked in a trembling voice. "She has all her fingers and toes? She can breathe on her own?" Her arms trembled as she cradled her daughter in her arms for the first time. _Had this really happened?_

"She's perfect," Dr. Mayfair declared as she clamped the umbilical cord. "Come on dad," she urged Klaus with a nod of the head and showed him the scissors.

Klaus looked down at the baby against Bonnie's chest before turning to look back at Dr. Mayfair. He nodded because he could not utter a single word. His brain had completely shut down, his throat was clogged with emotion, and his legs felt like jelly as he got out of the bed to cut the cord. He still couldn't believe this had actually happened.

Klaus was surprised at how thick the cord was as he cut through it but he felt proud as he did it. It almost felt like his first official duty as a father. His hand was still trembling as he handed back the scissors to Dr. Mayfair who smiled knowingly. He quickly moved to Bonnie's side.

The Bennett spirits were all smiling as they gazed at the new parents.

"Oh Bonnie," Sheila couldn't stop grinning, tears spilling freely down her cheeks as she contemplated her granddaughter and her great-granddaughter.

Bonnie was in awe as she carefully held her baby girl in her arms. "Oh…" tears blurred her vision as she looked down at her baby, her daughter, the beautiful little girl she and Klaus had created. She felt so much love that her body was not enough to contain it. "Hi…" she whispered, shaky fingers tracing the baby's soft cheek. She was covered in a few specks of blood and fluid still but to Bonnie, she was the most beautiful and perfect baby in the whole word. The baby girl squirmed against her and Bonnie laughed happily. "Our daughter," she whispered looking into Klaus's mesmerized face. She gently handed him their little girl.

"I don't want to crush her," Klaus said fearfully. He felt terrified of hurting her.

"You won't," Bonnie deposited the baby gently in his arms and smiled. "You are her father, you will never hurt her," she whispered with conviction.

Klaus gasped. Nothing, no one, could have ever prepared him for the adoration, the devotion, and the love he felt swelling in his chest and spreading throughout his body as he held his daughter for the first time. This was a pure, beautiful feeling that invaded every inch of his body and made his blood sing with happiness. "Hello little love," he whispered before depositing a tender kiss on his daughter's forehead.

The precious little girl squirmed in his arms, her face scrunching up as she raised her tiny hands up. Klaus reached out to touch one tiny hand and let a surprised gasp when the baby girl reached out instinctively, fingers closing tightly around his index finger. He felt a proud smile forming on his lips and he looked at Bonnie, his eye shining with love and happiness. Klaus had never felt so utterly happy. He couldn't stop smiling and feeling proud and in awe of the tiny precious being he held in his arms.

Bonnie touched the baby girl's face with her fingers. She was the perfect mix of the two of them, her eyes were still closed but Bonnie hoped she had inherited her father's beautiful blue eyes. She kissed the baby's forehead, memorizing her scent, her face, and feeling completely and irrevocably in love with her.

Mother and father looked at each other with immense love.

The moment of happiness and relief was short lived, as another contraction hit a few minutes after Bonnie gave birth to their little girl.

A nurse quickly took the baby from Klaus and took her to the station set up in the corner of the room. She needed to clean her and take her measurements. Dr. Mayfair and her staff, had turned the bedroom into a proper delivery room with all the tools and equipment needed to ensure Bonnie and the twins were okay during and after the birth. She had even brought incubators in case the twins needed them-since they had come earlier than even Dr. Mayfair first expected.

"Come on Bonnie, you can do this," Dr. Mayfair said, getting ready to deliver baby number two.

Klaus did his best to reassure Bonnie through their bond as well as through his words, he got behind her on the bed and coached her once more.

Bonnie sank against his chest, gripping his hand painfully while also holding onto Grams as the urge to push invaded her body once more. She was tired, she could hardly keep her eyes open but she felt determined to bring her son into the world. Grams's hand in hers, Klaus's sweet and comforting words, and the presence of the other Bennett witches once again eased her fears and helped her get through the pain.

"Keep pushing, Bonnie."

The pressure was unbearable but as she breathed through the pain, Bonnie knew she was closer and closer to the end, to holding her son in her arms. She cried out as each contraction gripped through her but unlike the previous hours of pain, she didn't have to wait long for her son to be born. The birth of her second child was easier than she had anticipated.

"I can see his head," Dr. Mayfair said smiling. "Keep pushing Bonnie, you're really close. That's it."

Bonnie kept pushing, her fingernails digging painfully into Klaus's skin to the point she drew blood. He didn't care.

The magic inside the room intensified once more, as did the storm outside. The wind nearly blew tress to the ground, the rain fell down like rocks on the roof, and the candles rose high into the air, nearly touching the ceiling.

One of the nurses used her magic to stop the fire from burning one of the curtains, while the other took care of the baby girl nearby. Adriane closed the balcony doors as the rain and wind blew inside the room.

"Deep breath," Dr. Mayfair reminded her. "And push!"

Bonnie cried out, pushing with all the strength she had in her and feeling the baby slid out of her. She closed her eyes and slumped back against Klaus, completely exhausted. She was sweaty and trembling but the pain was absolutely worth it as she heard her son's first cry.

"You did it love," Klaus kissed her cheek. "He's here."

Bonnie groaned and opened her eyes, just as Dr. Mayfair handed her the baby. "Hi…" she whispered. She stared at her son in awe. He was a bit smaller than his sister and he had more hair, she noted right away. His eyes were tightly shut, his tiny hands curled upwards, little fingers reaching out while dark wet curls plastered to his small head.

"He's perfect, sweetheart." Klaus kissed the side of her face and wrapped his arms around her. He looked at his son with the same love and adoration as his daughter. Their children had finally arrived into the world and he couldn't be happier.

Bonnie smiled, leaning against him. "Yes, he is." The whole world had stopped, all that mattered was that her babies had been born healthy and perfect. She suddenly looked into Grams's proud face.

 _They're beautiful_ , Grams murmured happily.

Bonnie nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt grateful for her Grams's presence.

Klaus once again had the honors of cutting the umbilical cord before quickly returning to Bonnie's side. His body shook slight as he held their newborn son in his arms for the first time. "Hello little one," he whispered and marveled at how perfect he was.

Bonnie didn't think it was possible to love Klaus more but she did in that moment; seeing him holding their daughter and now their son- had her heart swelling with so much love for him, for the family they were that she was consumed by it.

She glanced at the nurse, an eager look on her face. Bonnie didn't to say anything for the nurse understood what she wanted right way. She happily handed her daughter back to her, she was now wrapped in a soft blanket and hat.

Bonnie couldn't contain her tears, the emotion she felt was as powerful as the storm still raging outside. Their children, their little boy and girl, the tiny hands and feet that had squirmed and kick inside her belly for months. They were finally here. After everything they had been through, they were in their arms, safe and sound. "Our children," she whispered leaning her forehead against his. "I know I'm biased by they are the most beautiful and perfect children in the whole world."

"They are." Klaus smiled against her mouth before depositing a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I love you," Bonnie said as they pulled apart. "So much."

"And I love you," Klaus whispered as he kissed her once more.

"Blessed it be," Ayana whispered, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Blessed it be," the other Bennett witches repeated as they watched the couple with their babies.

Sheila wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at the happy family. She felt happy for Bonnie and relived that her great-grandchildren had arrived without any complications into the world.

The storm outside slowly began to subside, the lights returned inside the compound first before slowly returning to every corner of the city. The magic that had surged and spread all over, calmed down at last.

Everything returned to normal.

Not that Bonnie and Klaus paid any attention to that, they were completely besotted with their children.

* * *

After delivering the babies-and the placentas- Bonnie was cleaned properly to avoid any infections and Dr. Mayfair had been pleased to inform her there was no need to stitch her, as the delivery had thankfully not cause any vaginal tears. Bonnie wondered if the hybrid blood pumping her veins had anything to do with that, as she had felt sore shortly after giving birth but the soreness passed and she actually began to feel more energized and stronger than before as time went by. Whatever the case, Dr. Mayfair took her time and made sure there were no complications with either of her three patients. Adriane and the other two nurses helped her in whatever was necessary to make them comfortable.

Bonnie spend a couple of hours simply holding her babies, skin against skin. She marveled at how beautiful they were, at how soft their caramel skin felt against hers, and smiled with each little squirm they made. Both twins were alert during that time as well, which made things even more wonderful for their parents. They instinctively sought out her breasts and Dr. Mayfair encouraged her to breastfeed them. It was a bit scary at first, Bonnie had assumed she would feed one and then the other but Dr. Mayfair and the nurses happily proved her wrong when they helped both twins to her breasts. They latched onto her nipples with greed, licking and sucking happily.

She had read many books about the importance of bonding with your newborn child but actually experiencing that joyous moment was completely life changing. Giving birth had been long and painful but it had been worthwhile, Bonnie would gladly do it again. Nothing could compare to the love she felt inside her as she held her precious babies to her breasts.

Klaus watched her in silence, feeling mesmerized by the beautiful sight of her with their children at her breasts. It was an image that would be forever locked inside his brain, one he would replicate in his drawings and paintings at a later time for sure. He sat with her on the bed, holding her close to him, and gently caressing his children, memorizing every nose twitch, every breath, every little cry that came out of them.

Adriane quietly slipped out of the room to inform the family of the birth of the twins and to keep them at bay for those first few hours as the new parents got acquainted with their children. Dr. Mayfair and her two nurses also gave the couple privacy. They all knew how important that moment was to them.

Eventually candles were taken away from the room, they were no longer needed as the electricity had returned to the city. The bed was stripped clean and new soft sheets placed instead. Bonnie stood up and made it to the shower without problems. Klaus was there to help her of course but she felt rather fine. It was without a doubt the blood they shared that made her feel stronger and capable of anything, Bonnie felt sure.

All the equipment was taken out of the room too, including the incubators as the twins could breathe and regulate their temperature on their own. The twins were placed instead in a beautiful double bassinet-a gift from Elijah- which was placed right next to the bed.

While Bonnie showered, Klaus contemplated his children, a peaceful smile on his lips at his gaze at them with pure adoration. "Do you have any idea what you mean to me? How much my life has changed by your mother and the two of you?" He thought he loved them before but now, looking at them, seeing traces of Bonnie and himself reflected back on their tiny faces made him realized that the love he thought he felt was nothing compared to the overwhelming feeling beating inside him at that moment.

Klaus loved them like he had never loved anything and anyone in his life before, it was a different kind of love than the one he felt for Bonnie but it was equally powerful. He continued to murmur quietly in his mother tongue, telling them what they meant to him, and how he would love and protect them always and forever. It was an unbreakable vow.

* * *

Hours later, the family was finally able to come inside the room and meet the twins for the first time. One by one they carefully made their way inside. Bonnie was on the bed, resting against a bunch of pillows, and smiling brightly as each of them slowly came to greet her and met the babies.

Charlotte was the first to rush towards Bonnie, hugging her gently and kissing her cheeks. "Are the babies finally here, I've been waiting all night."

"Yes, they are." Bonnie couldn't stop herself from laughing. She felt bad that Charlotte had stayed up all night waiting for the twins.

"Yay!" Charlotte exclaimed excitedly. "I can finally meet them." She immediately turned towards the bassinet where the twins were, happily inspecting them with curious eyes.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked hugging her next and nearly crushing her. "Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie beamed at her. "I'm happy."

Rebekah was next, and Matt, then Davina, and Joanna, and Elijah, and Kol, and Aunt Vivian and soon the whole room was filled with all the family taking turns congratulating the proud parents and passing the twins around. Charlotte happily held each of them in her arms-with Bonnie and Klaus supervising of course. She was surprised at how tiny they were. She had imaged them to be bigger so they could play with her. Nonetheless, she promised to love and take care them always.

"I'm going to be the best big sister," she declared loud enough for everyone to hear.

"You will be," Bonnie agreed. Her heart nearly exploded when she saw Charlotte holding each of the babies with infinite tenderness and whispering quietly to them.

"Smile!" Matt had his camera ready and began snapping pictures.

Charlotte happily posed for pictures with each of her new siblings. Everyone did actually, there was so much happiness inside the room. All the problems, all the enemies and demons lurking about, all those things they had faced were forgotten as everyone in the family basked in the joy the twins had brought to their lives.

Rebekah cried when she held her nephew for the first time. "He's so beautiful!" she cooed at the little boy and smiled through her tears.

Matt came to stand next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as the two peered at their nephew. "I can't believe he's finally here." There was a look of pure admiration on his face as he stared at Bonnie. She had endured hours of labor in order to bring them into the world after all.

"My turn!" Davina said coming to stand next to them. "I want to hold him too."

Rebekah handed her the baby boy a bit reluctantly, if it were up to her, she would hold him for the rest of the day.

Lucy meanwhile cradled the baby girl in her arms. "So pretty," she murmured. "Hi baby girl, I'm your aunty Lucy. I'm going to love you and your brother and protect you always," she promised.

Elijah contemplated her with an enamored look on his face.

Lucy sensing his gaze on her, smiled lovingly at him and moved closer. "Here you go uncle," she handed him the baby girl. "Your turn."

Elijah swallowed the lump in his throat and carefully took the baby from her, he was holding her as if she were made of glass. She and her brother were the most precious jewels in the world. "Hello, darling girl," he whispered tenderly.

Lucy melted, she always thought of Elijah as sexy and irresistible but seeing him holding a baby in his arms did things to her that were criminal.

"So, it was a boy after all." Aunt Vivian frowned as she looked over Davina's shoulder and stared at Bonnie's newborn son. She had held the baby girl first, smiling proudly and feeling thrilled at the strong current of magic emanating from her tiny body. _A future queen,_ Vivian had murmured before kissing her forehead and blessing her. Lucy had taken the baby girl from her arms and Vivian finally acknowledge what Bonnie had been telling her all along. The twins were a girl and a boy. There was a strange feeling inside her as she contemplated him.

"Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?" Davina couldn't stop grinning. She had a radiant smile on her face as she posed for the camera.

"I told you so," Bonnie studied her aunt's face carefully, wondering nervously if she was going to hold over her boy's head the fact that he had not been born a girl.

Sensing the apprehension through their bond, Klaus turned to face her. Bonnie smiled at him reassuringly.

"He has magic," the elder witch was clearly stunned by the unexpected currents of powers that came from the small boy. He was as equally powerful as his sister. "A Bennett boy with magic?" Vivian couldn't mask the surprise in her voice, it clearly matched the look on her face.

Bonnie nodded.

"This is a new era for the coven," Joanna muttered sitting on the chair next to Bonnie's bed. She reached out for her niece's hand. "This marks a new beginning for our coven," she said with a smile.

"Yes," Bonnie smiled back, feeling proud. She glanced back at Aunt Vivian. "Aren't you going to hold him?"

Aunt Vivian nodded, slowly taking the baby from Davina's arms. "A Bennett boy with magic," she repeated still coming to grips with the fact that she had been proven wrong. She had been convinced Bonnie was going to have two girls. "He wasn't born first, was he?" there was only so much she could take in a single night.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Seriously, that's all you care about?"

Aunt Vivian ignored her and waited for Bonnie to answer her question.

"No," Bonnie said at last. "She was born first, he came a few minutes later."

"Good. Magic or not, the women must rule this family, always."

Kol mocked her from behind and Bonnie burst into a fit of giggles. Aunt Vivian turned around but Kol was already looking down at his nephew. "He's got the Mikaelson look and charm," he muttered. "My turn to hold him." He took the baby from Vivian's arms with a gentleness and a care that surprised the old witch.

"I actually think he looks like Bonnie," Matt said moving closer and snapping pictures of Kol and the baby.

"There is a God after all," Rebekah gave Klaus a teasing look. "He looks nothing like you."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that," Klaus grinned wickedly. "He has a hint of the devil in his eyes."

"Well, your daughter certainly takes after you, Niklaus." Elijah smiled proudly as he held his niece.

"Give her here," Rebekah happily took her niece from his arms and gasped. "I can already see a dimple on her cheek." Her face softened when she looked at Klaus. "I guess she does favor you after all."

Klaus grinned from from ear to ear, dimples in full display. He was a proud father.

"He does look like Bonnie," Lucy said as she took the baby boy from Kol's arms. "And he has her eyes too. This little guy is going to be a heartbreaker," she declared.

"Of course, he is!" Kol happily chimed in. "He's a Mikaelson!"

Laughter filled the room.

The babies continued to be held by the different family members, passing from one to the other as they all wanted to have their turns meeting and holding both of them.

"Congratulations," Ishmael kissed Bonnie's hands. He had held each of the twins in his arms and couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by all they represented to their people.

"Thank-you for being here," she smiled warmly.

"How could we not?" Ishmael retorted. "Your children are the future of our pack." The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth became more pronounced with his smile. "I'm afraid the next couple of days you will have plenty of visitors coming in and out of the house. The elders will want to meet them."

"The entire pack will want to meet them," Cary corrected right away.

"As will the rest of the Bennett witches," Joanna added with a soft smile.

"Marcel is coming too!" Davina intervened happily. "He says he will bring flowers for you and a bottle of whiskey for Klaus!"

Bonnie laughed.

"Belle and the hybrids want to come too!" Davina continued. "I think the whole Quarter wants to meet them!"

"I'm sure," Klaus muttered but he felt apprehensive. Marcel and the hybrids he didn't have a problem with, neither with Bonnie's family and his pack. It was the other superntaurals wanting to meet his children that worried him. Even if there was a peace treaty in place, there were plenty of people he still didn't trust.

"Did you guys ever decide on a name?" Matt wondered suddenly. He was now holding the baby boy in his arms, Rebekah was staring at the two of them with pure love and devotion.

All eyes went from him to Bonnie and Klaus.

"Bonnie had a long list of names," Klaus muttered as he took his son from Matt and walked towards the bed. He handed their boy to the happy mother.

"Klaus vetoed half of them," Bonnie joked while making a face.

"Did you ever considered-"

"No Kol," Elijah interrupted before he could even finish his question. "They are not naming the baby Kol Jr."

"It was a perfect suggestion," Kol muttered arrogantly.

Lucy who was next to Elijah giggled. He wrapped an arm around her and she happily snuggled against him. The two stood by the foot of the bed, watching Klaus and Bonnie and waiting eagerly to see if they had chosen a name for the twins.

"You need to name them," Aunt Vivian told them. "We must perform a blessing ceremony soon, it's tradition."

Bonnie looked down at her son while Klaus took their daughter from Joanna's arms. The twins had been passed through the arms of everyone in the room but they were now back in their parents' arms.

"And?" Rebekah asked eagerly. She could hardly contain her excitement.

Klaus and Bonnie shared secret smiles.

"Come on!" Matt urged. "Tell us!"

"Yes, please!" Davina pleaded with them.

Charlotte who had been dozing off perked up in her seat. "Yes," she said rubbing her face before her sleepy green eyes settled on the happy couple.

Bonnie and Klaus shared a sweet smile. He looked lovingly at his daughter before moving his gaze around the room. "Her name is Ingrid," Klaus declared proudly. It was the name he had liked the best out the ones Bonnie had chosen.

"And his name," Bonnie said as she glanced down at the squirming boy in her arms. "His name is Henrik," she proclaimed with a tender smile.

Tears streamed down Rebekah's cheeks and she choked back a sob. Matt quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Really?" she asked in a small voice. "Did I hear that right?"

Bonnie nodded and smiled at her.

Elijah's entire body shook. Lucy took his hand in hers and smiled up at him. She knew how much that name meant to them. "Strong and beautiful names," he managed to say. He smiled at his brother and at Bonnie.

Kol felt his throat close with emotion and a sting of treacherous tears invaded his eyes as well. "I think the names are perfect," he whispered hardly able to contain himself.

"Ingrid and Henrik Bennett," Aunt Vivian let the names roll over her tongue. "I like it," she said with an approving smile.

"Mikaelson-Bennett," Elijah was quick to remind her.

"Bennett-Mikaelson," Vivian snapped back. "Our name must come first!"

"Says who?" Rebekah glared at her.

"All right that's it!" Klaus intervened before things escalated out of control. "Everyone out!" he ordered sharply. "There has been enough excitement for one day. Bonnie and the twins need to rest!"

There were a couple of murmurs of protest but they fell on deaf ears. Klaus kicked everyone out of the room with the exception of Charlotte and Davina who moved closer to the bed. Charlotte was yawning as she had stayed up all night awaiting the birth.

"We're going to bed," Davina told them as she held to Charlotte's hand.

"But we want to kiss the babies first," a sleepy Charlotte finished.

Bonnie touched her cheek gently. "Are you happy?" she asked. While Charlotte had declared that she would be the best sister ever and seemed quite happy with the twins' arrival, Bonnie had feared that she might feel jealous of the attention the twins received from everyone. Up until then, all that attention had been reserved for her.

Charlotte nodded happily. "They're tiny," that was her only complain. "And they sleep a lot."

"They're babies, love. That's what they do." Klaus chuckled and got on the bed next to Bonnie. Ingrid's small arms curled upward as she snuggled closer to her father.

"Can I play with them tomorrow?" Charlotte asked she peered down at the babies.

"I think they are a little too small right now," Bonnie told her gently. "But they'll grow up quickly and you will be able to play with them then."

"Okay," Charlotte let out another yawn.

"Time for bed, sleepyhead."

Charlotte smiled at the two of them.

"I'm happy for both of you." Davina hugged and kissed Bonnie on the cheek before depositing a gentle kiss on Henrik's forehead. "Night Henrik." She did the same with his sister. "Night Ingrid." She shared a smile with Klaus before pulling away.

"Nighty-night," Charlotte whispered and followed Davina's example, kissing both babies on their heads.

"Good night."

"Night mama," Charlotte whispered against Bonnie's ears as they hugged. The little girl was careful not to crush the baby boy Bonnie held in her arms.

"Good night, sweetie."

Charlotte then proceeded to hug Klaus and kiss his cheek. Her tongue itched to say a certain word but she contained the urge, feeling suddenly shy. It had been easy with Bonnie, a natural progression of their relationship but with him, she felt tongued tied still.

"Have a good night love," Klaus kissed her forehead tenderly and playfully touched the tip of her nose with his index finger.

Charlotte giggled.

"Come on," Davina took her hand once more and the two exited the room quietly.

Bonnie and Klaus watched them go, matching grins on their faces.

Once they were alone in the room, Bonnie leaned her head against his shoulder. "This is the happiest day of my life," she confessed while smiling sweetly at the the babies. _our little Christmas miracles,_ she thought joyfully.

"And mine," Klaus agreed and kissed the top of her head.

The two continued to hold and watched their children. The sun would be rising soon but it hardly mattered to them. They were in their own little bubble with their twins. The happiness, the sense of peace and tranquility that surrounded them was unlike anything they had ever experienced before. This new and wonderful feeling blooming in their hearts was bigger, stronger, and far more powerful than anything they had ever felt before. They were truly and blissfully happy.

They felt happy for the little lives they had created, for the girls they had adopted, and for the family they had become in a short amount of time. It was indeed the most wonderful and perfect day of their lives.


	77. Chapter 77

**I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

The birth of the Mikaelson twins spread like wildfire through the French Quarter. There were plenty of curious people hanging close to the compound, asking to meet the babies, and wondering just how much things would change with the new arrivals. There were plenty of gift baskets, flowers, and a string of visitors that were 'politely' turned away. As proud as he felt, Klaus had no intention to open the doors of his home to curious strangers. This was a time for family and he wanted nothing to intrude on that.

Bonnie managed to sleep for about two hours before the twins woke up hungry and demanded nourishment. Rebekah had thankfully bought her a nursing pillow which made breastfeeding them easier. It was still exhausting though, nursing, burping, changing diapers, and sleeping for an hour or two before the process was repeated all over again. It was the reason the few visitors that were allowed into the sanctuary that was their bedroom only stayed for a short time. Klaus didn't want anyone disturbing her more than necessary so the visits were strict and reserved for family.

Bonnie's dad and her friends stayed at a hotel down the street. Rudy was the first person allowed in, Klaus gave him priority as he was Bonnie's father. The Salvatore brothers, Elena, and Caroline would have to wait their turn. Both girls had protested upon their arrival but Klaus shut the compound's door in their faces.

"Asshole," he heard Damon's annoying voice as he walked away with Marcel.

"Don't you think that you are over reacting?" Marcel said to Klaus as they made their way inside the study.

"My house, my rules," Klaus muttered as he grabbed two glasses and a bottle of whiskey and placed them on the desk.

Marcel smirked and took a seat across from him, propping his feet on the desk and leaning back against the leather chair. "So, how long are Bonnie's friends staying?"

"Not long." Klaus pushed a glass towards him.

"You'll make sure of that of course." Marcel gave him a knowing a look.

Klaus only response was a lopsided grin.

Marcel had been true to his word and brought a bottle of whiskey for Klaus and a bouquet of beautiful red roses for Bonnie. The _little Mikaelsons,_ as he had referred to the twins upon meeting them, had been asleep when he poked his head inside the bedroom. Davina had been there with Bonnie, gushing nonstop about the babies. She had already filled her phone with endless pictures and even got Marcel to pose for a couple of shots. "Aren't they the most beautiful babies you have ever seen?" she had asked happily.

"That they are," Marcel agreed as he peered down at the sleeping twins. "How are you feeling mama?" he asked smiling at Bonnie.

"A bit tired but deliriously happy," was the beaming response from the new mom.

"I bet." Marcel looked from her to Klaus. "Congratulations," he told the couple with an honest smile.

"Thank-you," Bonnie murmured while Klaus nodded beside her.

Marcel's lips curved suddenly. "Between you and me," he joked looking at Bonnie. "I'm glad they look like you and not him."

Bonnie laughed.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "My daughter happens to look like me," he declared proudly. "Henrik takes more after his mother."

Marcel only laughed. He only stayed for a few minutes, talking quietly to Bonnie and Davina and peering down at the miracle twins before quietly leaving with Klaus. He didn't want to intrude plus he had some matters to discuss with Klaus, so while Bonnie's dad got to meet his grandchildren, Marcel and Klaus drank in their honor.

"To Ingrid and Henrik," Marcel raised his glass.

"To Ingrid and Henrik," Klaus repeated.

The two clicked their glasses together and shared a grin.

* * *

Rudy cried when he met his grandchildren for the first time. "They're beautiful, perfect," he murmured while gently holding Ingrid in his arms. "I'm a grandfather." The awestruck look on his face said it all, Rudy still couldn't believe his daughter had given birth.

"You are," Bonnie confirmed with a soft smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"I'm fine dad, don't worry."

"They were born early. Are you sure they shouldn't be in an incubator or at the hospital?"

Bonnie touched his arm, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "We're fine. Dr. Mayfair checked them and she says they're perfect. I think, well we both think that because they have Klaus's blood, hybrid blood," Bonnie explained. "We think that helped them, made them stronger and ready to come into the world." It had also helped her during and after the delivery but she didn't say that to her dad.

Her father nodded and looked down at the little girl he held in his arms. "They are like you?" he tentatively asked. "Or more like him?" he seemed uncertain all of a sudden, almost afraid to ask the question. He didn't want to offend Bonnie but he felt genuinely curious.

"They're witches," Bonnie answered honestly. "Well mostly," she looked down at Henrik who was sleeping peacefully in the bassinet next to the bed. She had spent nearly an hour feeding him and his sister before her father's arrival. "They have Klaus's blood, that makes them hybrids or part hybrid." She frowned. "I'm not sure actually. I mean, they are witches, I can feel their magic but they have the werewolf gene and vampire blood." They had just been born, it was too early to determined how much vampire and werewolf abilities they had in them. The one thing that there was absolutely no doubt about was the fact that they had magic, powerful magic that Bonnie could feel in every inch of their tiny bodies. "They're unique witch/vampire/werewolf kids."

"Why do you look worried?" her father asked gently.

"I just…" Bonnie continued to stare at Henrik. "The things they were able to do from the womb…" she paused, remembering the many times the twins had saved her life or done extraordinary things. "I guess, I don't know what to expect now that they're born." She looked up into his face.

"They'll have you to guide them," Rudy said wisely. "To show them how to use their powers, how to be navigate both worlds and they'll have him too, I suppose." He didn't particularly like Klaus but he felt glad that his grandchildren would have him and Bonnie to help them navigate their uniqueness. He suddenly felt sad and guilty because he had not been able to do that for Bonnie.

"What's with that face?" Bonnie asked.

"I spoke with Joanna when I arrived earlier today," he began, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "She told me your mother was here." He looked into Bonnie's face, an array of different emotions on display. "She knows about you and Klaus and the twins."

"Yes," Bonnie's voice shook slightly, thinking of Abby still hurt.

"Joanna said Abby is no longer here."

"I kicked her out," Bonnie replied truthfully. She glanced away from her father, a small tremor rolling over her body. She pulled the cardigan closer and crossed her arms over her chest, almost protectively.

"You know the truth," Rudy realized, his face twisting into a painful and sad look. "About your mother…about…" he swallowed thickly, unable to finish the sentence.

Bonnie nodded and looked back into his face. "I know everything."

Rudy took a deep breath and stood up, gently depositing Ingrid in the bassinet, right next to her brother. He contemplated the twins silently, gathering his thoughts and trying to find the best way to talk about his ex-wife. He and Bonnie had never really discussed Abby and her real reason for leaving them. It had always been a painful subject, a wound that despite the many years that had passed, had not fully healed.

"You know, don't you?" Bonnie studied his profile. "You know the real reason she left, the things she did…" she trialed off, waiting for her father to say something.

"I do," Rudy acknowledged at last. He turned back to face his daughter, a sad look on his face. "We were so young, so incompatible, our marriage was doomed from the start," he admitted. He closed his eyes briefly, an army of memories coming to the surface of his mind. "We both wanted different things from our marriage. I never really understood the turmoil your mother lived in, the pain it caused her to be leading a double life of sorts," he explained. "There was Abby the woman, the wife, the mother, and there was also Abby the witch, the future queen." He looked down at his feet. "When she left, I was so angry, so hurt, I hated her."

"And now?" Bonnie wondered. "Do you still hate her?"

"No," Rudy answered honestly. "We talked a lot you know, when I contacted her to help you, when your magic was out of control." He paused thinking back to those days when he was so terrified Bonnie was going down the same downward spiral Abby had been through. "I was finally able to understand her better."

"The family meeting," Bonnie recalled that night when Abby had showed up and her parents had teamed up to help her with Expression.

"I knew if anyone could help you with Expression it was her, she went through something similar after all. Your mother loves you, Bonnie."

"Not enough to fight for me," Bonnie said bitterly. "Not enough to be honest or come back for me."

"Honey-"

"I don't want to talk about Abby," Bonnie cut him off and stood up, walking away from him and coming to stand close to the balcony. It hurt too much.

"Your mother had a problem with magic. She was an addict Bonnie," Rudy said softly as he walked closer towards her. "She did some terrible things but she wasn't herself, she was-"

Bonnie turned back to face him. "I get that," she told him angrily. "But what about when she got better? What about when she finally cleansed herself from all that toxic magic? Where did she go?" she questioned her father. "She started a new life, she forgot about the daughter she left behind. She had no time to call, to write, to visit from time to time but she had time to build a new life for herself with another man and even raised his son as hers."

Rudy stayed silent, knowing that he didn't have any arguments to defend Abby's actions after she recovered from her addiction to magic. Abby had failed Bonnie. He had failed Bonnie as well.

"When she finally came back into my life, it wasn't out of her own desire but because Elena and I went to her first," Bonnie continued. "She came to New Orleans with Joanna and Lucy and for a moment I allowed myself to believe that things would be different, that we could finally have the mother daughter relationship I always wanted." And they had, for a brief moment it had been alright. "She had so many chances to tell me the truth, to really start from scratch and be better, but she chose the easy way out. She might love me but not in the way I want, not in the way I deserve." Her voice broke. "I don't want the scraps of her love, dad. I'm tired of begging for something I will never have." She stared into his sad eyes, a fierce look on her face. "Ingrid and Henrik will not suffer as I did, they will have their father and their mother always. They will always come first for me and Klaus." The raw honesty in her voice got to him. "You and Abby, have taught me exactly what kind of parent I don't wish to be. Klaus and I are committed to be better parents than the ones we have."

It was a dagger to his heart and Rudy knew he deserved it. Bonnie had not forgotten the years of abandonment she had endured. The loneliness and the pain were not going to disappear just because he was making an effort now, Rudy knew that. They still had a long way before those old wounds could fully heal.

"I'm sorry," Rudy's voice cracked with emotion. "I am so sorry for all the pain I have caused you, Bonnie." He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer against him. "I swear to you, things are going to be different."

Bonnie nodded.

Rudy wrapped his arms around her and Bonnie rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes briefly. She hoped with all her heart, that her father kept his promise.

* * *

Kol was in a foul mood as he paced around his room, like an animal inside a cage. "I should be ripping that fucking bitch apart," he muttered angrily. Elena was in his home, meeting his niece and nephew and breathing the same air as him and his family and he hated it.

"You promised to behave," Elijah reminded him calmly.

Kol scoffed. "Yeah, I'm starting to regret that promise." He had promised Nik he wasn't going to murder Elena out of respect for Bonnie but the urge to rip the doppelgänger's head off was stronger than ever, especially since he could sense her nearby. She was dirtying his home with her presence. He looked at Elijah. "I don't need you to babysit me," he spat. Elijah was guarding the door like a dog under the pretense that he wanted to keep him company.

"I'm not," Elijah calmly retorted while leaning against the wall, one hand on his pocket.

Kol rolled his eyes and dropped himself on the bed, placing his hands behind his head and contemplating the ceiling. "I can't wait to get my revenge." He thought about all the horrible things he could do to make Elena pay. He had already taken his revenge against the stupid Gilbert boy but with Elena he planned to take his time. "I have all the time in the world and so does she," he continued. "I won't kill her today, or tomorrow, but perhaps in a year, in a century…" his lips curved into an evil smile. "I'll make her go crazy first." He sat up, an eager look on his face. "Drive her insane, compel her to turn into a ripper, have her murder both of her lovers…" when it came to getting his revenge he could have the patience of a saint. He suddenly felt better. "Yes," he mused. "I'll let her believe she's getting away and when she is the happiest, when she thinks she has it all, I will strike and destroy all she holds dear."

"Bonnie would never forgive you."

"What Bonnie doesn't know won't hurt her," Kol replied with a malicious grin. "Besides, in a couple of years, she won't care about her stupid friends." They were hardly part of her life now, he felt sure than in a few decades Bonnie would cease to care about them.

Elijah sighed and shook his head. He knew that asking Kol to forget his need for revenge was a waste of air, so he didn't say anything at all. His face however, said it all.

"I am a Mikaelson, Elijah." Kol stared into his eyes. "We do not forget and we do not forgive."

"No, I suppose not." Elijah walked towards the balcony doors, they were closed but through the glass he could see the streets below buzzing with activity. "The thirst for vengeance," he murmured. "We inherited that from _him_." There was a serious look on his face as he spoke. "Or perhaps from both of them."

Kol's mood soured even more. He stared at Elijah's back before moving his eyes around the room. "How much do you want to bet his spirit is right here with us, watching us, mocking us, and waiting for the perfect opportunity to-"

"Do not joke about this," Elijah hissed turning to face him.

"Who says I'm joking?" Kol snapped while standing up. "He's inside our heads, tormenting us with nightmares, it's not so far-fetched to think that his spirit is following us like a shadow." He shuddered. There were moments where he could swear he felt Mikael's presence looming around the house. He hated it.

"He can't get inside the compound," Elijah said confidently. "The house is protected."

"For now," Kol countered. "Once they get their bodies back…" He didn't even want to think what would happen then.

"Father would never side with her, not after her betrayal," Elijah told him. "If anything, he would want to make her pay for dishonoring him, for betraying and lying to him for years."

"Desperate times, Elijah." Kol gave him a look. "They might hate each other's guts but they have one thing in common," he reminded his brother. "Their desire to kills us."

Elijah looked away, knowing that there was some truth to that. "I can understand father's hatred. I can understand his rage. Niklaus is the proof of mother's betrayal, his greatest shame, and the fact that we sided with him is something he never forgive us for. I get why he wants us dead." He said suddenly as he turned back to face Kol. "Mother is the one I cannot figure out," he admitted in an almost whisper. "She was willing to turn us into monsters out of the fear of losing us. After Freya and Henrik, she did not want to lose another child but she came back determined to kill us. Her own children…"

"A thousand years being brainwashed by the spirits turned her into a psycho."

"Perhaps." There was a thoughtful look on Elijah's face. "Sometimes, I feel like we don't truly know her." The mother he knew as a child was very different from the mother he remembered after Henrik's death, or the cold and calculating woman she had been after coming back. Esther was a puzzle he had yet to solve.

"We don't," Kol agreed. "She managed to keep Nik's parentage a secret for years, she found a way to create the vampire race and escape the other side when others couldn't," he summarized some of Esther's feats. "Can you imagine what other things she's keeping from us?"

"Indeed," Elijah turned back to stare out of the balcony doors. That was precisely what he was afraid of. What else could their mother be keeping from them? What other painful and devastating secrets did she hold dear? Who was Esther Mikaelson?

* * *

"Oh, Bonnie they're so cute!" Caroline had her phone in her hand and was snapping pictures of the twins. "Look at those little chubby cheeks, and that cute tiny nose, and that dimple on Ingrid's face. Oh my god!"

"Caroline, lower your voice you might wake them up," Elena chided as the two friends, Damon, and Stefan crowded over the sleeping babies.

"She'll wake the entire neighborhood with her screeches," Damon mumbled over Elena's shoulder as he stared at Bonnie's babies. He still couldn't get over the fact that those two tiny squishy creatures were hers.

Caroline glared at him but smiled sheepishly at Bonnie. "Sorry," she whispered. "I'm just so excited!"

"Congratulations," Stefan told Bonnie. "They're beautiful."

"Thank-you."

"I can't believe we missed the birth," Caroline took a seat on the bed, right next to Bonnie, and sighed. "We didn't even have a chance to celebrate your baby shower," she complained while looking at Bonnie. "It sucks! I had a list of really great ideas."

Bonnie let her ramble about her ideas for the baby shower but she was secretly happy that there had been no shower. She didn't say it out loud of course. This way neither Caroline or Rebekah had to fight over who got to organize it. There was already enough friction between them to last them a life time.

"How are you feeling?" Elena asked her suddenly. "I can't believe you gave birth at home and without any drugs too."

"Way to go, Bon!" Caroline threw her arm around Bonnie's shoulder.

Bonnie smiled happily. "I'm fine," she assured them. "We all are."

"Can I hold them?" Caroline asked eagerly.

"They're sleeping Caroline," Stefan reminded her. "We shouldn't disturb them." They were already making too much noise and he didn't doubt that if they disturbed the babies, Klaus would come to kick them out.

"Please…" Caroline begged. "I'll be gentle, I promise." She gave Bonnie a puppy dog look.

"Okay," Bonnie stood up and carefully leaned over to pick up Henrik in her arms. He didn't even make a sound as he was fast asleep. She smiled down at his sleeping face and gently handed him to Caroline.

"Hi Henrik," Caroline whispered as she held him for the first time. "I'm your aunty Caroline," she murmured tenderly. "I'm so happy to meet you," she smiled down at him, her eyes watering. "You're going to be a heart-breaker when you grow up." She looked up into Bonnie's smiling face. "He looks a lot like you."

"Yes, that's what everyone says. He has my eyes," Bonnie said feeling proud.

"This one takes after Klaus, then."

Stefan and Elena both turn to look at Damon at the same time.

"Her name is Ingrid," Bonnie reminded him with an icy glare. "And yes, she looks very much like her father." Not only did Ingrid had her father's bright blue eyes and a cute dimple on her cheek but she had also inherited his light hair, Henrik's was darker and curlier, although his lips were definitely Klaus's just like Ingrid's nose was all Bonnie's.

"I feel sorry for her."

"Damon!" Elena shoved him in the ribs.

"I'm just saying," Damon shrugged. "She would be more beautiful if she looked like you," he told Bonnie.

"I don't know whether that was a compliment or an insult," Stefan muttered under his breath.

Caroline gave Damon a strange look while Elena looked annoyed.

"To me they are the most beautiful babies in the whole world," Bonnie told Damon. "If you don't have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all."

"Hey, I wasn't-"

"You should leave," Bonnie cut him off. "It's almost time for their next feeding."

"Bonnie," Damon took a step closer.

Henrik fussed in Caroline's arms and began whimpering, getting everyone's attention.

"I think we woke him up," Caroline murmured. "I'm sorry," she apologized to Bonnie.

Henrik started crying then.

"It's fine, he's just hungry." Bonnie quickly took her son in her arms. "It's okay," she cooed lovingly and began rocking him in her arms.

Ingrid began fussing as well, her little hands going up, before her eyes blinked open all of a sudden.

"Is she hungry too?" Elena asked alarmed.

"Oh yeah," Bonnie replied. "They both feed at the same time, it actually makes things easier."

Elena nodded but she couldn't image feeding two babies at once.

"And this is our cue to go," Stefan said as he began pushing everyone out of the room.

Bonnie gave him a grateful look.

"We'll see you later Bon." Caroline kissed her cheek and made her way out of the room quickly, followed closely by Elena and Stefan.

"Hey witchy," Damon tried to approached Bonnie. "What I said-"

"All of you out!" Rebekah made her way inside the room and kicked them out. She had heard the babies crying and had rushed to Bonnie's aid. "My niece and nephew need to eat. Out!" She picked Damon by the back of his shirt and lifted him up as if he weighted nothing before she shoved him out of the door.

"What the hell?" he snapped and growled menacingly at her.

"Bye!" Rebekah smirked at them before slamming the door shut.

"I hate her!" Caroline muttered.

"I'm getting tired of having the door shut in my face," Elena complained.

"Come on, we should leave." Stefan noticed one of Klaus's hybrid waiting at the end of the hall, he was ready to escort them out of the house.

"We're not criminals, you know." Damon sneered at the young hybrid who only smirked in turn. "There is no need to treat us like we're a threat or something."

"Anyone who isn't family, is a threat," Kol's smooth voice reached their ears. He was leaning against the door frame of his bedroom, a casual and relaxed posture as he looked at Bonnie's friends as if they were beneath him.

Elena froze, her eyes went wide and if she had been human, her heart would have probably stopped beating upon seeing him.

"Kol," Caroline looked nervously between the Original and her best friend.

Stefan and Damon took a protective stance in front of Elena.

Kol's eyes glinted and his lips curled into a twisted grin. He enjoyed seeing the fear in all of their faces. _Yes,_ he thought _. I'm definitely going to take my time to plan my revenge._ "You live because of Bonnie," he told Elena in a rather sincere voice. "But that doesn't mean I have forgotten what you and your pathetic little brother did to me," he hissed. He didn't move from his spot by the door, his voice, his presence was enough to paralyze Elena with fear. He could smell it and it brought him great joy. Even Damon and Stefan who were pretending to be tough were scared of him, scared of what he could do to their precious Elena. "Get out, before I change my mind and make you my next meal." he said looking into Elena's terrified eyes. "But never forget that one day, I will come for you."

Elena didn't need to be told twice, she used her vampire speed to run out of the house, followed closely by Damon and Stefan who wanted to make sure Kol would not follow her.

Caroline was the only one who bravely remained behind. Even though her face was calm, her fear betrayed her.

"The same goes for you blondie," Kol's voice was pure acid. "Go," he commanded.

Caroline's eyes glazed over as the compulsion took effect, she nodded and followed her friends out of the compound as if she were on fire.

Kol laughed. "I'm definitely going to enjoy this," he muttered before going back inside his room.

* * *

"Thank-you for helping me," Bonnie said to Rebekah much later, once the twins had been fed and changed.

"No need to thank-me," Rebekah smiled sweetly and continued to rock Henrik in her arms. Bonnie was doing the same with Ingrid. "They're so lovely, I just want to keep holding and looking at them forever."

"Me too," Bonnie agreed. She kissed her little girl's forehead before looking at Rebekah, contemplating her silently for a couple of minutes. She bit her lip, unsure of how to approach the subject.

"What?" Rebekah noticed the way Bonnie was staring at her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bonnie asked her nervously. "Esther's offer, I mean." She blurted the words out before she lost her nerve.

Rebekah's face froze and she immediately looked down at her nephew who was happily sleeping in her arms. "Did Nik put you up to this?" she asked, a hard edge to her voice.

"You're my friend Rebekah," Bonnie replied softly. "I just want to make sure you are okay. You know you can talk to me, and whatever you tell me is between the two us." Klaus had definitely not put her up to anything.

Rebekah looked up, a still suspicious look on her face.

"I was hoping you would talk to me or Lucy." But she hadn't, Rebekah was keeping her pain to herself. "We're here for you, you know that don't you?"

"It's stupid."

"It's not, Rebekah."

"I should be over it," Rebekah muttered more to herself. "I had a thousand years to be over it but I never learn." Nik had always called her out on that. He always remarked what a fool she was went it came to love. He was right.

Bonnie gave her a sympathetic look.

There was a long moment of silence before Rebekah found the courage to speak.

"I always wanted a family of my own," she confided in Bonnie. "I come from a time that was all women could aspire for. I wanted a husband, a house filled with children, and even though I have lived many lives in the past one thousand years, that longing, that desire has never gone away." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "My brothers might think otherwise but I know what's at stake, I won't betray my family." She looked down at Henrik once more. "No matter how much I want to have a child of my own, I know mother's offer comes with a price." She raised her face and stared into Bonnie's eyes. "I'm not going to put you or the babies at risk, I would never forgive myself. You and Nik have to know that-"

"I know," Bonnie believed her. She knew that at the end of the day, Rebekah would always side with her family, no matter the cost. "I think you would make a wonderful mother," she murmured.

Rebekah's eyes went wide. "Truly?" Bonnie had no idea how much her words meant to Rebekah.

"I've seen you with Ingrid and Henrik, with Charlotte," Bonnie continued softly. "Rebekah, just because you are a vampire doesn't mean your dream can't come true."

There was a sad look on Rebekah's face upon hearing those words. "I could never give birth to a child." _Like you have,_ was left unsaid.

"No but you can still become a mother, there are other ways Rebekah," Bonnie told her. "You could adopt." Judging by the look on her face, it was obvious to Bonnie that Rebekah had not considered that option yet. "You could adopt a baby and raise him or her as your own, the same way Klaus and I are raising Charlotte." Bonnie smiled encouragingly. "You have so much love to give, Rebekah. Don't let the fact that you are a vampire stop you from making your dream of being a mother come true. There are many children out there who are without parents, without a home, or a family of their own. You could give one of them that. You can have the family you long for Rebekah."

"I could, couldn't I?" Rebekah hadn't really considered that, in her feverish desire to be human, to have a family, she hadn't really consider any alternatives to her predicament. Nik had raised Marcel, and he was raising Charlotte with Bonnie now. Rebekah could raise a child of her own too, a child with Matt. How sweet would that be? "You think Matt would want…" her eyes were suddenly filled with hope, with dreams of a different kind.

"That's something the two of you have to discuss on your own," Bonnie told her honestly. "But there are alternatives, Rebekah. There is always a way."

"I guess I never considered…" Rebekah shook her head. "I always assumed becoming a mother was something I could only do by being human." But now Bonnie was presenting an alternative. The anguish that had been plaguing her for the past few days vanished as a new lovely dream began to form in her mind and heart. Maybe she wouldn't be able to have the simple and human life she always wanted but if she could become a mother, if she could raise a child with Matt, that would make her extremely happy. Rebekah had never thought that she would find someone to love her, to really love her and accept her the way she was but she had found that with Matt. She didn't think it was possible to become a mother and now Bonnie had given her hope that it was. Her chest was suddenly tight. She threw an arm around Bonnie. "Thank-you," she whispered, the emotion in her voice palpable. "Thank-you for being my friend."

"We're family," Bonnie reminded her as the two pulled apart.

"We are," Rebekah beamed. She had a lot to think and a lot to discuss with Matt. For the first time since she saw her mother's ghostly spirit, Rebekah felt hope swelling in her chest. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I always wanted a sister," Rebekah confessed. "I love my brothers but I always wanted a sister to play with, to talk with…" she bit her lip before continuing. "You are like the sister I never had. I'm glad you and Nik found each other."

Bonnie's eyes watered and her throat constricted. "Me too," she whispered feeling emotional. They hugged once more, a half hug really, as both of them were holding a baby in their arms.

"Look!" Rebekah exclaimed excitedly. "They're holding hands." When the two of them had moved closer and hugged, the twins' hands had unconsciously reached for each other, their small finger linked together. "They're so cute."

Bonnie's heart melted and this time she shed a tear. Neither she or Rebekah could stop smiling.

The twins had without a doubt brought immense joy to their lives.

* * *

She walked quietly through the empty streets; her dark eyes darting back and forth, her senses alert and her power ready should she have the need to defend herself. She was walking a dangerous path. Unlike the other side, the in-between was a place where the Bennett witches did not rule, nor did they have extraordinary power. This was a place where everything was muted, and where magic hardly existed. She was taking a big risk but she knew she had no choice, this was the only way. She had to do this. Her eyes easily spotted him and she felt relieved. He had received her message and had come, not all was lost then. She quickly made her way towards him.

He sat on a bench, shoulders hunched over, elbows resting on his knees, and gaze lost on the ground. There was something very sad and lonely about him. He had always been rather melancholic, something that had intensified in death. The bench was beneath the single functioning lamp post, right across from the church. The streets were empty, there was not a single soul in sight, for darkness ruled this land, and those who existed here lingered in the shadows, hiding from all.

Ayana took a seat next to him.

For a long time, neither of them said anything, they simply sat together, beneath the lamp post.

"She's going to use the power of the eclipse to bring us back to life," Finn said at last. He did not look at her though, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground. His voice was filled with pain, so much pain.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ayana watched him carefully. There had always been so much sadness in him, it made her heart ache. "And Mikael?" she asked. "He is with your mother, isn't he? They have joined forces." Mikael had escaped the other side and Ayana knew someone powerful must have helped him to do it. There was only one witch desperate enough to unleash him upon the world.

"Yes."

"Why is she doing this, Finn?" Ayana asked him. "The Esther I knew loved her children, she would have died in order to protect them and now she's determined to kill them. Why?"

"Because they are monsters who feed on the blood of the innocent! Because they should not exist-"

"Monsters, she willingly created!" Ayana retorted. "She knew the consequences. I warned her and she didn't listen."

"Mother regrets her actions and wants to atone for her sins," Finn recited.

"A thousand years too late," Ayana muttered.

"A witch of your lineage should know that the world would be a better place without the vampires in it," Finn finally looked into her face. "You of all people-"

"Do not lecture me about my lineage, Finn or my duties as a witch."

Finn pressed his lips together and fell silent.

"Esther is planning something, not only against your siblings but against Bonnie and her children," Ayana stated. "I will not allow her to harm them."

"You still defend them, after all they've done?" Finn asked angrily. "How can you stand by those monsters!"

"How can you stand by a woman who wants to kill two innocent children?" Ayana asked in turn. "She helped the spirits on the other side. I know she conspired with the Ancestors against Bonnie, she wants Bonnie's children, _your niece and your nephew_ dead or is that not the truth?"

Finn looked down once more.

"She lied to Rebekah," Ayana continued angrily. "The only way Esther can turn her children human is by reversing the immortality spell. As the one to cast the spell, she has the power do it but we both know the consequences that will bring. If Rebekah accepts her offer, she won't live long enough to enjoy her humanity. She's a thousand years old, the moment she becomes human, her body will start to age, her organs will fail, and she will die. But that is what Esther wants isn't it?"

Finn stayed silent.

"She wants to turn her children human because she knows they will die shortly after the spell is completed and so will every vampire they sired." The Originals were linked to their sireline, it had been nature's way to ensure that if one of them died so would the vampires they created. It also meant that, if they were to become human so would every vampire in the world, for all the vampires were liked to the progenitor of their line. "She will wipe out the entire vampire race with a single spell."

"And would that be so bad?"

"No, it wouldn't," Ayana conceded. "But Esther's way to make amends is to kill her own children, her own blood. The same children she defied the spirits and the world in order to make immortal."

"She made us and she will be the one to end it all."

"And you are okay with that?" Ayana questioned him. "You are okay with lying and betraying your sister, playing with her feelings and using her hopes and dreams of a family against her."

"They betrayed me first!" Finn yelled angrily as he stood up from the bench. "Niklaus had me daggered for nine hundred years and they never did anything! They left me to rot in that coffin. They never liked me!"

"You went to Mikael, you were willing to turn them in, of course they did not like you for it!" Ayana reminded him. "I've never approved of Niklaus daggering you or any of his siblings. But his paranoia, his fear of losing all of you, his need to keep you all under control always made him lash out in the worst ways possible. He would rather keep all of you in boxes than have you leave him." That had always been Niklaus's greatest fear, to be left alone, to be abandoned by his family, Ayana knew that. She didn't excuse his behavior but she understood him better than most. "You have every right to be angry at him," she told Finn. "You have every right to want revenge even. But are you willing to take that revenge by hurting two innocent babies?"

Finn's jaw clenched. "Do you think so little of me?" He looked wounded by the implications she was making.

Ayana's face softened. "You are a good man Finn," she said while standing up. "Underneath all that pain, underneath all that resentment, and anger, I know you love your family." She reached out and touched his face gently. "You were always so serious, so attached to your mother," she recalled. "You envied them, their happiness, their closeness, you wanted to be part of their games and their secrets but you never could, something always held you back."

Finn's entire body trembled. After all this time, Ayana still knew him better than most.

"You did not want to become attached because you were afraid," Ayana continued softly, her fingers gently tracing his trembling face. "You were afraid to lose them like you lost Freya." Sweet darling Freya whom he had loved the most.

Finn closed his eyes, a strange choking sound escaping his lips as he thought of his sister. For a long time, it had been just the two of them. They had been thick as thieves, Freya had been his everything, the sibling he admired and loved the most in the world. Losing Freya had marked him in ways no one understood. Not even Ayana knew the full truth about his sister; that was a painful secret he had carried with him since that terrible day.

His mother's greatest sin.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Klaus asked as soon as he stepped inside their bedroom and found Bonnie standing in the middle of the room, hands balled into fists in front of her.

Bonnie didn't answer as she finish muttering the incantation. There was a slight tingling sensation in her palms as the spell took effect. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Protective charms for Ingrid and Henrik," she responded and handed him a small silver bracelet to put on one of the children.

Klaus took the bracelet and followed her example as she placed it gently on Ingrid's left arm. He did the same with Henrik, smiling as he felt the powerful protective magic engulfing his son's body.

"It's meant to keep anything and anyone that wishes them harm away." Bonnie traced the bracelet with her fingers and smiled when Ingrid suddenly grabbed one of her fingers. She had a strong grip.

Klaus turned away from his son and contemplated Bonnie, not liking the emotions coming from their bond. "What's wrong?" she was really worried and fearful. "Did something happen? Why are you afraid?" he moved closer and touched her arm.

"I can't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong," Bonnie admitted. "When they were in my belly, they were with me all the time, I could keep them safe and now-"

"You worry you won't be able to protect them," Klaus finished for her.

Bonnie nodded and stared into his eyes. "Esther is out there, plotting, and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and I'm terrified that our children might get caught in the cross fire."

"That won't happen," Klaus vowed. "We are going to stop her." He pulled her into his arms. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you or our children," he whispered against her ear.

Bonnie happily snuggled against him, being in his arms always brought her so much comfort and peace.

"I have a plan," Klaus told her.

Bonnie looked up, a clear question in her eyes. The glint in his eyes and the emotions echoing through their bond, told her that he had been thinking about this for a while, that his plan was something he felt would succeed.

"I'm not going to wait for Esther to attack, we must make the first move." Klaus cupped her face tenderly. "She's a spirit, she's lurking in the shadows, planning her come back. Your family on the other side have been unable to get to her but you my love, you can do what no other witch can. You can summon Esther's spirit to us."

"She's not a Bennett witch, Klaus. I was able to summon them because they're my family, my blood. I don't think I could do that with Esther-"

"I'm Esther's son," Klaus reminded her. "I have her blood, so does Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol. You can use us to summon her, to bring her spirit from wherever she's hiding, and once you do, we can end her."

Bonnie thought about it for a while. "I would have to modify the summoning spell, use your blood as the anchor, possibly the full moon, and find a place to trap her spirit," Bonnie rambled as the ideas swirled in her mind. "Not here," she said rapidly. "I don't want her near our children."

"Of course." Klaus didn't want Esther near their children either.

"We need a place to act as a gateway, a place that will facilitate the spell, and serve to contain her as well," she continued mumbling. The more she thought about Klaus's plan, the more she liked it. "We could do it," she said at last. "I can do it." She looked towards the bassinet where her babies were sleeping. They were no longer in her womb, which meant she no longer had to be afraid of unleashing all the power she had inside her. The fear of tapping into their magic had held her back during her pregnancy but that was no longer an issue. Expression hummed happily, making her body feel warm and tingly. _Yes,_ her magic whispered and made her blood sing with anticipation. _You don't have to be afraid anymore. You can unleash it all._

Esther Mikaelson had no idea what she was capable of doing now.

"One thing first," Bonnie said wrapping her arms around Klaus's neck and pushing her body closer to his.

"What?" Klaus placed his hands on her hips.

"Christmas," Bonnie said while her fingers played with his hair. "I want a happy, peaceful Christmas first, then we can go about destroying your evil mother."

Klaus chuckled. "Deal," he murmured before kissing her lips, Bonnie happily responded and melted against him.

* * *

"I never wanted this," Finn said after a long time in silence. "I would have been content to die," he admitted. "Not even Sage's love could make me want to embrace my vampirism." He looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed of being so weak. In his father's eyes he was the weakest, more so than Niklaus, for he always tried while Finn always hid behind his mother's skirts as Mikael often reminded him. "I would have gladly let father killed me." He looked up into Ayana's face. "I willingly helped mother when she linked my brothers and sister together and tried to kill them in Mystic Falls and I willingly escaped the other side with her in order to finish what we started then."

"So, what has changed?" Ayana asked in a much calmer voice. Something clearly had, because otherwise he would not have agreed to meet with her.

Finn swallowed thickly. "The children…" he whispered. "They have been born." The whole supernatural world had felt it, dead or alive, they had all felt them come into the world. Their birth changed everything.

"Yes, they have."

"Mother said they would be monsters, she said…" he shook his head. It didn't matter what his mother had said to him while on the other side, deep down he had known the truth, he just didn't want to see it. "They're human, they are witches…" he stared into Ayana's eyes for confirmation.

"They are."

"Which means nature accepts them, despite the fact that their existence is something everyone thought nature would not allow, they are here." There was an anguished look on his face. "Mother wants to kill them too," he confessed in a whisper.

"Her own grandchildren, her own blood." Ayana could hardly contain the anger she felt towards Esther.

"I believe all vampires should die. They are bloodthirsty monsters who should have never existed in the first place." The conviction in Finn's voice was unwavering. "I believe the world would be a better place without our kind in it but I did not sign up to murder children." His hands balled into fists. "I never wanted to be a murderer Ayana. I have killed to sate my thirst, but I refuse to kill for vengeance."

Ayana knew he was telling the truth. She felt for him. The torment in Finn's face, the anguish in his voice, it was heartbreaking. He had always sided with Esther, he had always protected his mother, and had been there for her in ways his other siblings could not. She knew this was not easy for him to do.

"Mother and father are determined," Finn continued. "They won't stop. I tried reasoning with her but she won't listen, she's blinded, she's…and Father, he hates Niklaus. He won't stop until he kills him and the children. He plans to murder the children first and have Niklaus watch-" his entire body trembled as he said it.

"We won't let him," Ayana promised. "We won't let them get away with this. I promise you that." She grabbed his face with both of her hands. "I know this is not easy for you," she said. "But you are doing the right thing, Finn."

"I want you to promise me another thing," Finn said taking one of her hands away from his face and gripping her fingers tightly in his. "When this is all over, let my soul find peace. Please," he begged. "I know you can do it."

"I will," Ayana vowed.

There was a small grateful smile on his face.

"We need to find a way to break them apart," Ayana said after another long pause. "Together, Esther and Mikael will be more difficult to defeat, especially if they keep hiding here." She looked around the deserted streets. She couldn't sense either of them nearby but she knew they were hiding somewhere in the in-between. "If we can manage to turn one against the other…" she proposed.

"I know how we can do that," Finn whispered. "I know exactly how to put an end to this."

Ayana gave him a curious look. "How?" she asked.

"Do you think it would be possible for all of us to come together?" Finn asked her suddenly. "Could you make it happen?"

Ayana's eyes narrowed. "What are you planning, Finn?"

"The time has come for our family to come face to face," Finn replied feeling determined. "The time has come for father and my siblings to know the truth."

"The truth?" Ayana questioned him. "What truth? What are you talking about, Finn?"

"I know mother's deepest and darkest secret," Finn confessed in a low voice. "She has never told a soul, not even you but I was there, I witnessed everything." He looked so sad and heartbroken. "Henrik's death drove her over the edge but the one to start it all, the one to start mother's obsession with dark magic, and her fervent desire to keep us by her side forever, was Freya."

"Of course, Freya's death marked your mother," Ayana began.

"Did you ever see Freya's body?"

Her blood turned to ice. "What are you saying?" Ayana's voice shook as the implication was made clear.

Finn took a deep breath, knowing that what he was about to reveal would change everything. "Let me tell you a story about two sisters, about the man that tore them apart, and the little girl that paid the price…" Finn began.


	78. Chapter 78

**New Orleans**

Christmas was a peaceful affair, just like Bonnie wanted. She allowed herself to forget any threats, or dangers lurking in the shadows in order to enjoy the holiday with her family. The morning started with a family breakfast before they exchanged Christmas gifts.

Charlotte was delighted as she was finally allowed to get her hands on the pile of gifts beneath the tree. She had been eying them for days and had attempted to try and figure out what was inside much to everyone's amusement. "More presents for me!" She exclaimed as she sat on the floor and tore through the wrapping paper with enthusiasm. It was only a few days since her birthday so she was overjoyed to be receiving more gifts.

"I feel like Santa Claus," Matt muttered as he dragged a big plastic bag filled with his and Rebekah's gifts for the family. He had never spent so much time shopping but since their family was quite big it had been necessary. Thankfully, he had done most of it online and he and Rebekah had decided to hand out mutual gifts to make things easier.

"This is from me and uncle Matt," Rebekah told Charlotte as she handed her a big rectangular box with a cute red bow.

"Thank you," Charlotte hugged both of them and kissed them on the cheek. "I love Christmas!"

"I think you love the presents more than anything else," Klaus said as he and Bonnie took turns opening the gifts for the twins.

"And the hot chocolate!" Charlotte reminded him.

Rebekah smiled before handing Davina her gift.

"I've never received so many Christmas gifts," Davina murmured. She was on the floor as well and had a big pile of presents from everyone but unlike Charlotte, she was holding the urge to tear through the wrapping paper and calmly took her time.

"Get used to it," Rebekah winked.

"These ones are for the twins," Matt said handing Bonnie and Klaus four gifts.

"Two for each?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

"Rebekah is a compulsive shopper," Matt replied with a shrug. "It was originally six but I convinced her to limit it to two."

Bonnie laughed at that.

"There is no harm in spoiling our niece and nephew," Elijah murmured as he too handed out his gifts to everyone. "It's perfectly reasonable."

Lucy kissed him sweetly on the lips upon receiving her gift from him.

"Wait until they are teenagers," Joanna intervened. "We'll see if you think the same."

"Why does everyone think the teenage years are the worst?" Cary wondered.

"Because they are," Joanna and Ishmael replied wisely.

"Our children are going to be perfectly behaved," Klaus arrogantly proclaimed.

Bonnie didn't seem so sure.

"Yeah right," Matt mumbled.

"You're quite delusional my friend," Marcel said with a knowing grin.

Everyone laughed.

Rudy sat on a leather chair across from Bonnie and Klaus. He was very quiet, taking everything in as his eyes moved over the room with curiosity. It was kind of surreal to be surrounded by vampires, witches, and werewolves who were happily celebrating Christmas like any normal family. He and Bonnie had never had a Christmas with so many people. It was a pleasant experience, if he were honest. He didn't think being surrounded by so many supernatural would feel nice but it did. He wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought it would be. His eyes softened and his lips formed a soft smile as he gazed at Bonnie. She was like a little girl (far more reserved than Charlotte though) her eyes were lit up with joy as she opened her gifts and the gifts for the twins.

"Oh my god!" She pulled a cute little pink dress with a matching cardigan. "This is so cute!"

"Isn't it?" Lucy smiled brightly. "It's a little too big for Ingrid right now but in a few months, it'll be perfect."

"I love it," Bonnie threw her arms around her cousin.

"Look, it even has the matching pink shoes," Rebekah said holding the small rose-colored shoes.

"And look at Henrik's outfit," Davina said showing the cute dress pants and long sleeve shirt. "They are going to look adorable."

There were more oohs and aahs from the girls as Bonnie continued showing the things the twins got from their aunts and uncles. Rudy couldn't stop smiling as he watched her, he had never seen his daughter look so happy.

"Here you go," Angelica handed Rudy a mug of hot chocolate.

"Thank-you," Rudy took a sip, enjoying the warmth that spread over his body. "It's delicious," he murmured contently. "You also cooked the breakfast, didn't you?"

"I did," Angelica replied.

"Angelica always delight us with her cooking skills," Elijah said with a respectful nod in her direction.

"I love cooking and I'm more than happy to feed you all."

"You're not one of Bonnie's distant cousins," Rudy pointed out. Through Abby he had met Vivian, Joanna, and a couple others but he was still surprise by the number of Bennett witches living in New Orleans. They were here for Bonnie, he knew. His daughter was surrounded by powerful, independent, and protective women. Even if he was still coming to grips with Bonnie's new life and the important role she possessed in the city, Rudy felt glad because he knew Bonnie was not alone anymore.

"No, I'm not a Bennett witch."

"She's Klaus's witch," Kol supplied as he grabbed a mug from the tray Angelica held in her hands. "And a damn good one."

"I'm part of Klaus's pack," Angelica told Rudy.

"His wolf pack? How-?"

"I'm part werewolf," Angelica explained upon seeing the confused look on Rudy's face.

"And you have your magic?"

"I haven't trigged my werewolf side yet."

"I see," Rudy murmured. "But you're still part of his pack?"

"I'm part of his hybrid pack."

"So, he has two different packs?"

"You could say that," Ishmael joined their conversation. "Klaus created his hybrid pack a few months ago, while we-" he pointed to Cary who was a few feet away from them. "We're Klaus's werewolf family. Technically, we're all one big pack."

"Right." Rudy was still putting the pieces together. He knew from Bonnie, that Klaus was not his father's son but the son of a werewolf which was why he was hybrid. He had also met the other hybrids Klaus had sired after Tyler but this morning had been the first time he had been introduced to Klaus's wolf family. He had an entire pack that descended from his biological father or so Bonnie had told him. "All of you are living here in New Orleans?" he asked curiously. He wanted to know more about Klaus, about the people that followed him. The vampire was the king of the city and while Rudy found that title and his attitude obnoxious, he was genuinely curious about the people that served him and the loyalty they all seemed to have- for now at least. Rudy knew Klaus's first pack had betrayed him, it was something that could happen again and that worried him, not because he cared what happened to Klaus but he didn't want any danger to come to Bonnie or his grandchildren. Then again, Klaus wasn't exactly an easy vampire to kill. He shuddered as he remembered Carol Lockwood who had paid the price of Tyler's betrayal. It was a painful reminder of the kind of man his daughter was living with.

"Yes," Ishmael approached Rudy who stood up so they could continue talking.

"We came because of him," Ishmael explained quietly. "When Klaus broke his curse, we all felt it."

"Are you going to become like him?" Rudy wondered suddenly. "Hybrids, I mean?" Was that what Klaus was planning, to turn his pack into a loyal army of hybrids.

Klaus, Elijah, Bonnie, and Cary all turned to look at the two men. They all had heard the question as clear as day and felt curious about the answer Ishmael would provide. Klaus in particular tensed slightly.

The old Alpha was silent for a couple of seconds, thinking carefully about the question and the answer he would provide. "That is a decision each individual in our pack will have to make." His eyes met Klaus's across the room. The hybrid had alluded to the fact that he could turn them into hybrids if they desired, and give them freedom from the full moon and immortality. Ishmael wasn't sure how the turning process worked exactly but so far, Klaus had not pushed the issue and neither had Ishamel asked more about it. It was not a decision that anyone would take lightly. Fenrir's pack was proud of their werewolf heritage and while the promise of immortality was tempting, they would also have to become part vampire in the process and that was enough to give anyone pause and rethink the issue. For now, the pack was content the way things were but who knew what the future would bring.

"How does being in a pack work?" Rudy's question brought Ishmael out of his thoughts. "I know some things about werewolves, mostly stuff that comes from movies if I'm being honest." Rudy seemed almost embarrassed but there was something about Ishmael that made him comfortable enough to ask questions that he would certainly never ask of Klaus. "I'm curious, do you all follow Klaus wherever he goes? Are the twins part of your pack too? Or not, since they are witches? And what about my daughter, how does she fit in with your people?"

Ishmael smiled and kindly began answering Rudy's questions and explaining how their pack worked and how they all fit in the supernatural hierarchy.

Bonnie watched them from a far, a small smile at the corner of her lips.

* * *

Davina loved all the presents she received, but the gift Klaus and Bonnie gave her definitely took her breath away. "What is this?" she asked in a trembling voice. She knew what it was but she still felt the need to ask out loud, almost to reassure herself that she wasn't imagining things.

"I think the answer is rather obvious sweetheart," Klaus looked up from the pile of clothes and toys he and Bonnie had for the twins and smirked.

Marcel who was sitting close to her, looked over her shoulder and stared at the old leather-bound journal with surprise. "A grimoire," he remarked. Those were not easy to come by. Not all witches had grimoires of their own, and those that did, guarded them with their life.

"Not just any grimoire," Klaus corrected.

Davina traced the brown leather with her fingers. She closed her eyes briefly upon feeling a slight tingle against her skin. The magic inside the grimoire was old, powerful, and rather familiar. She suddenly found herself thinking of her mother and grandmother. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, opening the book and flipping the worn-out pages. Davina's eyes went wide upon seeing the endless spells in her native French. There was a low humming in her blood as she absorbed the magic floating inside the pages, it felt like home. She turned to the first page and gasped upon seeing the all too familiar name. "Geneviève Claire," she looked at Klaus and then at Bonnie who was smiling knowingly.

"The Geneviève Claire?" Marcel questioned with a raised brow. He had known her back in the day. The beautiful red-haired Regent had been one of the most powerful witches of her age. She had a thing with Klaus but he hadn't known that Klaus had kept her grimoire after her death.

"My great grandmother," Davina felt very emotional. Since she was a little girl, she had heard about her ancestor, the Regent of New Orleans at the turn of the century.

"You told her family you had no idea where her grimoire was," Marcel recalled the day Genevie's mother and young daughter had come searching for the spell book.

"I lied," Klaus responded with a wicked grin. He collected grimoires like he collected paintings, it was a favorite past time of his.

"I should have known," Marcel mumbled.

"Geneviève was a powerful witch," Klaus turned to look at Davina. "When she was Regent, this city was at peace." He, Geneviève, and the werewolf Alpha had an arrangement that benefited all three supernatural species living in the Quarter a hundred years before. Klaus had not only been friends with both women, (and had admired their intelligence and independence) they had also been his lovers; he made no mention of that of course. "After her death, I took her grimoire."

"Klaus and I thought you should have it," Bonnie added. Klaus had amassed a magnificent collection of grimoires and combined with Bonnie's own collection, they had over one hundred incredibly rare and valuable books. "You're its rightful owner."

"Thank-you." Davina was near tears as she threw her arms around Bonnie. "It's the best gift ever," she whispered. Only a witch could understand what it meant to possess a grimoire, specially one with so much history and power. For Davina in particular, having her great grandmother's grimoire was a wonderful treasure. After hugging Bonnie, she turned to Klaus.

"Do remember to be responsible," Klaus cautioned. "There are many powerful spells in there and some very nasty curses, don't think that because we have given you this gift you're allowed to be hexing and practicing dangerous magic on your own."

"I will be careful, I promise." Davina had learned a lot from Bonnie and her family since living with her. The elders of the Bennett coven were teaching her many things. Even though her magic was no longer out of control, she had continued with her lessons with them and enjoyed them tremendously. She had learned more in the past couple of months than in all her years growing up. As powerful as her mother and grandmother had been, their knowledge did not compare to the Bennett's. Davina felt grateful to be surrounded by so many wise and helpful witches.

"Good."

Davina suddenly threw her arms around Klaus, feeling deliriously happy. "Thank-you," she whispered against his neck.

Klaus was surprised by her enthusiastic hug but he found himself returning it. Months ago, hugging anyone would've been strange for him, he had never been one to initiate physical contact and used to tense a lot, but now he was becoming rather used to it. Bonnie loved touching him and Charlotte loved to cuddle against him or hug him spontaneously. It wasn't as strange as before anymore.

Davina pulled away, grinning. She couldn't wait to get started.

Klaus grinned back.

"My turn to hand out my presents," Kol cleared his throat and looked around the room, deciding where to start. "Here," he practically shoved a red box with a silver bow in Charlotte's hands.

"Would it hurt you to be a little nicer?" Lucy asked him.

Kol ignored her. "Don't give me that face," he told Charlotte. "I thought you loved presents."

The little girl frowned. "You got me a present?" she was surprised and it showed on her face. She inspected the box to ensure he was not playing a trick on her.

"Yeah, don't think too much on it," Kol muttered as he continued to hand out his presents. He shyly handed Davina her present and avoided looking into her eyes. "Thank-you," her soft voice reached his ears, Kol nodded hoping that she would love his gift. He threw a small box toward Elijah who frowned before he threw another one at Lucy.

"Have some manners, Kol," Elijah reproached him.

"Santa Kol," Lucy playfully teased as she unwrapped her gift.

Kol snorted. "Santa Klaus is over there," he pointed towards Klaus.

"Very funny," Klaus rolled his eyes. He had heard that joke too many times to count.

"If you throw it at me, it'll sent it back right to your face," Bonnie warned.

Kol grinned and placed her gift on her lap. "There." He was definitely not going to mess with her, he knew better. He looked back at Charlotte who continued to eye her present with uncertainty. "Well, aren't you going to open it?"

"Go on sweetie," Bonnie encouraged.

"What if it's a rat?" Charlotte asked nervously.

"Why the hell would I give you a rat?" Kol snapped.

"Because you're mean!" Charlotte snapped back.

"Well, if you don't want it…"

Kol tried to grab the box but Charlotte stopped him. "I do want it," she said quickly. "I love presents!" she tentatively began unwrapping her gift.

Kol smirked knowingly.

"Did you get me jewelry again?" Rebekah asked while inspecting her gift.

"Are you complaining?"

"Never," Rebekah wasted no time and began unwrapping her gift, it was in fact a beautiful diamond bracelet.

Charlotte's present on the other hand, was a beautiful porcelain doll with dark chocolate tresses and big brown eyes. She gasped and took the doll in her arms, inspecting every detail and marveling at the elegant dark blue dress.

"Don't you dare say you don't like it, I spent a lot of money on that doll, it's from the Victorian Era you know and-" whatever he was going to say next was cut short by the arms that suddenly wrapped around him. Kol froze, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights.

Bonnie, Rebekah, and Lucy were smiling like crazy and even Elijah's lips were twitching at the tender scene.

Kol's face was a poem as he looked down at Charlotte who was smiling sweetly at him. "Thank-you, I love it." She pulled away from him and went back to sit on the floor, next to Bonnie. She touched the doll's face and hair and continued smiling.

"Yeah, well, I figured all girls like dolls, so...yeah..." Kol mumbled feeling a bit embarrassed. He caught Davina's smile out of the corner of his eyes and unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's okay, you know." Charlotte looked into his face, her lips curved into a pleased smirk. "I always knew you were going to end up loving me," she arrogantly declared, sounding very much like Klaus.

"You wish," Kol glared at her. "I still think you are an annoying little demon."

"Kol," Elijah gave him a warning look as did Klaus.

"It's okay," Charlotte kept on smiling as she held the doll in her arms. "I like you too, sometimes," she amended right away. "You're annoying and mean but I like winning against you."

"You do not win against me," Kol retorted feeling offended.

"I do too," Charlotte snapped. "I win all the time."

"No, you don't." Kol looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yes. I do!" Charlotte fired back. "Looser!" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Demon!" Kol shouted back.

"Here we go again," Matt muttered.

"Okay, that's enough!" Bonnie intervened before things escalated out of control. "No more fighting and no more insults!" She looked back and forth between both of them. "This is a time for family," she reminded both of them. "And we are going to be nice and respectful to each other. Is that clear?"

Charlotte glared at Kol and he glared back but both of them nodded.

"Does this happen often?" Rudy whispered to Joanna.

"You'll get used to it," she told him with a small smile.

"We should take some pictures," Rebekah said and everyone groaned.

Rudy stood up quickly, "I have a new camera," he said as he went to get it.

"Perfect!" Rebekah took charge and gathered everyone together so they could pose for Rudy. "We'll get the twins and pose with them too."

"Can peanuts be in the pictures too?" Charlotte asked.

"Of course," Rebekah smiled at her before noticing Cary and Marcel trying to sneak out of the room. "Don't even think about it!" she flashed towards the door and prevented them from leaving. "You're posing for pictures too and don't even think about complaining!"

"But-"

Rebekah didn't let Cary finish. She grabbed him by the arm and did the same with Marcel, easily dragging both of them towards the Christmas tree. "Why is everyone so reluctant to take pictures?" she found herself asking.

"Because your sessions take hours," Kol told her.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault you ruin half the pictures with your sour face."

"Fantastic! Now you're blaming me."

"Just shut up and do as your told," Klaus ordered. "Otherwise, we'll be here all day," he mumbled under his breath.

Bonnie who was standing next to him giggled and snuggled closer against him.

Despite his annoyance at his sister, Klaus wrapped an arm around Bonnie, pulling her closer, and smiling down at her. Charlotte stood in front of them with peanuts in her arms, while Davina and Marcel moved to stand on either side of them. Rebekah kept arranging everyone together as Rudy got his camera ready.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Bonnie whispered close to his ear.

Klaus nodded.

"This is the best Christmas ever," she beamed at him.

That's exactly how the camera captured them, Klaus looking down at her with adoration and Bonnie smiling brightly up at him, their family surrounding them.

* * *

 **Later that night**

"I'm stuffed," Lucy declared dropping herself on the couch and closing her eyes. "I ate like a pig."

"Me too," Joanna agreed. They had spent the whole afternoon cooking with Angelica and everything had been absolutely delicious.

Elijah handed them both a glass of wine before taking a seat next to his beloved. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Lucy rested her head on his shoulder, smiling contently. "Don't let me fall asleep," she murmured.

Elijah smiled. "If you fall asleep, I'll carry you upstairs," he promised.

Lucy smiled and snuggled closer.

Joanna took the time to study them. She knew how in love her daughter was and despite the few reservations she had about them-specially about the new bond forged between them- she found herself smiling. The love, respect, and happiness Lucy and Elijah felt with each other was obvious. It made Joanna happy and it also chased away any fears she could have in regards to their relationship. She wanted her daughter to be happy above all else and it was obvious how happy she was with Elijah.

Not far from them, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, and Stefan chatted near the window.

"Where is Elena?" Bonnie asked them while trying to suppress a yawn. She hadn't really slept much since the birth of the twins and was definitely going to call an early night.

"She and Damon decided not to come," Caroline replied before taking a sip of her eggnog. "She's afraid of you know who," she whispered sending a quick glance in Kol's direction, he was quietly talking to Klaus and Rebekah.

"Voldemort," Charlotte quipped. She was chasing peanuts around the room but had caught snippets of their conversation.

"What?" Caroline gave her a confused look while Bonnie burst out laughing as did Matt.

Stefan raised an eyebrow and contemplated the tiny girl with an amused expression.

"You shouldn't be afraid to say his name," Charlotte advised while getting down on her knees close to the couch and picking her furry little pet who was dressed in a bright red Christmas sweater. "You can say it, Vol-de-mort," she said again before running to the opposite side of the room, where Davina and a couple of Bonnie's cousins were playing a game.

"Okay," Caroline muttered, not knowing what else to say.

Bonnie could hardly contain her giggles. "The girls had a Harry Potter marathon earlier today," Bonnie explained to her friend. Belle and a couple of Bonnie's cousins had joined them. "I'm afraid Charlotte is going to want a Hogwarts letter one day."

Caroline laughed.

"She calls you mama," Stefan had not been that surprised when he had heard Charlotte referred to Bonnie as mama and neither had everyone else. The bond the two of them shared was more than obvious. He couldn't help but admire Bonnie for giving the little girl a family.

Bonnie nodded. "Klaus and I have pretty much adopted her." She couldn't imagine a life without her little girl. Charlotte and Davina had come to complement their family in ways she never had anticipated. She wouldn't change it for the world.

"Three kids," Caroline murmured. "I don't know how you do it."

"Technically, four if you count Davina," Matt added.

"Yeah," Caroline looked over her shoulder and glanced at the teenage witch. She was playing magical Jenga, instead of removing the blocks with their hands, the girls were using their magic which made the game far more interesting in Caroline's opinion. Throughout the night, she had met Bonnie's cousins, all powerful and intimidating women that Caroline felt uneasy to be around. Her skin prickled every time one of them walked by not to mention the power that radiated off Bonnie. "What's her story?" she wondered curiously staring at Davina. "And how is she related to that sexy vampire that flirted with me when I arrived?" As if on cue, Marcel who was talking to Bonnie's dad and aunt Vivian turned to look at her and winked. Caroline quickly looked away. He was really sexy and that winning smile could do things to a woman that should not be legal. New Orleans was filled with sexy and charming vampires, there was no doubt about it.

"It's a very long and complicated story," Bonnie responded. "Marcel is like Davina's adopted dad," she explained. "He was raised and turned by Klaus when he lived here a few centuries ago."

"Oh," Caroline took another curious peek at Marcel over her shoulder before facing Bonnie once more. "You're amazing, you know." Caroline felt happy for her friend. "I'm glad everything is working out for you and Klaus." She paused and looked down. "I know I wasn't as supportive as I should've been when I found out about you guys but…" she looked up. "I want you to know that I'm happy for you. The family you have is beautiful and I'm sorry if my reaction hurt you or…"

"I know," Bonnie smiled at her. "A lot has happened since then." She had been hurt by the way her friends had reacted to her relationship with Klaus but she wasn't dwelling on that any longer. Many things had changed since then and it wasn't worth it to be holding a grudge against her friend.

Caroline nodded. "I'm going to Europe," she blurted out.

"What?" Matt and Bonnie said at the same time.

"Well, we are going to Europe," Caroline said looking at Stefan.

"I thought you wanted to return to Whitmore," Matt interrupted.

"I changed my mind," Caroline revealed. "Whitmore is not going anywhere and after what happened with the Navarro's..." she shuddered thinking of her captivity. She still had nightmares about that horrible time. "And the Travelers..." That was another nightmare worthy episode. "I want to travel. I want to see what the world has to offer," she unconsciously looked at Klaus, recalling the night of the ball in Mystic Falls and what he had said to her. "There is more to life than Mystic Falls and I want to enjoy it." She was immortal, she had all the time in the world to go to college.

"I offered to give her a tour of Europe," Stefan intervened. "I think it could do us some good, to get away for a bit."

"When are you leaving?" Bonnie asked them.

"In a few days," Caroline informed them. "We're going to spend New Year's in Mystic Fall, say goodbye to my mom, and then leave." Bonnie and Matt had their life in New Orleans, Tyler was with his pack, and Damon and Elena had their own plans. It was just Stefan and her trying to find their place in the world, Europe seemed like a nice place to start.

"She already gave me a list of all the places she wants to visit," Stefan remarked with a half laugh.

"And you already have the flights, hotels, and a list of things to do in each place," Matt added with a knowing look towards the blonde.

"Hey, my organizational skills are awesome!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Yeah and they tend to drive everyone crazy," Matt retorted.

They all laughed.

"You'll keep in touch, won't you?" Bonnie asked her. "However long this trip takes, you'll write or call, right?"

"Of course, I will," Caroline promised. "We're friends," she handed her eggnog to Stefan and took Bonnie's and Matt's hands in hers. "Nothing is going to change that." No matter where her adventures took her, no matter how much time passed, she would return and visit her friends.

* * *

Later that night, after Bonnie had said goodbye to her friends and Dad, Klaus dragged her towards the corner of the living room.

"What are you doing," she giggled as he pulled her against him.

"I do believe it's tradition," he murmured, eyes glinting with mischief as he looked at her lips before looking up at the ceiling.

Bonnie looked up and laughed, he had dragged her right under the mistletoe. "I don't think you are supposed to purposely walk to it or drag someone under it either."

"I never play by the rules love."

Bonnie giggled and threw her arms around him. "Well, in that case…" She leaned closer and offered him a seductive smile.

Klaus smirked before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.

Bonnie moaned and melted against him. Their kiss was long and hard, tongues meeting in a well-known and delicious dance. Kissing Klaus was amazing and one of her favorite things to do. When she was with him, she lost track of everything. The whole world disappeared and was reduced to the two of them. Klaus growled against her mouth and pressed her against the wall.

Bonnie's hands gripped his shoulders, her heart soaring, and her body aflame. As much as she enjoyed kissing him and wanted to do it forever, she was force to pull apart. She didn't want to but she felt out of breath. Her face was flushed and her eyes were filled with love and happiness as they broke apart and looked at each other.

A noise caught Klaus's attention and he turned his face away from Bonnie. "Oh bloody hell!" the smile dropped from his face as he spotted Rebekah coming closer to them, a notepad and pen on her hand.

"What?" Bonnie didn't understand why he seemed annoyed.

"Don't even think about it," Klaus warned his sister.

"It's tradition!" Rebekah dangled the notepad in her hand and smiled sweetly at her brother.

"What is?" Lucy asked as she and Elijah made their inside the living room.

"We write out wishes and then burn them for luck," Elijah explained.

"We haven't done it in years," Rebekah said. "Come on," she began ripping the pages and handing them to her brothers, Lucy, and Bonnie. "Kol! Get your ass over here! Davina! Charlotte!" She began getting everyone together. "You too Marcel! I know you are still here!"

"Seriously?" Kol muttered in annoyance as he appeared next to her. "We're not children anymore Bekah."

"So," Rebekah handed Matt a piece of paper. "Write your wish darling. We got to burn them at midnight."

"Can we do it too?" Davina asked intrigued.

"Of course," Rebekah handed her a blank page. "You too love," she said while giving another one to Charlotte. "Anything you wish for, you must write it down and we will burn it outside. I already set up everything."

The girls happily obliged and began writing their wishes. Thanks to Bonnie and her aunt Diana- who was a retired school teacher and had been giving lessons to Charlotte, the little girl had learned how to read and write. Her big letters filled the piece of paper.

"I like this tradition," Lucy said as she wrote down her wish.

"Me too," Bonnie agreed.

"It's ridiculous," Klaus muttered but Bonnie knew he didn't mean it. "I don't recall wishing for an influx of enemies and yet, year after year…"

"Forever on Santa's naughty list," Elijah interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "I wish I could say I was surprised but alas..."

Rebekah and Bonnie shared amused smiles while Klaus shrugged and proudly displayed his dimples.

"Come on!" Rebekah urged all of them. She had already written down her wish and was ready for the next part. "We're doing this and we will do it again next year!"

There was a bonfire outside and they all gathered around it. One by one, they threw their wishes in the fire.

Rebekah smiled the whole time and snuggled against Matt while staring at the flames. "I love Christmas," she mumbled.

"I know," Matt kissed the top of her head.

Lucy and Elijah were standing next to them, holding hands and watching their wishes burn with the flames.

"This is the first time I spent Christmas with so many people," Lucy confessed in a low voice. "I like it." There was a loving look on her face as she gazed at him.

Elijah squeezed her fingers and brought her hand up to his lips. "May this be the first of many wonderful family Christmases." He said before kissing her knuckles tenderly.

Lucy smiled and nodded.

Elijah's eyes moved around the group then. Their family had definitely expanded in the past couple of months and Elijah wouldn't have it any other way. Marcel and Davina were right across from him, talking quietly, and right next to them were Klaus, Bonnie, and Charlotte. Matt and Rebekah were cuddling together while Kol had a pensive look on his face as he contemplated the flames. While Niklaus had thrown many magnificent parties throughout the centuries, nothing was more special and beautiful than spending a quiet and lovely time with their loved ones. He definitely hoped next year would be the same.

"We did this when I was a kid," Marcel murmured as he wrapped an arm around Davina. His glanced at Klaus and Elijah, each was standing with their bonded next to them. They both seemed happy and in love, _who would have thought?_

"Did you do it every Christmas?" Davina inquired.

"Yeah," Marcel smiled remembering the fabulous Christmas parties Klaus had thrown in the Quarter. It was the quiet moments afterwards, as they burned their wishes that he had enjoyed the most though."Even when it was just Klaus and me, we kept the tradition." He had not dared to continue the tradition after Klaus and his siblings had left the Quarter though, this was his first time in a century doing this. It made him feel melancholic.

"I like it," Davina confessed.

Marcel smiled down at her. "Klaus tells me you're going back to school."

"I am," Davina sounded excited. "I have a lot of catching up to do but I'll go back once the holidays are over." She, Bonnie, and Klaus had visited her old school a few days before to arrange everything. "I'm practically a year behind. They gave me tons of notes and stuff to study before I go back, and I'm also going to take lessons after school too, so I can catch up and hopefully, graduate with my classmates."

"Are you happy D?"

"Very happy," Davina answered truthfully. "I finally have the family I always wanted."

"Yeah, they're not so bad." Marcel glanced at the Mikaelson's once more. Despite their differences, they had given him the family he had wanted and needed too.

"They're your family too," Davina reminded him.

Marcel didn't say anything but there was a small smile on his lips.

"Are our wishes going to come true?" Charlotte asked as she held on to Klaus's hand.

"Yes, they are."

"What did you wish for?" She wondered.

"My wish already came true," Klaus responded with a wink.

"Mine too," she shared with a complicit smile. "But I made another wish too."

"Is that so?" Klaus arched an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"Nah-ah," Charlotte shook her head. "It's a secret."

Bonnie who was resting her head against Klaus's shoulder smiled at the exchange. "The twins are about to wake up," she murmured looking at her phone and checking the time. It was almost time for another feeding, she should start making her way back to their room.

Klaus who had an arm wrapped around her middle let go of her. "There is one more thing," he whispered and cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention.

Bonnie gave him a curious look, there was a hint of nervousness echoing through the bond. She wondered what he was about to say.

"A few months ago," Klaus began and turned his head to the side and stared into her eyes.

Bonnie didn't know why she suddenly felt nervous.

Klaus smiled and took her hand in his. "I asked Bonnie to marry me and she said yes."

"What!" Rebekah screeched, pulling away from Matt and staring at the two of them with astonished eyes.

"No way," Matt looked back and forth between them.

"Oh my god!" Lucy squealed.

"You're getting married?" Davina asked, feeling absolutely happy with the news.

"Uh?" Charlotte looked adorably confused.

Bonnie's heart skipped a beat at the look Klaus was giving her, her palms became sweaty, and she could feel the color rising in her cheeks.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Elijah questioned his brother.

"How could you keep something so important from us?" Rebekah asked almost at the same time.

"Aren't you guys technically married already," Kol pointed out the obvious. They were bonded, that was pretty much a marriage in his opinion.

"We wanted to wait," Klaus continued still looking into Bonnie's eyes. "But I feel now it's the perfect time to give you this," he pulled a small velvet box from the pocket of his coat, the one he had been carrying for weeks as he waited for the perfect moment.

"Oh," Bonnie's entire body shook as she saw it. They were engaged, he already felt like her husband to her, and Klaus referred to her as his wife more often than not, but seeing that small box, knowing what was inside made it all the more real and having their family witnessing this moment, made it all the more special. He throat constricted and her heart skyrocketed.

 _I'm lost without you Bonnie. You are my anchor, my heart, my soul, my life._

 _I am madly and undoubtedly in love with you, Bonnie_.

His words from that night in the hospital echoed back inside her mind. Bonnie's breath hitched as Klaus opened the box and showed her the sparkling round cut diamond ring. It was elegant and beautiful and it made Bonnie's knees go weak.

"I want to be with you always, forever." Klaus repeated the exact same words he had said to her that night when he proposed. "I want to spend my immortal life with you, only you."

Bonnie felt tears forming in her eyes as she stared at the ring and then back at his face. His eyes were filled with so much love and adoration towards her, it made her bones melt.

"Loving you, only you," Klaus said with conviction. He never took his eyes off her as he spoke. Every single one of his words matched the emotions floating through their bond, nearly overwhelming her with love and happiness. "Marry me, Bonnie."

"Yes!" Bonnie responded right away. She couldn't believe he had practically proposed to her again and in front of their family too. She felt so happy, she could fly to the moon and back. "Yes! Yes!"

Klaus slid the gorgeous engagement ring on her finger and smiled.

Bonnie threw her arms around him and kissed him on the lips, he responded to her kiss with equal passion. The two of them were completely oblivious to everyone else as they basked in the happiness of the moment.

There were loud cheers and claps from the family as they watched the happy couple. It was a special moment they had just witnessed. It was the beginning of another chapter in their lives and it was without a doubt, the happiest Christmas the Mikaelson family had ever had.

* * *

 _A/N: This was a little shorter than usual but I wanted to focus on the happy family moments before we get to Esther and Mikael and all the drama they will bring for the Klonnie family. Thank you and see you next time!_


	79. Chapter 79

_**One thousand years ago**_

 _Her body burned, sweat trickled down her skin and soaked her nightdress. She panted and groaned, hands balling into fists at her sides. "No…I…"_

 _"You must," the midwife insisted._

 _"No…" she cried out in pain. It was unbearable. She could hardly keep her eyes open. She was not sure how long she has been in the birthing bed but the sun had disappeared outside and darkness reigned over the land now._

 _Esther floated in and out of consciousness, whispers reaching her ears from time to time, as the midwife and another woman tended to her. It was Finn's desperate cries that had her fighting the darkness and opening her eyes once more._

 _"Don't die mama," his little fingers gripped her cold and sweaty hand painfully. He was really scared and couldn't stop crying._

 _Esther's eyes blinked open, a low whimpered of pain escaping her._

 _"Mama please…" Finn's face was red and his bottom lip trembled. "Don't leave me mama…please..." he begged._

 _Esther wanted to reassure her son that she would be fine. She wanted to offer him words of comfort but she was so weak, she couldn't utter a single word; all she could do was moan in pain._

 _"I have to cut you open," the midwife said in a calm voice._

 _"No…" Esther protested weakly._

 _"The babe is not in the right position, if I don't get him out you both will die."_

 _No! I can't die, she thought fearfully. Esther pushed herself up and managed enough strength to grip the old woman's arm. "Woman…" she managed to say. "Magic…woman…"_

 _"The witch?" The midwife frowned._

 _"Bring her…" Esther cried out as another wave of pain rolled over her body. She wouldn't be able to hold for much longer, she knew. She had to push the baby out or she would die and so would he. I won't lose another child, she promised herself. "…Ayana…" she hissed and looked into the midwife's face "Bring her to me…"_

 _"That retched woman is dangerous," the midwife said angrily. "She talks to the animals, she poisoned her master, she'll sacrifice this child to her demon lover…"_

 _"Bring her to me!" Esther screamed._

 _"Your husband won't like it."_

 _"Bring her to me!" Esther repeated more forcibly._

 _The curtains flew open all of the sudden and the candles close to the bed flickered on and off as the magic she possessed stirred._

 _The midwife gasped and back away a couple of steps, frightened by the strange power floating inside the hut. The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up and she felt a cold sensation slithering down her back._

 _"I need her…" Esther pleaded. "Bring her...please…"_

 _"As you wish," the midwife finally conceded._

 _She commanded the other woman helping her to hurry out of the hut and search for the strange woman that lived outside the village. The slave that had killed her master and had made her home in the woods where she was said to worship a demon._

 _Hours later…when the sun rose across a cloudless and beautiful blue sky, her newborn son came into the world roaring._

 _A warrior, Mikael would have exclaimed if he had bothered to be present. Her husband was nowhere to be found, he had been gone for hours. Mikael had changed since Freya._

 _Esther was exhausted. She was crying and shaking but her weak arms managed to hold her precious little boy in her arms. "Elijah," she whispered while giving the babe a loving look. He squirmed in her arms, mouth opening wide, and tongue sticking out. Esther guided him to her breast._

 _"I placed an ointment to stop the bleeding." The dark-skinned woman said while cleaning her hands with a cloth. "You need to stay in bed for a fortnight at least, eat well, and drink the potions I will supply. You shall be better in no time."_

 _Esther looked up and stared into those dark eyes that seemed to look beyond, it almost felt like they could read her very soul. From the moment they had met, Esther had felt it. The current of power that surrounded Ayana was undeniable. For many moons now, she had heard the rumors surrounding the dark beauty that lived like a recluse in the woods. She had been brought from a faraway land in chains but less than a moon after, her master had died, mauled by a large and strange beast; a beast she had conjured or so the whispers said. Since then, Ayana had made her home in the woods, unafraid of the dangers that lurked about. She was feared, judged, and secretly sought by the women in the village, for Ayana knew the arts of healing and could see the future in dreams. Freya had been the one to find the strange woman living alone in a small hut by the river. Sweet, darling Freya who had ventured out of their village and been lost in the woods on a cold and stormy morning. Ayana had brought her back to her home, holding her hand and handing her back to Esther with a kind and knowing smile. Esther had been frozen in shock and fear, for she had never encountered another witch in the lands of her husband. "She's special mama," Freya had said with a sweet and trusting smile. "She's like us."_

 _Darling Freya, thinking of her was a dagger to Esther's heart. She shook the memories away and swallowed the lump in her throat, gathering the courage to speak. "You have the gift."_

 _"As do you," Ayana replied calmly._

 _Esther looked down at Elijah who was already sucking her breast and gripping one of her fingers tightly. Another son for her proud husband, a moment that should be filled with triumph was instead bittersweet._

 _'When the babe comes, I shall hold him first,' Freya declared barely a moon ago as she tenderly rubbed Esther's swollen stomach._

 _Tears blurred Esther's vision. Oh Freya… She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to burn the world to the ground and unleash her grief._

 _As soft gentle hand touched her shoulder. "The pain you feel will never go away," Ayana said gently. "But you will learn to live with it. As I did."_

 _Esther looked up, a single tear running down her rosy cheek. "You have lost a child?"_

 _Ayana nodded, her dark eyes were incredibly sad then. "A son," she whispered painfully. "He died in my belly." There was a faraway look on her face as her hand absently touched her now flat stomach. "I lost my husband, I lost my child, I lost my freedom in a single night," she confessed. The anger, the bitterness, it was still there._

 _"You made him pay," Esther said knowingly. "The man who took everything from you." There was no judgment in her voice, only a deep understanding._

 _Ayana's eyes gleamed. "I did," she felt no shame in admitting it. "He took everything from me and I did the same to him."_

 _"Vengeance…" Esther whispered with a longing that made her tremble. "How I wish I could take my own vengeance on the one that hurt me."_

 _Ayana gave her a curious look. "You have the power to do so." She stared into Esther's eyes before looking down at the babe in her arms. "He has the gift as well."_

 _"I was never good at it," Esther confessed in a whisper. Her eyes moved towards the corner where Finn slept. The poor worried boy had finally succumbed to the calming drought Ayana gave him. Her husband had yet to return. Did Mikael know she had birthed him another son? Did he care? Esther shook her head. "My mother was incredibly powerful," she continued in a soft voice. "And so was my sister…" anger, so much anger and hatred fueled her veins at the thought of her. "Dahlia," she hissed, her body trembling._

 _Ayana quickly pulled the furs up to Esther's waist and with one look at the fire, the flames shot up high, enveloping them in a welcoming heat._

 _"Ever since you came into the village, people whisper about you." Esther raised her face and stared into Ayana's eyes. "They fear you."_

 _"People fear what they do not understand," Ayana replied wisely._

 _"They have every reason to fear you," Esther muttered. "You killed your master."_

 _Ayana's face twisted angrily. "What would you have done to the man who raided your land, killed your people, and took your freedom?"_

 _"I married him," Esther replied without any trace of remorse._

 _Ayana seemed surprised by that._

 _"A sin my sister could never forgive me for," Esther continued. There was a slight tremor to her voice. "But I fell in love, you did not." She contemplated Ayana's face for a couple of moments before continuing talking. "People fear you, they seek you when they need it but many in the village are growing concerned about your gifts. Sooner or later they will turn against you, burn you for it."_

 _"Fire is my gift," Ayana murmured extending her left hand and creating a ball of fire out of nothing._

 _Esther gasped and stared at the small ball of flame with wide eyes. "You can create fire out of nothing…" she murmured in awe._

 _"I can do that and much more," Ayana stated with a bit of arrogance in her voice. She was young, fierce, and her growing power made her extremely confident. "I can teach you if you want."_

 _Esther stared at the ball of flame floating above Ayana's palm before contemplating the woman's face once more. "And what would you like in return?" she asked._

 _"What makes you think I want something in return?"_

 _"Magic always comes with a price," Esther swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know that better than most."_

 _Ayana took a step closer and sat on the bed, studying Esther's face carefully. "For three nights now, I have dreamed of a strange land, a place across the sea," she confessed. "Your husband will take you and your family there and when he does, you will take me with you."_

 _Esther frowned. "Leave our village?" she shook her head. "No, Mikael would never-"_

 _"The plague will continue to spread," Ayana told her. "Soon it will destroy this village, it will kill hundreds, thousands even. But if we leave this land, we can escape death. We must leave."_

 _"Are you certain?"_

 _"I have never been wrong," Ayana responded as a sudden sadness overcame her then. "My dreams are never wrong, no matter how much I wished them so." She stared into Esther's curious eyes. "Our destiny lies in that strange land, the future of your bloodline and mine is there." Her eyes became darker, two enigmatic pools that were seeing beyond time and space. She reached out and took Esther's hand in hers._

 _Esther gasped; feeling Ayana's magic invade her senses with a simple touch made her tremble with excitement and fear. The power Ayana possessed was electrifying, it made her feel like she could conquer the world._ I want to be like her, _she thought dreamily._ I want to be as powerful as she is. I have to be. I have to become the most powerful witch the world has ever seen. I must be in order to protect my children.

 _"You will birth a son in that strange land and I shall birth a daughter," Ayana prophesied with a detached voice and a faraway look on her face. "And a thousand years from now, your blood and mine will be one." She gasped and pulled her hand away from Esther, shaking uncontrollably._

 _"You saw that far into the future?" Esther couldn't help but be in awe of her. "It must truly be a wonderful gift to have. I envy you."_

 _Ayana squeezed her eyes and hugged herself. "It is not a wonderful gift," she spat. "Sometimes I rather not know."_

 _Silence befell them._

 _Esther's newborn son continued to suck her breast hungrily and Finn continued to snore peacefully. Ayana stared at both children with tenderness. If her son had lived he would have been a few years younger than Finn._ But you will birth a daughter, _her mind whispered._ Soon you will have a child in your arms too.

 _"I will take you with me," Esther promised. "From this day forward, you and I will be inseparable. Wherever I go, so will you," she vowed with conviction. "You will help me, won't you?" The eagerness, the ambition she felt stirring in her blood was unlike anything she had ever felt before. "You will teach me all you know, you will help me become the most powerful witch the world has ever seen. Promise me, you will."_

 _Ayana nodded. "I will help you," she met Esther's eyes unflinchingly. "A powerful witch you shall be," she promised._

But you will never be the most powerful, _she thought._

* * *

 **Present time, New Orleans**

Ayana stared into Bonnie's face, contemplating the young queen for a few moments before moving her dark eyes over the Mikaelson siblings, watching the different emotions that washed over them as she revealed to them Finn's request.

"Have you lost your marbles?" Kol stood up at once and stared at Ayana with disbelief.

"Kol!" Elijah turned to his younger brother angrily. "Have some respect," he ordered.

Kol took a deep breath trying to get a hold of his emotions. "I'm sorry Ayana," he apologized as he combed his fingers through his hair. "But I can't believe that you fell for those lies. Finn is a traitor!"

"He's your brother," Ayana reminded him sharply. "He was telling the truth," she murmured sadly. "He wants to speak with you, with all of you."

Klaus laughed. "A brother who had no qualms about running to father to get us all killed!" he hissed, recalling the reason he had daggered Finn in the first place. "He sided with mother and helped her to link us all together and nearly succeeded in killing us."

"What Finn has to say changes everything," Ayana told them. "You must meet with him, you must listen to all he has to share with you. It's very important."

"But you're not only asking us to meet with Finn," Klaus retorted, his hands clenching painfully at his sides. "You want us to meet with Esther and Mikael as well."

"It's a bit too late to be having a family meeting, don't you think?" Kol muttered angrily.

Rebekah was sitting quietly, hands clenching on the soft material of her blouse. She couldn't believe Finn wanted to talk to them and that he wanted to have a meeting with their parents as well. She couldn't believe Ayana was endorsing the crazy idea either.

Matt gave her a sympathetic look and took her hand in his, squeezing her fingers reassuringly. Rebekah offered him a grateful smile. The warmth of his hand in hers helped to chase away the bitter cold that had invaded her body at the thought of her parents.

Lucy and Bonnie for their part, were quietly watching the back and forth between the siblings and Ayana.

"How do you know this is not a trap?" Elijah questioned suddenly. "How do you know Finn is not lying and setting us up?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Klaus muttered darkly.

"He's probably plotting our demise as we speak," Kol added angrily.

"Finn tells the truth," Ayana responded confidently. "If he had lied to me, I would have known." She knew Finn better than most after all. "Your brother has carried a heavy burden since he was a child, a painful secret that has haunted him for centuries. The time has come for all of you to know the truth."

"Don't let the pity you feel for him blind you," Klaus warned her. "Finn is not the innocent victim he portrays himself to be. He has always been mother's favorite. He no doubt approached you on her orders, he would never betray her."

"He's always taken her side," Kol agreed. "He hates us!"

Ayana sighed. "I know that what I ask is not easy but it must be done, you have to trust me," she looked at each of the siblings, pleading with them to understand. "You must meet with Finn and your parents, only by confronting the past will you be able to save the future." She finished by looking at Bonnie. "What Finn has to share with you will change everything."

"And you can't tell us what that is?" Matt asked her. "You clearly know something…" he pointed out nervously.

"I cannot say anything more."

Elijah and Klaus looked at each other. _What secret could Finn possibly know about their family? Why couldn't Ayana tell them?_ Neither of them liked this.

"You said that they are planning to come back to life on the night of the eclipse," Bonnie spoke for the first time.

Ayana nodded. "Finn told me Esther plans to draw on the power of the eclipse to resurrect them."

"We must send them back to the other side before then," Lucy said.

"They're not going to stop, are they?" Bonnie muttered angrily. "They've been conspiring against us this entire time and are hiding in the in between waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike."

"Esther and Mikael are a threat to all of you," Ayana said with conviction.

"And yet, you still want us to come face to face with them," Klaus retorted.

"I want you to meet with them and Finn. I want you to hear what your brother has to say, but I promise you, Esther and Mikael will not hurt you. I won't allow it." She looked directly at Klaus as she spoke. "This meeting will be the perfect opportunity to stop them for good."

"You have a plan," Klaus and Elijah realized at the same time.

Ayana nodded. "I will cast a spell so that all of you can come together in a place of my creation. Finn will lure your parents to a designated spot in the in between to make it easier for me to pull them out of there and into my dream place. Once there, we will trap them forever."

"You can do that?" Lucy asked astonished by what Ayana proposed.

"With the right help," Ayana smiled at her before looking at Bonnie once more. "In order for the spell to work, I need to be linked to a living witch of my bloodline and through her to the entire power of the coven."

"Me," Bonnie deduced easily. "I will be the anchor to your spell."

Klaus didn't like the sound of that and it showed in his face.

"You're the most powerful witch of the Bennett bloodline. I will need to channel our combined power in order to do this." Ayana stated. "We will be transporting the Original family through time and space into my world and that is not an easy feat to accomplish."

"And what happens after we learn whatever Finn wants to tell us?" Rebekah questioned her suddenly. "How do you plan to trap Mikael and Esther?"

"I plan to trap them in a prison world," Ayana informed them. "It is the only way to ensure they never join forces with any spirits on the other side or escape again."

"A prison world," Bonnie repeated. She had read about them after Qetsiyah had mentioned them when Bonnie first summoned the coven. She knew plenty of her ancestors had created prison worlds in order to trap their enemies. "It's a good plan," she said looking at Klaus.

"You can create your own prison world?" Matt questioned.

"The Bennett witches are the only witches capable of creating the prison worlds," Ayana responded with a proud smile. "This is the best way to ensure Mikael and Esther never bother you again." She looked at Bonnie and Klaus. "I can't do it on my own as I am dead and my magic is limited."

"That's why you need to be connected to Bonnie," Lucy noted.

"Yes," Ayana looked at her before focusing on Bonnie once more. "Bennett blood, Bennett magic, channeling the power of the coven will make the spell easier."

Bonnie and Klaus looked at each other.

 _We could finally finish this_ , Bonnie thought as she stared into his eyes.

Klaus nodded. They could finally get rid of his evil parents and never worry that they would plot to come back. "Very well," he said at last.

"When do we start?" Bonnie asked her ancestor.

"If we start right away, we can have everything ready in two days or so," Ayana told them.

"Why don't we just dump mother and father in the prison world and be done with it," Kol suggested.

"Finn wishes to speak with us," Elijah reminded him. "You heard Ayana, what he has to say is extremely important."

"Who gives a damn what our obnoxious older brother wants," Kol snapped.

"You said so yourself," Elijah turned to face him, using that authoritative voice of his. "He's our brother," he moved his eyes over Klaus and Rebekah. "We never understood him in life, we barely grieved for him when he died, and we did nothing to avenge him or get him back. The least we can do is listen to what he has to say. We owe him that much."

Kol shook his head. "If this is a bloody trap that gets us killed, I swear you will not know peace in the afterlife."

"I won't let Esther or Mikael hurt you," Ayana promised all of them once more. "I will be with you every step of the way. You have my word that nothing will happen to you. I will keep you safe," she vowed.

"That is good enough for me," Elijah said smiling at Ayana. He trusted Ayana, she was on their side and he believed her when she promised to keep them safe.

Kol appreciated Ayana's promise but he still felt terrified at the prospect of willingly coming face to face with his parents.

While Klaus trusted Ayana, he didn't trust Finn and he certainly did not trust Mikael or Esther. He couldn't deny however, that he felt intrigued by what Finn had to tell them. "We will meet with them," he said at last.

"It's settled then," Rebekah said as she stood up. "A family meeting, how wonderful." She did not sound happy at all. Neither of them was looking forward to this family meeting. They all felt dread coiling in the pit of their stomachs.

* * *

 **Later that day…**

"Oh my god!" Caroline squealed while inspecting Bonnie's engagement ring. "It's so pretty!"

Bonnie grinned proudly showing off the sparkling diamond Klaus had given her. She was so happy she was practically glowing. She needed to prepare for the meeting with Esther and Mikael but for now she had set that aside in favor of saying goodbye to her friends who were leaving New Orleans that very night.

"Congratulations!" Stefan said with a happy smile.

"You're getting _married!"_ Damon almost seemed to choke on the word. He looked positively ill at the thought of her wedding.

"They live together. They have children together. They're practically already married Damon," Elena snapped at her boyfriend.

Bonnie frowned. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or there seemed to be some sort of tension between them. She glanced at Stefan, who shrugged.

"Have you set the date yet?" Caroline asked completely obviously to anything else. "Elena and I get to be bridesmaids, right? And have you chosen a maid of honor yet? Not to pull rank or anything but I think we met first at the playground so I definitely need to be your maid of honor. And where are you going for your honeymoon? Are you taking the twins?" she fired all kinds of questions at Bonnie who simply stared at her with an amused expression on her face.

"Jeez Care, let her breathe," Matt interrupted. "She just got engaged last night."

"I will be the bridesmaid," Rebekah declared as she came down the stairs. She usually avoided Bonnie's friends like the plague but as soon as she heard Caroline's insinuations she felt the need to step out of her room and set things straight with the annoying baby vampire.

Caroline glared at her. "You hardly even know her!"

"She's practically my sister!" Rebekah shouted.

"You wish!"

"You are going to be in Europe anyway, you don't get a say at all."

Caroline growled. "I'm so getting a say!" she snapped. "I will help Bonnie plan the wedding of her dreams and you better stay away from it!"

"Guys!" Bonnie chose to stand between both of her friends and stop them before things escalated out of control. "I just got engaged. There is no date yet and I'm definitely hiring a wedding planner so there is no need to fight about who gets to organize MY wedding!" she carefully reminded them. As much as she loved both of them, she wasn't going to be able to stand their arguments and possessiveness. "You are all going to be my bridesmaids," She looked at Caroline, Elena, and Rebekah. "And so are Davina and Lucy, so please don't fight over this."

Caroline and Rebekah opened their mouths but Bonnie stopped them before they could say anything. "And since I love all three of you and don't wish to have you fight over this, I'm not going to have a maid of honor just bridesmaids." She decided right then.

There was a glum look on Rebekah's face.

"But…but…that's not fair!" Caroline whined. "All brides need a maid of honor, it's tradition."

Elena rolled her eyes. "They don't even have a date yet!" She intervened with annoyance. "Why the hell are all of you fighting about something that is not happening any time soon or might not even happen at all!"

Bonnie was taken back by Elena's outburst. _What was wrong with her?_

"Jealous much?" Rebekah arched an eyebrow and looked her up and down, an evil smirk forming on her glossy lips.

"I have no reason to be jealous!"

"If you say so," Rebekah gave her a knowing look.

Caroline was watching Elena carefully and even Stefan and Matt were watching her with matching strange looks.

"Look," Elena turned to Bonnie. "We just came to say goodbye, we have a plane to catch so yeah." She gave Bonnie a quick hug. "Congratulation on your engagement and the birth of your twins."

"Thank you," Bonnie felt odd with the quick hug Elena gave her. It didn't feel sincere. "When are you guys going to be back?" she asked looking from Elena to Damon who was strangely quiet.

"We're not really welcome in this city," Elena interrupted before Damon could speak. "So, I doubt you will see us any time soon."

"What's wrong with you?" Bonnie asked Elena, not liking the attitude she had.

"Kol hates my guts, forgive me if I don't feel comfortable coming to visit you any time soon," Elena snapped.

"And whose fault is that?" Rebekah retorted. "You should count yourself lucky to still be breathing." She glared at Elena who chose to ignore her.

"We have all done some horrible things to each other and it's best not to be bringing all that up now," Stefan tried to appease the situation.

Bonnie gave him a grateful smile. She wanted to say a couple of not so nice things to Elena but she bit her tongue instead. She didn't want to part in bad terms.

Rebekah scowled.

"We have to go," Elena turned to Damon, urging him to hurry up.

"Right," Damon looked from Elena to Bonnie and back again. The two were standing side by side and they couldn't be more different. They were like day and night. But while he would have considered Elena the sun a few months ago- the light in his life, he couldn't help but see that light in Bonnie now. As he stared at Bonnie, he couldn't help but feel the warmth that radiated off her. It was so different from Elena's irritable behavior and gloom presence. He wanted to reach out and immerse himself in that kind and beautiful light.

"Damon!" Elena snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Hello? Did you hear what I said?"

"I heard you perfectly," Damon snapped, feeling irritated by her behavior.

Stefan, Caroline, Matt, and Bonnie looked suddenly uncomfortable. They could all sense that things were not exactly right between the couple.

Damon turned away from Elena and looked at Bonnie once more. "Congratulations on your engagement," he said. It was painfully obvious that he wasn't thrilled for her as Caroline or Matt had been but he put on a brave face and forced a typical Damon smirk on his lips.

"Thanks."

"I'll see you again someday, witch." He took a step closer and then hesitated, unsure how she and Elena would react if he were to hug her. His hands itched to reach out and pull her in his arms but he didn't.

Bonnie's lips twitched. "I'm sure." She closed the pace between them and threw her arms around him in a quick hug.

Damon froze for a few seconds before he pulled her into his arms. He could feel the back of his neck prickling, he knew it was Elena's glare but he didn't give a damn. There was a strange tingling sensation rolling over him, a surprising happiness invading him at the feel of Bonnie in his arms. But that balloon burst when her scent penetrated his senses. Her sweet scent that was forever mingled with _his_ , Klaus had undoubtedly laid claim to her and it hurt. His heart ache for what he could never have.

Bonnie pulled away from him, oblivious to the conflict she stirred inside him. "Goodbye Damon."

There was a slash of hurt upon hearing her words. Bonnie said it so casually, without any hint of sadness or indication that she was going to miss him. She was dismissing him out of her life as if he were nothing. She wasn't going to miss him, she wasn't going to count the days to see him again, she didn't need him in her life. She didn't want him in her life. It was a painful and bitter realization. He was going to miss her after all. He felt like he needed her in his life, even if it was just to torment himself wondering what if?

"Have a safe trip," Bonnie told them both with a smile.

"Yes, do enjoy your trip," Rebekah's lips were curled and her eyes were gleaming as she studied Damon's gutted face. She was definitely enjoying the show. Stefan looked at his brother with pity on the other hand, while Matt and Caroline were surprised by the jealousy they saw reflected in Elena's face.

"Let's go," Damon grabbed Elena's hand and pulled her out of there. Elena was his girlfriend, Elena was his future, the girl of his dreams. He finally had what he always wanted, and yet,

He gave one last quick look over his shoulder, a silly part of him hoping to find Bonnie's face watching him go. She wasn't. Bonnie had her back to him and was already happily talking to Caroline, gushing about Klaus's romantic proposal. It made him sick. _Deal with it_ , his mind supplied. Bonnie belonged to Klaus now, she was happy with him and only a fool would not see it. _She was never yours to begin with..._

Elena squeezed his hand and Damon forced a small smile on his face.

The two left New Orleans that same day but Damon left a piece of his heart behind.

* * *

 **The next day**

Lucy watched from the bed as Elijah got dressed. Neither of them had slept at all, talking quietly into the early morning hours as they attempted to appease the apprehension they both felt. Tonight was the night and Lucy was already dreading this plan.

Elijah finished buttoning his white shirt and turned around to face her. She looked so beautiful. He would never get tired of watching her. Neither of them said anything, they simply contemplated each other in silence for a handful of minutes. He finally approached the bed and slowly sat down.

"I have faced countless of enemies in the centuries I have been alive," Elijah began quietly. "None have terrified me more than my parents."

Lucy touched his cheek gently. "They're spirits, Elijah. They have no power over you."

"Perhaps," Elijah murmured. "But they will find ways to hurt us with their words." Mikael and Esther had always been good at that. "They might even try to turn us against each other."

"Don't let them," Lucy urged. "Whatever they say, whatever they insinuate don't let it get to you. Don't fall for their tricks."

"That's easier said than done, my love." He took her hand and stared at her long fingers. "Esther and Mikael know us the best, they know what buttons to push, what to say to make us turn into squabbling children and-"

"Your bond with your siblings is stronger than ever," Lucy pointed out. "Your parents can try all they want to tear you apart but they won't succeed. And you have something you never had before while facing them…" she paused and stared into his eyes, a rather wicked grin forming on her sinful lips. "Bonnie and I have a plan of our own," Lucy confessed to him.

Elijah looked up and arched an eyebrow.

"We trust Ayana. We think her idea to trap Mikael and Esther in a prison world is brilliant," Lucy was quick to say. "But Bonnie and I feel suspicious of Finn and his motives. While Ayana is convinced that he is telling the truth and that the meeting is not a trap, we want to make sure that we're ready in case he is playing us like Kol suspects."

"What are you planning?" Elijah asked feeling intrigued.

"Remember the soul shattering spell I used on Celeste?"

Elijah nodded.

"We will do the same to Esther and Mikael," Lucy revealed. "I showed the spell to Bonnie, so she could learn it. If your brother and parents have something under their sleeve, Bonnie and I will destroy their souls and ensure they never bother you again. Whatever happens tonight, I can promise you, Esther and Mikael are going to regret coming after our family."

"Have I ever told you how amazing and brilliant you are," Elijah murmured huskily as he leaned closer.

Lucy gave him a saucy grin and hooked her arms around his neck. "How about you show me how much you appreciate my brilliance," she kissed him lightly on the lips.

Elijah growled, his eyes darkening with desire.

Lucy let out a shriek as he pushed her down on the bed, caging her beneath his hard body and devoured her mouth in a heated kiss. They lost themselves in each other. It was a delicious way to forget about their worries, to stop thinking about his evil parents, and the daunting family meeting looming over their heads.

* * *

"Today is the day," Rebekah remarked as she stared out of her bedroom balcony. "Or rather tonight is the night." She felt terrified. She had spent the night thinking about all the ways it could go wrong.

Matt came to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her against his chest. "Everything will be okay," he murmured, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I hope so," Rebekah whispered. "I trust Ayana but I can't help but feel that this is going to end badly."

"You think Finn is lying and plotting with your parents against you?"

"Maybe," Rebekah stared at the beautiful early morning sky and thought about her older brother. "Finn was always aloof, even when we were children he rarely interacted with us." A sudden smiled formed on her lips as fond memories surfaced. "We did manage to get him to play with us a few times but more often than not he was on his own. There were times when I almost felt like he hated us."

"The boring older brother."

"Yes," Rebekah chuckled. "He was always rather sad and melancholic. I heard mother said once, that it was because he was close to our older sister, he was devastated when she died and never fully recovered I suppose."

"How did she die?" Matt asked curiously. He had known there had been an older sibling but Rebekah never talked about her, neither had her brothers. Henrik was the only sibling whose memory they all treasured.

"The plague I think," Rebekah answered. "That's why we left Europe and came to Mystic Falls. I don't know much about her," she admitted. "Only that her name was Freya and that she died before Elijah was born." She suddenly wondered what life would have been like if her sister had lived, maybe they would have never become vampires in the first place.

The two lovers continued to stare out of the balcony, a swift breeze caressing their cheeks while the morning sunlight bathed them with warmth.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this," Rebekah confessed in a fearful whispered. "I'm scared." When it came to her parents even Elijah and Niklaus were terrified.

"Don't be," Matt pulled her closer. "After tonight it will all be over," he tried to reassure her. "You mother and father will never bother you again."

Rebekah turned around in his arms. "I hope so," she whispered resting her forehead against his. "For all our sakes, I hope Ayana's plan works and my parents never bother us again."

Matt pulled her closer and kissed her lips tenderly, Rebekah melted against him as she kissed him back. For a sweet moment, she forgot the fear invading her veins.

* * *

Klaus smiled as he contemplated Bonnie and his children. He would never get tired of watching them, of marveling at their tiny hands and faces, and smiling like a fool upon seeing Bonnie with them. This feeling of pure love and adoration he felt towards them was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It still amazed him that he, who had thought of himself as cold hearted and a monster was capable of such pure feeling. He didn't know how long he stood there, watching them, completely besotted.

Bonnie hummed softly as she breastfed their children at the same time. She was completely submerged in the moment, she didn't even notice Klaus's presence inside the room. She smiled tenderly at her babies and continued to hum a melody as she watched them suck on her breasts. She had been awake for a while now. Not only because the twins demanded her attention but because she had gone over a handful of spells. They were going to meet with Finn, Esther, and Mikael later that night and Bonnie wanted to be prepared for everything. She felt nervous but also ready to finally put a stop to Esther's scheming. Maybe after tonight they would finally be at peace.

"I think they love your breasts as much as I do," Klaus commented as he came closer.

Bonnie felt herself blush and gave him a look before looking down at Ingrid and Henrik once more.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you look?" Klaus crouched down in front of her, a loving look on his face.

Bonnie shook her head, a pleased smile forming at the corner of her lips. Only Klaus would find her beautiful with messy hair, extra weight, and sweatpants. She hadn't even showered yet!

Klaus smiled, gently touching Henrik's head and thinking of the colors he would use for his painting. He had already filled his sketchpad with drawings of Bonnie and the twins but he was planning to do a portrait of them too. He had already completed a portrait of Charlotte and had started doing one of Davina as well. Soon, the girl's portraits along with Bonnie's would join the family gallery.

Ingrid whimpered and squirmed, pulling her face away from her mother's breast, having finish feeding. Henrik continued to suck greedily, he was always hungrier than his sister and took longer to feed as well. Klaus immediately picked his daughter in his arms, letting her chin rest against his shoulder, and supporting her with one hand while he gently patted her back with the other, so she could burp.

Bonnie smiled tenderly. The first time he had done it, he had been so nervous and afraid that he could hurt them, but now he was a pro. Klaus always held their children with so much love and gentleness it always made her heart melt. "Do you have any idea how sexy you look with a baby in your arms?" she said suddenly.

Klaus smirked as he continued to pat Ingrid.

"Are you nervous?" Bonnie asked him suddenly.

Klaus sat on the bed and stared into her eyes. _Terrified would be a better word,_ he thought. "I can't remember the last time we were all together, centuries ago certainly. I don't know if I'm ready," he confessed in much softer tone.

Bonnie's heart ached for him. "You won't be facing them alone," she reminded him. "Your siblings will be there, Ayana will be there, and so will I." Everything was practically ready, all that was needed was for Ayana to link herself to Bonnie.

"How long will the spell last?" Klaus asked.

"A couple of hours," Bonnie responded. "We'll start at midnight."

"If they try anything-"

"They're spirits Klaus," Bonnie reminded him. "Ayana and I will bring you all together inside the prison world, Esther and Mikael won't have any power there. Once Finn tells you all he has to say. I will pull you and the others out of there and lock Esther and Mikael forever."

"They are cunning and resourceful," Klaus reminded her. "Don't underestimate them or Finn." He still didn't feel sure about his brother's intentions.

"I won't," Bonnie promised. "Ayana might trust Finn but I don't." She was taking precautions to ensure Esther and Mikael didn't escape or took them by surprise. "I'm going to have Lucy and aunt Vivian offer some reinforcements," she informed him. "If Esther, Mikael, or Finn try anything, we will shatter their souls."

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"Lucy has done it before with Celeste," Bonnie continued. "I won't take any chances. I trust Ayana. I know she would never betray us but I don't trust your brother or your parents. Trapping them in the prison world is a great idea but I won't hesitate to destroy their spirits if necessary."

"Good," Klaus grinned wickedly. "It's nice to see that the Mikaelson ruthlessness has rubbed on you and Lucy."

Bonnie laughed. "Don't underestimate the Bennett's ruthlessness."

Klaus chuckled. "You're right," he murmured. "Hell hath no fury like a Bennett scorned." He couldn't help but feel proud of her. The things Bonnie had accomplished at her young age were absolutely exceptional.

"What's with that look?" She asked.

"I wonder…"

"What?"

"What secret could Finn possibly have to tell us?" Klaus looked away from her, lost in thought. "Why keep it to himself for a thousand years?" he pondered out loud. "How will this change everything?"

"I don't know." It worried Bonnie if she were honest. She didn't know what to expect.

"I have a feeling it has to do with mother," Klaus admitted quietly.

"Whatever it is, we'll find out tonight." Bonnie took his hand in hers. "And we'll face it together."

"Together," Klaus repeated and shared a small smiled with her. He leaned down at the same time that Bonnie tilted her head up. Their lips met in a slow and tender kiss, Henrik and Ingrid in their arms still. There was no rush to their kissing, only a deep sense of understanding and love, so much love that made their bond explode with it. Whatever happened that night, they would face it together. Klaus knew that with all of them together, Mikael and Esther did not stand a chance.

* * *

Davina yawned and made her way downstairs to get a glass of water. It was pretty early still and the house was quiet. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and stopped short when she caught the figure slouched by the piano.

"Don't you think it's a bit too early to be drinking?" Davina said, taking a detour and walking closer to him.

Kol didn't even bothered to turn around, he muttered something in a different language and took another sip of his drink.

Davina frowned. His posture was tense, his hair was messy, and he was still wearing the same clothes from the day before, minus the jacket which was carelessly thrown over on a nearby chair. "What's wrong?" she asked feeling slightly worried.

Kol glanced at her over his shoulder, taking note of the messy ponytail, pink plaid flannel pajama bottoms and the spaghetti strap white tank top. His eyes lingered on the swell of her chest and the visible hard tips beneath the translucent material before he looked away, taking another gulp of his scotch.

"Kol?" Davina waited to see if he was going to answer. They hadn't really spoken to each other in the past couple of weeks, not unless it was absolutely necessary. She hated the fact that he kept ignoring her and something told her that the best thing to do now, was to walk away from him and ignore him but he seemed so tense, so unlike his usual fun and careless self that it worried her.

"I'm meeting with my treacherous brother tonight," Kol finally turned around to face her, he leaned back against the piano, glass of scotch in hand. "And my evil parents too," he added with a sneer. "I'm going to need a lot more than this to get me through the day." He made a face and drank the whole thing in one go.

The family meeting was something that had all of the Originals on edge. Davina didn't know all the exact details but it seemed Bonnie's ancestor the witch Ayana, wanted the Original family to come together for something extremely important. Since the day before when Ayana showed up to tell them this, everyone had been tense. They were all dreading it.

"They hate us, you know."

Kol's angry remark brought Davina out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"Father spent a thousand years trying to kill us and mother spent that same amount of time planning our deaths."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kol refilled his glass.

"You really need to stop drinking," Davina tried to grab the bottle of Scotch from him, Kol easily evaded her.

"Relax, Darling. It's going to take a lot more than this to get me fully drunk."

"You shouldn't even be getting drunk in the first place," Davina chided him. "If you're going to meet with your evil parents then you need to have all your senses intact."

Kol snorted. "Like that is going to help."

Davina crossed her arms over her chest and studied his face carefully, a sudden thought striking her. "You're really afraid of them."

Kol looked away from her, almost in shame. His jaw clenched and his body became even more tense than before.

For a long time, neither of them said anything.

Davina felt afraid that she had offended him and considered leaving him to his drinking but she also felt bad. No child should fear their parents like this. She wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be okay but she couldn't seem to find the words.

"I've always been afraid of them," Kol confessed in a whisper. "Father more so than mother but…" he trailed off, his hand clenching around the glass in his hand. "She never stopped him you know, she always did everything he wanted, his word was law. Even when he hurt us, she never…" He felt a lump in his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut, chasing away the painful memories of his childhood.

Davina placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, feeling him shudder. "It's okay, you don't have to…"

Kol swallowed the lump in his throat and contemplated leaving but the need to talk, to let out all the things that were tormenting him was greater that his shame and fear. "I was seven he first time he hit me." He had never told that to anyone, no one outside his siblings knew.

Davina's breath hitched.

"I was doing magic," Kol continued in a whisper, the words came rushing out of him, a strange feeling of relief invading him the more he spoke about it. "I had this pile of rocks and I was lifting them into the air with my mind, practicing…" there was a soft smile on his face as he recalled the feeling, that tingling in his fingers as his power surfaced and obeyed his will. "Father saw me and…" he trembled. "He hit me, right across the face." His left hand unconsciously touched his cheek, remembering the pain as if it had been just yesterday. "Mother saw and she did nothing," a low growl escaped him. "She never defended us, any of us." It hurt, but more than that, it made him extremely angry. His mother had always left them at their father's mercy. "The only one who ever did was Ayana. She was the only one who was never afraid to stand up to father."

"Why didn't he like you practicing magic?" Davina asked in a soft voice, she kept her hand on his shoulder, her thumb gently moving over the exposed skin of his collarbone.

"Magic was a woman's art," Kol responded as he recalled his father's endless lectures. "He wanted his sons to be warriors, to learn how to fight and wield a sword, not to practice magic. Even though he benefited from Mother's and Ayana's spells, he didn't want his sons to learn their craft."

"Did he hurt you often?" she dared to ask.

Kol shuddered once more. "Not as much as he hurt Nik," he admitted painfully. "Sometimes words can hurt as much as blows though."

Davina's heart constricted at the thought of Kol, Elijah, and Klaus, so small, so scared, and at the receiving end of their father's brutal force. She hated Mikael, she hated all he had done to his children. "I never knew my dad," she found herself telling him. She wanted to share something of her life with him, to open up in the same way he had done with her. "My mother had me when she was really young and she never liked to talk about him, I don't even know his name."

"Did she love you?" Kol asked her suddenly. No one ever talked about Davina's mother. Even Davina herself only mentioned her grandmother on occasion.

"I think in her own way she did," Davina responded. "She was never the affectionate type," her voice broke slightly. "She…I…we fought a lot," she admitted. "I always felt like I was a burden to her."

"What happened to her?" he asked curiously.

"She died on the night of the Harvest," Davina answered. "The first Harvest, the one that failed," she explained. "One of Marcel's vampires killed her." She let go of Kol's shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest, staring down at her fluffy slippers and thinking back to that fateful night. "I didn't really feel sad," she confessed in a shameful voice. "Not like when my grandmother died, I…" she was a terrible daughter. "I don't even miss her." The last part was said in a tiny whisper but he heard her perfectly.

"Nik killed our mother and I didn't feel sad either," Kol told her. "I was relieved." He hadn't even been angry when he discovered Nik had murdered her and blamed it on Mikael. _She deserved it_ , he had thought. The freedom he felt upon his mother's demise didn't last long as his father started his crusade to end their existence. "But Father then made it his mission to end out existence and we spent a thousand years running from him."

"Why did he want you dead?"

"Because we are monsters in his eyes," Kol answered bitterly. "You know, the funny thing is he and mother made us. They were the ones that wanted us to be immortal, to be indestructible so we could protect ourselves from the wolves. Ayana warned them but they didn't listen, they didn't even tell us what they were planning. They never asked us if we wanted this, they killed us, and turned us and then everything went to hell when we couldn't control our thirst and Nik's parentage was finally revealed." He found himself laughing. "It's all their fault and yet, they want to make us pay for a sin that was not our doing."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah."

"Why do you think Bonnie's ancestor wants you to meet with them?" Davina asked him. "If they escaped the other side and are so dangerous, shouldn't she send them back to the other side instead of arranging a family meeting?"

"That's exactly what I said to that ludicrous plan!" Kol exclaimed feeling glad that she understood him. Ayana had insisted that what Finn had to say was important and Nik and Elijah had eventually relented. "I trust Ayana but this meeting is going to end badly," he predicted.

Davina paled at his words.

"Don't worry about it," he didn't want to scare her. "They're spirits, they can't hurt us." Or at least, Kol hoped they couldn't. He wouldn't be surprised if his parents had something evil under their sleeves.

Davina didn't look so convinced, she was about to say something when Kol grabbed her wrist. She gasped feeling a slight shiver roll over her body at his surprising touch.

"You liked my gift," Kol couldn't stop grinning upon seeing the silver bracelet on her wrist, the one he had given her for Christmas.

"It's beautiful," Davina felt herself blushing. She had not taken it off at all, not even to shower or go to bed.

Kol traced her soft skin with his thumb, feeling her pulse quicken. His grin widened, loving the effect he had on her. He tugged at her wrist and pulled her closer.

Davina's heart hammered against her chest when Kol stood up, coming to stand in front of her and looking down at her red face. He was so close; their breaths were practically mingling. She bit her lower lip and stared into his eyes, anticipation coiling in her belly. She remembered the last time they were this close, when he had almost kissed her. They had been interrupted then. _Not this time,_ she thought with a sudden wave of courage invading her. She didn't know what prompted her to take a step closer and get on her tiptoes. She had no idea what possessed her to grab his face and kiss him either. But she did.

Kol froze when he felt her soft lips pressing against his. He was used to being the one making the first move, he did the kissing not the other way around. Davina's surprising kiss had him rooted to the spot for a couple of seconds as his brain processed what was going on. _Holy shit! Davina had kissed him!_

Davina pulled away quickly, her heart beating so hard it was almost like she was having a heart attack. Her face was red, her eyes were wide, and her lips parted in a shocked gasp. She was clearly stunned about what she had just done. Once the shock passed however, the instinct to flee overpowered her, and she turned around, ready to run out of there and hide in her bedroom.

Kol grabbed her wrist, stopping her, and pulling her against him. He wrapped a possessive arm around her waist while his eyes searched her face, desperately trying to gauge her emotions. _Did she regret it?_

"Kol…"

His name falling from her lips, her body trembling against him, and the desire he sensed from her undid him. Whatever doubts he had before disappeared as he looked into her pretty face. Kol traced her heated cheek with his knuckles and stared at her lips. He had never been the one to deny himself anything and he would be dammed if he were to start right now.

Davina felt the change in him, from the tender way he touched her cheek to the heated look in his eyes as he stared at her lips. She knew what was about to happen and the strange heat in her stomach intensified as Kol lowered his head. She closed her eyes and raised her face, meeting his lips with her own.

It was an unexpected explosion. A surge of magic, desire, and longing coming together in a magnificent cloud of charged energy that surrounded the couple as they kissed for the first time. It was a kiss that had their bodies melting together and their hearts soaring with happiness. It was a kiss that felt right.

* * *

 _A/N: The Original siblings and their parents will come face to face in the next chapter! Thank-you for reading and reviewing. See you next time!_


	80. Chapter 80

" _Over the course of my long life, I have come to believe that we are bound forever to those with whom we share blood. And while we may not choose our family, that bond can be our greatest strength, or our deepest regret…"_

~Elijah Mikaelson

* * *

 **St. Anne's church**

Rebekah contemplated the altar, a troubled look on her face. As an Original vampire with hardly any weaknesses she had rarely been truly afraid in her one thousand years on earth. She had feared getting her heart broken, she had feared being daggered by her brother, but the fear her own parents inspired in her was beyond words. Her stomach coiled with anticipation, nerves, and a desire to run away.

 _Run Rebekah, run before it's too late._

There was a loud rumble of thunder and the candle lit church was illuminated by the strikes of lightning that followed. Rebekah winced and closed her eyes briefly, her entire body trembling slightly. She had never been fond of thunder.

The feel of his warm hand in hers had her opening her eyes and turning to face Klaus.

"When you were a little girl you were positively terrified of thunder," he murmured while squeezing her fingers reassuringly. "Every time there was a storm you would lay awake almost in tears."

Rebekah's lips twitched. "And every time you were there, telling me to be brave. You held my hand and watched over me until I fell asleep," she recalled softly. "My big brother, always so fierce. I wanted to be just like you."

 _Will you stay with me until the storm ends?_

 _I will always stay with you Rebekah. No matter what._

Their eyes met.

"I won't let them hurt you," Klaus vowed as he gave her hand another squeeze.

"I know," Rebekah believed him. Nik had always kept her safe. She knew he would never let anything happen to her. "I don't even know why I am so afraid," she found herself saying. "It's not like we haven't faced them before…" she recalled seeing her mother and father in Mystic Falls, confronting them even, and yet, here she was as scared as a little girl.

"We had nothing to lose before," Elijah's wise words reached their ears. He slowly made his way towards them while casting a quick glance towards the three humans quietly setting everything up for the spell. Lucy was drawing a pentagram on the floor while Bonnie and Matt arranged a bunch of white candles around it.

Rebekah had pleaded with Matt to stay at the compound but he had stubbornly refused.

"Love is a vampire's greatest weakness," Klaus muttered in their mother tongue.

"You don't believe that," Rebekah easily switched to the language they had first learned as children.

"I did for a long time," Klaus admitted. He had lived by that code for centuries and while some people had called him heartless and cruel because he refused to love others outside his family, it had served to keep him alive. "When you have nothing to love, you have nothing to protect, and nothing to lose against your enemies." He stared at Bonnie who looked up and frowned. Due to the bond and her pregnancy her senses had become enhanced, she could hear them talking, but she did not understand a single word they were saying.

"That's exactly how father thinks," Elijah pointed out.

"Which is why he will use what we love against us," Klaus turned back to face them. "He might not be able to hurt them physically but he will use them to taunt us, to make us doubt-"

"He will exploit what he considers our weaknesses to the fullest," Elijah added.

"Exactly."

"So, will mother, what else is new?" Kol-who had been half listening as he sent a texted placed his cell phone in the pocket of his jacket and joined the conversation. "She already tried doing that with Rebekah."

His sister's face fell at the painful reminder of her latest encounter with their mother and how she had tried to use Rebekah's desire to be human against her.

"We must not let them get to us," Elijah cautioned his siblings. "No matter what they said or how much they try to tear us apart, we will not let them."

"We must stick together as one," Rebekah said following his train of thought.

Elijah smiled at the reminder of the vow they had made a thousand years ago. "Indeed, we must." Now more than ever they needed to maintain that promise. Now more than ever they needed to be united against their parents.

"We're ready," Lucy told them a few minutes later.

The four siblings made their way towards Lucy, Bonnie, and Matt.

"I will pull you into my prison world first and then I will pull your parents and Finn," Ayana informed the group.

"I don't like the idea of Bonnie being the anchor to your spell," Klaus said to her.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." Bonnie quickly moved to his side and took his hand. "We need the power of the Bennett bloodline to make this work. Transporting people from one place to another is not an easy thing, particularly when three of them are hiding in the in-between."

"I still don't like it."

"Neither do I," Elijah agreed with him.

"Bonnie and Lucy will be safe," Ayana assured them. "They will be under a powerful cloaking spell, your parents won't even know they're there." It had been decided that it was best if Esther and Mikael did not see Bonnie and Lucy. It would make things easier.

Klaus nodded. Ayana was one of the few people he trusted fully, he knew she would not intentionally put Bonnie in danger but still, he felt wary about this whole thing. Maybe it was his paranoia acting up but he just had a bad feeling about this meeting. He could only hope to be wrong.

"I guess I'm the only one staying behind," Matt said. Technically, he wasn't going to be alone. Cary and some of the wolves from his pack as well as a couple Bennett witches including Aunt Vivian were guarding the church.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," Rebekah snuggled against him and kissed his cheek.

"Let's get this over with," Kol said.

"Please step inside the pentagram," Ayana instructed the group. Once everyone (with the exception of Matt who stepped back and watched) were inside Ayana used her magic to cut her palm.

Bonnie did the same and the two immediately held hands.

Their blood linked them together and through that link, they were connected to the entire Bennett bloodline dead and alive. Bonnie shared a nervous look with Klaus, she could feel the power of her bloodline exploding all around them as Ayana began chanting in an ancient language. Their eyes met and Klaus who still held her other hand, pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head, just as he began feeling an unfamiliar tug. It was a rather powerful pull. It was happening. Ayana was taking them into her prison world.

 _Time to finish this,_ Klaus thought as a bright light began to surround them. The last thing he felt before being teleported out of St. Anne's church was Bonnie's soft hand in his.

* * *

 **The Compound**

Davina had a dreamy look on her face while resting her chin against her palm. She couldn't stop thinking about her kiss with Kol, or kisses, there had been many, many, kisses. She absently bit her lip and closed her eyes recalling the sweet feel of his lips against hers, his arms holding her as if she were something precious and the heat, that electrifying heat that had invaded her body and melted her bones. Hours later, she could still feel the ghost of his lips against hers.

"Davina!"

"Earth to Davina!"

"What?" Davina jumped startled when Josh hit his palm against the table and brought her out of her thoughts. "You scared the crap out of me."

Josh only smirked.

"Are you daydreaming?" Rudy teased her.

"More like fantasizing about a hot vampire," Belle added with a mischievous wink.

"…Kol…" Josh pretended to cough.

Charlotte looked up and gave Davina a strange look while Rudy seemed oblivious as he didn't quite catch the name Josh mumbled with his false cough.

Davina felt herself turn red with embarrassment and looked down at the scattered jigsaw puzzle pieces on the table.

"Is it suddenly hot in the room or what?" Josh asked out loud.

Davina kicked him under the table.

"Hey!"

"Are you okay?" Rudy asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Josh muttered while having a silent conversation with Davina. He knew better but he couldn't stop himself from teasing her. It was not every day that one learns that his friend made out with an Original vampire after all. Belle was struggling really hard to contain her giggles while Charlotte watched them curiously. Rudy kept working on the puzzle without noticing the winks and silent eye conversations going on around the table. The man could be really oblivious sometimes, or he was good at pretending he didn't know what was going on, neither of them knew for sure.

Bonnie, Lucy, Matt and the Original siblings had left earlier that night and Rudy had come to spend a few hours with them while Joanna was in charge of the twins. Belle and Josh had joined them for a night of games and movies while the rest of Klaus's hybrid pack and a few other Bennett witches guarded the compound.

"We're never going to finish this," Belle complained as she opened a chocolate bar and took a bite. "Who in their right mind has a puzzle of 5,000 pieces. That's crazy!"

"Elijah," Davina and Josh responded at the same time. The young witch felt grateful for the change of subject.

"I like puzzles," Charlotte told them while carefully adding a piece to the tower she and Rudy were working on.

"Good job!" Rudy exclaimed proudly and happily hi fived her. "We're almost done completing one tower." He and Charlotte had definitely made more progress than the others. "How is the forest coming along?" he asked Belle and Josh looking over their work, they had barely managed to put a couple of pieces together. He offered them an encouraging smile.

"We'll be here all week trying to figure this out," Belle mumbled.

"In my defense these pieces are way too small and they all look the same!" Josh glanced at the nearly completed tower with envy. "Belle isn't of any help either, I'm doing double work."

"Hey!" Belle punched him on the shoulder.

"Ouch that hurt!"

"You're a vampire you can take it!"

Charlotte giggled at their banter while Rudy watched them with amusement. Out of all the hybrids in Klaus's pack, Belle was the one he liked the most. She was a constant babbler, chatting nonstop about this or that and happily answering all his questions. She and Josh were of an age with Davina and as her friends it made it easier for Rudy to interact with them. Nate and Riley on the other hand, were much more reserved although always polite towards him. Felix terrified him with his silent presence. He could probably sneak on anyone and kill them before they even noticed it. He had certainly scared Rudy half to death a time or two-not intentionally obviously- but still. Jesse and Alexa looked like they had come out of the pages of some fashion magazine and while he was really friendly, Alexa kept her distance. Rudy recalled seeing Jesse around Mystic Falls before and had just learned that he had been sent to protect Bonnie on Klaus's orders. Rudy had felt surprised at that and although he would never admit it out loud, he felt glad that Klaus was concerned about his daughter's well-being. He knew Bonnie was more than capable of protecting herself but it certainly didn't hurt to have people watching her back. All in all, Rudy had no issues with Klaus's pack. It was still rather surreal to be surrounded by so many supernatural creatures but Rudy was making the best of it and learning all he could about their world. For Bonnie, he was putting his bias aside and opening himself to the people she cared about.

"I got one!" Belle clapped happily. "See!"

"Way to go," Josh smirked at her. "We still have 4,900 pieces left."

Belle's face fell.

"Slowly but surely, we're going to do this," Rudy said with optimism. He looked at the cover picture of the beautiful Neuschwanstein castle on the box and searched for the final piece to complete the tower, the first of many. Charlotte had a cute little frown on her face as she searched for the final piece and Belle and Josh continued to argue over who was doing more work.

Davina was hardly paying any attention to them as she continued to daydream about Kol. She couldn't wait for him to return home. Her stomach suddenly turned at that. She was painfully reminded that Kol had gone out to meet with his evil parents. Not many people were aware of the reason the Original siblings had gone out that night to St. Anne's church. Most believed it had to do with the factions in New Orleans, but Davina knew the truth. She was fearful of the outcome. Not only for Kol but for the whole family. The stories she had heard about Esther and Mikael were enough to give anyone nightmares. What Kol had said about his father in particular broke her heart. _How could a father hit his son just because he was practicing magic?_ It was awful.

Davina looked down at her lap and read the last text message she had received from Kol. The meeting was about to start. She wanted the night to be over so she could have her family back, so she could see Kol again. _Everything is going to be fine,_ she told herself. _Don't worry, focus on the good stuff._ She felt a strange heat invade her at the thought of the _good stuff_. Kol's passionate kisses definitely came to mind. Since that morning all she could think about was him, his lips, his hands, his arms around her body as he kissed her deeply. Her lips had been swollen afterwards and there had been a goofy grin on her face too. It was a rather weird contrast, to be so worried about him and their family and yet, feel extremely blissful at the memory of the wonderful morning they had shared together.

 _Please let them return safely_ , Davina thought. She couldn't wait for this night to be over and have her family back safely. She couldn't wait for Kol to return to her.

* * *

"This is the perfect location," Finn said as he guided his parents inside the church which was an exact replica of St. Anne's church.

"There is a strong surge of power here," Esther murmured. "More so than the other places we've looked at."

"Many people have died here," Finn informed them. "The energy of all that bloodshed lingers, creating the perfect gateway between both worlds."

Esther smiled and reached out to touch his cheek. "My son," she sounded so proud of him.

Finn looked away, feeling guilty.

"Is something the matter?" Esther asked him. She knew him well, she knew something was bothering him.

Finn gulped.

Mikael who had been staring at the broken stained-glass windows turned to his eldest son. "You're not having second thoughts now, are you _boy_?"

The way the word _boy_ rolled off his tongue had Finn shivering involuntarily. His father could make him feel like a scared little boy with a single look or word.

Esther glared at her husband. "Finn knows what must be done," she snapped before meeting Finn's eyes. "Don't you, my son?"

Finn nodded and forced himself to look into her eyes. As soon as their eyes locked, he felt it, the subtle probe inside his mind. There was a moment of panic for she was about to discover his betrayal, before he felt a strange pull over his body. He felt relieved then.

"What is this?" Mikael hissed.

Esther's eyes darted around the church, sensing the powerful surge of magic that had not been there before.

"What is happening?" Mikael questioned.

Finn closed his eyes, forcing his body to relax. He knew it would make the journey easier, the more resistance they put, the stronger the pull would be. A powerful wave of magic washed over him and Finn readily allowed his body to be taken away by it.

"Esther!" Mikael called to his wife angrily. He was using his inhuman strength to plant both feet on the ground and fight the pull he felt rolling over his body.

"This magic, I know this power…" Esther gasped and sank to her knees. She shivered as the wave of magic engulfed her. "It can't be…"

Whatever they said afterwards, Finn did not hear it. He was pulled out of the in-between by the powerful magic of the Bennett witches. A few seconds later, Esther and Mikael were pulled out as well. Even though they resisted with all their strength, they were unable to withstand the power of the spell. With a wave of white light, the three Mikaelson's were taken into Ayana's world.

* * *

When the Original family came together, the earth stood still.

It had been one thousand years since the last time they were all together. A thousand years of pain and misery, a millennium of persecution and bloodshed.

No one said anything at first, no one dared to utter a single world as they looked at each other.

The sun was shining brightly, its beautiful rays descending over them through the thick canopy of trees above them. There was a soft breeze that rustled the luscious green leaves and greeted them warmly. The forest Ayana had created reminded them of their home, of the countless afternoons playing outside, lost in the wild and alluring wilderness.

Many memories came to the surfaces of their minds them.

 _Leaves falling down from the sky…_

 _Laughter as they tackled Finn to the ground…_

 _Their mother's soft voice calling them inside for dinner…_

 _Henrik's giggles as he chased after them..._

 _The scent of pine trees, lavender, and magic…_

The forest crackled with the combined power of the Original family, the air not only became thick with tension and magic but with a strange and dangerous current of electricity only they possessed.

Klaus's eyes immediately landed on Mikael.

If the patriarch of the Original family was surprised by the unexpected turn of events, he masked it well. He stood tall and proud, calculating icy blue eyes slowly moving over his children. His lips curled with disdain. Esther on the other hand, was taken back. Their sudden abduction from the in-between was something she had not seen coming. She frowned looking back and forth between Finn and the rest of her children. _What was she missing?_

Finn looked down at his shoes, already feeling tormented by his actions. He had deceived his mother and was about to unmasked her darkest secret in front of their whole family. He knew it was the right thing to do but he still felt guilty.

Rebekah held Klaus's hand in her own, her nails digging painfully into his flesh. She stood by his side, eyes darting between her mother and father. A somber Kol was on her other side, while Elijah flanked Klaus as the four siblings stood a few feet across from their parents. Esther stood in between Mikael and Finn, while a few feet away, Bonnie, Lucy, and Ayana stood in between both groups. All three witches were covered under a powerful clocking spell which kept them hidden from view, for now at least.

No one said anything at first nor did they make a move.

They were all looking at each other, feeling uncertain, calculating what their next move would be, and tense for there was no way to predict the outcome of this meeting.

Bonnie looked at both groups, wondering who would make the first move. Ayana stood calmly next to her, while Lucy kept her eyes on the Original parents, a determined look on her face. She was ready. If Mikael or Esther had any nasty surprises waiting for them, she would crush their souls without a second thought.

Despite the charged air surrounding the family, the world Ayana had created was peaceful. There were wild flowers growing all around them and a small creek with crystal clear water running gently down a rocky stream. A couple of butterflies flew from flower to flower, feeding on their sweet nectar, the birds chirped happily, and a rabbit or two hid in the bushes nearby. Under different circumstances this would have seem like a beautiful and peaceful place to spend a happy afternoon with the family. _But this is anything but a happy family,_ Bonnie thought as she looked back at the Originals.

Mikael's cold and calculating eyes suddenly stared right at her. It was a quick look, a second or two in which he looked towards the area Bonnie was standing in before focusing on his children once more. Bonnie felt a strange chill traveling down her spine. She was under the protection of a powerful cloaking spell, there was no way Mikael could see her. She knew that well but she still felt a slight hint of fear floating through her veins. There was nothing in Mikael's face to indicate he had sensed the presence of the three Bennett witches but Bonnie couldn't help but wonder if he had.

"What is this?" Esther was the first to recover from the shock. She looked around the forest, immediately recognizing the Bennett's powerful magic trapping them inside this strange world. _Ayana._ She knew it had to be her. Her eyes searched through the thick forest for the witch but Esther did not find her.

"I think the answer is rather obvious, my dear." Mikael's voice was cold and his blue eyes were hard and unyielding. He had the built of a warrior and while his posture was rather relaxed, Bonnie could feel the powerful aura surrounding him. The dark, terrifying power engulfing Mikael was stronger than that of his children with the exception of Klaus, whose aura was only a bit more powerful due to his hybrid nature. Bonnie felt herself shiver as she took her time contemplating the man Klaus had feared his whole life. In that moment, she understood why Mikael was feared by his children, it wasn't just his imposing presence and cruel and calculating eyes, it was the power that emanated from him. This was a man no one wanted to cross. Mikael looked like he could not only crush you with his hands but with his words as well. There was also an eerie calmness about him. Esther looked tensed. Esther was angry even, Bonnie could see it on her face. Mikael on the other hand, showed absolutely no emotion on his face or posture, there was no way to tell if he was angry, worried, plotting against them or what. That made him all the more dangerous, Bonnie realized. Judging by the array of emotions on Esther's delicate face she could try and predict her next move but with Mikael, there was none of that. He was every bit of dangerous as his children had alluded to.

"We've been betrayed by our son," Mikael stated as calmly as if they were discussing the weather. It was disturbing how calm he was.

"No," Esther turned to Finn, a hurt look on her face. "Finn…" she whispered, still not able to believe that her beloved son would do such a thing.

"I'm sorry mother," was the remorseful response that fell from Finn's lips. He looked really sorry and extremely sad. He knew his mother would never forgive him for this.

Esther's hurt turned to anger.

"Weak minded fool," Mikael hissed, not at all surprised. "Siding with _them_ against us." He glanced at his children before glancing at Finn once more. "You are all the same."

"Your children," Elijah reminded him.

"Ungrateful, simpletons who chose that retched creature-" he gave Klaus a look of pure hatred. "He killed your mother," Mikael reminded them. "He daggered you whenever the mood struck, he made your lives a living hell and yet, here you stand proudly by his side." He laughed, a chilling sound that had all of their nerves on edge.

Klaus flinched under that familiar, hateful, and cruel gaze from the man whose love and acceptance he had always desired. Mikael was the only person that had been able to intimidate him and he hated it. _You are stronger than him,_ his wolf instincts immediately reminded him. _The wolf does not bow to the sheep._

Bonnie's heart ached for him, the wave of his emotions nearly overwhelming her. She wanted to reach out and touch him and offer some words of comfort but she couldn't. She couldn't make her presence known, not yet.

"You cannot even defend yourself can't you, _boy_?" Mikael taunted.

"I don't need anyone to protect me from you," Klaus said, his voice surprisingly calm and controlled. "I am no longer the weak and scared child you tormented, father." He met his father's eyes unflinchingly, daring him to attack so he could unleash his bestial strength.

"Father?" Mikael chuckled and walked closer.

It was a clear attempt to intimidate him but Klaus refused to back down. He was not going to give him the satisfaction of cowering in fear. _The wolf feasts on the sheep._

"Still clinging to that word after all this time?" Mikael taunted. "Still desperate for a daddy?"

"You are the only father I have ever known," Klaus responded. "So, I shall continue to call you _father,_ " he emphasized the word knowing how much Mikael hated it. "I might not have your blood but I still have your name," he happily reminded him. "Does it kill you to know that your bastard son has made _your name_ legendary, _father_?"

Mikael growled, a hint of his vampire face surfacing.

"And what a great father he's been," Kol took a step forward. "Hunting his own children for a thousand years, tormenting them with his twisted games, and destroying everything in his path."

"It was _him_ I was after not you," Mikael spat.

Elijah chuckled upon hearing that. "Spare us your lies, father. If you had been given the chance, you would have killed us all."

"I had plenty of opportunity to kill you all and I didn't," Mikael hissed, his eyes moving over Elijah before settling on Rebekah who was watching the exchange quietly. "I would have never hurt _you_ ," he whispered to his daughter.

There was a part of Rebekah that desperately wanted to believe him but she knew better.

"He should have," Esther remarked. There was no emotion in her voice, although her eyes looked really sad.

"What kind of mother wishes her own children dead?" Elijah asked out loud.

"You have lived far too long," Esther responded. "You have committed unimaginable sins. You are monsters-"

"We are what you made us!" Rebekah snapped while taking a brave step forward and walking closer to her mother. "We never asked to become vampires but the two of you decided our fates a thousand years ago."

"A decision I have regretted deeply," Esther said with evident regret in her voice. "In my desire to protect you, to ensure you did not suffered Henrik's fate, I made a terrible mistake and have suffered greatly by seeing what you have become." She tentatively got closer to Rebekah, until she was able to touch her cheek.

Rebekah flinched back and pushed her hand away. "Don't touch me!" She hissed and bared her fangs at her mother, proudly showing her vampire face.

"You have lived a thousand different lives, when you should have only lived one."

"And whose fault is that?" Rebekah snarled and pushed forward. "You robbed me of my chance to be human, to be a witch, to be a wife and a mother and turned me into a blood thirsty monster." There was a moment of elation as she saw her mother retract a couple of steps. "Look at me mother," she commanded. "Look at the monster you have created."

"You don't know how sorry I am, Rebekah." Esther whispered while trying to touch her once more, Rebekah didn't let her. Mikael didn't look sorry at all, he almost seemed bored. "Your pain hurts me-"

"Liar!"

Elijah placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her back from Esther.

Klaus couldn't help but chuckle. Trust his mother to try and play the martyr. "A little too late to be playing the victim don't you think?" he snapped with a roll of his eyes.

"I am not playing the victim, Niklaus." There was an array of emotions over her face as she stared at her son. "By giving you immortality, by making you vampires, I cursed you." She moved her gaze over each of her children, her face filled with pain, and her eyes moist with tears. "Ayana warned me but in my arrogance, I refused to listen. For a thousand years, I have witnessed all the atrocities you have committed. I have been confronted with the fact that I brought a plague into his world, I-"

"Monsters, a curse, a plague," Kol intervened. "Are you going to blame us for global warming next?"

"You never take anything seriously, do you Kol?" Finn muttered with annoyance.

"Ah, the prodigal son to the rescue. Took you long enough to come to her defense," Kol glared at him. "What would you do without mummy dearest, brother, cry yourself to sleep?" he mocked with an evil grin.

Elijah gave him a reproaching look.

Ayana sighed, knowing that she was going to have to intervene before things escalated out of control. Bonnie for her part, kept a watchful eye on Mikael who was quietly watching the exchange between mother and children. His face gave nothing away but his eyes looked almost gleeful, Bonnie didn't like it at all and neither did Lucy who kept watching him like a hawk.

"I made a mistake by turning you into vampires," Esther told her children. "I have seen countless of innocents fall by your hands and the hands of those you created in your image. I have seen entire cities burn to the ground by your greed, your vengeance, or _for fun_ ," she looked directly at Klaus as she spoke. "I have seen the sweet, kind, and loving children I birthed become cruel, selfish, despicable, murderous creatures whose thirst for blood is unrivaled." Her voice broke slightly. "You destroy everything you touch. One day you will destroy _her_ and your children."

Klaus's jaw clenched and his eyes suddenly turned gold. "Don't you dare bring them into this!"

Esther wisely didn't push the issue. "Even you, Elijah who claim to be noble." She turned to her other son then. "You are no better than your brothers. You choose to hide under the pretense of nobility but you are as equally devious, vengeful, and cruel as Niklaus and Kol."

Elijah frowned.

"How many innocents have you murdered?" she questioned before she turned to her youngest son. "And you," she almost looked at Kol with disgust. "You're a murderous psychopath."

Kol growled and his hands balled into fists. It took every bit of self control he had not to launch himself at her and tear her throat out.

"And whose fault is that?" Klaus hissed.

"My own," Esther did not hesitate to reply."I am to blame yes," she conceded. "But you could have chosen a better path. You could have chosen to control your thirst, to try and be the better man, like Finn." She gave her eldest son a soft smile. Finn had never disappointed her, until now.

Finn looked away, once gain feeling guilty for what he was doing.

Kol snorted. His mother's favoritism towards his dull brother had never been more evident. He hated it.

"Finn's hands are stained with blood," Elijah did not hesitate to hint at his brother's not so innocent past. "Just like ours, just like yours."

Finn looked down, feeling ashamed of the crimes he had committed.

"Yes," Esther said sadly. "But he is trying to do the right thing, or so I thought," she corrected. "In the end all of my children have thrown daggers into my heart."

"Enough with your theatrics, mother." Klaus growled, he was tired of listening to her babbling. "You're not fooling anyone with your fake remorse, stop pretending that you want to make amends. You're not a good actress." He loomed over her, a wicked smile forming on his lips when he saw her flinch back. He could smell her fear and that brought him immense joy. "We haven't come here to listen to your sad little lies."

Esther opened her mouth but Klaus cut her off. "Let's get this over with," he said quickly. In his opinion they had already wasted more than enough time listening to his mother's false words. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. "Ayana says that you have something important to tell us," Klaus turned to stare at Finn. "Go on," he ordered. "Start talking."

"You orchestrated this with Ayana?" Esther looked hurt once more. "You conspired against me with the Bennett witches?" There was an angry look on her face as she confronted her son. Esther knew that the magic that brought her into this world was Bennett magic, she knew the Bennett witches were behind this but Finn helping them…that, was a hard pill to swallow. "How could you?"

Finn swallowed the painful lump in his throat and shifted nervously on his feet. He looked like a nervous school boy about to have a serious talk with the principal.

"Show yourself, Ayana." Esther's eyes darted over the forest as she commanded her once friend to make her presence known. "I know you are here, show yourself!"

Ayana took a step forward and dissolved the cloaking spell protecting her.

Esther's eyes were two angry slits while Mikael shifted and looked back and forth between both women, sensing that something was about to happen. His eyes once again moved to the spot where Bonnie was standing. It was quick look but it was still enough to scare Bonnie.

"You have turned my children against me," Esther accused. "I thought we were friends."

"As did I," Ayana calmly stepped in front of her. "You have turned your own children against you, Esther. This is all your doing, yours and Mikael's." She glanced at the patriarch of the family who rolled his eyes upon hearing her words.

"You of all people should be helping me," Esther muttered. "Vampires are unnatural, they should not exist-"

"For years, I helped you Esther." The emotion in Ayana's voice was palpable. "For years I served you. I was loyal to you and your family, and you repaid that loyalty by linking yourself to my bloodline, by feeding on our power and magic to preserve your body, and using witches from my line to kill the children you fought so hard to protect." She had roped Bonnie and Abby into her plots and in the end, the only thing she had accomplished was to help turn Abby into a vampire.

"I'm rectifying my wrongs!" Esther insisted.

"By lying to your daughter about making her human?" Ayana countered. "By conspiring with evil witches on the other side and attacking an innocent woman and her unborn children?" she questioned furiously. "You came for _my family_ Esther." Any last bit of loyalty Ayana could have had towards her was gone the moment, Esther's machinations placed Bonnie in danger.

"I have no idea-"

"This whole time you have been conspiring against Bonnie," Ayana hissed. "Against her children. I tried really hard to understand why," she admitted in a much softer voice. "I couldn't understand why you would want two innocent children dead, _your own flesh and blood,"_ she reminded her. "At least I didn't until Finn told me the truth," she glanced at Finn before focusing on Esther's face once more. "That awful truth you both have kept buried inside your hearts for centuries."

Esther visibly paled.

Kol, Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus waited eagerly to hear the truth at last, to learn the secret Finn wanted to share with them.

Mikael frowned, not understanding what they were talking about. He seemed rather intrigued by the direction the conversation was heading.

Esther looked suddenly nervous, she looked really scared actually. "No," she whispered. There was a look of pure anguish on her face as it dawned on her what truth Ayana was referring to. "How could you?" she demanded from her eldest son. "You promised!" She marched right up to Finn angrily. "How can you betray me like this?"

The wounded and betrayed look on Esther's face was a dagger to Finn's heart. "I am so sorry mother," he whispered painfully. "But you left me no choice."

"Finn…"

"For fucks sake, spit it out!" Kol ordered, ready to get this over with.

Esther gave Finn a warning look while he took a deep breath and prepared himself.

Bonnie's heart sped up. She immediately looked at Klaus, both of them sensing that this was it. The moment of truth had arrived at last.

"That is the reason we are all here today. This is why Finn and I arranged this family meeting," Ayana continued. "The reason Esther wants you dead," she looked at the four siblings. "The reason she turned you into vampires in the first place, the reason she embraced her magic, all of it is connected to a single event, to a single person."

"Don't you dare-" Esther waved her hand ready to silence Ayana by any means necessary.

Nothing happened.

She gasped and looked at her shaking hand with horror.

"You do not have power in this world," Ayana informed her softly. "I made certain of it."

Esther let out a sound that was like a wail of pain, before giving Ayana a pleading look. She was actually begging with her eyes for Ayana not to say anything more.

Ayana's face softened. Despite the anger she felt at Esther for conspiring against Bonnie and her family, she couldn't help but pity the woman.

"It all started with Freya," Finn revealed at last.

A pin could have been dropped and they all would have heard it.

The silence that followed was absolute as everyone tried to process the meaning behind Finn's words.

"Freya…"

It was Mikael's shaky voice that finally broke the silence.

* * *

"What does our dead sister have to do with anything?" Kol wanted to know.

"Freya died of the plague," Elijah recalled right away.

Mikael walked closer to the group, he had happily chosen to stay in the sidelines when Esther had her little show of remorse but now that his eldest child's name had been brought up, he wanted to be closer. He needed to know what the hell Finn was talking about. "What do you mean that it all started with Freya?" he hissed, getting into Finn's breathing space, who took a fearful step back. "Answer me!" he yelled as Finn continued to step back.

Esther's entire body shook and she had to close her eyes briefly in order to regain her strength. The lies she had carefully built were slowly crumbling down. She felt dizzy all of a sudden. Her knees nearly gave out under the weight of her past. _Freya, sweet Freya…_

Lucy and Bonnie looked at each other, neither knowing where this revelation was heading.

"What does Freya have to do with any of this?" Klaus inquired.

"Freya did not die with the plague," Finn continued in a trembling voice. He backed away from his father, fearing that explosive temper of his. If he had been human, he would have been close to having a heart attack by the emotions swirling through him. Years, centuries of being the keeper of his mother's deepest and darkest secret threatening to overwhelming him.

"What are you saying?" Elijah questioned, although he had an inkling where this was going and he didn't like it one bit.

"That was a lie mother came up with," Finn explained. The memories of that terrible day had left a scar in him. "There was a plague but Freya was never infected like she made everyone believe."

"Freya didn't die…" Rebekah was shocked by the revelation. "What happened to her, then?"

All eyes turned to Esther who let out a choked sob.

"No, that's not…" Mikael's deadly eyes pinned Esther to the spot. For the first time, the imposing and terrifying man was showing emotion and it was scary and fascinating to witness. "You said…" he glanced away, a haunted look overcoming his features. "Freya…" he whispered shakily.

"Freya was taken by mother's sister, our aunt Dahlia," Finn revealed to the family. The weight that was suddenly lifted from his shoulder as he finally told the truth brought a sweet moment of relief to his tense body.

"What?" Rebekah screeched. "Why would your sister take Freya-" she looked at her mother, feeling desperate for answers. "Why did you tell us Freya died of the plague?"

Esther hugged herself, a terrified look on her face.

"Why did you lie mother?" Elijah questioned as well.

Kol was watching his mother, without saying a word. He was simply studying her reactions while Klaus was focused on Mikael, whose reactions were by far the most fascinating of the two. His heartless and cruel farther looked crushed. More than being interested in finding out what truly happen with his sister, Klaus felt a sudden glee at the pain his father was experiencing. He was visibly affected and it was glorious for him to see it. For the first time in centuries, Mikael was showing weakness.

Esther had a wild look on her face, she seemed like a corner animal, eyes darting back and forth between her children, her husband, and her former best friend. "I…" she looked desperately around the forest, almost as if trying to find a way to escape. "I…" she couldn't form a coherent sentence, this wasn't what she had been expecting.

"You lied!" Mikael's murderous eyes settled on her and Esther felt her blood turn to ice. Only Mikael was capable of creating such fear with a single look.

"They made a bargain," Finn continued. He hardly dared to draw a breath as he continued revealing Esther's tragic secret. "Mother promised aunt Dahlia her first born, and the first born of each generation for as long as her line shall last." His sad eyes looked directly at Klaus as he said the last part. "That's why aunt Dahlia took Freya with her. Freya was the price mother paid."

Bonnie gasped upon hearing Finn's words. Her stomached dropped as the implication of his words became clear. The first born of each generation for as long as Esther's line lasted. _No,_ Bonnie was absolutely horrified at the thought that invaded her mind.

"Are you implying-" Elijah never got a chance to finish.

There was a brutal roar and a blur that took everyone by surprise.

For a split second, Bonnie thought it was Klaus launching himself at Esther but it was Mikael. He moved like the speed of light and had Esther by the throat before anyone had time to digest Finn's words.

"You! Treacherous whore!" Mikael squeezed his long fingers around Esther's delicate neck, lifting her slender body a couple of inches from the ground.

Rebekah looked horrified.

Kol had a rather fascinated look on his face while Elijah and Finn attempted to pull their father away from their mother. Mikael did not budge an inch, easily throwing both of his sons out of the way and slamming Esther's body against the ground. He loomed over her, his face twisted into a hideous and terrifying smirk.

Esther's entire body convulsed. Her eyes opened wide with fear and her mouth parted in a horrendous choking sound as Mikael used both of his hands to squeeze her neck with all of his strength. "You gave our daughter to that evil witch!" He crushed Esther's neck with all the strength he possessed as the fury and hurt mixed together and boiled his blood.

Esther let out a terrible cry of pain and fear as her husband squeezed her neck, breaking her bones and cutting off her air supply. It all happened in a matter of seconds, it was less than a minute but for Esther it felt like an eternity.

Ayana flung Mikael away from Esther with her magic, sending him crashing into a nearby tree.

Finn rushed to his mother's side, helping her into a sitting position.

Esther was shaking and tears rolled down her cheeks as the air slowly returned to her lungs. She was already dead. She shouldn't be afraid of Mikael choking her. She was a spirit with corporal form in this world but the pain and fear Mikael inflected on her was very real. Dead or alive, Mikael's brutality was unrivaled.

Mikael growled and launched himself at Ayana, which prompted Klaus to intervene in her defense.

Bonnie winced when she saw the two of them crashing on the hard ground, only to stand up again and clash again and again. When she caught sight of Mikael slamming his fist into Klaus's face, she couldn't take it anymore. She had promised Ayana to stay hidden with Lucy, to watch from the shadows and not interact with the Original parents but she wasn't going to stand by and allow Klaus to get hurt.

"Bonnie!" Lucy shouted.

"No!" Ayana tried to stop her but it was too late.

"Klaus!" Bonnie ran towards Klaus, she felt a shiver run down her spine as the cloaking spell disappeared and she was revealed to everyone. The wind picked up around the forest and a strange sizzling sound was heard somewhere in the distance.

Ayana looked around the forest, her senses suddenly warning her of a foreign presence inside the prison world she had created. It was something she had not felt until now. She searched with her magic, desperately trying to locate the foreign entity and destroy it before it caused any harm.

Bonnie came to a stop a few feet away from the two battling Originals. Her eyes desperately tried to pin point Mikael so she could paralyze him on or something. The only problem was that they were both far too fast for her eyes, even the enhanced abilities the bond granted her were not enough to determine the two blurs apart. They were of equal height, same blond hair, and dressed in black. They were also hitting each other with equal strength and viciousness. "Damn it," she mumbled. She was going to have to fling both of them apart.

Elijah and Kol ended up joining the fray and to Bonnie's utter amazement, Mikael took on all three of his sons without problem. It was scary how good of a fighter he was. He was really strong and vicious. He wasn't holding back and it showed in the force of each of his blows. Thanks to Ayana's spell, Mikael's spirit had a solid form, which meant he was able to give as good as he got.

Rebekah remained on the sidelines, watching her brothers fight their father and wincing witch each of the brutal blows they received.

"Oh my god! Elijah!" Lucy who had run after Bonnie watched horrified as her lover was sent crashing into a tree. "Jesus, he's like the terminator!" she said seeing how easily Mikael threw Kol out of the way as well. She shook her head and rushed to Elijah's side.

"I'm fine," Elijah didn't even look at her, he kept his eyes on his father. "Don't worry," he whispered before joining the fight once more.

"Seriously!" Lucy wasn't pleased at all. She placed her hands on her hips and watched as Elijah was once again was thrown out of the way.

Bonnie flinched as the fight continued. She had seen Klaus fight before, she knew how lethal he was, she knew how dangerous all three Original brothers were but Mikael didn't seem to have any problem fighting them. Granted, knocking Elijah and Kol out of the way was easier than fighting Klaus one on one but still, the man was a beast. She was enthralled by the fighting occurring before her eyes. It was strange but the more she stared at them, the more Bonnie's eyes began to adjust to the blurs allowing her to see more, and to be able to tell them part. Weirdly enough Klaus and Mikael had similar fighting styles, at least it seemed that way to her. It was almost as if they could predict each other movement with their minds; as if this was a dance they had perfect over the course of the centuries. _I need to put an end to this,_ Bonnie thought as she forced herself into action. With a wave of her hand she blew all four men apart.

"What the hell?" Kol had a bloody lip and one eye was shut as he was flung into the air.

Elijah's hair was disheveled, his shirt was thorn, and he was sporting a bloody arm. He groaned in pain when his back connected to a tree.

Klaus growled and protested as Bonnie lifted him up and placed him a good number of feet apart from Mikael who had a nasty bite on his neck. The hybrid's injuries had already healed.

"Let go of me, you damn witch!" Mikael struggled against the invisible strings of Bonnie's magic and attempted to launch himself at Klaus once more only to be forcibly pushed back.

"I'm not going to let you attack Klaus again," Bonnie told him.

"He's the one that attacked me!"

"You tried to attack Ayana."

"I wasn't going to hurt her you imbecile," Mikael spat at him. "I was aiming for that whore who birthed you!"

Klaus scoffed at that.

"Oh, make no mistake, I wish you dead," Mikael retorted happily. "But you dropped to number two on my list at the moment," his eyes moved towards Esther who was still sitting on the ground, gently touching her neck. "I will skin that bitch alive first," the acid tone of his voice and the pure raw hatred Bonnie saw reflected on them had her shuddering.

"By all means, go ahead," Klaus retorted with a dimple grin. "I'll happily help you."

Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing, trust Klaus and Mikael to find some common ground on their mutual hatred of Esther. "Really?" she crossed her arms over her chest and gave an exasperated look towards Klaus who continued to grin proudly.

A snapping sound had all of their heads turning in the direction of the woods.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked, glancing over her shoulders.

"Something is not right," Ayana murmured.

"Look out!" Rebekah screamed and pointed to a dark cloud forming against the blue sky.

"What in the world," Bonnie mumbled.

There was a blast of energy that knocked everyone to the ground.

Lucy and Rebekah screamed as a loud screeching sound made their ears bleed. They both placed their hands over their ears and squeezed their eyes shut.

"Shit," Kol fell to his knees, also covering his ears. He felt like they were about to explode.

Ayana let out a powerful wave of her magic and incinerated most of the dark sinister cloud which erupted into tiny dust particles that rained down upon them.

Klaus felt Bonnie's magic give away and he stood up, shaking some of the dust off his black leather jacket. "What the bloody hell was that?" he questioned angrily.

"Shadows," Finn muttered standing up on shaky legs. "They inhabit the in-between."

"What the hell where they doing here?" Kol coughed and spat some of the dust that accidentally got inside his mouth. It left a horrendous taste in his mouth. "Yuck!"

"They must have followed us," Esther murmured. She was sitting on the ground still, hair and face covered in dust which made her have a coughing fit. She had never thought the shadows were that powerful, they had always seem so insignificant to her.

"Eww," Lucy mumbled as Elijah helped her to her feet. "I think I swallowed some of that nasty dust." She placed a hand over her mouth and suppressed the desire to vomit.

"Me too," Rebekah complained. The dust had left a horrible taste on her mouth, she felt like she had chewed on a corpse, and her throat burned.

"I feel like a just swallowed a glass of vervain," Elijah said clearing his throat.

"Where is Mikael?" Ayana wondered suddenly. Once the cloud if dust had passed, she was finally able to see everyone properly, except for the patriarch of the family.

Everyone turned to look at the spot where Mikael had been but he was gone.

"Where is Bonnie?" Klaus hissed, his eyes turning gold. He could see her in the forest, more importantly he could feel her nearby. Bonnie was no longer in the prison world.

They had been there, a few feet away from him and now they were nowhere to be seen. Klaus felt fear lace his veins. He immediately focused on the bond he shared with Bonnie, she was alive, he knew that much. He closed his eyes and tried to locate her but there was nothing. He couldn't pin point her exact location, only that it was very far away. "Something is blocking me," he looked right at Ayana. "You promised!" He threw in her face angrily.

"No…" Ayana whispered fearfully.

"He took her," Esther deduced quickly. She looked into Ayana's scared eyes. "You linked yourself to her, didn't you?" it wasn't hard to guess that Bonnie was the reason Ayana had the power to create this world and bring them here. "She's the anchor to your spell, the key Mikael needs to come back to life," she growled, hands angrily clenching at her sides. It seemed her son was not the only one to have betrayed her. "Damn you, Mikael." She cursed him and she cursed her stupidity. She should have seen this coming. She should have never trusted that retched husband of hers.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Klaus snarled.

"Brother, you need to calm down." Elijah attempted to get through the blinding rage consuming Klaus.

"Fucking hell!" Kol cursed. "I knew this was going to end badly. I TOLD YOU SO!" he yelled at everyone.

"Shut up," Rebekah growled at him before approaching her mother. "You are going to help us find her," she ordered in a voice that left no room for argument.

Lucy came to stand next to her, looming menacingly over Esther. "I swear that if Mikael hurts Bonnie, I will destroy you." To prove her point she allowed her magic to surface fully, to slither and surround Esther fully, threatening her, warning her of what was to come if she failed.

Esther actually gulped.

Ayana ignored Klaus's angry outburst and closed her eyes, concentrating on her link with Bonnie, on her link to the Bennett coven.

 _Witches of the Bennett bloodline, I need your help…_

The Bennett witches dead and alive, heard her call and responded immediately.

* * *

The shadows parted for him, slithering out of the way as he calmly walked deeper and deeper into their domain. The heart of the in-between was a bunch of ruins, there was nothing left but empty and destroyed buildings, bones, and tormented spirits of the souls who did not belonged anywhere.

The Shadows ruled this land, they controlled the creatures dwelling here, and he had made a very advantageous deal with them.

Mikael's lips curled into a pleased smirk as he walked proudly into the lair he had found for himself. In his arms, he carried the unconscious witch, the Bennett queen, Niklaus's mate, and the key to his freedom.

 _Fools,_ Mikael thought. Since the moment he arrived on the other side after his bastard son had killed him, he had been planning his escape. Putting aside his anger at Esther for her infidelity and helping her as she attempted to get them out of the other side had been a calculated step, one of many he had taken to ensure his resurrection. He had been around witches long enough to know that their arrogance was their undoing, their greatest weakness really. Witches like his wife, like Ayana, thought that they had everything under control, they thought they knew it all, that they could see it all. They were blinded by their arrogance.

Mikael knew Finn met with Ayana, the shadows had informed him so. He had known all along that Ayana was going to try and stop them once and for all and Mikael had not only anticipated that she would attempt to trap them in a prison world, he had a feeling she was going to bring the Bennett Queen with her. After all, Ayana was dead and did not have the power to do it on her own. He had been proven right on both counts. He knew Ayana well.

A chuckled escaped his lips as he looked down at the unconscious girl. The attack had been planned and when Ayana blasted it away, Mikael took the opportunity to incapacitate the young witch and take her with him out of the prison world Ayana created. The barrier of the prison had been low after all, Ayana needed to get his children out of there first before she could actually seal the place and that had played to his and the shadows' advantage. "Witches have incredible power," he whispered conversationally. "But they lack the intelligence, the resilience only a hunter possesses."

The shadows surrounding them hissed in agreement. They loomed over him, hissing angrily at the young woman he carried in his arms. The scent of death and decay spilling out of them was revolting. Mikael could barely stand it, but he had no choice. The shadows were effective, albeit creepy. They had no faces, no hands or feet, they were only eerie shapes, sinister creatures who thirsted for vengeance.

 _Let us have her…_

 _Let us killed her…_

 _Let us feast on her blood…_

Mikael pressed his lips together and ignored them, calmly continuing to walk towards his lair. The shadows, or _the Order_ as they were known by some in the living world, had not forgotten that Bonnie had killed one of their own.

Mikael had made a sweet deal with them and was ready to deliver. "Soon," He told them. First, they needed to help him regain his body, only then would he allow the shadows to have her. He couldn't help but smile wickedly. His children had a lot to learn. A thousand years later, and they were still incompetent fools.

There was a reason Mikael's name inspired fear, he was the strongest of the Originals, he was the vampire who hunted vampires, and the monster whom other monsters feared.

Mikael was always one step ahead of his enemies.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry about the late update, I had a lot of schoolwork to do. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, the next one is going to bring Bonnie and Mikael face to face. By the way, a little reminder that the Order was first mentioned in chapter one of this fic. The Seer eventually made a deal with them and that's how the huntress went after Bonnie. Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews and see you next time!_


	81. Chapter 81

**Thank you so much for all your continued support. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Kingdom of Norway, 972 A.D.**_

 _The cold wind slashed her face with the viciousness of a knife. She pulled her cloak tighter to her body, her teeth chattering. She constantly looked over her shoulder, ensuring that she was not being followed, that no one in her new home had taken notice of her absence. Her husband and his loyal group of men had gone on another raid, which allowed her the freedom to travel deeper into the forest, to the place where no one dared. She was desperate, she did not know what to do, and there was only one person she could turn for help._

 _Her hand shook slightly as she pushed the old wooden door open and stepped inside the hut. The burning fire immediately greeted her and warmed her icy face. The delicious scent of spices and flowers reminded her of her mother and she took a moment to breath it in, closing her eyes, and savoring the childhood memories treasured deep in her heart. For a moment, she felt like she was back home._

 _A woman with long dark hair and pale skin sat close to the fire, her eyes narrowed in annoyance at the intrusion. She did not look pleased to see her._

" _Sister," Esther panted, still cold, and out of breath. She pushed her hood off her head and stared at Dahlia with a small nervous smile. "I have come to beg for your help…" she let out in a shivering voice. "Please do not turn me away."_

" _What for?" Dahlia asked in a rather bored voice and looked at her with contempt._

 _Esther placed her hands in front of her and took a deep breath, a strange feeling of doubt invading her. "You know I have always wanted children of my own," she began nervously._

" _Then go have your Viking children," Dahlia dismissed her with a wave of her hand._

 _Esther was hurt but she swallowed her pain and stood her ground. Dahlia had always been cold and intimidating but with her, she had always been sweet and caring. Since their mother's passing, Dahlia had taken a motherly role towards her, which was why Esther felt surprised and hurt by her indifference now._ She still hasn't forgiven me _, Esther realized sadly. Dahlia would never forgive her for marrying Mikael. She looked down at the floor before gathering the courage to speak once more, she had come this far, she had to at least ask. "It's been a full year," she began softly. "And I'm still not with child," she confessed her heartbreak at last._

 _If Esther expected sympathy or words of comfort from her sister, she received none. Dahlia did not seem to care at all._

" _I fear I'm cursed," Esther said and looked into her eyes, hoping that their familial bond would break the ice in Dahlia's heart. "Dahlia please…" she took a step closer, begging her with her eyes. "With your magic, you could help me."_

 _Dahlia stood up angrily. "You come to me needing favors," she hissed. "If you hadn't abandoned your talents with witchcraft, you could help yourself." She turned away from her and stared at the fire, far too angry to say anything else. "But you chose love…" she spat the word with venom. "You chose_ _ **him**_ _…"_

" _I was never as strong as you," Esther reminded her. "I know that, just as I know that you won't turn me away." No matter how angry Dahlia was with her, she was still her sister, her only family, the person that had loved her and protected her since they were children. "You are my sister, and whatever our quarrels we are bound by blood, please Dahlia…help me," she begged. "I have no one else to turn to. You are my only hope. Please…"_

 _Dahlia continued to stare at the flames, her back to Esther as she contemplated her sister pleas for help._

 _Esther waited with bated breath, praying that her sister would help her._

 _"What you ask of me," Dahlia said at last. "It requires a heavy sacrifice," she turned to face Esther once more, letting the words sink in. "There will be a price for the magic you seek."_

 _Esther walked closer and took her hands in hers. "I will do whatever you ask," she was desperate for a child and she would do anything to have one._

" _Anything?"_

" _Anything," Esther said the words that sealed her fate. She said them with a hopeful smile on her lips. She knew Dahlia's magic was unrivaled, she was far more powerful than their mother even and Esther knew that with her help, she would conceive the child she dreamed of having. She was far too preoccupied with her desire to become a mother, to give a child to her husband, that she didn't stop to think of what she was saying, of the bargain she was making. She should have known better._

" _Very well," Dahlia sighed and for the first time since Esther arrived, there was a small genuine smile on her lips. She suddenly pulled her into her arms. "I could never refuse you anything," she whispered against her ear. She pulled away and touched her face gently. "My precious little sister, I will grant you your heart's desire." Her eyes gleamed suddenly. "And in turn, you shall grant me mine..."_

 _Esther smiled, her heart and soul soaring with so much joy, and so much hope._

* * *

 **Present Time**

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid girl,_ Esther wished she could go back in time and warn her younger self not to be so naïve, so trusting. That night she had made a deal with the devil and one thousand years later, she was still paying the price of her sins.

 _Dark magic always comes with a price,_ her mother had warned them once. Esther had never taken her mother's lessons seriously, not until it was too late, not until she had lost what she loved the most.

"If you think I'm going to sit back home while Mikael has Bonnie," Niklaus's angry voice cut thought her thoughts. "You're out of your bloody mind! I'm going!"

 _So petulant_ , Esther thought. For the past couple of minutes, she had been standing there listening to their arguments over what to do. Mikael had taken all of them by surprise with his stunt and Esther was reeling. _How dared he conspire behind her back?_ She had been made a fool by her husband and her son. It was something she was not going to forget, ever.

"Finn and I will go to the in-between and get Bonnie back," Ayana said calmly. "You need to go home and look after your children."

"I am going with you!" Niklaus insisted.

"We can help you," Elijah as always supported his brother.

"The in-between is for lost souls, you can't go in there," Finn told him. "Only the dead dwell there."

"Shut up!" Klaus snapped.

"No one asked your opinion Finn," Kol added almost at the same time.

Finn rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, I want to help."

"Yeah right," Kol looked at him with distrust.

"How can you even be sure that's where father took Bonnie?" Rebekah questioned Ayana.

"It's the only place his spirit can go to," Ayana responded.

"He certainly made friends with the shadows," Esther murmured angrily. She had tried approaching those retched creatures a couple of times and she had been turned away. They wanted nothing to do with her and yet, Mikael had managed to get their help. _Why? How could the shadows trust a vampire over her, she was a power witch?_ _Why did she feel like she was missing something?_

"She can lead us to Bonnie and Mikael," Lucy pointed at Esther. "She probably knew those things were going to attack," she accused. "She's helping her husband."

Elijah turned to his mother a clear question in his eyes. "Are you?"

"I'm doing no such thing," Esther defended herself. She felt irritated by Elijah's lover, by the power she felt coming from her. "Instead of pointing fingers at me, you should be focusing on finding them." She glared at Lucy and moved her gaze over her children. "The longer Bonnie spends in the in-between the less chance she has of surviving."

Klaus growled upon hearing that.

"She's right," Finn told them. "If we don't get her out, she'll be trapped there forever."

"Mikael is going to use her to come back to life, isn't he?" Lucy looked at Ayana for guidance.

"What the hell are we waiting for," Kol said. "Let's go."

"You are going back to New Orleans," Ayana told them.

"I'm not going anywhere," Klaus snarled.

"We are going to help you," Lucy said almost at the same time. "We can use her," she pointed at Esther.

Yes," Rebekah agreed. "Mother dearest owes it to us to help find Bonnie and put an end to our deranged father."

"She can guide us in the in-between," Lucy insisted.

"So can Finn," Ayana pointed out. "And I trust him more than I trust her."

Finn actually smiled softly upon hearing that. Having Ayana's approval meant the world to him.

"Mikael is angry with her," Klaus muttered. "We could use her to lure him out."

"You would trade your own mother." Esther shook her head. "I don't even know why I feel surprised, _you murdered_ me after all."

"And what a glorious moment it was," Klaus spat viciously. "One of my most memorable moments actually."

"Nik…" Rebekah gave her brother a look.

"It's not like we feel pity for her," Kol snapped. "Nik did us a favor getting rid of her." He offered his mother an evil grin.

Esther actually looked wounded by his words.

"Ayana, I do believe that we can help you…" Elijah tried to reason with Ayana. "If you take us with you…"

"No," Ayana was losing her patience. "You're not going and that is final."

"There is no way we're going back without Bonnie," Kol said.

"I'm going whether you like it or not," Klaus snapped.

"Enough," Ayana's commanding voice and the surge of power that followed had their skins tingling. "This is not up for discussion." With a wave of her hand, the four siblings and Lucy returned to St. Anne's church before they could even make a sound of protest. They had wasted so much time arguing already, Ayana was determined not to waste more.

Finn felt astonished at how easily she sent them away. He had always known that she was powerful but the power she was channeling now was without a doubt greater than anything she had possessed while she was alive.

"You are quite enjoying having all that power, aren't you?"

Ayana's eyes narrowed in Esther's direction.

"It's addictive, isn't it?" Esther spoke from experience, she had once channeled the power of the Bennett bloodline and knew first hand how utterly incredible it was. "Being connected to all the Bennett witches, feeding on their energy, on their incredible magic," she felt a slight shiver run down her spine as she recalled what it had felt like. "It was an exceptional experience for me," she confessed. "I imagine for you, it's even greater. You are a Bennett after all." There was a slight hint of envy in her voice as she said the last part. While she had been able to use the power of the Bennett line, the magic had fought her to the very end, it had known she wasn't one of them and on more than one occasion it had tried to be released form her grip. A lesser witch would have been killed by the power struggle but Esther had managed it.

Ayana did not respond but her eyes, her eyes were two dark pools of fury.

Finn looked nervously between both women.

"It's quite funny," Esther continued conversationally. "Those two blundering idiots didn't have to kill Abby Bennett to stop me, you know. All they needed to do was for Bonnie to call her magic back to her and voila," she made a motion with her hands. "As the rightful queen of the coven she could have snatched that magic away from me at any moment, even Abby could have done it, but neither of them tried." Esther laughed. "How could two witches be so stupid?" she found herself wondering. "Bonnie had the excuse of youth I suppose, but Abby..." she shook her head. Abby had always been a rather mediocre witch.

"What do you know of the shadows?" Ayana asked instead of falling for her provoking words. "Who were they when they were alive? Why would they help Mikael?"

"I do not know."

"Don't lie!" Ayana took a menacing step closer. "Surely you know what he's planning."

"I wish I did," Esther muttered. "And why would I tell you?" She snapped. "Why would I help _either of you_?" she glared at Finn, the hurt she felt at his betrayal had turned into a seething rage.

"Is there no compassion in you left?" Finn asked in a sad voice.

"Compassion," Esther spat the word out. "Who has ever had compassion towards me?" she questioned. "This is all your fault," she turned to Ayana once more. "You are the one who orchestrated this," she happily reminded her. "If anything happens to Bonnie, it's all on you. My hands are clean."

"You will spend the rest of your existence trapped in this prison world, Esther." Ayana began chanting the spell to seal the prison world, her magic was already keeping Esther in place, ensuring she wouldn't attempt to escape but now the time had come to lock her up for good.

"For now," Esther said in a surprisingly confident voice. "One day, not too far away from today, you will come seeking my help." She looked directly into Ayana's eyes as she spoke. "Mark my words, _old friend_ …you will need me. You have no idea the evil that will descend upon your family. Mikael and I are nothing compared to what's coming."

Ayana frowned upon hearing her words.

"Aunt Dahlia, you mean?" Finn questioned her. He still remembered that terrible day when he had met his aunt for the first time, the day she took Freya away. "She's coming for them, isn't she?" the fear in his voice was palpable.

Esther didn't say anything more, she simply glared at both of them.

"She's coming for the twins," Finn whispered fearfully. "Ayana, perhaps…"

Ayana did not give him the chance to elaborate. She took a step closer towards Esther and pinned her with her dark gaze. "Whatever evil comes after my family, we will defeat it," she proclaimed with fervent devotion. "No matter how treacherous, no matter how dark and terrifying our enemies may seem to be, _the light always wins, Esther_."

"No matter how bright a candle burns, it will eventually die down," Esther countered simply. "Your coven will not be the exception." She looked really sad all of a sudden. "No one can stop it now…it has begun..." she had tried and she had failed.

"We shall see about that," Ayana murmured before she finished the spell. There was no time to waste, Bonnie needed her. They would have plenty of time to discuss Esther's sister later, right now getting Bonnie back was the main priority.

Finn and Ayana disappeared with a blast of white light, a swirl that came and went like a thunderbolt and which took them out of the prison world.

Esther was left alone in the forest. She looked around the flowers and the tall trees surrounding her, a beautiful cage it was. _I lost,_ she thought bitterly. She had once again been defeated. Without warning, without even really meaning too, she let out a painful scream. It was a roar filled with anger, pain, and heartbreak. She was alone and trapped once more. She hated it.

* * *

" _Papa!"_

" _Papa, wait!"_

 _Freya's sweet voice reached his ears and Mikael turned around just in time to catch the little girl in his arms. He had already said his goodbyes to Esther and Finn, and to her as well, but his daughter adored him and one goodbye was not enough for her. He picked her up and smiled tenderly at her while playfully poking her nose with his finger._

" _I will miss you papa," Freya touched his face with her little hands and place a sloppy kiss on each of his cheeks._

" _And I you, little one." He returned the gesture before gently placing her on the ground once more. From afar, Esther watched them. She held on to Finn's hand, a warm smile on her pretty face as she contemplated her husband and daughter. Her other hand moved over her belly, there was a slight swell there, another child growing in her womb. Mikael smiled at them before turning to look at Freya once more. "I will be back before you know it," he promised._

 _Freya smiled and pulled something from the small pouch hanging around her waist. "I made this for you," she said handing him a necklace. "To keep you safe." She had forgotten to give it to him but she had remembered just in time._

 _Mikael took the silver starling pendant attached to a leather strap from her hands, his skin tingled as he felt the power surrounding the pendant. He felt touched by the gesture. "Thank-you, my darling girl."_ _Freya's bright green eyes were filled with so much love and adoration for him, there was a part of him that still couldn't believe it. He never imagined that someone so innocent, so pure of heart could be his child._

" _Mama showed me how to make it," Freya told him proudly. "Every time you place your hand around it and think of me, I will know."_

" _I shall wear it always," Mikael promised before depositing a tender kiss on her forehead. "And I shall think of you every day." He crouched down in front of her and cupped her cheek tenderly. "I love you," he whispered._

 _Freya's entire face lit up with happiness. "I love you too papa." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. "Come back to me, soon."_

" _I will," Mikael kissed the top of her head before they pulled apart. "Now, go back to your mother, and don't get into too much trouble."_

 _Freya giggled at that. "Just a little," she mumbled with a mischievous grin. As innocent as she looked, as pure of heart as she was, there was a rebel streak in her. She could easily rope Finn into endless and dangerous adventures but Mikael couldn't stay mad at her for long. She was the apple of his eyes. His first born, his little girl, and he loved her above all. 'You even love her more than me,' Esther had remarked once in a playful voice. Mikael had not contradicted her. He smiled at Freya once more and proceeded to leave._

 _Freya stood there, watching him and the other men depart, and waving goodbye until he disappeared from view._

 _Mikael only planned to be gone for a moon's turn, hunting and gathering more supplies for the village. He could have never imagined that would be the last time he would see her. The last time he would know peace…the last time he would truly be happy._

 ** _~X~_**

Mikael's hands clenched painfully at the memory. For a thousand years, the image of Freya waving goodbye had haunted him. Many a time, he had wondered how different things would have been if he had stayed home that winter day, if he had been there by her side as the plague hit, if she had not died…if…he had always tormented himself with the what ifs but now he knew the devastating truth, Freya had not died of the plague, Freya had been taken by that retched woman…

 _Dahlia_

Thinking of her always left a bad taste in his mouth. That perverse woman…that evil creature…

 _What did she do to you?_ Mikael wondered. _Did she hurt you?_ That thought alone had his entire body shaking. _Did she killed you to get her revenge?_

His daughter had been taken from him and he had no idea what fate had befallen her. One thousand years believing a lie…a painful lie that had destroyed him. He had been made a fool once more. The hatred he felt towards Esther right now was stronger than the anger and the blistering betrayal that nearly destroyed him a thousand years ago- when he first discovered her infidelity. His pride had been wounded then, but the pain he felt now, came from his heart.

His sweet darling Freya at the mercy of that evil monster. He wanted to scream, he wanted to lash out and burn the world until he could know the full truth.

 _What happened after?_

 _Where did Dahlia take her?_

 _Why did she needed Freya to begin with?_

 _Did she do it to get back at me?_

There were so many questions, so many puzzling details. He didn't even know where to start.

A soft moan from behind him had Mikael regaining his composure and taking a quick calming breath. The Bennett witch was starting to wake up. He needed to focus on the task at hand, he needed to keep his head clear and his emotions in check. Once he could return to the world of the living, then he could think about Freya and wonder about her fate. For now, it was best to put all of that aside and continue with his plan. His resurrection was priority. Once he had accomplished that, he would have all the time in the world to find out what happened with Freya after Dahlia took her.

 _Could you still be alive my darling girl?_

* * *

 **The compound**

Davina picked the blanket from the floor and gently placed it on a sleeping Charlotte. She had been really nervous and anxious after receiving a distressing call from Ayana, all the Bennetts near the compound had been actually. _Mama is in trouble, she needs us!_ Charlotte proclaimed anxiously. _We have to help her!_ The Bennett witches that had remained at the house decided to make their way to St. Anne's church and help Bonnie. Charlotte was not allowed to go. Angelica gave her chamomile tea and slipped a few drops of sleeping draught-it had been the only way to calm her down and allowed her to fall into a deep slumber. Angelica had offered some to Davina but the young witch had refused. She had no plans to go to sleep, not when her family was in danger.

The slamming of the front door, had her standing up and running out of Charlotte's room. She could feel them; the Originals had returned. Davina rushed down the hall and stopped halfway down the stairs.

Klaus looked furious. "The nerve of her!" he muttered a string of curses in a foreign language. "Angelica!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Niklaus calm down," Elijah tried to unsuccessfully appease his temper.

"How could anyone calm down under the circumstances," Rebekah muttered under her breath, her brothers heard her of course.

"What happened? Is Bonnie okay?" Davina descended the stairs, her eyes immediately on Kol. She felt relived that he had returned safely. She wanted to rush into his arms but instinctively knew that was bad idea. In the mood Klaus was in, who knew how he would react to seeing them hug or if he knew they had kissed earlier that morning.

Kol offered her a small smile, assuring her with his eyes that he was fine. "Father took Bonnie," he told her softly.

Davina felt the color drain from her cheeks.

"Angelica!" Klaus yelled once more.

Davina and even Rebekah winced. She had never seen Klaus so angry or look so worried, it made Davina even more worried than she already was.

"You heard Lucy and the Bennett witches," Matt told Klaus. "They will bring Bonnie back. Calm down before you bring the house down."

Klaus pretended not to hear him. "Angelica!" He roared.

He was pissed at Ayana for sending them back without warning, he was pissed at Vivian and the living Bennett witches because they had kicked them out of the church as they helped the dead Bennetts find Bonnie. He was a volcano filled with hot burning lava and he needed to do something before he lost the last bit of control he was clinging to. While the bond told him that Bonnie was okay, he felt desperate. The longer she spent with Mikael, the more danger she was in and Klaus didn't know how to get to her.

"What is it?" Angelica finally appeared and made her way slowly towards him. Felix was not far behind, watching his sire with unreadable eyes.

"I need you to send me to the in-between," Klaus ordered her.

Angelica gasped and looked with uncertainty at the rest of the family.

Elijah shook his head slightly.

"Our brother is desperate and doesn't know what he's saying," Rebekah retorted.

Klaus glared at her.

"What's with all that shouting," Joanna appeared at the top of the stairs, followed closely by a nervous looking Belle. They both had been with the twins. "You're going to scare the children."

Those were the magic words Klaus needed to hear in order to cool down, for a bit at least. He turned to her, the anger draining from his face. "How are they?" he asked in a much gentler tone.

"Charlotte felt the call, the whole coven did," Joanna responded calmly. "She was very agitated."

"I gave her a sleeping draught," Angelica informed him.

"She's still sleeping," Davina murmured. "I stayed with her the whole time." She had not left Charlotte's side until now.

Klaus nodded in her direction before focusing on Joanna once more. "And the twins?"

"Hungry," Joanna responded and made her way down the stairs. "Bonnie pumped some milk before leaving and I've tried to feed them but they refuse to drink from the bottle." Since their birth, the twins had only been fed by Bonnie's breasts. She had fed them before leaving and left a couple of bottles filled with her breast milk in case they woke up before she returned, but the twins were having none of that. "I think they sense something is wrong," Joanna whispered. Just like she and Charlotte had felt Ayana's call, the twins must have sensed something as well.

"They were crying a lot," Belle said nervously. "But we managed to calm them down," she added quickly.

Klaus cursed under his breath.

"And no doubt Nik's shouting isn't helping to soothe them," Rebekah gave him a reproachful look.

Klaus winced. He didn't want to scare his children but he felt desperate, Mikael had Bonnie and he had no idea what to do, or how to help get her back. Vivian had told them to let the coven work in peace and trust them. It was easier said than done.

"The coven will bring her back," Joanna's confident and calm voice sent a surprising wave of reassurance through all of them. "You have to trust us," she echoed Vivian's words. "The coven will not let anything happen to her."

"Mikael-"

"Is going to regret taking her," Joanna cut him off. "The Bennett coven is linked, I know what is happening…" she paused and looked away. "Ayana and the Bennett's on the other side know where Bonnie is, they are on their way to rescue her." She glanced at Klaus again. "They will succeed in bringing her back. I promise."

Rebekah let out a nervous breath while Elijah placed a gentle hand on Klaus's tense shoulder. Vivian said something similar as she kicked them out of the church and ordered them to return home. Klaus had looked ready to strangle her but they had been pushed out of the church by her magic and the door was shut in their faces before they could do anything against her.

"They will bring her back safely," Joanna assured all of them. "In the meantime, you can help me keep the twins calm." She didn't wait for a response, she turned around, and began making her way up the stairs.

Klaus let out a frustrated sigh and reluctantly followed her.

Angelica's eyes followed both of them, waiting to see if Klaus would order her to sent him to the in-between again, but Klaus didn't say anything as he passed her.

"So, that's it?" Kol asked as soon as Klaus and Joanna were out of sight. "We just sit back and wait?" he, like Klaus had been pissed when Vivian kicked them out of the church. Lucy hadn't even bothered to defend them, going into soldier mode and doing whatever her aunt required.

"We don't exactly have a choice, do we?" Elijah felt as frustrated as all of them but he trusted Lucy and the Bennett coven. "Bonnie's coven will not fail her. We have to believe in that."

Davina silently moved closer to Kol, coming to stand next to him and taking his hand in hers. He gave her fingers a slight squeeze. He tried not to show it but he was really worried. "It's moments like this when I really miss my magic," he confessed in a near whisper. "I could be doing something to help them."

Davina offered him a sympathetic look. "I have magic and I don't know how to help," she told him. She was just as worried as he was but like Joanna, she had faith in the Bennett coven.

"Where is Bonnie's dad?" Rebekah asked suddenly.

"He left before Ayana's distress call to the coven," Angelica answered.

Rebekah nodded. "Good." It was good that Bonnie's dad had not been there to discover his daughter had been taken by their evil father. "I hate this." There was so much fear and worry in the pit of her stomach, it was driving her crazy. "I feel useless."

"We all do," Matt muttered.

* * *

 **The in-between**

"What the…" Bonnie blinked a few times and slowly pulled herself into a sitting position. She immediately felt a slight burning sensation on her hands. When she looked down, she became aware of the heavy rusted chains binding her hands together. With a push of her magic, Bonnie tried to break free but nothing happened. "What is this?" she looked up just as her captor turned around to face her.

"Chains to suppress your magic," Mikael said to her. His face was a cold mask of indifference but his eyes gleamed wickedly. He looked rather pleased with himself. "They are meant to prevent you from escaping, not that you could go far if you did."

Bonnie glared at him before focusing on the chains once more, concentrating harder. She pushed with her magic as hard as she could but again, nothing happened. All of her attempts at breaking free from the chains were easily blocked by whatever power they possessed.

"You can try all you want but you will not be able to break free."

 _We'll see about that,_ Bonnie thought. She was stubborn and she was not going to give up so easily. She closed her eyes this time, she summoned as much power as she could, sending a stronger wave of magic towards the chains, but once more, nothing happened. _Damn it!_

Mikael chuckled at the frustrated look on her face. "Like I said," he calmly walked closer to her. "You can't break free. Your magic does not work here, witch."

Bonnie stood up slowly and regarded her surroundings with trepidation. "Where are we?" They were surrounded by dark clouds, shadowy looking things that floated above their heads and slithered all over the ruins they found themselves standing in. It was strange but the shadows almost seemed to have shapes, more than clouds they were sinister specters looming dangerously over her. There was also a heavy decrepit smell coming from them, it made her insides twist, and she felt almost dizzy as the scent continued to penetrate her senses. _What the hell were those creepy things?_ She wondered as she made a face of disgust.

"The in-between," Mikael answered her question.

"You…" Bonnie couldn't believe it. "How the hell did you manage to bring me here?" She questioned angrily. "I'm not dead! I can't be here."

"In theory, no living thing can reside in this place," Mikael conceded. "However," he took another step closer to her. "You are connected to the Bennett bloodline, dead and alive. The connection to your dead ancestors facilitates your stay here," he explained. "Of course, if you stay too long…" he let the words hang in the air.

 _I will die,_ Bonnie realized quickly. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why do you think?" Mikael snapped. He looked at her as if she were a kid asking a stupid question.

"How the hell are you going to come back to life by using me?" Bonnie snapped back. She knew full well that was what he wanted the most, to come back to life and continue to make his children's life a living hell. "How exactly are you planning to get away with this?"

"It's quite simple really," Mikael pointed to the slithering shadowy figures surrounding them. They grew bigger and moved closer with each passing minute. "See them-" when Bonnie nodded apprehensively, he continued. "-they rule this land, they have the power to bring me back to life." _They're feeding on your magic to do it,_ was left unsaid. He was smart to know what not to reveal to her.

"That kind of magic comes with a price." Bonnie wasn't stupid, no spirit no matter how powerful would bring him back to life without wanting something in return.

"It does," Mikael's lips twisted into a nasty grin. "You are the price they demanded," he informed her. "It seems you killed one of their own and they wish to take their revenge."

"Killed one of their own, who?" Bonnie didn't know what he was talking about. She looked at the shadows once more and immediately looked away, they were hideous and stinky and she was becoming sick just by being within close proximity to them. It felt like they were slowly sucking the life out of her. She did her best to hold her breath and not allow their decaying smell to overpower her.

"A huntress."

"You got to be kidding me," Bonnie cursed under her breath. Just what she needed. She suddenly felt like she had hundreds of eyes on her skin. _Did those creepy things understood what they were saying? Was that why they were gravitating close, entrapping her in a cloud of black._ She felt uneasy. _How the hell am I going to get out of this?_ Her magic reacted once more, sending a powerful wave to destroy the chains holding her hands together. She wasn't sure but she felt certain the shadowy creatures were slowly draining her energy. _Could they do that? Were they feeding on her?_

 _We're coming for you._

Bonnie nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard her Grams's voice inside her head. _Hold on, Bonnie. We're almost there._ The sweet relief she felt upon hearing those words sent a powerful wave of hope and strength through every inch of her body. Her coven was coming for her.

"They lost one of their own and they demand justice."

Bonnie snorted at that. "Justice," she mumbled.

"Did you not kill the huntress as they claim?" Mikael wondered with mild curiosity.

"I was protecting myself," Bonnie retorted. If she could keep him talking she could probably buy more time until her coven got there. The closer the Bennett's got to her, the stronger her magic became. _I can break free,_ Bonnie thought feeling determined to escape. First, she needed to keep Mikael distracted though. "The seer was the one that started all of this by sending the hunters after me. I only did what was necessary to keep myself and my children alive," she glanced at the shadowy figures as she said the last part. "I'm getting really tired of this," Bonnie said more to herself. It seemed the only way evil people like Mikael could have an advantage over her was by kidnapping her and Bonnie was frankly tired of it. "Don't you evil guys have a better tactic?" she questioned. She was no damsel in distress.

Mikael arched an eyebrow and watched her curiously.

"Since before I found I was pregnant, I have been kidnapped, threatened, and hunted down by crazy werewolves, witches, and super hunters who don't seem to get one very simple thing."

"And what is that exactly?"

"The good guys always win," Bonnie told him fiercely. "You're an idiot if you really think you are going to get away with this." _My coven is coming and you are about to get your ass royally kicked_ , she said with her eyes.

"Considering the fact that you are in chains and I am about to be resurrected, I think it's safe to say that the _good guys_ as you claim have lost this battle."

Bonnie wanted to wipe off the arrogant smirk on his lips. "It doesn't matter if you come back to life or not," she told him. "I will find a way to end you. One way or another, you will lose _again_."

"My, my, my," Mikael looked her up and down, lips curling into a sardonic grin. "I see now what the bastard sees in you," he hissed. "Both of you are stupidly arrogant."

"Just like you, I guess."

"I am nothing like that pathetic and weak fool."

"Actually, you and Klaus are more alike than you think," Bonnie snapped. "You're just too blind to see it."

Mikael growled, looming over her and trying to intimidate her with his height and built.

"I get it now," Bonnie said. "I get why you hate him so much." She stood her ground, refusing to show any sign of fear.

"Is that so?"

"It's not because he's your greatest shame as everyone else thinks," Bonnie continued. The defiant look on her face and voice would have put any brave soldier to shame. She knew she was getting under his skin, she could see it despite his mask of indifference. She had struck a nerve by comparing him to Klaus. There was a part of her that enjoyed rattling Mikael. He who prided himself of being in control, who always had a mask of indifference, it felt good to crack his armor even in the slightest bit. "Out of all your kids, Klaus is the one that resembles you the most and you hate it," Bonnie continued calmly. "You hate the fact that the son who does not share your blood is the one that has made you the most proud."

Mikael growled. "Proud?" he sneered and nearly seem to choke on the word. "Of that week boy?" he laughed but it did not reach his eyes. "You have clearly lost your mind. You know nothing."

"I know your family," Bonnie fired back. "Finn is always hiding behind Esther's skirts," she said dismissively. "Elijah is a soldier not a leader. Kol is reckless and as fierce as Rebekah is, she thinks more with her heart instead of her head. All of your children are disappointments to you, failures in your eyes, but as weak and pathetic as you claim Klaus to be, he's the one that has made _your name_ famous. He's the one that has inspired fear, reverence, and awe in the supernatural world. You hate him for being your wife's bastard but you hate him even more for not carrying your blood. Deep down you probably wish he was your true born son."

Mikael let out an angry roar and moved so fast that Bonnie had barely finished her sentence when she was pushed against a ruined wall. She let out a gasp as her back connected with the hard and cold surface. It hurt. Mikael placed both of his hands against the concrete wall, arms on each side of her, trapping her with his tall and muscular body. Despite the spike of fear rolling over her body, Bonnie did not look away from his face, she geld his gaze unflinchingly. He was furious, his vampire face had even surfaced in his rage and Bonnie swallowed nervously. She had pushed too far.

"I am going to enjoy watching him grieve for you," Mikael snarled. "The first thing I will do when I come back to life will be to hunt him and your little bastards down," he spat, eyes filled with hatred. "I will have your pathetic lover watch as I devour them whole and then I will kill him."

Bonnie's blood turn to ice at his threat. The thought of him hurting her children was enough to make her afraid and mad at the same time. The spike of fear was soon replaced with a burning fury that was born deep inside her heart. Expression surfaced with the power of a volcanic eruption and unleashed all of its violent power at the same time that a small light began materializing behind Mikael.

"The time has come," the Original hissed. "A pity I won't see how they feast on you."

They both watched as the light grew bigger and bigger.

The shadows moved closer together, forming a tight black ball of dark power, strange hisses and whispers echoing all around the ruins. They grew in shape and size just as the light did.

"What is that?" Bonnie couldn't take her eyes away, her skin prickled as her senses warned her of the danger.

"A portal," Mikael was enthralled with the growing light and quickly began walking towards it. "My resurrection," he smirked at her over his shoulder and winked before slowly approaching the portal of light. He was more than ready to cross over, his anger at Bonnie all but forgotten in his desire to come back to life.

 _No!_ Bonnie panicked, she couldn't let him get away with this. She couldn't let him come back to life. She had to stop him. The Bennett coven was almost there she could feel them, she had to hold him off until they got there.

Mikael raised his hand and slid his fingers through the barrier of white, lips curving maliciously.

"How do you know you can trust them?" Bonnie questioned him. "How do you know they are not setting a trap for you? Tricking you into handing me over and then destroy your soul for good as you cross the portal?"

Mikael turned to face her and to her relief, he pulled his hand away from the white light.

 _Keep him talking, keep him distracted, buy yourself time, Bonnie._ Her mind was swirling and her power continued to break free of her chains. She could feel Expression swallowing the power of the chains, slowly eating away their magic, and loosening their hold on her. It was a much slower process than she wanted but it was working. She knew it was.

"They would never betray me," Mikael remarked confidently.

"You don't know that for sure."

"But I do," Mikael seemed so calm, he was already savoring his triumph. "Let me tell you a little secret witch," he said with an arrogant tilt of the head. "These lost souls you see here," he moved his hand in the direction of the growing cloud of darkness. "The shadows were once the deadliest group of hunters the world has ever seen, an elite order of warriors created and trained by me."

Bonnie gasped.

"They served under me until that retched monster who impregnated you slaughtered the lot of them," Mikael confessed to her. "They are on my side, they will always be on my side. Loyal to the very end, in life and in death." The shadows hissed in agreement. "They have big plans and I will help them achieve them."

Bonnie's eyes darted back and forth between the shadows and Mikael. The growing mass of black was coming together, forming a tall and hideous figure while the Original watched with glee.

"Goodbye, Bonnie Bennett." Mikael prepared himself to cross the portal.

Bonnie closed her eyes and summoned the power of Expression, the power of the Bennett coven, and every last bit of magic she had at her disposal. It was now or never. She had to break free now!

 _Snap_

The ruins were suddenly filled with different currents of power, from the shadows and the portal they had created, from Bonnie, and from the Bennett witches coming to her rescue. All three forces collided at the same time, making the air thick and the ground shake uncontrollably.

Mikael stumbled on his feet.

The shadows screeched as a massive ball of light penetrated the cloud they had created and flung them in different directions. They hissed in pain as the light burned them and made them smaller.

The chains holding Bonnie's hands together finally broke and fell to ground in tiny little pieces.

There was a blur of movement and Finn tackled Mikael to the ground, right by the portal which was still active.

One by one, the dead Bennett witches arrived to save their queen.

The shadows jumped into action at once, there were swirls of light and dark as the Bennett witches began fighting them left and right.

"Bonnie!"

She heard her Grams's voice calling after her but Bonnie didn't respond, she ran straight towards Finn and Mikael. She needed to close the damn portal and stop him from coming back to life. That was the only thing on her mind at that moment. She flung shadows out of the way and reached them in no time. While Finn attempted to pin his father to the ground, Bonnie raised her hand over the portal, chanting furiously under her breath.

"Watch out!" Ernestine called out.

"Behind you!" Another Bennett said.

"Bonnie," Finn got distracted and Mikael took full advantage of it, punching him in the nose and running at full speed towards the portal.

Everything happened in a mattered of seconds.

One moment, Bonnie stood in front of the portal, closing it with her powerful magic and the next she let out a scream of agony as a group of swirling shadows slammed through her. Finn and Mikael got to her at the same time, each grabbing an arm. Bonnie cried out as the air was knocked out of her lungs.

There was a cold wind, a hard push, and a bright light as they were all pulled through the portal.

"Bonnie!" Ayana and Grams screamed at the same time.

It was the last thing Bonnie heard before everything went black.

* * *

They landed on a hard surface.

Bonnie groaned and rolled to her side, coughing uncontrollably, and trembling like a newborn lamb. Her ears were ringing, her body was cold and sore and she felt exhausted. She felt like she had fallen out of the tallest building in the world, crashed to the ground, and somehow lived to tell the tale. She didn't remember much of what had happened after she attempted to close the portal. The burning pain consuming her body slowly dissipated and she was able to breathe easier. Slowly, she began to regain her strength and heal.

"Are you okay?" Finn's concerned voice reached her ringing ears.

Bonnie stared at him with confusion and moved into a sitting position. "…I'm okay…I think…" She felt disoriented and slightly dizzy but she knew it would pass soon. She studied Finn's face carefully. There was something different about him, his presence felt different, something had changed. Her brows furrowed in confusion.

"I'm not sure where we are," Finn murmured as he looked around the large room they found themselves in. There were a couple of boxes in the corner, an armory, and a couple other different artifacts that he felt sure belonged to his brother Niklaus. "Some of the things seem familiar but…" he waited for her to tell him where they were.

"You…" Bonnie stared at his face and noticed his naked chest. She moved her head to the side and looked over his shoulder, seeing the broken urn on the floor, she gasped as a sudden realization hit her like a bucket of cold water. "We're at the compound," she stated. In the basement to be more specific. She kept looking at Finn's face, unable to believe what her senses were telling her.

Finn extended his hand and offered it to her.

Bonnie's arm shook as she placed her hand on his. He was cold to the touch but he was real, as real as Kol and Elijah, as real as she was. This was no corporal spirit touching her. This was an Original vampire with a potent aura. _Oh my god!_ "You're alive," she whispered in astonishment. As alive as any vampire could be at least. She stood up quickly.

Finn nodded but he looked anguished, devastated really. He did not feel happy about his return from the dead.

"How?"

"I do not know," Finn murmured.

"The portal the shadows created for Mikael," Bonnie deduced quickly, all three of them had passed through and come back to the land of the living. "Son of a bitch," she cursed Mikael. The bastard had been right, the shadows had indeed helped him come back.

Finn didn't respond, he was still struggling to adjust. He looked down at his naked body. "Do you perhaps have some clothes I could..."

"Oh! Right..." Bonnie kept her eyes firmly on his face. "I think there are some old clothes that belonged to Klaus and Elijah here," she began rummaging through the boxes. "They're from like a hundred years ago..." she muttered easily picking up the heavy boxes and moving them around.

"Bonnie!" Klaus's voice reached their ears all of the sudden. He had felt her inside the house, the bond had no doubt alerted him to her whereabouts and he was coming for her. He wasn't alone by the sounds of it.

Finn tensed as he heard the basement door open, and the scrambling of feet descending the stairs. His siblings were coming. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he stared into Bonnie's face. This wasn't what he wanted, being back to life had never been part of the plan but he was back, and he had to prepare to confront his siblings. "You know what this means, don't you?" There was so much sadness, so much sorrow in his face and voice as he met Bonnie's eyes.

Bonnie nodded, a feeling of dread invading the pit of her stomach. If Finn had come back to life, if his ashes had been restored into a body by crossing the portal the shadows created than that meant the same had happened to Mikael. They had both been resurrected.


	82. Chapter 82

**Once again, thank you for all your amazing support. Enjoy!**

* * *

His hand trembled as he reached out towards the window. He stood to the side, taking shelter from the morning light but allowing his arm to seek that which every vampire without a ring feared. The morning sunlight cascaded down through the crystal and greeted his pale hand with a sizzling sound as his flesh burned under the radiant sun. Finn gritted his teeth and kept his hand steady, until it caught flames. The burning pain was welcoming. It allowed him to feel something other than despair.

"Finn."

Elijah's commanding voice was enough for him to drop his arm to his side. The flames died down but the pain and the redness remained as did the scent of burned, decayed flesh. He closed his eyes briefly, suppressing the intense hunger pains and trying to keep himself together. He was balancing precariously over the edge of a cliff and with each passing minute he was closer and closer to tumbling down into the abyss.

While Finn lost himself in his thoughts, Elijah materialized in front of the window, and pulled the curtains shut. He stared into his brother's pensive face before moving his gaze towards the table next to him, where three blood bags laid untouched. "You need to feed," he said calmly.

"I do not need to be treated like a child, Elijah."

"Don't act like one," Elijah retorted. "Drink."

Finn's eyes snapped open, a defiant look on his face. "I did not have a choice in coming back to life. I am in the bedroom Niklaus locked me in, and I am wearing your clothes as I have nothing of my own, not even my daylight ring. I have no say in anything else but I can decide not to drink blood. I won't drink and you can't make me."

"Then I suggest you get comfortable with these four walls," Elijah muttered dryly.

"You would keep me locked in here, to rot?"

"I suggested putting you back in your coffin where you belong," Klaus muttered as he stepped inside the room, followed closely by Rebekah and Kol.

Finn's entire body shook, being back inside that box was the one thing he was truly afraid of.

Klaus's eyes gleamed and his lips curled knowingly upon seeing the look on his face and smelling the fear coming from him.

"I'm surprised you don't have a dagger with you," Finn spat while struggling to mask the fear he felt.

"I don't need to dagger you," Klaus retorted. "I'll chain you," he took a step closer and grinned maliciously. "I'll lock you inside your coffin, and dump you in the ocean."

Finn growled. The anger combined with the hunger he felt, allowed his vampire face to surface.

Klaus looked more amused than anything.

"That's enough Nik," Rebekah tried to intervene. "No one is going to dagger you Finn, but we need to make sure-"

"That you are not going to betray us like you always do," Kol cut her off. If looks could kill, Finn would've already been six feet under. "You know, like last time, and the time before that…"

"You weren't so concerned when we met in the prison world," Finn noted.

"That was different," Kol snapped. "You were a spirit then."

"Until we can determine whose side you are on, you shall remain-" Elijah began.

"I helped Ayana!" Finn snapped. There was a furious look on his face as he contemplated his siblings, _his family,_ he had never meant anything to them. "I turned my back on mother and helped her, _helped you._ "

Klaus chuckled. "And you think that erases your sins?" he questioned, his eyes becoming darker.

"You are one to speak," Finn retorted.

"You helping Ayana ended with father taking Bonnie and finding a way to come back to life, along with you." Elijah's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You think I planned that to happen, that I'm _helping him_?" Finn questioned with clear disbelief.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Elijah reminded him coldly. "You conspired with mother back in Mystic Falls, and before that you conspired with father against us. We have every right not to trust you, Finn."

"Let alone let you out," Kol muttered under his breath.

Finn scoffed at that. His jaw clenched painfully and his hands balled into fists at his sides. He had known that meeting his family in the land of the living wasn't going to be easy but he still felt angry and above all hurt by their distrust. The veins under his eyes became more pronounced, and a deep angry growl resonated from his chest.

"You need to feed," Rebekah told him softly. He looked paler than usual and it was obvious by the sunken eyes that he was hungry, really hungry. "You've been on the other side for months, you must be starving…"

"Don't pretend that you care," Fin snarled at her. It took every bit of self-control he had not to launch himself at her.

"I do care," Rebekah snapped although she was taken back by his outburst. She could count with one hand the number of times she had seen Finn's vampire face, he had rarely gotten this angry, let alone shown so much hostility towards her.

Klaus moved unconsciously closer to her, ready to protect her with his own body.

Finn laughed at that. "You've never cared," he hissed. "Not when I died, not when I spent nine hundred years in a box. You pleaded with him-" he pointed at Klaus. "-to let Kol and Elijah out but did you ever do the same for me?" he questioned her.

Rebekah looked down at her shoes, a wave of guilt invading her.

"Of course, you didn't! None of you ever gave a damn."

"You were a danger," Elijah remarked.

"Danger?" Finn repeated. "Klaus and Kol killed everything that moved and yet I was the one considered too dangerous to be undaggered."

"You betrayed us!" Klaus yelled at him. "Kol may have acted like a psychopath but he never sided with father against us. He never conspired to get us killed!"

"You mean, we both acted like psychopaths," Kol muttered.

Klaus ignored his comment and growled in Finn's direction, he was losing his patience. A few hours back in the land of the living and he was already sick of Finn.

"Despite their bloodlust," Elijah added with a look in Kol's and Klaus's direction. "You were the poison that-"

"Poison?" Finn cut him off. He couldn't believe what Elijah had just said. "I was the one that anchored us!"

Kol rolled his eyes at that. "Seriously?"

"You despise us," Klaus retorted.

"You despise yourself," Elijah countered as well. "You have always been terrified of everything we are. You threatened our very survival Finn," he hissed angrily. "Just as you have every time we have made the mistake of freeing you from that box."

"I was made that way because of that box!" Finn shouted angrily, his vampire face surfacing once more. He couldn't contain the anger, and the hunger pains were getting worse. "Every time I close my eyes, I go back to that black horizon," he told them, his fangs in full display. "The place where I was abandoned and forgotten, by my own family. So yes, I came out mad, and I remain so."

"Oh please!" Kol intervened. "Stop with the pity party. We've all been daggered at one point or another. Get over it!"

"Like you did," Rebekah quipped.

Kol scowled at that.

Klaus was amused by Kol's advice to their older brother, considering that he had always complained about being daggered but he didn't call him out on it. They were presenting a united front against Finn after all.

"Being daggered for a couple of decades or a century is a very different thing than being daggered for nine hundred years, I can assure you of that." Finn told them with a low menacing growl. "None of you would have been able to bear it." He looked directly at Klaus. "Least of all you," he snarled.

Klaus's eyes became two angry amber pools. "Is that a threat?" he hissed. He walked closer, more than ready to snap some sense into Finn with his fists. However, Rebekah grabbed his arm and stopped him from getting closer. Klaus gave her an exasperated look which she happily ignored in favor of staring at Finn.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, while keeping her hand on Klaus's arm and holding him back. "It's like being in a deep dreamless sleep." That was how Rebekah remembered it being like. She found it odd that it had not been like that for Finn.

Elijah also looked at him curiously, waiting for their brother to elaborate.

"For a while it is just like that," Finn responded. The veins under his eyes disappeared, and his face returned to his human visage as he once again regained control over his temper and his hunger. "But then you slowly start to regain consciousness…" just thinking about it made him sick.

Kol frowned upon hearing that. "You regained consciousness?"

"It starts off as a pinprick of light," Finn continued quietly. "It grows brighter year after year, a slow consciousness returning…" there was a far away look on his face as he spoke, he looked like he was in trance of some sort. "Slowly you become aware that you are paralyzed, trapped in your own mind. That despair…" his body shook visibly at the memory. "The utter loneliness…all amplified and endless…" he stared at each of his siblings. "None of you know what that's like…the torment of being conscious yet unable to move, to talk, to do anything but lay there, trapped."

Rebekah looked horrified by the revelation, Kol was uncomfortable, and Elijah couldn't mask the shock on his face. None of them had known that could be possible. Only Klaus kept a mask of indifference and watched him carefully, but the gold hue of his eyes disappeared completely. He had always assumed his siblings had been asleep while daggered and now he knew, that was not the case. There was a tiny twinge of guilt.

"I would rather die than go back in that box," Finn told Klaus.

"Something that could be easily arranged if you don't drink that blood," Klaus snapped. As always, he refused to back down.

"Nik!" Rebekah gave him an incredulous look. "We just got our brother back and you are threatening to kill him." She didn't like it.

"If he doesn't stop acting like a petulant child, I will." Klaus flashed out of the room without saying another word, followed closely by Kol who had had enough of their little reunion.

Rebekah muttered something angrily under her breath and turned to face Finn once more, her face softening. "I didn't know it could be like that," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not."

Rebekah contemplated him for a couple of seconds in silence before also leaving the room, feeling conflicted, and utterly sad for her brother.

Elijah was the only one remaining in the room with him and Finn watched him warily, wondering what lecture he was about to receive. Elijah always tended to forget that he was not in fact, the oldest of the Mikaelson clan.

"I would like to kindly remind you that there are children living in this house," Elijah said in a deadly serious voice. "Innocent children whom I would never dare to put at risk by allowing a starving vampire out." His eyes pinned Finn to the spot. "If you do not wish to remain locked in this room, I suggest you drink the blood."

"I would never hurt them," Finn's voice was filled with so much sadness and regret. "Whatever you may think of me, whatever distrust you feel, you should know me better."

"It is because I do not know you brother, that I have to take every precaution to protect the most innocent members of our family," Elijah told him. "I suggest you think very carefully whose side you are truly on," he leaned closer. "Because make no mistake Finn, I won't hesitate to end you if you represent a threat to Niklaus's children."

Their eyes locked as their auras pulsed dangerously. Many lesser vampires had cowered in fear of Elijah's hard gaze and dangerous demeanor. Not Finn though. There was only one thing he feared and that wasn't his _little_ brother.

"Ending my miserable existence would be a mercy brother," Finn told him at last. To end it all had always been his heart's desire.

Something flickered across Elijah's eyes, an emotion so powerful that broke through his stiff posture and cold mask of indifference. "You wish to die…" he muttered. He had always been baffled by Finn's desire to end his life. They had all accepted their fate, they had all embraced their vampirism, to the point where they couldn't imagine being anything else but Finn had always resisted. He had always been repulsed by what he was. "After everything that has happened, after the second chance you have been given, you still wish to die." He couldn't really comprehend Finn's state of mind. In many ways, Finn was a stranger to him.

"It's all I ever wanted since I became a bloodthirsty creature," Finn confessed quietly. "You know that. You have always known that."

"And I have never been able to understand it," Elijah said. "Do you hate yourself so much that you would prefer the other side instead of being here? Even if you don't like us, isn't there anything in this world that would make you change your mind?"

"We are cursed Elijah, damaged beyond repair," Finn said sorrowfully. "The only way we will know peace is in death." He turned away then, a defeated sigh escaping his lips.

"Did you know peace on the other side then?" Elijah wondered in a quiet whisper.

Finn's shoulders tensed upon hearing the question.

"Death is not an absolution for creatures like us but another torment," Elijah told him wisely. "The only way you will truly know peace is when you accept yourself." With those words, Elijah used his vampire speed to exit the room, closing the door behind him, and leaving Finn alone once more.

* * *

Bonnie watched the twins as they slept peacefully in their crib. They had been fed and changed and she had rocked them to sleep with an old lullaby Grams used to sing to her. There were many things that required her attention but she didn't dare move away, keeping vigil by their side. _The first thing I will do when I come back to life will be to hunt him and your little bastards down,_ Mikael's words echoed inside her mind. _I will have your pathetic lover watch as I devour them whole and then I will kill him._ Mikael's words had been filled with so much hatred. The man was pure evil and his desire to destroy Klaus, to hurt him by hurting the people he loved the most in the world made her angry and scared. Even though she knew her children were protected by the spells surrounding their home, by the bracelets on their wrists, and their own magic which pulsed with each beating of their hearts, Bonnie couldn't help but feel anxious. _Is he out there, watching us?_ _He's probably waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack._ She gazed down at her babies, so small, so innocent, barely a few days old and already in so much danger. "I won't let him hurt you," Bonnie promised them. "I won't let anyone hurt you, ever." She planned to meet with her coven later that night and prepare a plan of defense for her kids and another plan of attack. Mikael had won one battle but Bonnie was determined to win the war.

Klaus came inside the room, conflicting emotions echoing through their bond.

"How is Finn?" Bonnie asked him.

Klaus shut the door to their bedroom and leaned back against it. "As remorseful and stubborn as ever," he muttered. "He's refusing to drink blood, fucking idiot." He pulled away from the door and headed straight for the balcony. The French doors were closed but he pulled the curtains aside, and looked down at the busy tourist filled streets below.

"I don't think Finn is conspiring with Esther or Mikael," Bonnie told him softly while turning away from the crib, and walking towards him. "He tried to stop Mikael from crossing the portal, Ayana trusts him-"

"Yes, and her trust in him and her brilliant plan could have gotten you killed." Klaus turned back to face her. "Do you have any idea what I felt when I realized he took you?" he didn't even try to mask the emotion in his voice. "The things that ran through my head…" he looked away, remembering the anger and the fear that had cursed through his veins.

"Mikael didn't hurt me," Bonnie assured him. "He tried to intimidate me. He threatened me, but I'm here, I'm okay." She came to stand in front of him. "Hey," Bonnie touched his face. "Talk to me."

Klaus closed his eyes briefly, savoring the feel of her small hand cupping his face. Her touch was always soothing, her scent familiar and welcoming, and the love he felt through their bond, it helped to ease the fear, and chase away the demons that always came out in moments like this to torment him. "He's the only enemy that knows how to get to me," he confessed at last. "He's always made me feel weak, scared, and insignificant." He hated it but even after all this time, he couldn't shake away the fear his father provoked in him.

"You are neither of those things," Bonnie told him fiercely. "He's always underestimated you and that is his downfall."

Klaus appreciated her undying devotion and support. "I have to go back to the safe house," he told her after a couple of moments in silence.

"Why?"

"I need the daggers and the white oak," Klaus responded, a murderous determination surging and slipping through her thanks to their bond.

"No, you don't." Bonnie was definitely not on board with that plan.

"I need the daggers in case I have to neutralize Finn," Klaus told her. "And the white oak is the only thing that can kill father."

"Finn is not a threat." Bonnie had seen how devastated Finn was at coming back to life, he was not plotting with Mikael or anyone against them.

"You don't know that."

"You don't need the white oak or the daggers," Bonnie told him.

"The white oak is the only thing that can kill Mikael," Klaus retorted.

"It's also the only thing that can kill you," Bonnie was quick to remind him.

"I need to kill him," Klaus insisted. "The longer he's out there, the bigger threat he becomes." He had already wasted enough time with Finn. He needed to make sure Bonnie and the kids would be safe while he went to retrieve his most treasured weapons and finished his father once and for all.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, an incredulous look on her face. "So, what's your plan?" she questioned, a hint of anger slipping through. "Get the white oak and hunt your father through the whole city?" His silence gave Bonnie the answer. "Do you realize how dangerous that is?" When he didn't say anything, Bonnie continued angrily. "You're not thinking clearly about this."

"I can't allow Mikael to come for your or the children," Klaus snapped. He was getting irritated with her and it showed on his face and voice. "I have to keep you safe, all of you. And the only way to do that is to kill him!"

"That's too dangerous!" Bonnie raised her voice.

"Mikael is too dangerous!" Klaus fired back.

"And what happens if the white oak falls in his hands?" Bonnie demanded. "What if Mikael takes it from you, what then?" She tried her best to keep her voice even. She didn't want to wake the twins but the anxiety she felt was making it very difficult. She needed to knock some sense into him before he did something stupid.

"That's not going to happen."

"But it could happen," Bonnie snapped. _Couldn't he see how dangerous his plan was? How easily it could turn deadly for him?_

"I'm a hybrid now. I can take him."

"I saw him take all of you at the same time," Bonnie reminded him. "He's stronger than any other vampire, stronger than any Original."

"I'm a hybrid," Klaus hissed. "I can take him."

"You will be risking too much."

"And what do you suggest I do?" Klaus snapped. "Wait patiently for him to come slaughter all of us? Wait for him to hurt you? Or the girls? Or the twins?" his voice grew louder with each of his questions.

Ingrid started crying.

Any anger he felt, any annoyance, immediately melted with the wave of guilt that washed over him upon hearing his daughter's loud cries.

Bonnie immediately rushed towards the crib. "It's okay, everything is okay baby girl." Bonnie picked Ingrid in her arms and began to rock her gently. "You're okay," Bonnie murmured. Ingrid's cries continued and while Bonnie did her best to calm her down, Henrik started crying. Soon, the twins matching cries echoed around the room.

"I didn't mean to scare them," Klaus murmured as he gently picked Henrik in his arms. "There…there…" he whispered softly while mimicking Bonnie's movements as they comforted their children. "I'm sorry," he whispered and looked at Bonnie.

"I know," Bonnie could feel how guilty he felt for waking their children, she could also see it all over his ashamed face. For the next couple of minutes they concentrating on their children. It took a while, but they eventually got the twins to calm down and fall asleep once more.

Klaus didn't move his eyes away from the two of them after they put them back in the crib. Ingrid and Henrik had their faces towards each other, always seeking one another even in sleep. The love he felt swelling in his heart upon contemplating them was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Every day, he marveled at the adoring little beings he and Bonnie had created. He would never forgive himself if something happened to them, if he allowed anyone to hurt them, least of all the cruel monster he still called, _father._

"You're not facing him alone anymore," Bonnie told him, hugging him from behind. "My coven and I can take him down without the need to bring the white oak into play." She got on her tiptoes and placed a soft his on his neck.

"Sweetheart-"

"I can desiccate him and we can dump his body in the ocean," Bonnie suggested quickly.

"You need to stop a human heart in order to do that," Klaus reminded her.

"Not with the power I have now," Bonnie murmured. "With Expression I can do it." She felt confident in her powers. "And if not, Lucy and I practiced the soul shattering spell, well use it on him, or we can dump him in a prison world for all I care. Just don't get the white oak or the daggers out of the safe house," she pleaded.

Klaus considered her words quietly.

"The safe house is protected by powerful magic, it's the reason you took me there to keep me safe, and to recover after my miscarriage threat," Bonnie recalled while gently moving her hands over his arms. "It's the reason you hid them there. And they need to stay like that. In a place where no one can get their hands on them, least of all Mikael."

Klaus could see her point but still, he wanted to get the white oak and hunt Mikael down like the animal he was. He spun around and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer to his body, and staring into her eyes.

"I know how much you want to kill Mikael and I swear, I will do everything in my power to help you do it but we needed to be careful on how we deal with him. We can't risk losing the only weapon that can kill you and your siblings."

"Fine," Klaus relented at last. He didn't exactly agree with her but he understood her fears. For now, he was willing to follow her advice. He lowered his head and rested his forehead against hers.

"We'll find a way to stop him, I promise." Bonnie murmured while grabbing his face with her hands, her lips seeking his. Klaus met her halfway, easily falling under her spell. She kissed him sweetly, taking her time exploring his mouth, nibbling on his lower lip, and enjoying the groan escaping him as he pulled her tighter against him. Their bodies melted together, their bond hummed happily, and the threat of Mikael was momentarily forgotten as they lost themselves in an endless sea of bliss. As long as they were together, nothing, and no one could hurt them.

* * *

Davina moaned as Kol pushed her against the nearest wall, she gripped his shoulders, and passionately kissed him back. She felt breathless and dizzy from the onslaught of emotions invading her body. He had been in a foul mood when he returned to his room earlier that morning but upon seeing her, his whole demeanor had changed. He hadn't even given her time to say anything as his mouth desperately sought hers. Davina wasn't complaining in the least bit. She loved kissing him, she could do it forever.

When oxygen became an issue, she pushed gently against his shoulders, and Kol broke the kiss. While she took the time to catch her breath, he lowered his head to her neck, placing soft, tender kisses here and there, until he reached her pulse point and sucked on her sensitive flesh. Davina moaned and arched her back, enjoying the feel of their bodies tightly pressed together, and the delicious thrill that ran down her spine as she felt his mouth on her skin. They couldn't get enough of each other. Davina giggled when he suddenly licked her neck.

Kol pulled away and stared into her face, watching mesmerized as her eyes slowly opened. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were swollen from his kisses, and the radiant smile on her face made his knees feel weak. She looked so happy and was looking at him with pure adoration, it made him feel funny things in his stomach. He cupped her cheek tenderly. "You're so beautiful," he murmured.

Davina's cheeks became even more red. "Is this real?" she found herself asking him. She still couldn't believe that this was actually happening, that they were here like this.

"Very much so," Kol responded. There was a part of him that still couldn't believe it either, that a girl like her would give him the time of day. "Although, if you need more proof." He gave her a cheeky grin before kissing her once more.

Davina giggled against his lips and hooked her arms around his neck as they kissed once more. Kol was more than eager to deepen the kiss, but she pulled away far too quickly. He made a sound of protest.

"When are we going to tell them?" Davina asked him faintly.

Kol sighed and placed his hands on her hips, a rather somber look on his face. "You do realize that Nik is more than likely going to dagger me until the next century or so, or until you are seventy at least."

"Seventy?" Davina said with a suppress laugh.

"I'm not joking." Kol gave her a serious look. "Nik is possessive and impulsive and he will be against this…us…" he whispered with a slight nervousness. He wanted to keep this newfound happiness between them, he knew once the family found out things would be more complicated. "Look how Marcellus and Bekah ended up." He immediately regretted bringing that up, thinking of how Marcel would react if he were to know Kol had spent the better part of the morning snogging his adopted daughter, it made him shudder. He not only had Nik to deal with but Marcel and probably Bonnie. _Fuck!_ Kol thought. And yet, as he looked into Davina's pretty face, he knew he was more than willing to face all of them. For her.

"We're not them," Davina countered. "This is different." Things between Marcel and Rebekah had not worked out, now they were both living their own lives, and Rebekah was very happy with Matt. She placed her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes. "I don't want to hide Kol. I don't want to sneak around and pretend like nothing is happening between us for the sake of the family." She was young, much younger than him but she knew what kind of relationship she wanted to have with him. "I never really had a boyfriend before," she confessed timidly. "But I know that I don't want to hide my relationship from anyone. There are so many things that I would love to do with you…" she flushed hoping that she wasn't sounding too forward.

"I'm your boyfriend?" Kol arched an eyebrow, a happy grin on his lips. "That's a bit forward of you, isn't it love?"

Davina shifted nervously on her feet and looked away. "I just thought…I mean…" her words failed her. _Way to go Davina,_ she wanted die of embarrassment. They hadn't really discussed their relationship the previous morning but Davina had assumed they were together. Now, she began to question that assumption.

"I never had a girlfriend before."

"What?" Davina gave him a strange look. "You're a thousand years old, there is now way you never-"

"There have been other women before," he cut her off. He was no saint, and he had definitely not been living like one since his resurrection.

"Right," Davina didn't want to think about that.

"None of them were you," Kol whispered as he traced her cheek and pulled her face towards him gently. "I never cared for them," he confessed. "But you…I…" he struggled to say the words out loud, feeling like a teenage boy with his first crush. In many ways, he was as new to this as she was. He had never been in a relationship before, he had never cared enough to try but this…it was different, he found himself wanting to. "There is something about you, I don't know what you've done to me but I find myself completely captivated." He tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips upon hearing his words and the way he was watching her. "What are you saying?" she asked him, her heart nearly bursting out of her chest.

"That I would be honored to be your boyfriend," Kol told her with a shy smile.

Davina beamed and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. "I would love that," she whispered against his lips. The two of them shared a happy grin before their lips crashed together once more. It was a kiss but also a promise of a future.

* * *

"He's gone," Elijah stated the obvious as he and Lucy surveyed the mausoleum. His mother's coffin laid to the left while to the right, the urn which had contained his father's ashes laid broken on the floor. There were no ashes though. Mikael had doubt regained his body just like Finn had.

The mausoleum was located on the grounds of an old property Klaus owned, about an hour away from New Orleans. The remains of their parents had been brought there for safekeeping as they thought it was too dangerous to keep them at the compound. Shortly after they found Finn and Bonnie in the basement of the compound, Bonnie sensed the magic in the mausoleum disappearing. They all knew then, that Mikael had escaped. The caretaker had been found dead near the entrance while the door to the mausoleum had been completely destroyed, as had two of the three stained glass windows inside.

Lucy moved her palm over Esther's coffin sensing the magic protecting her. "He probably attempted to open her coffin and destroy her body in a fit of rage." The coffin was intact, Bonnie's magic had sealed Esther inside and she had also added some protective spells so no one could destroy her coffin. The same could not be said for the urn with Mikael's ashes. "Bonnie's magic is intact around the coffin but around the mausoleum…" she trailed off, thinking of the poor old man they found dead at the entrance. Elijah had buried his body under the beautiful magnolia tree behind the mausoleum, Lucy had cut a couple of the white blossoms and placed them on his grave, their intoxicating smell still lingering on her skin.

"How did he break through the barriers?" Elijah pondered as he crouched down and picked a broken silver piece belonging to the urn.

"The shadows," Lucy suggested angrily. "Bonnie thinks a couple of them escaped when she, Finn, and Mikael crossed the portal. They're protecting him as they did in life." Bonnie had told them about the shadows being the spirits of loyal hunters Mikael had trained centuries before. "We should take her coffin back to the compound," she suggested. Now that Esther's soul was trapped in the prison world, there was no danger in having her body in their home.

There was a pensive look on Elijah's face as he stood up, his father's scent lingered inside the mausoleum. "Father must be starving…" he looked towards the broken door and windows where the sunlight streamed through. "He doesn't have a daylight ring." He turned to Lucy. "Niklaus has it, along with Finn's." In the same way he had kept Kol's until his resurrection.

"I thought you guys were immune to the sun."

"It can't kill us but it can certainly hurt us. Father doesn't have his ring and that can slow him down considerably." He stared at her face, debating over something.

"Don't even think about it," Lucy knew what he was planning and she didn't agree with it. Elijah looked more than ready to protest but she didn't let him. "The shadows are helping him, you can bet your ass that they'll protect him from the sun." As much as she hated to admit it, Mikael was a really cunning bastard. "Bonnie wants us to come up with a good plan of attack, one that will not catch us off guard," she continued. "We need the Bennett coven."

"There are not that many places to hide around here," Elijah murmured. His father had no doubt escaped through the forest, which probably led to the Bayou. Elijah doubted Mikael would go straight into the city, that was too risky, too many witnesses, too many things that could go wrong. He went up the stairs and exited the mausoleum, walking around it, and looking at the cluster of trees behind the property.

Lucy was hot on his trail. "Elijah…" she warned. "He's probably expecting your or Klaus to go after him, he'll be waiting for you and so will his little helpers."

"I'm pretty sure the forest leads to the Bayou," Elijah commented. "If I only had one of the daggers to neutralize him…" But Niklaus had them all hidden.

"Let's go home," Lucy grabbed his arm and tried to lead him back towards the mausoleum, they needed to load Esther's coffin into the car but Elijah did not move at all. "Seriously?" Lucy placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"What if I could distract him and you could use the soul shattering spell on him," Elijah proposed. "He's smart enough not to go into the city, he won't go near the compound either, it's too heavily guarded, he's hiding in the Bayou."

He sounded so sure, it gave Lucy pause. "You really want to do this?"

"Don't you?" Elijah retorted. "You think Bonnie and Niklaus don't want to do this either? The only reason they're not out here hunting him is because of the children. The longer we allow father to roam free over the city, the more destruction he'll create. He burned the city one hundred years ago, he made a spectacle of it. I can't allow that to happen again." He took Lucy's hands in his. "You and me, we're strong, we can take him. We owe it to our niece and nephew to keep that monster far away from them."

Lucy couldn't really argue with that. "Okay," she finally agreed.

Elijah smiled down at her and kissed her on the lips.

Bonnie and Klaus had to think of their family first, for their children's sake, they couldn't take the same risks at Lucy and Elijah. It was a dangerous gamble they were taking but one that would be worth it if they were successful. For their family, they were willing to risk it all.

* * *

 **The compound**

"I was really worried about you, mama." Charlotte was telling Bonnie as she finished braiding her hair. "I thought something bad happened to you."

"I know baby," Bonnie kissed the top of her head as she finished. "You have nothing to worry about, I'm okay." Ayana had called upon he Bennett coven and Charlotte had heard that call, Bonnie felt guilty for worrying her. "You have nothing to worry about."

Charlotte smiled and leaned back against her, submerging herself in her favorite cartoon once more.

Bonnie hugged her from behind, and kissed her cheek, causing Charlotte to giggle. The two of them were in the living room, enjoying some mother-daughter quality time after finishing a snack, and watching Charlotte's favorite cartoons. Bonnie wanted to make it a point to spent one on one time with Charlotte, she didn't want her to feel neglected. But even as she laughed and play with her daughter, she couldn't help but feel worried. Lucy, and Elijah had gone to check the mausoleum where they had placed Esther's and Mikael's remains and they had yet to return and Ishmael had called Klaus with an urgent matter. She was starting to worry, specially since Klaus had not answered her last text. _What if Mikael had made his move?_

Aunt Vivian and the other elders of the coven were set to arrive soon so they could discuss how to put an end to Miakel once and for all. Bonnie was thinking of locking him up in a prison world like Esther. It was the only way she could ensure he would not escape again. The shadows could also be placed in another prison world. She just needed to find out if there were any vacancies on the other side, or she was going to have to create two more for them.

"Hey," Davina's voice got her attention.

"Hi," Bonnie said surprised to see her with Kol. "I haven't seen you guys all day."

Davina went red in the face and Bonnie arched an eyebrow, looking back and forth between both of them. There was something there, something had clearly happened between them. Her suspicions were confirmed when Davina took Kol's hand in hers. "We need to talk to you about something."

 _Oh boy,_ Bonnie thought having an inkling as to what they were going to say.

"Why are you holding his hand?" Charlotte asked Davina with a rather serious look on her face.

"Maybe, we shouldn't say anything in front of the little de-"

Davina elbowed him in the ribs. "Ouch," she muttered and immediately rubbed her elbow.

"You do realize that it hurts you more than me, right?" Kol smirked at her. "It's one of the perks of being a vampire, darling."

Davina rolled her eyes but found herself smiling.

"What's going on?" Bonnie stood up form the couch. Their interactions were interesting. They had hardly spoken to each other in the past couple of weeks and here they were acting complicit and sharing looks and smiles. Something had definitely changed.

Kol looked at Charlotte.

"I'm not going anywhere," Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the couch, determined not to move an inch.

Kol muttered something under his breath.

"Charlotte," Bonnie turned to the little girl. "Give us a moment, please."

"But mama-" Charlotte pouted and looked on the verge of tears.

"Please," Bonnie gave her a stern look. She knew now the difference between Charlotte's real tears and the ones she could summon at will.

"Okay," she sighed in defeat. She glared at Kol and got down from the couch. "You are going to tell me later aren't you, D?" she asked Davina as she walked past her.

"I promise, I will." Davina said with a small smile. She wasn't sure how Charlotte would take the news but she didn't want to hide anything from her either.

The door flung open before Charlotte even reached it, and she calmly exited the living room, muttering something under her breath about wanting to know their secret.

"Tell me," Bonnie said once Charlotte had left.

Kol took an unnecessary deep breath. Davina gave him a reassuring squeeze and he smiled, enjoying how natural it felt to hold hands with her. It felt like they had been doing it for years. "We wanted you to be the first to know," he began nervously. Bonnie was either going to be their greatest ally or she was going to set his ass on fire as soon as he let the words out. "You see…I…we…" he stumbled over the words. He actually felt afraid of how Bonnie was going to react.

"Kol and I are dating," Davina blurted out seeing as he couldn't get the words out.

"Oh…"

 _Was that a good oh or a bad oh?_ Kol wanted to ask as he and Davina waited to see what else Bonnie would say. This was one of those rare few times in which Kol Mikaelson felt absolutely terrified.

* * *

"I brought you more blood," Rebekah said as she visited Finn later that day. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about all the things Finn said to them earlier that morning. She also felt guilty for how neglectful they had all been towards him.

Finn who sat on the couch glanced at her and frowned before he promptly stood up, and made his way towards the window without saying a word.

"What? You're not talking to me now?" Rebekah questioned, closing the door behind her, and walking closer to him.

Finn didn't say anything.

"How long are you going to keep this up, Finn?"

Finn stubbornly kept quiet and continued to stare at the closed window. The sun was starting to set and soon he would be able to open the windows and look out into the city without the sun burning him. Not that he minded.

"You'll love New Orleans at night," Rebekah told him cheerfully. "All the lights, the people, the music. It is as beautiful as any city in Europe or even more so." She made a face when Finn didn't say anything back to her. Her eyes moved towards the small table near the window, where three blood bags laid untouched. "Nik is right, you're acting like a petulant child." She threw the blood bag she had in her hand on the table, and glared at her brother.

Once again, Finn kept silent. He stood like a statue, hands behind his back, and face straight ahead, wearing an impassive mask that Rebekah didn't know how to break. Minutes ticked by and Finn did not move an inch, nor did he acknowledge her presence. Rebekah huffed in annoyance, wondering how she could get him to talk to her.

"What was Freya like?"

Rebekah's question caught Finn off guard. He actually turned to look at her over his shoulder.

"Mother never talked about her," Rebekah continued. "I don't know anything about her except for her name," she whispered sadly. "I always wanted a sister you know. When mother was pregnant with Henrik, I prayed to the gods for a baby sister…" she trailed off, thinking of the chubby and happy baby brother she had received instead. "I fell in love with Henrik as soon as I saw him though." She had even gone as far as to declared him her baby and demanded that everyone asked her permission before holding him. "What was our sister like?" she asked once more.

Finn didn't say anything at first but he did turn around to face her. Rebekah watched him, and waited for him to answer her question. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Finn took a deep breath and said, "Freya was…" he swallowed painfully. Speaking her name, remembering her sweet laugh, and angelic face was a dagger to his heart. "She was kind. She was beautiful, intelligent, compassionate." There was a soft smile on his face as he recalled his time with his sister. "She was sweet, always looking after others, or helping mother, and even tending to the animals in the forest. But she was stubborn too, and quite mischievous. We got in trouble plenty of times because of her, nothing too serious but she loved to explore, to have adventures…" a soft laugh escaped him as he recalled their childhood games.

Rebekah smiled, imagining the two of them playing, and being carefree.

"For a while it was just the two of us," Finn remarked. "And mother and father, we were all happy." What he wouldn't give to go back, to change things, and keep his sister safe. "And it all came crashing down when…" he trailed off, the pain of that day was still raw. "She was my sister, my friend. We were so close in age we were like twins." His throat clogged with emotion. "Losing her was like losing a part of myself," he confessed. "It changed me."

Rebekah sighed and took a seat on the bed. "You used to watch us play. Many a time I asked you to join us but you never did," she recalled sadly. "You were always so distant, so sad. Even on the rare occasions in which you laughed there was always a sadness there. You were so…"

"Boring," Finn supplied, he knew that's what they always thought of him.

"Melancholic," Rebekah responded honestly. "I didn't understand then, all that you carried in your heart, the secret burden that destroyed your life." She contemplated him and thought back to the quiet, sad, and dutiful older brother he had always been. "There were times when you looked like you wanted to join us, like you longed to be part of our games, but you never did." Her voice was filled with sadness. "Something always held you back."

"I seem to recall you roping me into your games a time or two," Finn's lips twitched at the memory. "The kidnapped princess I was."

Rebekah burst out laughing. "And I the evil knight who took you prisoner."

"You tied me to a tree!" Finn said accusingly.

"One of the few times I caught you off guard with my magic." Rebekah's eyes twinkled with mischief. "Nik was the dragon helping me keep you captive, and Elijah and Kol the brave knights that came to your rescue."

"What foolish knights," Finn rolled his eyes.

Rebekah let out another laugh before a rather somber look crossed her features. "It wasn't always so bad, wasn't it?" she murmured feeling rather melancholic. "There were moments…" her voice broke. "Moments when we were a real family."

Finn looked away, his face reflecting the pain he felt.

Rebekah stood and walked towards him. "I'm not Freya," she said gently placing her hand on his arm. "You and I will never have the same bond you shared with her. None of us have ever understood you, or given you the place you deserve but we are family, Finn." She paused. "Despite our differences we're bound by blood and magic and you, all us really, have been given a second chance." She moved her hand from his arm to his face, cupping his cheek tenderly. "Don't throw it away, Finn. Give us a chance to be better siblings," she pleaded. "Give this family a chance, please."

Finn watched her with sad eyes but he didn't pull away from her gentle touch.

"I can't erase the past one thousand years," Rebekah's voice was filled with emotion. "I can't take away all your pain, all your anger, all your resentment, and I can't blame you either. You have every right to feel that way. We failed you. We promised each other to be together always and we left you behind." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry."

Finn's jaw clenched and he looked away, not liking how sad and heartbroken she looked.

"I can't erase the nine hundred years you spent locked up in that coffin or bring Freya back but I can promise you that things will be different this time. Give us a chance, Finn." She kissed his cheek. "Always and forever…" she whispered before leaving the room.

Finn watched her go, conflicting emotions invading him. His eyes moved towards the table where the untouched blood bags were. His stomach grumbled hungrily and his hands clenched painfully at his sides. _Time to make a choice, Finn._

* * *

 **The Bayou**

"This was a terrible idea…" Lucy muttered as her boots sank into another puddle of mud. The sun had gone down, and she was blind as a bat as she followed Elijah through the Bayou. They had been trekking for hours but had yet to find Mikael or any clue that could lead them to his hiding place. The bastard was covering his tracks really well. She nearly bumped into Elijah's back. "Hey, what-"

"What the bloody hell are the two of you doing here?"

Lucy peeked from behind Elijah and saw Klaus standing with Ishmael and a group of werewolves, holding torches which illuminated the brutal scene they had stumbled upon. "Oh my god." She covered her mouth with both of her hands as her eyes took the severed bodies and the blood. The scent made her insides twist, she gagged.

Elijah wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. "We were trying to track _him_ ," he gave his brother a pointed look.

"Here's your first clue, Sherlock." Klaus pointed to the carnage at his feet. There were at least a dozen mutilated bodies lying on a pool of blood. Mikael had definitely passed through the Bayou.

"Are all of these wolves from your pack?" Elijah asked him and Ishmael.

The older wolf shook his head. "They are from the packs that live in the Bayou."

"Most of them are Crescents. One Paxton, and a couple of others that just moved in," Klaus muttered as he rolled one of the bodies over. The legs and arms were missing but the crescent shape birth mark was still visible on what was left of his back.

Elijah cursed under his breath. "This certainly is not going to help improve relationships between our family and the Cresent clan," he muttered.

"Who could have done something like this?" Ishmael asked them. "The wolves in the Bayou are getting along, it doesn't make sense for them to attack each other."

Lucy bit her lip nervously, and Klaus and Elijah looked at each other, they knew exactly who was behind this. The sound of voices and footsteps reached Klaus and Elijah and the two turned their heads in the same direction.

"The Crescents are coming," Klaus muttered.

Elijah's nose twitched as their repugnant smell reached his nose. "Just what we needed." He let go of Lucy and moved to stand next to his brother, as they waited for Jackson and his pack to arrive on the scene.

Klaus pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Fuck," he hissed as he read the message he had just received.

"What is it?"

"Marcel," Klaus responded as he showed him the text his adopted son had just sent him.

 _Five vampires found drained in an alley, two heads are missing. Need you to come right away._

"Father," Klaus said in their mother tongue. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Mikael was behind all of this. A single day back from the dead, and Mikael had already laid a path of destruction that would have terrible consequences for the peace treaty between the supernatural species living in New Orleans.

 _This is going to be a long night,_ Elijah thought as he contemplated the moonless sky.

* * *

Marguerite Lescheres angrily parked her car in front of her house and got out, clutching her purse close to her. Another meeting with the witches and another disappointment. Since the arrival of the Mikaelsons in the city, things had gone from bad to worse. The vampire population had grown at an alarming rate, the werewolves controlled the Bayou, and walked down the streets of the city as if they owned them, the French Quarter witches still didn't have their magic- as that stupid girl refused to restore it, and the connection to the Ancestors had been severed.

 _All because of her,_ Marguerite thought. She was certain Bonnie Bennett had a hand in destroying their connection to the Ancestors, in making them weaker and more vulnerable than ever. _That was probably her plan all along._ And the Regent was her ally. It made Marguerite's blood boil. She pulled her keys out of her purse and walked towards her front door, fuming still as all of her petitions had been once again denied by the Regent. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw the two severed heads waiting for her on her porch. "What in gods name." Her keys fell to the ground as she clutched her chest and stared at the ashen heads with horror. _Vampire heads._

"The vampires that gave you a hard time earlier today," a sinister voice whispered from behind her.

Marguerite spun around and gasped. Every nerve in her body warned her of the powerful aura the man possessed. He was dressed in all black, mud and blood clinging to his legs and shoes. He looked to be in his forties, there were a few lines around his mouth and eyes which were two dark blue pools that sent a shiver down her spine. "Who are you?" she asked. There was something about him, something different, ancient, and extremely powerful. She felt fear coiling in her stomach. "How did you know-" she looked back at the heads and felt nauseous all of a sudden. She had a confrontation with the two young and impertinent vampires earlier that day. She remembered their faces clearly. There had hardly been anyone to witnessed it and yet, this stranger…she eyed him warily.

The man chuckled. "You would be surprised at all the gossip one learns in a single day in this chaotic city." He took a step closer. Marguerite immediately took a step back. The man smiled pleased by her fear. "I brought you these heads as a gift," he told her simply. "You are the elder of the Garden District coven, a powerful witch by all accounts, and I need a powerful witch to do a couple of spells for me."

Somehow, she knew he wasn't asking. "My magic is not as powerful as it once was," Marguerite retorted bitterly. "The witches of New Orleans are no longer connected to the Ancestors, surely you heard rumors of that."

"I did."

"Then you know I can't help you."

"On the contrary," the man replied. "You are going to be of great help to me."

Marguerite stared at him, the fear invading her body increasing with each passing second. "Who are you?"

"My name is Mikael."

The name was familiar, she had heard it before but she couldn't remember from where. "Michael…" she repeated trying to remember why the name sounded so familiar to her ears. "What spells do you need from me?" she asked curiously. He was dangerous but if he could kill vampires, he could be a great ally to her cause.

Mikael grinned. "First, I need a daylight ring and then, I need you to locate someone for me. Someone I thought dead for a long time but whom I believe could still be alive."

"You're one of them…" Marguerite murmured with disbelief. _How could she had not been able tell he was a vampire?_ "You kill your own kind."

"Indeed," Mikael smirked.

Marguerite felt curious about this strange vampire hunter who had brought her two heads as a present. _You could use him,_ her mind whispered _. He could be the weapon you need to dethrone the Bennett queen._ "Who is the person you are trying to locate?" she asked with mild curiosity. For now, it was best to keep him talking, to find out as much about him as possible.

Mikael pulled out a silver starling pendant from his pocket, and showed it to her. "My daughter Freya."

Marguerite let out a shaky breath as she contemplated what to do. She knew she was about to make a deal with the devil, one that could destroy her but at the same time the opportunity this creature presented…it didn't take long to come to a decision. "Perhaps, we could help each other." She took a deep breath and used her magic to unlock her door. This could either turn out to be the best decision she ever made or the worst. "Would you like to come in?"


	83. Chapter 83

**I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **New Orleans**

"I'm serious," Marcel told Cami as leaned closer, their foreheads lightly touching. The sweet scent of her perfume engulfed him, and he groaned in appreciation, using all his self-control not to steal a kiss form her rosy lips.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Cami muttered with a nervous laugh. Her eyes lowered towards his lips and she bit her bottom lip wondering what it would be like to kiss him. The two of them had been flirting and sharing drinks for the past half an hour and were more than ready to take their conversation somewhere more private. It was a surprisingly quiet night at Rousseau's and even though her shift was over, Marcel had convinced her to stay and have a drink with him. The two of them had been getting really cozy lately and the tension between them was building to an almost unbearable point.

"Only the pretty ones," Marcel offered her a sexy smirk while serving her another round.

Cami giggled. "You think I'm pretty?" her eyes lingered on his lips once more, something that did not go unnoticed by him.

Marcel traced the side of her face with his index finger and drew her chin up. "I do," his hooded gaze pierced right through her soul.

Cami closed her eyes, heart racing, and cheeks turning pink. Her eyes flew open just as Marcel leaned closer. Before he could kiss her however, Thierry appeared at their table, and cleared his throat.

"This better be good," Marcel groaned in annoyance. If looks could kill Thierry would be six feet under.

"Trust me, it is." Thierry tilted his head to the side and motioned Marcel to follow him. "You want to see this."

Cami sighed and looked down at her drink; any desire she had felt had quickly evaporated.

Marcel hated the disappointed look he saw on her face. "I'll be back," he promised and kissed her cheek before following Thierry out of the bar at vampire speed.

Cami watched them go sadly. She grabbed her purse, paid for the drinks, and headed out of the bar, walking in the opposite direction.

Thierry took Marcel to an alley a few blocks away from the bar. A handful of vampires was already there as were two of Klaus's hybrids, Felix and Riley. There was even a cop who was being compelled to go away by a daywalker.

"A tourist found the bodies," Thierry informed Marcel. "He called the cops." The tourist had already been compelled to leave.

Marcel followed the trail of blood on the pavement which led straight to the corpses, a total of five, but two of them were missing their heads.

"These three were drained completely of blood," Thierry pointed to the three vampires. "While these two, were beheaded." He pointed to the rest of the corpses. "We haven't been able to find the heads."

Marcel crouched down in front of one of the bodies, inspecting it quietly before glancing up in Felix's direction. "Any witnesses?"

"None," Felix replied nonchalantly. "Unless you want to count the tourist who stumbled on the bodies."

"Did you talk to him?"

"A drunk college kid, had nothing useful to say. I compel him to leave and forget what he saw." Unlike the nervous vampires gathered around the alley, Felix was calm and composed and so was Riley. The two hybrids did not seem in the least perturbed by the gory scene.

"Why would a vampire drain his own kind?" Thierry asked out loud.

"What I want to know is why he took two of the heads," Riley muttered. "It doesn't make any sense."

Marcel studied the vicious bite marks on the three bodies that had been left with their heads. Yes, this was clearly the work of another vampire. He felt a chill descent down his spine as he stared at the brutal bite marks. His brain registered the images but his mind, his mind was somewhere else, one hundred years into the past to be exact. _No,_ he thought as fear began to take root in the pit of his stomach. He had seen something like this only once before. There was only one vampire that fed on other vampires.

 _Mikael_

The monster all other monsters feared. One hundred years ago, he had left a trail of drained bodies in the city, after Marcel had invited him to come. The city had nearly been destroyed that night. _No,_ Marcel thought. _This can't be happening_. As far as he knew, Mikael was dead, there was no way he had returned. He immediately sent a quick text to Klaus and stood up. _What the hell were they going to do if Mikael was truly back? How in the world had that even happened?_

Felix watched Marcel curiously. "You know who did this, don't you?" Felix had always been observant and he had not missed the recognition that flickered over Marcel's eyes as he saw the corpses. The ex-king had seen something like this before, he probably knew who was behind it.

"I have a feeling," Marcel responded in a whisper. "And for the sake of this city, I hope I'm wrong."

If Mikael was truly back, then they were all screwed.

* * *

 **The Compound**

"Are you angry?" Davina asked Bonnie while fidgeting nervously. Bonnie had asked Kol to give her a moment with Davina and her _boyfriend_ had reluctantly complied. It had been her idea to come clean to Bonnie first, but now Davina felt afraid that she would be against their relationship.

"No, not at all," Bonnie was quick to respond. "I'm just…surprised. A few days ago, you and Kol wouldn't talk to each other and now you're dating."

"I know, it just happened yesterday," Davina told her with a sheepish smile. "We talked, and we kissed, and now we're together." The happiness radiating off her was unmistakable.

"What about Oliver?"

"Oliver?" Davina made a face. "What about him?"

"You've been talking to him a lot," Bonnie replied. "I'm surprised he hasn't asked you out officially with how much he texts you. I just thought something might happen there…" she shrugged.

Davina laughed nervously. "He has asked me out," she reluctantly admitted.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for an explanation.

"I told him no," Davina said as she took a seat on the couch.

"I thought you liked him." Bonnie took a seat next to her.

"Not like that," Davina murmured. "He's nice but really boring and…" she bit her lip. "I was kind of using him to make Kol jealous," she finally confessed. It hadn't started out like that but seeing how irritated and jealous Kol got every time he caught her texting Oliver had prompted her to do it on purpose more often than not. "I know I shouldn't have done that but…" she shrugged. "I never made any promises to Oliver." While she had liked the attention, she had made it clear that she wasn't going to go out with him.

"You really like Kol, don't you?"

"Yeah," Davina's entire face lit up. "He makes me feel things I've never felt before. I…look I even have goosebumps," she showed Bonnie her arm. Remembering the heated kissed she and Kol had exchanged made her feel tingly inside.

Bonnie smiled and wrapped an arm around her. "I'm happy for you, Davina. I really am."

"So, you're okay with us dating?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Bonnie questioned in turn. "I want the two of you to be happy and if you have found that happiness with each other, I'm not going to get in the way of that."

Davina smiled, feeling ecstatic that Bonnie was giving them her support. "Thank-you." She threw her arms around Bonnie and hugged her fiercely. "You have no idea what that means to me."

Bonnie smiled as they pulled apart. "While I'm happy for both of you, and I'm glad to be the first person to know about this..." There was a serious look on her face as she contemplated Davina. "I don't think this is the best moment to let the rest of the family know."

"I know," Davina sighed.

"I'm not sure how Marcel will take it but Klaus is not in the best of moods," Bonnie told her quietly. Mikael had everyone on edge and Klaus was really frustrated, he could very well take out his frustration on Kol and that wasn't going to be good. "I suggest we keep this a secret for now. Until we can deal with Mikael, it's best if Klaus doesn't know."

Davina nodded. "Kol thinks Klaus might dagger him," she whispered fearfully. "I don't want Klaus or Marcel to hurt him, you saw how they acted when I danced with Oliver. Bonnie, please don't let Klaus dagger Kol, please. I can talk to Marcel, I can keep him in line but Klaus…"

"It won't come to that, I promise." Bonnie assured her. She wasn't going to let Klaus dagger any of his siblings and luckily for all of them, the daggers were safely locked away.

"Thank-you," Davina felt relived that Bonnie knew their secret and also extremely grateful for the support she was showing them. She trusted Bonnie and believed that she would not let any harm come to Kol. With Bonnie on their side, she knew no harm would come to Kol, and that sooner or later, the family was going to accept their relationship.

"Now tell me, who made the first move?"

Davina's face grew hot at the memory. "Well," she bit her lip before bursting into a nervous fit of giggles. "I did," she gushed and proceeded to happily tell Bonnie all about it.

* * *

 **The Bayou**

"So, let me get this straight, your evil father is the one responsible for the slaughter of my pack members?" Jackson crossed his arms over his chest and looked back and forth between Klaus and Elijah. He was furious at the scene he had stumbled upon and it was taken all his self control not to lash out at them.

"Yes, that's exactly what I said." Klaus gave him an irritated look. "Don't you speak English?"

Some of the wolves standing behind Jackson growled at Klaus. The hybrid rolled his eyes, as if those stupid children could intimidate him.

Elijah looked at the sky and begged for patience while Ishmael and Lucy watched the exchange nervously. The tension between the hybrid and Crescent Alpha was palpable and it was making everyone nervous. It was no secret that they disliked each other but on this night, that mutual disdain was slowly escalating to a boiling point.

"Why is your father attacking our pack?" Hayley asked Klaus. "We have a treaty-"

"Father doesn't give a damn about the treaty," Klaus muttered.

"He hates all werewolves," Elijah said. "He won't hesitate to kill all of you if given the chance."

"Are you threatening us?" Oliver took a brave step forward, looking more than ready to attack.

"Back off," Lucy ordered while she allowed her magic to surface.

The wolves shifted nervously but Oliver growled menacingly until Jackson shoved him back.

Klaus chuckled at the foolish display of courage while Elijah's eyes narrowed on the young impulsive wolf.

"Why is he in New Orleans now?" Ishmael asked them. "How is he..." he looked at Klaus, waiting for an explanation. As far as he had heard, the patriarch of the Original family had died.

"It's a long and complicated story," Elijah responded while still keeping an eye on Oliver. Translation, _we'll discuss it later and in private._

Ismael nodded. He understood that there were certain things Klaus and Elijah could not discuss with him given the presence of the Crescent wolves, so he kept all his questions and thoughts to himself.

"What all werewolves need to know is that they are not safe," Elijah continued as he looked at rest of the wolves. "Father has a particular grudge against werewolves."

"He kills them for sport as a matter of fact." There was a malicious smile on Klaus's lips as he said it. If Mikael were to slaughter the entire Crescent clan, he would be doing him a favor.

Hayley and Jackson exchanged nervous glances.

"Mikael was the one who started the war between vampires and werewolves by slaughtering most of our pack one thousand years ago," Ishmael informed them, his voice was calm but his eyes were angry. Because of Mikael his pack had suffered greatly, they had been forced to run, and live in the shadows for centuries.

"Why?" Jackson asked with genuine bafflement. "Why does he hate us so much?"

"All you need to know is that no wolf in the city is safe as long as Mikael is around," Klaus muttered. Few people knew the full story of his parentage, of the origin of the hatred between the werewolf and vampire species and he was definitely not going to sit down with Jackson and explained it to him.

"The why, the how, it doesn't matter," Elijah told them. "What matters is that we must protect our city at all cost."

"And how the hell are we supposed to do that when we can't even kill an Original?" Hayley snapped.

"Focus on warning your people of the danger lurking about," Klaus snapped back. "Leave Mikael to us, we'll handle him."

Neither Hayley nor Jackson, or their pack looked happy with that but thankfully, they all kept their mouths shut.

* * *

 **The Compound**

"You're joking right?" Matt crossed his arms over his chest, an angry look on his face.

"Until we can catch father, neither you, or Davina, or Charlotte are allowed out of the compound," Rebekah told him in a rather stern voice.

"I'm not a child Bekah!" Matt exclaimed. "I can take care of myself."

Rebekah gave him a look.

"I have my ring," Matt raised his hand and proudly showed her his ring. "I know how to use a crossbow and a gun too. And I have work! I can't be calling out all the time."

"I know that darling but this is a real emergency. We can't take the threat of father lightly. He won't hesitate to use you or the girls against us." Rebekah walked towards the window, pulling the curtains aside and staring at the streets below. The city was still lit with Christmas decorations and everyone was getting ready for the new year. Throngs of people were walking down the busy streets, happily ignorant of the creature that lurked in the shadows. _Are you out there watching us?_

"You don't think he's going to try and storm into the compound?" Matt asked.

"He's not stupid," Rebekah replied. "He knows the house is protected, there are powerful witches living here, he won't come, not alone." She knew her father well enough to know that Mikael was going to take his time and come up with an ingenious plan of attack. "But he will be watching us, he will be waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack." She turned back to face her lover. "He will use what we love against us."

Matt's anger evaporated at the worried look on her face. He knew Rebekah wanted to protect him, he knew that they would be fools to underestimate Mikael. "I'll call in sick," he mumbled.

"You don't have to work at the bar you know."

"I'm not going to live off your money," Matt retorted. They had this conversation before and he had made it clear that he was not with her so she could pay for everything. Besides he was saving up so they could move to a place of their own. "Lucy might come and work with me."

"Really?" This was the first time Rebekah was hearing about that.

"She's staying in the city permanently and her savings are running low, she came a few days ago and talked to my manager. I think she'll get the job."

"What does Elijah think of that?"

Matt shrugged. It's not like Lucy needed his permission to work, if Elijah didn't like it he was going to have to deal with it.

"Now, you're making me feel bad."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like I should get a job too."

Matt laughed at that. Rebekah was filthy rich, she didn't need to work and even though he loved her dearly he couldn't really see her working a regular job every day.

"Maybe I should get Finn a job, that should cheer him up." Rebekah sat on the edge of their bed and thought of her melancholic brother. She was going to let a couple more hours pass before checking on him again.

"How is he doing?" Matt sat next to her.

"He's Finn…" Rebekah sounded really sad. "I left him to ponder some things. I don't know. I hope I got to him."

"If anyone can that's you," Matt told her as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.

Rebekah smiled and snuggled against his side.

"Hopefully, he won't be too pissed with me when he comes out of that room," Matt said. He, Stefan, and Elena had ambushed Finn but he had been the one to deliver the final blow. Finn probably hated him.

"Don't take this the wrong way love but I still can't believe that you and that pathetic girl managed to best my brother," Rebekah felt angry that Elena had succeeded in killing not just one but two of her brothers.

Matt winced. "We took him by surprise, we were lucky I guess." He stared into her pretty face. "You think he hates me?"

"Considering the fact that he is starving himself and wishing to be dead, I say he'll be rather happy to see you," Rebekah answered. "He might even ask you to kill him again," she muttered under her breath.

"That's not funny."

"I wasn't joking," Rebekah retorted. She rested her head against Matt's shoulder. "I really hope he gives us a chance. I would hate to have him back just to lose him again."

"Isn't there anything, anyone that would make him change his mind?" Matt wondered. He knew how much Rebekah loved her brothers, how much she desired for all of them to be a family. Finn had luckily been given a second chance, he shouldn't waste it.

"The only person I can think of is dead," Rebekah murmured sadly and thought of her sister, Freya. If only she were alive to give Finn the hope he needed to continue living but sadly Freya was long gone. Their evil aunt had not only robbed them of knowing their sister but she had also robbed Freya of the chance to become immortal like them. Rebekah sighed and closed her eyes, her heart ached for Finn and for the sister she had never known. _How different things would have been if Freya had lived?_

Matt kissed the top of her head and continued to hold her tenderly in his arms. He hated seeing her so sad.

* * *

The Bennett queen and her coven met in the dining room. Joanna had prepared coffee and cookies for them as they delegated what the next step should be. Bonnie sat at the head of the table, Aunt Vivian to her right, and Joanna to her left.

"Where is that daughter of yours?" Vivian asked Joanna. "She should be here."

"She's with Elijah," Joanna responded as she filled her cup with coffee.

"They went to retrieve Esther's coffin," Bonnie explained.

"Shouldn't they be back by now?"

Bonnie didn't say anything but her eyes immediately went to her phone. She had not heard from Lucy or Elijah or Klaus for that matter and she was worried. The bond told her that Klaus was alright, irritated, and feeling paranoid but fine and her connection to her cousin also let her know what Lucy was alive and well. If they didn't return soon, Bonnie was going to go look for them.

"What are we going to do about that retched creature?" Diana asked the group.

"I can desiccate him," Bonnie told them. It was the best plan of action she had.

"Desiccating him and dumping him in a prison world would be our best bet," Joanna approved of Bonnie's plan.

"I guess burning him alive is out of the question?" Kyra asked. There were a couple of chuckles around the room as everyone knew her love of fire.

"Originals can't be killed by fire," Bonnie told her. "I'll talk to the Bennetts on the other side and see if there are any empty prisons left, or we can create one like Ayana did with Esther."

"With those in-laws you have, I rather never marry at all," Beatrice teased Bonnie. "No matter how handsome your future hubby might be, his family are a pain in the ass."

"Don't be ridiculous child," Vivian was horrified by her comment. "You must marry one day. All of you must, and have babies to continue our prestigious bloodline."

A few of the older Bennetts nodded in agreement. The young Bennett witches however, rolled their eyes; it was something they had been hearing a lot from the elders of the coven. Vivian, Diana, Lucrecia, and Amina were all determined to preserve the Bennett bloodline and were not so subtly encouraging their young charges to get married and pop a handful of babies to secure their legacy.

Bonnie expected Vivian to go on a rant about the importance of their bloodline, and how the future depended on them and their children but to her surprise, her aunt left it at that.

"So, we have a plan," Adriane spoke. "Now what we need to do is find the bastard."

"I'm pretty sure he's cloaked," Lenore told them before taking a sip of her coffee.

Joanna nodded. "None of the locator spells we tried worked. We have no clue where he is or how to find him."

"The shadows are probably helping him to stay under the radar," Vivian murmured. Some of the shadows had escaped from the in-between when Bonnie, Finn, and Mikael had been brought back and were no doubt causing havoc. "We must imprison them too."

"We will," Bonnie was determined to capture all of them and lock them up for good.

"How the hell did those creatures find a way to resurrect two Original vampires?" Tinisha questioned the group.

"They probably fed on Bonnie's energy," Vivian theorized. "That's probably why he took you to the in-between, to fuel their spell with your power."

Bonnie looked down at her cup of coffee, feeling guilty. Mikael had taken everyone off guard and succeeded in kidnapping her and taking her to the in-between where the shadows would have killed her if given the chance. _I should really start taking some self defense class,_ she thought. _And make it harder for my enemies to catch me unaware._

"Yeah but that doesn't explain how they were able to transport themselves from the in-between to the prison world," Adriana said.

"And even if they drew on Bonnie's energy, that's one heck of a spell," her sister Cecily pointed out. "They can't be that powerful, can they?"

"The eclipse."

All eyes turned to Amina, who calmly added more sugar to her coffee and took a bite of her chocolate chip cookie.

With everything that had happened, Bonnie had completely forgotten about the eclipse. "What do you mean, aunt Amina?" she watched her aunt curiously.

"Can't you feel it?" Amine asked her instead.

Bonnie shook her head as did the younger Bennett witches.

"I don't feel anything," Sofia muttered.

"There is a strange surge of magic in the air," Amina murmured. She took a sip of her coffee and moaned in appreciation. "It's hardly noticeable now but tomorrow…" she looked at the other elders of the coven who nodded in agreement. They could all feel something happening.

"The eclipse is making magic stronger?" Bonnie asked.

"Indeed," Amina stared into her face as she spoke. "That surge of power no doubt helped the shadows."

"Tomorrow is the lunar eclipse and magic during any eclipse is unpredictable," Lucrecia added.

Bonnie and all the younger Bennetts frowned upon hearing that.

"No eclipse is ever the same," Aunt Vivian explained to them. "There is no way to tell how they are going to affect magic until the moment it happens. Magic could act one way in the days leading to the eclipse and do the completely opposite on the day of."

"Judging by the way so many people wanted to use this eclipse for their evil deeds, and the fact that it will happen as we greet the new year, leads me to believe that this is going to be a rare and extraordinary experience." Diana who sat next to her granddaughter Beatrice moved her eyes over all the Bennetts gathered in the long dining room table. "Mark my words girlies, this eclipse will be unlike anything we have ever seen."

"So, you're saying we should wait for the eclipse to pass before going after Mikael." Bonnie did not like the sound of that at all.

"The longer we wait the stronger he gets," Tinisha echoed Bonnie's thoughts. "He's just a fucking vampire. We can take him."

"Watch your language," Vivian chided her.

Tinisha rolled her eyes.

"A vampire that has the help of the shadows," Cecily reminded her.

"Which is why we need to stop him now," Adriane snapped before turning to Bonnie, "I say we go for it."

Bonnie looked at Aunt Vivian in turn.

"I would advise you to wait until after the eclipse."

Bonnie didn't like the somber look in her great aunt's face, she turned to the other elders of the coven, wanting to hear their opinion.

"I would advise the same, my queen."

"As would I."

Amina and Lucrecia agreed with Vivian while Diana remained quiet for a couple more seconds. She contemplated her cup of coffee before staring into Bonnie's face. "I think waiting will be the best course of action. We don't know how our magic will act tomorrow, it would be best to abstain completely from any sort of spells."

"Waiting one day won't hurt," Lenore told Bonnie. "If anything it will gives us a chance to be more prepared."

Joanna nodded in agreement.

Silence descended over the group as Bonnie pondered their words. Mikael was hell-bent on destroying his children and the longer they left him out there, the more damage he would cause. _But if the eclipse had a negative effect on their magic what then?_ They couldn't risk it, Bonnie knew that if their magic didn't work properly they would be toast. _Not unless we bring the daggers into play,_ her mind suggested. _Absolutely not,_ Bonnie was not going to risk that.

The eyes of her coven were on her, waiting for her final decision. "We will wait until the eclipse is over to go after Mikael," she said in a commanding voice. It was the best option and they all knew it. Some like Tinisha and Kyra didn't look too happy with Bonnie's decision but they respected it, and accepted her orders. At the end of the day, the queen's word was law.

 _Just one day,_ Bonnie thought. _We can wait one day._

* * *

 **French Quarter**

"Please tell me that this is not what I think it is?" Marcel said to Klaus as soon as he laid eyes on him.

"This is exactly what you think it is," Klaus responded, his eyes immediately going over the bodies. They had been brought inside an old storage unit as neither Klaus or Marcel wanted word to spread of the murder of five vampires.

Elijah was not far behind, crouching down to inspect the bodies while Lucy stayed by the door, she had seen more than enough dead bodies in a single day. Marcel nodded in her direction and she gave him a small smile and a little wave.

"How odd," Elijah murmured. "He drained three but decapitated the other two?"

"Who are they?" Klaus asked Marcel.

"They were some of the last vampires I turned before you took over," Marcel responded. "College kids, a bit cocky but they took to vampirism like ducks to water."

"There must be a reason he beheaded these two," Elijah said to Klaus. "He's been dead for months, he was probably starving mad when he came back. He must have encountered the wolves by chance, killed them out of spite, and then came to the Quarter, seeking vampires to feed from-"

"Hold up," Marcel intervened. "Killed what wolves?" He looked back and forth between both brothers.

"Crescent wolves, he slaughtered a group in the Bayou," Klaus responded. "We presumed before he headed here." Mikael would never have dared to feed on werewolves, he considered them beneath him, and he didn't feed on humans either, unless it was strictly necessary. He had clearly come to the quarter to feed.

"Maybe he's trying to send a message," Lucy suggested.

"If he wanted to send a message to us he would have picked vampires closer to our family," Klaus glanced at Marcel. "Or my hybrids." He looked at the headless corpses once more. "I want to know everything there is to know about these two," he told Marcel as he pointed at the bodies. "Everything they did today, who they talked to, who they saw, who their friends and enemies are. I want an account of every single one of their movements in the past twenty-four hours." He felt certain those two vampires were the key. Mikael had killed them for a reason and Klaus was determined to find out.

Marcel nodded. "How the hell is he back?" he asked his sire. It was the question that had been plaguing his mind all night. "You said you killed him."

"He found a way to return to life," Klaus responded simply.

Marcel cursed loudly. "There will be thousands of people in the Quarter tomorrow, innocent people," he told them. "It's new year's eve, there is an eclipse, every corner of this city is going to be packed with tourists, locals, families, _kids_ …" he emphasized. Every single one of them was going to be in danger with Mikael roaming free. "If your father decides to show up and make a spectacle of them like he did before-"

"Like you helped him do before, you mean," Klaus spat viciously.

Marcel flinched. He did not want to be reminded of that.

"What a magnificent play it was, wasn't it, Marcellus?"

Marcel's jaw clenched.

"You played your part rather well," Klaus's eyes turned slightly gold as the memory assaulted his brain. He walked closer. "I thought he killed you." He came to stand right in front of Marcel, eyes pinning him in place. "I mourned you but the whole time, you were in on his little plan…" one hundred years later, and that betrayal still hurt.

Elijah took a step closer to them, ready to intervene should any violence break out while Lucy watched them, her magic also ready to stop them should they decided to fight.

There was nothing Marcel could say in his defense, nothing that was worth mentioning anyway. He stood there and force himself to meet Klaus's eyes.

"You don't need to remind me of the spectacle father made one hundred years ago," Klaus hissed in his face. "I lived through it, I watched my city crumble, and burn as I was force to flee thinking that my son had been brutally murdered." _Feeling guilty for not being able to protect him,_ was left unsaid. "But it was all a big lie, for you were never dead. You were on _his side_ all along." That was what hurt the most.

"I'm sorry," Marcel whispered. He hadn't known Mikael planned to burn the city, he had no idea just how vicious and terrifying Mikael was until he met him. He had arrogantly believed he was calling the shots and Mikael had let him think so. But in the end, he had gotten his way. Mikael always got his way.

Klaus didn't say anything else, he just gave Marcel one last unreadable look before disappearing out of there at vampire speed.

Marcel watched him go, feeling inexplicably sad.

"I would advise you to be careful," Elijah came to stand next to him. "Father knows of your connection to Klaus, of your connection to our family, I wouldn't put it past him to try and use you."

"I'm not going to hide," Marcel snapped. He didn't like Elijah's condescending tone.

"That's your prerogative," Elijah said calmly. "You are one of the few people that has lived through Mikael's terror, you know what we are dealing with. If you see him, don't try to be the hero, run in the opposite direction because make no mistake Marcel, whatever friendly terms you had with him one hundred years ago, won't stop him from killing you now."

Marcel wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what kind of monster they were dealing with. "You don't need to worry about me, Elijah. I can take care of myself." It was the safety of another that worried him the most. "Davina…" he whispered. Davina was at the heart of the Mikaelson family and as such she was a prime target.

"Davina is safe, you have my word that father won't hurt her." Mikael would never get close to Davina, or Charlotte, or the twins. Even if it was the last thing he did on this earth, Elijah was going to keep them safe.

"We'll keep her safe," Lucy promised him.

"I'll hold you to that," Marcel said to them.

Elijah walked towards Lucy, taking her gently by the arm. The two disappeared in a blink, leaving Marcel alone with his conflicting thoughts. _I need a drink,_ he thought. _No, I need a fucking bottle._

It was going to be a very long, long, night.

* * *

Mikael contemplated the new lapis lazuli ring on his finger and waited impatiently for Marguerite to finish her spell. He was in the dinning room of Marguerite's home, staring at a small painting depicting the _Last Supper_. He tapped his foot impatiently and glanced over his shoulder at the table filled with candles, a copper bowl filled with water and rose petals, and a large crystal ball. Marguerite had her eyes closed, hands clutching the starling pendant that Freya had made for him. She was chanting in her native French, the words spilling furiously out of her lips as she used every last bit of magic she possessed to find out the truth about his daughter.

 _Twenty-minutes and thirty-five seconds_ , Mikael counted in his head. _Thirty-six seconds, thirty-seven, thirty-eight.._. Patience had never really been his forte, not in his younger years certainly. It was something he had to learn as a leader, as a warrior, and it had come with age and experience. He had needed all the patience in the world to hunt his bastard and his children through the centuries but at this very moment, he felt anything but patience.

The longer Marguerite took to complete the spell, the more irritated Mikael got, _the angrier_ he became. The hunger pains were starting once more. Draining three vampires had helped his newly restored body but he needed more blood. He had spent months dead, and his nature demanded to be sated. He had fun ripping those vile werewolves to shreds but he would never lower himself to drink from them. Killing werewolves had always been a favorite pastime of his and it seemed the old gods favored his favorite sport for they had placed a group of arrogant pups in his way. His lips curved as he recalled the thrill, the glorious feeling of proving to them who was the superior creature. As he thought back to the carnage he had left in the bayou, the hunger intensified. He needed more blood.

"Something is blocking me."

Marguerite's low murmur brought Mikael out of his thoughts. He turned around to face her, an angry growl escaping from his chest. "I thought you were supposed to be a competent witch," he snapped.

Marguerite glared at him and leaned back against her chair. "And I told you, my magic is not as strong as it used to be. My connection to the Ancestors is gone and that has diminished my powers considerably."

"I don't want to hear your excuses, keep trying."

Marguerite pressed her lips together and dropped the starling pendant on the table. "I need a moment," she told him.

Mikael shook his head. "I always knew the witches in this filthy city were mediocre at best but this…" his mocking laughter echoed around the candle lit room and sent shivers down Marguerite's spine.

"You creatures love to talk and belittle us but you always come seeking our help," Marguerite refused to show signs of fear. She had to put a strong face against the monster she had willingly invited into her home. "You would be nothing without us, you wouldn't even exist without our magic, without our-"

"Don't try and give me lessons about the beginnings of the vampire race witch," Mikael interrupted as he took a couple of steps closer, successfully intimidating her. "I was there, I know exactly how it went."

Marguerite watched him warily, knowing that he could attack her at any moment. It was best not to provoke him. _What have you gotten yourself into?_ She wondered fearfully.

"Try again," Mikael commanded.

Marguerite had no choice but to do so. If she wanted to continue with this alliance, she had to comply with his demands. She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, keeping her emotions in check. She met Mikael's cold and calculating gaze. "Give me your hand?" she extended her left palm while grabbing the starling pendant with her right.

Mikael looked down at her outstretched hand before staring at her face impassively.

"You are a thousand years old," Marguerite answered his unspoken question. "You were created by magic, I can channel that power. I can use your strength to enhance my spell and find your daughter."

Mikael contemplated her words carefully before slowly taking her hand in his.

Marguerite gasped as she felt the surge of power as their hands connected. The candles on the table flickered before the flames grew stronger and almost shot up high into the ceiling. "Oh yes…" Marguerite breathed feeling every nerve in her body come alive. The incredible power Mikael possessed, his age, his strength, it gave her magic an incredible boost. She closed her eyes and began chanting in French once more.

An image came to her as clear as water, a girl with curly blonde hair and green eyes. So young, so innocent, so loved…

 _Freya_

The image changed quickly.

 _Freya hugging her father. Her happy squeals echoing around the forest as Mikael lifted her up in his arms._

" _For you papa."_

 _A starling pendant, created by her own magic, and forged by the love she felt for him._

Marguerite squeezed Mikael's hand, sucking on his energy to fuel her spell, to see beyond time and space.

" _Mama!"_

" _No!"_

Marguerite whimpered when she felt the fear, the anguish of a little girl that was ripped away from her mother's arms.

 _"No please!"_

Marguerite saw a young pretty woman, heavily pregnant pleading, begging someone not to take her child, next to her was a little boy crying inconsolably.

" _Mama!"_

Freya's heart wrenching screams echoed inside Marguerite's mind.

"What do you see?" Mikael asked, watching her intensely.

"Your daughter was taken away…" Marguerite felt overwhelmed by it all. Freya had left an imprint of herself in her pendant, a piece of her heart, her soul, and magic. It was exhilarating, that something created by a child could have so much power.

"Yes, I know that," Mikael snapped as he squeezed her hand hard.

Marguerite whimpered. "You're going to break my fingers," she warned.

Mikael ignored her. "Tell me, does she live?" the desperation in his voice could not be masked, he needed to know if his daughter was alive. "Tell me!" He shouted.

Marguerite pushed hard, channeling all the power she could from the Original gripping her hand. She pushed, and pushed, until her head felt like it was splitting in half and her skin burned to a melting point. Even her nose started to bleed.

"Is Freya alive?" Mikael demanded to know.

"I…" Marguerite floated in an endless sky, searching for an answer. The pendant burned in her hand, the heat spreading from her palm, to her elbow, and even up to her shoulder and neck. The clouds became darker, far more sinister, and a cold sweat began descending over her body. Marguerite moaned in pain as a strong wind slammed through her and pushed her away. Something or someone clearly didn't want her there. _Freya_ , Marguerite chanted in French. _Can you hear me? Can you feel me? Are you still alive?_

The windows of Marguerite's home were suddenly thrown open, a terrible wind swept inside, and Marguerite and Mikael were blasted apart by an unknown power.

The candles died out.

The bowl fell from the table and onto the floor, the water soaking the carpet.

The pendant fell down on the table.

Mikael and Marguerite were flung in opposite directions. He recovered quickly, standing up, and looking around the room. His senses alerting him to an alien presence which vanished as quickly as it had come.

Marguerite's back connected with the wall before she slumped down on the floor, breathing heavily, and bleeding from her nose and ears. Her body protested as she pulled herself into a sitting position, wiping the blood from her nose with the back of her hand. She could feel Mikael's eyes on her but she ignored him, focusing on getting herself under control.

Each of Mikael's steps echoed insider her mind, a menacing sound that had every hair in her body standing up. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for the next hundred years or so but she knew she couldn't. As long as that creature was in her home, she would not know peace. _You should have known better than to invite him in,_ her mind reproached her. _What is done is done,_ she fired back.

Marguerite raised her head and met his eyes. "Someone tried to block me, someone pushed me out before I could really see…I'm not exactly sure who or what…" the words hurtled out of her. She felt shaken by the whole experience.

Mikael growled, looming over her, and looking far more dangerous than ever.

Marguerite shivered and swallowed the knot in her throat. "I don't know how it can be possible," she whispered. "But your daughter is alive," she said at last.

Mikael blinked a few times as the words sunk in. A strange sound emerged from deep within. "Freya…" he whispered her name with reverence and if Marguerite didn't know any better, she would have ventured to say with love."My Freya lives…" his hand shook as he clutched the pendant close. Marguerite hadn't even notice he had taken it from the table.

"I saw her. Before whatever it was that pushed me out," Marguerite licked her chapped lips. "I never felt anything like it, that dark and sinister power…" her legs felt like jelly but she managed to get on her feet.

Mikael watched her almost hungrily, hanging on to each and every word that came out of her mouth.

"Whoever it was, it doesn't want her to be found." She felt afraid, she had just poked an angry magical bear and something told her it was not going to end well. There was a fearful look on her face as she watched Mikael. "Whoever has your daughter is pure evil…"

Mikael's hands clenched at his sides, a low growl rumbling through his chest. "Dahlia…" he spat the word with venom. That retched whore was going to regret taking his daughter. Even if it was the last thing he did on this earth, Mikael was going to find them, he was going to find his daughter, and he was going to destroy her captor. Dahlia was going to regret taking his little girl. "Where?" his voice sounded desperate to his own ears but he didn't give a damn. Freya was alive, his daughter was alive, and that was all that mattered to him. "Tell me where she is?" He would go to the ends of the earth in order to get her back. "You saw where she is?"

Marguerite hugged herself and nodded. "I saw a glimpse, a city..." she whispered. _Oh god,_ she thought fearfully. _What evil will descend upon us now?_

"Tell me!" Mikael shouted.

"She's here…" Marguerite said in a trembling voice. "Your daughter is in New Orleans."


	84. Chapter 84

**Happy New Year!**

* * *

Bonnie's eyes flew open, sensing his presence in their room. She sat up and pushed her hair away from her face, green eyes on the figure standing by the balcony. Trust Klaus to jump straight to their room rather than use the front door.

Klaus didn't say anything, he simply dumped the duffel bag by the foot of the bed, and proceeded to take his leather jacket off. The conflicting emotions he felt had been enough to arose her from a deep slumber.

 _Irritation_

 _Uncertainty_

 _Thirst_

 _And a strong desire to shift into a wolf and run free_

The emotions were so strong, Bonnie had to close her eyes and take a deep breath in order to absorb them. She was used to the bond, it had become a constant part of her, she relied on it a lot, specially when Klaus was out, but today they were overwhelming. Bonnie had gotten used to feeling his emotions as if they were her own, she could differentiate between his moods and hers but there was something about the emotions he was experiencing right now. She opened her eyes just in time to see Klaus taking his shirt off and heading towards the bathroom. "You're in a mood," she commented while standing up and following him.

The twins were sleeping peacefully in their crib, which was close to their bed. Bonnie glanced at them before entering the bathroom.

At first, she assumed his bad mood had to do with Mikael, with the anger he felt towards the man he still called father and the desire to trap him but as she savored the emotions floating through their bond, she realized that Klaus's anger, his thirst, and the desire to run away had nothing to do with Mikael but with his wolf side. That primal side of his that was always carefully under control. Bonnie frowned. Klaus's wolf side was definitely agitated. _Is it because of the eclipse?_ She wondered suddenly. There was something supernatural about the lunar eclipse they were expecting that night, everyone would be affected but she supposed wolves would feel it more so than the rest as they had a special connection with the moon.

Bonnie looked over her shoulder and eyed the duffel bag by the foot of their bed, she didn't need to be a witch to know exactly what was in there. She turned back to look at Klaus. "You got the daggers." She couldn't mask the anger in her voice. Klaus had done exactly what he said he wasn't going to do, exactly what she didn't want him to do. "You said-"

"I didn't get the white oak, just the ash daggers."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "Klaus-"

"Those are the only weapons that can neutralize Mikael," he reminded her harshly while taking his shirt off. "We need them." She looked ready to protest but he didn't let her. "I'm immune to them, remember? Having them in the house won't hurt me. They can never be used against me, besides it will be good for you to have one."

"Me?" Bonnie gave him an incredulous look. "I'm a witch Klaus, I-"

"And what if Mikael catches you off guard again?" Klaus challenged as he came to stand in front of her.

Bonnie couldn't argue with him on that. Mikael had kidnapped her after all and managed to placed chains on her to prevent her from using magic, the bastard had many tricks under his sleeve. Klaus wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing their bodies closer together. Bonnie looked up into his face and rested her hands on his naked chest. "You really want to give me one of those daggers?" she knew how important those daggers were for the Original family.

"You're one of the few people that I can trust with them," Klaus cupped her cheek. "There are five in total and I plan to give one to Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah. If father attacks, they'll have the opportunity-"

"To use it against him and put him down," Bonnie finished for him. It was easier said than done, considering that Mikael was older and stronger than his children but it was better than nothing. She could see his logic in that regard. "What about Finn?" she asked suddenly.

Klaus groaned and the irritation he felt increased. "Finn has been nothing more than a big headache," he muttered as he pulled away from her. "Daggering him will probably do him good."

 _Annoyance, distrust, anger…and a twinge of guilt._

Bonnie could feel all of it. "You know that's not going to solve anything."

"And setting him lose will?"

"It might help you with the guilt you feel."

Klaus snorted but there was a solemn look on his face as he contemplated her. "I always assumed he was in a deep slumber, completely unaware of the passage of time. I don't even know why I feel guilty," he muttered. "We've never been close anyway."

"He's your brother." Bonnie gave him a knowing look. "No matter how many centuries you have been at odds with each other, you care about him. You love him like you love Elijah, and Kol; even if you are not as close to him as you are to them."

Klaus's jaw clenched and he looked away.

"If you truly wanted to dagger him you would have done so already," Bonnie murmured. She knew him too well, she knew deep down he cared more about Finn than he wished to admit out loud. "You always wanted a family, and for better or for worse, Finn is a part of your family…a part of _our family_."

Silence descended over them as he mulled over her words. Deep down, he knew she was right.

Klaus pulled his pants down, stripping naked right in front of her, and getting inside the shower. "Want to join me?" he asked, his lips curling into that familiar sexy smirk of his as he looked at her over his shoulder.

Bonnie gasped, eyes immediately zeroing on his ass. She shook her head and recovered quickly. "Seriously?" Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest and watched him carefully. She was baffled by the abrupt change in conversation. She also made it a point not to look down past his waist again. She needed to keep her eyes firmly planted on his face. She vowed not to get distracted by his naked body _._

Klaus's blue eyes suddenly turned a deep amber hue, he looked her up and down, staring deeply into her eyes as a wave of lust slammed through her through their bond.

 _Oh boy_ , Bonnie thought looking way from his heated gaze. Her entire body shook by the force of his desire, by the need, and that thirst that made her skin itchy and her throat feel tight. She swallowed, feeling strangely thirsty as well. She recalled with perfection the rich and addictive taste of his blood. Memories of the previous full moons they had shared together surfaced, assaulting her brain with an unexpected viciousness that made her knees feel weak, and her nipples harden instantly. Their couplings on the full moon had always been intense, and the blood they shared had always strengthened and intensified their existing bond. Bonnie grabbed the doorknob, needing to hold something as a wave of heat invaded her body.

Klaus purred, a smug look on his handsome face. He still hadn't turn on the shower, taking his sweet time watching her react to his emotions.

"Stop it," Bonnie snapped, knowing full well that he was doing it on purpose. "Stop doing that."

"Doing what, sweetheart?" he asked in his most innocent voice. His eyes, those sinful yellow eyes said a completely different thing, however. _Can you feel how much I want you right now?_

 _Why don't you get in here?_

"You know we can't," Bonnie said in a rather serious voice. Dr. Mayfair had told her that they should wait at least three weeks after the birth of the twins to resume any physical activities. Truth be told, Bonnie didn't think she would be ready then. Her body had changed, she still had extra weight, her boobs were huge and if she wasn't breastfeeding, she was changing diapers. She felt more like a cow than a woman and while Klaus's emotions stirred something inside her, her libido was pretty much nonexistence at the moment. Unfortunately for him, sex was the last thing on her mind.

The smirk instantly dropped from his lips, and the playfulness was replaced by a dark cloud over his features. The gold hue of his eyes diminished until it disappeared completely. Now it was his turn to feel the echo of her emotions, to feel her lack of desire.

"It's not that I don't want you," Bonnie said seeing the disappointed look on his face. "I just gave birth a few days ago and my hormones are all over the place, and-"

"I know, love."

 _Understanding_ floated through the bond, followed quickly by an immense amount of love and adoration. Bonnie smiled softly, enjoying the tingling sensation that overcame her body as his love for her engulfed her.

"The eclipse is affecting you, isn't it?" The full moon always brought about his most bestial side, and she knew the eclipse would not be the exception.

Klaus nodded. "Since the sun rose this morning, I feel this strange urge to shift," he admitted. His eyes became gold once more and that aura of ancient power surfaced without him meaning too. While he had found the perfect harmony between his wolf and vampire sides, the wolf was being a little stronger on this day. "I spoke with Ishmael earlier," he continued as he regained control. "All the wolves that can shift are going to gather in the Bayou like usual and hunt under the red moon." He had given strict orders that no wolf would remain in the city after sundown. He didn't want any accidents with so many tourists and locals walking about. "He told me that with the eclipse, the shift will be more intense, that our strength and thirst for blood will increase tenfold." He turned his back to her, finally turning the shower on. He needed a nice cold shower.

"Will you go as well?" Bonnie asked while she watched him through the glass door. When Klaus looked at her, the air left her lungs. There was something very sensual, very alluring about him in that moment. As a vampire, Klaus had always had that nature but she found him irresistible on this particular morning, everything that made him sexy seemed to be amplified.

"Perhaps," he murmured. While he felt the strong urge to shift and hunt in his wolf form, he also felt the yearning to be with her, to lose himself in her like he had done on all the previous full moons. _But you can't tonight,_ his mind reminded him.

Bonnie contemplated him for a couple of seconds before exiting the bathroom, a pensive look on her face. There was something in the air, something that was making her feel on edge. While Klaus showered, she stood on the balcony of their bedroom, contemplating the clear sky. It was a beautiful sunny morning. It looked like another regular morning in the Quarter, but there was something underneath, a strange kind of electricity building with each passing hour. Klaus's superior hybrid senses had already picked up on it, and his wolf nature was reacting to it; her own witch senses were slowly coming to feel it as well. She felt strangely nervous and uncertain all of a sudden. She absently touched the necklace around her neck, the one she always wore. _Please don't let anything bad happen tonight_. She could only hope the eclipse would not bring bad things to their family.

* * *

" _Mama!" Freya's cries echoed through the forest._

" _No! Dahlia please!" His mother's cries followed suit. "Not my child, I beg you."_

 _There was nothing he could do, Finn simply stood still, tears rolling down his cheeks as he watched the unfolding scene. His mother gripped his hand tightly while with the other she clutched her heavy pregnant belly. "Dahlia," she was out of breath, running through the thick blanket of snow as she followed her sister. "Sister, I beg you…" the desperation in her voice cut through Finn like a knife._

 _Dahlia carried a crying Freya in her arms, her dark hair blowing with the wind. "We made a bargain, sweet sister." She turned around to face them, a devious smile gracing her lips. "You promise me your first born, remember?"_

" _Please," Esther's knees sank into the snow. "Please…" she begged and cried for her daughter. "Don't do this to me, please Dahlia…please…I'm begging you…"_

" _What is done cannot be undone, Esther." Dahlia sneered down at her. "I will have this child, just like I will have the first born of every generation of your bloodline." There was a strange sizzling in the air, a reminder of the magical oath they had made years before. "This is the price you must pay for the fertility of your womb."_

" _No…" Esther struggled to stand up but she couldn't._

" _When the time comes, I will come for your grandchildren…"_

" _No!" Esther screamed._

" _Mama!" Freya's little hands reached for her mother. She struggled on Dahlia's arms, desperately trying to free herself. Even her magic surfaced in her defense. "Mama!"_

 _The wind picked up and a couple of the birds seeking refuge from the snow amid the trees dropped down onto the snowy ground, black lifeless dots that surrounded all four of them._

 _Finn gasped as his sister's magic slid through them, hissing furiously._

" _A magnificent child," Dahlia murmured with pleasure. "So young and so powerful already, I knew it." Her eyes glinted. "She will be the first…and when the others come…"_

" _Please…" Esther begged, the anguish in her voice palpable. "Don't do this to me, Dahlia please."_

 _Finn continued to cry silently by her side, staring at Freya's red face. She was crying and fighting with everything she had to break free, while he just stood there, frozen with fear._

 _Dahlia only smirked as she pulled Freya tighter to her chest. Her magic easily suppressing hers and keeping a tight leash on her. "This is only the beginning," she hissed. "I will return," she promised before disappearing in a black cloud of smoke._

" _Mamaaaaaaa!" Freya's heart-breaking cries echoed around them._

" _Noooo!" A heartbroken Esther screamed in agony. She let go of Finn's hand and hit the snow with her hands, fingers digging into the white cotton and squeezing hard until it melted completely. Esther's cries echoed around the cold and desolate forest. She cried in the bitter cold until her throat was raw, and her lips had nearly turned purple. She cried, and cried, and cried._

 _Finn cried as well. He didn't know how to comfort his mother, he didn't know how to make things right again. Freya was gone. His beloved sister was gone and he did nothing._

"No…." Finn muttered as he trashed from side to side on the specious bed. "Freya…" he panted, hands reaching up into the air, fighting some invisible ghost and struggling to reach his sister in time. "I'm sorry." _I should've done something, I should've protected you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._ "Freya…" he called out to her like he always did in his dreams. "Freya…"

A dark aura pulsing nearby woke him as quick as lightning.

His eyes snapped open, and he sat up immediately, a cold sweat trickling down his back. His wild and unfocused eyes moved towards the door, where his brother Niklaus stood watching him silently.

"Bad dream?"

Finn looked away, hating how vulnerable he felt. He closed his eyes briefly and did his best to calm himself. _Don't let him see how weak you truly are,_ he told himself. He had always been plagued by nightmares. Ever since he was a child, he had been tormented by the memory of that snowy day. _She was your sister, father told you to keep her safe, and you failed._

His brother walked closer, an unreadable expression on his face.

It took every bit of self-control he possessed to remain sitting on the bed and not attempt to flee like a coward. "Have you come to dagger me?" Finn asked in a rather calm voice. It was strange to speak so calmly when inside he was a hurricane of fears, anxieties, and self-loathing.

"As much as I want to, Rebekah insists on wanting to be one big happy family," Klaus muttered darkly. "She told me she spoke with you, asked you to give us a chance…" his eyes darted towards the small table where the empty blood bags were. "It seems you made your choice."

Finn rested his arms on his legs and looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed of himself. The hunger had been too much, and far more powerful than his stubbornness. He had tried to resist the temptation the blood bags represented but in the end, he had been weak and given into the thirst he felt. _How weak and pathetic you are, Finn._ He could almost hear his father's voice inside his mind.

Niklaus pulled something out of his pocket and placed it gently on the bed, right next to him. Finn gasped when he saw what it was. "My daylight ring," he muttered while glancing at his brother's face, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Am I allowed out of this room then?"

"You are," Klaus responded simply. "If you betray me, I will kill you," he snarled, his eyes flashing gold briefly. "Make no mistake about that, brother."

Finn didn't say anything, he simply held his gaze, and nodded. It was the least he expected from Niklaus. Mercy had never been something his brother was known for. "You're doing this for Rebekah, aren't you?" When Klaus did not respond, he continued, "she's always been your favorite." There was no resentment or anger there, just simple understanding. "Ever since we were children, the two of you have always been thick as thieves." He smiled sadly. As much as he cared for Rebekah, he had never loved her or protected her the same way Niklaus had. "I knew what that was like, once upon a time."

"Freya," Klaus deduced with ease.

Finn nodded. There was a sad look on his face as he recalled the sweet memories of those first few years with his sister.

"You were dreaming about her," Klaus said as he watched him. Finn looked like a sad, wounded puppy. It was rather pathetic really, but he made no comment of it. As malicious as he was, he wasn't going to kick his brother when he was down. "You were calling out to her in your dream."

Finn looked down at the floor once more. "Memories of her have always haunted me." He wasn't even sure why he was telling Klaus all of this. _Because you want him to understand you, to accept you at last,_ his mind whispered. Could he really be accepted into their little group? _It's what you always wanted isn't it?_

"You used to have nightmares as a child too," Klaus recalled. "I always assumed it was your way to get attention, to have mother coddling you." His lips curled into a sneer. "You were always her favorite."

Finn looked up and stared at his brother with an unguarded expression. "There were times when I felt like you were her favorite," he confessed in a whisper. Judging by the surprised look on Niklaus's face, he had not been expecting that. "She coddled me, she defended me, but there were times when I felt like she did it to keep me quiet…." He shook his head, feeling his throat close with emotion.

"So that you wouldn't tell anyone her secret," Klaus finished for him.

"She loves all of us," Finn said. "But there were times when I felt more like a friend, a confidant rather than a son…" the trust Esther had in him, the burden that had been placed on his shoulders that day was something that had shaped his childhood. "She trusted me to keep the truth from father, from everyone."

"You were there."

Finn nodded. Just thinking about that day made him sick. "I couldn't do anything to help mother, I couldn't do anything to stop Dahlia from taking Freya." His hands balled into fists, the nails sinking deep into his flesh until he bled. The pain offered him some relief but it was not enough to heal the wounds of a thousand years ago.

"You were a child," Klaus told him with unexpected understanding. "There was nothing you could have done." There was a long pause. He tilted his head to the side and regarded his brother carefully. "You have lived with that guilt ever since, tormented every day of your life by the events of that day."

"Just like you have lived with the guilt of Henrik's death," Finn murmured. Something flickered across Klaus's eyes, an emotion Finn couldn't quite pin point. He flinched and moved away from him, walking towards the window. Finn watched him sadly.

"Perhaps you and I are more alike than I first thought," Klaus whispered, he kept his back to Finn, choosing to look out of the window instead of looking into his brother's face. "A thousand years later and each of us is still haunted by the past…"

"Broken I would say." Finn's hand closed around his daylight ring. A sense of familiarity washed over him as he took the jewel and placed it on his finger, where it belonged. He stood up and contemplated Niklaus's back for a couple of seconds in silence. "Mother…" he cleared his throat, not knowing how to approach the subject. "She alluded to aunt Dahlia's return," he said at last.

Niklaus finally turned to face him once more. His face gave nothing away of his feelings but his eyes gleamed with fury. There was something earthly, something animalistic about him, more so than the other times Finn had seen him after coming back. "And do you believe her?"

"Mother didn't just bargain her first born child," Finn told him quietly. "She bargained the first born of every generation. You are the only one that has children…" he trailed off.

Klaus's jaw clenched and a growl erupted form his chest. The entire room seemed to shake as that potent dark aura pulsed angrily once more. "You think she will come for them," he hissed, his eyes two liquid gold pools of pure fury.

"Yes."

"She can try," Klaus snarled as his vampire face surfaced. "She will fail, for I am going to tear her apart," he vowed.

"You won't be doing it alone," Finn made a promise of his own. He hadn't been able to keep Freya safe, but he could help and keep the twins safe. Maybe that was why he had come back to life after all, to protect the most innocent members of his family.

 _I won't fail again. I owe it to Freya to keep them safe_.

* * *

 **Lafayette Cemetery**

"Have you lost your mind?" Kara Nguyen hissed as Marguerite told her of her deal with the vampire Mikael. Out of all the things, Kara could have expected to hear, this was not one of them. She paced around the cemetery, her mind racing. "What the hell where you thinking? How could you have disgraced yourself to-"

"I know what you are thinking," Marguerite interrupted. "But-"

"Making a deal with an Original is the craziest, most stupid thing you could have done," Kara interrupted her. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Marguerite attempted to defend her actions. "He's the oldest, the strongest of all the Originals, the only one of them who is not afraid to stand up to Klaus. This could be our chance-"

"To have him kill us!"

"To take back our city!"

Kara shook her head. "Things are finally returning to normal, we're slowly learning to coexist with them and you want to start another war?"

"Learning to coexist?" Marguerite snapped. The incredulous look on her face was almost comical. "With leeches who have usurp our power, who have taken our city, our magic, and forced us to live with them and follow their rules. You think that is coexisting?"

"Bringing another Original into the game is not going to help matters."

"It's better than doing nothing."

Both women locked eyes, different emotions on display.

"If we can get the support of all the witches who are against the Bennett queen and the Regent we could over throw them, we could-"

"At what cost Marguerite?" Kara asked. She sounded tired and sad. "How many more years of war, of blood, and death?"

"Don't you want to cleanse this city of that vermin?" Marguerite countered. "Don't you want to take back what is ours?"

"You know I do," Kara responded. "But as much as it costs me to admit it, things in the city are not as bad as I first thought they would be when Klaus took over. We are free to practice magic, the vampires are not hunting us for sport anymore, and despite my reservations about the Bennett girl, she has not interfered in our affairs. Even the wolves are staying in check."

"The connection to our ancestors was severed!" Marguerite yelled angrily. "Our magic has become weaker because of it!"

"Our magic has always been weaker than others," Kara fired back. "The connection to the ancestors enhanced our power but we had to sacrifice our girls to appease them, we couldn't even leave the city because we would lose that power, and we had to pay tribute to a bunch of dead witches who did nothing when the vampires took over and we're killing us left and right. They only became involved when Bonnie Bennett came into the city." She took a couple of steps closer. "We honored them, we respected them, we did everything they asked of us but when we asked things of them…they never helped, did they?"

"Have you no respect," Marguerite seemed disgusted with her.

"I'm not a blind follower like the rest," Kara spat. "We are free of them, we can choose how and when to use our magic and we can leave this city and keep our powers if we want." When she thought about, they had a much better deal now. "We might not be as powerful as other witches, but we will still have our magic whether we live here or in L.A or Europe. That's more than we ever have before."

"How can you accept so little? How can you conform yourself with scraps?" Marguerite hissed.

"It's better than nothing," Kara threw her own words back in her face.

"I feel like I don't know you."

"I don't want to share my city with the vampires and certainly not with the werewolves," Kara muttered. "I don't like the Regent's passiveness and I'm sure as hell don't like or trust Bonnie Bennett and her monstrous husband but I'm not stupid, Marguerite. The seer went after her and failed, the Navarro pack went after the two of them and failed, Sophie and the Ancestors went after them and they failed. Standing up to them will only bring us death and destruction and I for one, want to keep my life."

"So, you are going to give up, just like that."

"How can you be so sure this will even work?" Kara countered. "He's one vampire, an Original yes, but one vampire all the same. She has a coven of witches, a hybrid army, a werewolf army, a vampire army, the odds are in her favor." She searched Marguerite's face. "If the Ancestors, whom we thought were the most powerful couldn't defeat her, what makes you think Mikael and you will?"

Marguerite crossed her arms over chest, a furious look on her face.

"I want the same thing as you," Kara remarked. "But I won't make the same mistake Sophie, the Navarro clan, and the Ancestors made. I won't underestimate the Bennett queen and Klaus Mikaelson." She hated feeling so powerless, so weak in comparison to them but she was smart enough to realize they were fighting a losing battle. "For a time, I believed we could take her down but now I realize that we can't. She's too powerful." _What was that saying? If you can't defeat them, join them_.

"Not for much longer," Marguerite murmured with defiance. "Mikael's quest to find his daughter, his desire to get her back is going to give rise to an evil so powerful, none of them will stand a chance. Not even Bonnie and her coven."

"What are you talking about?" Kara didn't like the wild look on Marguerite's face.

"I was afraid when I first saw it," Marguerite continued with a far away look on her eyes. "It's a risk," she conceded in a much quieter voice. "But I think it will be worth it."

"Marguerite what are you-"

"Whoever has Mikael's daughter is the only person powerful enough to take down Bonnie Bennett," Marguerite told her at last. "I've never sensed such great and dark power. Not even the Ancestor's wrath scared me as this power does."

"And even knowing that, you still think this person will want to help you?" Kara sounded unsure. "Do you really want to deal with something like that?"

"It's worth a try," Marguerite snapped. A slight shiver ran down her spine as she thought back to what she had seen and sensed when she had been trying to locate Mikael's daughter. _Do you really want to be making deals with that evil witch?_ A part of her wondered. Despite her bravado, she feared that immense dark power and the devastating consequences it would bring but at the same time, s _acrifices must be made in every war,_ Marguerite decided. "I won't give up," she told Kara. "I'm in this to the very end. With or without your help, I will do whatever I have to do in order to reclaim my city." _I know I'm not the only one,_ she thought. There were plenty of witches apart from Kara who could help her.

Kara contemplated her with infinite sadness. "I really hope you don't come to regret this decision, Marguerite."

* * *

 **The compound**

It took him a couple of hours but Finn finally gathered the courage to come out of his room and seek his family. The sun had gone down and the full moon was shining brightly already. The temperature had gone down considerably and a strong energy sizzled all around the house and the city, he supposed. His skin tingled, his senses alerting him to the subtle changes happening all around because of the eclipse.

 _New Orleans will be the perfect place to witness the super lunar eclipse…_ a woman's voice reached his ears. It came from the television in the family room. _Thousands of people in the world will be able to witness this event tonight as they get ready to celebrate the new year…A super lunar eclipse is…_

"You are going to work at Rousseau's?"

Finn recognized Kol's voice right away. He could feel all of them, gathered in the family room. He stopped by the door, unsure if he would be welcome to celebrate the new year with them. Niklaus had returned his daylight ring to him and the spell keeping him locked in the bedroom had been undone but still, he wasn't entirely sure. A nervous flutter invaded the pit of his stomach.

"Like for real?" The disbelief in Kol's voice was evident.

"You're making it sound like it's an awful thing," A woman's voice said.

"It's a bar, who would want to work at a bar?"

"Kol, don't be so rude," a young female voice joined them.

Finn could easily see the smirk on Kol's face as he stepped inside the room.

"Hey! I work there," Matt was offended by Kol's comments.

"Yeah but you're you," Kol dismissed him with ease.

Whatever else Matt was going to say was lost as he spotted the vampire by the door. His eyes went wide and he closed his mouth right away, shifting nervously on his feet.

All eyes turned towards the new arrival.

Finn stood by the door, unsure of what to say, or how to proceed.

"Finn," Rebekah stood up and walked towards her brother, a happy grin on her face. "Good of you to join us." She hugged him tightly, her perfume overwhelming his senses.

Finn awkwardly hugged her back. He had never been good at showing affection, not after Freya. The pang in his heart was cruel and he did his best to push it aside. He smiled at Rebekah as they pulled apart. It had always been easier to get along with her than with his brothers, she always made him feel more comfortable. His eyes scanned the room, nodding in Bonnie's direction before looking at his brothers Elijah and Kol.

"Finn," Elijah nodded while Kol only looked at him with suspicion.

Finn moved his eyes towards Klaus who was sitting on the couch, close to the fire. A little girl dressed in red sat happily on his lap, a curious look on her face as she stared at him. "He's like you," she turned to Klaus before focusing her green eyes on Finn once more. "An old one," she murmured.

There was something about her, an aura of ancient power that made Finn's skin prickle. He glanced at Bonnie, she had that same aura albeit a thousand times more potent, as did the young woman sitting next to Elijah. _Witches from the same bloodline,_ Finn realized. _They were Bennett witches._

"Yes, he is." Klaus placed Charlotte gently on the couch and stood up. "Everyone," he said getting their attention. "This is our brother Finn." He motioned for Finn to come closer. "Finn, I'm sure you remember Matt," he said pointing to the human who looked rather uncomfortable.

"Indeed," Finn whispered, remembering the last time they had seen each other.

"Hi," Matt gulped and gave a dirty look at Klaus. _Why did he had to be introduced first?_

Klaus smiled deviously, he had done it on purpose obviously. "Bonnie, you already know of course," he said smiling at his beloved. "The man next to her is her father, Rudy. He's the Mayor of Mystic Falls."

"Hello," Rudy watched him curiously before turning to look at Klaus and Elijah. "Just how many of you are in total?"

"Mother had seven children," Elijah responded. "Only five of us survived to adulthood."

"Finn is the oldest," Bonnie added.

"I see." Any other questions Rudy had regarding the original family he kept to himself.

Klaus continued with the introductions. "This precious girl is Charlotte." He pointed to the little girl on the couch and smiled affectionately at her.

"Hi!" Charlotte waved at him.

Finn found himself disarmed by the radiant smile on her face. "Hello, little one." He had heard about her, from Rebekah of course. _Nik and Bonnie have adopted a little girl,_ she said to him on one of the times she brought him blood bags. _She was on the other side and came back with Bonnie and Kol…_

 _Curious little witch,_ Finn thought as he watched her.

"This is Lucy," Klaus introduced the young woman next to their brother. "She's Elijah's bonded and Bonnie's cousin."

Finn was a bit startled by that. _Elijah had bonded with a witch?_ He watched the couple curiously. Elijah remained impassive as ever but Lucy watched him warily. Finn could sense their bond, the same way he could sense the bond between Klaus and Bonnie. That invisible link that tied the couples together was something an old one like him could detect almost right away. Lucy and Elijah sat together on the sofa, their fingers linked together. They were right across from Charlotte and next to them was a dark-haired girl, _another witch,_ Finn sensed right away. "Davina," Klaus introduced. The harvest girl the family had taken in, Finn had heard about her from Rebekah as well. _Our family has grown quite a lot in the past couple of months,_ Rebekah had said to him.

"Hi," Davina smiled shyly at him. Kol who was standing behind her, rested his hand on the back of the couch, the look on his brother's face, and the posture, almost seemed protective.

 _Was Kol with a witch as well?_ Finn wondered absently. "Nice to meet you all," he said. He felt nervous as he felt all their curious gazes on him. They didn't know what to make of him but everyone had quietly agreed to give him a chance.

"Would you like something to drink?" Bonnie offered kindly. Her green eyes radiated understanding and she even smiled softly at him.

"Yes, please." It was odd, but despite the incredible power Bonnie radiated, Finn felt at ease with her.

"A nice bourbon is in order, I believe." Klaus smirked and headed towards the liquor cabinet.

It took more than one glass of bourbon for Finn to finally relax.

* * *

 **Later that night**

"This will help us see the eclipse in more detail," Rudy said as he showed Davina and Charlotte the large telescope he had brought with him.

"Where did you get that?" Bonnie asked him.

"I bought it yesterday," Rudy responded with a happy grin.

The excitement everyone felt because of the eclipse was palpable in the air. The closer it got to the hour, the more it grew. As a witch, Bonnie had felt it brewing in the air, she had sensed the slight changes happening, as everything aligned for the eclipse.

"This is exciting!" Charlotte exclaimed, sensing something as well. "I've never seen an eclipse before."

"Me either," Davina murmured.

"Well, you are in for a treat." Rudy was really looking forward to it. He almost felt like a child waiting for Christmas to come. "We have the perfect view from here." The family had moved to the rooftop of the compound so that they could see the eclipse in all its glory. "Stand here," he told her as he angled the telescope and showed her how to use it.

A few feet away from them, Klaus and Elijah watched them.

"He's being a better grandfather than he ever was a father," Klaus muttered.

Elijah nodded. In the past couple of days, Rudy had grown incredibly close to Davina and Charlotte. They had definitely come to see him as a grandfather. Bonnie was also extremely happy to spend time with her dad as well and the man was besotted with the twins too.

"We'll see how long it lasts."

"Don't be so pessimistic," Elijah chided him, his superior hearing easily picking up the conversation Rudy was having with the girls.

Klaus only rolled his eyes.

"Perhaps it's best if he stays here instead of the hotel," Elijah suggested. "I know you and him are not exactly the best of friends but for his own safety…" he left the sentence hang in the air. They both knew Mikael could very well use Bonnie's father to get to them.

"Perhaps…" Klaus muttered. He didn't particularly want to have Bonnie's father around but he also didn't want him to get killed. "He's supposed to go back to Mystic Falls the day after tomorrow." He cranked his neck to the right and then to the left. The desire to shift only grew stronger with each passing hour. _Soon,_ he tried to appease the wolf in him.

"Are you alright?" Elijah asked noting how tense he seemed.

"What king of stupid question is that?" Klaus gave him an annoyed look. "Mikael is on the loose, do you honestly think I'm alright?" he spat. The closer they got to the eclipse, the angrier he felt. Throughout the whole day, he had been irritable and annoyed with everyone and everything saved Bonnie, with her he felt a desire that burned his blood. The need to claim her was almost unbearable. _Don't think about it_ , he told himself as he suppressed the wicked fantasies his mind conjured.

"This is not the first time this has happened," Elijah snapped. "You tend to keep a clear head about it and have never been this tense, this-" _scared,_ was the word he wanted to use but he knew better.

"I didn't have anything to lose before," Klaus whispered, knowing full well what Elijah did not dared to voice out loud. Charlotte's laughter reached their ears, followed closely by Davina's. They sounded to innocent, so joyful. That was the kind of joy and innocence a monster like their father would love to destroy.

Elijah placed his hand on Klaus's shoulder. "We will get him," he vowed as he looked into his brother's eyes. "We will stop him, I promise you. He won't hurt our family."

Klaus didn't say anything, he simply walked to the other side of the rooftop. He could only hope Elijah was right.

"What was that all about?" Lucy said coming to stand beside her lover.

"Nothing," Elijah whispered as he pulled her closer to him.

Lucy didn't quite believe him but she didn't question him further. "I think it's starting." She looked up at the sky, the moon looked like it had been tinted orange. If she squinted her eyes she could see a hint of red already.

"It is," Elijah's grip on her waist tightened as they contemplated the full moon. "It has begun," he kissed the top of her head, before smiling down at her adoringly. "We shall receive the new year under a red moon."

The two shared a loving kiss before focusing on the moon once more. The red shade was growing stronger, it looked like red ink had spilled over the pale white surface of the moon and was slowly filling it.

It was definitely a sight to behold.

* * *

Klaus closed his eyes and allowed his senses to expand to their maximum, his heart pounded wildly against his chest as he saw the orange-red moon against the dark and cloudless sky. The pack was running, howling with the wind, paws digging on the soil, and eyes set on their prey. He could feel all of them, their hearts thrumming in harmony, their movements coordinated, and their thirst…that insatiable thirst…He shivered and once again pulled the reins over his wolf nature. _Not yet._

 _Come to us…_

 _Join us…_

His packed called out to him, like a siren's song would with a sailor.

 _This is where you belong, come._

A lone wolf howled in the distance.

Klaus took a step forward; his skin itching to transform and take off in the direction of the Bayou but he stopped himself at the edge. Bonnie's sweet scent reached his nose, penetrating his senses, and calming the anxious beast within. She easily called him back to her. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said as soon as she came to stand next to him.

"Yes, it is." Bonnie slipped her hand in his and stared at the moon. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's turning red quicker than I expected," Klaus said.

Bonnie rested her head on his shoulder. "You want to be out there, don't you?" she could feel his need to be with his pack through their bond, the wolf's desire to roam free under the red moon was so strong she felt the call in her blood. _Is this what all wolves feel with the full moon?_ She pondered. The intense desire to rip her flesh off and transform was exhilarating, if not unsettling. She had never been able to sense the wolf in Klaus as much as she did that night.

"My place is right here, with you." Klaus squeezed her hand and kissed her hair.

Bonnie smiled at his words. "What if the need becomes too strong?"

"I'm in control love."

Another wolf howled in the distance, followed closely by another, and then another. The wolves were in the Bayou but their howls were so powerful, they could be heard all over the city. Ishmael had been right; the eclipse had clearly enhanced their abilities. Klaus wondered if those enhancements would apply to him as well.

 _What will I be able to do?_

 _Why don't you go find out?_

The howls grew stronger.

Bonnie shivered, feeling the hairs on her arms and neck stand up at the sounds the wolves were making. She pulled her head away from his shoulder and stared into his golden eyes. "Maybe you should go to them."

"Later," Klaus said. He would receive the new year with his immediate family, and then join his wolf family for the rest of the night. His lips curved into a sexy smirk. "Isn't it tradition to kiss at midnight?"

Bonnie laughed softly. "Is that the only reason you're staying, so you can kiss me at midnight?" she asked jokingly.

"But of course," Klaus responded in kind.

Bonnie giggled. She got on her tiptoes, and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

Klaus's eyes grew darker and he growled disapprovingly at how quickly she pulled away from him. He was tempted to push her against the nearest wall and have his wicked way with her under the red moon.

"The moon is red!" Charlotte exclaimed as she came to stand beside them. There was a look of pure awe on her face. "Do you see that?" She asked Bonnie and Klaus. "It's all red!" she pointed at the moon with excitement.

Klaus smiled and picked her up in his arms. "It's quite something, isn't it?" he whispered as he held her close.

Charlotte nodded. "It makes my skin tingle," she murmured.

Klaus stared at her face, enjoying the childish wonder he saw reflected there.

Sensing his gaze on her, Charlotte turned to look at him and beamed. "It's so pretty." She looked back at the moon once more, completely mesmerized by it. "Powerful…" she mumbled, eyes lost in the fiery ball on the sky.

Bonnie smiled at the two of them.

"Is it just me or does it look bigger?" Davina said standing close to them.

"It does look bigger than normal," Bonnie agreed.

"It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is." Kol was staring at Davina's face rather than at the moon though. He had seen plenty of lunar eclipses throughout his one thousand years on earth. But it was something else to see it through Davina's eyes.

Davina smiled at him, her hand lightly brushing against his. There was a spark which jolted both of their bodies at the same time.

Kol's fingers itched to grab her hand and hold it, but he abstained from it. For now, they had to keep their relationship a secret. The two of them stood side by side and continued to watch the eclipse.

Rudy who had connected his camera to the telescope took endless pictures, feeling fascinated by the eclipse while Rebekah and Matt stood side by side, matching looks of wonder on their faces.

Finn stood slightly away from his family, contemplating the eclipse in silence. There was something in the air, a sizzling energy that had him feeling anxious. _Something will happen,_ he thought suddenly. _Something is happening._ There was immeasurable power in the red moon and something deep inside him-warned him of the changes it would bring.

* * *

The sky exploded with fireworks when the clock struck twelve. Cheers, music, and endless celebrations erupted all over the city as the new year arrived with the red moon.

A large residence known as the Dowager Fauline Cottage was the only house surrounded in complete darkness. More than a house, the old mansion had become a prison, a place where witches who did not follow the rules were punished for their misdeeds and were locked in. The house had once belonged to a rich noblewoman but was now in control of the Kindred coven.

In the attic of said house, was a glass coffin. A beautiful young woman with long blonde hair laid inside. She had been asleep for nearly a century. A hibernation process forced upon her by the one who had enslaved her as a child. No one knew of her existence, no one knew who she was, or why she was there. She had been all but forgotten.

When the clock struck twelve, when the moon was completely covered in red, the windows of the mansion shook as a strange hissing noise invaded the attic. The power of the red moon was incredible. The currents engulfing the city where unlike anything anyone had ever felt before, and countless of those currents made their way towards the cottage, drawn by someone unknown force.

In that moment, everything aligned together to break the spell.

With a loud gasp, her green eyes opened at last.

The power that resided within her came to life with a force that shook the earth and had lightning viciously striking the sky. The sound was easily lost with the fireworks outside but for her, it was a breath of fresh air, of renowned strength, and fiery determination. Just like a century before, she had a mission, she had a purpose, and a reason to keep on fighting.

The glass coffin shattered completely.

This time, things would be different.

This time, things had aligned in her favor.

This time, she would win.

Freya Mikaelson sat up, a smirk gracing her lips.


	85. Chapter 85

**Fauline Cottage**

Freya Mikaelson placed an old blank sheet of parchment paper on top of the table, next to a red feather quill pen. She placed three white candles on strategic points around the parchment and lit them up with her magic. There was no emotional expression on her face as she turned around to begin gathering the ingredients needed from another table. There was a lot to be done. The first part of her plan had been successful, now the time had come to begin the next phase. _The most difficult part of all,_ she thought as she mixed mint leaves, rose petals, dried seeds, and different liquids together in a small ceramic bowl.

All the necessary ingredients had been brought to her by one of the Kindred witches that guarded the cottage; A cruel man who was one of the jailers looking after the witches condemned to spend the rest of their lives locked inside the house. Getting inside his mind had been surprisingly easy. Despite his tall stature, his muscles, and intelligence, he was a puppet in her hands, he now served and obey her. He along with his fellow coven members were her eyes and ears, through them she had learned all she needed to learn to adapt to this new century. The kindred had taken over the house almost a hundred years before and since then, it had become a prison. The unwanted, rebellious, and unsuitable members of the witch community in New Orleans were trapped inside, wasting away like parasites. Only the kindred who ran the place where allowed in and out of the house. The boundary spell protecting the property ensured no other witches could go in or leave. Freya could leave if she so desired, but she couldn't risk going outside, not until all the pieces of the game were in perfect place. For now, the old Fauline Cottage had become her center of operations and the witches inside, her small army, pawns in a game that had begun one thousand years before.

Centuries ago, Freya would have been appalled at the thought of manipulating lesser witches, of using them as she was doing now. Invading someone's mind, tampering with it, and bending it to her will was something that required skill, a technique she had perfected over the centuries and one she didn't hesitate in using to her advantage. Vampires could compel people and powerful witches could control others of their kind and submit them to their will. It was a lesser known art, one few dared to use.

 _The mind is a powerful thing_ , _far more powerful than the magic flowing through your veins._ _Witches who lack a strong mind, are nothing_. _Never forget that your mind, your will, your spirit, must be as strong as your power. They must all be one and the same,_ an all too familiar voice hissed in her ear. The ceramic bowl shook and a small crack formed on the side as her power surfaced without her meaning too. No matter how many miles apart they were, no matter how far away she ran, or how well she hid, that voice followed her. Her voice haunted Freya. As much as she hated that woman, Freya could not deny nor forget the valuable lessons Dahlia had taught her. She was even implementing those lessons in order to defeat her.

 _Perhaps I am her daughter after all._

The horrible doubts that had always plagued her mind and heart surfaced once more. She moved her hand over the crack and fixed it with her magic, and continued to mix the ingredients. She hated depending on others, hated that her plan was based on the blood link that united them, but there was no alternative was there? She had exhausted all other options and if her vision was true-which she knew it was- then this was the next step. _But what if you fail yet again Freya? What if they-_

She put the thought aside and added more ingredients to the bowl. _Not this time,_ she promised herself. She had worked too hard, she had lost too much, she could not afford to lose again. This time everything would be different.

Once the mixture became a greenish looking paste, she returned towards the table with the parchment and the candles. She spread the paste over the paper, covering all of the parchment with her special mixture and murmured the incantation- a spell of her own creation.

The paper lifted into the air for a few seconds as it absorbed the mixture, becoming a bit green on the edges before dropping down on the table once more. With a wave of her hand, the quill she made the day before floated into her palm. Her heart skipped a beat. _This is it_. The vision she had a century before had led to this moment, it had guided each of her steps, and allowed her to hope for a different future, for the life of freedom she once thought was impossible.

 _Three first born daughters_ , she recalled. Freya took a deep breath and stared at the quill. _You can't keep prolonging this, the longer you wait, the more dangerous it is._ She knew what she had to do, she had been working on this plan for nearly a century, even more if she counted her previous failed attempts, but as confident as she felt in her abilities, in her resilience, and in her _desperation_ to end this torturous cycle, she felt afraid. She hated this feeling that made her heart pound erratically and her palms become increasingly sweaty; she hated the way it made her stomach coil and second guess herself.

 _You are putting too much trust in a group of strangers,_ her mind cautioned. _You might share the same blood but you don't really know them and they don't know you._

She could not second guess herself, she could not let her fears cloud her judgement. She had a plan, she would continue with her plan, and succeed at last. One way or another, with their willing cooperation or without it, she would win. She had to. _I have not come this far to let my fear get in the way of my freedom,_ Freya thought, a steel determination surging inside her. _It's now or never._

"Blood of my blood," Freya said in a commanding voice as she stabbed her index finger with the quill. She hissed at the pain and watched as a drop of blood emerged. She squeezed her finger, causing more blood to flow out of the tiny wound. "I call upon you…on this desperate hour…I need you," she began chanting in a language lost to men, and began writing their names on the parchement with her bloodied digit. Each movement fueled by the power inside her blood.

 _Finn_

 _Elijah_

 _Niklaus_

 _Kol_

 _Rebekah_

"I summon thee to me," Freya closed her eyes, remembering them on that night, the first and only time she had been able to see them, even if from afar. They had looked otherworldly beautiful that Christmas night, standing together on the stairs of their home. So close, yet so far away from her. Her dear Finn had not been there but she had met the others at least. Her body shook as the memory of that night and the emotions it created helped to enforce the spell. Her magic surfaced with the power of a thousand hurricanes and pulled them towards her. Another lesser witch would have never dared, would have never been able to withstand the force of the spell, or survive its magnitude. No one in their right mind would have dared, or would have been able to accomplish what she was doing in that moment, summoning five Original vampires to her. But Freya could. Freya was capable of things many witches could not even begin to imagine. The curse and the blessing of being the first born it was. "Come to me," she ordered. "I am your sister, your blood…come to me."

The attic shook as her magic slithered all around her, creating an incredible bubble of magic, a pull that drew her siblings to her. There was nothing they could do to resist her spell.

There was an explosion of light as the spell expanded and unleashed all its power in order to fulfill her command.

Freya closed her eyes and waited.

* * *

"That's her house," Marcel pointed to the lovely one and a half story house, with a stone porch, and a front gallery framed by six columns. The neighborhood was quiet, a young woman was walking her dog, while another elderly gentleman worked on his front yard. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but even from his spot across the street, Klaus could feel his skin prickling.

"The house is surrounded by magic," Bonnie noted beside him.

Since Marcel arrived at the compound earlier that morning to inform Klaus of the connection between the vampires Mikael had killed and the elder of the Garden District coven, Bonnie had insisted on coming along with them to investigate. He would have preferred for her to remain in the sanctuary of their home but his witch was having none of that. Klaus had also brought Felix and Angelica-they were checking the back of the house along with Kyra-Bonnie's cousin and self-appointed bodyguard. The group was under the protection of powerful cloaking spells and were invisible to anyone passing by.

"There is something…" Bonnie murmured while her brows furrowed in concentration. "A sinister presence…" it made her shiver slightly. The magic coming from the house in waves was powerful and extremely dark.

"The shadows?" Klaus suggested.

Bonnie glanced at his face before turning to face the house once more. "Maybe," she mumbled. _Yes,_ thinking more on it, the presence protecting the house reminded her a bit of the shadows she had encountered when Mikael took her to the in-between.

"Marguerite is at church, I have Thierry trailing her," Marcel informed them. He turned to his Sire with a serious expression on his face. "You really think there is something here?" He had learned that the vampires Mikael had decapitated a few days before had an altercation with Marguerite earlier that day and informed Klaus about it, which prompted this little field trip but Marcel wasn't sure what exactly they were looking for. It was a circumstantial connection at best and going from what he knew of Marguerite Lescheres (she was a tough cookie who hated vampires with incredible passion) he doubted she would willingly help Mikael of all people.

"If you are going to go to war, you should always have a witch watching your back," Klaus muttered. "Or two." He looked sideways at Marcel before he continued talking. "Mikael decapitated those vampires and presented them to Marguerite in order to win her favor, an alliance with a powerful witch is always beneficial to a vampire, particularly one who has so many enemies." He sounded so sure of himself, it was obvious he had absolutely no doubt about it.

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Why do you say that?"

Marcel and Bonnie questioned him practically at the same time.

"Because that's exactly what I would do if I were in his place," Klaus responded with ease. "He's hiding in that house." He stared at house once more, formulating a plan.

Marcel frowned while Bonnie contemplated Klaus's words.

"We need to find a way to get inside."

"We don't know if Mikael is truly there," Bonnie told him.

"Or that Marguerite is helping him for that matter," Marcel added.

Klaus gave them both an incredulous look. "You're joking right?"

"The evidence is circumstantial at best," Marcel pointed out. "Marguerite hates vampires, I don't think she would willingly work with an Original and as evil and powerful as your father is, I doubt he could corner a witch like her into helping him. From what I know of her, I'm pretty sure she can kick his ass."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Klaus argued. "Besides she hates our guts, what better way to get rid of us than by helping the one person in the world who actually has a chance at defeating us."

Marcel couldn't really argue with that so he stayed silent.

"Can you get us inside?" Klaus asked Bonnie.

Bonnie studied the house, allowing her magic to slowly approach the protective barrier in place, she didn't get very far before she winced and retracted. "It's one heck of a protective barrier," she couldn't help but be impressed, it probably rivaled the magic protecting he compound. "I can break it but it will take some time."

"Enough to formulate an attack," Klaus said, his eyes glinting deviously.

"Are you crazy?" Marcel snapped. "You can't burst into an elder's home without provocation."

"Watch your tone Marcellus," Klaus warned him with a hiss.

"He has a point," Bonnie told Klaus. "We're not a hundred percent sure that Mikael is there-"

"He's in there," Klaus retorted with unwavering confidence. "I know he is." His gut was telling him that Mikael was hiding inside that house. He had always trusted his gut and this time it was not going to be different.

Bonnie sighed, feeling his unwavering conviction through their bond. Klaus's instincts were unrivaled, if he believed Mikael was inside Marguerite's house then he was probably right but that still didn't mean they could barge in there. "We need a good plan of attack, we can't just storm inside without knowing who else could be inside, not to mention the repercussions this could have with the witch community."

Klaus cursed mentally, he hadn't considered _that_.

"I doubt the Regent would be happy if we attack the house of one of her elders," Bonnie continued. "We need to think of the consequences this could bring for our peace treaty."

"We don't need her permission, this is our city!"

"We could at least let her know what's going on," Bonnie suggested. "She and Vincent could help us, they probably know who Marguerite's closest allies are. Remember that Josephine is also the highest authority in regards to the witches and the one who can punish them accordingly."

Marcel placed his hands inside the pockets of his jacket as he watched the back and forth between the couple. If he were to take sides, he was definitely taking Bonnie's.

"Fucking treaty," Klaus muttered. Moments like this, he wished he hadn't signed that damn thing. As much as he wanted to storm inside the house and kill his father once and for all, he knew that Bonnie was right. The peace in the city needed to prevail above all cost, for it was the one thing that was keeping the waters calm, and preventing another war. Not to mention that having the Regent and her successor on their side was vital to keep the witches under control.

"I'll call Vincent," Bonnie offered. "And I'll get my coven ready too. We can have everything sort out by tonight," she was determined to put an end to Mikael just like Klaus, they just needed to cover their bases before taking any action. "We'll finish this tonight."

"Fine," Klaus muttered.

Bonnie pulled her cell phone out and started sending a couple of quick text messages to her cousins. She also needed to contact the Bennetts on the other side so they could be ready. Ernestine, Ayana, and her Grams had created a special prison world for Mikael after all.

Klaus hissed, feeling a strange heat invading his body. His blood felt like it was warming up, boiling really. _What the hell?_ He thought as he felt the heat increase.

Bonnie who was giving instructions to Aunt Vivian over the phone, glanced at him, a clear question in her eyes. She could feel his discomfort through their bond. "Yes, tonight…" she absently answered her great aunt's question.

"What's wrong?" Marcel asked noting the strange look on his face.

"I…" Klaus closed his eyes. Yes, he definitely felt like he was burning.

"Klaus?" Bonnie placed her cell phone in her pocket and took a step closer, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"

Klaus stared into her eyes, watching her with uncertainty. There was pull, a sensation of being dragged by some invisible chain. He didn't like it, it was almost as if...He gasped, as the realization hit him, and opened his mouth to tell Bonnie but it was too late.

There was a blast of light that blinded Marcel and Bonnie.

"What the hell?" Marcel shuddered as the light dissipated and he was able to see clearly again.

"Where is Klaus?" Bonnie asked him.

"I don't know. There was that light…" Marcel looked around the street, not exactly sure what the hell had just happened. Klaus had been standing right there and now he was gone. He had disappeared in a blink of an eye. _Had the light taken Klaus?_ "Vampires don't just blink in and out of existence," he muttered while turning to look at Marguerite's house. _Had the shadow thingies protecting the house done something?_

"No, they don't." Bonnie looked at their surroundings, her magic sensing the power in the air, it was ancient, different, and strong enough to make her skin tingle with uncertainty. The magical presence she felt was different from the one guarding the house, she knew that for sure. Whatever had taken Klaus had nothing to do with Mikael and the shadows. "He's been summoned…" she realized as her heart constricted with fear. "Who?" she wondered as her hands began shaking. _Who the hell had the power to summon the Original hybrid? But more importantly where had he been taken?_

 _Calm down Bonnie_ , she told herself and took a deep breath. _You and Klaus have a bond, use it. Find him._

"Bonnie?" Marcel watched her, not knowing what to say or do.

"Give me a minute," Bonnie murmured as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her bond with Klaus. He was a live, that she could tell right away. He wasn't in pain, so he wasn't hurt. His confusion floated through. He didn't know where he was or what had happened exactly. Bonnie used her power to enhance their connection and track him down. _Klaus, I will find you. I promise_. She hoped her message would be received by him. Wherever he was, she hoped he could feel her reassurance through their bond. "He's in New Orleans, he's close…" she told Marcel, she knew that for a fact. "I just need to find out where…" she mumbled as she used all she had to track her husband through their bond. _Come on, show me,_ she urged the bond. It had been a while since the last time she had his blood and he hers, she hoped that the lack of feeding from each other had not hindered their connection in any way. _But what if it has?_ She felt a pang in her heart at the thought. _I have to find him._

Marcel watched her and waited. If there was anyone who could find Klaus and figure out what the hell was going it was Bonnie. As he waited, he couldn't help but wonder who had the balls to kidnap the original hybrid.

* * *

 **The compound**

Kol muttered under his breath as he continued playing a game on his phone, it was Davina's fault he had become addicted to those. He glanced at the time, she still had a couple more hours left in school. He shifted on the couch and settled into a different position as he continued playing. Technically, he and Rebekah were supposed to be _babysitting_ but he was passing the time on his phone until Davina arrived home from school. It was weird to have a girlfriend in high school, he had been almost tempted to join her, just to see what all the fuss was about. Rebekah had enjoyed it while in Mystic Falls, and Davina was extremely happy about resuming her education. Of course, joining her in school would be too suspicious, even if he tried to pass it of as protecting her. His mood darkened. He hated hiding, he hated keeping their relationship a secret, and constantly being on the lookout and ensuring he wasn't messing up. There were times when he had caught Klaus's eyes on them, his brother had not said anything but Kol couldn't help but feel nervous and uncertain under those unreadable looks. He was trying his best not to talk to Davina unless it was absolutely necessary while the family was present, it was incredibly hard to keep the charade but it was needed as well. Kol knew it was for the best right now. The fact that she had gone back to school had helped as he wasn't tempted by her, and he could also see how happy Davina was. She had even been joined by Belle and both girls were driven to and from school by one of Klaus's hybrids or one of Bonnie's witches. Neither Klaus, or Bonnie, or Marcel wanted anything bad happening to Davina and were taking all sorts of precautions to ensure her safety. Until their father could be caught, they all had to sleep with one eye open.

"I want ice cream."

Kol looked up from his phone and glared at Charlotte who stood by the door. Her kitten was by her feet, watching him with those weird eyes of his. "So?" he went back to his game. He had to time for the annoying little girl and her furry pet.

"There is no ice cream at home."

"Get Rebekah or Joanna to buy you some," he snapped with irritation.

Charlotte glared at him before tentatively walking towards the couch, Peanuts (a ridiculous name in his opinion) following her. _Was it his imagination or that little beast had just growled at him?_

"Aunt Jo is changing Henrik cause his diaper stinks and I don't know where aunty Bex is. I think she went out with uncle Matt and aunt Lu."

"Not my problem," Kol muttered. Matt and Lucy were working that afternoon at the bar and Rebekah had accompanied them. Lucy insisted that she didn't need a bodyguard but no one had listened. _There is safety in numbers,_ Bonnie had told all of them. While Rebekah looked after her lover and her friend, Kol had been left in charge of protecting the people inside the compound along with Joanna, and a couple of other Bennett witches patrolling outside.

"I want ice cream."

Kol sighed and looked up once more. "Go get it yourself." _Really? Who did Charlotte think he was, a servant?_

"I can't go outside silly," Charlotte complained. "There is an evil vampire out there, I have to stay inside. You go get me some." She pouted and stared at him with pleading green eyes. Even the cruelest of dictators would feel something at the puppy dog look she was giving him in that moment.

Kol sighed. Okay, so he felt a little and he truly meant a little as if in _, a tiny bit_ bad that she wasn't allowed outside. The fear of Mikael getting his hands on her and using her against all of them was a serious threat. He could imagine how bored she was staying locked inside the house, no matter how big it was, she was still a kid and kids loved going out and playing outside right? He wasn't sure, but Davina spent the majority of the day at school and while Charlotte had other people to talk to and friends of sorts (mostly the kids from Klaus's werewolf pack who Ishmael or Cary brought from time to time to play with her) she was mostly surrounded by adults who had an evil vampire to catch and the only kids in the house 24/7 were two babies who spent the majority of their day feeding or pooping so he could see how lonely she was even with that ugly cat as company. So, even though Kol would never admit out loud, he did feel _a bit of sympathy_ for her. Being a kid in this family was hard and she wasn't so bad, specially when she kept to herself and ignored him. He contemplated her, realizing how manipulative she was with that pout and almost teary eyes, which he knew for sure were going to be filled with fake tears soon enough. Unlike Klaus and Elijah who were wrapped around her little finger, Kol could see through her. "I'm sure one of Nik's minions will do the grocery shopping and get you ice cream, now go away." He waved her off with his hand. Just because he might have some type of sympathy towards her didn't mean he would do her bidding, he had more important things to do, like finishing his game before Davina arrived from school and the two could sneak a few kisses here and there. They had to take advantage that his siblings were out of the house. Just thinking about it had his heart quickening and a tingling sensation rushing down his spine. Kissing Davina was the best thing in the world!

"Fine," Charlotte muttered dropping the sad little orphan look and turning around to leave, her ball of orange fur loyally following her. "I'm telling everyone your secret."

Kol's fingers stopped moving, and he once again looked up from his phone, and stared at her face. "Nice try, darling." He couldn't help but laugh.

Charlotte frowned.

"This is the part where you trick me into revealing my secret so you can then use it against me but guess what? It's not going to work." He chuckled at the disconcerting look on her face. "I pretty much invented that trick. Go away," he hissed.

"Okay," Charlotte agreed a little too sweetly which caused Kol's eyes to narrow suspiciously. He watched her warily. She stopped once she reached the door and looked at him over her shoulder. "I'm going to tell everyone you and Davina are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Kol dropped the phone on the couch and stood up at the speed of light, materializing right in front of her, and successfully blocking her way out in a matter of seconds.

"Woah…" Charlotte's eyes opened wide and she blinked a few times up at him, clearly impressed with his speed. She knew vampires were fast but sheesh that was really fast even by Originals standard.

"How in the world…" Kol stopped himself and pressed his lips together, while glaring daggers down at her. _Don't reveal too much, don't let her get the upper hand,_ he told himself as he attempted to intimidate her with his gaze. _She's a fucking child, you can't let her best you._

Charlotte's lips curved. "Davina told me."

Kol's jaw clenched. "Why the hell would Davina tell you that?" _Had his girlfriend lost her mind?_ Kol couldn't believe Davina had been so careless to trust a seven-year-old little demon with their secret. Charlotte was the worst person to confide in. _Bloody hell! Was she trying to get Klaus to skin him alive?_ It was bad enough that they had to watch how they acted in front of the family but now he had to worry about Charlotte opening her mouth and divulging their secret. _Damn it, D what have you done?_

While Kol's mind raced with all the horrible torture Klaus would subject him to Charlotte placed her order, "I want three scoops of strawberry ice cream with Oreo crumbs, sprinkles, whipped cream, caramel, and a cherry on top please." Charlotte grinned at him. "Go get me some before I start telling aunt Jo, and aunty Bex, and uncle Matt, and I can call uncle Elijah and-"

"Keep your mouth shut," Kol snarled.

"Go get me my ice cream," Charlotte hissed back. She wasn't intimidated in the least bit by him. "And try to be a little nicer to me, please." She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a haughty look. "Or I'm going to start talking and _you know_ who will be the first person I'll tell."

 _Klaus_ , that was the first name on her list.

"It's your word against mine," Kol growled.

Charlotte giggled merrily. "Who do you think Klaus will believe?" she pretended to ponder the question, tapping her right cheek with her index finger and looking him up and down with an arrogance that mimicked Klaus to a T. "His daughter or the brother who acts weird whenever he's close to Davina?" Kol's face was a poem which caused her to laugh before continuing. "You always make eyes at her, like dopey Oliver," she made a face. _But you are more fun than he is, and I like you better,_ she thought. Not that she would ever admit it out loud obviously. "You are always talking to her, and standing close to her, or sitting with her," she continued. "Everyone is so busy trying to catch the evil vampire they haven't figure it out, I'm sure they will though." She was very dismissive of the consequences that could bring for all of them.

 _Consequences for me,_ Kol thought. Charlotte wouldn't get in any trouble, and Bonnie would never allow Klaus to punish Davina for dating him, and he doubted his brother would anyway. No, the one who would face Klaus's and Marcel's wrath would be Kol and the little demon knew it. He swallowed thickly, hands clenching at his sides as he looked down at her.

"Will you go get me my ice cream now?" Charlotte asked with a sweet smile.

He couldn't believe that a child who looked so innocent could be so manipulative. _She's been raised by your family, what else do you expect?_ She actually reminded him of a young Rebekah, always roping her big brothers into doing her bidding. For a couple of moments, Kol didn't say anything or do anything, he simply stared at her before he flashed out of there, Charlotte's giggles echoing in his ear.

Charlotte watched him go and grinned. "Come on Peanuts," she scooped her cat in her arms and took a seat on the couch, right where Kol had been a few minutes before. With a wave of her hand, the remote control flew to her, and she turned the TV on, searching for her favorite cartoons. "I'm going to give you some of my ice cream," she promised her kitten as she sat him on her lap and petted him with her left hand.

 _I really care about him,_ Davina had told her when they spoke a few nights before. _I know you like him even if you pretend otherwise. He's my boyfriend now but no one can know._

 _Nah-ah, I don't like him._ Charlotte had insisted. Okay maybe she liked Kol, _just a tiny little bit_. She liked him better than that boring wolf for Davina and it was always fun winning against him and annoying him to no end. She giggled and continued to pet Peanuts. What Kol didn't know was that she had made a magic promise to Davina not to tell anyone about their secret. Until Kol figured it out, she was going to have a blast commanding him to do things for her. "Would you like uncle Kol to give you a bath, Peanuts?" she asked, just picturing the scratches he was going to get in the process made her grin. Oh, she was going to enjoy this.

Her grin widened when Kol flashed inside the living room a few minutes later, and shoved a plastic bowl into her hand. "When Davina gets here, we're going to have a serious talk," he snapped.

Charlotte's eyes lit up as she stared at her ice cream, with the Oreo crumbs, the sprinkles, caramel, and whipped cream with cherry on top, just like she had ordered it. _Yummy._ "Thank you," she said to Kol before grabbing a delicious spoonful.

Kol's eyes glinted maliciously.

Charlotte spat the ice cream out and made a face. "Eww…" she licked her lips, hating the saltiness invading her mouth. "What did you do?" she glared up at him. "It's salty." He had ruined her ice cream, the jerk.

"Didn't you want salted caramel?" Kol asked innocently.

"No!" Charlotte shouted angrily. "And this isn't salted caramel, this is salt on my caramel! There is a big difference!" Now that she looked at it better, she could see it. He had sprinkled salt all over her ice cream. Charlotte growled at him, even Peanuts hissed sensing her anger.

"Well, yeah. I added a bunch salt to the ice cream, you know to make the caramel salty." Kol scratched his head. "I'm pretty sure you said salted caramel, are you sure you didn't?" he was the picture of perfect confusion.

"No. I never said that."

"Oops," Kol muttered, not in the least sorry at all, although he pretended to be.

"You did it on purpose."

"I did no such thing." He looked offended by her accusation.

Charlotte didn't believe him of course, she knew him too well. She blasted him off without thinking. She hadn't really meant to sent him that far, she only wanted to give him a good shove and teach him not to mess with her because she could defend herself. She was tiny but she was more powerful than him and she was angry which increased the potency of her magic.

Kol's eyes went wide as he felt the push of her magic. He closed his eyes as he was lifted into the air, and waited for the pain that would follow as he slammed against the wall. It never came, he disappeared with a bright light before he could hit the wall.

Charlotte's eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open, and her spoon fell from her hand, landing on the side of the couch. Peanuts scurried down from her lap and began licking the remains of her ice cream from the spoon while his mistress stared at the wall with a horrified look on her face.

Charlotte's face was pale as she blinked once, twice, but Kol was not there. He had disappeared with the blast of her magic. _Oh no!_ her heart sank as a cold realization hit her. "I killed Kol," she muttered and real tears gathered in her big and terrified green eyes. "Aunt Jo!" Charlotte yelled dropping the ice cream on the ouch and running out of the room in search of her aunt. "Aunt Jo!" she screamed with anguish. _What had she done? How could she loose control of her magic in such a way?_

She had blasted Kol into oblivion and killed him. _Oh boy, I'm in trouble._

 _How she was going to explain this to Davina? And her parents? And the rest of the family?_

* * *

Elijah and Finn walked briskly through the busy streets of the French Quarter. In the past few days, the Originals, with the help of Klaus's wolf family, and Bonnie's coven had been patrolling the city. They were all on the lookout for Mikael who had vanished into thin air. Two weeks into the New Year, and they had absolutely no clue as to his whereabouts. Not even Ayana and the Bennetts on the other side had been able to locate him. It was driving Niklaus mad, and everyone felt on edge. They were all waiting for the other shoe to drop, for their father to surprise them, and attack.

"There are many places in this city where he could hide," Finn muttered under his breath. His senses could pick up the magic floating in every inch of the vibrant street. The first time he had ventured outside with Niklaus and Elijah, he had been overwhelmed by the sounds and scents that assaulted his senses. It was better now, but it was still incredible to feel the presence of so many supernaturals, and those currents of power floating freely. New Orleans was unlike any city in the world. He could understand why his siblings had been drawn to it and decided to make it their home. _It's your home now too,_ his mind whispered, although Finn still not felt comfortable calling it that.

Things between him and his siblings were alright. They had slowly fallen into a routine of sorts, it mostly involved trying to locate their father, and talking strategy but Finn could move freely around the house, and the city, and despite their reservations, his siblings were making an effort and including him in their plans. His lips curled into a soft smile as he recalled meeting his niece and nephew. He had been shocked when Bonnie brought them down one day and presented them to him. Ingrid and Henrik, his throat constricted with emotion as he remembered holding them in his arms for the very first time. They were so tiny, so delicate, and innocent. _How could a cruel and despicable vampire like his brother father such beings?_ He had wondered more often than not.

 _They're his redemption_ , Elijah had said to him late one night as the two shared drinks by the fire. _He has changed. I have seen the way she has changed him...for the better._

Yes, as much as Finn had doubted it, in the past few days he had witness Niklaus's love for Bonnie and their children. For the first time in a thousand years, Finn had actually believed that their bond of always and forever worked. He had seen how united, how greatly they were all getting along, they were truly a united family at last and that included not only his siblings but their significant others, and the sweet girls who could steal anyone's heart. It was going to take all of them to face the storm coming their way, that he knew for sure.

Elijah heard him perfectly and nodded. There had been no more vampire corpses, no attacks on the werewolves, or humans in the city, and the two hospitals they had just visited had no blood bags missing. It was almost as if their father had decided to take off into the unknown and forget about hunting them down. _Could that be true?_ Elijah wondered as they headed towards another hospital. _Could their father choose his own survival over destroying them? After a thousand years, had he given up on his revenge so easily?_ Elijah doubted it. _He must be planning something big,_ he thought. _We cannot let our guard down._ "With the help of the shadows, it's easier for him to go unnoticed."

"What do you think he's eating?" Finn asked him as he fell into a step beside him. They rounded the corner that led to the hospital's back entrance.

"I'm not sure," Elijah gave him a quick look. "We can go weeks, months without feeding even, and he has exceptional self-control."

"Sooner or later he's going to need to drink blood." Finn better than anyone knew what those hunger pains were like, how excruciating it was to resist, and how much their resurrected bodies need that blood in order to regain their full strength. Niklaus kept plenty of blood at the compound; there were freezes filled with bags in the basement. _Their father didn't have that luxury, or did he?_

"Indeed," Elijah hoped that their father's desire to feed could leave them another clue.

"Do you think he has other allies, apart form the shadows I mean?"

"It's a strong possibility," Elijah responded as he opened the back door with ease and motioned Finn to get inside. No sooner had they stepped inside the hospital- into an empty hall thankfully- and the two of them froze.

"What?" Finn looked at him quizzically, feeling something inside his blood, it almost felt like a call.

Before either of them could realize what was happening, or do something to stop it, there was a bright light that came out of nowhere and took them away. Leaving no trace of them behind.

* * *

 **Rosseau's**

He watched her from the corner of the bar. She was sitting on the opposite side, her laptop on the table, and a bunch of magazines piled on the seat next to her. She was beautiful, angelic even. _She looks like her mother,_ he thought feeling a strange pang in his heart. Once upon a time, he had considered Esther the most beautiful woman on earth. The bitterness, the anger, he felt turned his mouth sour. Thinking of that treacherous bitch always put him in a bad mood. Many men had glanced at his daughter and attempted to make eye contact, some were even bold enough to try and buy her a drink, she ignored them all and continued to type, occasionally glancing at the young male mixing drinks at the bar.

 _Matt Donovan,_ her lover. The boy from Mystic Falls who had followed her to the Crescent city. He lived with her and her siblings at the big mansion a few blocks away. Mikael didn't think highly of the human, he certainly thought his daughter deserved better but he also knew of her hopes and dreams. Rebekah had always wanted a family of her own. Sweet Rebekah who had perhaps suffered the most out of all of them. _And yet, she always defended the bastard boy and remained by his side,_ Mikael growled, feeling angry and disappointed that his daughter had chosen Niklaus over him. They all had, even Finn who happily paraded himself with his brothers now. He had seen them, all four of them walking side by side in search of him.

 _Fools,_ Mikael thought. He couldn't help but chuckle at their naivety. The magic protecting him was stronger than anything they had ever known, harvested throughout the centuries and making him completely undetectable. Not even Bonnie Bennett herself had been able to sense him as he walked by her side earlier that morning. It had been an arrogant risk, one needed in order to prove his superiority over them. His eyes landed on the witch serving drinks to a bunch of stuffy businessmen a few tables from him. Lucinda Bennett, Bonnie's cousin and Elijah's lover and bonded. The arrogant little bitch who had told Rebekah she didn't need a bodyguard and could take care of herself. _I can kick your father's ass in a heartbeat,_ she had proclaimed. _Stupid wench_ , he thought. _You can't sense me either, can you?_ He couldn't help but enjoy knowing that they were all at his mercy, that he could rip her heart out before anyone could see or do anything to stop him. He wanted to. She thought that because she was a Bennett she could dismiss him and the threat he represented. All witches were the same in the end, arrogant beings who never learned that magic could only get them so far. _I could give Elijah a present,_ he thought as his eyes followed Lucy's back. The pain of losing a bonded was something that few vampires could resist, Elijah had endured it before and so had Kol. _He can endure it again,_ Mikael thought as he saw Lucy disappear to the back of the bar. _It would serve that whore right for thinking she is a threat to me._ The impulse to make a point, to teach her a lesson was strong but he held it back. _Now it's not the time._ There was only one thing on his mind, one goal consuming every fiber of his being.

 _Something is not right,_ the shadows warned him inside his mind. _There is a strange surge of magic in the air, really powerful magic._

Mikael frowned, he couldn't feel anything. He looked at Rebekah's lover, saw Lucy come back from the back room, and helped him mix a couple more drinks for the new arrivals. _Where?_ There were no other supernaturals inside the bar, saved for him, his daughter, and Lucy. _Where is it coming from?_ he asked the shadows as he contemplated Rebekah once more. _Was that a wedding magazine she was flipping through now? Was she going to marry her human lover?_ He was still recovering from the scandalized thought when he saw the light cascading down over her. Mikael stood up and flashed towards her, ready to protect her, but it was too late. By the time Mikael made it to he table, Rebekah was gone. She had disappeared in a blink of an eye and no one had noticed, everyone continued with their business as if nothing had happened. No one had seen her disapear. _Where is she?_ He hissed angrily. _Who had dared to abduct his daughter in plain daylight?_

 _Summoning spell,_ the shadows whispered in his mind.

 _Find her,_ Mikael hissed mentally. He needed Rebekah, out of all his children he felt certain she would be the one to help him. _Find my daughter_ , he commanded the shadows.

* * *

 **Fauline cottage**

"What the bloody hell is this?" Klaus snapped as he looked at his surroundings. He had been talking to Bonnie and Marcel, feeling his body burn, and then he had appeared here. It looked like an attic of sorts. There was some shattered glass on the corner and a couple of tables on the opposite wall while a single small window allowed some light to penetrate inside.

"I would like to know the answer as well," Elijah's voice reached his ears. He and Finn looked equally confused by the turn of events. They had appeared almost at the same time as him.

"We were on our way to another hospital, to see if any blood bags had been stolen," Finn told Klaus. "There was this light and-"

"We ended up here, join the club," Kol muttered as he appeared out of nowhere. "I was about to be on the receiving end of Charlotte's magic when I ended up here."

"What did you do to her?" Klaus hissed, his eyes flashing gold as he materialized right in front of him.

"Calm down, papa bear." Kol distanced himself from the pissed hybrid. "I may have messed up her ice cream order on purpose," he admitted with a sheepish smile. _Serves her right for trying to best me._

Elijah arched a curious eyebrow.

"You were getting ice cream for Charlotte?" Klaus questioned him with disbelief. "You're joking."

Kol winced. _Shit, I was not supposed to say that._

"Since when are you such a doting uncle?" Klaus pressed.

There was something in his eyes, a look that Kol could not decipher and which made him even more nervous. He gulped and laughed nervously, he could feel Elijah's and Finn's curious eyes as well. Shit, he had just screwed up, he knew. "I…well…you know…I felt sorry for her."

Klaus pinned him with his gaze.

"How gracious of you," Elijah commented.

"We were out of ice cream and she started crying and screaming like a banshee so I went to get her ice cream to shut her up." Kol forced himself to look into Klaus's eyes.

"Is that so?" Klaus clearly did not believe a single word coming out of Kol's mouth. His lips curved into a knowing smirk. "What is she blackmailing you with?"

Years, centuries of being under his brother's harsh and scrutinizing gaze helped Kol to keep a neutral face, it wasn't easy, he was freaking out. Thankfully, he was saved from answering when Rebekah landed rather ungracefully a few feet away from them.

Klaus of course, flashed to her side, and helped her to her feet.

 _Thank you, Bekah!_ Kol thought as he looked up at the ceiling. She had saved his ass.

"What is this?" Rebekah hissed as she dusted her leather jacket and slid her gaze over the place she had been teleported to. "I was just at Rosseau's what in the world…" she turned to her brothers, a questioning look on her face.

"Something brought us here," Elijah said to her.

"A with," Klaus hissed as he looked around the attic room once more. The scent of powerful magic lingered in the air, he could feel it penetrating his skin, warming him from head to toe, and making him apprehensive. Only an extremely powerful and capable witch could have done something like this. _Shit, what other enemy had come out of the woodwork now?_

"A witch summoning five Originals?" Finn asked with incredulity.

"Why don't you show yourself?" Klaus hissed. "I know you are here!" He could feel the presence of a witch, she was there in the attic with them, probably under the protection of a cloaking spell. "Show yourself!" he snarled, eyes flashing gold, and fangs dropping. He had no time to waste on games.

A blonde-haired woman-dressed in black- appeared in front of them all of a sudden.

Rebekah took a step closer to Nik while Kol moved closer to her. The three of them were soon joined by Finn and Elijah, five Originals facing one witch. The odds where not in her favor but she didn't look in the least intimidated.

"Why have you brought us here?" Elijah questioned the witch, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Who are you?" Rebekah asked soon after.

"You…" Kol took a step closer to her, recognition dawning on his face. "I know you," he muttered.

The young woman smiled. "Hello Kol." She moved her gaze from him to Rebekah, to Klaus, to Elijah and finally, Finn. Something flickered across her eyes as she stared at him and judging by the surprised look on Finn's face, he felt something upon seeing her. "It's been so long." She stared into Finn's eyes, hoping, waiting.

"You…" Finn moved closer. He felt like he knew her, there was something about her eyes that called out to him. _Where had he seen that face? Why did she seem familiar to him?_

"You were at our Christmas party," Klaus recalled, he remembered seeing her that night. "December 1914." The night he had daggered Kol after learning of his plans against him.

"You were Kol's date," Rebekah added as she too remembered the young witch Kol had brought to their home that night. She remembered talking to her briefly and warning her about her rascal brother. _Was this some scorned witch seeking revenge against her brother?_

"It was definitely not a date," the witch looked rather amused by the thought.

"I wouldn't call it a date," Kol snapped at the same time. "She used me to get invited." He rather not think about that night at all. "I'm sure she enjoyed the spectacle you made when you daggered me in front of all our guest," he gave a quick look at Klaus. "I still haven't forgotten that you know."

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Water under the bridge, Kol." Rebekah like usual, took Nik's side.

Kol glared at her. "You betrayed me! You were the one who told him-"

"And you betrayed me," Klaus came to his sister's defense. "You deserved being daggered."

Kol scoffed. "You know-"

"Children please," Elijah intervened knowing that things could scale quickly and it was best to put an end to this kind of discussion. "We have all betrayed each other and we are no longer keeping score," he gave all three of them a stern look. "Let us please move on." They had all given each other a clean slate and promised to be a united front, besides they shouldn't be discussing family matters in front of a stranger.

"Always and forever."

All eyes turned to the witch once more.

"That is the Mikaelson motto, is it not?" her green eyes glinted and her lips curved. "A vow that still stands one thousand years later," there was something in her voice, a longing that slipped through despite her indifferent façade. "Even though all of you have betrayed and even tried to kill each other, you always find a way to put your differences and pettiness aside and stick together as one."

Something flickered across Rebekah's eyes upon hearing that.

"Who are you?" Klaus demanded. He didn't like how much she seemed to know about them. "What do you want?"

"Why have you brought us here?" Elijah wanted to know as well.

"I thought about this moment for many centuries," she said as she walked closer and stared into each of their faces. "Wondering what I would say, how I would present myself?" There was a far away look on her face as she thought of the countless of times she had fantasized about this moment. "I came close that Christmas night nearly a century ago…" she glanced at Klaus. "I've heard so many things about all of you but _you_ in particular…" she murmured. "Are you truly the monster all others fear?" she questioned him boldly. _Because I need that monster,_ she thought as she looked into his eyes and attempted to read his mind. She felt surprised to find a brick wall, there was nothing coming from him, nothing coming from any of them. She smiled, feeling relieved. _Good, this mean she won't be able to manipulate your minds._

"Get on with it." Klaus spread his arms and challenged her.

"You are making a big mistake if you think you can take all of us at once?" Elijah hissed.

She moved her eyes from Klaus to Elijah and smiled. "I used to rub mother's belly and placed my head against it," she told him in a soft voice. "I used to sing to you and how you would kick at the sound of my voice…" she trialed off, her hands shook slight at the memory of her mother smiling and touching her hair as she sang to her baby brother. _She didn't love you enough to fight for you,_ the voice that always haunted her whispered. _She never loved you like she loves her sons…she has replaced you with another daughter…_

 _Lies, they're all lies…don't believe her lies…_

Elijah didn't know what to say, there was something in her eyes, something familiar, he suddenly thought of his mother, feeling shaken as he realized the similarities between her and Esther. He gave a quick look in Rebekah's direction, she had the same eyes as this young woman, although hers did not look haunted and sad.

Finn gasped, his entire body trembling as he stared at her face. "You…" he couldn't believe it, this couldn't be real.

"Has it been so long that you have forgotten me?" she asked Finn who looked paler than usual.

Finn let out a strange noise, like a mixture between a gasp and a wail. His face twisted painfully and his eyes began to fill with tears. "I've never forgotten you." He walked closer to her, hardly daring to believe that she was real, that she was really there, and alive. "Never…" he reached out and cupped her cheek with trembling fingers. Endless memories filled with childish laughter, mischievous games, and sweet hugs assaulted his brain.

Kol frowned while Klaus and Elijah exchanged curious looks.

"Do you know her, Finn?" Rebekah questioned their brother. She felt a current of excitement invade her, it was almost as if her senses, as if _her blood knew_ what her mind didn't. _Could it be?_

"Freya," Finn smiled, the first genuine and real smile he had ever had. "Sweet Freya."

"I missed you, little brother." For the first time since she presented herself to them, the mask dropped completely, and she allowed her face to show the pain, the longing, the _happiness_ she felt at being reunited with him once more. This is what she had always wanted, what she had longed for, what had kept her strong and determined throughout the torturous centuries she had to endure with Dahlia. Him, them, her family. They finally knew of her existence.

"And I you," Finn whispered before pulling her into his arms.

Freya tried to choke back a sob as she felt his strong arms crushing her to his chest. For the first time in a thousand years, she felt safe. She was with her family. She was finally home.


	86. Chapter 86

**One thousand years ago**

 _Finn squirmed and snuggled closer to his mother as another rumbling of thunder echoed inside their hut. "Thor must be angry," he murmured fearfully._

" _Don't be afraid," his mother's arm tightened around him as she deposited a gentle kiss on top of his head._

 _Finn smiled up at her, in his mother's arms he was never afraid._

" _Do you want a brother or a sister, Finn?" Freya was on their mother's other side, snuggled against her as well, one hand gently rubbing their mother's swollen belly. All three of them fitted perfectly on the bed, the bear furs keeping them warm along with the burning fire. An icy storm raged the village and the two of them had crawled into their mother's bed, seeking comfort; their father was away, hunting with the other men from their village._

" _I don't want any brother or sister," Finn proclaimed. They were happy, the four of them were the perfect family why ruin that?_

 _Freya giggled at the tone of his voice, her green eyes shinning with mirth._

" _There is no need to be jealous my love," Esther touched his cheek and smiled down at him._

 _Freya rested her head on their mother's growing belly. "It's going to be a boy," she proclaimed._

" _How do you know?" Finn asked curiously._

" _I just do," she rubbed her nose against her mother's belly before depositing a tender kiss. "I know what you shall name him as well," she told their mother as she raised her face._

" _Tell me," Esther said as she wrapped an arm around each of them and pulled them closer against her._

" _Elijah," Freya declared as she looked into her mother's eyes. "I want you to name him, Elijah."_

" _And your father and I don't get a say in the matter?" Esther questioned with a soft laugh. She knew Mikael would not deny Freya her wish and neither would she._

" _No," Freya replied with a giggle. "As his older sister, I get to decide on his name."_

 _Esther laughed at that._

" _That's not fair!" Finn complained. "If he's a boy, I should be the one to decide on his name. I am the older brother."_

" _I'm older than you!"_

" _By a winter!"_

" _I am still older," Freya sang in a melodic voice._

 _Esther laughed at their banter which was interrupted by a loud rumbling sound that made their bed quake. Both children gasped and snuggled closer to her, seeking her protection. Esther pulled them close and kissed both of their heads. "It's alright, my darlings. Mama won't let anything happen to you. I will keep you safe," she promised both of them. "Always and forever."_

* * *

 **Fauline Cottage**

Freya pulled away from Finn, her eyes brimming with tears, and a happy smile graced upon her lips.

"I can't believe you are real," Finn murmured as he took her hand in his. He was afraid that if he were to let go, she would disappear with the wind.

"I am."

"You're supposed to be dead," Kol snapped once he got over his shock.

Freya and Finn turned to face him.

"I am very much alive, Kol." There was an unsure smile on her face as she contemplated him.

"How can this be?" Elijah asked her. Outwardly, he was the perfect picture of composure but inside he was conflicted by the unexpected turn of events. The sister they all thought dead was alive and in front of them, he couldn't believe it.

"Dahlia," Freya spat the name with barely contained hatred.

"She took you when you were a little girl…" Rebekah's throat constricted. "We assumed she killed you…we…" There was a part of Rebekah that wanted to hug her, to relish in the knowledge that she had a sister -a flesh and blood sister- the sister she had always wanted, but something held her back. There were a lot of questions floating inside her mind, inside all of their minds actually. Kol's face was a poem of different emotions while Nik stood rooted by her side, face and eyes completely devoid of any emotions. "I mean it's been a thousand years…and you…you're a witch…" she had brought them here with her magic. Rebekah could hear the pounding of her heart beating with life, _human life._ She was not like them. _How could she be alive after all this time?_

"Dahlia raised me as her _daughter_ …" saying the word made her feel sick. _I am not like her. I am not like her,_ she repeated like a mantra inside her head. Some of that pain and conflict flickered across her eyes but it was replaced quickly with a mask of indifference. "I am a semi-immortal witch," Freya confessed in a soft murmur.

Another witch in her place would have said the words with pride but Rebekah noted that Freya said them as if it were a punishment or a curse.

"As lovely as this reunion is," Klaus spoke up, his tone was anything but delighted. "Why don't you tell us what the hell do you want?" he looked directly into her eyes, challenging her, and letting his suspicion show on his face. "Why the hell did you waited a thousand years to make your existence known?" he questioned her. "Why have you summon us here?"

"What are you insinuating?" Finn snapped, he clearly didn't like the hostility he sensed from Klaus.

"I simply want to know whether she's a friend or foe," Klaus retorted.

"She's our sister!" Finn reminded him angrily. In his mind, Freya could only be on their side and he felt angry at Niklaus for even daring to question it.

"So she claims," Klaus snapped. Unlike Finn, he was not welcoming a stranger with open arms just because she claimed to be their long lost sister. He would be a fool to trust her so easily.

Freya didn't say anything, she simply regarded him with interest. Deep down she knew it would not be easy, she had prepared herself for their disbelief, for their hostility even, but it still hurt to see it reflected in his eyes. _He can't trust someone he doesn't know,_ she reminded herself. She had heard he was paranoid, secretive, and kept a tight leash on those close to him. Niklaus was not one to welcome strangers into his inner circle. It was foolish of her to think he would make an exception for her, even if she was his sister.

"Nik is right," Kol intervened before Finn could utter another word. "How do we know she's telling the truth? How do we know this isn't a lie? How do we know for sure she is who she claims to be?"

"You want to take a DNA test?" Rebekah gave him a weird look.

"She could be an enemy trying to trick us!" Kol retorted angrily.

"I'm not your enemy," Freya said glancing into his face. "I am your sister," she told them as she focused her eyes on Klaus's face once more. "I summon you here using my blood, the same blood that flows through your veins. If I didn't make my presence known before it's because I couldn't…" she paused, reflecting on how much she could share with them. _How much of her past could she confide in them? Would they understand?_ "You have no idea the things I had to endure with Dahlia. From the moment I was taken I have been bound to her, forced to be by her side until I managed to escape a couple of centuries ago."

"When you came looking for us," Elijah deduced quickly.

Freya nodded.

"Why didn't you say anything that Christmas?"

Elijah's eyes bored into hers with an intensity that reminded her of their mother, Esther's gaze had always been direct. "I wanted to," Freya responded as she contemplated his face. It seemed like it was just yesterday when she rubbed her mother's belly and sang to him, enjoying the feel of his strong kicks. The baby brother she had adored and never really met. "I couldn't…and then I saw…" _the things I saw are best kept to myself,_ she decided. "I realized I had to wait another century. I had to wait until now."

"Why?" Elijah and Klaus questioned at the same time.

"Because this is the right moment, the right time to destroy Dahlia." She looked directly into Klaus's unreadable blue eyes. "Dahlia will come for your daughter," Freya stated. "She will claim your first-born child in the same way she claimed me."

"Because of some absurd deal she and mother made," Klaus spat with a roll of his eyes. Another sin, another crime against that retched woman who had given birth to them.

"The magic Dahlia used to grant mother's fertility came with a price," Freya told him. "It wasn't just another magical oath, or a promise between two witches, but a bargain sealed with dark magic and blood. Dahlia will come collecting. Make no mistake about that."

"Mother alluded as much," Finn muttered with a pensive look. "She always lived in fear of Aunt Dahlia," he recalled while gazing at his siblings. "She did everything in her power to ensure we would never wed, that we would never procreate, and it worked until…" he glanced at Klaus and trailed off.

"Until Niklaus impregnated a witch," Freya finished for him. The birth of Niklaus's children had changed everything. She frowned and turned to her siblings. "Mother told you about her bargain with Dahlia?" she questioned them.

"She was forced to tell us," Elijah answered without elaborating further on the matter. "Mother and father have been conspiring against us for a thousand years." He studied her face with keen interest as he continued talking. "They regretted turning us into blood thirsty monsters-"

"Or so they claim," Kol muttered under his breath. "Hypocrites."

Elijah gave him a look.

"I have heard the stories about father," Freya murmured with a sad face. She had refused to believe them at first, her darling papa could have never turn against his own children but then Dahlia had showed her. She shivered. Through Dahlia, Freya had seen not only what her father had become but also what her siblings had done, the blood they had spilled, the sins they had committed. _You're not so different after all,_ her treacherous mind hissed in her ear. _You are all monsters._ "The vampire who hunts vampires…" she repeated what she had heard. "He does not sound like the father I remember," she told them.

Klaus watched her curiously. "You have pleasant memories of him?" He seemed genuinely surprised by that.

Freya nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "The father I remember was strong but also loving and kind…"

"It was your loss that ruined him," Finn squeezed her hand. "He never recovered. He changed completely. He became an angry, resentful, and cruel man."

"Never mind the fact that he had other children that needed him," Kol muttered, his anger and resentment slipping through.

"Or maybe he was a monster all along and you and Finn were too blind to see it," Klaus added with a sneer.

 _What has he done to you?_ Freya wanted to ask him. She wanted to learn all the details of their childhood, of their lives with Esther and Mikael but seeing the looks on their faces, sensing the anger, and the hatred they all felt towards their parents held her back. She had learned many things about them, second or third hand accounts of their lives, not of their past but of their deeds, of what happened to those who crossed them. As much as she knew what they were, who their allies and friends were, and where they had been a few centuries before, it was a completely different thing to learn things about their lives from their own lips. _You'll have plenty of time for that later,_ her mind whisper as silence descended over the attic. _You need to focus on the task at hand._

"You say that Dahlia will come collecting," Elijah's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Is she here in New Orleans?"

"Not yet," Freya responded. "But she will come soon enough." She looked at Klaus. "She will come for your daughter."

"And how do we know you're not working with her?" Klaus challenged her. "How do we know this is not some sort of plan cooked between the two of you?" he took a menacing step closer. "Why should we believe everything you say?"

"Niklaus!" Finn took a protective stance in front of Freya. "How dare you insinuate-"

"We have every right to question her motives," Elijah as always took his brother's side. "With all due respect," he said looking at Freya. "We don't know you. We can't trust you just because you claim to be our sister."

Kol nodded, obviously agreeing with both of his brothers while Rebekah looked conflicted. She bit her lip, an anguished look on her face. She wanted to believe Freya but if pushes came to shoves she would take Niklaus's side, like she always did.

Disappointment filled her belly but Freya understood. Even though she didn't like their suspicion, she had been expecting it. Only a fool would trust blindly and her siblings were anything but. "We have a common enemy." Freya stared into Elijah's eyes, wishing that she could get inside his head and see what he was thinking. While she could see the confusion in Rebekah's face, the incredulity in Kol's eyes, and the suspicion in Klaus's, Elijah was much harder to read. "Dahlia is the most powerful witch you will ever meet. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She will come and when she does, we must be ready. We must end her for good." _I can't do it alone, I tried and I failed. I need you,_ she wished she could say it out loud but she would never allowed herself to appear so weak, much less in front of them.

"You said she raised you as a daughter," Elijah reminded her, those dark chocolate eyes of his pinning her in place. "What kind of daughter would betray her mother?"

Freya's magic flared, causing the temperature in the room to drop rapidly. "The kind who has suffered beyond your imagination," she hissed. The anger, _the hatred_ she felt towards Dahlia fueled her power and small ripples managed to slip through despite her iron clad control. "Dahlia tried to raise me in her image, she tried to make me into the daughter she never had, but I hate her." The conviction in her voice was unwavering.

"Why haven't you killed her then?" Klaus snapped.

Freya chuckled bitterly. "If I could, I would have done so a very long time ago." She let go of Finn's hand and began pacing around the room, knowing that she needed to calm herself. She had to get her temper under control, she could not afford to make mistakes. She turned back to face them. "I alone cannot destroy her," it cost her to admit it but it was the absolute truth; one she had learned the hard way. "As great as my power is, I will never be able to kill her. Not on my own at least."

"Why not?" Rebekah asked gently. Her heart ached for her long-lost sister, for the suffering she had clearly endured. She wanted to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be okay but she resisted the urge.

Freya remained silent.

"You need us to help you kill our evil aunt," Kol stated the obvious.

"I don't need _you_ ," Freya gave him a quick look before depositing her gaze on Klaus once more. She took a couple of steps closer and held his gaze unflinchingly. "Your daughter, however…" she let the words hang in the air, purposely wanting to see his reaction. _Show me the beast they say you are. Let me see for myself if you are a worthy adversary._

Klaus growled and his eyes flashed gold. "You are out of your fucking mind if you think I will let you near my daughter," he snarled, hybrid face surfacing.

Freya couldn't stop her lips from curving into a pleased smirk.

* * *

 **The compound**

"Okay sweetie, I need you to calm down and tell us exactly what happened," Joanna said as she tried to console a crying Charlotte.

"I…killed…Kol…" Charlotte choked in between sobs. "I didn't mean to." She looked into Davina's confused and scared face. "I swear. I just wanted to push him with my magic and then…then…he…" she couldn't finish the sentence and buried her face on Ms. Cuddles- whom smelled like her mother- it gave her some comfort.

"Why would you…?" Davina couldn't even form a coherent sentence. This was the last thing she had expected when she and Belle arrived home from school. She knew how much Kol and Charlotte loved to argue and push each other to the limit but the thought of Charlotte actually hurting Kol, Davina couldn't comprehend how they could have allowed their games to go so far.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte mumbled still clutching the bear to her face. "I'm sorry…" _please don't hate me_ , she wanted to beg Davina but felt ashamed to do so. _This was all her fault and all because she wanted some ice cream._ She cried even harder. _What if they don't want me to be part of the family anymore?_ The wave of fear that thought created in her caused her to struggle to breathe.

"Sweetie you need to take a deep breath and calm down," Joanna wrapped and arm around her trembling shoulders and pulled her closer. "Kol is an Original vampire," she said calmly. "I'm sure you didn't kill him," she did her best to reassure the little girl.

Davina nodded. Original vampires couldn't be killed by regular means and even though Charlotte was a powerful witch, it would take a lot to even cause someone like Kol any harm. She tried to push aside all the fear she felt and focused on thinking rationally about this. _There has to be an explanation for this._

"Maybe you teleported him to another state or something," Belle suggested nervously. "Like you did with yourself and Davina that one time."

Charlotte sniffled and pulled her face away from Ms. Cuddles. "You think so?" she turned from Belle and looked at Joanna. "You think I really did that aunt Jo?" her tone was hopeful as she wiped some of the tears from her face.

"Maybe." It seemed reasonable enough to consider. Charlotte was quite powerful but not enough to fulminate an Original in a blink of an eye.

"I'm sure we can locate him," Davina was already formulating a plan when the sound of alarmed voices reached their ears.

"What do you mean she just disappeared?" Bonnie questioned as she made her way inside the compound.

Charlotte gasped as she heard her voice.

"I'm telling you she was in the bar waiting for us and then she was gone, just like that." Matt was explaining to Bonnie. He was carrying Rebekah's computer, purse, and magazines in his arms. Following them was Lucy- who was on her cell phone and Marcel who looked rather troubled.

"The same thing happened with Klaus," Marcel muttered. "This is obviously the work of a witch."

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked coming into the living room and seeing the worried faces of Davina, Belle, and Joanna. Her eyes immediately landed on Charlotte's red face, her cheeks were wet, and her eyes puffy from her tears. "What happened?" Bonnie rushed to her daughter's side who wasted to time to push the teddy bear aside and jump into her arms.

"I did something horrible," she said in a muffled whisper against her shoulder. "Please don't hate me mama..."

"Oh honey, I could never hate you." Bonnie hugged her close to her chest and looked up at Joanna and Davina, a clear question in her eyes.

"Charlotte and Kol got into one of their arguments, she used her magic, and he disappeared," Joanna explained.

"She thinks she killed him," Belle added which caused Charlotte to cry harder.

Bonnie and Marcel exchanged knowing looks. Kol had disappeared just like Klaus and Rebekah, it was obvious to them that this was all related.

"I'm so sorry mama, I didn't mean to," Charlotte clung to Bonnie and continued to cry on her shoulder.

"It's okay, baby." Bonnie kissed the side of her face.

"I'm sure we can locate Kol with a locator spell," Davina told them.

"I doubt it," Bonnie whispered rubbing Charlotte's back and thinking about what all this meant. _Who could have dared to do something like this? Why?_ It was clearly someone extremely powerful but something inside Bonnie told her not to be afraid, almost if this wasn't a bad thing. It was strange to be worried about her family but at the same time have a feeling that everything was going to be alright in the end.

"What do you mean?" Joanna asked her.

"Klaus also disappeared with a blink of an eye," Marcel responded. "Bonnie tried to track him down but we didn't get very far."

"Rebekah also disappeared from the bar without anyone seeing anything," Matt informed them. He looked really worried. "We have no clue where she is."

"I think it's safe to say that Finn and Elijah shared the same fate," Lucy muttered as she placed her cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans. "They were supposed to be checking the hospitals for any missing blood bags, he hasn't returned any of my calls." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I have no clue where he could be." She tried to put on a brave face but the worry she felt was eating her from the inside.

"What about your bond with him?" Joanna asked her gently.

"I know he's alive, he feels conflicted…." Lucy muttered as she moved her eyes over the spacious room. Elijah was experiencing many conflicting emotions, it was hard to place just one but at least she knew he was okay, physically at least. "But I can't locate him…I…" she looked at Bonnie for guidance. She and Klaus had been bonded far longer than Lucy and Elijah, surely her cousin would know more. _How do you do it?_ She wanted to ask but didn't.

"I can't locate Klaus either, something is blocking me," Bonnie answered in a sad voice. She had tried until she realized that whatever magic had taken Klaus was purposely guiding her in the wrong direction. "It's like who ever took him designed a maze to confuse the hell out of me." Her bond with Klaus told her that he was close, in the city still, and that he was okay, but his exact location was clouded. After walking around the French Quarter without any clear indication of where to go, she and Marcel had decided to return to the compound where they had stumbled upon Matt and Lucy and learned of Rebekah's disappearance.

"They're all gone," Charlotte pulled away from Bonnie and looked at her with fearful green eyes.

"We're going to find them," Bonnie promised her. "Everything is going to be fine, don't worry." As worried as Bonnie felt, she knew that Klaus was fine. She felt surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

"How?" Davina asked fearfully. "What if something bad happens to them?" She felt worried for all of them but Kol in particular. The thought of him getting hurt made her heart bleed.

"Nothing bad is going to happen D," Marcel was quick to say to her. "They're practically invincible, they'll be fine." He walked towards her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "If there is something I've learned about the Mikaelsons is that they are impossible to kill."

Davina rested her head against his shoulder, hoping he was right.

"I will find them," Bonnie's confident voice sent reassuring waves through all of them. "Everything is going to be fine," she swore.

* * *

 **Fauline Cottage**

"I know that you have no reason to trust me," Freya said not in the least bit intimidated by Klaus's angry hybrid face. "But I want the same thing that you do. Dahlia is a threat to your child, she won't stop until she has your daughter and ruins her life like she did mine."

"And what's in it for you?" Klaus was not swayed at all by her words.

"Freedom, vengeance," Freya declared without hesitation. "You of all people should know what it means to want those things."

Something flickered across Klaus's eyes but he didn't say anything.

"This isn't easy for us," Rebekah began in a soft voice. She better than anyone knew the conflict Klaus was feeling. He didn't trust easily, his paranoia saw enemies everywhere, and Freya although their sister was a stranger to them.

"I understand that," Freya acknowledged. She had known from the very beginning that this was a gamble, that they weren't going to help her just because she asked nicely and reminded them that she was their sister. They needed time to think, to process, and figure where to go from here. She could respect that.

"Tell us about Dahlia," Elijah said. "When will she come? What are her motives? Her plans?"

Freya took a deep breath, talking about Dahlia was never easy, it evoked too many painful memories but she knew she had to give them something, she had to cooperate with them so they in turn will do the same for her. "Dahlia is ruthless, determined, cunning," she began in a steady voice. "She wants more power, she always wants more. No matter how far she pushes herself, no matter how much she accomplishes, it's never enough, her thirst knows no limits." She paused collecting her thoughts.

Elijah and Klaus exchanged looks at that. Rebekah chewed on her bottom lip while Kol frowned. Finn for his part, kept his eyes on Freya.

"What she desires the most is to be a truly immortal witch," Freya continued.

"It's what most witches want isn't it?" Kol had been around enough witches to know that was what most of them dreamed of.

Freya nodded. "As witches we can create and destroy, we can control the elements, we can cheat death for a couple of centuries even but no witch has ever been truly immortal. There have been a couple who have come close…the witch Qetsiyah comes to mind, she was rumored to have created a true elixir of immortality but even then, there was a cure, or so I heard." She shrugged.

 _There was_ , Klaus thought thinking of how he and Bonnie had killed Silas. He continued to stare into Freya's face, using his superior senses to determine whether she was telling them the truth or if she was just making it up.

"How have you and Dahlia lived this long?" Kol asked curiously. "No witch who has slow down her aging has made it past a couple centuries."

"Dahlia found a way to slow down our aging and to make us pretty much immortal," Freya confirmed. "She created a spell which allows us to sleep for a century, it freezes us in time saved for our magic which continues to grow and develop, and then we wake up for a single year of life. We only age for that one year although thanks to the spell we are immune to disease or harm. The process has been repeated for a millennium…" she looked away, a bird in a golden cage is what she was. "That is how I've been living all this time." She turned back to face them. "Bound to a hateful woman who has used and controlled me…who has no qualms about murdering men, women, and children…" her voice broke and she had to force her hand to remain at her side and not touch her stomach. _Don't think about that, don't remember that,_ she told herself. She steeled herself and locked away that which tormented her the most. She had to put it aside and focus. _Never let your emotions get the best of you,_ her voice whispered sweetly in her ears. Her voice was always whispering in her ears.

"How does my daughter fit into all of this?" Klaus asked her, his face had returned to normal. He placed his anger aside and focused on learning all he could about the threat they were about to face.

"Dahlia wants to harvest her power, the same way she did with me. She has created a form of connective magic that allows her to draw from the power of other witches, she can channel their power without weakening them or harming them or she can absorb their power completely and kill them. Dahlia has absorbed the magic of many first-born witches throughout the centuries."

"She can handle all that magic?" Elijah asked with surprise. One of the downsides of being a witch was exhaustion, channeling too much power could potentially kill them. It seemed that was not the case for Dahlia.

Kol cursed under his breath at the implication.

Freya nodded. "You understand now why she's the most powerful witch you will ever meet, she not only has her natural born magic but she has also absorbed the magic of dozens, hundreds of other first-born witches. She took their power and killed them without any remorse. No witch, no matter how powerful has been able to defeat her, and trust me, many have tried."

"But she allowed you to live," Klaus said never moving his eyes away from her face. His wolf side allowed him to sniff a lie a mile away but there was no treachery in Freya's words. She was telling them the truth.

"I think she meant to create an army, a coven of witches from her own line but mother ruined her plans when she made you into vampires." The rage Dahlia had exhibited that day had frightened Freya.

"Mother didn't make us into vampires just to protect us from the wolves," Finn noted. "She also did it to ensure we would not have children, and to stop Dahlia from coming for them."

 _Yes, she protected all of you but forgot all about me,_ Freya's hands shook slightly. _Don't think about that, not now._

"Dahlia's ultimate goal is to be the most powerful, a truly immortal witch and the last thing she needs to succeed in that endeavor is your daughter," Freya said to Klaus. "Once she has your child, Dahlia will have the power of three first born witches from the same linage. Dahlia herself, me, and your daughter, we will be the perfect trifecta of power and if you add your daughter's maternal linage..." Freya shuddered just thinking about what the Bennett legacy would bring to Dahlia. "If she were to have access to all that power she will be unstoppable." _No, that is not going to happen, I won't allow it._

There was a defeating silence that followed as the Original vampires processed everything they had learned. For a long time, no one could find their voice.

Kol kept glancing at Klaus and Elijah, waiting to take his cues from them, Finn remained standing close to Freya, hands balled into fists as he thought of their evil aunt, Rebekah looked on the verge of tears, while Elijah stood as stoic as ever.

Klaus and Freya stared into each other's eyes, a staring contest with different emotions swirling in between. "Why do you need Ingrid's blood?" he finally asked.

"Ingrid," Freya murmured with a soft smile. "It's a lovely name." She knew that his wife was a Bennett witch and that they had twin children, a boy and girl that had been born around Christmas. That was all the kindred witches she was using had been able to give her. A sweet name for an innocent child, another innocent Dahlia planned to fill with darkness.

"Answer the damn question!"

Freya was startled by the anger, the fury she could feel emanating from him. _Does he realize that when he gets angry his aura pulses and it almost feels like magic?_ They were all magic, she realized. She could feel it and it wasn't surprising considering they had been made into vampires by their mother's magic. There was something about Niklaus though, an aura of power that was different from his siblings. _Is it your bond with the Bennett Witch?_ Freya wondered. She was very intrigued by the woman who Niklaus had chosen as a wife, specially after learning the things she had accomplished in her short life. "I plan to use Dahlia's own plan against her," she answered before her brother lost his patience.

"How so?" Elijah arched an eyebrow.

"I've been working on a potion, it has taken me nearly three hundred years to test all sorts of ingredients but I finally have the ones that will work, that I feel will work against her," she clarified. After all, she had to actually give Dahlia the potion in order to know for sure if it would work. "I want to add your daughter's blood to it, I believe that your child's blood is the missing ingredient. I would have to run some tests obviously-" she stopped herself, recognizing the look on his face. She was pushing too hard, he was willing to listen but he was not ready to trust her, not yet. Had he been someone else, she wouldn't have bothered with the explanations, she would have taken what she needed without a care. But this was different, they were her family, and while she had allowed Dahlia to convince her that she didn't need them for a time, she knew the truth in her heart. _You need them but do they need you?_ Those same doubts, those same fears tormented her endlessly. Freya pushed it all aside, it was how she compensated by putting everything away. "I know this is a lot to take in," her tone was sweet like honey. "I suppose you will want to think about this, discuss it among yourselves, and with your wife…" she trailed off, feeling unsure. "I will be staying here, all you need to do is stand by the gate and I will know you are here."

"Freya," Finn tried to grab her hand but she didn't let him. She pulled away from him, she pulled away from them.

Rebekah took a step closer, opening her mouth but closing it almost immediately. She didn't know what to say, what the right words were to express all she was feeling.

"I think it has been enough for one day," Freya muttered. With a wave of her hand, she sent them all away, teleporting them outside, right in front of the gate.

 _Foolish girl,_ Dahlia's voice whispered in her mind. _Do you really think you can count on them?_

 _Go away!_ Freya placed her hands over both of her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. _Leave me alone._

 _You will never get rid of me, my sweet. I am a part of you. We are one and the same._

Freya let out a frustrated scream and the magic she had been containing throughout her meeting with her siblings rushed out of her. The objects on the table shattered as did the glass on the small window, while a small ring of fire erupted around her. The flames circled her, trapped her with their heat but they never harmed her. Her magic was simply reacting to her feelings, manifesting itself to release the tension that had been accumulated.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she waved the flames away, and restored the objects and widow to their original state.

* * *

 **The Compound**

"I can't believe she tried to manipulate Kol," Davina muttered glancing at the sleeping girl in Bonnie's bed. Charlotte had ended up confessing everything to the two of them. And although she now knew that Kol's disappearance was not her fault, she had been too upset over it, and had cried herself to sleep. "She promised to keep it a secret."

Bonnie sighed. As much as she loved Charlotte, she realized that they were spoiling her too much and that she needed to have a serious talk with her and with Kol. They needed to stop with their antics before they got of control. It was her responsibility as Charlotte's mother to set boundaries.

"Do you really think this will work?" Davina questioned as she came to stand by the table.

Bonnie had strategically placed three white candles inside a circle of salt that contained the map of New Orleans. "Traditional locator spells don't work," she muttered as she grabbed a small knife with her right hand. "It's weird," she looked into Davina's face. "I don't know where Klaus is, I know someone-a witch has taken all of them but I'm not that worried…" she couldn't explain it. Somehow, she knew everything was going to be okay. "It's almost as if there is something inside of me, not just the bond but something else assuring me that they're okay and I shouldn't worry."

"Could the person that took them be sending you that feeling?"

"Maybe…" _Could a witch do that?_ Bonnie wondered to herself. _Could she send reassuring feelings to another witch even if there was no connection between them?_ "I don't know." Bonnie contemplated the map before looking towards the closed balcony doors. Under different circumstances, she would be freaking out about all of this but she wasn't. That was the weirdest part of all.

"How is this spell going to work?" Davina asked as she looked curiously at the map.

"Klaus has my blood in his system and I have his," Bonnie started explaining. "I will use that connection to find him, the candles and salt will prevent anyone from intercepting my magic and blocking me from finding him." Like it had happened earlier that day when she and Marcel had looked for Klaus. The witch who took Klaus had known of their bond and had taken measures to ensure Bonnie wouldn't find Klaus's exact location. Once Bonnie had realized this, she had chosen to come back to the compound to take advantage of the protective spells inside the house, which would serve to block any further attacks to throw her off.

 _Who are you?_

 _What do you want?_

 _How do you know of our bond?_

Whoever was behind this had anticipated Bonnie's moves before she made them and that made her anxious but also intrigued. She was clearly dealing with an intelligent and extremely powerful witch. Bonnie's fingers clenched around the small knife. _How could you have summoned all of the Originals? Unless of course there is a_ _connection between all of you._ Someone, a powerful witch connected to Klaus and his siblings could have easily summon them with a bit of blood. A family member butEsther was locked up in the prison world so that only left one other person who could want the Originals. _But Klaus is not related by blood to Mikael…_

At the thought of Mikael she felt a strange sensation invading her, almost like warning bells going off in her head. Thinking of Mikael always made her feel like that. Bonnie shook her head. _I_ _need to find Klaus._ She slid her palm with the knife and let a few drops of her blood fall on the map. The wound on her palm healed instantly courtesy of the hybrid blood that still resided in her system. Bonnie closed her eyes and began chanting under her breath.

The dots of her blood all moved in a single direction _._

Davina gasped as she recognized the location. "The Dowager Fauline cottage," she muttered.

Bonnie opened her eyes and stared at the dots. "You know it?"

Davina nodded and looked up. "It's like a witch prison of sorts," she explained. "No one is allowed in or out saved for the Kindred coven, they're the ones who control it." She frowned and stared at the map once more. "Why would the Kindred want Klaus and his siblings?"

"I don't know," Bonnie muttered. She felt a cold tingling sensation rolling down her back. _What the hell?_ She frowned and looked towards the closed balcony doors. The same alarm bells from before but this time they were accompanied by something else.

"Witches who break the rules or are considered unfit end up there," Davina continued without looking up. "Once a witch is taken there, they never see the light of day." She shivered. "Bonnie?" Davina finally noticed that Bonnie was no longer standing by the table but was looking out of the balcony doors instead. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Bonnie turned quickly and smiled. "Why don't you go and inform Marcel and Lucy about this," she suggested. "We need a plan to get inside."

Davina frowned. "Why don't we go tell them?" she suggested instead.

"I have to feed the twins," Bonnie said.

"Didn't you just feed them?"

"They'll wake up hungry again," Bonnie muttered glancing at the crib where Ingrid and Henrik were still sleeping peacefully. "Go, I will follow you in a few minutes." She looked back at Davina and smiled softly.

"Okay," Davina reluctantly agreed. There had been something in Bonnie's voice, she shook the thought away. _You're imagining things,_ she decided as she left the room and headed down the stairs.

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief as Davina exited the room. Once she was sure Davina had gone down the stairs, she turned to the balcony doors again. Her green eyes staring at an unknown point below, on the street opposite the compound. Her blood boiled and her magic surged as a look of determination crossed her features.

* * *

"Bloody hell," Kol muttered feeling nauseous as they all appeared outside the Fauline cottage. Freya had teleported them out of the house as if it was nothing. _She's really powerful,_ he thought still feeling unsure about his sister. _If she's really your sister. For all you know she's an impostor trying to trick all of you._ Kol felt conflicted to say the least.

"Now what?" Rebekah mumbled as she glanced her brothers. "What do we do?" she looked at Nik in particular.

Finn looked like he wanted to say something but he chose against it at the last second.

"Our sister is alive," Rebekah remarked with a small smile. "I still can't believe it."

"I don't trust her," Klaus decided. There was something about Freya, something he didn't like. She seemed sincere enough but she had withheld information, important information. He felt sure of it.

"She's trying to help us!" Finn couldn't stop his voice from rising, feeling upset on Freya's behalf at the distrust their siblings felt towards her.

"She was raised by Dahlia!" Klaus fired back. "How can you be so sure she's not playing us? That this is not a plan the two of them cooked up to get Ingrid?"

"Freya would never-"

"Are you so sure about that?" Elijah questioned him right away.

"I trust her," Finn's devotion to his sister was unwavering.

Kol rolled her eyes. "Well, we don't."

Finn glared at him.

"I think she's being honest, Nik." Rebekah looked into his eyes. "She seemed sincere to me." She felt bad, imagining the horrors their sister had to endure with their evil aunt. "She's our family. We have to help each other," she was almost pleading with him.

Finn looked relieved upon hearing that and gave her a grateful look for her support.

"Are we even sure she's Freya?" Kol asked.

"I have no doubt that she's our sister," Elijah murmured as he contemplated the house. "And neither do you," he looked at Kol knowingly. "She's our family, she has spoken her piece, and now we must decide where to go from here." He slid his gaze over each of them. "We need to think carefully about what we will do in regards to Dahlia."

Klaus frowned when a current of fury spread over his body. It was Bonnie, she was really angry, determined, and her magic had surged to the point where he could feel it almost pulsing inside him. The bond was on high alert.

"What is it?" Rebekah asked seeing the look on his face and the strange change in his posture.

"Something is not right," Klaus muttered as he focused on his bond with Bonnie, using that bridge that connected them in order to find her and find out what had happened to make her so mad. "Something has happened with Bonnie." He didn't elaborate further, he simply took off at hybrid speed.

"Seriously," Kol muttered, his eyes barely capturing the blur speeding out of there. "I hate it when he does that."

"We should return home," Elijah suggested.

Rebekah nodded and took off, followed closely by Kol. Finn contemplated the house for a couple of seconds before following them. Elijah was the last one to blur out of there and head in the direction of the compound.

* * *

The dying rays of the sun accompanied her steps. No one noticed when she slipped out of the house and headed outside. There was a part of her that reproached her for leaving without telling anyone but another part knew that she needed to do this alone. They had a score to settle after all.

Bonnie was careful not to bump into anyone as she walked rapidly down the street and headed towards an alley- a few blocks from the compound. Her blood was singing with the power that had been awaken by her anger. The wind blew a couple of stray hairs over her face and she pushed them back behind her ear as she entered the alley.

There was no one there, nothing saved for a couple of broken bottles, some trash, an old tennis shoe, and a torn magazine which laid scattered on the floor.

Bonnie glanced at the items before setting her eyes on the wall to her left. "Why don't you stop playing games and show yourself?" she said loudly. The only response was a cold breeze that felt like ice on her cheeks. Her eyes narrowed and the air buzzed with charged electricity. "Show yourself, you fucking coward."

The air was suddenly thick as a malevolent dark cloud materialized to her left, right in her line of vision.

Mikael materialized right in front of her eyes, his lips curled, and his eyes glinted maliciously as he looked her up and down. "Well, well, well," he muttered finally meeting her eyes. "It seems you are not so stupid after all."

Bonnie glared at him, her magic surging even more with the anger she felt. How long had he been watching and following them? How long had he been hiding in plain sight? _Bastard!_

"I've been watching all of you long before I came back to life," Mikael responded as if he had read her mind. The dark cloud surrounding him intensified sending a cold swirl of air in her direction. "I watched and followed you from the shadows and you never knew, just as I do now in life," he proclaimed arrogantly.

 _The nerve of him!_ Bonnie thought angrily. His arrogance surpassed Klaus's. "I do now." She felt ashamed of herself for having taken this long to figure it out. She had been an idiot for not seeing this sooner. Better later than never though.

"Took you long enough," Mikael chuckled.

Bonnie frowned as she felt that strange power surrounding him, that intoxicating and evil dark cloud that followed him like a shadow. _No, not just follow, it seems like it's coming from him,_ she realized feeling some apprehension. There was something different about him, something more threatening about his person that before when they where in the in-between.

"Can you feel it?" Mikael wondered suddenly. He had noticed the way she was staring at him, she was trying to figure out why his aura had increased in potency.

"The shadows," Bonnie was startled to realize. No wonder they hadn't been able to track him down, the shadows were inside him, protecting him, and bathing him with their immense power. _Son of a bitch!_ More than the shame she felt for not discovering this sooner, she felt pissed. She wanted to wipe that arrogant smirk from his lips.

"You made a big mistake seeking me out, witch." Mikael took a couple of menacing steps closer, the sound echoing around the dirty cobbled stone street. He had followed Lucy and Matt to the house and had waited outside, trying to figure out where Rebekah had disappeared to when he had seen Bonnie walking out, he had followed her of course, realizing she had sensed him when she called him out. It was a big mistake on her part. Thanks to his loyal shadows, he could match her power easily and she was about to find out the hard way. He couldn't stop smirking. _Oh Niklaus, what a sweet surprise I shall have in store for you._

He was definitely an intimidated sight but Bonnie stood her ground, refusing to back away, or show any fear. His aura was increasing, the shadows had definitely gifted him with immense power and he was purposely allowing her to feel it in order to intimidate her.

"You have no idea what I can do," Mikael hissed as his vampire face surfaced.

The air crackled as his dark power pulsed dangerously around the alley.

 _Very well,_ Bonnie thought as she summoned all the power she had inside her. Mikael was not the only one with enhanced powers. Expression hummed with excitement as Bonnie allowed it to surface. She didn't know how many shadows were inside Mikael, she didn't know how much power they each possessed, but the one thing Bonnie knew was that she would not let them get the best of her again. "I'm not afraid of you," she hissed and allowed her magic to slithered out of her, snapping angrily at the currents of power Mikael had let out.

"You should be," Mikael snarled.

Angry currents of power slammed against each other as they tested the waters before the battle began.

* * *

 _Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. See you next time!_


	87. Chapter 87

**I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Bonnie's body slammed hard against the concrete wall behind her. She groaned as she fell down on the floor, landing on her left side. _Shit!_ She thought as she felt a crack. _I think I just broke something_.

"Is that really the best you got?" Mikael chuckled, his footsteps echoing around the now dark alley. "I must say, I'm quite disappointed."

Bonnie raised her head and glared him. She had clearly underestimated the shadow's power and how protective they would be of Mikael. _How in the world was Mikael able to channel their power with so much ease?_ He wasn't a witch, he shouldn't know how to use all that dark magic. _He's probably been practicing,_ Bonnie thought. Or the Shadows were possessing him, it was hard to tell. Her first attack had been easily deflected and sent back at her before she could even think of creating a barrier to protect herself. _Aunt Vivian would be so disappointed in me right now,_ Bonnie thought. Her great aunt would have conjured a protective barrier first and then fire at Mikael. It's what she should have done first, but she was far too eager to wipe that arrogant smirk from his face. Bonnie stood up, wincing slightly as she felt a sharp pain in her left arm. Yep, she had broken something. Thankfully, she could feel her healing abilities kicking in.

"You figure out I was watching your home, you led me straight into this alley, and even had the audacity to confront me, and yet, this is the best you can come up with," Mikael continued with a good laugh. "Pathetic."

That air of superiority and that stupid smirk on his face made Bonnie angrier. "I was just testing the waters," she snapped and sent another wave of her magic in his direction. This one was a bit more potent than the one before.

Mikael raised his left hand and stopped the blue light midway. He smirked before sending it back to her.

This time Bonnie was ready, with a wave of her hand the magic disintegrated before it could reach her and hurt her. "How did you learn to channel the Shadow's power?" she couldn't help but ask him. "You're a vampire. How can you control their power as if it were your own? How can they live in you without hurting you?" _How many shadows are inside you?_ The last question she kept to herself, knowing that he would never divulge that kind of information.

"The Shadows and I are one and the same now. They are in my head, in my blood, guiding me, protecting me, always." Mikael boasted as he sent a swirling orange light towards her.

The strong attack managed to penetrate the protective barrier Bonnie had in place so she had to wave her hand and deflect it towards the wall, creating a dent from the force behind it. She was quick to retaliate but once again, Mikael was able to stop her attack. _Okay,_ Bonnie thought. Offensive spells she had used before against other witches failed, she was going to have to add more power to her attacks and break his protective barrier in order to hit him. Her mind quickly came up with certain spells and discarded a bunch of others. She needed to find the right one.

She and Mikael went back and forth trading spells, attacking and blocking each other for a couple of minutes without either of them making any progress. Bonnie had increased the power of her barrier, which allowed her to block his attacks with more ease. With each wave of her hand, she increased the potency of her attacks, determined to sent a blow that would bring him to his knees. Mikael had really good reflexes, he was quick (more so than her) and thanks to his vampirism, he was able to attack faster, sending one blow after another but Bonnie's magic effectively blocked all of them. With every new blocked attack, Mikael increased the potency of his power as well. They were both determined to win.

 _No not his power, the shadows' power._ Bonnie reminded herself, Mikael was not a witch, he hadn't been born with all this power, which meant she should be able to take it away. As they traded spells, Bonnie could see the veins forming on his face and arms, they look like small dark snakes slithering beneath his skin; poisoning his blood no doubt. Whenever Mikael increased his attacks, the veins became more pronounced. _I have to find a way to stop the shadows from helping him._ She needed to find the right attack to break his barrier and destroy the shadows taking refuge inside his body. As she thought on how to proceed, her barrier lowered involuntarily as her concentration slipped.

Mikael saw the opportunity of course.

Bonnie eyes went wide when two large currents of dark magic came her way, slithering past her barrier with surprising ease. This attack was faster and looked ten times stronger than the ones before. The dark currents of power looked like two angry snakes ready to devour her. Expression came to her defense and paralyzed the attack a few inches away from her chest. Bonnie's breath caught in her throat as a horrible stench reached her nose. _Like death_ , she thought watching as the slithering black currents fought to break free and reach their target. Had she used her regular magic, Bonnie felt certain the creatures would have slipped free, expression however, coiled itself tightly around them, successfully keeping them in place. _You must burn them, do it now._ She didn't hesitate, always trusting her magic to help her. "Incendia!" Bonnie shouted and set the ugly dark currents aflame. There was a loud screeching noise that resonated all around the alley as the currents erupted in flames, it almost sounded like they were wailing in pain. They twisted together and burned until they exploded into a pile of black ash which fell to the ground, right in between her and Mikael.

 _What the hell?_ Bonnie thought as she stared at the ashes by her feet. Somehow, that last attack from Mikael had been different, more ominous, and stronger than the ones before. Her own magic had reacted differently to them in order to destroy them. And that awful smell that had come from them, it reminded her of when she had been in the in-between… _hang on, that same smell had come from the shadows._ It suddenly dawned on Bonnie what had just happened. She had just killed two shadows. They had slipped out of Mikael to attack her and expression had killed them. Bonnie gasped and looked at Mikael.

The Original stood like a statue, staring at the ground, right at the pile of ashes. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. He had felt them die. Somehow, Bonnie Bennett had successfully killed two of the shadows. He looked up.

Bonnie was astonished to see a flicker of surprise and dare she say it…a slight hint of fear reflected in his blue eyes. Long gone was the arrogance he had displayed earlier. He had clearly not been expecting her to kill his shadows so easily.

"How did you do that?" Mikael hissed, whatever surprise or fear he might've felt had been quickly replaced by anger. "How did you know to do that?" he yelled taking a menacing step closer.

"I followed my instincts," Bonnie responded without thinking. "Expression told me what to do," she pressed her lips together and looked down at her right hand. The realization hit her like a bucket of cold water. "Just like you do with the shadows," she whispered before raising her head to face him once. Expression lived in her in the same way the shadows did in him. Expression guided her, protected her, and told her what to do just like the shadows with Mikael. But while expression was magic, the shadows were the souls of hunters from years past, evil spirits who had been able to harvest incredible power while in the in-between. Their power could never compare to the magic she wielded. Bonnie suddenly knew exactly what she had to do in order to defeat him. _I can lure the shadows out of him and kill them one by one._ Her heart quickened as her mind raced to formulate a plan to achieve that.

There was a solemn look in Mikael's face as he contemplated her. "Expression…" he muttered. He had heard whispers about that malevolent magic, he knew that expression was alluded to be the most powerful form of magic known to exist. "It doesn't matter, you will never defeat us." His eyes glinted maliciously and the aura of power around him became darker, and far more sinister than before. His lips curled into a nasty smirk. The shadows were angry, the shadows demanded blood, they wanted to tear her apart. They wanted revenge. Bonnie had no idea the wrath she had just unleashed.

Alarm bells went off inside her head and Bonnie felt a sudden chill go down her spine. She ducked without thinking, guided by her magic which told her to get down. The angry swirl of yellow light materialized right behind her, slamming into where she would have been standing had she not ducked. Since there was no target, the swirl of yellow slammed against the wall in front of her. Mikael flashed to the side to avoid getting hit by the stray spell which hit the wall behind him, a few chunks of concrete fell down.

 _Son of a bitch!_ Bonnie stood up as quickly as possible, fighting in a reduce space was more complicated than she first anticipated.

"You killed two of their own, just like you did with the huntress before. They thirst for your blood," Mikael said as he waved his hand and conjured a ball of electric blue light front of him, it grew to be the size of a cantaloupe before he sent it right at her, it was quickly followed by another ball, and then another, and another.

Bonnie stopped the first with her protective barrier, but the second one pierce through it, so she moved to the side as quickly as possible in order to avoid getting hit. The wall behind her exploded and cracked from top to bottom as the attack landed on it. She averted the third attack which hit the lamppost close to the entrance of the alley, melting the metal to the ground. The fourth one she stopped a couple of centimeters from her face. Her heart leaped to her throat at the close call. Bonnie waved it back at Mikael who managed to stop it with his left hand before making it disappear. Bonnie extended her right hand and conjured a fireball in her palm- a nice trick she had learned from her cousin Kyra- she sent it at Mikael, before conjuring another fireball, and another, sending them in quick succession at him.

Mikael managed to stop the first and the second but the third fireball got through the barrier protecting him and flew past the right side of his face, he screamed in pain when half of his face burned and melted his skin to the bone.

"Take that you son of a bitch," Bonnie stared at his shoulder and focused her magic on that spot, willing her power to attack viciously. She watched with satisfaction as the bones on Mikael's left shoulder shattered. Mikael let out another scream of pain and he sank to his knees. The pain took him by surprise more so than the one left by the fireball that had burned half of his face. Bonnie had once again gotten past the defensive shield the shadows had created to protect him. His eyes went wide and he let out another scream when the bones on his right shoulder broke as well. It had been a long time since he had felt such excruciating pain. Now it was Bonnie's turn to smirk.

"Bitch," Mikael managed to let out as he waited for his healing abilities to kick in and mend his broken bones. The shadows hissed inside his head, letting him know of their next move.

Bonnie crushed both of his legs, smiling when he screamed and doubled over with pain on the ground. She suddenly looked over her shoulder-her magic alerting her to a sinister presence behind her. This time, her barrier couldn't prevent the attack nor was she able to duck in time, the camouflage attack hit her. Bonnie screamed feeling like her back had been splashed with boiling water. She sank to her knees, her skin practically in flames as her healing abilities tried to mend the burned flesh as quickly as possible. _I'm on fire!_ Tears blurred her vision and her body shook violently by the force of the attack. Damn it, she had gotten too confident and had paid the price.

Mikael stood up on shaky legs, finally recovering from her assault. "How do you like that?" he sneered.

Bonnie was still getting over the shock when Mikael blurred in front of her and grabbed her by the throat. Black spots formed behind her eyes when Mikael slammed her hard against the wall, and growled menacingly in her face. His triumphant smirk had her blood boiling with rage. Bonnie's magic flared, the lack of air making her dizzy. She flung Mikael away from her and sent him crashing against the wall.

Mikael recovered fairly quickly and launched himself at her once more but this time he was intercepted by a blur of movement.

Bonnie gasped and took big gulps of air. As she struggled to regain her breathing, she recognized the vampire attacking Mikael. _Felix!_

The hybrid and the original vampire crashed against each other, kicking, punching, and flashing from one side of the alley to the other, their movements were so fast, they were hardly visible to the naked eye. Mikael finally had enough and used the power the shadows granted him to flung Felix away with a powerful blast of dark energy. The hybrid's body went up in the air and then it came down hard, hitting the pavement and leaving him unconscious on the ground, a nasty wound on his stomach.

Bonnie gasped and rushed towards him, kneeling in front him worriedly. "Felix." Bonnie opened his jacket and saw the blood staining his shirt.

Felix groaned and coughed some blood.

"You're going to be okay," Bonnie assured him. The nasty cut was bleeding but it didn't look lethal, his healing abilities should take care of it.

"You're going to pay for that you bastard!"

Bonnie turned to look towards the alley entrance at the sound of that familiar voice. Lucy stood there, a furious look on her face as she glared at Mikael. Her lips were already chanting a spell and her eyes were filled with determination. "No, Lucy don't…" Bonnie knew exactly what kind of spell Lucy was going to use and she also knew that with Mikael's augmented power, it was useless. She stood up, hoping that she could talk her cousin out of it but it was too late. Lucy raised her hand and sent the soul crushing spell towards Mikael without hesitation.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

Bonnie screamed.

Mikael smirked.

Felix who was on the ground rolled to his side, struggling to breathe through the pain and waiting for his healing abilities to take care of his wound. He curled onto himself as every nerve in his body felt the powerful energy released from Lucy's spell. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Lucy's spell was fueled by all her magic, by the anger, and hatred she felt towards Mikael and her desire to end him, but her triumphant smile faltered when she saw that he did not move an inch.

Mikael extended both of his arms and waited, a serene smile on his face as he met her eyes. He could definitely feel the incredible amount of energy thrown at him but he was not worried at all. He waited for the attack with open arms, as if he were greeting an old friend. He even seemed pleased, his eyes glinted and his mouth curled into a well known evil smile.

That's when Lucy realized that something was wrong. That's when she knew she messed up. Mikael had something up his sleeve.

Her magnificent soul crushing spell came to a halt a couple of inches from Mikael, who flashed her a wicked grin. He waved his hand and four black swirls of power materialized from his palms and flew towards her frozen spell, engulfing it with their magic, injecting it with their dark power, before finally turning it towards her.

Lucy's eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open in shock, and her heart sank. Her spell, her most powerful spell had not only not reach its destination but had been turned against her. She was quick enough to create a protective barrier in an attempt to stop the spell, hoping that her own magic would not dare to hurt her but there were dark currents of power attached to her spell now. Four shadows had latched into her spell, twisting it, amplifying it, and turning it fully against her, sending it to crush her soul. Lucy gasped fearfully when the new enhanced and dark spell shattered her barrier completely, passing through it easily, and heading straight for her.

 _Oh no!_ Lucy's life flashed before her eyes as the spell reached her.

* * *

A loud rumble echoed all over New Orleans, as if a lightning bolt had hit the earth and set it ablaze.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Arms and legs still intact.

Blood pumping her veins, air filling her lungs.

Ears that could hear the loud cracking noises and a body that could feel the massive flow of magic engulfing her and streaming all around the alley. Her whole body tingled as she felt that warm and familiar magic penetrating every fiber of her being.

Power.

Warmth.

Light.

Familiar.

Ancient.

Unique.

Bennett magic.

Lucy slowly became aware that she was still standing. She was still breathing, and thinking, and living. _She was alive!_ Her soul had not been crushed. She had survived the attack. She blinked her eyes open and took a deep breath, not knowing what the hell had happened except that she had lived through the soul crushing spell the shadows had turned against her. As soon as she opened her eyes, Lucy saw the reason she had survived. It shouldn't surprise her really, but she still gasped all the same.

The black sphere of dark magic that the shadows had created from Lucy's spell, was completely suspended in midair, just a few inches from her face. She stared at the black ball of magic which was surrounded by a glowing light, a cocoon of white magic that had paralyzed the attack at the nick of time and suppressed its malevolent energy rendering it completely still.

There was only one person who had that kind of power.

Lucy turned her face to the side and saw her, breathing a sigh of relief and awe.

Bonnie.

If Lucy had ever doubted why Bonnie had been chosen as the queen of the Bennett coven (not that she had, ever) she would have understood in that moment.

Bonnie was standing still, her face a mixture of concentration and a slight bit of pain, her right hand was stretched in the sphere's direction and her eyes were the color of liquid gold. She had stopped the attack with one hand.

Lucy's breath hitched as she felt the increasing power emanating from her cousin. The hairs on her arms, and the back of her neck stood up, and her whole body quivered at being in close proximity to the waves of magic being released from her petite body. She swallowed and allowed her eyes to look towards _him_ , the bastard who had deflected her spell and made a new attack from it; an attack that would have destroy the entire alley, heck, the whole street had Bonnie not stopped it. Her hatred towards Mikael increased tenfold. _How can you have so much power, you fucking bastard?_

Mikael was completely still, his eyes moving back and forth between the frozen attack he had sent and the witch who had stopped it. He couldn't mask the surprise he felt, nor could he stop himself from looking at his enemy in a new light. The attack he sent contained four shadows, it had completely changed Lucy's spell into a new, enhanced, and destructive version that had moved at the speed of light yet, that tiny witch had been able to intercepted it before it reached its target. More than that, how could she be able to resist handling all that power with one fucking hand. Yes, she was a powerful witch, he had to admit that. But even with all that power, she had the limitations of being human unless…

 _Could it be?_ Mikael wondered as he stared at her face. _Had Bonnie Bennett somehow acquired vampire abilities?_ Endurance, regeneration, super strength which allowed her to resist the exhaustion that would have killed another witch. Something suddenly clicked into place. _The bond._ She was tied to Niklaus, bound to him by blood and magic and that allowed her to tap into his abilities. His hybrid abilities. His blue eyes continued to study her determined face, feeling more curious than ever. Never mind the fact that his vampire senses were telling him to get the hell out, that this was about to explode and he should find cover.

Bonnie was deep in concentration, her hand completely still, her eyes set on the sphere and the growing light surrounding it. _What is she doing?_ Mikael questioned the shadows, they who could see and sense beyond even his own enhanced abilities. _Why hasn't she destroyed the attack? What is she waiting for?_

 _She can't,_ came the reply inside his head. _If she releases it, all that power will destroy the alley, half of the city even. She won't do it because humans will get hurt. So, she's trying to suppress the attack completely with her power._ They sounded far too confident for Mikael's liking. Something fell off. His gut was telling him to run while the shadows wanted him to do the complete opposite.

 _Kill her! Kill her now! Deliver the final blow!_ The shadows screeched inside his head. _This is your chance._ They were desperate for him to finish this.

Mikael studied the witch's face once more and was able to perceive the strain she felt, stopping the spell had required a lot of power, keeping the attack immobile was taking a toll on her. But she wasn't swaying and sinking to the ground, no, somehow, she had the strength to keep going. _If she can regenerate like a hybrid she will able to withstand this and more. Live today, fight tomorrow. Run!_

 _This is your chance!_ The shadows hissed angrily, countering the desires of his vampire nature. _Attack!_

 _You do not command me,_ Mikael fire back and stubbornly refused to move. He trusted the shadows to a certain degree but he trusted his vampire instincts more, it's what had kept him alive for a thousand years after all.

The shadows furiously slithered out of him, like sharks sensing blood, they felt Bonnie's weakness and went straight for the kill. They were determined to end her at all cost.

Mikael did not move at all. When Bonnie's eyes met his, he knew he made the right choice.

Those gold eyes became two black pools of nothing, veins formed beneath her eyes, and her lips parted as she chanted something quietly. She lowered her arm to her side and squeezed her fingers into a fist.

The sphere of dark power she had stopped in midair, shattered completely.

Mikael turned his face to the side as a blinding white light engulfed the alley.

There was a loud hissing noise, followed by loud screams of pain as the shadows that had latched into Lucy's spell were completely annihilated by Bonnie's magic.

The shadows who had slithered out of Mikael, had no time to retract their attack, before they could jump on Bonnie, the light emerging from her body swallowed them whole, joining the already blinding light that had destroyed the spell he had sent back to Lucy.

The ground shook as dark and light magic clashed together.

Lucy screamed and got down on the floor, covering her head from the falling debris.

The earth shook violently all around them, creating ripples on the floor and tearing through the pavement.

The walls burst completely and tiny pieces of concrete fell all around them.

Mikael screamed as well as his body sank to the ground, the light bursting through him, penetrating every inch of his body in search of the shadows he had hosted. The pain was unimaginable, the power peeling his skin off his bones, burning his blood, and crushing every single one of his bones. He couldn't move because of the pain, he couldn't see because of the light, all he could do was scream in agony.

Bonnie closed her eyes, her entire body burning as she unleashed a tsunami of power to destroy all the shadows. _Find them,_ Bonnie ordered her magic. _Destroy all of them._

Her magic obeyed.

* * *

Klaus didn't know what he expected to find when he tracked Bonnie to the alley near their home. He certainly didn't expect to smell Felix's blood, or Lucy's fear, or feel like he had been punched in the stomach by a giant's fist as he rounded the corner and flashed inside the alley just as an explosion of light surrounded every inch inside. Thankfully, there was no one around, the streets close to the alley were empty.

His bond with Bonnie exploded with fear, resolution, agony, and relief. The emotions slamming through him, one after another.

The air crackled with electricity and the entire street shook as two supernovas clashed together. There was a lingering smell of decay all around him, as if he had stumbled on a mass grave of decomposing bodies and the screams. Those awful screams sounded like thousands being led to the slaughter.

The force of it was so great, Klaus had to place a hand on the wall as his knees buckled over and his entire body was rocked by a brutal pain, which was just an echo of the excruciating agony Bonnie was feeling upon releasing all that power. His body tingled as Bonnie's magic continued to engulf the alley. A blinding white light had Klaus closing his eyes, and turning his face away; shivering as the power washed over him. Every nerve in his body came alive by the force of the powerful assault. The light slithered out of the alley and into the dark and desolate streets nearby, seeking the dark power its mistress had commanded to be destroyed.

The ripples danced harmoniously with the already existing currents of free magic in the city.

The magic didn't hurt Klaus though. Despite its incredible potency, the radiant power knew who he was, and what he meant to Bonnie, so it simply bathed him with light and a warm tingly sensation.

The eruption of the light was followed quickly by the dying cries of the shadows. The stench of death disappeared as the light absorbed everything dark and sinister floating about. Klaus heard a woman scream, and a man's brutal cry of pain.

When everything was said and done, there was an eerie quietness, a stillness in the air that along with the dark night brought a sense of calm. Black ash fell down from the sky, landing on top of his head and jacket. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he became aware that everything had stopped. He felt a moment of panic but it was quickly appeased by a strange and welcoming sensation. A familiar scent reached his nose, a sweet, powerful aroma that he loved.

Klaus pulled his hand away from the wall and looked at the scene before him.

Lucy sat petrified on the ground, her face pale, her lips parted, and dry sweat trickling down her face and neck. Her scent was one of absolute terror and confusion. Across from her, Mikael was on his hands and knees, coughing blood, and trembling like a newborn babe. _What the hell?_ Klaus had never seen his father like that. He looked so weak, it was disconcerting.

Mikael looked up when he sensed him. Their eyes met and for the first time in his life, Klaus saw fear reflected in those cruel blue eyes. He could smell his father's fear as well. It was the most unexpected thing ever and he stopped dead in his tracks, hardly able to believe that the mighty Mikael was so scared. Mikael attempted to stand up but he fell back down on his hands and knees, he whimpered pitifully and closed his eyes, coughing more blood, and shivering uncontrollably. Bonnie's magic had no doubt washed over him, like it had with Klaus, but unlike Klaus, it had caused Mikael some serious damage. He was lucky he was an Original and could only be killed by one thing, otherwise he would have been dust by now.

A groan had Klaus glancing to the other side where Felix laid huddled against the wall, blood oozing out of an angry wound on his stomach which refused to heal and a few feet away from him stood Bonnie, his beloved Bonnie. Her pain, her relief, and her exhaustion floated through their bond.

Bonnie let out a groan, blood oozing down her nose, as her legs finally gave out. Klaus moved at the speed of light and caught her in his arms before she could fall to the ground. "It's alright love, I got you."

Bonnie closed her eyes and whimpered, her small body racked by spasms.

"Where are you hurt?" Klaus asked as he looked her over, trying to find her injuries, he saw none, saved for the small trail of blood coming out of her nose. "What happened?" When Bonnie did not respond, Klaus bit into his wrist and fed her his blood without hesitation.

Bonnie whimpered weakly when he pressed his bloody wrist to her mouth but she slowly began to lick the sweet elixir, moaning with ecstasy as it went down her throat. Yes, this was exactly what her body needed.

"Oh my god," Lucy finally found her voice. Her legs felt like jelly as she managed to stand up and made her way towards them. "Bonnie, are you okay?"

"I think she will be fine," Klaus assured her while glancing at his father.

Mikael had slowly pulled himself into a standing position. He was leaning against the wall, sweat trickling down his face and body shaking uncontrollably. He looked paler than usual, his lips were dry, and he was staring at Bonnie, a begrudging respect reflected clearly in his eyes. He looked from Bonnie to Klaus before he summoned all the strength he could muster in his weak state and took off running, rather slowly out of the alley.

Klaus was far too stunned to even think of following him. _Mikael running from them?_

"Son of a bitch," Lucy muttered, hating how she wasn't quick enough to stop him either.

Felix's groan grabbed their attention.

Lucy moved away from Bonnie and Klaus and went to his side. "Oh my god," she muttered as she pulled his soaking shirt up and saw the angry gash on his stomach. "He's not healing," she turned to Klaus worriedly. "He's a hybrid, he should heal from all injuries, right?"

Klaus nodded and looked worriedly at his second in command. _What had Mikael done to him?_

"He probably needs blood."

Elijah made his way inside the alley, followed closely by Rebekah, Kol, and Finn.

The love and the relief Lucy felt when she saw him was visible to everyone. Elijah was by her side in no time. She choked back a sob as she threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad you are here," she mumbled against his neck. She was still shaken by everything that had happened.

"It's alright, my darling." Elijah pulled her closer, cradling her shaking body to him, and sending all the love, support, and adoration he felt for her through heir bond.

"What the hell happen here?" Kol asked them. He stared at the ashy ground with interest, crouching down, and inspecting it with his fingers.

"That's what I would like to know," Klaus muttered as he continued to feed Bonnie his blood. He looked at Lucy as she was the only one who could talk to them at the moment.

Rebekah got on her knees on the floor next to Felix and so did Finn.

"Dark magic," Finn murmured as she saw the burned flesh surrounding the open wound.

"That's probably why he isn't healing yet," Rebekah deduced. "He needs human blood and fast."

Finn nodded.

"Davina noticed that Bonnie was gone," Lucy began as she pulled away from Elijah. "I tracked Bonnie to the alley and Felix came with me while mom called the coven." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Felix was the first to attack Mikael, but he flung Felix away and injured him and I used the soul shattering spell against him but…" her voice trembled and she had to pause.

"It's alright darling, they're both going to be okay," Elijah assured her while wrapping an arm around her trembling shoulders.

"Somehow, Mikael turned my spell against me. He made it stronger, darker, and threw it back at me…" She shivered, remembering how close she had been to having her soul shattered. "I would have die had it not been for Bonnie."

"How would father be able to do that?" Finn question while he and Rebekah created bandages from Felix's own shirt and pressed it against his wound to prevent more bleeding. "He's not a witch."

"Shadows," Bonnie whispered as she pushed Klaus's wrist away from her mouth. She wiped some left-over blood with a trembling hand. She felt really tired and sleepy. "Mikael was channeling the shadows' power." She slumped back against Klaus's chest.

"What?" All eyes were on her. They knew the shadows had been protecting Mikael but no one had expected them to be so powerful or to allow Mikael to tap into that power.

"The shadows were not only protecting him, they were giving him full access to their power," Bonnie responded. She suppressed a yawn.

"Father has magic now?" Kol looked scared by that.

"Not anymore," Bonnie whispered. Klaus's arms around her made her feel safe and also offered her some respite from the aftershocks still invading her body.

"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked her.

"I destroyed them," Bonnie stated. "I destroyed all of them." It was the reason she felt so exhausted, the amount of magic she had to unleash to destroy all the shadows had been unlike anything she had ever done before. She closed her eyes, she didn't want to talk anymore. Everything hurt, even her bones, but she could already feel Klaus's blood mixing with her own blood, enhancing her abilities to heal, and mending all the aches surrounding her. She let out a big breath of relief.

There were so many things Klaus wanted to say and ask but he stopped himself. He looked at Elijah who nodded.

"We need to go home," Elijah said as he helped Lucy to her feet. "We'll have plenty of time to figure everything out later." He turned to Kol. "Why don't you go first and alert everyone. We are going to need Angelica's and the Bennetts' expertise to heal Felix. Make sure the girls stay in their rooms please."

Kol nodded and flashed out of there.

"Can you carry him to the house?" Elijah asked Finn.

"Of course," Finn picked up the injured hybrid in his arms as if he weighted nothing.

"Rebekah," Klaus turned to his sister. "Why don't you pick up those ashes."

"Why?"

"They're the remains of the shadows." Klaus gave her a meaningful look. "We need to discard them properly."

Rebekah made a face and looked down at the floor, where the dark ashes laid scattered.

"I'll help you," Lucy whispered. "I'll use my magic so we can take them back to the compound."

Rebekah nodded.

Klaus picked up a dozing Bonnie in his arms and carried her to the compound, Finn followed him while Rebekah, Lucy, and Elijah picked up the ashy remains before following the others home.

* * *

Their arrival created a commotion inside the house.

Doors closed and opened and people moved in and out of the different rooms as they all tried to help an injured Felix and figure out what exactly had happened in the past couple hours.

One little girl stood by the top of the stairs watching everyone go crazy. She had woken up by the flurry of activity she sensed from the first floor and had come down to see what was going on. She bit her lip and looked up worriedly when Klaus approached the stairs with Bonnie in his arms. "Is mama okay?" she asked quietly. She looked like she was sleeping but Charlotte wasn't sure. She hoped she wasn't injured.

"She's fine," Klaus smiled down at her. "Just a bit tired." His voice was soft and reassuring. "Don't worry, everything is fine."

Charlotte nodded and smiled up at him. Even though he could seem scary to everyone else, she always felt safe and protected by his presence.

"You should be in bed," Klaus told her in a fatherly tone.

"I know." She was supposed to stay in her room and so was Davina but neither of them had listened. "I'll go up in a minute," she promised, her eyes following a certain Original vampire.

Klaus followed her gaze, a curious look on his face as his eyes landed on Kol. _What in the world had the two of them gotten into now?_ He shook his head and headed up the stairs. He would have time to deal with their antics later. Right now, Bonnie needed all of his attention.

Charlotte's eyes followed his back as he climbed up the stairs before focusing on Kol once more. She took a deep breath and went up to him.

"What in the world happened?" Davina questioned Kol as soon as they were left alone in the parlor.

The Bennetts were gathered in the living room. Klaus had taken Bonnie upstairs, so had Elijah with Lucy, and Joanna had followed them to check on her daughter. Angelica, Finn, and the other hybrids had disappeared into one of the rooms on the first floor where Felix had been taken to rest. Rebekah was getting some blood bags and Matt grabbed the first aid kit.

"I was so worried," Davina threw her arms around him.

"I'm fine love," Kol hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "You won't believe the day I had," Kol mumbled against her hair.

"Where were you?" Davina asked him as she pulled away from his embrace. "You all disappeared and then Bonnie was gone, and Lucy wouldn't let me go with her to find her…"

Before Kol could respond he felt a small beating heart approaching. "Good of you to show up," he told Charlotte as he turned to face her. "The three of us need to have a serious talk, because you-" he didn't get to finish, his entire body went rigid when the tiny creature jumped on him and wrapped her small arms around his body. "What the hell?" he looked down and frowned when he saw Charlotte's tearful green eyes staring back at him. "What in the world is wrong with you?" This was not the greeting he had been expecting from her. "Did you hit your head or something?" Just a few hours before she had been ready to smash him against the wall and now she was hugging him.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte whispered. "I'm really sorry."

Kol made a strange face, he had no clue why in the world she would be apologizing and to him no less. "Are you sick?" something had to be wrong with her.

"She thought she killed you," Davina explained. "She's been inconsolable ever since you disappeared." Even after they had assured her that she hadn't killed Kol, Charlotte had still been upset.

"Huh?"

"I used my magic against you and you disappeared," Charlotte said pulling away from him and looking down at her fluffy slippers. "I was afraid I killed you with my magic."

"You give yourself too much credit little demon," Kol chuckled. Only Charlotte was arrogant enough to think she had killed him with her magic. "You can never kill me with your magic." He expected some haughty remark from her, but Charlotte's shoulders were slumped, and she kept staring at her slippers. She was really upset. Kol gave Davina a questioning look.

"She's been crying nonstop," Davina told him. "We told her there was no way she could have killed you but…" she gave a sympathetic look to her little sister. "Kol is fine, you have nothing to worry about anymore," she told her gently. She had hoped that seeing Kol would cheer Charlotte up but it was not the case. She looked at the little girl with concern.

Kol crouched down in front of Charlotte. "You were really sad because you thought you killed me?" he questioned with incredulity.

Charlotte nodded and raised her face to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry for trying to use your secret against you. I shouldn't have done that," she looked at Davina as well. "I'm really sorry D."

"I know you are," Davina murmured. "And I forgive you."

Charlotte smiled at that and turned to Kol once more. "I hope you can forgive me too," she mumbled in a hurried whisper.

He heard her perfectly of course. Kol studied her face carefully. She looked really sad and her apology seemed sincere. It touched him, he had not expected her to care so much about him. They spent most of their time arguing after all, and while it was all in good fun, he never imagined she cared for him like she did for Elijah or Klaus whom she obviously saw as her father. Kol had expected her to be relieved by the thought of getting rid of him, he had been wrong obviously. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you are rather fond of me?" he teased with a smirk. He didn't want her to be sad, he wanted her to giggle like crazy and throw insults at him, that was the Charlotte he preferred not the sad little girl in front of him.

"I don't want you to die," Charlotte confessed in a whisper. "I like you…" her cheeks turned pink by the admission. "…sometimes…" she amended quickly. She still wanted to keep her pride after all.

Kol laughed before a serious look crossed his features. After the day he had, Charlotte had definitely put him in a better mood. She had a way of making him smiling even when it was by throwing insults at him. "Can I tell you a secret?" he whispered as he took her small hands in his. He felt surprised at how delicate and tiny her hands were.

Charlotte nodded.

"I like you too," Kol admitted softly. "Most of the time," he was quick to add with a roll of his eyes.

Charlotte smiled. "Really?" her entire face lit up.

Kol nodded. "But you know what I like even more?" he asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"What?"

Kol's eyes glinted and his lips curled deviously. "Winning against you obviously," he told her.

"Excuse you?" Charlotte exclaimed and pulled her hands away from him as if she had been burned. "I always win against you!"

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"Hello? I'm the adult, I always have better come backs than you."

"Yeah right! Keep dreaming looser!"

"Is that the way to treat your favorite uncle?"

"You are not my favorite."

"Of course, I am. You're just too embarrassed to admit it."

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"No!"

"Yes!"

Davina shook her head as they continued going back and forth with their argument. Some things were never going to change. She couldn't stop smiling though.

* * *

Bonnie let out a content sigh as she submerged herself in the tub. Her aching body let out a breath of relief as the warm water washed away the dust, the stench of magic, death, and decay from her body. She had washed her face and brushed her teeth, and was now enjoying the nice and relaxing bubble bath Klaus had prepared for her. Joanna had brought her a cup of tea which Bonnie greatly appreciated. Her aunt's teas were always re-energizing.

"Are you going to keep glaring and fuming silently at me?" she opened her eyes and stared at Klaus who was sitting on the edge of the tub. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw was tightly clenched. He hadn't said a word to her but Bonnie could feel how upset he was. "I know I shouldn't have gone after Mikael on my own," she anticipated what he was going to say.

"Why did you do it then?" His anger echoed through their bond, he had been trying to contain it as he focused on healing her and getting her to safety but it was now coming out in full force.

Bonnie sighed and looked at the foam covering her soaking body. She could try and lie but that would be a waste of time. He could read her emotions like an open book and besides she didn't want to hide things from him. She was already hiding Kol's and Davina' secret and that was torture enough. "It was a matter of pride, okay."

Klaus arched an eyebrow, sensing the shame she felt at admitting such a thing. He watched and waited for her to continue.

"He kidnapped me, he chained me, and suppressed my magic, threatened to devour our children, and when I discovered he was out there, watching us for who knows how long, I was pissed." Bonnie looked up and stared at his face. "I felt so angry, all rational thoughts flew out of the window. I wanted to prove to him what a terrible mistake he made by underestimating me, I felt sure that I could take him on my own and so I did."

"He could have seriously hurt you."

"I know."

"It could have also been a trap."

"I know."

"And you took the risk anyway," Klaus snapped and stood up. "You did exactly what you warned me not to do!" he couldn't stop himself form raising his voice.

Bonnie grabbed the mug of tea by her side and took a sip, cradling the warm ceramic cup on her hands and leaning back against the tub. "I guess he was right after all," she muttered as she placed the cup back on the ledge.

"Right about what?"

"How arrogant witches are." She stared into his face once more. "We think that because we have all this power we can do anything," she confessed in a whisper. She felt ashamed to realized that she was the same. She was arrogant just like the seer had been, just like Sophie, Esther, and all the other witches that she had encountered.

"Vampires are pretty arrogant too, Originals in particular," Klaus muttered in a much softer tone.

"Your dad takes the cake though," Bonnie told him. "He's more arrogant than you, Kol, and Elijah combined."

"He underestimated you." Klaus couldn't stop his lips form forming into a smirk. "He was on his hands and knees when I arrived, and the look on his face…" he shivered with delight remembering what a pathetic and weak creature his father had been reduced to in that moment. His anger was forgotten as he recalled the scene.

"I kicked his ass," Bonnie said with a small laugh. It hadn't been easy, it had taken a toll, but she had done it. She looked down at her hands, playing with the foam. "I knew Lucy's spell was going to fail, I tried to warn her but she didn't listen, so I stopped it." She paused, remembering the fear she had felt that Mikael could kill Lucy. "There was a moment, where I thought I wouldn't be able to do it, the spell was so fast but I did and when the shadows jumped on me, I knew it was my opportunity to destroy them completely. I amplified the spell and sent it back at them," she shivered remembering all the magic that had been released from her body.

"You can't take risks like that again, sweetheart." Klaus moved closer to the tub. "You're not alone anymore, Bonnie. You have a coven of witches willing to help you with anything, you have my hybrids at your disposal, the pack even."

"I know." She understood why Klaus was angry. "I'm sorry." She had been lucky that things had worked in her favor in the end but that didn't mean it would always be the same. She needed to learn to control her impulses and to tame that arrogance growing in her. Just because she was the queen of the Bennett coven and had immense power at her disposal didn't mean that she would always be on top or that she would win every fight.

Klaus frowned sensing the conflicting feelings inside her. "Why are you afraid?"

Bonnie pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. She was quiet for a long time, mulling over something before she finally murmured. "I'm afraid that having all this power will change me…" she admitted at last. "That I will become like the Seer, or like the spirits on the other side…" she closed her eyes. "I don't want to let all this magic consume me and turn me into something I'm not. I don't want all this power to blind me like it did them."

"That's not going to happen, love."

Bonnie open her eyes when she felt his warm hand on her shoulder, she pulled her face away from her knees and turned to look at him. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know you," Klaus whispered. "They were fighting to become more powerful, you are fighting to protect your family." He caressed her wet skin gently with his fingers. "You are stronger than they are, and you are not alone, not anymore." He moved his fingers down the ridge of her spine, making her shiver. "You have me and your cousins, and our children." He moved his hand up, cradling the back of her neck and pulling her face up. "I love you," he murmured against her lips.

Bonnie smiled. "I love you too," she sighed contently when his lips finally descended on hers. They kissed sweetly for a couple of minutes before she was forced to pull away in order to catch her breath.

The anger Klaus had felt had dissipated as did Bonnie's exhaustion.

"What happened?" She asked him after a while of being in silence. "Who was the witch that summoned you to the Dowager Fauline cottage?"

Klaus gave her an inquisitive look.

"I managed to find out you where there but then I got distracted with Mikael…" she trailed off with a shrug of the shoulders. "I didn't feel as worried as I should've," she found herself admitting. "I knew you guys had been taken but I wasn't worried or desperate to find you. It was weird, like somehow I knew you would be okay."

"It was an interesting family reunion to say the least."

Bonnie frowned. "Family reunion?"

"The witch who summoned us to the Fauline cottage was Freya, our long lost older sister," Klaus informed her at last.

"What?"

Klaus took a deep breath and proceeded to inform her of their conversation with Freya.

For a long time, Bonnie didn't say anything. She absorbed everything he was telling her and finished her bath quietly. She got out of the tub and dried herself, making her way out of the bathroom, lost in thought.

"Naturally, Finn believes wholeheartedly that she's on our side," Klaus followed her out of the bathroom.

"But you don't." Bonnie sat down in front of her vanity and proceeded to rub lotion on her skin.

"She was raised by Dahlia, spent a thousand years by her side without seeking her real family out, and I'm supposed to believe she wants to kill her now." Klaus made his way towards the crib where Ingrid and Henrik were thankfully, still sleeping peacefully. His face lit up when he saw Ingrid smiling in her sleep. Almost as if she knew her father was watching her and wanted to greet him in dreams. _I won't let Dahlia or anyone hurt you,_ Klaus swore to her. _I will protect you both with my life if necessary_.

Bonnie stared at her reflection in the mirror, a thoughtful look on her face. "When I was on the other side," she said turning her body to face Klaus. "When I met Charlotte, I touched the statue of the first witch, I saw things like the Harvest, the Navarro attack, the Travelers…" she recalled the images of that day, specially the last things she had seen. "The last thing I saw was a purple dahlia in full bloom and a phrase, _the first born_ …" she hadn't known what that meant then but everything was clear now. "Even back then, the first witch knew the threat Dahlia represented and warned me about it."

"I'm not giving Freya Ingrid's blood," Klaus stated.

"You really think she could be working with the woman who separated her from her family?"

"Don't you?"

Bonnie stood up and made her way towards him. "I don't know."

"Our enemies keep piling up," Klaus muttered.

"The Regent and Vincent will help us with Marguerite and Mikael will be easier to stop now that the shadows are gone," Bonnie said. "We need to learn more about Dahlia, we need to know when she will be here."

"What are you thinking?"

"I want to talk to Freya," Bonnie responded and took his hand in hers. "I want to look into her eyes and see the truth." She looked down at her sleeping children, feeling her heart bleed for them. They were so little, so innocent, and so many people wanted them dead. "If Freya truly wants Dahlia gone, she will be a formidable ally to have on our side."

"And if she's working with her to get our daughter?" Klaus questioned her, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

Bonnie looked into his face, meeting his eyes unflinchingly. "I will destroy her like I will Dahlia," she answered without hesitation. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt our children. I won't let Dahlia take Ingrid. I will die before I let anyone take her from me," she vowed.


	88. Chapter 88

**A/N:** _Sorry to keep you guys waiting but I have the flu and I honestly haven't had much energy lately hence the reason this chapter is shorter than usual, it's what I wrote before I got sick. I hope you like it though._

* * *

 **The compound**

Angelica suppressed a sniffle as she placed the green paste over Felix's wound. It was a concoction created by Lenore and Joanna, a special remedy to suck the dark magic inside Felix's wound which was preventing his was disrupting his healing abilities. Both Bennett witches had sworn that the old recipe worked to a T and that Felix was going to make a full recovery. They both had stayed with Angelica well past midnight before finally going to bed. Angelica sat by Felix's side, watching over him, and waiting with anguish for his eyes to open. When she saw his pale face and all the blood pouring out of his wound, she had been terrified she was going to lose him for good.

Felix's laid on the bed, naked from the waist up, and covered in sweat. He moaned pitifully from time to time as a terrible fever attacked his body.

"You're going to be okay," Angelica whispered to him. "Once we get all that dark magic out of you, your healing abilities will kick in and you will be as good as new. I promise." Her heart ached for him. Felix had always been so strong, so lethal, and seeing him in this state had her worried sick.

Felix's only response was another moan of pain.

Angelica rubbed her hand gently over the nasty gash on his stomach, spreading the green mixture evenly with her fingers over the damaged skin. She had applied the mixture every hour without fail and the wound was not even half healed yet. _It's all that dark magic,_ she thought. He probably would have died if it had hit him in the chest. She choked back a sob at the horrible thought. _Don't cry,_ she told herself. _Don't do you dare cry, he wouldn't want you to cry for him._

The door opened and Angelica turned her face away, taking a deep breath, and ensuring to place a mask of composure over her face. She needed to transmit calm and reassurance to the rest of their hybrid pack. They all looked up to Felix, they respected and admired him, not only because he was Klaus's right-hand man but because he was their friend. They all cared for him deeply.

"I got more blood bags," Jesse murmured as he came inside the room. His eyes flashed gold momentarily as the scent of blood and magic hit him. It lingered in the air, impregnating the whole room but thankfully, it did not spread into the hallway.

"Thank you," Angelica offered him a weak smile.

Jesse moved to the bedside table, opening one bag with his teeth and pouring it over a glass cup. Angelica had spelled the cup to remain warm throughout the night, that way they didn't have to go to the kitchen and heat the blood in the microwave. Jesse took the empty bag and threw it on the small trash bin underneath the nightstand. "I could stay with him if you will like to get some sleep…go to the bathroom…"

"I'm fine," Angelica told him.

"Matt made some sandwiches for the pack," Jesse informed her. "Marcel got us some beer too."

Angelica arched eyebrow. "The whole pack is here?"

Jesse nodded. "Riley told us to leave but we didn't listen…" he shrugged. "We wanted to make sure Felix would be okay." They were all pretty much guarding Felix's door. "Even Josh is here."

"You shouldn't let Belle stay up so late, she has school tomorrow."

"We told her that but she insists on staying."

"I already sent her to bed."

Angelica and Jesse both jumped at the sound of that familiar voice. Neither of them had sensed Klaus stepping inside the room.

"How is he doing?" the hybrid asked as he walked closer to the bed. His eyes quickly scanned Felix's shivering body and lingered on the green paste around his abdomen.

"His blood was poisoned by the dark magic he was hit with. It prevented his healing abilities from healing him," Angelica informed him. "The paste Lenore and Angelica made sucks the poison from his system and little by little he has begun healing, it's a slowly process though."

Klaus nodded and moved his eyes away from Felix's pale face to stare at the glass with blood. "How often are you feeding him?"

"Every hour or so, usually when he wakes up…" Angelica paused and stared into his face. "He wakes up really hungry and after he has his fill he goes back to his feverish dreams…he's gone through more than a dozen blood bags…" she trailed off, biting her lip to prevent herself from crying. "It's the dark magic, he needs to feed constantly…"

"Jesse would you leave us alone," Klaus said without taking his eyes off Felix.

Jesse hesitated, he looked at his sire before glancing at Felix's shivering form.

"Tell the pack that their loyalty is appreciated but there is nothing they can do, you all should retire for the night."

"But-" Jesse wanted to protest.

"Felix is going to be fine," Klaus assured him and looked into his worried eyes. "You can all take turns seeing him tomorrow morning, once he's better."

"Yes, sire."

Klaus seemed and sounded so confident that everything was going to be okay that it helped to put some of Jesse's fears at ease. He nodded and glanced once last time at Felix before exiting the room.

"…Richie…" Felix muttered as he moved his head from side to side, his hands balling into fists around the sheets. "Richie…no…please…no…"

Angelica moved quickly and placed a damp cloth over his burning forehead. "It's okay," she whispered while trying to soothe him.

"…Richie…" Felix called out as a feverish nightmare plagued his mind.

"It's the fever," Angelica told Klaus. "He calls for him from time to time. Richie was-"

"His little brother," Klaus finished for her as he sat on the other side of the bed. "He was murdered by a rival pack."

 _Of course, Klaus knows,_ Angelica thought sitting back down on the bed and taking Felix's hand in hers.

"That's why I turned him."

Angelica looked up in surprise.

"Did he ever tell you that?" Klaus questioned.

"He told me his brother's death was the reason he triggered his werewolf abilities," Angelica responded in a soft murmur. She remembered that night clearly, the first time they made love. Felix was a man of few words but that night he had spoken at length about his life before becoming a hybrid. They both had shared intimate details about their life, things they had never dared say to anyone else. "He wanted revenge," she continued.

"And he got it," Klaus said and glanced at her face. "I saw the way he fought that night, his courage, his determination, it was impressive." He had known then that Felix would make an exceptional hybrid. He hadn't hesitated in giving the victorious but injured wolf immortal life. "My first pack," Klaus found himself telling her. "They were pawns. I turned them because I could, because I needed a big army but Felix and all the others that came after him…I turned them because I saw something in them, I chose them for a reason." He had learned from the mistakes he made with his first pack. Felix, Riley, Alexa, Nate, Jesse, Belle, and the others had been specifically chosen because Klaus had seen in them the potential to be great and he had not been wrong, they had served him well. Klaus rolled the sleeve of his Henley and bit into his wrist.

Angelica watched him, surprised by the gesture. "He gets really hungry…" she said quietly. "He might try to-"

"Devour me," Klaus supplied with a small smirk as he lowered his bloodied wrist towards Felix's mouth.

Angelica nodded. Felix could lose control easily and she didn't want him to attack Klaus in his weak and feverish state, he would never forgive himself for such disrespect towards his sire, she knew that. "Be careful," she felt foolish as soon as the words left her mouth. Klaus was ten times stronger than Felix, there was no reason to worry.

Klaus's lips twitched upon hearing her warning. "I'll be fine."

As soon as the scent of his one thousand years old blood hit Felix's nose, his eyes open and his face shifted. He let out a menacing growl, his arms went up grabbing Klaus's offered arm with his hands and without hesitation his lips began to drinking the sweet and powerful nectar.

Klaus sat completely still as Felix took greedy gulps of his blood. It felt strange to have someone who was not his mate feeding from him. His vampire side didn't like it but Felix needed it, his blood would heal him faster than the human blood he had been drinking. The dark power the shadows had possessed did a number on him and he was lucky to be alive.

Angelica felt tears running down her cheeks and she looked down, feeling relief, happiness, and showing a vulnerability that she would have never allowed herself in someone else's presence. "Thank you, thank you so much," she whispered with extreme gratitude. Klaus's blood was older and far more powerful than the human blood Felix had been taking. She knew that with this gesture, Klaus had saved Felix hours of torment.

Felix groaned and pulled away from Klaus's wrist, his eyes returning to normal. "…shouldn't have…" he mumbled.

Angelica was surprised by how wide awake he looked. The effect Klaus's blood had on him was amazing to see.

Felix groaned and pulled himself into a sitting position, looking down at the strange and smelly green mixture on his stomach.

"You need to lie down," Angelica told him while fixing the damp cloth over his forehead and attempting to push him back down. Klaus's blood had injected him with energy and strength but that didn't mean he was ready to get up.

Felix shook his head.

"Even injured your auto control is impeccable," Klaus muttered as he looked down at his wrist which had already healed. "You should drink some more," he looked into Felix's tired and pale face. He had taken a few mouthfuls of his blood but he could surely use more.

"…no…" the hybrid mumbled. "…Thank you…" his eyes began dropping.

"You need to rest," Angelica told him in a stern voice. With Klaus's help, they guided him gently back down on the bed.

Klaus placed his hand on the back of Felix's head and closed his eyes.

Angelica gave him a curious look.

Felix let out a big content sigh and his body relaxed all of a sudden; a small smile began forming on the corner of his dry lips as he sank into a deep slumber.

"What did you do?" Angelica asked as soon as Klaus opened his eyes and pulled his hand away from Felix's head.

"He won't be having any nightmares anymore," Klaus told her. He had manipulated Felix's mind and ensured he would not be tormented by feverish dreams. He would have a peaceful rest.

"Thank you," Angelica would never stop being grateful.

Klaus didn't reply. It was his duty as an Alpha to look after his pack.

* * *

Mikael let out a shaky breath as he stumbled and leaned against a fence. His body hurt, his knees felt weak, and he could barely keep his eyes open. _Fucking bitch,_ he thought angrily as he struggled to catch his breath. He felt pathetically human. How could he not when had looked into death's face?

If he had been a regular vampire, he would be dust right now. And all because of that girl…Bonnie Bennett. She had single handedly destroyed the shadows and brought him to his knees. She had done what no other witch had been able to do before saved for one…

 _Like mother like daughter,_ Mikael thought as he leaned against the wall. In a thousand years, Abby Bennett had been the only witch to have bested him. She had desiccated him in order to protect that stupid doppelganger and now her daughter had succeeded in destroying all his allies. He knew he was lucky to be alive, lucky that there was only one thing that could kill him.

His body had taken a toll after Bonnie's magic destroyed the shadows and assaulted him. He had been fortunate to escape but his healing abilities were taking their sweet time mending all the damage her power had inflicted upon him. He had lost. He had arrogantly believed that because he had the power of the shadows he was untouchable and had paid the price. Worst of all, his bastard son had witnessed his humiliation. That made Mikael angrier.

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths as he continued to lean against the fence. He could feel his body slowly returning to normal, excruciating slow mind you. _I need to feed,_ he realized. He had not fed since he came back to life and his weaken body demanded blood. He needed blood to re-energized his system and heal fully. He didn't move though, he felt so tired, he only wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep. _Don't fall asleep,_ he told himself. _You are almost there, just one more block_. He had to make it to the safety of Marguerite's home first. He couldn't afford to lose consciousness in the open. His enemies could track him down and deliver the final blow.

Mikael's eyes snapped open all of a sudden, his senses alerting him to a powerful presence nearby. The neighborhood was quiet, the sun had yet to rise, and there was no one nearby, saved for the pounding of one heartbeat moving steadily closer towards him. He looked up and frowned when he saw a tall, bulky man approaching. Using all the strength he possessed, Mikael pushed himself away from the fence, his face shifting into his vampire visage. Before he could even think of attacking or fleeing, the man extended his left hand and murmured a spell in French. Mikael let out a groan as the spell hit him, he dropped to the ground unconscious.

The warlock picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, carrying him to a new destination.

* * *

 **The compound**

Klaus contemplated the sunrise from the balcony, a glass of whisky in hand. He had stayed with Felix and ensured his wound had healed nicely before making his way to his study. There was a lot on his mind.

"Quite an eventful day," Elijah murmured as he made his way towards him.

"How is Lucy?" Klaus asked him.

"Sleeping," his brother replied while serving himself a drink and joining him on the balcony. "The encounter with father left her quite shaken." He took a sip, enjoying the slight burning sensation going down his throat and contemplated his brother carefully. "How is Bonnie?" he asked in turn.

"Sleeping as well, she was exhausted after the fight with father and the shadows." The anger he had felt at Bonnie's recklessness had been replaced by pride. "I will never forget how pathetic he looked when I got there," he commented with a smirk. "The mighty Mikael brought down to his knees."

Elijah's lips curled at the image. "He was lucky she didn't have the white oak."

"Indeed."

The two brothers enjoyed the cool morning air, watching the rays of the sun bathe city with light as another day began.

"I told Bonnie about Freya," Klaus said to Elijah after a couple of minutes of drinking in silence. "She wants to meet her."

"Perhaps we can invite Freya to dinner," Elijah suggested. "Or a family brunch. She could meet Lucy and Matt as well."

"Not here," Klaus said quickly. "I don't want her near Ingrid."

"You think Freya would be so bold, so reckless as to attempt to get your daughter's blood right under our noses?"

"Don't you?" Klaus fired back.

"She's far too smart and calculating to attempt something so stupid."

Klaus's lips twitched at that. "She's quite something isn't she?" As much as he distrusted Freya, he wasn't stupid, he could see how powerful and intelligent she was; but that also made her all the more dangerous.

"We need to be careful Niklaus," Elijah stared at his face. "She's our sister, she's powerful, she wishes to end Dahlia as much as we do-"

"Or so she claims," Klaus intervened. "I'm not as easily fooled as Finn and Rebekah, _or you_."

"It would be best not to provoke her," Elijah cautioned. "We don't have to welcome her into our home with open arms but we shouldn't keep her away either. We have to find the perfect balance. Enough distance to keep Ingrid safe but close enough so that Freya is content and willing to cooperate with us."

Klaus took a sip of his whiskey, mulling over Elijah's words. _Keep your friends close and your enemies closer._

"She might prove to be a valuable ally," Elijah continued.

"Or the most treacherous enemy of all."

Elijah sighed. "You are not going to make it easy, are you?"

"When have I ever made things easy for you?"

Both of them chuckled at the truth behind that statement.

"What is it about Freya that concerns you the most?" Elijah asked him.

Klaus walked back inside his study, sitting on the comfy leather chair in front of the fireplace. Elijah took a seat on the other chair and placed the bottle of whiskey on the small table in between them. He was waiting for his brother to elaborate on his thoughts, to share his impression of Freya, and the plans he had.

"Freya was so young when she was taken," Klaus began. "She was raised by Dahlia…that's what troubles me…the influence Dahlia can have over her."

"You think she is with Dahlia?" Elijah asked him. "That this is all a ploy to get Ingrid?"

"It could very well be," Klaus murmured as he contemplated his nearly empty glass. "You, Kol, Rebekah, Finn, and me, we have so much history…we grew up together, we played together, we fought together." He looked into Elijah's face. "You have been my best friend, my confidant, my rival, and a pain in the ass sometimes…" he smiled as countless of memories surfaced in his mind. Elijah was the brother he was closest too. "But you have never given up on me."

"And I never will," Elijah said without hesitation.

"No matter how much we quarrel, or how many times we stab each other in the back, or how angry we get at one other, we always find our way back," Klaus continued. "You and Kol have gone on your own many times, decades traveling the world and living your own lives and yet one way or another you always came back, even when Kol claimed to hate me, he always found me, and came home wherever in the world that home was."

Elijah nodded. "We always stand by each other's side, no matter what." He raised his glass. "Always and forever." The vow, the promise that bound them together and which ensured that they always ended on the same side.

"Freya never had that. She has our blood but she's a stranger," Klaus remarked. "She was raised by an evil woman, we don't know anything about her life with Dahlia, or what has happened to her in the past one thousand years. How can we know that everything she claims is true? That she won't betray us at the first opportunity?" he questioned. "We can't expect the same loyalty or devotion from her."

"But we can get to know her," Elijah countered. "We can learn more about who she is, what she has been doing or what she's planning." He paused. "We can show her what is like to be a part of a family."

"Perhaps," Klaus muttered. "But we cannot let our guards down, we need to be careful around her. Something tells me she hasn't been completely honest with us. Who knows what she is hiding or what other plans she has set in motion." That's exactly what bugged him, he couldn't figure out what Freya was thinking or plotting. She had seemed sincere enough but a good manipulator knew how to mix the truth with some carefully built lies. She was a loose cannon and he didn't like it. Klaus always liked to be in control and in charge of things, and something told him Freya liked the same thing.

"We will find out," Elijah vowed. "And we will deal with it accordingly."

As powerful and dangerous as Freya was, she had no idea the lengths the Originals were willing to go in order to protect their family.

* * *

"What else do you know about this woman, Dahlia?" Aunt Vivian asked Bonnie as she paced around the bedroom, a smiling Ingrid in her arms. She had arrived earlier that morning and given Bonnie a lecture about going after Mikael on her own. She was still angry that Bonnie had not used her coven to help her fight the Mikaelson patriarch but her anger and her lectures had been set aside when Bonnie told her about the wicked witch coming after Ingrid.

"I told you everything I know," Bonnie responded. She was sitting on the bed, changing Henrik. "Dahlia is Esther's older sister, the one who helped her get pregnant."

"In exchange for every first-born child of Esther's blood," Lucy added. She and her mother had followed Bonnie and aunt Vivian upstairs, to discuss the latest threat to their family.

"First it was Mikael and Finn," Aunt Vivian muttered. "Now is the sister and the evil aunt," she looked at Bonnie. "What's next? The grandparents? Another long-lost sibling?" she snapped. "It's a never-ending saga of vampire family drama."

Bonnie didn't reply, she was struggling with a squirming Henrik. She made a funny face at him and he giggled, happily kicking his feet.

"What does Klaus think of his sister?" Joanna asked Bonnie.

"He doesn't trust her," Bonnie responded while keeping her eyes on her son and rubbing his tummy.

"Only a fool would trust someone who has been raised by the enemy," Aunt Vivian told them. She walked towards the bed and sat down, cradling Ingrid gently in her arms. She smiled down at the angelic baby. The future of their coven. So little and in so much danger. _I won't let that evil woman take you,_ Vivian swore. _Even if it's the last thing I do on this earth, I won't let anyone take you from us. Ever._

"I'm going to talk to Freya," Bonnie informed them. "I want to know more about Dahlia and I want to learn more about Freya's plan to end her." Freya hadn't given any specifics to Klaus and his siblings but Bonnie intended to find out all the details of her plan.

"Don't give her Ingrid's blood," Aunt Vivian said taking her eyes from Ingrid and focusing on Bonnie once more. "I don't buy that tale that she needs Ingrid's blood for a potion to destroy Dahlia."

 _Neither does Klaus,_ Bonnie thought.

"Blood is powerful," Aunt Vivian continued. "Ingrid's blood is unique, the last thing we need is for someone to use it for their own gain. You can't trust Freya simply because she's Klaus's sister."

"I'm not going to give her Ingrid's blood," Bonnie swore. "Or let her near my children either." She didn't know Freya, she couldn't trust her. "I need to talk to Freya, I need to know what else she knows about Dahlia and judge her character I guess…" she was hoping her witch senses, her intuition would tell her whether Freya was to be trusted or not.

"If she really wants Dahlia dead then we are going to have to work together," Lucy said.

"Or we can pretend and use her to get to Dahlia," Aunt Vivian suggested. "We kill two birds with one stone."

Bonnie picked Henrik in her arms. "There is no denying that Freya is the key to learning more about Dahlia. She's the person that knows her best."

"Unless we go and ask Esther," Lucy mumbled under her breath.

"Neither of them can be trusted to give us the correct information," Aunt Vivian reminded her.

"It seems odd that we have never heard of Dahlia before," Joanna muttered. "She's been absorbing the magic of hundreds of first born witches, using them, and killing them and yet, no one really knows her. You would think there would be some rumors. Esther became a legend after creating the vampire race but as far as I know, Dahlia is a witch no one has heard of until now…"

"She's been careful to cover her tracks," Lucy remarked.

"And the fact that she hibernates for a century and only wakes up for a single year has helped her to keep her anonymity," Bonnie added.

"Has she awoken from her slumber yet?" Aunt Vivian asked suddenly.

"I'm assuming she has," Bonnie responded. Freya had woken up from her century of sleep so it was safe to assume Dahlia had done the same. "According to Freya is only a matter of time before she comes for Ingrid." Bonnie looked worriedly at her daughter. Ingrid cooed and smiled at her, completely unaware of the danger she was in.

"Well, when that wicked witch arrives she's going to get a nasty surprise," Aunt Vivian's eyes glinted maliciously. "Ingrid and Henrik have a powerful coven protecting them. No matter how powerful this woman thinks she is, she will never match the power of the Bennett bloodline." She looked down at Ingrid. "Isn't that right my darling? There is a reason we are the first family among the witches..."

Ingrid continued to smile, almost as if she were agreeing with what Vivian was saying.

* * *

"So, the sister you thought long dead is actually alive and she might be in league with your evil aunt who is coming after your daughter," Marcel recapped what he and Klaus had been discussing. The hybrid had invited him to stay for breakfast before Marcel was to drop Davina and Belle at school.

"That pretty much sums it up," Klaus muttered. The corners of his lips twitched as he saw Charlotte finish her beignet. He used his own napkin to wipe off the powder sugar off her chin. "Want another one sweetheart?"

Charlotte licked her lips and smiled up at him. "Yes, please."

Klaus placed another beignet on her plate.

"And you want to use my place for your family brunch." Marcel didn't look particularly happy about that. He had just moved in into a new apartment in the Quarter and the last thing he needed was for the Originals to mess it up by letting out their legendary tempers.

"I don't want her to come here," Klaus told him. "I don't want her anywhere near Ingrid until we can figure out what side she's on."

"She's on our side, Niklaus."

Klaus rolled his eyes and ignored Finn.

Marcel couldn't fault Klaus for not trusting Freya, specially not when his daughter's life was on the line. "Are Davina and I going to be part of this family brunch?" he found himself asking. He wanted to meet Klaus's sister. He felt really curious and he and Davina were technically part of the family, they should be included in whatever plans the hybrid had.

Davina who was finishing her breakfast turned to look at Klaus, an expectant look on her face.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

All eyes turned to Kol, who was sitting at the other end of the table, directly across from Klaus.

Klaus arched an eyebrow, his blue eyes watching his younger brother curiously.

"And why is that?" Marcel asked icily. He didn't know why Kol felt the need to butt in.

"I just don't think it's a good idea for Freya to meet the girls…" Kol mumbled under his breath. He seemed rather embarrassed.

Charlotte looked around the adults sitting at the table, sensing the sudden tension that crept around them. She placed her half-eaten beignet on her plate and looked at Klaus for guidance. His smile immediately put her at ease.

"I'm not a child," Davina snapped.

"I didn't say you were," Kol was definitely regretting opening his mouth. The look Klaus was giving him was unreadable, he didn't know what his brother was thinking but Marcel certainly didn't look happy.

Finn arched an eyebrow and watched Kol's face silently before looking at Davina as if he were searching for something.

"I want to meet your sister," Davina turned to Klaus.

"We can't trust her!" Kol said. "It could be dangerous!"

"And who the hell are you to decide if Davina is allowed to go or not?" Marcel questioned angrily. He was Davina's adopted father, he could tolerate Bonnie and Klaus parenting Davina but Kol...heck no!

Davina glanced nervously at Kol, who suddenly realized the mistake he had made. He was letting his emotions get the best of him.

"Since when do you care so much about Davina's well-being, Kol?" Klaus's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

 _Shit!_ Kol gulped. He should have kept his mouth shut.

Davina looked down at her plate, her heart on her throat.

"Are we missing something here?" Marcel asked as he looked back and forth between the two of them.

Rebekah and Matt who were sitting across from Davina and Marcel watched the exchange quietly. While Matt had no clue what the hell was going on, a look of realization dawned on Rebekah as she saw the guilty look written all over her brother's face. _Oh shit!_ She thought. Her eyes immediately searched Nik's face, trying to determine if he had figure it out too. She wondered if Bonnie was done talking to aunt Vivian because she was the only one who would be able to calm her brother's explosive temper.

"Why are you so concerned about Davina?" Klaus demanded to know.

"I…" Kol's words failed him. Klaus's hard gaze pinned him to the spot. He had to force himself not to look at Davina while his mind struggled to come with a quick and witty retort.

"Yes, Kol. Do tell us?" Marcel's eyes were promising murder.

Charlotte's scream cut through the choking tension spreading all over the room.

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"What's wrong?"

Charlotte stopped screaming, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment as she felt everyone's eyes on her.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Klaus placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, wondering what had prompted her to scream.

"I…" Charlotte's heart skyrocketed as she thought of what to say. "There was a bug on my beignet."

Finn frowned.

"Eww don't tell me we have bugs in the house!" Rebekah made a face.

"Where?" Matt asked he looked at Charlotte's plate, trying to see if he could catch the bug.

Klaus frowned and inspected her plate as well.

"Something moved in there…" Charlotte mumbled. "…I think…" she laughed nervously. "Maybe not…" she whispered sheepishly.

Klaus grabbed her plate, inspecting her half-eaten beignet. "There is nothing there," he assured her as he set the plate down on the table once more. He regarded her face curiously before glancing at Davina-who looked relieved and Kol who seemed surprised by the unexpected turn of events. _Was it relief and gratitude which he saw reflected on his brother's face?_ There was a sneaking suspicion at the back of his mind and he didn't like it one bit.

"Oops." Charlotte chewed on her bottom lip and looked innocently at everyone.

Davina stood up. "I have to go to school," she said and looked at Marcel. "I'm going to go see if Belle is ready and brush my teeth, then we can go."

Marcel nodded.

Davina gave one quick grateful look at Charlotte and ran out of the room.

"Shouldn't we worry about father before we plan a family brunch?" Rebekah was quick to draw their attention to her and change the topic of conversation. "He's still out there."

"Not for long," Klaus told her. "He's with Marguerite and Elijah and Vincent are currently making their way to her house."

"I'm surprised you are not with them," Marcel remarked.

"Believe me, I wanted to." Klaus had gotten into a shouting match with Vincent over it actually. "Vincent preferred Elijah to accompany him."

"I wonder why," Marcel chuckled.

Klaus gave him an annoyed look.

Kol visibly relaxed as the conversation shifted to Mikael. He looked at Charlotte still feeling surprised that she had saved him from answering Nik's and Marcel's inquiries. Who would have thought her quick thinking would saved his ass? _I owe her,_ Kol realized as he watched as she happily devoured her beignet. _A bug my ass._ Charlotte had clearly made that up to distract everyone. He couldn't stop himself from grinning. _Clever girl._

"What's going to happen with Marguerite?" Matt asked them suddenly.

"Marguerite is going to face the Regent's justice," Klaus replied. He didn't look happy about that.

"She allied herself with Mikael and you're not going to ki-" Marcel stooped himself and glanced at Charlotte who had gone back to eating her beignet and didn't seem to be paying attention to their conversation. Still, it was a sensitive topic and not for innocent children's ears. "You are not going to do anything about it?" he rephrased.

Klaus had suggested putting her head on a spike but Vincent and the Regent had been against it. "Marguerite didn't directly attack us. Therefore, Vincent and the elders of the covens will be the ones to hand out her punishment." As much as Klaus had argued about it with Vincent, in the end, what mattered was the treaty and maintaining the peace in the city so he had relented as long as Elijah and Lenore took down Mikael.

"They'll either shun her from the coven or sent her to the Fauline cottage," Marcel muttered.

"The Fauline cottage?" Rebekah and Finn asked at the same time.

"Isn't that..." Matt trailed off and glanced at Rebekah.

"It's pretty much a prison for witches," Marcel responded with a shrug.

Klaus, Rebekah, and Kol exchanged worried looks while a thoughtful look crossed Finn's features.

"Perhaps I'll get to extract some punishment after all," Klaus murmured.

"We definitely don't want her being taken there," Bonnie and Lucy said as they walked inside the room. Judging by the looks on their faces, they didn't have good news.

"Why not?" Klaus asked.

"I did a locator spell," Bonnie told him as she came to stand next to him. "I wanted to make sure Mikael was with Marguerite like we thought."

"And?"

"He's not there," Lucy was the one to respond.

Klaus looked into Bonnie's eyes, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Mikael is at the Fauline cottage," Bonnie informed them.

"What?" Rebekah and Kol exclaimed simultaneously.

"Why would your father go there?" Marcel asked Klaus. "How the hell would he even get in?" As far as he knew, only the kindred witches had access to the old house.

"Freya," Klaus hissed angrily. "That's where Freya is." He stood up, his eyes flashing gold. _What the hell was she playing at?_

"Bloody fantastic." Kol stood up as well. "You still want to invite her over for brunch?" he questioned his brother. "I told you we can't trust her!"

"She probably wants to see him…" Rebekah said nervously. "It's been a thousand years..."

"Or she's working with him and Marguerite," Kol suggested.

"Freya would never do that," as always Finn was more than ready to defend his beloved sister. "She wouldn't betray us." He turned to Klaus.

"There is only one way to find out," Klaus stared at Bonnie. "We'll skip the family brunch and pay a visit to Freya right now."

Bonnie nodded. It was time to see what side Freya was on and to put an end to Mikael once and for all.

* * *

 **Fauline cottage**

The first thing Mikael saw when he opened his eyes was a young woman staring down at him. Her green eyes and pretty face were familiar. He couldn't help but think of Esther when she was younger, except her eyes looked sad, haunted really. _Where the hell am I?_ he wondered as he slowly came into his senses. There was something about her, something familiar. Her eyes in particular…Mikael frowned and continue to stare at her face. Her eyes were so different from how innocent and mischievous they had been once upon a time. His entire body went rigid as he contemplated her, hardly daring to blink or move for fear that it was all a dream.

Neither of them said anything at first, they simply stared at one another, their eyes reflecting all the pain, all the anger, and longing they felt.

She smiled down at him when she saw the recognition flickering over his face. "It has been so long," she whispered almost fearful to break the moment.

Mikael sat up. Long gone was the exhaustion, the hunger, and the weakness that had assaulted his body after Bonnie's attack. He felt better than ever, stronger too. "You…" he whispered, a small tremor rolling over him as different emotions clashed inside. _Is this real?_ He wanted to ask her. _Am I dreaming?_ His hand shook as he cupped her face tenderly.

"Hello papa," Freya murmured.

There was no way to describe, to express the hurricane of emotions he felt as he looked into his daughter's eyes. "Freya…" Mikal said in a shaky voice. "My beautiful Freya." At last.

Freya tried to contain a sob but she couldn't, she threw her arms around her father, breathing in his scent, clinging to him like she had done when she was a little girl and was afraid. It was like going back in time to that fateful day when they had said goodbye. Mikael crushed her to him, his arms holding her tight.

The moment they had both longed for had come at last.


	89. Chapter 89

_A/N: Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews and well wishes. I really appreciate all the support. I'm thankfully feeling much better now. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Fauline cottage**

"I can't believe you are really here…" Mikael whispered as he cradled Freya's face with both of his hands. "I thought you were dead…the plague…" he didn't bother to hide the pain he felt. Esther's lie had torn their family apart for centuries.

"It was all a lie," Freya said bitterly.

"I know that now," Mikael muttered angrily. "Your treacherous mother had no choice but to confess everything to us." If Esther had not been cornered by Finn and Ayana, he would have never known his daughter still lived.

"She told you I was dead."

Mikael nodded. He let go of her face and grabbed her hands tenderly. It still seemed surreal to him to have her in front of him, to look into her eyes, and touch her. "I grieved for you every day," he confessed in a whisper. "I blamed myself for not being there, time and time again, I wondered how different our lives would have been had you been with us. I failed you."

"No." Freya squeezed his hands in a reassuring gesture. "Esther was the one who failed me, she was the one who did nothing while I was ripped from her arms. It's all her fault," she hissed. She couldn't control the anger, the resentment, and hatred she felt towards her own mother. "She destroyed our family."

"She did," Mikael agreed with her. "Where have you been all this time?" he questioned her. "What happened after Dahlia took you? Did she hurt you? Why did you not return to us? Why wait until now?" he fired one question after another. There were many things he did not understand.

Freya pulled away from him, turning her face away in order to hide her pain. When she was a little girl, she used to run into his arms whenever she was sad or scared, always knowing that he would ease her fears and protect her from anything. _How I wish I was that little girl,_ she thought as she looked back into his face. Life had been so simple then, so different from all she had known in the past ten centuries.

"Freya…" Mikael whispered, his eyes pleading with her to tell him everything. "Tell me."

"So much has happened, I wouldn't know where to start…or how…" her voice trembled slightly. There was a part of her that wanted to tell him everything, to share her secrets, her pain, and her plans with him but there was also another part of her- _that voice that always haunted her-_ which told her she shouldn't trust him. _You can trust no one but yourself, not even your own blood._

 _Shut up! Let me be!_

 _You don't know him. You can't share your secrets with him._

Once again Freya found herself conflicted. The past, the scars she bore, it was all too difficult to set aside.

"Tell me," Mikael said in a more forceful voice. "I swear to you that all the pain Dahlia has caused you, she will receive tenfold."

Freya gave a small laugh and shook her head. "You have no idea what she is capable of or how powerful she truly is." She rubbed her hands together, thinking of Dahlia's power always made her cold, and afraid. She hated it.

"I will protect you now."

"You can't protect me," Freya snapped and stood up. "No one can." _Only I can protect myself,_ she thought.

Mikael contemplated her with sadness. "What has she done to you?" he asked in a whisper. He stood up from the bed and glanced around the room-they were in an attic- before focusing on her once more. There was so much sadness surrounding her, it made his heart ache. She was such a joyful little girl, sweet and pretty stubborn too. As a child she had radiated so much light, kindness, so much goodness. _Where had that little girl gone to? What had Dahlia done to snuff out that light?_

"What matters is what I am going to do to her," Freya said as she turned back to face him.

Mikael studied her face, noticing the carefully constructed mask she wore. She could hide her pain well but her eyes, those beautiful and wounded eyes betrayed her. His daughter had suffered a great deal at Dahlia's hands and it boiled his blood to know he had done nothing to protect her. "Where is she?" he hissed, hands clenching painfully at his sides. "When I get my hands on her…" nothing and no one was going to stand in the way of his revenge, that, Mikael vowed with all his heart.

"That I do not know," Freya responded. "Locator spells don't work on her, she's too powerful," she paused, remembering that there was another way, a very risky way to find Dahlia. She shook her head. It was too dangerous for her to do that and it could be counterproductive too. "She will come to New Orleans," she continued in a confident voice. "Sooner or later, Dahlia will arrive in this city." _And when she does, I'm going to be ready_ , she swore.

"She will come for you."

"The pact Esther and Dahlia made still stands today." She studied her father's face in detail. He had aged a bit but he was still handsome and he still looked at her with the same adoration as when she was a child. "Dahlia will come for me and for Niklaus's daughter." If she expected any kind of reaction from him, she was sorely disappointed. Mikael's face gave nothing away of his feelings towards Niklaus and his children. He kept the same calm composure.

"Esther promised Dahlia her first born and the first born of every generation for as long as her line lasts," Mikael recalled what Finn had had told them about the deal Esther and Dahlia had made over a thousand years ago. The deal that had destroyed their family.

"It's the reason she took me, raised me to be like her," Freya's entire body shook as she recalled Dahlia's lessons, the loneliness, and the pain she felt, the anguish of not knowing where her family was or if she would ever see them again. "Many a night I felt sure you and mother would come for me. I laid awake waiting, hoping, dreaming that I was back home with you and Finn…" she stopped and looked away. "Such foolish dreams."

" _Foolish girl, no one will come for you." Dahlia hissed grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away from the door. There was a barrier spell that prevented Freya from leaving the hut. Every time she tried breaking the spell it rebounded and it caused her pain, but she still tried at least once a day._

" _Papa will come for me," Freya stubbornly muttered. "He will save me from you."_

 _Dahlia slapped her hard for her insolence._

 _Freya cried out in pain, tears forming in her eyes as she touched her cheek. It hurt._

 _Dahlia laughed. "No one will come for you." She grabbed Freya's chin and pulled her face up so she could look into her frightened and tearful green eyes. "I am the only family you have now," she hissed. "Never forget that."_

Freya pushed away the memory and continued, "but you and mother never came…" little by little the hope that she would be rescued had died and been replace by anger, and hatred towards the woman that gave her life. "No one ever came for me."

"I would have," Mikal walked closer. "Had I known, I would have searched for you, I would have never given up. One way or another I would have found you and killed that whore!"

"I managed to escape," Freya told him with a proud look. "It took me a long time but I found a way and since then I have been plotting my revenge."

"How can you be alive after all this time?" Mikael questioned suddenly. "You are human, a witch but still, how have you slowed down your aging for so long?" she looked really young, he wasn't good with human ages but she looked to be in her late twenties maybe.

"Dahlia found a way to make us practically immortal," Freya answered. "A spell that puts us to sleep for a century. We can only wake up for a single year of life but during that year, we cannot die."

"I see. Dahlia was always devoted to her craft," Mikael murmured. "Unlike Esther she was dedicated, she took pride in her lineage and explored her power to its limit."

"There is no limit for her," Freya told him. "She always wants more, no matter how powerful she gets, she always desires more."

"What are you planning?" Mikael asked her. "Tell me, how I can help you?"

"Do you really wish to help me father?"

"Of course, I do." Mikael looked indignant by the question she just asked him. "You are my daughter. I will keep you safe, and I swear to you I will not rest until that retched woman is dead." Vengeance would be sweet.

"You will keep me safe in the same way you kept my siblings safe for the past one thousand years?" Freya questioned him. There was an edge to her voice and her eyes glinted maliciously.

Mikael's eyes narrowed. He couldn't read the look on her face, he didn't know what she was thinking in regards to her siblings and their complicated relationship with him.

"You will protect me like you have protected them?" Freya looked directly into his icy blue eyes. "You will protect your granddaughter as well?"

"Niklaus's bastard you mean?" Mikael asked with incredulity. "She is not my blood."

"Yet she carries your name, as does her father, _your son_."

"He is your mother's bastard!" Mikael hissed. "The product of her illicit affair with that abomination of nature. Esther lied to me, she betrayed me in more ways than one," he practically shouted. "Not just by spreading her legs to that man and birthing his son but by hiding the truth about you and Dahlia."

"And instead of focusing your anger and your hatred on her," Freya snapped back. "You focused it all on my brother," she walked closer, never taking her eyes away from him. "He may not have your blood, he may not be anything to you, but he is my blood," Freya reminded him. "And I need him, I need him more than I need you."

Mikael was taken back by that statement.

"You want to protect me. You want to kill Dahlia, and take your vengeance," Freya stated. "But in order to do that, will you be willing to work with your bastard son?" she challenged him.

Mikael had no idea how to respond to that.

* * *

 **The compound**

"We should have gone with them," Kol muttered as he paced around the living room. Klaus and Bonnie had insisted on going alone and even though Finn and Kol had protested bitterly in the end, the couple had gotten their wish. "That traitor is probably plotting with Mikael how to-"

"Freya is not a traitor," Finn snapped angrily. They had been going back and forth for well over an hour about their different opinions on their sister.

"She's with father!" Kol snapped back. "That makes her a traitor in my eyes!"

"Your eyes, not mine."

"Yeah, because you are a bloody idiot!"

"Kol," Rebekah gave him a warning look. It was like watching a tennis match from the sidelines and frankly, they were giving her a headache with all their arguing.

"Just because Freya is with father right now does not mean she supports him," Finn told him.

"Don't be an idiot, Finn."

"You don't know her," Finn shouted.

"Neither do you," Kol shouted back.

"Alright, that's enough!" Rebekah got in between both of her brothers before they decided to start throwing blows. "Fighting among us is not going to help matters." She looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Tell that to him," Finn muttered. He glared at Kol as he stormed out of the living room angrily.

Kol rolled his eyes. "Bloody idiot," he mumbled.

Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. "I doubt Freya is working with father."

"You too?" Kol couldn't believe it.

"She was torn away from her family when she was a child," Rebekah reminded him. "If I were in her shoes, I would want to see my father too." There was a lot of sadness in her face and in her voice as she spoke. She felt bad for her sister and the cruel upbringing she had. Because Rebekah doubted very much that Dahlia was the motherly type. "We don't know how Mikael ended up at the Fauline cottage, we don't know if this is the first time they meet or not, we can't jump to conclusions-"

"We need to watch our backs," Kol retorted. "Mikael has made our lives a living hell. I don't think I need to remind you of the centuries he hunted us down like animals, or the people he used to get close to us, or the times we had to flee our home because of him."

Rebekah looked away, no there was no way she could ever forget all they had endured because of him.

"Freya is a powerful witch and the two of them working together against us, it's not going to be good."

"Freya has every right to see her father and talk to him," Rebekah glanced into his face once more. "We can't forbid her from doing that, Kol." She took a step closer. "Let's wait to see what Nik and Bonnie find out before we burn her at the stake."

Kol snorted. "Isn't she supposed to be immortal? You think she could survive a good old burning?"

"I wasn't serious, Kol."

"Well, I am."

Rebekah took a seat on the couch and rolled her eyes. Kol made his way to the small liquor cabinet and served himself a glass of scotch. Rebekah watched him carefully, debating whether she should tackle the other important subject at hand. Now seemed as good a time as ever. "There is something that I want to talk to you about and has nothing to do with Freya," she began quietly.

"What?" was the absent reply from Kol.

"Your outburst at breakfast," Rebekah responded calmly. "I was surprised how concerned you were about Davina's safety."

Kol immediately tensed but he refused to turn back and look at her. "She's part of the family," he said with a rather defensive edge to his voice.

Rebekah did not miss the tense set of his shoulders or the way he was clutching the glass, if he wasn't careful he was going to crush it. "So, you were looking after her like any doting uncle would?" she pressed.

Kol spun around and glared at her. "I don't see her like an uncle!" he snapped. The glass on his hand, cracked a bit.

Rebekah arched an eyebrow and smirked. "No, I suppose not. More like a boyfriend isn't it?" her eyes glinted knowingly.

Kol opened his mouth and promptly closed it again. He looked like a fish out of water.

"Something has changed between the two of you, I should have seen it coming really…" Rebekah mumbled the last part to herself. She had seen something between Davina and Kol before, that day when it looked like they were about to kiss. That spark had raised alarming bells inside her.

It was at the tip of Kol's tongue to deny everything, to question Rebekah's sanity, and tell her that what she was imagining was not true at all but a single look from his sister was enough to let him know that she knew, and that he would not convince her of the contrary. He sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "I gave myself up with that little scene, didn't I?" He took a big gulp of his scotch to help with his nerves. There was a worried look on his face as he stared at his sister.

"You did." Kol looked terrified and Rebekah knew why he felt like that. She opened her mouth.

"I know what I'm doing Bekah," Kol cut her off before she could even start. "I'm not a child, I don't need you to tell me how this will affect the family or how pissed Nik is going to be. Believe me, I know."

"I think you should be worried more about Marcel or Bonnie's reaction," Rebekah retorted.

The corner of Kol's lips twitched. "Well, luckily for us Bonnie is on our side." Knowing that Bonnie hadn't hexed him or threatened him but actually shown her support to him and Davina made him feel better. At least if Nik decided to dagger him for the next century or so, there was a chance that Bonnie might help him. A slight chance perhaps, but a chance all the same.

Rebekah's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Davina and I told her," Kol responded. "We agreed that it was best to tell Nik and the rest of the family after Mikael was taken care of."

"In the mood Nik has been lately, I think that's for the best."

"How many decades do you think he will dagger me for?"

"Fifty or more," was the quick response.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bekah."

"You're welcome," Rebekah beamed at him.

"I really like her you know," Kol said after a while in silence. "She makes me feel things I never really felt before." There was a shy smile on his lips as he spoke of his girlfriend. "I know she's really young and that Marcel and Nik are going to kick my ass when they find out but I won't stop seeing her." There was a defiant look on his face as he stared at his sister. "And I would like to think that you won't betray us by running off and telling Nik."

Rebekah gave him a look. "You think I would be so treacherous?"

"It wouldn't be the first time you betray me, Becks. It was your fault I was daggered that Christmas a century ago, remember?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Water under the bridge Kol."

Kol made a face at her.

There was another long moment of silence.

"You can't keep this a secret forever," Rebekah said gently. "You need to tell Nik and the sooner you do it the better. You and Davina need to talk to him. It would be better if the truth of your relationship comes out of your own mouth. Because if you keep acting like you did at breakfast this morning, Nik will put two and two together, just like I did."

Kol didn't say anything but Rebekah could see how worried he felt.

"I won't let him dagger you Kol," Rebekah promised. "And I'm sure neither will Bonnie."

"And here I thought you wouldn't approve," he whispered. "Last time we talked about this…" he trailed off with a shrug. When Rebekah had witnessed the spark between him and Davina, she had seemed against them being together but now she was being supportive, it surprised him but he felt grateful for her support.

"I was worried," Rebekah confessed. "I didn't want Davina to be another one of your conquests, or for you to break her heart. I care for her, you know that."

He nodded. "It's not like that at all," Kol told her. "Davina is different from any girl I've met before, she's smart, kind, beautiful, stubborn…" he chuckled. "I can talk to her about anything…whenever she comes into the room I feel myself smile like an idiot. I want to impress her and protect her and tell her all my secrets and share with her the things I like…I want to make her smile…I…" His eyes shone with emotion as he spoke of Davina. "I really care about her, Rebekah."

"I can see that." Rebekah had seen it in the protectiveness he had displayed earlier that morning. She could see it now in the way his eyes softened as he spoke about Davina, in the worried look on his face at the thought of Nik's reaction, and the fear he felt that he would not let them be together.

"Is it like that with Matt?"

"Yeah," Rebekah grinned. "It is."

The two of them shared happy smiles. Who could have ever imagined a year ago, that the two of them would have found people to love and how loved them back. For the first time in their lives, they were truly and irrevocably happy. It was scary.

* * *

 **Fauline cottage**

"We don't need him."

"On the contrary, we do."

Mikael and Freya stared at each other, both of them equally stubborn in their beliefs.

"That abomination murdered me!"

"You persecuted him for a thousand years, if anything he was protecting himself."

"Are you taking his side?" Mikael questioned angrily.

Freya contemplated him with sadness. "Am I supposed to take sides?" she challenged him. "Am I supposed to choose between you and him? You are my father but he is my brother." If the rules of the game dictated she picked a side, fuck them! She always played by her own rules anyway.

"A brother you hardly know," Mikael retorted. "You have no idea the things he has done, the blood he has spilled. He is like a cancer that spreads throughout the world, killing innocents, destroying entire cities, and living a life of debauchery."

"Why do you hate him?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"He is the living and breathing proof of your mother's treachery," Mikael responded quickly. "Isn't that reason enough?"

"By no fault of his own," Freya countered easily. "You didn't even know he wasn't your son until the night he broke his curse. Didn't you love him before?"

"How do you know that?" Mikael eyed her suspiciously. "You seem to know a lot about our family."

"I know many things father," Freya snapped. "Dahlia made sure I knew that mother had birthed more children, that you had set sailed across the sea to a new land shortly after she took me, that mother had an affair with a wolf king and birthed him a son, and that the two of you turned your children into abominations of nature. She always kept tabs on our family, and took perverse pleasure in telling me, sometimes even showing me the kind of creatures you all had become."

A strange emotion flickered across Mikael's eyes when he heard that.

"You say that Niklaus is an abomination but so are you." Freya looked directly into his eyes, her voice loud and clear, without any hint of sympathy. "You are monster, father." _We all are,_ she thought sadly.

"The monstrous things I've done have been to put an end to that bastard," Mikael responded, a low growl escaping him. He was feeling attacked, he didn't like that she was taking Niklaus's side or at least, it felt that way to him. "He killed your mother did you know that?"

"The day Dahlia told me, I cried tears of joy," Freya replied with a smirk. She had admired Niklaus for his ruthless then. "I have no love for Esther, father. She sold me long before I was born, she did nothing while Dahlia took me away and hurt me." Her mask broke for a bit and she allowed the pain she felt to reflect on her face, twisting her features in a grimace. "She chose to forget I existed instead of telling you the truth and fighting to get me back. She abandoned me and focused on raising her little perfect family. She gave you power, strength, speed, immortality and what did she give me? Nothing but pain and suffering. The only regret I have is that it was not I, who took her life."

Mikael could understand all the anger Freya felt towards her mother. He couldn't blame her for hating Esther. _I hate her as well,_ he thought. For a long time, neither of them spoke until finally, it was Mikael who chose to break the silence. "Niklaus and I…we could never be on the same side."

"Why not?"

"It has been a thousand years Freya, the things we have done to each other…" he shook his head. "If you think we can somehow reconcile and work together you are wasting your time. Niklaus will try to kill me the minute he lays eyes on me, and I will do the same to him. There can never be any middle ground between us."

"I believe there can be."

"Freya…." Mikael knew that stubborn look. He had seen it so many times when she was little.

"You have a common enemy, you have a common goal…" She walked closer to him. "Dahlia."

Mikael pressed his lips together, mulling over her words.

"You love me, don't you father?" She asked while taking his hand in hers.

"Of course, I do. With all my heart."

"Niklaus loves his little girl too," Freya said to him. "I'm not asking you to love him, I'm simply asking that you work with him."

Mikael looked conflicted.

"You and Niklaus are going to have to chose whether you continue trying to kill each other or chose to set aside your differences and protect the people you love the most in the world." Freya squeezed his fingers. She turned her head to the side, sensing two powerful creatures approaching the cottage. "You are going to have to make your mind, sooner than you may think." She turned to her father. "But for now, I will send you to a safe place."

"What?" Mikael looked at her with confusion.

"Niklaus and his wife are coming," Freya informed him. "Don't worry, I will keep you safe." Before Mikael could make a retort, Freya waved her hand and teleported him out of the cottage to a safe location of her choosing. Despite what she had told him at first, despite what she deluded herself into thinking, deep down she knew the truth, she needed them, she needed all of them. Her family.

* * *

Bonnie wasn't sure what she expected when she and Klaus made their way inside the Fauline cottage. The barrier spell protecting the place was powerful but not enough to withstand her magic. She didn't break the spell entirely, she simply lowered it with Expression so that she and Klaus could get inside. The Kindred were in charge of the cottage and neither of them knew how many witches apart from Freya would be there.

They walked hand in hand.

Bonnie made a face as soon as a strong odor hit her nose, like a combination of medicine and bleach. It was really strong, so much that it almost made her dizzy.

The white paint was peeling off from the walls and they were also covered in mold and dirt. There were a lot of broken objects, some trash, toys, and different colored spills on the floor. Bonnie's heels clicked on the dirty wood floor as they made their way through the foyer. Her spine tingled the closer they got to the living room.

"He's not here," Bonnie whispered. She could not feel Mikael's presence at all inside the house. _We're too late,_ she thought. She could have sworn she had felt Mikael's presence inside the house a few seconds before when she lowered the barrier but now he was gone.

Klaus frowned and turned to her, a clear question in his eyes.

"I can't sense him inside," Bonnie responded. She wasn't looking at him though, she was looking at the witches scattered all over the first floor of the cottage. Some were lying down on the floor, eyes closed and hands to their sides, almost as if they were sleeping; others were sitting against the wall, eyes glazed over, and drool dripping down their chins. They looked unkept and fragile. Another small group sat in front of the T.V, laughing hysterically at the static noise coming from it, while a handful more were walking in a daze. They all seemed out of it. No one turned to stare at them or question their arrival, it was like they couldn't sense the two supernaturals that had dared to come inside their domain. Even their magic seemed off, Bonnie could sense it was there but clouded, as if there was something blocking it somehow. It was weird.

"Do they even know we are here?" Klaus wondered as he stared at the tiny witch that walked past them, completely ignoring them. "Can they sense us?"

"I don't think so," Bonnie stared at the witches' faces. They were devoid of any emotions, their eyes sunken, and completely lost. Her heart broke when she spotted a little girl sitting in the corner, rocking a headless doll in her arms. She looked to be about Charlotte's age.

"Sweetheart-" Klaus attempted to stop her but Bonnie side stepped him and headed straight for the skinny little girl with long tangled hair.

"Hi," Bonnie said as she kneeled in front of her. "What's your name, sweetie?" she asked looking at the floral print dress the girl wore. Her left sleeve was missing and the skirt was covered in a strange gooey substance which radiated an awful smell.

Klaus followed her of course, his nose twitching at the stench coming from the little girl. She clearly hadn't bathed in years.

The girl did not respond to Bonnie's presence or even her voice. She continued to rock herself, her eyes lost somewhere in the distance while she clutched the headless doll tightly to her chest.

"Can you hear me?" Bonnie asked in a gentle motherly voice.

Again, there was no response.

While Bonnie clearly felt compassion for the poor soul, Klaus wasn't easily captivated. The girl was young, as young as Charlotte probably but while their adopted daughter radiated protectiveness and tenderness in him, he found this girl repulsive. Bonnie would no doubt be hurt and call him out on his cruelty but there was something about the child, something dark that made him feel on edge. No matter how tiny she was, or how defenseless she looked, Klaus's superior senses could feel the darkness hiding inside her.

"Don't get too close," he warned Bonnie.

"She's a child, Klaus." Bonnie gave him a look over her shoulder.

"And she must be here for a reason." He doubted the witches of New Orleans were so heartless as to lock an innocent child in here. Then again, they were all crazy. But would the Regent and Vincent allow an innocent to rot in here? Klaus knew them better than that.

"What's your name?" Bonnie tried again. When there was no answer, she reached out and tried to touch the girl's cheek. A blast of magic flung her against the wall.

Klaus was faster and he caught Bonnie before her body collided against the hard surface. It was his back that hit the wall while he secured his arms protectively around Bonnie's body. She gasped and looked up at him in surprise before looking back at the little girl whose lips were curved into a malicious smirk. The attack had taken her completely off guard.

"Bitch," the little girl said and snapped her head to the left. A wooden chair in the opposite corner flew straight towards Bonnie and Klaus.

Bonnie recovered quickly from her shock and stopped the chair in midair, slowly lowering it to the ground with her magic. She stared at the girl with disbelief.

"You were saying," Klaus muttered as he kept his eyes on the demon child. His instincts were never wrong.

The girl glared at Bonnie and stood up, an angry hiss erupting from her lips. She raised her hand.

Bonnie tensed because despite the attack, she still didn't feel comfortable attacking a small child. Klaus on the other hand, growled, and got ready to snap her neck if needed be.

"That's enough Alice," an authoritative voice said.

Bonnie and Klaus turned to see a short, chubby, dark skinned man with a full beard approach them. He had a strange scar near his left eye. He looked at the little girl first before focusing on Bonnie and Klaus. Two women and a tall, bulky man with light brown hair, and a cruel smile were behind him. They all had those strange scars on their faces, the women on the right while the men had theirs on the left.

The women didn't hesitate and grabbed the girl by the arms. She hissed and muttered a string of curses at them.

"Fucking cunts…gonna kill you…dead bitches you will be…"

Bonnie was horrified by the words that followed. She couldn't believe that someone so young could have such vocabulary. Klaus merely arched an eyebrow at the litany of curses that sprung from the girl.

"Shut up! old hag," the man with the cruel smile snapped at her.

"Time for your nap, girlie." One of the women pulled a syringe from her pocket and injected the little girl with it. The girl screamed and trashed for a few seconds before her body went limp, succumbing to whatever sedative she was given.

"Take her to her room," the bearded man ordered.

The women nodded and dragged the girl out of the living room. Both men turned to the couple then.

"How the hell did you get inside?" cruel smile demanded to know.

"We used the front door," Klaus replied casually.

The bearded man let out a chuckle at Klaus's retort while cruel smile growled and took a step closer. "You think you're funny?" he hissed.

"On occasion," Klaus responded, not in the least bit intimidated by the tall and heavily built man.

Bonnie shook her head, trust Klaus to find ways to provoke people no matter what.

"Ms. Freya is waiting for you," the bearded man told them. "Follow me, please." He did not wait to see if they would follow, he simply began walking in the direction of the stairs.

Bonnie and Klaus exchanged looks before reluctantly following him up the stairs. Klaus purposely shoved the tall light-haired man out of the way, earning a grunt, and a curse from him.

"Was that necessary?" Bonnie questioned while making sure to place a barrier behind their backs in case the man decided to retaliate with his magic.

"He was in our way," Klaus smiled like a kid and proudly displayed his dimples.

Bonnie was not amused by his antics.

 _It's like being in a horror film,_ she thought as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. Everything was dark and eerily quiet. All she could see on the second and third floors were rows of doors on either side of the hallway. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt the pulses of magic in the air. There were witches behind those doors, she could feel them. She could feel them better than the witches on the first floor, that was for sure.

"The more dangerous inmates are kept locked inside the rooms," the man explained to them. "Alice is a special case, she has certain privileges…" he hesitated, unsure if he should be telling them such things. "When she behaves she's allows downstairs," he finished. "She's not violent with the other inmates."

"How can you keep a child lock in here?" Bonnie asked, feeling utterly sorry for the poor girl. "Maybe with some help, she could-"

"Don't let her appearance fool you, ma'am."

"What do you mean?"

The man stopped walking and turned to face her. "Alice is nearly a hundred years old. She is the oldest witch in here although she likes to keep a childlike appearance, it's how she fooled her victims back in the day."

"Victims?" Bonnie sputtered.

"An old hag indeed," Klaus mumbled under his breath.

"She murdered over fifty people back in the thirties, including ten children. She ate their hearts and used other body parts for her rituals."

Bonnie gasped, a horrified look on her face.

"She would have been burned for her crimes," the man continued calmly. "But she was the Regent's daughter, she didn't have the heart to kill her own child. That's why she was brought here."

Bonnie shuddered.

"What's your name?" Klaus asked him curiously.

"Frank," the man responded as he began walking once more.

"How long have you been running this place, Frank?"

"I don't run the place sir," Frank was quick to respond. "But I've been here for thirty years."

"You are part of the kindred, aren't you?" Bonnie asked him.

"Yes, ma'am."

They stopped right in front of the door that led to the attic.

"All the people who are locked in here have committed heinous crimes," Frank told them. He looked into Bonnie's eyes. "Don't feel pity for them. They are monsters who do not deserve your compassion." He stared into her eyes, ensuring that she could see the truth behind his words reflected in his brown eyes. "Despite what the other covens think or say about us, we do not persecute innocents. We are protecting our community and ensuring that those who are a threat are dealt with accordingly."

"Of course, you are." Klaus studied the man's face, trying to decipher a lie in his words.

"My name was put on your list," Bonnie recalled suddenly. Lenore had told her that Marguerite and Kara had given her name to the Kindred in an attempt to have them persecute her and lock her here. The Regent had intervened and ordered them not to persecute her but she couldn't help but wonder what the kindred thought of her.

Frank smiled. "Bonnie Bennett, yes. Your name was brought to us by two of the elders." His brown eyes glinted as he contemplated her face. "While you would have been a coveted trophy for some of the other Kindred members, we were forbidden from going after you It makes sense, I suppose."

"The Regent is a powerful ally," Bonnie admitted. She certainly felt grateful that Josephine stopped the kindred from coming after her.

"The Regent?" Frank chuckled. "We could care less about that old weak fool," he spat with surprising viciousness in his voice. "Although we have hope that Vincent will be more decisive and that our coven's relationship with the ruling power in the city improves once he takes the reins," he admitted in a much softer voice.

Bonnie and Klaus frowned.

"If you didn't come after me because of the Regent, then why-" Bonnie didn't have a chance to finish as Frank knocked twice before opening the door and motioning them to go inside.

"Don't keep her waiting," he told them and began making his way down the stairs.

"Frank!" Bonnie yelled after him. "Who forbid you from coming after me?" she wondered out loud. "If the Regent of the nine covens couldn't stop you, then who did?"

Frank gave her a curious look, his eyes moving from her puzzled face to the necklace that hung around her neck, the one she always wore, the one that shone as bright as the sun. "Don't you know?" he sounded surprised by her ignorance.

"If she did, she wouldn't be asking," Klaus snapped, feeling irritated with the man.

Frank ignored him and continued to stare at Bonnie. "You should look into the symbol around your neck," he suggested. "You of all people should know," he muttered, his dark eyes pinning her on the spot. "Your majesty," he bowed his head in her direction and proceeded to continue walking down the stairs, leaving a very confused Bonnie behind.

"Bastard," Klaus muttered angrily. To him, the bow had been a mocking gesture. He glanced at Bonnie but she seemed lost in thought. He noticed that her hand had closed around her necklace. "Sweetheart?"

Bonnie did not respond, there was a _knowing_ feeling in the pit of her stomach. Deep down, she had an idea as to who had protected her from the kindred.

* * *

Marguerite gasped as the bag covering her head was pulled off. She was tied to a chair, locked inside a room without any windows or furniture; a single light bulb hanging above her head. There was a bitter taste in her mouth and she had to bow her head to avoid the harsh light harming her eyes as she adjusted to her new surroundings. The attack on her house had been fast and confusing and she had no idea where she was or how long ago it had happened. She remembered seeing Lenore and Vincent as well as Klaus's brother and attacking them before being knocked unconscious.

When she lifted her face, she was confronted by two figures. Her stomach sank, and her magic flared more than ready to escape. Her power however, was easily suppressed by the chains around her legs and arms. They were blocking her magic and preventing her from escaping. She glared at both men. "Why am I here?"

"You have conspired against the Regent on multiple occasions and you allied yourself with an Original vampire," Vincent told her.

"I have committed no crimes," Marguerite defended herself.

"Last time I checked, conspiring against your leader is a crime," Elijah muttered darkly.

Marguerite glared at him. She hated the air of superiority surrounding him. The bastard thought himself better than everyone else.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Elijah threatened her. "The choice is yours."

"Go to hell," Marguerite spat.

Elijah and Vincent shared a look.

"We want the names of the witches that supported you and planned to help you and Mikael," Elijah told her.

"I'm not giving you anything," Marguerite hissed. "You have no right to do this to me," she looked at Vincent. "How can you work with that vermin?" she questioned him. "How can you sink so low as to work with that creature and his family? You are spitting on everything we stand for."

"You are going to give us the names of those helping you, then you will be judged by the Regent of the witches for your crimes," Vincent said in a solemn voice. "We knew you conspired against Josephine before, she chose not to act against you as an act of good faith. She gave you and Kara a second chance and you threw it all away." He walked around Marguerite's chair.

"You can't hurt me, you can't do anything to me," Marguerite insisted. "I should be judged by a tribunal of elder witches, it is my right as an elder." She looked warily at Elijah who watched her quietly while her body tensed as she felt Vincent's powerful presence behind her. "I demand an audience with the Regent, you cannot-"

"The Regent is indisposed," Vincent said from behind her. "I am the acting Regent now, therefore I will be the one judging you."

Marguerite felt her stomach drop at the coldness in his voice.

"Josephine showed you mercy and you still chose to betray her and attempt to break the alliance holding the peace in this city," Vincent told her as loomed over her back. "If you won't give me the names of the witches helping you and Mikael, then I shall take them from you." He placed his hands on her head and began chanting in French.

Marguerite screamed.

* * *

 **Fauline Cottage**

Klaus went in first, followed closely by Bonnie who couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. The first thing she saw was a long table filled with herbs, potions, and a simmering cauldron.

Freya was sitting calmly on a small bed on the opposite side of the room.

 _She has Rebekah's and Esther's eyes,_ Bonnie thought as she looked at the young woman. She was beautiful just like her mother and sister, with the same long blonde hair and delicate features but there was an air of melancholia surrounding her and power, incredible power.

"Where is he?" Klaus demanded to know as soon as he laid eyes on her. "Where is Mikael?"

Freya stood up. "He's safe," she replied with a small smirk. "Far away from here." Her eyes moved from Klaus towards Bonnie, looking her up and down. "You must be Bonnie." She looked curiously between the couple, sensing the strong connection between them. "You are bonded," she realized feeling momentarily surprised.

Bonnie nodded.

Both witches took their time studying each other, and marveling at the strong magic bouncing off their bodies; almost clashing in midair.

Bonnie frowned feeling a slight tickling sensation in her head. Her eyes narrowed, and her magic surfaced more strongly than before. "You're wasting your time," she snapped at Freya. "You can't read my mind."

Rather than being disappointed at her failure to read her mind, Freya actually looked pleased. "Good," she murmured.

"Why are you protecting him?" Klaus brought Freya's attention back to him. "Why was he here?"

Freya gave him an obvious look. "He's my father," she responded calmly. "I wanted to see him and talk to him."

"How sweet," Klaus mocked her.

"I wasn't aware that I needed your permission to speak to _my father_."

"He's my enemy," Klaus stated. "And so are you if you keep protecting him."

"Klaus," Bonnie gave him a warning look. They had not come here to fight with Freya but get answers from her. As disappointed as she felt that Mikael was gone, she genuinely wanted to get to know Freya and learn more about Dahlia.

Freya's jaw clenched. "I am aware of the war between you and father, of the centuries he spent chasing but-"

"You know nothing!" Klaus cut her off and took a menacing step forward.

"He hates you for being his bastard son," Freya remarked. "He wants to kill you and our siblings because he considers you monsters but I have spoken with him, I will ensure this feud ends. You have my word."

Klaus laughed.

"Mikael threatened to kill our children," Bonnie informed Freya. "He would have done so if given the chance, as long as he is out there, he is a threat to the people I love the most in this world." She looked into Freya's eyes, hoping that she would get the message. "I cannot allow someone like him to roam free."

"You have no reason to worry any longer," Freya told them quietly. "He won't harm you or your children."

"You might be stupid enough to believe that but I'm not," the hybrid hissed.

"He can help us against Dahlia."

"You're an idiot."

Freya's magic flared at the insult. The attic seemed to shake for a couple of seconds, the mixture on the cauldron spilling over by the strong vibrations in the room.

Bonnie felt her skin prickle as Freya's magic spread all around them while Klaus stood his ground, neither of them were intimidated but they both knew they needed to tread carefully. Bonnie moved closer to him and took his hand, trying to ease some of the anger rolling over his body.

"Mikael is not the enemy, Niklaus." Freya took a step closer to them. "Dahlia is the true enemy, and he can help us defeat her."

"You might need him to help you kill Dahlia, if that is really your objective," Klaus told her. "We don't." His eyes bored into hers. "When I see him, I will kill him, and I will kill you if you get in my way."

Freya pressed her lips together and glared at him. "You think you can hurt me?" she chuckled at the thought. "You have no idea what I am capable of, brother. You do not want to make an enemy out of me," she warned.

"You should not make an enemy of us," Klaus countered with equal menace. "You need us more than we need you," he stated with a malevolent grin on his face.

Freya's hands balled into fists and her magic pulsed furiously once more.

"I have an army of vampires and werewolves, and hybrids," Klaus declared proudly. "A coven of extremely powerful witches, the most magnificent of them standing right beside me."

Bonnie felt herself blush by that comment.

"What do you have, Freya?" Klaus questioned with a sardonic grin. "An original vampire who will be dust before your eyes once I'm done with him." He laughed. "You have nothing."

Klaus was hurting Freya with his words, she could sense it. Even if Freya's was putting a brave mask, Bonnie could feel how much Klaus's words got to her by the way her magic pulsed and hissed dangerously before them. She was seconds away from attacking and that wasn't going to be good. Bonnie had to do something before things escalated.

"I could destroy you and your army if I wanted to," Freya hissed. "With a snap of my finger, they would all be dust."

"I will like to see you try," Klaus snarled.

The two of them moved forward and met face to face, both of them equally ready to unleash all their power on each other, until there was only one of them left standing.

"That's enough!" Bonnie used her magic to push both of them away from each other before they could attack.

Klaus gave her an annoyed look while Freya was startled by the strong currents of magic Bonnie had unleashed to push them away from one another. "I haven't come here to fight," Bonnie told Freya. "I came here to talk to you about Dahlia."

Freya and Klaus both opened their mouths to say something but Bonnie didn't give them the chance.

"I don't give a fuck about Mikael or where you are hiding him," Bonnie met her eyes unflinchingly. "No matter where he is, I will find him, and lock him inside a prison world and that is not up for negotiation. You can try and fight me to protect him but I promise you, he will end up locked up for good. It's what he deserves. I know he's your father, and I'm sorry but we don't need his help."

"Who the hell do you think you are to come and here and-"

"A mother who will stop at nothing to protect her children," Bonnie responded with her heart. "This isn't about you," she told Freya. "Or you," she looked at Klaus. "Or me," she turned back to Freya. "This is about my little girl…" her voice broke and she touched her heart because it hurt thinking of her baby girl and the danger she was in. "Her life is in danger and you have all the answers, you know the evil woman coming for her better than anyone. So, I am asking you to tell me what I need to know," Bonnie pleaded with Freya. "I will stop at nothing to protect Ingrid. From Esther, from Mikael, from Dahlia, even from you," she vowed. "I won't hesitate to burn the world if I have to and I won't go anywhere until I get the answers I need." Now it was her magic that shook the attic, it had cracks forming on the small window, and made Klaus's and Freya's skin tingle from the incredible power she was releasing. Klaus and Freya could spend the entire day boasting about their power and challenging each other all they wanted, Bonnie hadn't come here for that. "You are going to tell me everything you know about Dahlia and how exactly you plan to defeat her. And don't you dare lie to me because I will know," she told Freya, her tone leaving no room for argument.


	90. Chapter 90

**Fauline Cottage**

"I already spoke with Niklaus about Dahlia," Freya told Bonnie after a couple of minutes in tense silence. "I told him everything there is to know."

"Well, I have some questions." Bonnie had no intention of backing down. She stared into Freya's eyes, watching every single one of her reactions. She had a feeling that there was more, Freya knew far more than she was letting on.

"Such as?"

"Ingrid is a baby, why is Dahlia coming for her now?" Bonnie asked her. "She took you when you were a bit older."

"And it proved to be a fatal mistake," Freya stated. She glanced at Klaus, who looked more than happy to let Bonnie ask all the questions. "I was old enough to know, to understand, to fight back…" _or try to,_ she thought bitterly. "With Ingrid, she will have the chance to start from scratch, to mold her into whatever she wants without protest. She will be a puppet in her hands."

 _Never,_ Bonnie vowed and did her best to prevent her magic from reacting violently at the thought of Dahlia manipulating and raising her little girl. _Focus, remember the things you wanted to ask her._ "You told your siblings that Dahlia created a form of connective magic that allows her to draw from other witches, and she plans to use that to harvest Ingrid's magic," Bonnie continued. "Dahlia has used that to absorb the magic of many first-born witches, it's how she has amplified her power."

"Yes, that's right."

"Including your magic?" Bonnie challenged.

Freya's jaw clenched. She didn't like where Bonnie was going with all these questions. Then again, as a witch Bonnie saw and thought differently than Freya's vampire siblings did.

"Dahlia harvested your magic, didn't she?" Bonnie gave her a knowing look. "But unlike the other first-born witches, she didn't kill you." She walked closer, her eyes never leaving Freya's face. "On the contrary, she granted you immortality, or as close to true immortality as possible. It makes me wonder just what kind of connection the two of you have."

Freya stayed silent. Her face did not betray her emotions.

Klaus's eyes narrowed suspiciously in her direction.

"She must care for you," Bonnie noted. It was a statement meant to provoke and it had the desire effect.

"Care for me," Freya spat the words out with venom. "There was a time when I was foolish enough to believe she cared." Her lips twisted into a grimace. She had been such a stupid little girl then. "The only thing Dahlia cares about is power," she told them. "I was nothing more than a pawn." Freya forced herself to keep her mask of composure and to keep her magic in check. Dahlia could stir a hurricane of emotions in her that affected her power and that was never good. She could not afford to lose control of her magic. "Everything was fine as long as I kept my mouth shut and did everything she wanted. I couldn't question her. I couldn't have my own thoughts and desires. My life was not my own, it was all hers." Different emotions flickered across her eyes as the painful memories surfaced once more. "I was brought up to be a puppet, and she always held the strings in a tight grip."

Bonnie couldn't help but pity her. It must have been a horrible way to grow up. She felt determined not to let that happen to her little girl.

"Any other questions?" Freya snapped with irritation.

She clearly didn't want to be talking about Dahlia for it stirred many things inside her but Bonnie wasn't done. "Dahlia's obsession with first-born witches, when did it start? Why?"

"It started with her desire to be the most powerful witch, I suppose," Freya responded with a shrug. She moved closer to the long table and leaned against it. "Dahlia was innately powerful. All the witches of her bloodline were, or so she claimed." There was no way to prove or disprove Dahlia's statements in that regard. "Her mother died when she and Esther were very young but that only made her want to learn more. She cultivated that power as she grew. There was no one to guide her, to set the rules, or stop her when she went too far. Not to mention, that she was born in a time when the spirits didn't meddle in witches' affairs, at least not as they have done in recent times." She paused, thinking back to those few times when Dahlia had open up about her childhood and her dreams of achieving more power. "She was always pushing herself, always testing the limits of her power. She wanted to achieve more than was expected or thought possible. She did things that other witches hadn't even began to dream of."

"Unlike mother, who started doing magic later in life." Klaus muttered. If it hadn't been for Ayana, their mother would have never been such a powerful force. Ayana had been the one to teach Esther practically everything.

"As a first-born witch, Dahlia had more power than Esther and took full advantage of it."

"Why are first-born witches so powerful?" Bonnie asked her.

"Why are some witches more powerful than others?" Freya countered. "There is no way to know for sure. To learn why or how. Witches are different from each other, their power levels are different, their techniques, even their beliefs. No witch is ever alike, not even those from the same family." She took a moment to think back on what she had learned from Dahlia. "I remember Dahlia saying something about power increasing with time, growing and evolving generation after generation. A first-generation witch is not on the same level as someone who is a fourth or a tenth generation."

"The same way a hundred-year-old vampire could never stand a chance against a one-thousand-year-old vampire," Klaus remarked.

"Exactly."

"Why didn't Dahlia have children of her own?" Bonnie asked suddenly. "If she is so obsessed with first-born witches, why didn't she have children to continue her line?"

"It seems rather odd that she didn't exploit that opportunity," Klaus agreed with her. He turned to Freya, "you told us she wanted to create a coven of first-born witches, her children and grandchildren could have easily done that for her."

"I think she's barren," Freya replied. She touched her face absently. "I brought it up once," she murmured as she touched her chin. There was a tiny scar under her chin, unseen but never forgotten. She knew exactly where it was and could still recall the pain upon receiving it. She shuddered. It was something she did not wish to remember. "I was punished for my impertinence." Her voice was devoid of any emotion but her eyes told a different story.

Klaus definitely knew that look. It took one wounded creature to recognize another after all. He didn't know how to feel about that. He didn't want to sympathize with Freya but he couldn't help but wonder what kind of punishment Dahlia had handed out. _It couldn't have been as bad as Mikael's punishments_ , he thought. "What about you?" he questioned.

Freya frowned. "What about me?" she asked. Her throat felt suddenly dry. She had an inkling as to where this conversation was heading and she didn't like it one bit.

"You're human," Klaus pointed out the obvious. "You're Esther's first born daughter. When we were turned into vampires Dahlia lost her chance to obtain a Mikaelson first born from any of us. I'm surprised that she didn't try to make you procreate to fulfill her dream and the bargain she made with mother."

It took every bit of self-control she possessed not to react violently at the insinuation. Freya shivered and looked away, she felt really cold. So, so cold. She always felt cold when she thought of that, cold and sick for what she had done. _It wasn't your fault, you didn't know._ She swallowed thickly, and her right hand unconsciously moved to rest over her flat stomach. "She tried and she failed," she said with a slight tremor. _Don't look at them, don't let them see your pain. You can't afford to be weak, not now._

There was more to that story, Klaus could feel it. The fact that Freya refused to meet his eyes definitely arose his suspicions.

"Do you have any other questions?" Freya snapped in Bonnie's direction.

Bonnie contemplated her with something akin to pity, for a slight moment-a brief second, she had seen so much pain in Freya's eyes. She had looked away and the pain had been replaced by annoyance by the time she faced them once more. "How did you finally escape Dahlia?"

"When I was little, I was convinced father and _mother,_ " she added with bitterness. "Would come for me, and save me from Dahlia but they never did." Freya pulled away from the table. "All my attempts to escape failed and each time, I was _punished,_ quite severely…" the last part was said in a painful whisper.

Bonnie felt her throat constrict. Freya was trying really hard to keep her mask of composure in place but she saw the cracks. Freya had suffered a great deal because of Dahlia.

"With time, I lost hope and decided to make the best of my situation," Freya continued. "But in Dahlia's eyes I was never up to her standards, I was always _too weak_ …"

Something flickered across Klaus's eyes as he heard that, Freya's words struck a chord. Mikael had called him out on his weakness when he was a child, hurtful words that had often been followed by blows. _Perhaps the two of you are not so different after all,_ his mind supplied. The first burst of sympathy towards his sister swelled inside him and he didn't like it.

"It took a long time," Freya continued. "Centuries, but I finally found away to escape her grip. I won't bother you with the details. They're not pretty."

"You have been working on a plan to stop Dahlia, a potion." Or so Klaus had told Bonnie. "What ingredients do you plan on using? Why is our daughter's blood necessary?"

Freya took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead. She was tired, this conversation was stirring too many hidden things and she hated it. "Because of how powerful Dahlia is, she can heal from any wound, she can withstand fire, a bullet-"

"What if I rip her head off?" Klaus suggested with a wicked grin.

"She'll tear you apart before you can even touch her."

"I'm fast."

"I can assure you, she'll be faster."

Klaus didn't look happy to hear that.

"So, you created this potion instead," Bonnie waited for Freya to elaborate, when she didn't, she continued with her questions. "What other ingredients are you using?"

"I'm using soil from Dahlia's homeland, snake skin, scorpion venom, poisonous roots among other lesser herbs and flowers, all of them lethal obviously."

"A potent concoction," Bonnie conceded. Although they wouldn't know just how lethal it would be unless they tested it on Dahlia herself. "Why is Ingrid's blood necessary?"

"Blood magic is the strongest magic there is," Freya told her. "Your daughter's blood is unique. She's part witch, vampire, and werewolf. No one has ever had that kind of genetics before, that much power in their blood…" she stopped and turned to Klaus. "Well, except you." She went quiet as she thought of something. "Perhaps I could use your blood instead," she murmured.

Bonnie and Klaus exchanged looks.

"Look, I know you have no reason to trust me," Freya said as she looked back and forth between them. "But we want the same thing. Dahlia is our enemy and we need to destroy her, the sooner the better, because believe me when I tell you that she is unlike any other foe you have faced before. she won't be defeated by traditional means." She met Bonnie's eyes. "You can't stab her, or desiccate her, or even decapitate her. You rip her heart out, it will grow back. Trust me, you are not the first or the last person that has tried to kill her. I have seen many vampires, hunters, and even powerful witches fall dead at her feet."

"Your potion idea sounds good," Bonnie admitted. "It's a good start but I won't hand out my daughter's blood to you or anyone." Freya looked ready to protest but Bonnie didn't give her the chance. "As you said, her blood is unique and while I believe that you want to destroy Dahlia, I don't feel comfortable giving you my child's blood."

"Fair enough," Freya muttered before looking at Klaus. "Your blood then?"

Klaus thought about it for a minute. "Only if Bonnie helps you make the potion." He would gladly take the risk than allow Freya get Ingrid's blood.

Freya felt hurt that he didn't trust her but then again, could she really blame him? She gave him a curious look, wondering if he was testing her. _Very well,_ Freya thought. She didn't have much of a choice in the matter, she needed that blood for her potion to work. Her eyes glinted and her lips curved as she stared at Bonnie. There was a clear challenge in her gaze. "I don't have a problem with you _assisting me_ to brew the potion, as long as you can keep up, of course."

"Don't worry, I'll keep up." A small smile graced Bonnie's lips as an idea occurred to her. "I'll even bring a few family members to ensure your potion skills are up to our standards."

Freya glared at her.

Klaus chuckled and gave Bonnie a proud look.

"There is one more thing we need to discuss," Bonnie said in a very serious voice.

"Father," Freya whispered.

The three of them knew that coming to an agreement in regards to Mikael was going to be far more difficult.

* * *

 **The compound**

Matt smiled as he read Caroline's email and saw the pictures she sent him. His friend was having the time of her life in Europe and it showed in the words she wrote and the lovely pictures she sent him. Caroline was happy and he felt glad to see it.

"Looks like she's having fun," Rebekah murmured close to his ear.

Matt jumped and nearly dropped his laptop on the floor. "Jeez, Bekah you scared the crap out of me." He looked over his shoulder and found his girlfriend resting her elbows on the back of the couch and smirking at him.

"The perks of being a vampire, darling. We sneak on people with ease."

Matt laughed, his heart rate returning to normal.

"My, don't they look cozy," Rebekah noted as she walked around the couch and took a seat next to him. "She's probably planning a June wedding."

Matt frowned and stared at the pictures Caroline had sent him. The two vampires were standing in front of a church, and Stefan did have his arm around a beaming Caroline. _But that didn't mean anything did it?_

"Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore," Rebekah pronounced the name in perfect Italian.

"You've been there?"

"I was there when Brunelleschi was working on the dome," Rebekah made a face. "Nik considered the man a genius. He spent quite a lot of time with the founding fathers of the Renaissance, learned a thing or two from them too or so he claims. Frankly, I never saw any improvement in his art."

"That's amazing!"

"Not really," Rebekah grumbled. "I love art but I'm not as obsessed with it as Nik is. I got bored after a while."

Matt smiled. "I've never been to Italy."

"Would you like to go?"

"It looks nice."

Rebekah rested her head on his shoulder. "When all of this is over, I'll give you your own private tour of Italy," she promised. "Not just the typical tourist places that everybody knows, but the real Italy."

Matt smiled and kissed the top of her head. _When all of this is over,_ he thought as Rebekah snuggled against him. He hoped that one day, it would be over and they would know peace. Maybe after defeating Dahlia they could all breathe and enjoy themselves. _But how can you defeat someone who hasn't even made her presence known?_

* * *

 **French Quarter**

"I can't believe you agreed to that," Klaus muttered as he and Bonnie made their way back home. He had been happy to let Bonnie negotiate with Freya until she had decided to allow Mikael to live for another day.

"Freya believes she can keep Mikael in line," Bonnie responded.

"She's a fool."

Bonnie glanced at his face but refrained from making a comment. As she walked, she couldn't help but replay the past couple of hours. Entering inside the Kindred's domain and speaking with Freya had been interesting to say the least. There was a lot on her mind, the strange encounter with Frank, the deal she and Freya made, and the looming threat of Dahlia hanging over their heads. "We made some progress," she said at last. "I'm convinced Freya wants to kill Dahlia." She stopped walking and regarded Klaus with curiosity. "Are you still suspicious of her?"

"Maybe," Klaus mumbled and looked around the tourist packed streets. The sun had gone down, the streets were illuminated, and the laughter of the people walking past them reached his ears as did their conversations. Delicious smells, music, and the subtle currents of magic lingered in the air around them as well. The French Quarter came alive at night.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side, studying his face. "You sympathized with her."

A small smirk formed on his lips. "I can't keep anything from you, can't I?" he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her body against his. She had felt his emotions through their bond, she was aware of the conflicted feelings he felt in regards to his sister.

"You should know that by now." Bonnie gasped and gripped his shoulders when he suddenly flashed them to a nearby alley. "What are you doing?" she asked feeling the hard and cold surface of a wall pressing against her back. She knew that look, she had seen it countless of times before. It had an effect on her.

"I just realized, I haven't kissed you today."

Bonnie arched an eyebrow, feeling a slight tremor roll over her body when he caged her between the wall and his hard chest. The alley was dark and empty and Klaus's eyes gleamed like gold while a low rumble resonated from his chest as he rested his hands on either side of her. Yep, she was definitely trapped and she didn't mind it one bit. "How discourteous of you," she whispered feeling the temperature in her body increase with each passing second. There were even butterflies taking flight in her stomach and goosebumps forming on her arms and they had nothing to do with the chill in the air.

"I should make it up to you," Klaus murmured as his fingers traced her chin and lips. His voice was like pure silk and the way he was staring at her had the power of a thousand racing horses.

"You should," Bonnie met his eyes and moved her hands from his shoulders and up to his neck, circling her arms around him.

Klaus lowered his head and kissed her soundly on the lips.

Bonnie moaned and kissed him back. His lips were positively sinful. _How could I have ever lived without his kisses?_ She wondered as she lost herself in the heat of his body, in the desperation of his mouth, and the delicious feelings echoing through their bond.

 _Love_

 _Lust_

 _Hunger_

He pulled his hands away from the wall and rested them on her hips, in a possessive touch that burned through her clothes. When his tongue probed her lips, she didn't hesitate and opened up to him, clinging to him with a desperation she had not felt in a while. Things had changed since the birth of the twins, not her love for him that would never change, but the physical aspect of their relation had taken a back seat to the new world of parenting. Bonnie certainly hadn't felt comfortable in her own skin, not with the weight that still remained and the breasts filled with milk that had become the source of nourishment for their children. She hadn't felt this unbidden desire in weeks, but as Klaus pressed her against the wall and devoured her mouth with his kisses, she felt it pulsing in every fiber of her being. She felt it in the burning of her blood and the thrill running down her spine. The passion that had risen between them was like a match sparking a flame.

Klaus lifted her up effortlessly. Bonnie gasped against his lips and immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling his clear excitement brushing against her. She rubbed her pelvis gently against the bulge between her legs causing him to groan and break the kiss.

Bonnie took the time to catch her breath, her nails sinking into his shoulders as he began kissing her neck, nibbling her skin gently before sucking on her pulse point. She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the times his fangs had pierced her skin. _When was the last time he drank her blood?_ _When was the last time she tasted his blood?_ The imagery was so powerful she shuddered and bit her lip, drawing a thin pearl of blood.

The moment he smelled her powerful blood, Klaus growled, and sought her mouth again, licking the small drop with his tongue before giving her a bruising kiss. He slammed her body harder against the wall, thrusting his hips against hers. He was more than ready to rip their jeans off and claim her right there.

There was something very exciting about making out with Klaus in a dark alley, in the middle of the French Quarter. They were hidden by the darkness but people were walking down the street just a few feet from them. She could hear them, she could sense them, chattering about this and that, if any of them stopped to look, if any of them were a supernatural-

The spell took effect with ease, sealing the alley with her magic, and ensuring they would not be disturbed by any human or supernatural. They were inside their own little bubble.

Bonnie's hands moved down his body, desperately tugging at his shirt, she needed to feel his skin against her fingertips, she needed to kiss and touch that pale flesh that she knew like the palm of her hand. Klaus's own hands began pulling her cardigan off, his mouth leaving a trail of heat down her neck, and chest.

His cell phone rang and broke the spell.

"You got to be fucking kidding me," Klaus growled, his hybrid eyes shinning in the darkness.

Bonnie made a sound of protest and grabbed his face with both of her hands. "Don't answer it," she ordered as she pulled him for another kiss. But just as they began to lose themselves once more, the blasted thing sounded off again.

Klaus tried to pull away from her lips but Bonnie bit his lower lip, holding it hostage with her teeth, until she pierced it. He snapped his hips against her in warning. Bonnie moaned and proceeded to suck the blood from the tiny wound before his healing abilities sealed it close.

The ringing didn't stop, however.

"Answer the call before I set it in flames," Bonnie grunted.

Klaus finally pulled the infernal thing (still ringing) out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. "Elijah," he muttered as he took the call. "This better be good, brother." _Or I'll dagger you for interrupting the moment,_ was left unsaid.

"Marguerite Lescheres has been taken care of," Elijah said in a nonchalant voice. "She has been shunned from the witch community and so have the few witches that had joined her cause. They were far less than we expected."

"Vincent left them go with a slap on the wrist."

"Hardly," Elijah responded. "He took a page from Bonnie's book and took their magic away. This will serve as a lesson to all the witches that try to undermine the Regent's power from here on."

"Who knew he had it in him," Klaus mumbled.

"How was your meeting with Freya?" Elijah asked him. "Was father there? Where are you? I'm on my way home right now."

"So, are we." Klaus lowered Bonnie gently to the ground. "We can discuss everything there."

"Alright."

"We'll see you there." Klaus hung up and stared into her eyes, wishing more than anything to finish what they had started.

"Later," Bonnie whispered and got on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the lips. Klaus wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. They could steal a couple more minutes and indulge in a few more kisses. Bonnie smiled against his lips, reading his thoughts. She definitely approved.

* * *

Josephine woke up with a gasp, a cold sweat covering her body.

"It's okay," Vincent was at her side immediately and so was her trusted maid. They both watched her with concern in their eyes.

Josephine's vibrant eyes were glassy, lost in some terrifying image that had woken her from a deep slumber. Her entire body was rocked by tremors and her heart pounded loudly against her delicate chest.

"Have some water, Madame." Her maid pressed a glass to her lips.

Josephine drank the liquid with greed, enjoying the cool sensation going down her throat. She was burning and the cold water offered her some momentary relief.

The lamp by her bedside table was on. The windows had been thrown open; the white curtains moving with the strong wind. It took her a while before the fear passed and she began to feel like herself again.

Vincent sat on the bed, grasping her shaky hand in his. "It was just a dream," he told her in a whisper. His voice was soft and reassuring, almost as if he were talking to a frightened child.

"No…" Josephine croaked as she pushed the glass aside. Her throat was sore, even talking hurt. "It was more than that…" she managed to say.

Vincent and the maid exchanged worried looks. Josephine had been very ill for the past couple of days. She had been in bed, suffering from terrible fevers and plagued by constant dreams of death and doom. Some nights were better than others but they both took turns watching over her, tending to her needs, and sometimes even using their magic to ease away her pain. Tonight, they had both stayed with her, sensing her distress. They were the only two people whom Josephine trusted in the world. The closest thing to a family, she had.

"It's over now, Madame."

Josephine ignored her maid and focused on Vincent instead. Her beautiful eyes which were always filled with wisdom were extremely sad. She had lost a lot of weight as of late, she had bags under her eyes, and her face was always twisted in anguish. Even her magic felt weaker than before.

Vincent swallowed the lump in his throat. He hated how frail she looked. He hated the thought of losing her. _I'm not ready, I'm not worthy_.

"Yes, you are."

He looked up, wondering if his thoughts were so easy to read on his face. Then again, she of all people knew his fears, his doubts at the daunting responsibility that would soon rest upon his shoulders. _I don't want to lose you, not yet._

"Now more than ever, you must be ready." There was a sad smile smile on her face as she contemplated him. "It has begun…" she whispered.

Josephine could convey so much with a simple look and a handful of words. Vincent felt a chill go down his spine as he stared into her eyes. "What has begun?" he asked her, knowing that she wasn't talking about the beginning of his reign as the leader of the witches of New Orleans, no, she was referring to something else.

"The beginning of the end," Josephine responded. "It's here."

* * *

 **The compound**

"So, that's it?" Kol couldn't believe it. "We're going to let Freya protect father?"

"She sent him far away Kol, and all she asks is that we cease fire for the time being," Bonnie told him.

"How far away exactly?" Elijah questioned her.

"Norway," Bonnie responded.

"Are you sure?" This time it was Lucy asking.

"I did a locator spell and he is in fact there." Bonnie couldn't help but be impressed by Freya's power.

"Freya sent him on a special mission to get some stuff that could be useful against Dahlia, or so she claims." Klaus didn't fully believe her, what Freya wanted was to spend time with her beloved father and save him from rotting.

"I will lock him up in a prison world," Bonnie promised them. "I made it perfectly clear to Freya too. I'm not going to take any chances with Mikael but considering he is an ocean away, I'm willing to hold off from hunting him down for now." She had more important matters to attend to at the moment.

"As long Freya continues to cooperate with us," Rebekah smartly deduced.

Bonnie nodded. "She agreed that we can make the potion together. I'm going to ask Aunt Vivian and Lenore to help us."

"I'll help you too," Lucy volunteered.

"I'm also been thinking of putting Dahlia in a prison world, in case the potion we make with Freya doesn't work," Bonnie shared her idea with them. "Her idea is great but until we give it to Dahlia we won't truly know if it works and I would rather have two or even three different plans in case one fails."

"I second that," Elijah said.

"So, you trust Freya now?" Finn asked and looked into Bonnie's eyes. He had been quietly listening to their conversation but felt genuinely curious about Bonnie's thoughts in regard to his sister. If there was anyone that could make his siblings see Freya in a new light, it was her. If Bonnie accepted Freya, so would Niklaus and the others.

"I think she is telling the truth when she says she wants to destroy Dahlia," Bonnie said to him. She had not found any deceit in Freya's words. "She has suffered a lot." She gave a glance in Klaus's direction, knowing that he had not been indifferent to Freya's pain. He hadn't wished to talk about it but Bonnie knew that Klaus could see some resemblance between them. Just like he had suffered at Mikael's hands, so had Freya with Dahlia. "We have a common enemy and we are going to work together to defeat her."

Kol smirked at Bonnie's polite way of saying, _no I don't trust her yet, but I'm willing to work with her._

Finn nodded. It wasn't the answer he was looking for but it was better than nothing.

A sudden wave of fear nearly jolted Bonnie from her seat. She turned her head and stared at Klaus, wondering why he was so afraid. Klaus in turn, offered her a puzzled look.

 _Why are you afraid?_ his thoughts echoed inside her mind with ease.

 _I thought it was you,_ Bonnie responded.

"Is something wrong?" Matt- who witnessed the exchange between the two- asked. In the months he had been living with them, he had come to notice that Klaus and Bonnie could sometimes go quiet and have entire conversations with their eyes. He supposed it was the bond between them. "Bonnie?" he asked his friend, seeing how worried she seemed all of the sudden.

Everyone turned to the couple, wondering what was going on.

"Nothing…" Klaus mumbled feeling unsure by the whole thing. _Where had that spike of fear had come from?_

Another pulse of fear had Bonnie standing up. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"Bonnie?" Lucy followed her lead and stood up as well, sharing a worried look with Elijah who had not taken his eyes away from the couple.

Bonnie touched her heart, feeling a strange ache. She gasped. The cold realization had her entire body trembling. No sooner had she thought about her children when a sharp cry echoed around the house. A wail that pierced all of their hearts.

"Ingrid," Klaus muttered and sprung into action.

He and Bonnie ran out of the room.

* * *

 **Fauline cottage**

Freya sat on her bed, drinking a warm cup of tea. The conversation with Niklaus and Bonnie had exhausted her, it had brought forth a hoard of painful memories. Things she would rather forget. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, an open grimoire on her lap. She had sent a magical message to her father, instructing him on the things she needed to acquire, and informing him of the deal she and Bonnie had made. For now, he was safe. And as long as he didn't sought Bonnie and her children, he would be fine. Freya felt sure of that. With time, she would convince both sides to work together.

The door opened slowly and Freya's eyes snapped open, her senses immediately on the alert. "What are you doing here?" she asked as soon as she recognized her visitor.

Alice smiled and stepped inside the attic without any hesitation.

Freya's eyes were drawn to the colorful serpent slithering up her small arm. "Where did you get that?" she asked. The witches locked by the Kindred were not allowed pets, that she was sure of.

"A friend gave it to me," Alice responded with a smirk as she caressed her new pet, fingers tracing the red, black, and white banding without fear.

"The same friend who let you out of your room?"

Alice's eyes grew dark. "My cell, you mean." She walked closer, completely unperturbed by the creature coiling tightly around her arm. "You are not the only one who has made new friends."

"The kindred are not my friends," Freya snapped. She felt repulsed by the witch who masked herself as a child, who talked in that sickly-sweet voice, and pretended to be something she had never been, _an_ _innocent._

"Go back to your room, Alice." Freya was not in the mood to entertain her. Out of all the crazy witches locked inside the cottage, Alice was the one who always sought her out. She always wandered into the attic without care of the consequences. Freya had yet to discover which kindred witches were the ones helping her. The old and cunning witches locked in the Fauline house had learned to make alliances, to manipulate and use their captors to their advantage, the newer weaker minded at least. The ones who had been there the longest were immune to their tricks. It was the only way they could survive for so long in the hellish place. It was something Freya herself had done, manipulate the minds of the weakest members and use them to do her bidding. _We're not so different, you and I,_ Alice had told her the first time they met. There was something about that wicked witch that always had Freya on edge. "Go away," she ordered and got up from the bed.

"You look like you could use some company," Alice said in that childish voice of her.

"I don't need nor want your company," Freya snapped as she placed her cup on the table and glared at the witch. "You are not welcome here, none of you are." The attic was her domain, her little bubble, she was the one who decided who was worthy of visiting her sanctuary and none of the witches imprisoned inside the cottage were worthy in her eyes.

Alice tilted her head to the side, her eyes glinting, while a malicious smirk twisted her lips. "Are you lonely, Freya?"

Freya ignored her, counting to ten inside her mind and asking for patience. She did not want to lose her temper and kill that retched creature. _You would be doing the world a favor,_ the darker part of her mind whispered seductively. It would be so easy.

"Where you thinking about Mathias?"

The question had Freya's entire body going rigid. For a split second, her heart stopped beating, and the color drained from her face. She spun around, her eyes wide and fearful. "…what…" she managed to let out in a very small voice. _How the hell did that bitch knew his name?_

Alice's evil smirk widened. "He was such a handsome boy, wasn't he?" she walked closer. "And you loved him, oh so dearly."

Freya swallowed hard. "How do you know that name?"

"But he only used you, didn't he?"

There was a strange hissing sound on the floor but Freya was too preoccupied with Alice to paid any mind to it. "How do you know about Mathias?" she questioned. No one knew about him, no one except for _her._ Freya's entire body shook as fear began to take root inside her.

"How do you think?"

 _No, no, this couldn't be happening. Not here, not now._ Freya had been completely caught off guard. She who always had a plan, who had been careful to keep herself inside the Fauline cottage, hidden from all, and had been slowly making deliberate moves to destroy _her._ The tables could not have turned like this.

"You still have a lot to learn, my dear Freya."

She had heard those words before and although the face, the voice, the witch standing before her was completely different from _her,_ Freya knew. She raised her hand but it was too late. "Ahhh…" Freya cried out in pain when something bit her on the leg. She fell to her knees, feeling a strange burning sensation around the bite area. She touched the back of her leg and saw the snake slithering back to her mistress. _Stupid, you are so stupid_. She had lowered her guard, she had never seen the snake curling around her legs. She never saw the attack coming. And now, it was too late.

Alice picked the creature in her arms, cradling the vicious thing tenderly, as if it were a baby that needed protection. "Isn't she pretty?" she caressed the snake and smiled proudly. "I always wanted one," she said conversationally. "My mother often told me that only evil witches had snakes as pets but that is not true. Only powerful witches have them and can control them. I finally got one." She kissed the snake's head.

Freya squeezed her eyes shut, her body had gone into shock. The venom was spreading rapidly, paralyzing her arms and legs, it was also making her dizzy and nauseous. Breathing was difficult and a small trail of blood was already oozing down her nose. _It's going to kill me,_ she realized. She glared at the tiny witch who continued to grin like crazy.

 _How could you lower your guard and let this happen? How could you have been so careless?_

She had never considered Alice a threat to her, she had never been afraid of any of the witches inside the Fauline cottage. Freya had always believed she was smarter and far more powerful than they were. _That was your first mistake,_ a familiar voice hissed in her ear.

Breathing hurt now. She knew she only had a couple more minutes left to live. Freya's only consolation was that she would come back to life. Dying always sucked but at least she knew she wouldn't stay dead for good. She summoned every bit of strength she had left in her body and met Alice's eyes. "…I'm…going…kill you…" she rasped out. Her tongue began to feel numb. She fell down on the floor, her body paralyzed by the venom.

Alice laughed and placed the snake around her neck. "I'm only doing a favor for my friend," she told Freya.

Freya's eyes went wide, she let out a series of strange choking noises as the venom attacked her heart. Those last few moments were filled with pain, anguish, and anger. She felt angry with herself. She should have known.

Her heart stopped beating a few seconds later.

Freya laid on the floor dead, her eyes remained open.

Alice laughed maniacally. "I killed her," she whispered to her pet. The snake nuzzled her head against Alice's cheek, whispering to her inside her mind. "Yes, I know she will come back to life. But it's still funny." She continued to laugh as she exited the attic. She had to go back to her room before the change of guard.

* * *

 **The compound**

"What's wrong with her?" Rebekah asked fearfully.

"I don't know," Bonnie replied with an anguished look. Ingrid had been crying nonstop for the past couple of minutes and she didn't know how to calm her.

Rebekah bit her lip, feeling on the verge of tears herself. She hated seeing her niece is such distress.

"Are you sure she's not hungry?" Matt asked. He lingered near the door, feeling scared and helpless.

"I fed her shortly before you guys arrived. I changed her diaper too," Lucy told them. She had been watching over the twins throughout the afternoon and night and they had both been fine. "She seemed fine then, fell asleep without any fuss." She looked down at Henrik. He was awake but quiet, his curious green eyes looked around the room, squirming in her arms from time to time. He was perfectly fine.

"Fucking hell," Klaus cursed as he nearly crushed his phone. "Dr. Mayfair is not answering." He looked at Bonnie and Ingrid. Each of his daughter's cries were like a dagger to his heart. He had never felt so afraid and useless as he did in that moment.

"I'll try to get a hold of another doctor," Elijah suggested as he searched on his phone.

"Make sure it's a pediatrician," Lucy reminded him.

Finn and Kol stood close to the door, right next to Matt. They all watched nervously as Ingrid cried her heart out. They didn't know what to do or how to help.

"She might be sick," Finn offered.

"Or something hurts," Matt mumbled.

"It's not like she can tell us, she's a baby." Kol's eyes followed Bonnie as she paced around the room, doing her best to calm her daughter.

"It's okay, sweetie. You are okay," Bonnie whispered to her baby girl. She felt like crying too. It broke her heart to see her like that. "She's terrified," she told Klaus, her voice breaking as she tried to contain a sob. "I can feel her fear, I…" she kissed her baby's head and held her in her arms, hoping with all her heart that she could transmit Ingrid all the love she felt, all the adoration, and sense of protection she could. "Don't cry, my love. You're okay. You're safe." She continued to paced around the room, cradling her daughter gently, and attempting to sing a lullaby she remembered Grams used to sing to her.

Ingrid kept crying, her face was red, and fat tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

The lights inside the bedroom began flickering on and off, the glass on the windows began cracking, and tremors were felt all around them.

 _Oh no,_ Bonnie thought as she felt Ingrid's magic surfacing rather violently. She looked fearfully at Klaus.

"It's her, isn't it?" Klaus could feel the pulses of magic in the air and knew their daughter was the one responsible for it. Her fear was causing her magic to come alive.

Bonnie nodded.

There was a rumbling sound, followed by a quick shake.

"What was that?" Matt asked nervously. He could have sworn he felt the room sway from side to side for a few seconds.

The small crystal vase on top of Bonnie's vanity, shattered. The water and the red roses fell down to the floor.

"I think it's best if we leave the room," Rebekah suggested. "Our presence and voices could be making her more afraid. Come on." She began pushing Kol and Finn out.

"But-" Kol started to protest.

"Out!" Rebekah ordered them as she pushed Matt and Elijah out as well.

The men-with the exception of Klaus- had no choice but to reluctantly follow her commands.

Davina stood in the hallway, a worried look on her face. "Is she okay?"

"No," Kol whispered, coming to stand next to her. "She's afraid of something but we don't know what."

Davina bit her lip and watched as the door closed behind them, Ingrid's cries could still be heard.

For Bonnie, it was the most awful and excruciating minutes of her life. She died and came back as she rocked her little girl in her arms, doing her best to ease her fear. _You are safe,_ Bonnie repeated like a mantra. _You have nothing to fear, I'm here. I will protect you and so will your dad and your aunts and uncles._ She let her own magic out and reach out towards Ingrid's, gently calming the wild currents of power around the room, guiding them back into their mistress before they could cause more damage. Bonnie closed her eyes and surrounded herself and Ingrid inside a bubble of light and power, hoping that she could sense how protected she was.

Ingrid's cries became small whimpers and then she fell silent. Her tearful blue eyes watched her mother, her little fingers clutching her shirt tightly, while a small tremor engulfed her.

"That's it," Bonnie smiled as she began to feel Ingrid's fear dissipate. "You're safe, my sweet girl. You have nothing to fear. Mama is here. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

Klaus and Lucy watched them as well. Bonnie seemed to be glowing as her power intensified and cocooned Ingrid protectively. Klaus could read the silent message Bonnie was conveying to their daughter. _See, you have nothing to fear. I'm here. I will protect you, always._

Everything calmed down then. Not much time had passed since Ingrid started crying and they all scrambled to their feet, attempting to figure out what was wrong. It could have been less than ten minutes but for him and Bonnie, it had felt like a century. Once Ingrid calmed down, Klaus began to relax. As did Lucy, who shared a small relieved smile with him.

Bonnie opened her eyes and smiled down at Ingrid. "Everything is okay, my sweet girl." She wiped the tears away from her still somewhat red face and kissed the top of her head. "Don't be afraid."

Klaus moved closer and gently caressed Ingrid's cheek with his index finger. She was wide awake, alert, and calm. The relief he felt washing over him was incredible. He and Bonnie shared a small smile before looking down at their little girl. "What was that all about?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Bonnie had no idea why Ingrid had woken up crying and feeling terrified.

"You think something scared her?"

"Maybe." Although Bonnie couldn't see what. If something or someone had been in the room, Henrik would have felt it as well. But their son had been calm throughout Ingrid's outburst. He seemed content in Lucy's arms. Whatever had happen, Ingrid had been the only one affected by it.

"The bad woman."

Bonnie and Klaus turned to the doorway at the sound of that voice.

A barefooted Charlotte stood by the open door, a serious look on her face.

"The bad woman?" Lucy repeated as she took notice of the little girl.

"She's coming for Ingrid," Charlotte stated with a small whimper.

Bonnie felt her heart drop to her stomach and shared a worried look with Klaus. They didn't need to be geniuses to know who the bad woman was. There was only one bad woman who wanted Ingrid.

"Why do you say that?" Klaus questioned Charlotte.

"She's here," Charlotte said and then rushed into his arms. Klaus caught her and pulled her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder while small shudders invaded her body. "You won't let the bad woman take Ingrid away, won't you?" she asked, her tiny hands gripping his shirt with all her strength. "Please don't let the bad woman take her," Charlotte pleaded with him.

"Of course, not. No one is going to take Ingrid away, I promise you." Klaus wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, doing his best to reassure her.

"Does she mean…" Lucy clutched Henrik a bit tighter and turned to Bonnie, a fearful expression on her face.

Bonnie nodded.

Ingrid let out a whimper as another pulse of fear resonated from her to her parents. It wasn't as bad as before but it was enough to let Bonnie know. Ingrid had felt her arrival. She was so little, she had only one way of communicating her fear to them, through crying. She and Klaus shared worried looks. Their daughter was warning them. Dahlia was close. Dahlia was in New Orleans. It was the reason Ingrid was so upset. Their daughter knew the danger surrounding her, the evil coming for her.

Bonnie pulled her little girl closer and kissed her head once more. _I won't let her take you from me,_ she promised. _I will die before I let Dahlia get her hands on you._

* * *

Freya moaned as she opened her eyes. She felt drowsy and for a couple of seconds, she simply laid there on the cold floor, staring at the dark ceiling and trying to remember what had happened. Alice, the snake bite… she gasped and forced herself into a sitting position. There was a moment of dizziness, so she closed her eyes. The snake's venom had been lethal and her body was still adjusting. Returning to life could be quick or it could take a couple of minutes, depending on the manner of death.

Freya let out a big breath and opened her eyes, a frown crossing her features when she noticed she was in a different place. _What the hell?_ Cavernous walls surrounded her. _This isn't right_. She stood up at once and contemplated the three walls enclosing around her. She spun around to see a barely lit chamber in front of her. _Where am I? How the hell did I get here?_

 _This was Alice's doing,_ Freya deduced, that bitch had somehow transported her here. She then thought of the things Alice had said to her. Freya felt her heart sink. She looked down at the floor and saw the small white line of salt a couple of feet away from her. It was a barrier.

"Did you honestly think you could hide from me?"

The cold sensation down her spine upon hearing that voice, paralyzed Freya completely.

A white mist began surrounding the cave, a cold wind descended over her as well, and the air became thick with evil power.

Freya's eyes landed on the dark corner, there, hidden with the shadows was a figure.

Freya swallowed the knot in her throat and watched fearfully as the woman stepped forward.

"Dahlia…" Freya whimpered.

"Freya," Dahlia greeted with a malicious smirk. She was dressed in black from head to toe, her hands resting inside the pockets of her coat, while her dark long hair cascaded down her back. "It has been so long."

Freya let out a strange noise, a mix between a gasp and a sharp cry of fear. Over a century planning her demise and just being face to face again with her, was enough to render her speechless and make her feel like a helpless child. She hated the power Dahlia had over her.

"You really haven't learned a thing, have you?" Dahlia laughed as she looked her over. "I'm disappointed Freya. I gave you a head start and yet, here you are."

Freya was too scared to utter a word. All the confidence she had built had come crashing down in a single moment. _Speak up,_ her mind screamed. _Don't let her win so easily. You are better than this._

"How?" Freya croaked. She swallowed her fear and tried her best to project an aura of indifference. She needed a good poker face and she needed to find a way to escape.

Dahlia contemplated her with something akin to pity. "You of all people should know, I can go anywhere I please. There is no magic strong enough to keep me away, no power that can stop me from entering a home."

"How long?"

Dahlia smirked. "Quite a while." She shook her head. "You never sensed my presence, did you?" Her eyes gleamed with victory as she walked closer to the small white barrier of salt.

Freya pressed her lips together, hands clenching at her sides.

"You silly little goose," Dahlia chuckled. "You truly believed you escaped from me." She leaned closer and stared into Freya's scared eyes. "I have always known your whereabouts," she whispered maliciously. "I know every single one of your plans, I know everything you have been up to since I let you get away."

"No…" Freya refused to believe that everything had been a lie, that her greatest accomplishment was not her own but an allowance of the woman who had enslaved as a child.

"Has history taught you nothing?" Dahlia snapped. "I always win, one way or another."

It took every bit of strength she possessed not to crumble. From the very moment she escaped, Freya had been played. She had foolishly believed she was on top at last, and it all had been a lie. Dahlia had always been a step ahead of her.

"And so it begins," Dahlia hissed.


	91. Chapter 91

Bonnie stood on the balcony, her finger playing with her necklace. _Are you out there?_ She wondered as her eyes contemplated the city. It was another beautiful morning in the French Quarter and everyone was going about their business as usual, but somewhere out there was Dahlia. The evil woman that had scared her little girl, that had made her cry uncontrollably, and shake with terror.

 _She's here, she's coming for Ingrid._

 _What am I going to do?_

Bonnie had plenty of ideas, the problem was that the more she learned about Dahlia, the more omnipotent she seemed. Freya's potion idea was good, Bonnie's own idea of locking Dahlia in a prison world was even better but would that be enough? Why did she feel like she was stumbling on a precipice?

 _What if we fail?_

Her heart froze with terror. _I can't fail._ Bonnie was determined to give everything she had in her to keep her daughter safe. No matter how powerful Dahlia was, magic always had a loophole and Bonnie was going to find it, one way or another, she was going to find a way to stop her.

There was a soft knock on the door but Bonnie ignored it.

She couldn't stop thinking about Dahlia, about Ingrid's little body shaking in her arms as she cried her heart out. Her daughter was sleeping peacefully now but Bonnie would never forget the previous night. It had only been a few minutes, but the anguish Ingrid had endured would haunt her for all eternity. _Dahlia will pay for making you suffer,_ Bonnie vowed as she glanced at the crib where her twins were sleeping peacefully. _She will regret coming for you._

"Bonnie," Lucy's soft voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Bonnie turned around to face her cousin.

Lucy offered her a small smile and handed her a mug of coffee. "Mom is making breakfast, I didn't know if you wanted some but I figure coffee wouldn't hurt."

"Thanks," Bonnie murmured as she took the mug, drinking right away. The hot liquid slid down her throat and she closed her eyes in appreciation. It had the right amount of cream and sugar, just how she liked it.

Lucy glanced at the king size bed and the little girl sleeping soundly under the covers. Charlotte had spent the night with Klaus and Bonnie. She had been afraid of the bad woman coming for Ingrid but the two of them had reassured her that everything was going to be okay. Neither of them had the heart to carry her back to her room after she had fallen asleep between them. They both spent a tense night waiting for the worst.

"It took a while before she fell asleep," Bonnie told her after taking another sip of her coffee. "She kept talking about the bad woman taking Ingrid away."

Lucy nodded. She had seen how upset Charlotte had been last night, she hadn't been as terrified as Ingrid but Charlotte could no doubt sense that something bad was coming. _No, not coming, it's already here in the city._ "What are we going to do?" she asked Bonnie. She hadn't been able to sleep either. She had spent the night in Elijah's arms, feeling unsure and scared of the evil that had finally made her presence known.

"I knew she was coming," Bonnie said softly. "I knew it was only a matter of time but I still felt like we would have time to get everything together…to…" she had been stupid enough to believe that they would be prepared for Dahlia's arrival. They weren't.

"Do you think we still have time to make the potion?"

"I doubt it," Bonnie responded. "Finn and Rebekah left earlier this morning to get Freya but I want to have everything ready to lock Dahlia in a prison world instead." It was a safer bet than the potion they hadn't even started.

"Elijah called Aya, he thinks it would be good to have the Strix and their coven nearby in case we need reinforcements against Dahlia."

"Good," Bonnie murmured. "Klaus is with Ishmael and Marcel right now, organizing the vampires and the wolves. He wants to make sure everyone is patrolling the city. Aunt Vivian will be here soon too."

Lucy leaned her arms on the balcony rail and took in the breathtaking view. "You think she will come here?" The compound was one of the most guarded houses in all of New Orleans. It was protected by powerful magic, not to mention the people living inside. If Dahlia came for Ingrid, she was going to have to get through all of them first, and they were not going to go down without giving her one hell of a fight.

"Honestly, I don't know what to expect." She hadn't slept at all, waiting with Klaus to see if Dahlia would show up at their house. She hadn't. _It can only mean she's planning something,_ Bonnie thought. "Maybe Freya can give us more information."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Hey," Matt said as stepped inside the room. He glanced at the crib were the twins were sleeping before settling on Charlotte who was snoring softly. "Vincent is here," he informed Bonnie in a low voice, he didn't want to wake the kids. "And so is Madame LaRue."

Lucy frowned. "I thought she was sick." She looked at her cousin. The last they had heard of the Regent of the nine covens was that she was really sick and in bed.

"That's what Vincent said." Bonnie wondered what had happened with the witches in the city for the Regent and her successor to show up in their home so early.

"Klaus let them in," Matt told her. "They're in the study. She looks like she should be in bed. I don't know why Vincent brought her…" he paused. "I guess it's urgent." Giving the circumstances, he hoped no more witches were plotting something against their family. That was the last thing they all needed.

"I'll be right there." Bonnie turned to Lucy. "Would you stay with them?" she asked, trying her best to keep her voice calm. She was afraid to leave her children alone. She was on edge, not knowing what to expect from Dahlia and she wanted to make sure her kids would be protected at all times.

"Yes, of course."

"Thank you."

The two of them stepped back inside the bedroom and with a wave of her hand, Bonnie closed and locked the balcony doors, sealing them with a powerful spell. She and Lucy had strengthened the protective spells around the house the night before but one could never be too careful at times like this.

* * *

"My dear," Josephine greeted Bonnie with a small smile. Her voice sounded weak and raspy and Bonnie was startled by how much older she looked. Josephine had always been elegant, having aged gracefully, but there was none of that in her left.

"Good morning, Madame LaRue." Bonnie smiled in greeting and leaned down to kiss her cheek. Josephine had lost a lot of weight and the paleness of her skin was alarming. Bonnie felt her heart constrict upon realizing that Josephine was in a wheelchair. She was too weak to walk. "You shouldn't have come," she murmured. She could only imagine how hard it must have been for her to get out of bed. "I could have gone to see you-"

"Nonsense," Josephine dismissed her. "I may have one foot in the grave but I can be as stubborn as I was in my youth. I won't die just yet," she promised.

Vincent who stood behind her, looked away, trying to hide the pain he felt.

"We are glad to hear it," Elijah murmured as he exchanged looks with Klaus. As vampires they could smell the stench of death and decay surrounding her. She didn't have much long to live, that they both knew.

Bonnie contemplated the Regent with sadness. She looked so frail, even her beautiful eyes had lost their spark. Josephine was barely clinging to life but the dignified way she was carrying herself was admirable.

"I felt something last night," Josephine began in a grave voice, her eyes boring into Bonnie's. "Something evil."

Bonnie nodded and took a seat across from her. "My daughter felt it as well," she couldn't hide the pain in her voice. _My sweet Ingrid._

"It's coming for her," Josephine said with certainty. "Dahlia."

Bonnie looked up into Klaus's face, both of them feeling surprised that she knew the name.

"How do you know that?" Elijah was the one to ask.

"I know many things," Josephine kept her eyes on Bonnie as she spoke. "It is a gift and a curse."

Bonnie remembered the first time they met, when Josephine had been able to sense that she was carrying twins. She had said something similar to her then. Josephine had a strange gift of seeing and sensing things.

"What else do you know?" Klaus asked as he stood behind the leather chair Bonnie was sitting in.

Josephine looked into his eyes briefly before staring down at her hands which she kept firmly on her lap. "My feverish dreams are confusing…" she began before raising her face and staring at Bonnie once more. "Pieces of a puzzle they are…it's hard to make sense sometimes but I saw her. I sensed her great power too." She tentatively reached out to touch Bonnie. Her hand trembled and Bonnie noticed that her fingers were contorted. She couldn't really grasp Bonnie's hand so she simply rested her hand on top of Bonnie's.

Bonnie gasped at the contact, three quick images flashing inside her mind. Blood, a purple dahlia in full bloom, and a gold sharp dagger. "What was that?" she asked in a low whisper.

"Some of the things I've seen," Josephine responded.

Bonnie understood why it was hard to make sense of them.

"Dahlia is different from all other witches, different from all other enemies you have faced before. You must be prepared." There was a lot of pain, a lot of anguish on Josephine's delicate face as she contemplated Bonnie. "I wish I was stronger and younger to help you but alas..." she paused. "This will be the last time we will see each other."

Vincent's sharp intake of breath echoed around the room.

"I came to say goodbye," Josephine continued without looking away from Bonnie. "Would you allow this old woman to see those precious children before the sun sets on her life?" she asked gently.

"Yes," Bonnie felt like crying. She could feel it, the light, the strength, the power in Josephine was fading away. They hadn't known each other for that long but Bonnie respected her and admired her grace and wisdom.

Vincent stepped away, allowing Bonnie to push Josephine's wheelchair out of the study. She used her magic to lift the chair into the air and up the stairs, before wheeling her towards the master bedroom. Vincent, Elijah, and Klaus remained behind, somehow, they knew that it had to be a private moment between them. Even Lucy left the bedroom once they entered.

Bonnie parked the wheelchair right in front of the crib and picked her son in her arms. "This is Henrik," she said while placing him in Josephine's arms and helping her to hold him.

Josephine's eyes watered and she smiled down at the sleeping little boy. There was so much tenderness and wonder in her face as she contemplated Bonnie's son. "Blessed it be, young Henrik." She murmured something in French and kissed his forehead.

Bonnie took Henrik in her arms and placed him back in the crib before picking his sister. "This is Ingrid," she said before gently depositing the sleeping little girl in Josephine's delicate arms.

"Ingrid, what a lovely name." A single tear slid down Josephine's eye as she gazed down at the future queen of the Bennett line. She squirmed and made a face causing the Regent to laugh softly. She once again, murmured something in French and kissed her forehead. "Blessed it, Ingrid." She smiled as Bonnie placed Ingrid back on the crib. "They're beautiful." She felt a deep sense of relief and peace now that she had been able to see them and hold them in her arms. The miracle twins, that's how they were known in the city. Her eyes suddenly found the sleeping girl on the bed.

Bonnie followed her gaze and smiled lovingly. "Charlotte," she murmured.

"The little girl you and Klaus adopted," Josephine had heard about her from Vincent. Charlotte like Davina had been welcomed into the Mikaelson family with open arms.

"Yes."

"You have a beautiful family, Bonnie." Josephine offered her a radiant smile, one that illuminated her face and made her seem younger and healthier, for a brief moment at least. "You must find the strength to win for them," she advised. "Never give up, no matter what happens. No matter how lost you feel, find the courage and the strength necessary to win."

"What else have you seen, Josephine?" Bonnie asked in a trembling voice. "You know something. I know you do. That's why you came. Not just to say goodbye and warn me about Dahlia. There is more."

Josephine nodded.

Bonnie got down on her knees in front of the wheelchair and took Josephine's hands in hers. "Tell me," she pleaded. "Please."

Josephine looked at their joined hands, feeling the strong currents of magic bouncing off each other. Bonnie's power was undeniable, it was strong, and it burned like a flame while hers was a dying ember, barely even there. "The beginning of the end," she whispered with a slight shiver. She was always cold these days. "You must be strong, you must be brave, and above all, never forget _who you are._ " Her hand shook as she raised it to touch Bonnie's face. "Remember Bonnie."

"Remember what?" Bonnie asked, feeling confused by the cryptic message.

"By unlocking your past you will be able to write your future." Josephine leaned closer to her face. "Death is just the beginning," she whispered, her eyes shining with a strange emotion as she lowered her hand from Bonnie's face. "All witches dance with death but only one has conquered it," she traced Bonnie's necklace with the back of her hand. "Death is the beginning," she repeated.

"I don't understand," Bonnie murmured, frustration written all over her face.

Josephine gave her a knowing smile. "You will."

* * *

"Now what?" Rebekah asked her brother as the two of them stood in front of the gates. Even under the morning sun, the Fauline cottage looked gloomy and treacherous.

"Freya will sense that we are here." Finn kept his eyes on the house waiting for his sister's magic to teleport them inside.

"Do you think she knows Dahlia is in the city?"

"Perhaps," Finn turned away from the house and looked into Rebekah's eyes. "We have to help her, Rebekah. Dahlia is not only here for Ingrid, she's here for Freya as well." Finn knew that was the reason Freya had chosen the Fauline cottage.

"We will," Rebekah promised. She had a feeling that it was going to take all of them, working together to stop Dahlia. Elijah had always said it best, _Family is power_. Together they were stronger.

"She's not here," a male voice told them.

Finn and Rebekah turned to stare at the dark-skinned man that had appeared on the other side of the gate. "Ms. Freya is not here," he said.

Finn and Rebekah glanced worriedly at each other. "Where is she?" they both demanded to know at the same time.

"She was gone already when I came in this morning."

"Gone where?"

"What's your name?" Rebekah asked him.

"Frank," the man replied while studying the two of them curiously. "I will let her know you came to see her when she returns."

"Do you know where she went?" Rebekah questioned him.

"No."

"Can you let us in?" Finn asked him. "Let us wait for her inside."

Rebekah gave him a strange look. She did not want to be locked in there, she would rather wait for Freya at the gates.

"Your kind is not welcome here," Frank stated calmly.

Finn frowned at that.

Rebekah glared at him. "We were in there before."

"Because she summoned you," Frank remarked. "And the other vampire came in with the Bennett witch." He moved his eyes between the two of them. "The witches get antsy in the presence of vampires and I doubt our leader would allow you."

"Freya has made this her _home_ ," the word sounded strange to Finn's ears. "We are her family, surely you can make an exception."

Rebekah looked at him like he was crazy, her mind screaming that they should wait for Freya outside.

"I will tell Ms. Freya you came looking for her," Frank promised them. "Please leave." And with those words, he began walking back towards the house, leaving two very disturbed vampires behind.

"Rude," Rebekah muttered under her breath. "Where would she go?" she turned to Finn.

"She wouldn't just leave like that," Finn responded. "Something feels wrong about this." There was an anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach, and a nagging thought that made him angry and fearful at the same time. Freya had chosen the Fauline cottage for a reason, because she thought she would be safe there. She wouldn't leave unless she absolutely had to or if _someone took her_ …

 _No,_ Finn thought fearfully.

"You don't think…" Rebekah seemed to have come to the same conclusion as him.

As much as he hated it, "It's a strong possibility," Finn whispered. Memories of that cold day came to the surface of his mind. _No, not again,_ he pleaded. _Please no._ He had just gotten his sister back, he couldn't lose her again.

"But this place is practically impregnable," Rebekah snapped. "No one can juts waltz in and-"

"Bonnie did," Finn was quick to remind her. And if Bonnie was powerful enough to get inside the Fauline cottage with her magic, he felt absolutely certain Dahlia could do the same. "We're too late." His hands balled into fists as he thought of Dahlia taking his sister once more. "Dahlia took her."

"We can't be sure."

"I feel certain of it."

Rebekah's eyes went wide and she bit her lip nervously.

"We have to find her," Finn said. His eyes grew darker while veins formed beneath. "Dahlia will pay for all the harm she has caused our family," he snarled.

* * *

 **The Compound**

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Davina asked Kol as he dumped more grimoires on top of her bed.

"According to Freya, Dahlia is practically undefeatable so I was thinking we could find a way to neutralize her," Kol responded as he picked a heavy black tome and flipped it open. "Come on," he urged Davina and Matt. "We have a lot of research to do."

Davina and Matt exchanged looks before following his example and grabbing a grimoire each.

"Bonnie and her coven are going to work with Freya on the potion," Kol continued as he scanned the pages. "Or possibly put Dahlia in a prison world, but I was thinking we could make a weapon to neutralize her."

"Like the daggers that work against your family," Matt caught on quickly.

Davina's eyes lit up with excitement. "Kol, that's brilliant!" There was a proud look on her face as she stared at her boyfriend.

Kol smiled at her, feeling a warm feeling in his chest at the look she was giving him. "Don't get your hopes up, darling." He had to caution her. "In order for this idea to work, we need to find Dahlia's weakness."

The smile dropped from Davina's face. "Why?"

"The daggers work on us because of they are dipped in the ash of the white oak tree," Kol explained. "Mother used that tree to give us life, therefore it's the only thing that can take it away." He paused to see if they were following him. "I think Dahlia must have used something similar to make herself immortal." He had no proof, just a hunch, but Kol's instincts were rarely wrong specially when it came to magic.

"So, what you are saying is…that we need to find out what Dahlia used to become immortal?" Matt wondered if he was right in his assumption.

"That's my guess."

"True immortality is something that no witch has been able to accomplish," Davina told them.

"Which means, Dahlia must have a weakness," Kol said. "And if we can find that weakness, we can destroy her." Bonnie's idea of locking Dahlia in a prison world seemed like a safer bet but Kol didn't want to intrude in the work the Bennett witches were doing downstairs. He also didn't want to stand by and do nothing, so he figured he would put his knowledge of magic to work and try to come up with an alternative way to attack Dahlia. After all, the more options they had, the better and safer his niece would be.

"Maybe we could ask your sister for help?" Davina suggested.

"Finn and Rebekah went to get her," Matt informed her. "They should be back soon."

Kol wasn't particularly thrilled by the idea of having Freya in the house but with Dahlia arriving in New Orleans there was an urgency to get the potion ready and attack her before she could deliver the first blow. So, he was going to put aside his distrust of his sister in favor of protecting his niece at all cost.

"She's outside."

Kol snapped his head towards the window.

Charlotte was standing there, one hand on the curtain while her green eyes contemplated something down on the street below. She was still in her pajamas and fluffy slippers while her furry little pet meowed at her feet.

"How long have you been here?" Kol asked. He certainly hadn't felt her coming into the room and judging by the surprised looks on Davina's and Matt's faces, they hadn't either.

Charlotte glanced at him over her shoulder before she shrugged.

"Who's outside?" Matt asked curiously.

"Freya," Charlotte replied calmly. "She's been standing there for a while," she pressed her face closer to the glass. "She's afraid," she murmured. "And very tired too."

Kol used his vampire speed and appeared next to her in a matter of seconds. He actually gasped upon realizing that Charlotte was right. Freya was indeed standing outside, right in front of the compound. She kept glancing at the house, mumbling something under her breath, while her hands were tightly clutched at her sides. "I'll be damned."

"She's not really there," Charlotte said matter-of-factly.

Kol looked down at the little witch with curiosity. Charlotte was a strange child, there was no denying it.

"You should hurry before she disappears," Charlotte urged him. By this time, Davina and Matt had also gathered by the window, both peering down at the witch who continued to stand like a statue in front of their home.

"She looks familiar," Davina squinted her eyes, trying to make out Freya's face. She could have sworn she had seen her face before.

"She resembles Bekah and mother," Kol muttered. "That's probably why she looks familiar to you."

"Go see what she wants," Charlotte ordered him.

Kol arched an eyebrow. "Who put you in charge?"

"Hurry."

"There is something about her," Davina mumbled under her breath. "Something is off," she looked at Kol. Maybe it was her eyes playing tricks on her but something looked odd about Freya. "She's like glowing or something…" she mumbled unsure of what exactly it was that she felt was odd.

"She's there but she's not really there," Charlotte told them.

"Uh?" Matt was utterly confused and so were Kol and Davina.

"Go!" Charlotte actually pushed Kol away from the window. "Hurry, before she disappears!"

"You're an annoying little brat, you know that?"

"You still like me."

Kol snorted. "Not really."

Charlotte stuck her tongue out at him.

Kol rolled his eyes. "You need a new comeback," he muttered and flashed out of the room, determined to find out what Freya wanted. _Why the hell weren't Finn and Bekah with her?_ He wondered absently.

* * *

Bonnie, Klaus, Elijah, Lucy, Aunt Vivian, Joanna, Lenore, Marcel, and Ishmael gathered in the dining room to discuss a plan of attack against Dahlia, a map of the city was spread out on the table.

"We can alternate between different groups and patrol the area surrounding the compound," Marcel suggested, his fingers tracing different strategic points on the map. "Each group can consist of a handful of vampires and werewolves and a witch or two from your coven," he glanced at Bonnie who nodded in agreement. "There will be safety in numbers."

"The hybrids can guard the compound along with the rest of the Bennett coven," Elijah added. "This is probably going to be the main target so we must make sure everyone is ready."

"What's stopping Dahlia from walking through that door and taking Ingrid at this very moment?" Aunt Vivian asked the group. Since Bonnie had informed her of Ingrid's reaction the previous night, she was wondering when exactly that evil woman was going to make an appearance at the house. "What is she waiting for?"

"She's not stupid," Klaus responded. "She must know Ingrid is protected." The bitch was waiting for the perfect moment to strike, probably when they lowered their guard. He wasn't going to let that happen.

"She's one witch versus an army of supernaturals," Marcel pointed out.

"A witch who has stolen the magic of countless others," Bonnie reminded them. "We can't underestimate her."

"Bonnie is right," Lenore spoke up. "Just because we have the numbers doesn't mean we have the advantage. A single powerful witch can easily overcome an army of supernaturals."

"That's true," Joanna agreed,

"Which makes you wonder what she's planning to do to fight us," Ishmael murmured quietly from his seat across from Klaus. "She must have something up her sleeve," he told the group. "Otherwise she would have come for Ingrid the minute she set foot in the city."

Bonnie grabbed Klaus's hand under the table, a nervous flutter in the pit of her stomach. Klaus offered her a reassuring look and squeezed her hand. The two of them had expected Dahlia to storm into the compound to claim their daughter the night before but she hadn't. The longer Dahlia was in the city without making a move, the stronger the fear and uncertainty became. _What was she waiting for?_

That was the million-dollar question.

"The compound is the most protected place in the city," Lucy said. "She's not stupid. She knows she won't be able to get inside easily. She doesn't want to risk it."

"I don't think it's that simple," Vivian murmured.

"Instead of wondering what the hell Dahlia is up to, why don't we focus on what we need to do in order to stop her?" Marcel suggested, standing up from his chair and looking ready for battle.

Aunt Vivian glared at him. "We know what we need to do to stop her," she snapped. "The wolves and vampires will provide a distraction and our coven will lock her inside the prison world for all eternity." Her eyes gleamed at the thought. "She has another thing coming if she thinks she will be able to take on the entire Bennett clan."

"You should summon the Bennetts on the other side," Joanna told Bonnie. "They could help us."

"I will," Bonnie said. She had already thought about it and was definitely planning on using the entire coven to fight Dahlia. The living and the dead Bennett witches with their combined power were going to be the most powerful card Bonnie had to play against Dahlia.

"And getting inside the enemy's head and anticipating their moves it's an advantage not a waste of time," Vivian continued as she gave a mean glare in Marcel's direction. "Sit down," she ordered.

Marcel did so without question. There was something about those emerald eyes that actually scared him. He wouldn't want to get on Vivian's bad side, that was for sure.

Klaus didn't even bother to hide his amused grin and even Elijah suppressed a chuckle.

Marcel glared at both of them.

Aunt Vivian turned to look at Bonnie. "Have you considered taking the children somewhere else?" she asked gently.

"Somewhere else?" Bonnie questioned. This was their home, this was where their family was, where they had been living since they were born. "You don't think we're safe here?" With all the protective spells surrounding the house she couldn't imagine anywhere else that would be safer.

"We have added tons of protective spells on the house," Lucy told their aunt. "This is the safest place they could be."

"I don't think so," Vivian contradicted her. "It's safe to say that Dahlia will attack the compound, it's only a matter of time." She looked from Bonnie to Klaus. "The children could get caught in the cross fire."

"We will never let that happen," Elijah swore with all the conviction in his heart.

"We're at war," Vivian retorted. "There will be plenty of casualties when Dahlia comes collecting. No matter how prepared you think we are, we can't take any chances. The children will be the most vulnerable."

Bonnie and Klaus turned to look at each other, both knowing that Vivian was right. Any stray spell could cause serious damage.

"Where else would they be safe?" Ishmael asked her.

"And what if Dahlia intercepts them when they move somewhere else?" Marcel asked almost at the same time.

"It's too risky," Lucy muttered.

"We can hide them under cloaking spells and take them to the mansion where the Bennett coven is staying," Lenore offered. "That house is equally protected as this one."

"Dahlia will have a harder time getting through a full coven of witches than an army of vampires and werewolves." Joanna glanced at the vampires in the room before looking at Ishmael. "No offense," she added quickly.

"You might have a point there," Ishmael murmured. "A coven of Bennett witches is far more intimidating than an army of vampires and werewolves combined." He looked at Klaus. "Perhaps it will be good to move the children to another, much safer location."

"Our family will be far more difficult, if not impossible to defeat," Vivian stated while looking into Bonnie's eyes. "You and the kids would be safer with all of us."

All eyes turn to Bonnie and Klaus, waiting to see what they would decide to do.

"What do you think?" Elijah asked them, after all they were the parents, and the decision rested solely on their shoulders.

Bonnie and Klaus weighted the pros and cons in silence. They didn't need to speak, just by looking into each other's eyes and with the help of their bond, they could come to an answer telepathically.

They both reached the same conclusion.

* * *

"Finally." The relief on Freya's face was palpable. She smiled at Kol. "I was starting to wonder if anyone could actually see me." It had been a long time since she attempted this spell and she hadn't been sure if it would work. It had, and she felt giddy at her success.

Kol came to an abrupt stop a couple of feet away from her. "You're a ghost!" he exclaimed. She looked exactly like the Freya he had met at the Fauline cottage, except she wasn't in corporal form. She was actually a translucent figure. It reminded him of the time his mother's spirit had presented herself to him and Rebekah. It was fucking weird.

"It's called astral projection, actually."

His eyes went wide. "Bloody hell!" Kol couldn't believe it. He had heard of the term but he had never met any witch who had achieved such rare and difficult feat. Until now. Freya had projected her consciousness into an astral form outside her body. _Wicked!_ "How..." he sputtered as he looked her up and down. _This was amazing!_ A witch that could actually astral project. There were so many questions at the tip of his tongue, he forgot all about his distrust as he contemplated his sister with undeniable admiration. He didn't ask more questions though, something in Freya's face held him back from doing so.

Under different circumstances, Freya would have grinned at the impressed look on his face. It was nice to see something other than distrust in her brother's gaze. A stab of pain reminded her that she was on borrowed time. She had taken advantage of the fact that Dahlia left her alone to warn her siblings. "Kol, listen to me. I don't have much time. You need to warn Niklaus and Bonnie that Dahlia is here, she's-"

"Yeah, we know that already," Kol said dismissively. "Ingrid freaked out last night because of her." His eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Finn and Rebekah went to get you. Why aren't you with them?"

"I'm not at the Fauline cottage, Dahlia took me." Freya made a face as another stab of pain hit her. She wasn't going to last long, keeping this kind of magic was taxing.

"What?" Kol shouted. "How the hell-"

"Dahlia is planning something, knowing her it's going to be big and distracting enough to get you all to lower your guards," Freya cut him off. "You need to tell Bonnie, Ingrid is not safe here-"

"The compound protected by powerful magic," Kol remarked with all the arrogance and confidence in the world.

"Not against Dahlia," Freya snapped. "I've been standing here for a while, I can feel how strong the magic is but I promise you, Dahlia will get through it." If Dahlia could take her from the Fauline cottage, she could certainly take Ingrid from the compound. "You have no idea the power she holds. I thought we would have more time…" the last part she said to herself. She shook her head. "I know her. I know she's planning something big. You have to tell Bonnie that she needs to get Ingrid out of here."

Kol felt really nervous upon hearing her worried voice.

"Tell Bonnie to block Ingrid's magic, Dahlia can sense it and will be able to find their location even under a cloaking spell. It's how Dahlia kept me under her leash. They need to go far away from here," Freya instructed. "Sacred ground preferably, that will stall Dahlia until we can finish the potion. Father is getting a couple of things that I need, get him, and tell Bonnie I will send her the instructions so she can start working on it."

"How are you-"

"Just do as I tell you, Kol."

Kol was taken back by the desperation he heard in her voice. Long gone was the confident and composed young woman he had met at the cottage. Freya was afraid, no, _terrified_ was more like it. He didn't like seeing the fear in her eyes. He preferred the cold and calculating Freya he had met before. This Freya was too human, too vulnerable, and it brought out his protective instincts in a way only Rebekah had done before. _Shit!_

"Dahlia doesn't play fair," Freya warned him. "She managed to get me but you cannot allow her to get Ingrid, do you understand?" Freya could fight back. Freya could swallow her fear and do something to stop Dahlia, Ingrid could not. She was just a baby. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Kol?" If Dahlia got her hands on Ingrid, all would be lost.

"Yes," Kol answered immediately.

Freya whimpered and nearly sank to her knees.

"What's wrong?" Kol asked, she looked like she was in enormous pain.

"This spell is draining, I…" she let out another whimper and buckled over. An image came to her mind then, it was of her body convulsing uncontrollably on the floor of the cave she was trapped in. There was blood oozing out of her nose and her heart rate had slowed down considerably. _I'm doing to die again,_ Freya realized. No, she couldn't allow that. If she died, she was going to lose precious time. She needed to send the recipe for the potion to Bonnie. She needed to find a way to stall Dahlia, at least long enough to give them a chance to escape. She summoned the last bit of strength she had in her and looked into Kol's eyes. "I will buy you some time," she promised before she vanished from sight.

Kol blinked a few times, feeling stunned by what had just transpired. _Fuck!_ He needed to talk to Bonnie and Nik. He flashed back inside the was of the essence. They needed to get going before whatever Dahlia was planning came to fruition.

* * *

 **The Bayou**

Hayley sighed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. All the wolves were working on making the Bayou more habitable for their growing species. After a couple of weeks of uncertainty and distrust, they actually got along great with the new packs that had chosen to make New Orleans their home. _If only it could be this easy with the vamps and the witches,_ she thought as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze cooling off her heated cheeks.

A cold tingle down her spine had her eyes opening. It was a warning. "Jack," Hayley said nervously as she spotted the witch calmly making her way into their camp. She was either really stupid or really brave for coming into the wolves' den.

Jackson looked up as a tall, dark haired woman with pale skin made her way towards them. His skin prickled as her intoxicating power reached him. He shuddered, his senses alerting him to the danger she represented. He glanced at Hayely, wondering if she knew who the woman was.

Hayley read the question in his eyes and shook her head.

All the wolves stopped what they were doing and stared at the witch, the hairs on their bodies standing up at once. They could all feel her immense power, it sizzled dangerously all around them. Their senses were in overdrive, warning them of the danger surrounding them.

"Who the fuck is she?" Oliver asked as he came to stand beside Jackson and Hayley. The three wolves quickly went to meet the newcomer. The witch clearly didn't know the rules. This was their territory, witches were definitely not allowed.

"Can we help you?" Jackson asked in his polite southern voice.

The woman smirked and looked him up and down. "You must be the Alpha of this pack," she looked around the many men and women scattered around the Bayou. Another witch in her place would be trembling in fear but she looked really pleased by the large number of wolves surrounding her.

"I am," Jackson puffed his chest proudly.

"Not all of these wolves are Crescents," she commented, her eyes easily picking out the wolves that had recently made the Bayou their new home. There were various packs that had chosen to make their home here and to her luck, they were all within perfect reach of her magic.

Oliver and Hayley looked at each other, they both felt uneasy.

"No," Jackson admitted. "Many new packs have come to New Orleans in recent months. We are all trying to get along."

"They all came to see the miracle twins."

Jackson's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"The Bayou belongs to the wolves," Oliver spoke arrogantly. "Your kind is not welcomed here."

The woman's lips twisted into a devious grin. "Such arrogance, such fire…" she looked at him as if he were beneath her. "You will do well."

Oliver frowned. "What are you-" he never got to finish his question. He sank to the ground, gasping for air as he felt the familiar pains of his bones breaking. "…No…" he cried out as one bone after another shattered. His body went through the motions as if he were under the spell of the full moon.

Jackson, Hayley, and all the other wolves nearby sank to their knees as well, screaming in agony as their bones broke without hesitation.

It was unexpected.

It was unprecedented.

It was plain daylight and they were all transforming into their wolf forms.

"This can't…no…" Jackson was on his hands and knees, gasping for air, and trying desperately to stop the shift from happening. His eyes were yellow as he looked up into the clear blue sky. _This can't be happening, it's daylight. There isn't even a full moon tonight._ His mind struggled to comprehend what was going while he fought with all he had inside him to prevent his wolf from coming out. It was useless. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the shift from happening. The heat from the sun kissed his contorted muscles as they ripped through his clothes. The smooth, tan flesh was soon covered in a dark grey fur, his fingernails became claws, and his teeth elongated into sharp fangs.

Soon, Dahlia found herself surrounded by vicious wolves, all watching her intensely. Their yellow eyes and sharp fangs pointed in her direction. Her eyes glinted maliciously as she gazed at the pack, stopping on a group of kids near one of the cabins. Unlike the rest of the pack, they had not shifted into their wolf forms. _Interesting,_ she made her way towards them. "You have not triggered your curse," she realized as she contemplated the group of about twenty, they were all huddled together, fearful of what they had just witnessed. Their ages varied, some looked like teenagers, others were as young as six, but they were all holding each other close, watching her warily. One little girl with pigtails whimpered and started crying, she was the youngest and was clearly terrified. Dahlia's cold heart felt no sympathy for her, for any of them. She smirked and lifted her left hand. "We can easily arrange that."

There were simultaneous cries of pain as the magic took effect without warning.

The kids screamed and fell to the floor as their young bodies began the painful process of changing into their wolf forms for the very first time. The older ones tried to fight it, growling and glaring at the witch subjecting them to such agony while the younger ones shifted almost immediately. Dahlia's magic was too powerful to resist. She had no compassion for the poor young souls. She felt nothing, not even when she spotted the three little wolf pups the younger children had become. They would probably die first but she didn't care. There was only one thing Dahlia cared about and she would stop at nothing to get it.

Once they all had turned into wolves, Dahlia contemplated her new army, a triumphant smirked on her face. "From this moment forward," she said loud enough for all of them to hear. "You will be insatiable," she moved her dark eyes over every single one of the wolves gathered around her. "Your thirst will know no limits. No matter how much flesh you devour you will still want more." She extended her arms and allowed her magic to surface once more, bathing each of the wolves with malignant power. "You will not stop, even if you are injured or in the brink of death, you will find the strength to keep going, to keep fighting, and killing." She muttered a couple of words in her mother tongue and enhanced the wolves abilities; making them faster, stronger, and ten times more lethal than before.

The wolves growled and raised their heads, howling with the wind. Their eyes became a deep scarlet as her magic enhanced all of their abilities. They were completely under her control; killing machines they had become.

"Go," Dahlia commanded the wolf pack. "Slaughter anyone who gets in your way and destroy the French Quarter."

The wolves howled in unison and took off running towards the city, following her commands with question.

* * *

 _Thank you so much for all your support. See you next time!_


	92. Chapter 92

**A/N:** _I'm sorry to keep you waiting for this update, school has been kicking my butt lately and I haven't had much free time to write. Real life sucks sometimes. Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter. Thank you so much for all your support and amazing reviews, it means the world to me. Enjoy!_

* * *

Davina let out a big sigh and stared out of the car window. The sun had disappeared beneath dark clouds, a few drops of scattered rain were already falling from the sky. She felt slight prickles on her skin and there was an anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. More than that, there was sadness. _I didn't say goodbye to Kol._ There had been no time, not with all the people inside the compound, not with Klaus's hawk like eyes watching them as Kol awkwardly told her to be safe and watched her get inside the car.

 _All because of Dahlia_.

Davina's hands clenched painfully inside the pockets of her coat. She felt afraid of what was coming. _What the hell had Dahlia in store for them?_

Kol had delivered Freya's warning and it prompted everyone into action. Bonnie and Klaus had already made up their minds about moving them to safety but Freya's message made the process even more urgent than before. Davina barely had time to pack a few essentials before she and Charlotte were put in the car with the twins and Bonnie while Klaus drove them to the Bennett mansion. The black SUV fit all of them comfortably but the mood was somber. Dahlia was a sinister presence that became stronger with each passing minute, growing like clouds outside. It was almost as if they were living on borrowed time.

 _Will Kol be okay at the compound?_ Davina couldn't stop worrying about her boyfriend. She wished she had been allowed a moment alone with him prior to their departure but they both had been fearful of being discovered and hadn't dared to exchange anything more than a few stolen looks. _When will I see him again?_ She let out another long sigh of despair. _I miss him._

"There is no need to fret, Juliet. I'm sure you will see your Romeo soon enough," Klaus's voice broke the silence inside the car.

Davina looked up immediately, her face the perfect picture of surprise. "…I…what…" she stumbled. _Why would he say that?_

Bonnie who had been scribbling something on the grimoire in her lap, snapped her head in Klaus's direction, her brows furrowing. Charlotte who was sitting next to Davina, clutching Ms. Cuddles in her arms also glanced at Klaus, a curious look on her face. Alarm bells had gone off in all of their heads upon hearing his words.

"You and Kol are not as clever as you think you are."

Davina's breath hitched as she met Klaus's eyes through the rearview mirror. She was sitting directly behind him, while Charlotte sat behind Bonnie. She felt claustrophobic all of a sudden. They were confined to a very small space and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't escape. "I…" it was at the tip of her tongue to deny it and dismiss his words but she couldn't find the courage to do so. Klaus's enigmatic blue eyes had her pinned to her seat. It was scary how easily he could paralyze someone with a mere look.

"Did you honestly believed I wouldn't figure it out?"

Davina bit her lip and looked down, her cheeks turning red. Klaus knew about her and Kol. _Oh my god!_ She wanted to die. This was not how she expected Klaus to find out. This was not how she wanted to have this confrontation. Now more than ever, Davina wanted Kol. They were supposed to do this together.

"And judging by the guilt I'm sensing," Klaus turned to Bonnie then. "You knew all along."

Bonnie winced and closed her eyes briefly. Klaus's voice was super calm, he wasn't shouting or demanding, he was simply stating a fact. The bond however, told Bonnie a different story. He was not happy; because of Kol and Davina's relationship or because she had kept it from him, she wasn't entirely sure but Klaus was definitely not in a good mood. "Klaus, I-"

"And you also have a guilty look on your face," Klaus pointed out as he glanced at Charlotte through the rearview mirror. "I shouldn't be surprised considering you tried to help them."

The little girl gasped and her arms tightened around Ms. Cuddles. "Don't be angry," she whispered fearfully. "Please," she begged in a tiny voice, her eyes already watering. She couldn't stand the thought of Klaus being angry with her.

Klaus's face softened. "I'm not angry with you love," he was quick to assure her. Charlotte visibly relaxed at his words.

Davina gave a helpless look at Bonnie who was trying to determine the best way to talk about this without having Klaus explode into a rage.

A few moments of silence followed before Klaus once more broke through it. "Who else?" he wanted to know. "Rebekah, perhaps?" Davina's shocked expression and the quickening of her heart beat gave him the answer he needed. "Why am I not surprised," he muttered.

"I was the one who told Kol and Davina not to say anything to you," Bonnie said. She looked at Davina and offered her a small smile. The girl was rigid and looked a bit paler than usual. "Not until Mikael was dealt with. If you are going to get angry with anyone, get angry with me not with them."

Klaus took a left turn, they were driving through the woods that led to the house. "So you approve of this-" he struggled to find the word, his jaw clenching.

"Relationship," Bonnie supplied. "Yes, I do." This was not how she expected to have this conversation with Klaus but she actually felt relieved that he knew now. Granted, this was not the best place or time to talk about it.

"Kol doesn't do relationships," Klaus snapped, his temper finally surfacing. "He's the fuck them and leave them kind of guy."

"Klaus!" Bonnie chided him.

Davina flinched at his cruel words.

"Kol is selfish, irresponsible, ill-tempered-"

"He cares about me!" Davina finally found her voice and defended her boyfriend. "Yes, he can be selfish and petty but he's also funny, and attentive, and he knows all kinds of things and I like him!"

"He's too old for you."

"You're too old for Bonnie!" Davina was quick to retort. "She's like two years older than me and you got her pregnant and want to marry her!"

"That's different!"

"Davina has a point," Bonnie gave him a knowing look. "It's hypocritical of you to use the age card on them."

Klaus shook his head. "Kol is going to find a way to mess it up and break your heart." He met Davina's eyes through the mirror as he spoke. "It's not going to work-"

"You don't know that!" Davina argued.

"That's what people thought of you and me and here we are," Bonnie added quickly.

Klaus gave her a dirty look. "Don't compare our relationship to their infatuation," he hissed. "I can't believe you kept this a secret from me," he added in a much softer and hurt voice.

"I thought I was doing the right thing," Bonnie whispered shamefully. "I'm sorry."

"How can you support it?"

"Why not?" Bonnie challenged. "I want Kol and Davina to be happy and if they have found happiness with each other, who am I to judge?" Klaus opened his mouth, ready to protest but she didn't give him the chance. "You can't forbid them from seeing each other Klaus. And you of all people cannot use Davina's age as an excuse, she is not that much younger than me. I am really sorry we kept it from you. But I honestly thought it was best if you didn't know, if they didn't come clean until Mikael had been dealt with."

"I'm not stupid, I figured it out."

"I didn't say you were," Bonnie countered. "You were on edge because of Mikael and I didn't want you lashing out at Kol and doing something you would regret later." _Like daggering him,_ was left unsaid but he understood what she meant.

Klaus snorted.

"I really, really, really care about him." Davina gave him a pleading look. "And I know he cares about me too." She wished she could tell him about all the conversations she and Kol had had since they started dating, all the shared secrets and laughs. The late nights in which he had stayed helping her finish her homework, showing her how to do magic tricks, or simply talking. There was more to Kol than met the eyes and she was slowly discovering the fascinating person he was.

Klaus didn't say anything. His face and eyes betrayed nothing of what he was feeling. Bonnie could sense how conflicted he felt though. She and Davina both gave him expectant looks. They were both hoping that he would understand.

The tense silence was disrupted by the loud screeching of the tires as the car came to an abrupt halt.

Charlotte screamed as her body was pushed forwards as the car stopped.

"Klaus!" Bonnie yelled. She felt grateful that the road was deserted because they would have gotten into an accident had someone been behind them. "I know you are angry but you don't have to stop the car like that."

"It wasn't me." Klaus glanced at her before staring at the dashboard. The car had turned off on its own. "What the bloody hell," he muttered as he turned the ignition back on. Nothing. He tried again but the car wouldn't start.

"Did we run out of gas or something?" Davina asked.

"No," Klaus muttered. "This bloody thing turned off on its own." _Fucking great_ , he thought. This was just what they needed.

"We're close to the house," Bonnie realized. She could see the roof from her seat. "Maybe we could walk?" she suggested.

Klaus tried to open the door but it was locked. "You got to be kidding me." He had half the mind to simply rip the bloody thing off and get out of the car when a cold tingle made its way down his spine. He looked up immediately.

"What…" Bonnie's senses also alerted her to the danger.

A pack of huge, angry wolves ran out of the woods and into the road. They appeared out of nowhere, ferocious creatures running faster than any other wolf had ever run before. They almost looked like they were possessed.

"Oh my god!" Davina couldn't believe what she was seeing through the windshield of the car.

Charlotte screamed and clutched Ms. Cuddles tighter to her chest.

"Werewolves." Bonnie exchanged a worried look with Klaus. It was daylight, a cloudy and rainy day yes, but there was no full moon, the wolves should not be out. Their appearance was scary too. They seem bigger, angrier.

They all watched as the pack ran past them, growling and baring their sharp teeth proudly. They didn't attack the car, nor did they jump on it, they ran on either side of the SUV and continued to their destination without even looking at the occupants inside.

"They can't see us." Davina looked out of the car window, following the wolves with her eyes. "It must be the cloaking spell you put on us," she said to Bonnie.

"Where are they going?" Charlotte had unfastened her seatbelt and was on her knees, face pressed against the window so she could see the wolves better. "They're huge!" She exclaimed in astonishment, her green eyes were wide as she gazed at the creatures. Since the wolves were not attacking them, she had lost her fear and now contemplated them with fascination.

"This is _her_ doing," Bonnie said to Klaus. This was the big distraction Freya had warned Kol about. It had to be.

"The woods lead to the Bayou." Klaus pulled his cell phone out and began sending quick texts to Elijah, Ishmael, and Marcel. There were many packs living in the Bayou but the biggest one was the Crescent pack. He had to warn his people of the imminent attack.

"I'll warn Vincent," Bonnie murmured as she pulled her cell phone out as well. They needed to let the people in the Quarter know of what was coming. Her hands shook as she texted. She couldn't believe Dahlia had forced the wolves to shift in plain daylight.

Once the entire pack disappeared in the direction that led to the French Quarter, the engine turned on.

Klaus glanced at Bonnie, a curious look on his face. "Did you-"

"No," Bonnie responded. "It wasn't me."

"Me either," Davina said quickly.

"I didn't do it," Charlotte's voice followed.

The car turning off before the wolf pack stormed out of the woods and turning back on once they were out of sight was weird to say the least. Klaus stared at the dashboard wondering what the hell had happened.

"Come on, we got to get to the house." Bonnie placed her hand on his shoulder. "We're running out of time." They needed to get the kids to safety so they could fight Dahlia and the pack.

Klaus nodded and began driving towards the Bennett mansion. "Charlotte sit down and put your seatbelt on," he ordered when he caught a glimpse of the little girl's back. She was kneeling on her seat and was peering down at the twins who were on the back seat, right behind her and Davina.

"They're awake," Charlotte said before turning around and taking a seat. She fastened her seatbelt and looked out of the window once more. The clouds had grown darker and there was a strange feeling in the air, it made her feel cold and afraid. She pulled Ms. Cuddles to her chest once more and buried her head in the bear's soft fur. It smelled like Bonnie and that made her feel better. Charlotte knew that as long as they were with their mother, they would be okay. She looked over her shoulder, sensing the radiant power coming from behind her. The twins had not made a single sound but they were wide awake and their magic was very much active, Charlotte could feel it.

* * *

 **French Quarter**

After unleashing a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves, Dahlia appeared in the French Quarter. It would take the pack longer to arrive but that actually worked in her favor. She now had time to execute the second part of her plan. The Quarter was packed with people. Humans who had absolutely no idea what was coming for them. With a smirk on her lips, Dahlia walked calmly in the middle of the road, hands at her side, and magic ready to pounce.

No one noticed her arrival.

No one sensed her great power either.

She was like the wind, floating aimlessly among the crowd. A witch as powerful as her could mingle with the mortals without being seen or heard. It was pathetic how oblivious they were, how little they knew about magic and witches especially considering the city they were in but alas, it all worked in her favor.

Time stood still as her magic swept through every single living thing around her.

The mindless chatter stopped, the throngs of bodies walking in and out of the Quarter halted at once.

Dahlia walked calmly among the frozen bodies. They were alive. Their hearts were pounding, their chests rose in a steady breath, and their eyes continued to blink but they could not move, they could not think, they could not do anything but stand there like statues.

 _Puppets_.

She could do whatever she wanted with them, she could command them to tear each other limb for limb and they would. Dahlia had perfected the art of controlling people centuries ago, humans in particular were so weak minded, so pathetic; controlling them was like taking over the mind of a newborn babe. No human had ever resisted her power. Just like the wolves in the Bayou, the humans in the French Quarter were at her mercy.

But she had not come here for the humans; the wolf pack would tear them apart soon enough.

Dahlia felt them long before a bunch of blurs began appearing; on the rooftops, on the street corner, circling her and hissing in warning. Since the first day she arrived in New Orleans, she learned how things worked. She learned of the treaty between the supernatural species, she learned of the witches and vampires and even the wolf pack sharing the city among themselves.

There were always vampires patrolling city, always watching, always reporting to their superiors-the Mikaelsons. And here they were now, ready to attack her in order to protect their territory.

Dahlia's smirk grew as she saw them. Her face remained a blank mask as they circled her, angrily snarling in her direction.

"Who do you think you are witch?" One foolish vampire demanded.

"Don't you know the rules?"

"How adorable," Dahlia mused. _Did they honestly think that their veiny eyes and fangs could intimidate her? That they could ever be a threat to her?_ She chuckled mentally and raised her right hand just as the first couple of vampires decided to attack.

They exploded before they could even take a single step forward. Her magic destroyed them with a single blast of power until there was nothing left of them but a big pool of blood and bits of flesh on the concrete floor.

The vampires who were still alive, gasped in unison. They looked at the bloody remains of their comrades before turning to her with matching looks of disbelief and fear.

Dahlia could practically taste their fear. _Good,_ she thought. _Let this be a lesson._ "You lot have yet to learn who is at the top of the food chain." Her dark eyes slid over the vampires surrounding her, her magic easily paralyzing them in a silent attack and forcing them to their knees. Like the humans, and the wolves before, there was no resistance. They were strong yes, but not enough to resist her control. Her magic slithered over them, submitting them to her will. "Attack the Mikaelsons and their allies, kill anyone who gets in your way."

The vampires' eyes glazed over and they all growled in response to her command. They stood up at once, using their superior speed to head towards the compound and fulfill her orders.

Dahlia watched them go with a satisfied grin on her face. She opened her arms and closed her eyes, murmuring an incantation in her mother's tongue.

The air grew colder.

Bolts of lightning struck down from the sky and set a couple of places aflame.

Chaos descended over the city.

Dahlia's magic sought out every vampire residing in New Orleans-with the exception of those inside the compound for the protective barriers around the home saved them from her control-and ordered them to attack, to feast on the blood of all the humans in the city. Her orders resonated inside their minds and prompted them into action.

The humans continued to stand like statues, waiting for her to decide their fate. With a flick of her wrist, Dahlia released them from her hold, allowing them to regain their mind and senses just as a thunder of howls and growls were heard.

"What's going on?"

"Mom, what was that?"

"It sounded like a wolf."

"Wolves, you mean."

They were all confused and fearful of the growls which grew closer with each passing second.

Someone screamed as a blur yanked their head to the side and pierced their neck with their fangs, draining them of their blood. More blurs began appearing and attacking the people.

"Oh my god!"

A child cried in the distance.

"Let's go," a father order his family and dragged them back towards their hotel.

It was too late.

The pack of bloodthirsty wolves stormed through the Quarter and attacked everyone on sight.

Vampires and werewolves alike where on a high; they wanted blood, and there were plenty of people around for the taking.

Dahlia continued to walk calmly down the street. The screams, the fear, the panic surrounding her was like music to her ears. _I have turned your army against you,_ she thought while heading towards the compound. She had the wolves and now the vampires under her control. She had successfully destroyed the mighty Mikaelson forces.

 _What will you do now?_

As was her usual, Dahlia left a trail of blood and death in her wake.

* * *

 **The compound**

Klaus's warning came a few minutes before Thierry and Katie made their way inside the compound to warn the Mikaelsons of the vicious pack of wolves that had been spotted making their way to the French Quarter. Katie was out of breath and she and Thierry had matching worried faces. Elijah was with Kol, Marcel, Matt, and Ishmael when they came.

"This is the distraction Freya warned us about," Kol muttered angrily. "Dahlia is not holding back." Only an extremely capable witch could force an entire pack to shift in the middle of the day. "Fuck." _We're screwed,_ he thought.

"Who's Freya?"

"Who's Dahlia?"

Katie and Thierry asked.

"Their evil aunt who wants to take Klaus's daughter," Marcel explained quickly. "She's a powerful witch and the one we assume unleashed the pack of wolves."

"What the hell are we going to do?"

"Fight back," Elijah responded as he looked over at the small group gathered inside the compound. "There is no other choice." He barely had time to prepare a counter attack with the help of Ishmael and Marcel. After Klaus's call, the first order of business had been to spread the word and order the city to be evacuated as soon as possible. "Father Kieran has been informed and has offered St. Anne's church as a sanctuary for the humans." Just like when the Navarro wolves had attacked. He hoped that just like that day, the witches would help them. "A friend of mine is also coming with her vampire army and witches."

"What about Bonnie and Klaus?" Thierry asked, neither Bonnie nor Klaus were with them. "We could really use more witches against those wolves. If they are half as vicious-"

"Bonnie, Niklaus, and the Bennett coven are protecting Ingrid," Elijah cut him off. "She's their priority." The Bennett coven was the last line of defense against Dahlia and as much as Elijah would love to have them help them, he knew they were needed elsewhere. "Bonnie called Vincent, he promised to help. I'm sure he will bring more witches with him."

"Our pack will help you as well," Ishmael said.

"What we are going to do first-"Elijah didn't get a chance to finish as Belle and Josh stormed inside the living room.

"They're here!" Belle shouted. "The wolves are here!"

"And there is a bunch of possessed looking vampires helping them to!" Josh added. "Felix and the hybrid pack are already out there fighting!"

"Fuck," Matt cursed, he immediately rushed to get his crossbow. He was going to be shooting darts of wolfsbane to the wolves. But now he needed darts of vervain. Luckily for him, Aunt Vivian and the Bennett coven had left a ton of supplies to fight against vampires and werewolves.

"Let's go!" Elijah ordered as everyone rushed of the house to face the fight of their lives.

Thierry turned to Katie. "You need to stay here. You'll be safe inside the house." The witches of the French Quarter didn't have their magic, Katie needed to stay somewhere safe and away from the crossfire. "This house is protected by all kinds of spells."

"What about you?"

"I will fight."

"Thierry, no-" Katie grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket. "You can't fight those wolves; their venom will kill you."

"Klaus can cure me." Thierry touched her face gently. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." There was no way out of this, he had to fight. They all had to fight, otherwise the wolves and the vampires were going to destroy the city.

"He's not here! what if there is not enough time, what if-"

A loud howl was heard then, followed closely by another.

Katie shivered. There were screams coming from outside and growls as well. It had begun and she was utterly terrified. "Please don't go," she begged her lover once last time.

"I love you." Thierry kissed her on the mouth before using his vampire speed and heading outside to fight.

Katie watched him go, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

* * *

 **Bennett Mansion**

Once the girls and the twins were settled inside the mansion, Klaus joined Bonnie and her family downstairs. Davina had wanted to talk to him, no doubt to plead her case and tell him how much she cared about Kol but Klaus hadn't wanted to hear it. _Now it's not the time sweetheart,_ he told her before leaving her with Charlotte and the twins in one of the rooms upstairs. Joanna was keeping an eye on them while the rest of the coven split into smaller groups. There were many things that needed to be done before Dahlia undoubtedly made her presence known.

Some of them were working on the potion to destroy Dahlia-Freya had magically sent the paper with the instructions to Bonnie (the folded piece of parchment appearing inside her pocket while they were on their way to the mansion), they didn't have all the ingredients but the Bennett's were determined to create a potion that could at least hurt Dahlia, _a lot._ Another group was working on the prison world they planned to banish her too, while a third group prepared everything for the summoning spell as Bonnie planned to call upon the dead Bennett witches to help them fight against his evil aunt. Dahlia was coming for Ingrid but in order to get their daughter she was going to have to get through the entire Bennett bloodline, dead and alive.

There was just one last thing Bonnie needed to do before the summoning spell.

"Are you sure about this?" Klaus asked her.

Bonnie was standing in the middle of the living room, holding a familiar ball of red thread. He had been surprised to find that she had brought the thread with her.

"The witches of the French Quarter need their magic, they could use it to help fight the wolves." Bonnie stared at the ball in her hands. "Their lives like the lives of all the people in the Quarter are in danger. The least I can do is give them their power back, give them a chance to fight back." _Since I can't be there to protect them myself,_ was left unsaid.

"There is no need to feel guilty, love."

"We should be there, stopping those wolves from slaughtering innocent people-"

"Our place is with our daughter," Klaus murmured as he came to stand in front of her. "My siblings are there, my pack and our vampire army as well. And as soon as Rebekah and Finn free Freya, they will be making their way there too. The French Quarter is not defenseless, Bonnie." He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Aya will arrive with her army and Vincent gave you his word, he and his witches will help too." He stared into her eyes. "Our little girl must come first." He wanted to be there as well, he wanted to fight with his people, but his children needed him more.

"Your blood is the cure-"

"Elijah has a vial of my blood," Klaus was quick to reassure her. Technically, it was in the safe inside the study. The one hidden behind one of his favorite paintings but his brother knew about it and if he was smart he would use it to heal the vampires that needed it. Angelica could expand the blood like she had done after the battle with the Navarro pack. "Everything will be fine."

Bonnie nodded. She stared into his eyes. "About Kol and Davina-" she began.

"I don't think we should be discussing that now," his voice was harsher than he intended.

Anger but above all, _worry._ That's what Bonnie sensed through their bond. Klaus was worried because he didn't want Kol or Davina to get hurt. He cared about both of them and wanted the best for them.

"We need to focus on keeping our daughter safe, there will be plenty of time to discuss their relationship," he muttered.

Bonnie nodded. Dahlia would come for Ingrid. Kol had told them that she could sense Ingrid's magic, that even under a cloaking spell, Dahlia would be able to tell where she was. It was only a matter of time before she realized that they had moved Ingrid to this house. _We will be ready when she comes,_ she vowed. Bonnie and her coven had formulated one heck of a plan and if it all worked in their favor Dahlia would be stopped for good. _But first thing first,_ she looked down at the ball of thread in her hands.

Klaus stepped away from her, so she could begin undoing the spell.

 _How ironic_ , Bonnie thought as she used her magic to lift the red ball into the air. It sizzled with all the power it contained. She couldn't help but think of the night she fought the Seer and her coven, the night when thanks to her spell they took the magic away from the French Quarter witches. The situation was reversed now, it was going to be her own coven which would be put to the test against Dahlia. _If I could face the seer and her coven and live to tell the tale that means Dahlia can do it too, and probably far more efficiently._ The feeling of dread intensified in her stomach but Bonnie pushed it aside. She needed to do this and then summon the dead Bennetts.

 _I am not the seer, my coven is not like her coven, one way or another we will win this fight._

 _One step at a time,_ a voice that sounded like her grams whispered inside her mind. _You can do this._

Bonnie closed her eyes and began chanting. She had created the spell, she knew how to undo it. Once she untangled the ball of thread, the magic would be restored to the French Quarter coven. They would be able to fight and protect themselves. After this, she would summon the Bennett witches on the other side and put their plan into motion. _Dahlia won't know what hit her,_ Bonnie thought as she completed the spell.

* * *

Freya chanted under her breath, sweat pouring down all over her flushed face. She was hot and cold, her body quivering as she unleashed wave after wave of her magic. Her bones ached from the tremendous strain but she would not give up. She had to keep fighting, no matter the cost. She had hoped that Dahlia would return to the cemetery and she planned to use that opportunity to buy Bonnie and her daughter time but Dahlia had not returned. Whatever she had planned, she did not feel the necessity to check on her prisoner. It enraged Freya. Either Dahlia was super confident that her plan would work or she truly believed Freya was too weak to escape.

 _And is she wrong?_

 _How long have you been trying to break and free?_

 _How many times have you failed?_

That malicious voice whispered inside her mind.

 _So, weak, so pathetic…_

Freya growled and pushed herself to the limit. _I am not weak, I can do this. I must do this._

After magically sending the instructions for the potion to Bonnie, she got on her knees and attempted to break free. She hadn't had any luck thus far. Dahlia's barrier was like trying to push open a heavy iron door, ten times taller than her. It did not budge an inch. It was a spell of Dahlia's own creation; one Freya had seen in use before. _How may witches had fallen victim to the same spell?_

 _I won't be one of them,_ Freya vowed. She was more than ready to pass out but she had no intention of giving up. She needed to get out of here and help in whatever capacity necessary to protect her niece. Dahlia had never been one to hold back, she was going to attack with everything she had, and Freya had already paid her mistake of underestimating her.

"Need some help?"

The accented voice broke Freya's concentration. Her eyes snapped open and she found herself gasping in surprise upon spotting the two vampires and the witch making their way inside the cemetery. Finn and Rebekah. The wave of relief that befell her tasted sweet.

"How did you find me?" Freya asked in a shaky voice. She had expected Dahlia to return and taunt her for her failure but she had definitely never expected to see her brother and sister coming to her rescue. _Was this real? Or a trick of her sometimes very vivid imagination?_

Finn looked happy and relieved to see her while Rebekah smiled warmly at her.

"How did you find me?" Freya stood up, her legs wobbly. She had almost exhausted herself trying to break free.

Rebekah grinned. "We had some help." Her sister pointed to the young woman standing beside her. "Freya, this is Lucy," she introduced them. "Lucy, this is our sister Freya."

Freya stared at the tall, beautiful, and proud looking witch. There was something about her, about her magic that immediately caught her attention. "You are a Bennett witch," she stated.

"I am," Lucy responded while walking closer.

"She's also Elijah's bonded," Rebekah supplied with a smirk. "Our brothers have a thing for witches."

"So, it seems." Freya glanced at Finn, a clear question in her eyes.

"I don't. I'm single," Finn blurted out with a hint of embarrassment.

Freya and Rebekah chuckled.

"There is no time to waste," Lucy said. "We need to get her out of here." She allowed her magic to surface and test the barrier keeping Freya trapped. It was really strong, more so than she first anticipated.

"Did Kol warned you?" Freya asked them.

"He did," Finn responded. "Niklaus and Bonnie have taken the children to safety. Don't worry. Dahlia won't get to them."

"She will find them."

"The Bennett coven will keep Bonnie and her children safe," Lucy murmured.

"Did she block Ingrid's magic?" Freya asked.

"No."

Freya shook her head. "Dahlia will find Ingrid, even if she is cloaked. Blocking Ingrid's magic would give them a chance-"

"Bonnie is not going to subject her little girl to that," Lucy snapped. In her opinion, it was a cruel thing to do and she felt glad Bonnie had not considered it.

"Dahlia will find her."

"And when she does, she will face the Bennett coven's wrath," Lucy proclaimed.

"Don't underestimate Dahlia," Freya hissed. "Or the things she is willing to do to get what she wants. She has no limits, no remorse, no heart."

"Don't underestimate the Bennett coven," Lucy said in turn. Her loyalty, her devotion, and trust in her family was unwavering. She felt absolutely certain that the Bennett witches were going to defeat Dahlia. "You have no idea the lengths we are willing to go to keep Ingrid safe."

Freya met her eyes and begrudgingly nodded. She wasn't going to get into petty arguments of who was more powerful and clever, the Bennett coven or Dahlia. They would find out soon enough when both forces ultimately clashed together. The most important thing now was finding a way to escape.

"Stand back," Lucy instructed. "I'm going to blow this barrier to pieces."

 _If only it were that easy,_ Freya thought. "Any spell you use will backfire," she said calmly. "You can't break the barrier on your own."

Lucy didn't like it when she heard that. "You don't think I'm capable?" she felt offended that Freya thought so little of her power.

"Neither you or I can break this spell," Freya remarked. "Trust me, I tried. You're only going to exhaust or kill yourself in the process." The spell Dahlia had used was tricky, it took a toll on the body and mind and could not be broken like normal spells.

"How the hell are we going to get you out then?"

Freya studied Lucy's annoyed face before focusing on her siblings. "There might be a way," she murmured, her mind quickly coming up with the fastest solution. "We could do it together," she suggested after a long pause. "We could break it by channeling two extremely powerful creatures."

Finn's eyes went wide. He and Rebekah exchanged looks. "Us, you mean."

"There is magic in you," Freya explained. "We could channel you and enhance the effectiveness of our own magic." She looked at Lucy, an expectant look on her face. "It will give us the boost we need." Technically, she alone could channel one or both of her siblings and break the spell but she felt the need to include the other witch, she had come to her rescue too after all.

"If you guys don't have any objection," Lucy said to them.

"Not at all," Rebekah and Finn stepped forward and clasps their hands together more than ready to help them out. "We're family," she said looking directly into Freya's eyes. "We must help and protect each other."

 _She means it_ , Freya realized and couldn't stop herself from smiling. Did they have any idea how long she had longed to hear something like that? What it meant to have them here with her? Helping her? Freya was a proud witch. She would have preferred to get out of this on her own but the fact that her siblings had come for her, putting aside their distrust in order to save her, it meant more than she cared to admit.

The two witches stood in front of each other, as close as the barrier allowed them to be. They closed their eyes, and raised their hands, palms extended. They perfectly mirrored each other as they began chanting. Freya in her mother's tongue while Lucy did it in Latin.

Rebekah and Finn watched them nervously. Nothing seemed to happen at first but soon they both began to feel a slight current of heat floating in their blood. There was a spark as Freya's and Lucy's magic connected. Soon, that same magic latched itself onto them, using their inhuman strength, immortality, and power to enhance their attack.

Dahlia's spell was clever and effective but it was no match for two witches and two originals.

Who could have ever imagined that the same person who destroyed her family, who ripped her away from them would be the one responsible for bringing them back together. The irony was not lost on Freya and she couldn't wait to rub it in Dahlia's face.

* * *

 **French Quarter**

Chaos

That was the only way the scene could be described.

The pack of wolves was vicious. They were strong, agile, and their sharp teeth could tear people in half. They fought to the very end, even when mortally wounded they did not stop.

Elijah had lost count of how many times he had been bitten. There was a sharp sting on his left arm and on his right leg. He felt feverish, out of breath, and woozy from the venom that had been injected into his system. It was spreading at an alarming rate. Had he been a regular vampire, he would have been long dead. As an Original he had the advantage that the venom could not kill him.

A growl to his left had him using his vampire strenght to jump into the roof of the building he was leaning against. He didn't want to get bitten again. He landed on his hands and knees; he wasn't his usual graceful self, thanks to the venom poisoning his blood. He stood up on shaky legs and looked down.

He easily spotted Marcel and Thierry fighting back to back against a gang of vampires. Elijah had to admit that Dahlia had pulled off one brilliant move by turning not only the wolves against them but the vampires as well. Marcel, Thierry, Josh and the vampires that had come with Aya were the only ones who had not been brainwashed by Dahlia. If the situation was bad before, it had become worst upon realizing that Dahlia had managed to turned their army of vampires into her puppets. Most of the vampires had gone straight for him and Kol, and Marcel. Thankfully, the cavalry had arrived in the form of Aya and the Strix, now vampires were fighting against vampires while wolves fought wolves, it helped to even the tide.

Klaus's hybrids were lethal. Thanks to the fact they were werewolves, they were immune to their foes venom and were causing the most damage at the moment. Felix who had made a full recovery was leading the group. They moved as a unit, like a real wolf pack, hunting their enemies and snapping necks and breaking bones left and right.

From the rooftop, Elijah saw Jesse and Alexa tag teaming against a particular feral wolf. Riley, Belle, and Nate were close by, tackling their own prey.

Fenrir's pack were helping to evacuate the humans scattered over the battlefield, risking their lives to take them to safety inside Father Kieran's church. Most of them were out of harms way by now but there had been plenty of casualties. The witches helped Klaus's wolf pack by clearing the way and protecting them from any surprise attacks. The witches were the most important piece of the game and the ones who would ultimately decide the victor. Elijah knew that with the Strix coven at their side they could find a way to break Dahlia's magic and free the wolves. The ones that managed to survive of course.

Vincent had also arrived with the elders of the covens in tow. They were paralyzing wolves left and right, particularly the young ones. Elijah's stomach had dropped when he first noticed the wolf pups. Only a sick and twisted individual could use innocent children thus, for there was no doubt in Elijah's mind that those pups were wolf children. He could understand using the vampires and the werewolves, turning their own armies against them was a brilliant move from Dahlia but the children…that made him sick. The children were innocent, they did not deserve to be used like that. Angelica had made it her mission to trap as many wolf pups with her magic and take them inside the compound. There were a few members of the Strix who hadn't hesitated and killed two of them at least. Elijah had ordered them not to touch them but he knew there would probably be more casualties like that once the battle was over. His stomach turned. He was no stranger to war, or death, and blood but it sickened him that all of this was a mere distraction while Dahlia hunted his niece.

As he wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, his chocolate eyes scanned the battlefield. There was no sign of Dahlia. He wished she would show up so he could tear her throat open. What Elijah did see was Kol fighting a group of crazed vampires, Aya ripping heads like trophies, and Matt shooting bolts of wolfsbane to any wolf he came across. The darts the Bennett coven had created were effective and the bombs of vervain he was throwing were ingenious. Bonnie and her coven were not fighting with them but they were present through their brilliant creations.

A scream below got his attention.

A brown wolf was viciously dragging Belle down street, separating her from the other hybrids. His sharp jaw was locked on her leg while another wolf was running after them, attempting to tear her arm off.

Elijah jumped down, landing right behind the wolf and grabbing him by the tail. With his in human strength he pulled the animal off Belle who let out an anguished scream when part of her flesh was torn off by the wolf's teeth. Elijah threw the wolf to the side, his body slammed against the wall of an ice cream shop before falling down on the ground, a whimper of pain escaping his lips. He shook his head and pulled himself up almost immediately, his eyes zeroing on Elijah who anticipated his move. The vampire and wolf clashed together in a vicious fight.

Riley was not far behind, pulling the second wolf away from Belle with both of his arms, he groaned when the wolf bit two of his fingers and nearly ripped his hand off. "Fuck!" Riley hissed before finally snapping the wolf's neck with his bare hands. The corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud. The hybrid stared at his bloodied hand, watching as the fingers healed. He breathed a sigh of relief before kneeling next to his girlfriend. "You okay?"

Belle sat on the side walk, crying and shaking uncontrollably.

"It's okay babe, you're going to be okay." Riley kissed the top of her head. "Your leg is already healing, see." He offered her a small smile.

Belle whimpered and touched her leg with a shaky hand. The skin was already mending itself, stopping the blood and regenerating into new smooth flesh. "I'm okay…" she said shakily.

Riley pulled her to her feet.

"Watch out!" Belle screamed when she saw the black wolf running towards them.

Riley pushed her behind him, his hybrid face surfacing as he prepared to fight.

The wolf was suddenly lifted into the air and flung away from them.

Belle and Riley watched as Vincent lifted five other wolves and flung them against the nearest wall with a flick of his wrist. With a murmur in French, the wolves fell to the ground unconscious. Vincent barely glanced at them before moving down the street to keep incapacitating more wolves.

"Thanks!" Belle shouted after him.

"Take them inside," Cary yelled at them from across the street. "The witches are going to try and break the spell that turned them!" he shouted as he avoided a punch from one vampire.

Belle and Riley nodded and carried two wolves each towards the compound. Belle looked over her shoulder one last time and saw Elijah battling three vampires. The wolf he had been fighting with a few minutes before, laid dead a few feet away from him. She could only hope that the battle would be over soon.

* * *

 **Bennett mansion**

Dahlia materialized right outside the gates. _Fools,_ was her first thought as she glanced at the mansion. The house was nestled among a bunch of trees, secluded from view. As soon as she had laid eyes on the compound, she knew that the child was not there. Dahlia had not wasted her time tracking the girl to this place. The spells surrounding the house were powerful, she had to admit but not enough to keep her away. Her lips curled into a smirk as she extended her arms. She unleashed a blast of magic that shattered the protective barrier completely. With another blast of magic, she threw open the gates and proceed inside the property.

The French Quarter was under attack, the wolves and vampires she had turned against the Mikaelsons were viciously fighting and keeping the original vampires and the hybrids entertained, even the witches of the city had come out to help. She had not seen Klaus (she knew what her sister's children looked like), he was probably inside the home with his children. He was an idiot if he thought he would be enough to protect them. She had crushed all those who stood in her way and she would gladly do the same with Freya's siblings and whoever else decided to aid them.

 _The girl belongs to me,_ Dahlia thought, stopping a few feet away from the house. Her eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously. She spun around just as a large fireball flew towards her. She diverted the attack towards an oak tree nearby, setting it a flame. "Why don't you show yourself?" she said loudly, her voice echoing with the wind. The air had turned colder, the sky was almost pitch black from the mass of clouds keeping the sun away and the property heated with the sizzling currents of power floating all around.

A tall witch dressed in black leather appeared from behind one of the trees, her face hard and her eyes gleaming with determination. She created another fire ball with her left and threw it at her without hesitation.

Once again Dahlia deflected the attack. "Is that he best you got, girl?"

"I'm only getting started," Kyra snapped with a defiant tilt of the head.

Dahlia smirked. "It seems I am at a disadvantage," she remarked as more figures stepped out of the trees. Seven witches in total encircled her, their power sizzling angrily and nearly choking the air out of her lungs. "The mighty Bennett coven, I presume." She slid her gaze over the group with mild interest. None of them were Bonnie Bennett, the woman that had carried Klaus's children in her womb and granted Dahlia another first born witch from her sister's bloodline. "I don't know whether to feel insulted or amused that your queen is hiding behind her coven." This was clearly some sort of ploy to keep her occupied while the couple did something, what exactly they were planning, Dahlia wasn't sure but she didn't care either way. She had come here for the child and nothing and no one was going to stop her. These pathetic witches would soon be lying dead at her feet.

Matching angry looks were directed her way. The air grew thicker with the intoxicating scent of magic.

"You made a big mistake coming here, bitch."

Dahlia arched an eyebrow at the tiny witch whose voice was laced with pure venom. The fire in her eyes matched the power surging from her tiny body.

"We'll skin you alive," she promised.

Dahlia's laughter was chilling. "How adorable," she mused. It truly was adorable how they thought they could stop her.

Tinisha raised her hand and a green swirl of light flew straight at Dahlia. It stopped a few inches away from her face and evaporated into nothing in a matter of seconds. They had a lot to learn. "Your usual tricks won't work on me."

"Now!" Tinisha screamed at her cousins.

All seven of the Bennett witches unleashed their most powerful attacks at the same time.

Dahlia was more than ready for them.

As some of her cousins distracted the evil witch that had come for her daughter, Bonnie completed the last part of her plan.


	93. Chapter 93

**The compound**

"Here is another one," Josh said as he carried a tiny white pup in his arms. "Found it knocked out cold underneath a bench." He still felt amazed that the wolves from the Bayou had been forced to shift, even the little children. _What kind of cold hearted evil bitch did something like that?_ Klaus's evil aunt, he knew.

"Put him there," Angelica pointed to the circle of salt in the middle of the living room. All the furniture had been moved to another room to give the witches space to work.

"Or her," Josh mumbled as he placed the white pup inside the circle. There were three other tiny wolves inside already, all unconscious. The witches were vicious when it came to fighting and protecting their own but they had mercy over the poor creatures who had turned by no fault of their own. Some of the more ruthless wolves didn't have such luck, as Josh himself had witness the way the Strix had handled them but for the most part, they were doing their best not to outright kill them.

"What?"

"Well, I can't really tell if they are male or female," Josh muttered as he contemplated the little ones. "You said he but it could very well be a she, you know."

Angelica gave him a strange look before shaking her head and kneeling on the floor to make another circle of salt. It wasn't just the smallest wolves that had been brought inside but the larger, angrier ones too. While many had been killed, plenty of others had been knocked unconscious and brought inside the compound so the witches could try and break the curse placed on them.

"You think you can break whatever spell turned them?" Josh wasn't particularly fond of the werewolves but he felt bad for them, the tiny pups specially.

"We are going to try," Angelica muttered as she handed the bowl with salt to another witch. Vincent had brought a good number of witches with him to help protect the city. The Strix had arrived just in time with an army of vampires and a coven of witches of their own, who specialized in dark magic. The leader Ariane, was working with some of the Treme witches on a counter curse to help the werewolves and the possessed vampires that had managed to survived. Even some of the French Quarter coven witches had ventured out to help. They didn't have magic so they were tending to the wounded or helping Father Kieran protect the humans inside St. Anne's church. All of New Orleans had in one way or another come together to protect the city from the attack. It was times like these, that reminded Josh that they could all get along and fight on the same side. New Orleans was their home and despite their differences, they were going to do their best to keep it safe.

"Have you seen Thierry?" Katie asked Josh. She was on the floor, tending to the arm of a teenage boy. He was from Fenrir's pack and despite his mother's protests he had decided to help during the attack. He was a brave one.

"Last I saw him, he was fighting two vamps." Josh shuddered. Most of the vampires that Dahlia had turned against them had been taken care of but there were still a handful of them left out there. The stunt Dahlia had pulled was definitely going to decimate the vampire and werewolf population.

"Better a vampire than a werewolf…" Katie muttered. Thierry was on a more even ground fighting against a vampire than a wolf whose venom could kill him. "There you go," she smiled to the boy.

"Thanks."

He stood up but Katie pushed him back down. "You're not going back out there," she said in a motherly voice. "You are going to stay here and rest."

"But I'm fine."

"The wolf that attacked you nearly ripped your arm off."

"It will heal," he protested.

"Billy, listen to Katie, you need to rest." Cary came in carrying a wounded witch in his arms.

"I can fight!" Billy protested. "And I have my ring too!" he proudly showed them the black stone he wore on his index finger. "It allows me to tap into my wolf abilities."

"But it doesn't make you invincible."

Billy growled.

"You did well out there," Cary said while he set the witch on the couch. "You need to rest now. Besides, the fight is almost over."

"Thank god," Angelica murmured while moving to tend to the injured witch.

Josh also smiled with relief.

Billy scowled but sat back down. He was young and a bit impulsive but he respected Cary and followed his orders.

Katie contemplated Billy's ring with curiosity. "Where did you get that?" she asked. She wondered if they functioned similarly to the daylight rings some of the vampires possessed.

"Bonnie made them for us," Billy answered a bit defensively. He rubbed the stone with his fingers as he spoke. "Cary has a ring that prevented him from turning into a wolf during the full moon, Bonnie found a way to replicate it. She made them better actually. We can now tap into our werewolf abilities even when there is no full moon." The awe he felt for Bonnie shone in the expression on his face. "She's amazing! The most powerful witch ever!"

Cary smiled at Billy's words and Katie took notice of the similar ring he wore on his left hand. Thierry had made no mention of the wolves having those rings. _Were the vampires aware that the wolves possessed such jewelry?_ "Do all the wolves have rings like that?" she asked curiously.

"No," was the curt reply from Cary. "Only our pack." It had been a gift from Klaus and Bonnie to their people, one they had not flaunted in the eyes of the other wolves or the vampires, to not create more friction between the species.

Katie nodded. She had more questions in regards to the rings but a strange sensation invaded her body then. She closed her eyes feeling something stirring inside her.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked, seeing the strange look on her face.

"Nothing," Katie muttered with a slight shake of her head. She hugged herself, feeling really warm all of a sudden. Her blood felt like it was burning. She started sweating.

"Katie, are you okay?" Angelica asked. She was still tending to the injured witch on the couch but had turned to look at the younger witch with concern.

Katie offered her a weak smile. She couldn't really explain what she was feeling. The heat inside her body had spread from head to toe, her fingertips in particular felt like she had little bolts of power ready to shoot out of her. It almost felt like…. She looked down at her hands and gasped.

 _Magic._

 _No, it couldn't be._

"What's the matter?" Josh asked again. "And don't say nothing cause you look like you've seen a ghost."

Katie rubbed her hands together. She felt surprised, happy, and terrified all at once. _Could it really be true?_ She closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel it, that incredible power that she had known all her life, the one she had grown up with, and had been taken away from her without her even noticing. It was back. _I have magic again._ Katie opened her eyes and started laughing.

Josh, Billy, and Cary exchanged matching looks of confusion while Angelica studied the younger witch's profile with interest. As a witch, Angelica could feel it. Not to the same degree as Katie, but it was obvious to her that Katie had power radiating off her body. "Are you…" she trailed off unsure.

"I have my magic back!" Katie's grin could have outshoned the sun itself. "I'm a witch again." Her eyes were filled with tears. She could feel it. She had her magic! In order to prove to herself that she was not imagining things, she raised her left hand and stared at the living room door. With a flick of her wrist, the door closed shut.

Yes, her magic was definitely back.

Before anyone could say anything, Katie rushed out of the compound in search of her lover.

* * *

 **Bennett Mansion**

From the second-floor window of one of the rooms, Davina watched the swirls of different colored light as spells were traded back and forth between the Bennett witches and Dahlia.

"Step away from the window," Joanna said as she pulled her away and closed the blinds, murmuring a protective spell in case a stray spell made its way towards them. The house was protected by powerful magic but one could never be too careful at times like this.

"If she gets through them…" Davina stopped and bit her lip. She was terrified. Dahlia had stepped inside the property without a problem and was now fighting Bonnie's cousins. Seven witches against one. Under different circumstance she would have felt confident in the Bennett witches' victory, right now she felt anything but. She began pacing around the room. There was a part of her that felt like she should be out there, helping them fight but she also knew she would never be on the same level as Bonnie and her cousins, let alone Dahlia. _I still have a lot more to learn,_ she thought sadly.

"They'll be more Bennett witches waiting for her on the first floor," Joanna replied calmly. She sat on the bed, keeping a careful eye on the twins. Ingrid and Henrik had been fed and changed but they refused to go to sleep. They were very alert and Joanna could feel the sparks of magic floating over their tiny little bodies. It was fascinating and also scary because she had never seen any witch children with so much power, not even her daughters had such active magic when they were babies.

"You think they can sense the danger?" Davina asked while staring at the twins. Ingrid and Henrik were unusually alert, a bit fussy at times but it was the sparks of magic Davina sensed coming from them that unsettled her.

"Perhaps," Joanna touched Henrik's forehead and smiled when he cooed. Ingrid raised her little hands in the air and smiled up at her. Even though Dahlia was really close, Ingrid was not agitated at all. _Because she knows Dahlia will be defeated,_ Joanna told herself. Positive thoughts like that improved her spirits and confidence in the outcome of the fight. She had to believe that Ingrid like her, felt confident in the triumph of the Bennett coven.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Davina snapped. "There is an evil witch right at our doorstep!" It was driving her crazy how calm Joanna was acting, how it seemed like it was just another normal day. And it wasn't just her, Aunt Vivian and the others had been pretty composed too. They had volunteered to face Dahlia as if they were going for a walk on the park. Davina was close to having a panic attack but for the Bennett witches it was business as usual. Surely, they could see the terrible situation they were in. They had nerves of steel and Davina couldn't help but envy them and also admire them for it.

"D don't be so loud, you are scaring peanuts." Charlotte scooped her kitten in her arms. "You'll upset the babies too," she accused.

"I'm sorry," Davina apologized quickly. "I didn't mean to, I just…"

Charlotte offered her a small reassuring smile. "It's okay," she said softly. "Mama won't let anything bad happen to us." She kissed Peanut's furry little head and beamed. "The bad witch is going to be punished."

Joanna smiled upon hearing her words and so did Davina.

Charlotte's confidence in Bonnie was unwavering and for all of their sakes, Davina prayed that whatever Bonnie had in mind would work. It had to. There was other option. She took a seat on the bed next to Joanna and watched as Charlotte continued to play with her kitten. The two of them were rather oblivious to the vicious fight taking place in the front yard. For someone who could read auras and no doubt sense the danger Dahlia represented, Charlotte was really calm and happy.

"Everything is going to be okay, Davina." Joanna placed a hand on her arm. "Trust me, we'll be okay." One way or another, the Bennett witches always found a way.

Davina could only nod and hope for the best.

* * *

Bonnie let out a shaky breath and opened her eyes, blinking a few times in confusion. She shivered, feeling hot and cold at the same time. Everything was a blur at first. She groaned as the room slowly came into focus once more. The spell had taken a toll on her body and she stood up on shaky legs.

"Bonnie," Klaus's soft voice was a sweet sound to her pounding ears. "Are you okay?" he asked, feeling concerned about her shakiness.

"…I'm fine…" she attempted to take a step forward but she stumbled, her legs felt like jelly.

Klaus caught her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her trembling body against his own. Her skin felt cold as ice and her sweet perfume was clouded by the intoxicating scent of magic which clung to her like a second skin. He buried his head against the side of her neck, his gums itching, and his mouth watering at the tantalizing aroma. He rubbed his nose against the curve of her neck and hummed in approval. The vampire in him wanted to sink his fangs into her delicate flesh and drink her precious blood, the wolf on the other hand, wanted to keep her in his arms forever, mark her as his, and mix his own earthly scent with hers. He could push her against the wall and-

"Keep your paws off her, vampire."

That arrogant voice brought Klaus out of his trance. He lifted his head and glared at Qetsiyah, his hybrid eyes warning her not to provoke him.

Qetsiyah smirked and glared at him, clearly unafraid of his intimidating looks. "We're wasting time," she reminded Bonnie in a stern voice. "Pull yourself together," she ordered. "We have a lot to do still."

Bonnie sighed and pulled away from Klaus, not completely because he didn't let her. He kept his hands on her waist, holding her close and ensuring she wouldn't stumble again.

The ghostly figures of her ancestors watched the couple with unreadable eyes. While they had no choice but to accept Bonnie's mate, some could not hide their displeasure. Klaus's family after all, had produced the greatest enemy their family had to face. His own aunt was outside the house, unleashing hell on the Bennett coven in order to claim a daughter from their illustrious line.

"Where is Ayana?" Klaus asked the women circling him and Bonnie. He recognized Bonnie's grandmother, and great-grandmother, as well as a bunch of others but he could not see the familiar and comforting face of the woman he considered a mother. He would have felt better knowing that Ayana would be with Bonnie.

Sheila and Amelia exchanged knowing looks but did not answer his question.

"Where is she?" Klaus focused his amber eyes on Ayana's daughter, Alina.

"She's working on something," Alina responded in a soft voice. "In case things…" she left the sentence hang in the air and looked at Bonnie. "How are you feeling?" she changed the subject quickly.

Bonnie pushed her hair out of her face and licked her lips. "I'm fine."

"It will take a few minutes for your body to adjust to all our power," Pauline murmured.

"I still think this plan is stupid," another younger girl muttered under her breath.

"It's the best we got," Ernestine glared at her. "Dahlia is too powerful. In order for Bonnie to stop her, they need to be on equal footing."

"That wicked witch has been stealing the magic of hundreds, thousands of witches even, she won't go down without one heck of a fight," another Bennett ancestor corroborated. "Our combined power will make the difference." She gave Bonnie and encouraging smile.

Klaus studied Bonnie's face, tenderly tracing her cheek with his knuckles. "You should have more of my blood," he whispered. She had drunk some of his blood prior to starting the ritual but he wanted her to have more, just in case.

"I'm fine," Bonnie insisted. "My body needs to adjust, that is all." She touched his face with her hand and smiled weakly at him. "Remember the first time I kicked your ass?"

"How could I forget?" Klaus smirked at the memory. She had made quite an impression on him that night.

"This is just like that time."

"No, it's not." It was one thing to channel the power of a hundred dead witches in order to stop him from breaking his curse but it was another different thing to channel the entire Bennett bloodline, at least the ones that were dead. Few witches if any, were capable of withstanding so much power. It was a miracle she was even standing but that was his Bonnie, always beating the odds and proving what an extraordinary witch she was.

"You need to stay inside the room with the kids and Joanna," Bonnie told him. "No matter what happens, I need you to remain inside and keep them safe."

"I could distract Dahlia, I can-"

"We don't want her to be distracted," Sheila muttered. "On the contrary, we need her to focus on Bonnie and not see or sense us." It was the only way their plan would work.

Klaus was ready to protest but Bonnie silenced him with a kiss. She didn't care that her ancestors and her Grams were present, she wanted, no, she needed to kiss him, to feel his love and support echoing in her blood. Klaus kissed her back, desperately wanting her to know how much he loved her and how much he believed in her.

Grams cleared her throat after a couple of minutes. "Bonnie," she said. "It's time."

Klaus groaned in protest as Bonnie reluctantly pulled away from his mouth. "Keep them safe," she whispered against his lips. "Promise me."

"I promise," Klaus kissed her again, his arms tightening around her small frame. He didn't want to let her go, he didn't want to watch from the sidelines as she defended their family, he wanted to help her, be there for her every step of the way. _But you don't have magic, you don't stand a chance against Dahlia._ As much as it pained him, Klaus knew he had no choice but to let Bonnie and her family do their thing. He believed in her, he trusted her with all his heart, Klaus knew Bonnie could do it.

Bonnie had to pull away from him, if she didn't, he was going to keep kissing her and holding her in his arms and she knew she couldn't afford to lose more time. With one last kiss, she pulled away from his embrace completely and moved her gaze around the witches gathered inside the room. Her dead ancestors, the women whose power and strength she now possessed.

"You can do this," Grams said with a proud look. "Our spirits will remain with you to the very end," she promised. "We are one now. Our power is your own. Our will is your own."

"Thank you," Bonnie said, feeling extremely grateful for what they were doing for her and her family. "All of you, thank you. Thank you so much." Without them helping her, she would have been lost and alone.

"We're family," Amelia said with a proud grin. "We will always help you, Bonnie."

Ernestine nodded. "You are not alone."

Bonnie grinned, feeling proud of her family and the lengths they were willing to go to keep each other safe.

"It's time," Qetsiyah told her.

Bonnie nodded. With one last lingering look at Klaus she and her ancestors made their way out of the house.

The time had come to face Dahlia at last.

* * *

The Bennett witches knew that their plan of distraction would come at a cost. From the moment they had agreed to be part of the Bennett coven and help Bonnie, they knew that sooner or later they would face death and while they had fought other battles before, none had been as dangerous as this one.

Dahlia was an incredibly talented and powerful witch, one who was more than capable of handling herself against seven Bennett witches. Her magic was a destructive force that seemed to take the life out of all the living things surrounding the mansion. It was dark and vicious and at times, it felt like it was unstoppable.

Lucrecia, Amina, and Aunt Vivian- three of the four elders of the coven led the charge against Dahlia with Kyra, Cecily, Adriane, and Tinisha following them. The rest of the coven was inside the house, protecting the kids as Bonnie completed the second part of the plan.

The Bennett witches that had come outside to meet Dahlia had all done so voluntarily. They knew the risks they would be taking and were more than willing to face them. Not just for Bonnie and her children but for the future Bennett generations and the many innocent witches that had fallen victim to Dahlia's power-hungry ways.

Spells flew back and forth as all seven of them attacked Dahlia at once, firing all the most powerful spells they knew. Dahlia could not only block their attacks but also turn their own spells against them. She also had an arsenal of her own creation flying at them with incredible speed and potency. Dahlia was a seasoned warrior and fought with the knowledge and the confidence of a superior witch.

The battlefield was charged with electricity. Each attack leaving a strong residue of magic behind which fueled the earth and mingled with the already existing currents of magic floating around the city, it was a dangerous combination. One that if ignited, could destroy half of New Orleans.

The sky was illuminated by smoke and swirls of different color light as each attack clashed against each other.

All the Bennett witches had placed protective shields around themselves and were careful to keep out of each other's way as they attacked in unison. The last thing anyone wanted was to be hit with a stray spell. They coordinated their attacks in an effective manner but Dahlia always seemed to be a step ahead of them and found ways to block and destroy their attacks with an ease that scared them.

Dahlia entertained them for a while, letting them attack her, and allowing them to showcase their power to the best of their abilities. It had been years, over two centuries maybe since she had actually fought a coven of witches and she found herself wanting to flaunt her superiority in their faces. It would make their surrender and destruction all the sweeter.

When she grew bored, she decided to end it all with a single blast of immense dark magic. She extended both of her arms and let out a vicious attack that crushed the protective shields the Bennett witches had placed around each other. Three of them stumbled to their knees from the wave of dark magic that hit them, two were sent flying back a good fifty feet away from the battlefield, and one sank to her knees screaming in agony as the dark tendrils of Dahlia's magic cut her skin open. Only Aunt Vivian was left standing, the only one that had been capable of withstanding the terrible assault. She looked around in shock at the chaotic scene Dahlia's attack left behind.

"So much for skinning me alive," Dahlia taunted the tiny Bennett witch who fell down on the grass, crying out in pain as she bled to death.

"Tinisha!" Adriane yelled and hurried to her cousin's side, a handful of healing spells spilling from her lips as she got down on her knees to help her.

Tinisha made a strange choking noise as blood poured out of her mouth and the hundreds of deep smaller cuts scattered all over her body. Her body convulsed for a couple of seconds, before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she went completely still.

Adriane let out an anguish cry when she realized her cousin was dead. Her healing spells had been unable to close the wounds in time. "Nooo!" she screamed and placed her hands over Tinisha's bloodied chest. "You can't be dead…no…please…" everything had happened so fast, she still couldn't believe what she was witnessing. "Come on," she urged while attempting to resuscitate her. "Please…" she cried. Tinisha's heart had stopped beating and there was nothing Adriane could do to bring her back.

Kyra summoned a ring of fire and charged at Dahlia with rage. She made different motions with her hands and the fire became a long chain of flames that trapped Dahlia in a surprising attack her barrier was unable to stop. The only response from the evil witch was a groan and an angry look as the chain of fire attempted to squeeze her and burn her flesh. Kyra fueled the chain with all the power she could muster.

Dahlia groaned as the rope of fire twisted around her body, burning her, and melting her skin to the bone. The attack would have killed an ordinary witch already but she was anything but, ordinary. It hurt, more than she anticipated but she refused to cry out in pain. She would not give them that satisfaction. She closed her eyes, concentrating on a counter spell. The rope of fire turned to water.

Kyra gasped. She couldn't believe how quickly Dahlia had gotten free from her most powerful spell.

Now it was Dahlia's turn to smirk. She flicked her wrist and Kyra was suddenly lifted into the air.

"Kyra!" Adriane screamed.

Kyra gasped and struggled against the invisible hands choking her. Her magic fought to break the hold Dahlia had on her but it was in vain. She couldn't do it. Dahlia's dark magic was blocking all of her attacks and keeping her hostage.

"I had enough of this childish game," Dahlia hissed and with another flick of her wrist, decapitated Kyra. The leather clad body fell to the ground with a thud, while the head rolled close to where a crying Adriane was. She stared at Kyra's head while cradling Tinisha's dead body in her arms, a look of pure horror on her face.

The rest of the Bennett coven kept attacking Dahlia.

The two witches who had been flown into the forest, came running back. Amina was limping and fell behind while Cecily kept going forward, hands outstretched as she sent angry swirls of power at Dahlia. Lucrecia who had stumbled down after the first attack, stood up and joined her niece in a combined attack against Dahlia. Vivian for her part, kept flicking her hand and releasing angry bursts of magic at Dahlia.

Dahlia sent another wave of dark magic at them.

Vivian managed to deflect the attack, although she fell to the ground.

Lucrecia ducked and rolled out of the way, creating a circle of protection around her body.

Cecily managed to put a shield at the last second but it wasn't strong enough to stop the terrible curse sent her way.

"Cecily!" Aunt Vivian screamed when she saw the orange light hit her granddaughter right on the chest.

Cecily gasped, her eyes went wide, and her lips parted in shock before falling to the ground, dead.

Adriane who was still cradling Tinisha's body screamed as she saw her sister fall to the ground. It was one awful death after another. Her heart couldn't take it. This was a terrible nightmare and she wanted to wake up.

Amina after seeing what had happened, charged at Dahlia with all her strength. She fired one spell after another, trying to find a weak spot, any crack in Dalia's armor that would give them the advantage. Unfortunately, she found none. Dahlia blocked or crushed every single one of her attacks without breaking a sweat. The last one, sent her flying back against a tree and knocked Amina unconscious.

Vivian squeezed her eyes shut, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she tried to process what she had just seen. She opened her eyes and contemplated her granddaughter's dead body. She had been unable to protect her. _Her sweet Cecily_. She allowed herself a moment of grief, a single moment in which her heart was torn open and her body bled for her grandchild before pulling herself together. With tearful green eyes, she sought Lucrecia's face and made a motion with her head. Lucrecia understood the silent message, quickly making her way to Adriane, and pulling her to safety.

Vivian pushed her pain aside and focused on Dahlia.

"You really think you can stand a chance against me, old woman." Dahlia saw the elder woman dragging the crying younger girl back inside the house out of the corner of her eye. _Running with their tails between their legs,_ was her gleeful thought. The Bennett women were a bunch of cowards. She could have killed them right then but instead, she allowed them to get inside, focusing on the elder witch in front of her instead.

Vivian squeezed her fingers into a tight fist.

Dahlia was pushed back by an invisible force, she would have landed on her butt had she not had a protective barrier around herself. She smirked, feeling amused by the fury in the older woman's face. "You're wasting your time," she told her. "You are no match for me."

"We'll see about that," Vivian muttered and released another powerful wave of magic. Her attacks were fueled by her anger and grief. She wanted vengeance and her magic reacted to her desires with a viciousness that could match Dahlia's.

In the end, it was just the two of them.

Dahlia was vicious, she was capable of sending multiple swirls of magic at Vivian with the intention to hurt and kill. She wasn't holding back now. She was determined to crush and humiliate the older woman. _I will make an example out of you,_ she thought as she sent wave after wave of powerful attacks.

Vivian's knee was crushed, her arm was cut with a poisonous attack that should have left her on the ground crying out in agony but she kept going. Her determination, her experience, and above all the anger she felt fueled her magic into a roaring fire that was determined to annihilate her enemy, even at the cost of death. Her grandbaby was dead and Vivian was going to burn the world to the ground and avenge her, even if it was the last thing she did on this earth.

But even with all her determination and skill, Vivian was hit with a blue light that paralyzed her body completely. She gasped and stared at Dahlia in bewilderment. The wicked woman had found a way to get through her shield and hit her right on the chest.

"I have indulged you, long enough." Dahlia walked closer to her, her eyes glinting maliciously. "I can't deny that you have spirit. You fought bravely and far better than your pathetic little group but I grow tired of humiliating your family." She tilted her head to the side, thinking of the perfect spell that would teach the old hag a lesson. "I came here for something and I won't be distracted any longer." She raised her left hand.

"And I thought we were having so much fun," Vivian spat.

A flicker of surprise crossed Dahlia's features. The spell was supposed to not only paralyze Vivian but keep her tongue tied up as well.

Vivian smiled knowingly. Even when she was covered in sweat and blood, was tied up and in pain, she still had her pride. She had gone down but she was going to have the last word.

"It's over."

"It's just starting," Vivian hissed, a low chuckle escaping her as she felt the surge of power in the air. She could feel them, they were coming, all of them. She couldn't stop the small smile forming on her lips.

Dahlia sneered down at her and forced her into her knees.

Vivian whimpered as Dahlia's magic pushed her into a kneeling position. The dark tendrils cutting her skin open and causing her to bleed through her clothes. She swallowed her pain and forced her face up, arrogantly tilting her head and smirking up at the evil woman. She summoned every last bit of magic she had left in her. _If I'm gong down, I will take you with me,_ she swore as she prepared herself to unleash one last powerful attack.

"Any last words?"

"Burn in hell!"

Dahlia muttered her curse and Vivian unleashed a blast of magic that created ripples on the earth, as if a small earthquake had shaken the mansion grounds.

"Get away from her!"

At the same time Dahlia's and Vivian's magic met, a swirl of white light slammed through and incinerated Dahlia's evil curse before it could take effect. The force of it, actually knocked Dahlia off her feet. She ended up on her hands and knees, gasping for air as a strange thick smoke surrounded her. Both attacks had been evaporated into nothing. She looked up just as the smoke cleared, her dark eyes focusing on the lone figure walking down the front of steps of the mansion. Dahlia coughed and was shocked to spit blood. _The attack had actually hurt her._

"Not so mighty after all," Vivian taunted.

Dahlia glared at her and turned to the young woman slowly making her way towards her.

Bonnie Bennett had arrived.

* * *

 **Prison world**

She sat on a rock, near a stream of crystalline water. The air was sweet with the perfume from the wild flowers surrounding the forest and the sky was a beautiful cloudless blue. This was such a peaceful place, so different from the other side, and the torment she had known for a thousand years. Being here, alone, without anyone to talk to, or conspire with, it made her _think_ a lot; about the past, about her family, about her _deeds._ She had been able to reflect on a lot of things. This solitary confinement had been an eye opener of sorts for her and had stirred a lot of emotions inside her. _How could she have let things get this far?_

A soft breeze and a slight tingle down her spine had her turning her head to the side and frowning at the presence that disturbed the quietness of the forest. She didn't think she would ever see her again, not so soon anyway. "What are you doing here, Ayana?" Esther asked, her voice devoid of any emotion. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Ayana made her way towards her with determined steps, a troubled look on her face. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here and that put Esther on the alert. Something had clearly happened for Ayana to seek her out, _something bad._ She stared into the older woman's troubled face, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Instinctively, Esther knew.

"Dahlia," Ayana said simply. "She has come for Bonnie's child."

Esther's face did not betray her emotions but the mere mention of her sister had her trembling. The fear that name inspired in her, the anger, the pain, it was overwhelming. _Dahlia,_ the sister she had loved and confided in, the one who had promised to help her conceive a child and stolen her first-born in turn, her own blood who had ruined her life. Dahlia had been the beginning of it all and now she would be the end. _But you knew she would come, didn't you?_ Since she found out that Bonnie was carrying Niklaus's children, she knew Dahlia would come for them just like she had done with Freya. She had warned them about it too. "I told you she would."

Ayana came to stand beside her, her eyes staring at the stream a few feet away from them. She didn't say anything; one look was enough to convey her thoughts. Esther had been her best friend once upon a time, she knew her well.

Esther chuckled. "You came seeking my help," she murmured. "I knew it all along." She stared into Ayana's eyes. "Didn't I tell you when you locked me in here? _You need me_."

"I didn't want to believe that we could possibly need your help to stop Dahlia," Ayana had no shame in admitting that she had been wrong.

"But here you are."

"She's more powerful than we expected. She's practically immortal too," Ayana watched her carefully. "We have a plan but I fear that our magic won't be enough to hold her down."

Esther considered her words. "You are going to put her in a prison world like you did with me," she was able to deduce from Ayana's careful words.

Ayana gave a slight nod. "She has been stealing the magic from countless of witches," she revealed. "Our coven is fighting a witch but it can very well be said that they are fighting hundreds of witches, so great is her power."

Esther shivered. She better than anyone knew that stealing another witch's magic, keeping that power to oneself, and controlling it was something only an incredibly gifted witch could achieve. And Dahlia had been gifted, Dahlia had always been the best at everything and if she had also been able to achieve some form of immortality, she shook her head. _The prison world won't be able to hold her down. She will find a way to escape eventually._

"I have a plan, one that would help reinforce the work Bonnie and her coven is doing," Ayana continued. "It's going to take all of us, Esther. Together."

"And what makes you think I will help you with this plan of yours?" Esther snapped.

"You owe it to your children," was Ayana's honest reply. "You owe it to Freya."

Esther's eyes narrowed angrily. She didn't like that Ayana was using her daughter's name to manipulate her into helping them. "Don't-"

"She's in New Orleans," Ayana informed her. "She has met her siblings, she's going to help them defeat Dahlia."

"What?" Esther stuttered. "Freya is alive?"

"Yes."

A strange choking sound made its way past her lips. Esther turned away, heart clenching painfully in her chest. _Freya, her sweet Freya_. "I thought she was dead…I…" she had spent a lot of time searching for her on the other side, hoping, praying that she would see her child one last time. But Freya had been alive this whole time. "How?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"Dahlia found a way for them to remain alive all this time," Ayana told her. "Freya escaped from her eventually and found her way to New Orleans, she has been reunited with her siblings and is helping them to protect Ingrid."

Esther whimpered, struggling to contain her tears.

"You owe it to your daughter, Esther. You owe it to Niklaus and his daughter. You owe it to your children."

"I-"

"Dahlia is coming for your granddaughter," Ayana moved closer. "She will stop at nothing to get Ingrid. Freya was able to fight her influence by clinging to the love she felt for her family, and to the hope of seeing them again. Ingrid is a baby, if Dahlia takes her she won't remember her mother or her father or the people that love her. Dahlia will take everything from her, she will ruin her life," Ayana remarked. "You are one of the few people in this world that can stand up to her."

"I'm not as powerful as my sister," Esther muttered as she finally met Ayana's eyes. "She's…" her voice shook. "She's always been better than me," she sounded defeated, scared even. "I won't be of any use to you."

"She doesn't expect to see you," Ayana commented.

Esther frowned.

"For once in your life, do what is right!"

Esther hugged herself.

"Esther, for the friendship we once had, I'm asking you to do what is necessary to protect your children and your grandchildren." Ayana kneeled on the grass, right in front of her, and took her hands. "You love them, I know you do." Their eyes locked once more. "As misguided as you are, and despite all the terrible things you have done, I do believe your love for your children is real."

"Of course, I love them!" Esther felt indignant. "Everything I have done is because I love them! Because I tried to fix things and-" She trailed off. _Did it matter now what her reasons had been?_ All she had ever wanted was to keep them safe, to protect them from everyone and everything and in doing so she had turn them into bloodthirsty monsters. She looked away, feeling broken and sad. She had ruined everything.

"Then fight for them, Esther." Ayana squeezed her hands. "Help me save them."

There was a long pause.

Esther swallowed the knot in her throat and finally gave a slight nod.

She had nothing to lose.

* * *

 **Bennett Mansion**

Dahlia stood up, her eyes focused on the young woman walking down the front steps of the mansion. "Bonnie Bennett."

"Dahlia," Bonnie greeted in turn.

The currents of magic surrounding both women grew stronger as the two witches came face to face at last. Lenore who had followed Bonnie out of the house, ran down the steps and went to help aunt Vivian, pulling her to her feet and walking her back inside the house.

Lightning flashed across the dark sky.

The wind picked up.

The magic that had been released from the fight crackled; little electric bolts of power that were seconds away from igniting a firestorm.

Dahlia was unimpressed by the so-called queen of the Bennett coven. The only remarkable thing about Bonnie Bennett were her eyes; sparkling emeralds which were focused solely on her. There was not a hint of fear or anger on her face. No, those eyes looked far too old for a face so young. It seemed Bonnie Bennett was no stranger to confrontations like this. The defiance Dahlia saw reflected on her face made her angry. _Insolent girl,_ she thought while using her height to intimidate the younger and shorter witch, looking down on her as if she were beneath her. In reality, she was. Dahlia was older, stronger, wiser, and far more powerful than the girl could imagine. She had every reason to feel superior. "You finally decided to join us."

Bonnie's eyes flickered towards the dead bodies scattered on the frown lawn. The pain she felt easily reflected on her face. She did her best to hold back the anguish cry that wanted to slip past her lips. _You can't let her see your weakness, you can't allow her to get the upper hand._

 _They're dead because of me._

 _Don't think about that now. Focus!_

Dahlia gave her a malicious grin. "You sent them to fight your battles for you," she remarked. She could see how affected Bonnie was, how guilty she felt, and she was more than ready to pounce on that weakness in order to destroy her. "What kind of coward hides behind her family?"

Bonnie's eyes snapped in her direction, a murderous look reflected on the green pools, and Dahlia could have sworn she saw a hint of gold as well. It must have been a trick, caused by the lightning illuminating the sky.

"I took great pleasure in killing them."

Bonnie's magic flared and her eyes grew colder.

"Quite an easy prey they were, except for the old woman," Dahlia admitted. "She did live up to her name." She took a step closer, allowing her dark power to surface and intimidate the younger witch. "Will you live up to your name?"

"You're about to find out," Bonnie snapped. She also allowed her magic to surface, she wanted Dahlia to sense her power, to know that she wasn't as weak and defenseless as she thought.

Dahlia chuckled and took the time to study her opponent. Neither of them said anything for a couple of tense moments. Their magic sizzled as it grew closer and closer, ready to clash together in battle. The mansion and its surrounding areas were not big enough for the incredible power that both of them wielded.

"Where is she?" Dahlia asked at last.

"Ingrid is safe," Bonnie replied calmly.

"Safe…" Dahlia murmured while looking up at the house. "What is safe?" she wondered, her eyes glinting with a strange emotion as she focused on a second-floor window. _There she was,_ she could feel her _._ She looked back at Bonnie. "It didn't have to come to this, you know."

Bonnie snorted. _Yeah right,_ she thought bitterly.

"You are younger than I expected," she found herself saying. "A child in many ways still." If she expected Bonnie to be offended, she was sorely disappointed by the lack of reaction her words received.

"Compared to an old mummy like you, I guess I'm a child still."

Dahlia chuckled. Another witch would have been offended by the remark but she found it amusing. She began walking, circling Bonnie, intimidating her with her closeness and growing power. "Ingrid is a lovely name," Dahlia mused. "A strong name, a queen's name." She allowed her magic to get even closer, to probe, and show Bonnie what she was dealing with. "I have killed four witches from your coven," she remarked. "Isn't that enough to prove to you that you can't win this fight? That I will take Ingrid no matter the cost."

Bonnie's magic reacted in turn, pushing back, and letting Dahlia know she wasn't a defenseless witch. She had power and was not afraid to use it. "You will pay for that," she swore. "Make no mistake."

"Step aside."

Bonnie gave her an incredulous look.

"You have your son to think about," Dahlia said in soft voice. "You can live the rest of your life in peace, you can raise your child with your lover and his family." Her voice was so sweet, so gentle, she almost sounded like a mother advising her child. "You can have more children even. It doesn't have to end tonight."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?"

Dahlia's jaw clenched. "I am giving you the opportunity to live Bonnie." She stared into her eyes. "Allow me to take Ingrid without a fuss and you have my word, I shall leave you and your family alone."

Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She laughed. She couldn't help it; the proposal Dahlia had just made to her was ridiculous. "You murdered my cousins!"

"If you hadn't sent them to fight your battles for you they would be alive!" Dahlia snapped back. "They attacked, I was merely defending myself."

"You and Esther are more alike than I first thought," Bonnie said.

Something flickered across Dahlia's eyes at the mention of her sister, an emotion that had her magic swirling and threatening to be unleashed at any given second.

"You both like to twist the truth and convince yourselves that what you are doing is right. You both are manipulate, twisted, and crazy!"

A shot of yellow light flew straight at her, the spell mentally sent by Dahlia who had let her anger get the best of her.

With a flick of her wrist, Bonnie sent the attack against the closest tree which erupted in flame. "Did I hit a nerve, Dahlia?" she hissed. "Don't you like being compared with your sister?"

A string of different color spells was shot at her next.

With a wave of her hand, Bonnie evaporated every single one of the color lights, until there was only smoke in between both of them.

Dahlia regarded her carefully, clearly not having expected Bonnie to deflect her attacks so easily. "You have no idea who you are dealing with, child."

"I know exactly who I'm dealing with," Bonnie fired back. "A deranged woman who kills and destroys innocent lives in her pursuit of power. You are a cold-hearted bitch who thrives in hurting innocent people, terrorizing and manipulating them, and stealing babies from their mothers." Her power grew with each of her words, causing strong winds to descend over the mansion grounds and thunder to flash across the dark sky. "You are using the werewolves from the Bayou, and hurting innocent humans in the process," she continued in an emotional voice. "And all for what? More power…" she shook her head. "Isn't what you have enough?"

"A witch like myself can never conform," Dahlia responded in an acid voice. "There is always more power for the taking, more magic to possess and control." There was a hard look on her face as she locked eyes with Bonnie. "Do you know what is like to crave power?" she asked. "To take, to feed from the magic of others and do things no one ever thought possible." When Bonnie didn't say anything, she continued, "Once you have tasted the power I have, there is no going back."

"Ingrid is a baby," Bonnie told her. "Only a monster would rip a child from her mother's arms."

"She's mine!" Dahlia hissed and took a menacing step closer. "She was promised to me centuries ago, long before you were even born. She is the last piece I need to achieve eternal glory." She was so close and this stupid girl and her family were getting in the way of it. "Ingrid, Freya, and I will form the perfect triangle of power." There was a wild look on her face as she glared at Bonnie. "There is nothing you or anyone can do to stop me from getting what is mine."

"She's not yours!" Bonnie growled, her eyes flashing gold, and her magic flaring dangerously. "I won't let you take her from me," she snarled while angry veins formed beneath her eyes. Her magic was close to the breaking point and she was taping into Klaus's hybrid abilities to give her the strength to withstand the power flowing through her veins.

"I gave you a choice," Dahlia hissed. "You refused me."

"You are an idiot if for a single moment you actually thought I would accept that stupid deal!"

Now it was Dahlia's turn to growl. "And now you will die."

The explosion of magic that followed was like an atomic bomb going off.

* * *

Bonnie and Dahlia were equally determined, vicious, and evenly matched in their attacks. They attacked without hesitation, their magic clashing in midair and creating a shower of different color lights. It was like fireworks against a turbulent sky.

A couple of stray spells hit the mansion but were easily rebounded by the protective barriers around the house.

Klaus watched from the second-floor window, his heart in his throat when he saw one nasty curse hit Bonnie's leg. She retaliated fairly quickly, with a shot of blue light that knocked Dahlia off her feet, followed by another burst of energy that cut her cheek.

Dahlia looked surprised as she touched her face and stared at the blood. The cut healed almost instantly but Bonnie had managed to hurt her. A feat she repeated again a few seconds later by breaking her left arm.

"Yes!" He heard Davina cheered as she peeked through the blinds. Joanna had told her to stay away from the window but seeing Klaus standing there, gave her the courage to do the same. The two of them watched the magnificent display of magic, feeling amazed by the way Bonnie was handling herself.

Klaus glanced at her and she offered him a sheepish smile. "Bonnie can win this."

"She will win," Klaus promised. He could feel her determination through their bond. Bonnie was not going to surrender, she was going to fight to the very end. _Come on,_ he thought as he looked at the small swirls of white light slowly moving into position. He was able to spot them because he was actively looking for them and his superior hybrid senses also helped to see what other couldn't with the naked eye. The rest of Bonnie's coven had to be careful not to be seen by Dahlia. If Dahlia discovered what they were doing, all hell was going to break loose.

"We're going to win."

Charlotte took his hand and smiled up at him.

Klaus looked down and her met her confident green eyes with a grin of his own. "We will." They had to, there was no other choice.

"I'm glad you are here with us," she gave his hand a hard squeeze.

"This is where I'm supposed to be," Klaus murmured. "Keeping you safe." He had promised Bonnie and he intended to keep that promise at all cost.

"I think you are doing a good job."

Klaus smiled at that, feeling touched by her words. He had hardly done anything, Bonnie and her coven were doing all the work. He actually felt rather useless, standing there doing nothing and waiting for the Bennett witches to deliver the final blow. He appreciated Charlotte's devotion to him though.

"What is that?"

Joanna's voice got their attention.

Klaus and Charlotte turned to the armchair near the bed where Joanna was sitting on. There was a strange look on her face as she stared at a point above their heads.

"That light," Joanna pointed out.

Klaus and Charlotte looked up at the sparks of white light forming above their heads.

"So pretty," Charlotte whispered, a giggle escaped her when a warm tingle invaded her body.

The strange light grew stronger and began cascading down Klaus's body. He felt a warm tingle spread all over him and then there was a strange pull. He was suddenly lifted into the air.

"Look out!" Davina's warning came too late.

"No!" Charlotte yelled.

The light took Klaus away.

He felt Charlotte's fingers slip away from his grasp and heard her horrified scream as a powerful force teleported him out of the room and out of the house.

" _Daddy!"_

* * *

The air was knocked out of Bonnie's lungs when a particular nasty spell went past her shield and hit her in the stomach. She groaned and sank to her hands and knees, struggling to breathe. She was sweating through her clothes, there was a nasty cut on the side of her face and her left leg burned. Dahlia had broken a couple of her bones but thanks to Klaus's blood in her system, she had healed and gotten the strength to keep going.

 _How long had it been?_

 _Hours?_

 _Days?_

Fighting Dahlia was not like fighting Silas and the Seer and her coven. With them, Bonnie had felt like she had the advantage, with Dahlia she was struggling to keep up.

A cold tingle down her spine had her looking up all of a sudden.

A nasty ball of purple light stopped centimeters away from her face. Blood oozed down her nose as she destroyed the ball of purple energy with her magic. She didn't know what spell she had used or what protective shield she had in place. She was allowing her magic to guide her, the power she was channeling from her ancestors was incredible and had saved her ass plenty of times already as she kept up with Dahlia's formidable magic.

Bonnie tried to stand up but her knees ended up buckling over. Channeling so much magic was taking a toll on her. She was human after all; no human witch could withstand all the power she had flowing through her veins without hurting or exhausting herself in the process. Not to mention she was battling an evil witch.

As an immortal witch, Dahlia didn't have that problem and was taking full advantage of Bonnie's very human weaknesses. "Are you ready to surrender?"

Bonnie summoned a wave of destructive power and threw a large red ball of magic at her.

Dahlia had to use both of her hands to catch the sphere of magic and she actually whimpered as she crushed it with her own magic. She had the advantage over Bonnie but the cracks in her armor were finally showing. She never had to fight for so long. She had faced seven Bennett witches and now was facing their annoying queen and as powerful as she was, she was also starting to feel tired. She didn't like it. She knew she had to end this before she magically exhausted herself.

While Bonnie wiped the blood from her nose, Dahlia took the opportunity to catch her breath. The insolent girl had more power than she had anticipated. _But it's still not enough to defeat me,_ she thought with all the arrogance in the world. An idea occurred to her then, and she smirked.

Bonnie let out a scream as she saw a bunch of scorpions crawling over her. "Incendia!" she screamed and set them all aflame. She tried to stand up but found herself glued to the ground. _What the hell?_ She looked up and found Dahlia looming over her, an evil smirk gracing her features.

"Witches who get distracted always pay the price."

Bonnie glared at her.

"You're more powerful than I expected and I must confess to have indulged you in this fight."

"You really love hearing yourself talk, don't you?"

Dahlia's eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Stupid girl," she hissed, her magic slithering around Bonnie's body, squeezing her body, crushing her bones, and almost choking the life out of her. "Can't you see? you lost."

Bonnie lifted her head, a defiant look on her face. "I'm not alone," she whispered, despite her shaky voice and tired expression, she managed a disarming smile.

Dahlia frowned. _What the hell was that supposed to mean?_

"I'm not the only Bennett you are facing," Bonnie unleashed an incredible burst of magic that broke through Dahlia's spell. Her legs felt like jelly and her head hurt but she managed to stand up after being released from her hold.

That's when Dahlia heard it.

 _Phasmatos tribum…_

 _sequitas sanquiem…_

 _lux…_

 _carcerem…_

Chanting.

Now that she had finally noticed it, the chanting grew louder and the magic that had slowly been circling her emerged from the shadows to create a ring of fire around her and Bonnie.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dahlia spun around, her eyes finally noticing the ghostly figures, and the flesh and blood witches circling her, standing outside the ring of fire, holding hands and chanting in harmony. _Why hadn't she noticed them before? Why had she not sensed their great power?_

The flames shot up high into the air, the thick scent of magic nearly overwhelming her senses. _Where had all this power come from? Why hadn't her senses picked it up?_

Bonnie took a couple of steps back and held hands with Qetsiyah to her right and her Grams to her left. As soon as she held hands with them, the spell took effect. The dead and living Bennett witches were one and the same. They stood side by side, their power mixing together, their lips moving frantically as they chanted the ancient spell in unison. They had worked hard, slowly but surely, for this moment.

Dahlia let out an enraged scream as she felt the force of the Bennett magic imprisoning her. Invisible walls surfaced from the ground, sealing the perimeter and creating an entirely new world for her to inhabit.

The earth shook violently as Dahlia unleashed a powerful burst of dark power. It clashed against the ring of fire and disintegrated into nothing. The prison walls were in place, the spell to trap her was almost done. While she had been busy fighting Bonnie, she had slowly fallen into the trap. Dahlia let out a frustrated scream.

 _Phasmatos tribum…_

 _sequitas sanquiem…_

 _lux…_

 _carcerem…_

The Bennett witches kept chanting, completely submerged in the moment. They knew they couldn't break their concentration, Dahlia was too dangerous to allow such weakness.

Vivian who was directly across from her, smirked. _You lost,_ her emerald eyes mocked her. _You've been bested._

Dahlia gasped, her eyes wildly searching the faces of the witches encircling her. She could feel their magic growing stronger, trapping her inside a bubble of incredible light magic. _No, this couldn't be_. She had more power than they did. She could get out of this. She was the most powerful witch the world had ever seen and was about to show this pathetic lot how wrong they were, what a mistake they made in crossing her. She closed her eyes and summoned all the magic she had inside her. She had to find a way out before they sealed the prison world for good.

The witches chanting grew louder around her.

 _Phasmatos tribum…_

 _sequitas sanquiem…_

 _lux…_

 _carcerem…_

The wind picked up.

Sparks of white light engulfed every single one of them.

The night became day.

Trees sprung from the ground.

A beautiful lake followed, and hills, and flowers.

 _Light_

 _Warmth_

 _Life_

"Yes," Lenore murmured. "We're almost there."

Bonnie closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel all the power her family had used to create the prison world. Their blood, their magic, all that made them who they were was used to design a prison world specifically for someone like Dahlia. Bonnie herself, was the anchor, the link between the dead and the living Bennett witches, the gateway between both worlds.

Dahlia had the magic of hundreds of witches, thousands even, they couldn't summon her, or teleport her into a prison world. No, the Bennett witches knew that the only way to fully stop Dahlia was to create the prison world around her and that is exactly what they did.

Vivian and the others had stalled Dahlia long enough for Bonnie to summon her dead ancestors into the living world. Bonnie fought against her while said ancestors and the rest of the Bennett coven created the prison world around them. It had been a complicated process because they had to do it slowly, silently, always mindful that a small wrong step could cause them everything but they had done it. In the end, they had trapped Dahlia. They had her. Now, it was time to complete the ritual and lock Dahlia inside for all eternity.

Dahlia stood completely still, her magic growing at an alarming rate. _You can't stop me,_ she thought as she continued to harvest her power into one lethal attack. The air around her crackled with electricity, dark veins formed around her neck and hands as the black magic she practiced came alive inside her and prepared to be unleashed towards Bonnie and her coven. Black tendrils of magic slithered out of Dahlia as the Bennett witches prepared to seal the prison world. Dahlia's eyes snapped open, turning her body so she could face Bonnie directly, a twisted grin on her face.

Bonnie stopped chanting and opened her eyes as she sensed the dangerous power inflating like a balloon.

There was a dangerous shift in the air.

"You think this will be enough to trap me?" Dahlia challenged, her eyes pinning Bonnie in place. "This little prison world of yours is not strong enough to hold me down!" she shouted before unleashing the storm of dark magic she had summoned.

The Bennett witches screamed as Dahlia's magic assaulted them.

Light and dark slammed against each other in a battle of wills.

Dahlia conjured a storm of attacks, meant to harm, to kill, and set her free. Each of the attacks were swallowed by the incredible light that surrounded all the Bennett witches. Their blood and their magic had carefully constructed a world strong enough to keep Dahlia locked for all eternity but she fought it, tooth and nail. Dahlia was not one to surrender easily, she gave everything she had, unleashing one attack after another, determined to escape.

The tremendous amount of power Dahlia released nearly knocked the Bennett witches off their feet. They all screamed in pain.

Even cornered and outnumbered, Dahlia had found a way to hurt them.

* * *

Freya insisted that they go to the Bennett mansion. Rebekah had wanted to go to the Quarter and help her brothers fight the werewolves but Freya reminded them that the biggest threat was Dahlia. And so, they went to the Bennett home. No one expected the horrific scene that greeted them.

"Oh my god!" Lucy rushed to the side of her cousins.

Rebekah recognized the decapitated body of Kyra thanks to the leather clothes she always wore. Near her head laid Tinisha, her eyes open and her face frozen in surprise. She placed a hand over her mouth. She was no stranger to dead bodies, she had seen her fair share of blood and gore throughout the centuries but these women were not just any women but powerful, intelligent, kind., and loyal cousins to Bonnie.

"This was Dahlia's doing, no doubt." Freya scanned the area, her magic searching for Dahlia.

"Is she inside?" Rebekah asked while kneeling next to another Bennett witch. Cecily, one of aunt Vivian's granddaughters. Rebekah traced her face, feeling her heart break. She looked around the lawn, searching for Aunt Vivian and Adriane. _Had they perished fighting Dahlia as well?_ She spotted Amina-whose pet snake had curled protectively over her mistress's body before turning to the house. She felt her stomach drop. _Were all the Bennett witches dead? Had Dahlia gotten Ingrid? had she hurt Nik and the girls, and Henrik?_ Rebekah's mind was in chaos.

"No," Freya looked at her sister. "I don't sense her inside the house. The kids are there though."

Rebekah felt relieved by that.

"This one is alive," Finn noted, crouching down to inspect Amina's body. Her leg was bleeding badly and she was unconscious but he could hear her heartbeat. It was hardly there but she was still clinging to life. He bit into his wrist and opened her mouth with his other hand, feeding her his vampire blood. Amina's pet snake watched him.

"The wound on her leg looks like its been poisoned," Lucy murmured as she got on her knees next to Amina's body. "Dahlia must have hexed it," she placed her hands on the nasty gash and closed her eyes, chanting the strongest healing spell she knew under her breath. With Finn's blood in her system and the magic Lucy was doing, she felt confident that they could save Amina.

"Any chance Dahlia is dead?" Rebekah asked in a hopeful voice.

"I don't think so." If Dahlia were dead, Freya would have known, she would have felt it. She looked towards the side of the house, there was something there.

"Where is she, then?" Finn asked while pulling his bloody wrist away from Amina's mouth. The elder witch let out a groan and her eyes blinked open, in confusion.

"You're going to be fine," Lucy smiled down at her aunt and touched her forehead tenderly.

Amina managed a small smile before losing consciousness once more, her exhausted body needed to rest and heal.

Freya stared at the wooded area surrounding the property, there was a strange energy coming from there, she could actually see sparks of white light in the distance. _There she is!_ She realized. There was a cloaking spell of some sort that was keeping the activity in that part of the grounds hidden from view. There was a lot of hidden magic silently floating all around them actually. _What the hell?_ She allowed her own magic to surface, to see beyond what her eyes were seeing. There was a lot of activity on the side of the house, a lot of magic clashing back and forth and more magic slithering around the two opposition forces. Freya gasped as she realized what was happening. She took off running in that direction.

"Freya!" Finn yelled after her.

Freya suddenly disappeared from view.

"What the bloody hell?" Rebekah screeched. One-minute Freya had been running and the next, she was gone. She looked at her brother who looked utterly confused as she did.

"Bennett magic," Lucy explained as she held Amina's head on her lap. "The entire front lawn is engulfed in Bennett magic, they did it," she felt hope swell in her chest. "They trapped Dahlia in the prison world." She looked at the area where Freya had disappeared from. "There is a barrier there," she murmured. "They must have put in place so the house or anyone that comes close won't get hurt." She felt herself shudder as the magic surrounding the front lawn grew stronger. It was pulsing dangerously all around them. _Please let it work,_ Lucy prayed. _Please let Dahlia be trapped for good_. She couldn't bare the thought of her family losing.

* * *

Dark and light magic pushed against each other, each determined to extinguish the other, and win. The Bennett witches closed their eyes and groaned in pain as the Dahlia's powerful magic slammed against their barrier again and again. She was determined to break free and was sending all kinds of deadly attacks at them.

The flames slowly began to die down.

Dark clouds formed against the sky.

The prison world walls began cracking.

A couple of the Bennett witches stumbled and nearly fell to their knees.

"Don't give up, fight!" Ernestine encouraged them while also turning her face away and whimpering when Dahlia's dark magic hit too close to her face.

Bonnie winced as another attack from Dahlia had an icy wind hitting her face, it felt like daggers piercing her flesh. She gasped when she felt the warm blood trickling down her face. The wind had cut her flesh! She whimpered in pain. The wounds began to heal almost immediately.

"How the hell is she still resisting?" One of her cousins asked.

"You are not fighting just her but all the magic she has stolen throughout the centuries," Grams responded.

That was the thing wasn't it. Dahlia had stolen so much magic in the one thousand years she had been alive, and the Bennetts were fighting all of that in order to keep her trapped inside their prison world.

"We won't be able to hold on for much longer," Qetsiyah muttered.

Bonnie saw the strain on her ghostly face, her Grams was also whimpering in pain and when she looked around she saw matching looks of agony on her coven. They were all barely holding on. Blood had started to come out of their ears and noses as they pushed themselves to the limits and resisted Dahlia's ferocious attacks. Wave after wave of dark magic was rebounded by their combined powers but it was not enough, sooner or later they were going to give up.

"It hurts!"

Bonnie wasn't sure which one of her cousins said that.

"I'm burning!" Sofia cried out.

Dahlia's assault was unyielding. She pushed and pushed, managing to create small cracks in the world they had created. If she kept going she was going to break free.

The blue sky began disappearing under dark and terrifying clouds, while an electric wind swirled down, trying desperately to break the Bennett witches apart.

"Keep holding hands," Pauline told them. "Do not let go, no matter what."

With a heavy heart, Bonnie realized that they couldn't keep doing this. Sooner or later one of them was going to let go and break the spell or worst, die. She didn't want that. She would never be able to forgive herself if she caused their death. She had already killed some of her cousins, she couldn't allow for more of them to die for her. They hadn't counted on how resilient and powerful Dahlia was.

Dahlia was sweating, and a small trail of blood was already visible on her nose but she was not ready to give up. She had a wild look on her face that let Bonnie know that she was going to keep attacking.

Looking around, Bonnie saw the pain reflected not only on the living Bennett witches but on the spirits of her dead family as well. They were all in pain, they were all struggling against the incredible power surging from Dahlia. While their magic began to grow weaker, Dahlia's magic only grew stronger. If they kept pushing, she was going to kill her entire coven. She couldn't let that happen.

 _You know what you have to do, stop hesitating._

 _You need me._

 _Use me._

Bonnie took a deep breath and allowed expression to surface. She had been relying on her natural magic, on the pure magic of her bloodline, and the enhanced power being connected to her coven provided but now it was time to truly release all the power she had flowing inside of her. Expression was the most dangerous, most powerful form of magic on earth and she had it at her fingertips.

 _Combining different forms of magic is a death sentence,_ a warning voice echoed inside her mind. Bonnie ignored it in favor of summoning expression to its full potential.

"Bonnie," Grams turned to look at her, sensing the shift in her magic. The Bennett magic they had all conjured began to be injected by a dark and sinister power. It was like being shocked by an electric current. "No," she tugged at Bonnie's hand. "Bonnie, stop! You can't combine our power with Expression, you-" her words were cut off when a dark streak of Dahlia's power attacked her. She screamed and fell to the ground, her ghostly fingers nearly slipping out of Adriane's hand who cried out in pain and fell to the ground as well.

"Let her go!" Bonnie's magic slammed viciously against Dahlia's, pushing it away from Grams and Adriane with a force that took everyone by surprise.

Expression began twisting around the light currents of Bennett power, creating a newer, stronger force.

"Bonnie," Aunt Vivian's face was filled with anguish upon realizing what she was doing. "Don't do this…please…"

Bonnie ignored her and used the power of the Bennett bloodline and expression at the same time, combining both of them into a mix of dark and light swirls of magic. A grey kind of magic that had the living Bennett witches disappearing from the prison world. Bonnie knew that if they stayed they would more than likely die. Dahlia's magic was too dark, too dangerous. Sending her coven back to the real world and breaking the connection with her ancestors would have ended the spell and destroyed the prison world they had created but with the mighty power of expression she was able to keep the prison world intact, even as she broke her connection with her family.

Dahlia's magic was pushing, desperately trying to break free but Bonnie's magic held her back.

 _Fire must be fought with fire,_ Bonnie thought as black veins began forming all over her arms and neck. _Take it all,_ she commanded expression. _End her._

"Stop this!" Grams suddenly appeared in front of her and shook her shoulders. "You can't do this Bonnie! It's too dangerous. Our magic is pure, of the earth, you can't combine it with this-"

"It's the only way," Bonnie hissed. Her eyes were gold now, her face completely devoid of any emotion. She was going to put an end to Dahlia.

"Bonnie, please!"

"If you keep this up, you will die." For the first time in her life Qetsiyah actually looked afraid. She had never seen a witch who had combined dark and light magic and lived to tale the tale, let alone while holding back a vicious and powerful witch inside a newly formed prison world.

"Go," Bonnie ordered them. She had gotten her coven to safety by pushing them out of the prison world limits and now she needed to ensure her ancestor's spirits were not destroyed by the battle between her magic and Dahlia's.

"Stop it," Grams shook her more forcibly. "We'll find another way, don't do this. Bonnie-"

Bonnie's magic pushed her back.

She heard some of the other Bennett spirits protest and plead with her to stop but she ignored all of them.

Grams looked absolutely terrified. "Think of your children, think of-"

"As your queen, I command you to leave. All of you."

All the Bennett ancestors disappeared at once, they were sent back, returning to the other side like she wanted them to.

 _Just you and me, now._ Bonnie mets Dahlia's glinting dark eyes.

"That's exactly what I wanted you to do, stupid child," Dahlia hissed and walked closer. "If a full coven of dead and alive Bennett witches couldn't lock me in here, what makes you think you alone can?" her magic kept pushing against Bonnie's, determined to kill her. Now that Bonnie had been left on her own, Dahlia could practically taste her victory.

Bonnie's lips twist into an ugly smirk. "Oh Dahlia," she murmured with something akin to pity. "Can't you see?" the grey light surrounding her grew stronger, swallowing the black tendrils Dahlia had released to attack the Bennett coven. Expression was taken over not only over the Bennett magic but also over Dahlia's own powerful magic. "Can't you feel it?" she pushed herself to her limits. She didn't acknowledge the pounding headache, or the pain surrounding every inch of her body, even her bones hurt, and her heart was beating so hard it was about to burst. She pushed all of that side and focused on her goal, defeating Dahlia. "This is your end," Bonnie vowed.

Every time Dahlia attacked her with her magic, expression swallowed that power, taking it as its own, twisting it, bending it to its will.

Dahlia raged and continued to attack. She was blinded by her desire to win, consumed by her need to kill Bonnie, she didn't care anymore, she wanted to end it all.

Bonnie whimpered, blood oozing out of her nose and ears. It hurt. Unleashing so much power, taking so much magic, it was the most excruciating pain she could have ever imagined. _I didn't say goodbye to my kids,_ she thought as Dahlia let out anther assault against her. She had simply left them in Joanna's care, trusting that their plan would work and she would see them again soon. Regret filled her heart. She hoped Klaus would understand, she hoped Grams would forgive her, and above all she hoped her children would not grow up to hate her for leaving them so young. Tears rolled down her cheeks, bloody tears that blurred her vision.

"This will not be my end!" Dahlia shouted, even as she grew weaker she still continued to attack.

Bonnie took all of her attacks, using expression to conquer Dahlia's magic, and make it her own. The force of it all was too much for a human girl to handle, even with Klaus's blood in her system. Her heart rate began slowing down, her organs began malfunctioning, and the air left her lungs.

She thought of her babies and Charlotte and Davina.

 _I should have hold them one last time._

 _I should have kissed them._

 _I should have told them how much I love them._

 _I should have said goodbye._

 _Klaus, I'm sorry. Remember your promise._

 _I love you._

Bonnie projected her thoughts to him at the last moment, just as her magic and Dahlia's crashed against each other one last time.

She cried out in pain and so did Dahlia.

It was too much.

Too much power. Too much magic. Too much strain on both of them.

Bonnie and Dahlia let out matching screams as everything imploded around them.


	94. Chapter 94

**A/N:** _Thank you so much for all your amazing support. I hope you like this chapter!_

* * *

 **Norway**

He paced like a madman, waiting desperately to hear any news from his daughter Freya. _What the hell was taking her so long?_ She should have contacted him by now. He should have been back in New Orleans by now. _Was she okay? Had that bastard and his whore harmed her?_

Mikal growled at the thought. He hated Niklaus's witch as much as he hated the bastard himself. He would never forget the humiliation he had been subjected to by that bloody girl. He had felt confident in the powers the shadows possessed, in his own ability to outsmart the girl and kill her and in the end, she had won.

 _What does it feel like to have been bested by a girl?_

A voice that sounded suspiciously like his wife taunted him. His hands clenched. Inside the solitary hotel room, Mikael could allow himself to admit that he made a grave error attacking Bonnie Bennett. His miscalculation had cost him his allies and reduced him into a pitiful creature.

 _Your arrogance, you mean._

He growled and made his way to the balcony; closing his eyes as he inhaled the cool morning air. He needed to control his impulses. He needed to tame that temper and get a hold of himself. But it had always been difficult, specially when it came to Niklaus. Anything related to that monster always brought out the worst in him.

 _He may not have your blood, he may not be anything to you, but he is my blood,_ Freya's words echoed inside his troubled mind. _And I need him, I need him more than I need you._

Freya wanted them to work together, to join forces and kill that treacherous whore that had stolen her childhood. _Could we really do it?_ He wondered while resting his hands on the balcony railing. The world was truly coming to an end if he was actually considering it. _You have a common enemy, you have a common goal…Dahlia._ The fury Mikael felt burning his insides was overwhelming. Dahlia was the person he hated the most in the world, more so than Esther, more so than Niklaus even. If Dahlia hadn't taken his daughter, none of this would have happened. Dahlia had been the beginning of the end for his family.

 _Perhaps you would still have a heart_.

But he did have a heart, at least when it came to his daughter. Freya had changed him. The love he felt for her was pure, different from the love he once had felt for his wife. Even after becoming a ruthless monster, his daughter was still the light that kept a bit of humanity left inside him. She was the keeper of his heart. _Is that what it feels like for him?_

 _Fantastic, if you keep this up, you'll start to sympathized with him next._

Freya had put those damn thoughts inside his head. His darling Freya who had defended her brother and had dared to called him out on his wrongs _. Whatever happens, I will help you sweetling_ , Mikael promised. _I won't rest until that retched witch pays for what she did to you._ Freya was the only one of his children who had not turned her back on him yet, the only one of his children that still loved him, and wanted to have him in her life. Mikael was going to make sure that never changed; even if it meant working with his bastard son. Stranger things had happened, after all.

His senses suddenly became aware of a strange presence in the room. Mikael spun around and looked back inside the bedroom, a cold tingling sensation spreading down his back. He couldn't stop the shocked look on his face as he spotted the two figures standing side by side across from him. He blinked, thinking at first that he was imagining things but they were real, as real as he was. _How long had it been since the three of them were in the same room?_ It felt strange to be in their presence once more. It was almost as if things were coming full circle and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Mikael," Ayana greeted him coldly. She had never been fond of him.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"It's nice to see you again, husband."

Esther's words were mocking and the annoyed look on her face told him she definitely didn't want to see him. She wanted nothing to do with him. _Well, I don't want anything to do with her either._ Mikael's eyes narrowed with suspicion. _What the hell were these two witches playing at?_

"Freya needs your help," Ayana said.

Mikael snapped his head in her direction. He didn't know why he felt surprised that Ayana knew about Freya. He glanced at Esther seeing the guilt written all over her face. "A little too late to be playing the doting mother, don't you think?"

Esther glared at him.

"Your children need your help, Mikael."

"I'm already helping Freya," He told Ayana. Unwillingly, his eyes moved towards the bag by the foot of the bed, soil from Dahlia's homeland. One of the ingredients Freya needed for her potion.

"I don't think the prison world will be enough to stop Dahlia," Ayana informed him.

"The potion, Freya-"

"There is no time," Ayana cut him off. "We must act quickly."

"Ayana has a plan," Esther added while glancing at her one time best friend. "One that involves the two of us, _working together._ " She contemplated his face for a couple of seconds before continuing. "I don't particularly wish to work with you, and you probably wish to see me dead but we don't have a choice." _And we owe it to Freya,_ was left unsaid.

For the first time in centuries, husband and wife shared a look, one that was not infused with hatred or resentment but with a strange kind of familiarity and understanding. Dahlia had taken their child and it was their duty to help Freya obtain her freedom. It was the least they could do for her.

* * *

 **Bennett Mansion**

"Where is he?" Charlotte asked with tears rolling down her cheeks. Since Klaus had been taken by the bright white light she was inconsolable.

"I don't know sweetie," Joanna was trying her best to keep calm and assure Charlotte that everything was going to be fine, panicking was not going to help in a situation like this. _But where the hell had Klaus been taken to? And more importantly by whom?_ Only someone extremely powerful could have gotten through the protective barriers around the mansion and taken him from right under their noses. An anxious feel grew in the pit of her stomach. Joanna prayed this was not Dahlia's doing.

"I want him back!"

"I know baby. I know you do." Joanna crouched down and hugged Charlotte tightly to her chest. She didn't want her to be upset.

"Where did he go to?"

"I wish I knew sweetie," Joanna whispered while rubbing her back. "Everything is going to be okay, I promise." No sooner had those words left her lips and the entire house shook.

Charlotte whimpered and buried her face against Joanna's neck, her small body trembling uncontrollably.

Joanna and Davina shared worried looks.

There was a loud rumble as if a tall building had come crashing down to the ground.

Henrik and Ingrid began crying in unison.

 _What the hell is happening out there?_ Joanna thought. The fear she felt increased tenfold.

Davina who stood by the window, caught sight of the explosion of light. "Oh my god!" Her heart jumped to her throat as a blinding power erupted all around the house. She had to look away.

The light even illuminated the bedroom for a couple of seconds.

Peanuts hid under the bed while Charlotte gasped out loud.

Joanna closed her eyes and sent a prayer for her family.

Davina shivered, her witch senses easily picking up the currents of magic that had been released from the explosion.

Everything seemed to stand still afterwards.

They didn't say anything, they didn't move either.

It was only Henrik's and Ingrid's cries that prompted them into action. Davina hurried to grab Henrik and pulled him against her chest, rocking him gently. Joanna kissed Charlotte's forehead and murmured sweet words in her ear, before making her way towards the bed and picking Ingrid in her arms. Both children were inconsolable and both witches tried to do their best to soothe them.

"What do you think happened?" Davina asked.

"I don't know." Joanna kissed Ingrid's head and continued to rock her gently. She didn't even want to venture a guess. She was too scared.

Charlotte sniffled and turned to look out of the window. Everything looked normal now, the incredible power that had been released had disappeared completely, leaving only darkness. She saw a couple of figures moving on the lawn, witches she thought but wasn't completely sure. More tears spilled down her cheeks. She felt really sad and scared. "Mama," she whispered placing a trembling hand against the glass.

 _Where are you Mama? Where is Daddy?_

 _Come back to us, please._

* * *

She woke up with a loud gasp which was followed by a groan as she slowly regained her consciousness. Everything hurt.

Those first few moments were confusing. It took her some time before she was able to pull herself into a sitting position. Her bones ached and her mind was a jumbled mess. A soft breeze caressed her face and she breathed the intoxicating air with a happy grin. Magic, powerful, familiar magic. _Her magic._

Dahlia stood up. Her legs felt a bit wobbly but she managed to stay on her feet. She had died with the horrendous explosion of magic but she had come back to life just like she knew she would. She was an immortal witch after all. The same could not be said of her opponent. With a sense of triumph, Dahlia looked at her surroundings. She was in a forest of some sort, surrounded by pine trees and wildflowers, off in the distance she could see a lake and an open field stretching beyond. A sea of green, of life, and nature. _I'm still inside the prison world then,_ Dahlia grimaced at that. She had assumed that with the explosion of magic the prison world would shatter completely. That clearly hadn't happened, but there was no sign of Bonnie Bennett. At least, she wasn't going to have to worry about that stupid girl anymore. _A pity I didn't see you explode into tiny pieces,_ she thought with an evil smirk. _I hope you choked on all my magic._ Dahlia could only hope that Bonnie's last moments on earth were excruciating. She deserved it for thinking she could defeat the greatest witch that had ever lived.

 _Fool._

Dahlia looked up. The sky was an orange color, with hints of red seeping through. Under different circumstances, it would have been a lovely sunset but lurking underneath were dangerous currents of magic in the form of dark puffy clouds which were growing at an alarming rate. She contemplated the orange hue with interest, sensing the familiar magic floating above in the clouds. _My magic,_ she noted before looking down at her hands. She still had power inside her, her natural power that is-the one she had been born with. But the magic she had harvested for a thousand years was floating in the sky, surrounding everything with a dark orangy glow that seemed threatening. The magic that stupid girl had taken from her. Somehow, it had ended up floating all over the prison world. _It was_ p _robably released when she died,_ Dahlia guessed. It had been a clever move, one Bonnie wouldn't have been able to pull off had it not been for that dark and powerful current of power she had unleashed at the last second. _So the rumors were true after all, Bonnie Bennett practiced dark magic._ Not that it mattered now, Bonnie had met her end. Dahlia laughed. Ultimately, the magic had ended up floating within reach. The idiot Bennett girl's sacrifice had been for naught. She had paid the price for her insolence. While Bonnie's spirit was on her way to the other side, Dahlia was still standing. Being an immortal witch, had its advantages. A small smile began forming on her lips. Dahlia was alive, trapped yes, but she had not been defeated. She was going to find a way to break free. She had the key to her freedom right at her fingertips actually. Dahlia extended her arms and closed her eyes, murmuring under her breath. She called her power back to her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Her concentration was broken by the sound of that voice. Dahlia's eyes narrowed as she spotted the familiar figure making her way towards her. "Freya," she hissed. She had a lot of nerve showing her treacherous face in her presence.

Freya came to stand a few feet away from her, a mask of indifference in place.

Dahlia could see the hints of fear in her eyes though, she could almost taste it even. Despite her bravado, Freya had always been terrified of her. It was something that would never change. Dahlia had ensured Freya would always fear her. "What are you doing here?"

"I managed to sneak in before the explosion of magic," Freya replied. She had died as the magic slammed through her. Surprisingly though, the explosion had not destroyed the prison world. Dahlia was trapped. It was something that gave Freya immense joy.

"You died and came back to life like I did," Dahlia realized. The explosion had no doubt killed anything and anyone in its path, before sealing the prison world. She looked up once more. Her body itched to have her magic back with her. For it was her magic, it had been so for centuries. All that power belonged to her and she was going to get it back but first, she was going to deal with her treacherous niece. She looked at Freya once more. The anger she felt visible on her face. _Hadn't Freya learned her lesson yet? She was no match for her._ "Had it not been for me, you would truly be dead."

Freya didn't make a sound.

Dahlia glared at her. "I gave you immense power and the gift of immortality, and this is how you repay me." _Ungrateful brat._ "I raised you. I fed you, clothed you, I even taught you how to use your magic and you betrayed me-"

"You enslaved me!" Freya snapped angrily. "You used me, you abused me, you tormented me. You see my escape as a betrayal but it was survival, freedom; the chance to have the life you denied me! Being trapped here is the least you deserve."

"You of all people should know this little world won't be able to contain me forever," Dahlia reminded her with a cruel smile.

Freya looked up, a worried look flickering across her face. She, like Dahlia could feel the strong magic floating in the air, dangerous power that was already creating ruptures inside the prison world. It might not have been visible to the naked eye but as a witch, Freya could feel the cracks forming. _It's only a matter of time before it breaks._ She looked at Dahlia, noticing her smirk. Her aunt had come to the same conclusion and was going to take full advantage of it.

"You are a fool if you think I will stay put. I will escape."

"No, you won't."

Dahlia froze as the familiar voice reached her ears. She spun around, a bewildered look on her face as she stumbled upon her younger sister. "You're supposed to be dead," she gasped. _What the hell was Esther doing inside the prison world?_ This was a turn of events she hadn't expected.

"As you should be."

Dahlia's face was a poem as she contemplated Esther. A thousand and more years since they had last seen each other and now, here they were face to face once more. She began to feel apprehensive, her eyes darted quickly to the sky, to the power floating freely against the clouds before looking back at her little sister. Esther was next to a dark-skinned witch, a Bennett witch-Dahlia realized- and next to them, was none other than the hateful Viking she had known in her youth. The one that had taken her sister from her. "Mikael," she spat the name like a curse. Out of all the people she could have encountered in this world, it had to be them. Just looking at her sister's husband, made her skin crawl.

"How the tables have turned," Mikael commented with a wicked grin. It gave him great pleasure to see Dahlia cornered.

"What are you doing here?" An equally shocked Freya asked them. She looked from her father to her mother and back and forth, hardly able to believe they were actually standing there, a few feet away from her. She knew how she felt in regards to her father, her mother on the other hand…she never thought they would come face to face, let alone with Dahlia and her father as witnesses. She didn't know what to do or how to feel.

Esther choked back a sob when she saw her daughter. Her little girl, all grown up. "Freya…" she whispered in a trembling voice. There was so much she wanted to say to her, so much she wanted to ask but she couldn't find her voice. She stood rooted to the spot, marveling at how beautiful and grown up Freya looked. Esther desperately wanted to wrap her arms around her daughter and never let her go. She couldn't do it though. The look on Freya's face told her so. _She hates me,_ Esther realized feeling her heart break. _All my children hate me._ Deep down, she knew she had earned that hatred.

Freya's face cracked as she saw the woman she had once loved and looked up to. Her mother, who had never fought for her, or saved her like she had dreamed. Centuries, a millennium really, of hatred and resentment, it all bubbled to the surface with the force of a hurricane.

"Freya…I…"

"Don't," Freya hissed. "I don't want to hear it." The last thing she wanted was to talk to her. She hated her mother, probably as much as she hated Dahlia. She didn't want to hear her pitiful excuses. Freya had already made up her mind in regards to Esther and no one was going to change it.

"Freya," Mikael took a step closer to his daughter. "We came to help you."

Dahlia laughed upon hearing that. "A sweet family reunion," she mocked them. "Is this the part where all of you band together and punish me for my crimes?" she taunted. "Where you take your revenge?"

Esther gave her a hateful look. "This moment is long overdue, sister."

"You are even more pathetic than I remember," Dahlia spat.

"I can't understand how my sweet and loving sister became this cold, heartless, evil woman." Esther took a step closer. "Why Dahlia?" she asked the questioned that had been burning inside her mind for centuries.

"You dare to ask why?" Dahlia met her half way. "I protected you. I cared for you after mother died and how did you repay me? By marrying him!" she pointed at Mikael. There was a loud rumble in the sky as the magic floating above their heads reacted dangerously. "The monster who raided our village and slaughtered our people. You chose him over your own blood!" It was a betrayal she had never been able to forgive.

"I fell in love Dahlia, I explained it to you. I-"

"Love," Dahlia spat the word with immense hatred. The word had little meaning to her now. "You turned your back on me and only sought me out when you needed to get pregnant."

"And you used that opportunity to hurt me."

"I told you there was a price to be paid and you agreed!"

"You took our child from us," Mikael accused. "You could have helped Esther without demanding anything in turn."

"You're defending her now?" Dahlia was amused. Esther on the other hand, looked surprised that Mikael had taken her side.

"The two of us certainly can agree in our hatred of you," Mikael hissed and bared his fangs. "You have no idea how much I have fantasized about killing you." His vampire face surfaced fully.

"Am I supped to be scared now?" Esther was not in the least bit afraid. "That kind of magic came with a price and Esther agreed to it. I took what your wife granted freely," she defended herself.

"You ruined our family."

Dahlia met Esther's accusing eyes unflinchingly. "No, sweet sister. You were the one to ruin them. Don't blame me for your sins." She loomed dangerously close to Esther's face. "You turned your back on your first-born child, you put an ocean in between, and never spoke her name or did anything to bring her back. You betrayed your vows and sought comfort in another man's bed, you bore him a son and passed him off as your husband's child, you defied all laws of nature and made your children into monsters, creating a vicious plague that has infected the world for a millennium. Your family's misery is your doing, not mine!"

Esther opened her mouth but Dahlia didn't let get speak. "You are a coward who has always taken the easy way out," Dahlia hissed. "Don't stand here and pretend that you are better than me. Denouncing me does not wash away your deeds, nor will it help you atone for your sins."

An array of emotions flickered across Esther's face, each of Dahlia's words were a blow to her heart.

"Am I wrong?" Dahlia questioned Mikael and Freya. "Did she not betray you? Did she not dishonored you?" she looked at Mikael. "If given the chance, she would have run off with her wolf lover." She turned to Freya then. "Did she fight for you? Did she even try to get you back? Did she?" she yelled.

Freya looked down at her feet, feeling her throat constrict. _No, her mother had never fought for her._

"Who is truly the evil witch here?" Dahlia asked loudly.

Tears welled up in Esther's eyes.

"Enough!" Ayana intervened at last. "Your reign of terror has come to an end, Dahlia."

"Far more superior witches than you have tried and here I stand." Dahlia looked her up and down with contempt. "Your coven couldn't stop me, your so called queen couldn't stop me, you and they-" she pointed at Esther and Mikael. "Won't be able to stop me either."

"The fact that you are trapped here, means we were able to stop you."

Dahlia's nostrils flared and her hands clenched angrily at her sides. The rage depicted on her face would have been enough to snuff out the sun itself. "You have no idea, do you?" she didn't give Ayana the chance to reply, she attacked. Using the magic she still possessed, she sent Esther, Mikael, and Ayana flying back a good fifty feet away from her before turning to Freya. "As for you…"

Freya sent an attack of her own, a powerful swirl of magic which Dahlia easily deflected into the trees; three of them caught fire. With a flick of her left hand Dahlia raised Freya's body into the air before the young witch could sent another attack. "You still haven't learned your lesson _my dear,_ " she hissed as she locked eyes with the frightened girl. "You are no match for me."

Freya screamed as Dahlia made her blood burn. She tried to use her magic to break free but Dahlia had succeeded in paralyzing her completely. Even though Dahlia was no longer using the magic she had stolen from other witches, she was still far more powerful than Freya. With a flick of her wrist, Dahlia broke Freya's neck. Her dead body fell to the ground.

The clouds in the sky grew darker when Dahlia extended her hands and began calling her magic back to her. She needed all of it in order to escape the prison world.

A blur slammed her against a tree.

Dahlia was surprised by the fast movement and gasped when she found herself face to face with a pissed Mikael. Before she could attack him, Mikael sank his fangs into her neck. Dahlia cried out in pain but she recovered quickly and flung him away from her; the angry bite mark healing almost instantly. "You…" she flicked her wrist and broke his legs, Mikael let out a groan of pain and sank to the ground. With another flick of her wrist, she broke his neck. _Two down, two more to go,_ she thought.

Ayana who had recovered from Dahlia's surprised attack, raised her hand and sent a handful of spells at her. Dahlia was more than ready for them and began deflecting her attacks while also sending a bunch of her own. While her sister was distracted with Ayana, Esther began spreading the soil from their homeland on the ground, forming a large circle a couple of feet away from the fighting witches. She also cut her hand with a small rock and allowed drops of her blood-which was also Dahlia's blood- to fall on the soil. _This better work, Ayana._

* * *

 **The Quarter**

With a loud roar, Kol decapitated the werewolf he had been fighting and watched as his body fell to the ground. He let out a groan- it was a mixture of pain and satisfaction-and had to lean a hand against the wall. He had been sweating nonstop, his vision blurring from time to time as the wolf venom continued to poison his system; but he had fought to the very end _._ Now, he was about to fall to the ground unconscious. It was too much even for an Original. _I fucking hate wolves,_ he thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katie using her magic to paralyze two of the vampires that were attacking Thierry. They were the last enemies left standing.

"When did she get her magic back?"

Kol snapped his head in the direction of the familiar voice and found himself face to face with Matt. "You made it," he commented dryly.

"I'm awesome!" Matt replied with a happy grin. He had lost count of how many bolts of wolfsbane he shot at the wolves. He had also gotten a couple of vamps with the vervain bombs the Bennett witches had made a while back.

Kol snorted.

A strange look suddenly crossed Matt's features. "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"It sounded like someone crying."

 _A whimper more like,_ Kol thought as he caught the sound coming from inside the building. "Sounds like a dog," he muttered. "Or a wolf pup," he added.

"There is someone in there," Matt pushed past him and went to investigate.

Kol squeezed his eyes shut, feeling momentarily dizzy. Werewolf venom was a pain in the ass. He was feverish and sluggish and couldn't keep standing. He dropped himself on the sidewalk and scanned the street.

The battle had come to an end, dead bodies and body parts laid scattered down Bourbon street. He spotted Aya and her people already helping to clean up the mess. Vincent was tending to a couple of injured witches while Ishmael helped an ashy looking Marcel into the sidewalk opposite Kol. His eyes found some of Klaus's hybrids, helping the wounded and sorting through the gore left at their feet. Kol felt envious. The hybrids had been pretty much left unscathed saved for a few injures here and there. The werewolves and vampires hadn't been so lucky. They needed to break the spell so they could figure out which werewolves had perished. With any luck, it wouldn't be any of the important ones and the peace between the factions would continue.

"Some of the vampires are unconscious not dead, please take them to the compound," Elijah's smooth voice reached his ears. "The Strix's coven is working to break the curse place upon them."

Kol glanced at his brother and frowned. "You look dandy."

Elijah smirked. His suit was covered in blood and there were a few splatters on his face and hair but his elegance and composure remained intact. He definitely did not look like he had been bitten by angry super wolves. Elijah pulled out a vial of blood from his pocket, it was half empty. "Niklaus's blood." He handed the vial to Kol. "Leave some for Marcel and Aya."

Kol nodded and drank the precious blood, feeling the healing effects immediately. He licked his lips almost wishing he could finish the whole thing. Nik's blood had always had a unique taste. Elijah snatched the small vial from his hands and went to heal Marcel.

"We're going to need more than that to cure all the vampires," Marcel muttered as he took the vial from his hands and drank the blood, leaving a small amount for Aya who greedily took it from him and finished it.

"I already gave half to Angelica so she can distribute it among the injured vampires," Elijah informed them. She had done a spell before, after the Navarro attack to multiply the blood and ensure all the vampires who helped them were healed. She was currently doing the same thing as they spoke. "How many of our vampires do you think were killed?" he asked as he looked around the many dead bodies.

Marcel shrugged. "Hard to tell, I killed a couple." While they had tried their best to knock the vampires' and wolves' unconscious (and take them inside the compound so that they would eventually be released from the curse Dahlia had put on them) in the heat of the battle many had simply been killed.

"So did I." Aya glanced at the gory scene before staring at her sire. "Most casualties are wolves though."

Elijah nodded. This attack was definitely going to cause trouble between the factions. He knew Jackson, Hayley and their pack were going to blame his family for everything. And they weren't wrong. Dahlia was technically family, and she was the culprit behind the gruesome attack.

"I saw at least ten human bodies," Felix approached them. "Most of them ran away or found shelter in the church but we do have plenty of human casualties."

 _Another problem with the factions,_ Elijah had to prepare himself for the heated discussions that were going to follow in the days to come.

"I don't know how many witches were killed yet," Vincent said as he too joined their little meeting. "But I know the French Quarter coven got their magic back and joined the fight in the lasts moments."

Elijah's eyes found Katie who was talking excitedly to Thierry about her magic. _Bonnie's doing no doubt,_ Elijah contemplated the dark sky, wondering how the Bennetts were doing. _Had Dahlia attacked the mansion? Did Finn, Lucy, and Rebekah get Freya out?_ He had closed his side of the bond during the fight, he didn't want to worry Lucy more than was necessary. He hoped that she and the rest of their family was okay.

A soft whimper caught his attention.

Elijah watched as Matt came out of a building, holding a toddler in his arms.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Kol gave him as strange look.

"I believe is called a child, Kol."

Kol glared at Aya.

"I found her hiding under a table," Matt explained as he joined the group. The little girl in his arms was sniffling, her face was red and her blue eyes puffy. She looked at the group of strangers with apprehension.

Elijah's heart ached as he contemplated the tiny creature, her body was trembling uncontrollably and her heart was beating erratically. She reeked of pure terror. Another innocent child victim of Dahlia's schemes.

"Is she hurt?" Aya asked him.

"I don't think so, just scared." The poor girl looked like she wanted to run away and hide under the table once more. Since she couldn't, she clung to Matt and buried her head on his shoulder, little whimpers escaping her. "It's okay," Matt whispered sweetly, rubbing his hand over her back and doing his best to soothe her fear. "You are going to be okay, I promise."

"Any sign of her parents?" Vincent asked.

"She was surrounded by a couple of dead bodies," Matt murmured with sadness. "I'm not sure if…" he couldn't finish the sentence. His priority had been to take her out of there as soon as possible.

"Take her to the compound," Elijah suggested. The poor thing was traumatized by what she had witnessed. "We might have to compel her." Compelling a child, particularly one as young as the girl Matt had found required finesse. Elijah was going to have to take his time.

Matt nodded. Erasing all the horrors the little girl had witnessed, seemed like a good idea to him. He walked in the direction of their house, careful not to step over the bodies and tucking the girl's face against his neck so she wouldn't see the macabre scene. The blonde toddler wrapper her little arms around his neck and snuggled against him. _At least she feels safe with me,_ Matt felt grateful for the trust she was showing him.

"Can your people help us to compel the humans?" Elijah turned to Aya. Many humans had witnessed the brutal attack from the wolves, and while most were locals who knew the existence of the supernatural, there were plenty of tourists that needed to forget the incident.

"Of course."

They had a lot of cleaning up to do.

* * *

Darkness

Cold

Pain

She floated in a sea of it for what seemed like an eternity. It almost felt like falling from a cliff but never hitting the ground.

She was suspended in time and space.

 _I don't like the darkness._

 _Then make it go away,_ a distant but rather sweet voice responded.

 _I can't._

 _Why not?_

 _I'm cold. I'm afraid._

 _There is nothing to be afraid of, sweet girl._

There was a spark of light, in the distance, little shots of white and warmth. She wanted to reach out and touch them. She wanted to feel that warmth on her skin.

 _Open your eyes Bonnie._

Bonnie's eyes flew open. She felt completely disoriented as her body slowly adjusted to being out of the darkness. She turned her face to the side, breathing heavily, and hands reaching up on instinct. She needed something to hold on to, something real, something that would keep her grounded. She didn't want to return to the dark place.

"It's alright, sweetheart. You are alright."

Despite the confusion and the fear, she recognized that voice. She would know _his voice_ anywhere. Her vision was blurry and she could hardly make out his face but his presence was familiar, comforting. He was holding her in his arms and that allowed her body to begin to relax. She swallowed hard and when his face finally came into focus, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Klaus," his name fell like a prayer from her lips. She clutched his grey Henley with her fingers. She was afraid that this was all a dream and she would wake up cold and alone, surrounded by darkness once more. She choked back a sob. _Are you real? Please tell me you are real._

"You're okay," Klaus whispered, kissing the top of her head with incredible tenderness. "You're okay, love." He pulled her close, reassuring her with his soft touch that this was not a dream.

His voice sounded shaky to her ears and the relief on his face let Bonnie know just how afraid he had been.

"I thought I lost you," he whispered, his arms tightening around her small frame. "When I found you…your heart…" he didn't dare finish the words. He even closed his eyes as if he were in pain. "Bloody hell, Bonnie." _You scared me._

"How…" Bonnie's voice was raspy and she had to clear her throat a couple of times before continuing. "How are you here?" She looked over his head, the sky was a deep orange, almost red, and it was surrounded by dark sinister clouds that looked ready to destroy everything. She shivered, acutely aware of the dark power inside the clouds. _Dahlia's power,_ Bonnie knew. She felt it. _The prison world is not going to hold up with all that power floating about,_ she realized with a sinking heart.

"Honestly, I don't know." Everything had happened so fast. "I was with the children and Joanna and there was this light, it pulled me out of the house, and then I woke up here, in the forest." He looked at the tall pine trees around them, and then up at that sinister orange-red sky. "Where are we exactly?" He had the feeling that they weren't in the mansion grounds anymore.

Bonnie swallowed, her throat felt really dry. "Prison world," she mumbled. Her hand finally relaxed and her fingers let go of his shirt, although she kept her hand against his chest. She needed to touch him, to reassure herself that he wasn't going anywhere. Their eyes locked.

There was a strange rumbling noise coming from the sky, followed by lightning, and a cold breeze which had dangerous currents of power sparking all around them.

"What the hell is going on?"

She ignored his question and moved her hand up, touching his chin. She still couldn't believe he was there with her. "This was a nice way to wake up," she mumbled with a loving yet, sad smile adorning her lips. "I'm glad you are here."

Klaus smiled back before grabbing her hand and placing a tender kiss over knuckles. Bonnie smiled at the loving gesture. "How are you feeling?" he asked worriedly.

"Tired," Bonnie licked her lips, there was a familiar taste lingering inside her mouth. _Klaus's blood._ She sat up, still secured in his arms and wiped some of the excess blood off her chin.

"What's going on?" He asked again.

"The prison world is still intact, _for now at least_." She looked around the forest. "I thought it was going to implode. I…there was an explosion of power…" She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering those excruciating last moments. She bit her lip, not sure if he had realized it yet.

"What?"

"Dahlia's magic was too powerful, too dangerous, it was destroying our light so I used expression." The words came out of her mouth in a rush, her brain working rapidly to figure out the next step to take. "I combined expression and the Bennett magic I had and I tried to take Dahlia's magic from her," she explained in a shaky voice. "Our powers clashed and everything exploded. I'm surprised the prison world didn't collapse then."

Klaus gave her an incredulous look. No wonder he had found her practically dead in the middle of the forest. "Bloody hell, Bonnie-"

"I know," Bonnie knew how dangerous that move had been. "That's her magic," she pointed at the bleeding sky. "The magic I took with expression." She looked into his eyes. "My body was probably unable to handle all that power and when I…" she paused, choosing her words carefully. "… _fell unconscious_ , it must have been released into the prison world." She made a move to stand up.

Klaus helped her to her feet. "You don't think the prison world is going to handle it?"

"The magic Dahlia possessed, it's poisoning this world already, look at the sky, and you must feel it too, the currents of dangerous power all around us, it's-"

"Ready to be ignited," Klaus finished for her.

"Yes." She stared at the growing clouds and noticed that the sky had become a darker shade of red, it looked like blood now. "We don't have much time."

"So, what do we do?" Klaus asked her.

"I have to end this," Bonnie held his hand, marveling at how warm it felt against her cold skin. She looked into his face. "I have to finish this." _Before it's too late, before I no longer have my magic._ She wanted to cry but she forced herself to be strong. _You made a choice, now live with it._

"You're so cold," Klaus traced invisible lines over her hand before studying her face in detail. Something was different about her but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He searched her eyes for an answer. "Something is different," he noted. "Something has changed."

Bonnie choked back a sob.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"We don't have much time Klaus, we have to find Dahlia." Bonnie knew Dahlia was close, she could feel her. "She's going to try and get her magic back, I can't let that happen. I can't let her escape the prison world."

"But you said her magic is destroying the prison world, how are you going-"

"I'm going to destroy them both," Bonnie cut him off. "I have to, it's the only way."

"Sweetheart-"

"I know how," Bonnie kept staring at the magic floating all around the dark crimson sky. _It seemed fitting,_ she thought. To end Dahlia with her own power, to destroy her with the magic she had stolen from so many others. The magic she had corrupted with her greed and wickedness. Expression hummed in approval, quite ready to follow her plan. This was her only chance; the last time she would be able to use magic. The realization made her heart bleed.

"Bonnie," Klaus frowned. He could see she was in pain but she clearly didn't want to talk about. He cupped her cheek but Bonnie pulled away from him.

"We have to go." She turned to leave.

Klaus grabbed her arm and held her in place, searching her face. He wasn't going to let her go until he figured out what was wrong with her and if she didn't want to tell him then their bond would. It was then that it finally dawned on him that while he could see that Bonnie was hurting, he couldn't feel it through their bond. The connection between them was silent. He frowned, trying desperately to search for that unique link. Nothing. He couldn't tell what Bonnie was feeling, he couldn't perceive her emotions at all. Their bond was silent.

A single tear rolled down Bonnie's cheek upon seeing the look of realization on his face. "You can't feel it, can you?"

Klaus felt his blood turn to ice. Their bond was gone. _No, it couldn't be._ It didn't make any sense. "The bond...how..." he stumbled over his words. He felt like he had been punched in the stomach. _Why hadn't he felt that void before?_ The answer came to him just as quickly. _Because you were being teleported into the prison world as it happened._

"I died," Bonnie whispered. There were so many conflicting emotions inside her, she didn't know where to begin. For now, she pushed them aside. Denial seemed like a good place to be right now. There would be time to freak out later, once Dahlia had been dealt with.

 _Only death can break a blood bond._

"But you're here...I healed you..."

"I'm in transition, Klaus."

He should have known. When he found her, Bonnie's heart had not been beating. "Are you sure?" It was a stupid question to ask but he did it anyway.

The look on Bonnie's face was heartbreaking. She was trying really hard to not cry but a few tears ended up spilling down her cheeks anyway. She nodded, a small whimper escaping her.

Klaus pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. Bonnie buried her head against him, sobbing quietly. "It's alright sweetheart, everything is going to be fine. We'll get through this."

The world stood still as they acknowledged the fact that she was going to become a vampire. It had never crossed his mind or hers, truth be told. It wasn't even something they discussed previously. Bonnie was a witch, she would always be a witch.

"I don't want to be a vampire," Bonnie confessed in a tiny whisper. She had always assumed she would have to slow down her aging. Aunt Vivian had done it, many of her ancestors had done it too. Bonnie herself had seen different spells and potions in her grimoires. "I never wanted to be a vampire. I'm a witch. I want to be a witch always." She choked back another sob.

"I know," Klaus rubbed her back, wanting to keep her safe in his arms forever. "But…" he swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's better than being dead, love."

"I know," Bonnie pulled away slightly and stared into his face. "How am I going to raise our children? How am I going to control my bloodlust? What if I hurt them? What if-"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

 _He was right_. This was exactly the reason why she hadn't wanted to acknowledge this. They didn't have time to talk about this now. As if on cue, there was another loud rumble. The bleeding sky was looming over them, the strong currents of power floating in the air clashing dangerously. _Impending doom._ "I have to stop Dahlia," she murmured, wiping away her tears. "We can talk about this later."

"I love you."

Bonnie's heart skipped a beat at his words, and a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. He had no idea how much she had needed to hear those words.

"I don't care if you are a witch or a vampire, I love you. I will always love you, Bonnie." He cupped her cheek and gave her one of those intense looks of his.

"Do you promise?"

"I swear it."

Bonnie got on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I love you," she murmured, giving him another peck. She pulled away quickly though. She couldn't lose herself in him like she wanted to. There was an evil witch to defeat after all.

"Who knows," Klaus said with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "You might end up defying the odds and becoming the first witch hybrid in the world."

Bonnie gave him a look. "Don't joke about this." She was still coping and didn't appreciate his humorous quip.

"I've never sired a witch before," Klaus admitted in a rather serious voice. "Certainty, not after I broke my curse."

Bonnie frowned, a strange surge of hope rising in her chest. "You think…" she couldn't even start to contemplate that now.

Klaus shrugged. "You had my blood in your system, you had the twins' blood too at one point, for all we know, you could very well be."

 _It was possible_ , Bonnie supposed. _But I don't want to be a hybrid, I want to remain a witch._

A piercing scream grabbed their attention.

"That sounded like Freya," Klaus murmured with confusion. _What the hell would his sister be doing in the prison world?_

"I have to stop Dahlia," Bonnie said. They couldn't waste any more time.

"I know."

Bonnie took off in the direction where she sensed Dahlia, a determined look on her face. Klaus followed her.

Small drops of red began falling from the sky then, as soon as they touched the ground, it created sparks and soon, there were small flames all around the prison world.

* * *

Ayana's plan was fairly simple; using the soil from Dahlia's home land, and Esther's blood, they would bind Dahlia to the prison world. Once the prison world undoubtedly disintegrated, Dahlia would perish with it. Easier said then done, for they had been unable to push Dahlia inside the circle of blood and soil Esther had created. Even with Freya's help-who had recovered from being killed-Dahlia was a formidable and powerful adversary.

"Her magic is too strong," Freya shouted as she and Ayana continued to defend themselves from Dahlia's powerful assaults. Dahlia had killed her twice already, but twice had Freya been resurrected. As much as it pained her to admit it, (for it was thanks to Dahlia) she felt grateful for her immortal status.

"This isn't even half of my power," Dahlia hissed angrily. "You haven't seen anything yet." She glanced at the crimson sky and felt the strong winds descending on the ground. Thunderbolts of power followed, setting more trees on fire and angry acid red drops continued to hit them as well. The prison world had quickly become an inferno of active magic, it was only a matter of time before it collapsed completely. She needed to get her magic and get out before it was too late. "I'm going to end you all."

"Your arrogance truly knows know limits, does it?" Mikael snapped as he attacked her once more. Out of the four of them, he was the weakest in terms of attack. Freya had her magic and so did Esther and Ayana even if they were technically spirits. The prison world granted them corporal form and they could tap into their powers although they weren't as powerful as they had once been when alive. Mikael on the other hand, only had his strength and speed.

"Look who's talking," Dahlia fired back, easily getting him out of the way. She snapped his neck and he dropped like a fly next to a tree. A few seconds later, a bolt of lightning fell down on him. Dahlia smirked when Mikael's body burst into flames. He would no doubt heal and try and attack once more, but for now he was out of commission- which suited her perfectly. She raised her left and tied Esther to a tree, while with her right hand, she held back Freya's attack. She suddenly fell something hot hit her back. Dahlia screamed in agony and fell to her knees. The excruciating pain taking her by surprise.

Ayana and Freya both looked past a shocked Dahlia, matching surprised looks on their faces.

Dahlia managed to look over her shoulder, the burning sensation on her back spreading all over her body. "…You…" she hissed.

Bonnie Bennett stepped out of the growing flames surrounding the forest. "You didn't think it was over, did you?" she walked towards Dahlia with determined steps, enjoying the bewildered look on her face.

"You're alive," Dahlia couldn't believe it. The explosion should have killed her, Bonnie shouldn't be standing in front of her.

Bonnie's response was to raise her right hand into the air.

The lightning flashing across the red sky flew down straight towards her.

"Bonnie!" Ayana shouted, feeling alarmed.

"Be careful," Freya found herself yelling.

The lightning became a dark sphere of swirling magic, as Bonnie called the power floating inside the prison world towards her. The same magic Dahlia wanted to have back, the magic that was destroying the world she had created. Her heart ached with the realization that this was the last time she would control such power. _Don't think about that,_ expression hissed inside her mind. _Focus_.

Dahlia attempted to stand up but Bonnie crushed both of her legs with a single look. The scream that left her lungs echoed all around them.

"Push her inside the circle," Esther shouted. She was still tied to the tree but having witnessed the way Bonnie had stopped Dahlia from attacking, she knew now was the time.

Bonnie looked at Esther before finding the strange circle of soil and blood on the ground, it was a couple of feet away from where she was standing.

"Do it," Ayana told her. "It will bind Dahlia to the prison world."

Realization dawned on Bonnie and she nodded. Dahlia however, used all the magic she still had left inside her to break free, launching herself at Bonnie in a surprising attack.

Two blurs caught her.

Mikael and Klaus looked at each other with surprise as they both locked their arms around the evil witch. Neither of them expecting the other.

Dahlia let out an angry growl and sent a wave of her power at them. Mikael had recovered far too quickly for her liking and now even his bastard son had joined in fighting her. _Idiots._ She attacked them again.

"Hold her back!" Ayana shouted at them. She used her magic to free Esther from the tree. "You know what must be done."

Esther nodded and began making her way towards her sister. "Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh," she chanted under her breath.

"Let me go!" Dahlia shouted as she struggled to break fee. Her magic attacked Mikael and Klaus and both cried out in pain as she burned their faces and arms. They didn't let her go though. They were both determined to push her inside the circle, even if it was more difficult than they anticipated.

"Keep holding her," Ayana ordered them.

Meanwhile, the tornado of power Bonnie was controlling, grew and grew, sucking all the magic floating round the prison world and concentrating above her hand. The sphere of power grew as big as a tornado, swirling and creating sparks of dark energy above her head. Bonnie stood proudly, not a hint of apprehension on her face. With Expression, she kept a tight leash on the surging tornado of magic, bending it to her will.

"Impossible," Freya breathed as she watched the spectacular scene. No witch could have the strength to hold all that power at her fingertips without getting hurt. But somehow, Bonnie did. She looked beautiful and terrifying as she stood with her hand in the air, controlling the raging tornado with ease.

"Niklaus, get out of the way!"

Klaus was surprised when his mother pushed him away. She took his place and held on to Dahlia instead.

"Get away from me!" Dahlia screamed. "Traitor!"

Esther ignored her sister and wrapped her arms around her. She and Mikael tried to push Dahlia inside the circle but Dahlia refused to move, thanks to the bit of magic she had left, she stood her ground and pushed them back. "Ayana!" Esther turned to her friend for help. She and Mikael were struggling to keep Dahlia contained.

Ayana used her magic to push Dahlia inside the circle.

Mikael cleverly let go at the last second, standing outside the circle while Dahlia and Esther were both pushed inside by Ayana's magic.

"No!" with horror, Dahlia realized what it meant. "You will die with me," she pointed out. They were both trapped. _Surely, Esther didn't want this._

"It seems fitting don't you think?" Esther had made peace with her death a very long time ago. "It's over, sister." She finally let go of Dahlia, knowing there was no way she could escape now. "We are bound to the prison world now, when it collapses you and I will cease to exist." They could have tried to get Dahlia's blood so only she would be bound to the prison world and disappear with it, but in the end, Esther had accepted to sacrifice herself. It was her way of making amends.

"I am immortal!"

"Your immortality spell won't save you from this."

Dahlia sent her a hateful look, using all the strength she had left to summon a wave of extraordinary power and break free.

Nothing happened.

Esther smiled, feeling triumphant.

Dahlia screamed angrily. _This can't be my end,_ she thought fearfully. _I can't be defeated._

"Get out of the way," Bonnie warned Klaus as she prepared to unleash all the power she had floating above her hand.

Mikael hearing the warning, attempted to get as far away as possible from the circle trapping the sisters but Klaus blocked his path and pushed him inside with one hard shove.

"No!" Freya screamed when she witnessed the exchange. "What have you done?" she ran towards them, feeling afraid for her father.

The circle erupted in flames, sealing the three of them inside.

Mikael sent a murderous look in Klaus's direction, the flames and the magic around them preventing him from escaping.

"That's for threatening my wife and children," Klaus hissed. He gave his father one last wicked grin before blurring behind Bonnie. The only place where he would be safe from the onslaught of magic about to be released from her hand.

"Now, this is an interesting turn of events," Dahlia muttered in a mocking tone.

Mikael ignored her and turned to his wife instead. "Get me out," he ordered.

"No."

"Esther!" he shouted angrily. "You created this spell, you can let me out."

"I won't risk her escaping," she said glancing at Dahlia who seemed to be enjoying the show.

Mikael growled and tried to attack her but Ayana flung him back and paralyzed him.

"You," he hissed. Mikael cursed when he realized the truth. "You planned this, didn't you?" They hadn't needed his help after all, it had been a set up to get rid of him. He felt sure.

Ayana ignored him and made her way to Bonnie's side.

"Papa!" Freya screamed as she tried to get through the flames circling the three of them. "I'm going to get you out."

"No, Freya don't."

"Freya get out of the way," Ayana shouted.

The prison world shook as Bonnie began unleash all the power she had summoned against Dahlia.

Freya froze in horror.

"You can't turn my own magic against me!" Dahlia said.

"This isn't your magic," Bonnie yelled angrily as she directed the magic at her. "This is all the power you have stolen from countless of innocent witches. I took it away from you and now I'm turning it against you."

"You can't…." Dahlia cried out as the magic hit her, hurting her, making her feel weak and afraid.

"Expression is the manifestation of my will," Bonnie hissed. "And my will is for you to die." She sent it all. "To be killed by the magic you stole from others."

Dahlia screamed as the magic she had once called her own attacked her viciously, burning and peeling her flesh, at the same time it broke every single one of her bones and boiled her insides to a melting point. She couldn't believe how easily all that power had turned against her. The pain was unbearable. She sank to the ground, screaming in agony.

Esther and Mikael fell along with her. They both shared a knowing look.

"No! Papa, no!" Freya attempted to use her magic and get him out. Klaus blurred behind her and caught her in his strong arms before she could jump into the tornado of magic Bonnie had created around the trio. "Let me go!" Freya shouted, using her magic to push him away but he didn't let go, not even when she hurt him. He held on to her and began pulling her away. "Papa!" Freya screamed until her throat was raw.

"It's alright sweetheart," Mikael said to her, there was a tender smile on his lips as he stared at her crying face. "It's alright," he told her. As much as he wanted to get out, he would never risk his daughter's safety. "I love you, Freya." He smiled at her and closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

"No! Papa!" Freya cried for her father.

"I'm sorry, Freya." Esther's voice followed her husband's. "I am truly sorry." She looked at both of her children, the ones she had hurt the most.

Neither Klaus or Freya could say anything back, they simply watched as the tornado of magic engulfed them completely.

"No," Freya whispered. She sank to her knees, her heart bleeding for the father she adored. "No, please...don't leave me..." a river of tears rolled down her face. In her pain and grief, she sought her brother's arms for comfort. Klaus didn't say anything, he simply held her close to his chest.

"We have to go," Ayana said to them. "We must leave before the prison world is destroyed completely." She muttered something in an ancient language and created a portal. "Go!" she urged Freya and Klaus. "Now!" she ordered them. "Bonnie and I will follow."

Freya kept staring at the swirling magic that had completely swallowed her parents and aunt. She held the hope that her father would flash out of there and come back to her. _Please papa, come back to me._ In her grief, she couldn't even enjoy the fact that Dahlia was being tortured to death.

Klaus pulled her to her feet and using his hybrid strength, he pushed her out of the prison world, shoving her through the portal Ayana had created for them.

"Go!" Ayana told him.

"Not without Bonnie," Klaus growled. He watched as Bonnie continued to guide the magic from the sky into the ring of fire consuming Dahlia and his parents. He heard the screams of a woman, he wasn't sure if it was Dahlia or his mother or a combination of both. It sent chills down his spine.

"Niklaus, you must leave."

"Not without Bonnie," he insisted.

The dark power consuming his aunt and parents was sucking everything into a vortex of black energy. The air grew thick and the pressure built around their bodies as the space was reduced.

"You both need to leave," Bonnie shouted at them.

Klaus noticed the blood coming out of her nose and made a move to go to her, Bonnie pushed him back with her magic. "Bonnie!" he growled digging his heels onto the ground and using all the strength he possessed to remain on his feet. He knew that look, he had seen it countless of times before on her face. "Don't you dare-"

One look, that was all it took for Bonnie to shove him through the portal.

"Bonnie!" Klaus screamed as he was forced out of the prison world by Bonnie's magic.

Bonnie glanced at Ayana, "you're next."

"Bonnie, I can-"

Bonnie didn't give her the chance, she pushed Ayana out of the prison world as well. She sent her back to the other side with the rest of the dead Bennetts. With her left hand, she close the portal Ayana had created and focused on the void of black magic once more. This was it.

The prison world began disintegrating but it was okay this time. Dahlia was trapped. Esther had scarified herself and Klaus had forced Mikael into the circle, all three of them were going to implode into nothing. Bonnie did not feel sorry for any of them. Summoning the last bit of magic remaining in the prison world, she sent it towards the growing void.

 _Finis_

A loud screamed made its way past her throat as the sphere of magic exploded. The black void that had sucked all the magic Bonnie had taken from Dahlia ceased to exist and with it, so did the woman that had once harvested such power.

Bonnie winced and closed her eyes. More blood came out of her nose and she fell to her knees, feeling exhausted. When she finally opened her eyes, all that was left of Dahlia, Mikael, and Esther was pile a black ash. The relief that swept over her body was overwhelming. _It's over,_ she thought while a small smile graced her lips. They had done it. Ingrid was safe.

Dahlia was dead, truly dead.

 _So much for being an immortal witch,_ Bonnie mused. _I did_. _It's over._ She couldn't help but laugh. In relief, in joy, in triumph. Her fingertips tingled and Bonnie took notice of the dark veins surrounding her hands and arms. Her body felt tired but the magic inside her hummed happily. "We are meant to be," Bonnie murmured. Expression murmured its approval, happily coiling inside her, and making her body feel warm. The coldness of her skin disappeared as did the dark veins. The sense of doom also vanished, leaving a sense of peace behind.

 _Death it's just the beginning._

 _She who conquers death, rules the world._

Bonnie gasped as she felt the pressure on her body, like she was being crushed under a heavy wall of concrete. The prison world was growing smaller and smaller, reducing into nothing. She needed to leave now. Standing up on shaky legs she used her magic to open a portal. Taking a deep breath, she got ready to cross over.

A warm hand touched her shoulder at the last second.

There was a bright light that engulfed her all of a sudden and pulled her in a different direction.

 _So, pretty_ , Bonnie thought as the light surrounded her in a tight, beautiful, and protective bubble of magic. It felt familiar; she had seen that light before. Being cocooned in that incredible power was the most wonderful feeling in the world. Bonnie felt her body relax, allowing herself to be carried away.

The prison world ceased to exist.

* * *

"Nik!" Rebekah threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Her hair tickled his face and over her shoulder he was able to see Finn, holding a still crying Freya in his arms. In a blink of an eye, Bonnie had sent him back to the real world. _Damn it, Bonnie._

"What happened?" Lucy asked, looking back and forth between him and Freya.

"Dahlia is gone," Freya whispered. This time she had felt it. This time it was real. The moment that should have brought her so much joy had turned to ash. She cried and buried her head against Finn's shoulder. "Father is gone too."

"What?" Rebekah pulled away from Klaus and looked at her sister, a shocked expression on her face.

"Father?" Finn repeated. "How?"

Freya glared at Klaus, more tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Ayana and mother found a way to bind Dahlia to the prison world, which Bonnie destroyed." Klaus didn't feel like explaining anything, all he wanted was to see Bonnie safe and sound. "I ensured father joined them in the afterlife."

"You sacrificed him!" Freya snapped angrily.

"He threatened to murder my children," Klaus fired back. "It was the least he deserved."

"Mother helped us," Rebekah still couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"And so did father," Freya said to her. "He helped us too. He did it for me, to keep me safe, and help me be rid of Dahlia. And Niklaus pushed him to his death." She wanted to hate her brother for what he had done to their father but she couldn't. Deep down, Freya knew that if given the chance, her father would have done the same to Klaus.

Rebekah and Finn exchanged looks, neither of them knowing what to say.

Klaus stood up, his eyes and ears on the alert. Bonnie should be back at any second now, she had to. _Come on, sweetheart._

"Where is Bonnie?" Lucy asked him. If Dahlia had been defeated why hadn't her cousin returned with them. "What happened to her?"

"She stayed, she wanted to make sure that Dahlia wouldn't escape at the last second," Klaus felt his throat constrict. "I'm sure she will be back at any second, now." _Please don't make a liar out of me, love._ He had never felt so afraid as he did in that moment. Bonnie had to return. _I'm in transition,_ the sadness in her eyes as she had said that haunted him. Bonnie didn't want to be a vampire, he knew that. _What if she chooses not to complete the transition?_ It was too horrible to even consider and he also knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't do that to their children. Her love for them surpassed everything else. For them, Bonnie would accept her new life as a vampire. _But why was it taking her so long to return?_ Fear began to coil tightly in his stomach. _What if Bonnie had been unable to escape?_

They all waited in silence, Freya sniffling occasionally as she continued to grieve for her father.

Seconds, minutes, no one was sure how much time passed as they waited.

There was no sign of Bonnie.

Lucy was the first one who let out a whimper. She turned her face away and tried to hold back her sobs. Her heart bled for her cousin. _Not you, please not you_.

Rebekah chewed on her bottom lip and looked worriedly at her brother.

Klaus was the perfect picture of calm, whatever he was feeling he was keeping it tight to his chest. "She'll be back at any moment," he repeated. Maybe if he repeated it long enough, he would actually believe it.

"Nik," Finn looked at him with pity.

"She will be back," Klaus snarled, his eyes flashing gold momentarily. "You will see."

No one dared to contract him.

* * *

Bonnie groaned as her eyelids fluttered open. She yawned and stretched her arms over her head, feeling well rested. _This bed is so soft,_ she licked her lips and burrowed her body further into the thick blanket covering her. _It feels nice._ She reached with her hand for his body, finding an empty space next to her. It took her a while to realize that she wasn't in her room, in her bed-the one she shared with Klaus. _What the hell?_ Bonnie sat up and looked at the room in alarm. It was a tent actually. _Where am I?_

"It was about time you woke up."

Bonnie's head snapped to the side. There, sitting on a wooden chair against the corner was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and the most vibrant green eyes Bonnie had ever seen. "You…" recognition flickered immediately across her face. She knew that woman, she had seen her before. _The nurse,_ the one who had saved her after the terrible curse Sophie and the ancestors placed on her.

The woman smiled. She had a beautiful and kind face.

Bonnie felt a warm tingle spread all over her body. It was a feeling of trust, of familiarity, and security. "The light, it was you." Understating washed over her. "You took me out of the prison world..." she murmured. She closed her hand around her necklace. "Who are you?"

"You know exactly who I am, child."

Their eyes locked.

Bonnie let out a shaky breath, "the first witch," she whispered in awe.

The mother of all witches smiled. "It's good to see you again, little Bonnie."


	95. Chapter 95

The first witch.

Bonnie was in the presence of the first witch. She couldn't believe it. She had heard about her, had seen her statue when she went to the other side and had even met her on the night she had been plagued by the Devil's curse but here they were, face to face again. Only this time, Bonnie was not out of it and could actually ask all the questions swirling inside her mind. "You saved me," she began quietly. "When I was cursed, you came to my room and healed me. I thought you were a nurse."

The first witch nodded.

"I've seen you before that, though." Bonnie's brows furrowed in confusion. "I can't remember where but I have the feeling that I met you before." She gave her a questioning look.

"You have," the first witch responded in a calm voice.

Bonnie waited for her to elaborate but the first witch remained quiet, sitting on the chair and watching her with glinting green eyes. There was a youthfulness to her face which contrasted with her regal posture and the wisdom in her gaze. Young and wise, beautiful and deadly. This was a woman you did not want to cross. Bonnie could feel her immense power, surrounding her, surrounding everything really. Had she felt this kind of magic from another witch, Bonnie would have been absolutely terrified but she wasn't. There was something about the first witch's presence that made her feel at ease. It was an interesting contradiction. "When?" Bonnie finally asked her.

"When you were a little girl," the mother of all witches responded, her lips twitching slightly at the memory.

"I don't remember."

"No, you don't."

Their eyes met and held.

"When you were a little girl, your magic was very active. I felt it," the first witch began explaining. "You were doing things that grown up witches couldn't even accomplish."

"Really?"

The first witch nodded. "I saw you, long before you were born."

Bonnie frowned. "You saw me?"

"I can see the past, the present, and the future," the first witch informed her. "I had a prophetic dream about you. It was a _very long time ago_ , a dark time really, when I felt like I needed to ended it all." She studied Bonnie's face in detail. "The witch who would change it all."

Bonnie didn't know what to say to that.

"The time has come Bonnie." The first witch stood up and walked towards a small table to the left, where a small black cauldron was simmering. "You must remember your past." The first witch grabbed a small wooden cup and filled it with the liquid inside the cauldron. She made her way towards the bed, sitting on the edge and handing Bonnie the cup. "This will restore your memories."

Bonnie took the cup in her hands and looked down at the yellowish liquid. It looked like apple juice but when she sniffed it, there was no scent at all.

"Go on," the first witch encouraged with a soft smile.

Bonnie felt slightly nervous. She felt curious, she wanted to know but she also felt afraid. She made herself comfortable on the canopy bed-resting her back against the headboard- and took a deep breath; meeting he first witch's eyes before slowing taking a sip of the potion. It tasted like water.

"Now close your eyes," the first witch instructed. "And the memories shall be restored to you."

Bonnie closed her eyes.

 **~X~**

 _She was playing in the garden of her grandmother's home. It was a lovely sunny morning and while she had touched the pretty flowers she caught sight of the black little creature lying on the petals of a rose. There was no movement, no life, nothing inside._

" _Pretty butterfly," Four-year-old Bonnie murmured while picking up the blue winged butterfly in her hands. The smile dropped from her face when she saw the torn wing. "No," Bonnie murmured sadly. The butterfly was dead. It had been dead for a while actually. "Poor butterfly." A wave of sadness invaded her as she held the delicate creature with both of her hands. She liked butterflies, she didn't want them to die. Bonnie closed her hands around the small butterfly and closed her eyes, allowing that tingly power of hers to surface. She could make things move without touching them, she could make the mean dog that lived down the street (and who always barked at her) stop and become gentle and sweet, why couldn't she bring the pretty butterfly back to life?_

 _She felt the surge of power erupting inside her body. She gasped as the current moved through her and injected the butterfly with life. Her wish was for the butterfly to live and so her magic made it so. Her magic always responded to her wishes._

 _Bonnie opened her eyes and stared at her hands, there spreading its beautiful dark blue wings laid a very much alive butterfly. The torn wing had been fixed and now the little blue creature rose into the air, above Bonnie's hands. The little witch giggled. "Pretty," she murmured touching the wings with gentle fingers. The electric blue color was beautiful under the sun and she felt a sense of pride warm her heart. The butterfly took off. "Bye-bye butterfly!" Bonnie waved happily as she watched the pretty butterfly disappeared from view._

 **~X~**

The image changed quickly.

 _Bonnie was a seven-year-old girl, missing one tooth. She was a girl on a mission._

" _Dinner is almost ready!" Grams yelled as she saw Bonnie dash up the stairs. "Don't forget to wash your hands, please."_

" _Yes, Grams." Bonnie shut the door to her bedroom and carefully got down on her knees, right in the middle of the floor. Her hands shook with excitement as she opened the shoe box and pulled out all the dead animal she had found in the garden, in the park, and even on the school's grounds. She had been collecting them for the past week. "It's going to be okay, I promise." She carefully set the animals around herself, forming a circle. There was a rat-whose body was half decomposed, a small garden snake that had been cut open by one of the big kids at school, a worm, and a black bird. Once she had neatly arranged them in a circle around her, she closed her eyes and allowed her magic to surface and wash the creatures with her power. It was so easy and Bonnie loved it. Her body always tingled and she felt warm and happy afterwards. It didn't take long for the animals to twitch, slowly at first, and then, their eyes flew open as they were healed and brought back to life. Bonnie opened her eyes and grinned happily as she saw her finished work. "I love magic," she whispered; a happy grin on her face._

 _This wasn't the first time nor would it be the last she did extraordinary things with her magic._

 **~X~**

The memory was so real, so visceral Bonnie had to open her eyes. She could feel the echo of her childish emotions washing over her. She also felt the heat on her fingertips and the tingling inside her body, _her power_. She looked down at her hand, feeling amazed by the echo of that power.

"Just take a deep breath," the first witch said to Bonnie. "Be calm."

Bonnie did as she was told, taking big gulps of air and focusing on calming the erratic beating of her heart. _How could she ever forget this feeling? This rush of incredible power?_ "I had magic," she said, filled with wonder and shock too, for she had not expected her powers to be so advanced. She looked into the first witch's face. "I was sad to see something so pretty be dead," she whispered, recalling the pretty blue butterfly in her hands. "I just wanted to help them…I…" After that incident, there had been many others, countless of little bugs she had aided. She hadn't thought about whether what she was doing was good or bad, she had simply felt the need to help the small animals come back to life. Her young mind's reasoning had been simple, if she could make things move with her magic, why couldn't she bring the dead back as well? "I just wanted to help them."

"I know."

"I don't even know how I did it," Bonnie confessed. "I didn't use any spells, I just wanted something and my magic responded." She felt shaken at how easy it had been, not only because of how young she had been when she did it but because she remembered when she first discovered magic as a teenager and how difficult it had been to use it, to control it. She always had a pounding headache or ended up with nosebleeds after putting too much strain on her body. "A simple spell took a toll on me when I was in high school and now I have these memories of my childhood and realize how easy it was." It was surreal. "I brought animals back to life without flinching…how…"

"It is a rare thing for a witch, particularly one so young to be so in tune with her power," the first witch noted. "It is something I have only seen a few times."

" _Magic comes to you as easily as breathing, that's not just natural talent, there is something deep inside you, something unique."_ Abby had said to her on the day Bonnie confronted her, the day she learned the truth about her mother. It seemed her mother had been right.

"Even among the witches you were brilliant and far too advanced for your young age."

"I can't believe I did that." Bonnie contemplated the cup in her hands, shivering as the lost pieces of her mind were slowly put in place. "There is more isn't it?"

"Yes."

Bonnie took a deep breath and brought the cup to her lips once more, taking another sip.

 **~X~**

 _It was snowing and it was all her doing. The entire street was covered in a white blanket. It had all accumulated in a little under an hour and more heavy flakes continued to fall from the sky. People were outside already, marveling at the snow storm that had taken them by surprise._

 _Bonnie grinned, hands behind her back, as she bounced her head from side to side. She felt proud. It was snowing and it wasn't winter. She giggled. It was snowing in mid-June. It was wicked!_

'A surprising snow storm has descended upon the small town of Mystic Falls. The temperature dropped considerably in a matter of hours and now the entire town is covered in white. This is an unprecedented event…"

 _The man on the television continued to excitedly report about the freak storm._

" _Bonnie Sheila Bennett."_

 _Bonnie spun around and found herself face to face with an upset Grams. She still had her coat and boots on and her hair was covered in snowflakes, some already melting. "Hi Grams," Bonnie greeted cheerfully._

" _You did this, didn't you?"_

" _Me!" She imitated her friend's best offended face. Caroline always knew how to get out of trouble and Bonnie hoped she could do the same._

" _This storm is not natural, Bonnie." Sheila gave her a knowing look, the look that said don't even bother lying to me because I know the truth. "This storm was created by magic."_

 _Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip. She had been hoping the storm would keep Grams at home, for the next couple of days, maybe weeks, and that way they could avoid her dreaded appointment that afternoon. That had been the whole point of creating the snowstorm in the first place._

" _Bonnie!" Sheila exclaimed throwing her purse on the girl's bed and walking closer to her. "Did you create this storm so you wouldn't have to go to the dentist?" She placed her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation._

 _The guilty look on Bonnie's face said it all._

 _Sheila sighed and looked up at the ceiling almost praying to some higher being for patience. "I can't believe you…" she shook her head and studied her granddaughter's face carefully. "Are you okay?" she asked, feeling suddenly worried. "Do you feel tired? Nauseous?" She crouched down so they could be at an eye level. "Feverish?" she asked, placing her hand over Bonnie's forehead._

" _I feel fine," Bonnie responded._

 _Sheila studied her face, making the young girl feel nervous. "How are you doing it?" she wondered. "I haven't shown you complex spells like this." There was a thoughtful look on her face as she contemplated Bonnie before moving her gaze towards the window, the heavy snow kept falling outside. "How are you powering the storm?" she wondered. "How come you are not exhausted?" Even for an adult witch, creating such storm out of nothing would be taxing._

 _Bonnie shrugged._

" _Why Bonnie?"_

" _I hate dentists. I didn't want to go."_

" _Bonnie-"_

" _They're scary Grams!" Bonnie cut her off. "I don't like them."_

" _Well, it's what you get for eating too much candy."_

 _Bonnie pouted._

" _You can't use your magic so selfishly, child." Sheila voice was serious and filled with worry. "We have talked about this before, Bonnie. Magic is-"_

" _A gift," Bonnie said at the same time as her grandmother. "We need to be careful and we must not go against the spirits' wishes," she recited._

" _Exactly." Grams grabbed her hands. "You got to make the snow go away."_

" _But Grams-"_

 _One stern look was all it took for Bonnie's protests to fall silent._

" _Make it stop," Sheila ordered._

" _It's so pretty," Bonnie said looking out of the window. "And it didn't snow for Christmas." She squeezed her grandmother's hands and offered her a sweet smile. "Can I let it snow for a little bit longer, please."_

" _Bonnie-"_

" _I'll make it go away later, I promise. Just a bit longer, please…."_

 _Sheila sighed._

" _Please," Bonnie begged again._

" _Fine," Sheila gave in, knowing that she couldn't say no to her._

 _Bonnie grinned and threw her arms around her grandmother. Sheila hugged her tightly. Despite the twinge of worry inside her, she couldn't stop herself from feeling proud at the extraordinary display of power her grandchild was showing at such tender age._

 **~X~**

"I always hated going to the dentist," Bonnie mumbled as she was pulled out of the memory.

The first witch smiled at that. "That wasn't the only time you manipulated the weather."

"No," Bonnie agreed as another memory came to her mind, when she had created a thunderstorm and sat on the porch of her home, drinking hot chocolate with her friends. They had told scary stories that afternoon, about ghosts and witches and elves. All the while her tongue had itched to confess to Caroline and Elena her secret; she hadn't done it though. Every time she plucked the courage something always prevented her from saying the words, the same words she would tell Elena later, when she was older, when she didn't remember her past.

 _I'm a witch._

"Grams never said anything," Bonnie whispered. "She never mentioned the magic I did as a child, she would say things, allude to our family history but she never told me, not even after I began using magic in high school." She couldn't believe her grandmother had kept all these memories to herself.

"Things changed after you nearly died."

Bonnie felt anxious all of a sudden. "When my mother's evil coven came for me." She and Abby had talked about it on that horrible day when her mother had confessed her ugly past.

"After you woke up without any memory of doing magic, your grandmother decided to keep quiet. She thought it was for the best. I'm sure if she had lived longer, the topic would have come up eventually."

"Those memories are coming next," Bonnie knew it.

The first witch nodded.

She prepared herself mentally and took another sip, as soon as the liquid went down her throat, Bonnie felt cold, and a sense of dread washed over her.

 **~X~**

 _The group of strangers had showed up without warning one afternoon. Bonnie had never seen her grandmother look so worried. "Stay inside," Sheila ordered. "Do not leave the house, do you understand?"_

" _Okay," Bonnie watched as her grandmother met with the group on the frown lawn of her home. She didn't know who they were, or what they wanted, the one thing Bonnie knew though was that they had power, a lot of power. She could feel it. "I don't like this, Ms. Cuddles." Bonnie clutched her favorite teddy bear to her chest and watched from the living room window as a fight broke out between the strange group and her grandmother. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and her body trembled with each clash of different color light._

 _Grams fought all of them at once, Bonnie watching from the window. Her eyes wide and her mouth open in awe at the way her grandmother dominated the fight. She had never seen anything like it. She cheered when her grandmother paralyzed one of them with one hand while with the other she lifted two from the ground. With a flick of her wrist all three dropped to the ground at the same time, never to wake up again."Way to go Grams!" it was the most amazing thing Bonnie had ever seen, she never thought her grandmother was so powerful. She was winning, Bonnie could see it._ _Until that fateful moment of distraction that cost her._

" _Grams!" Bonnie screamed when she saw her grandmother get hurt in the stomach and sink to her knees. She dropped her favorite teddy bear on the floor and ran out of the house without hesitation. She was worried for her Grams, she needed to help her._

She saw the knife as she pushed the door open, watched as the others circled her grandmother like hungry animals.

" _LET HER GO!"_

 _The blast of power that slithered out of her was like a bomb going off in the front yard. White light surrounded the entire area and blasted everyone off their feet._

 _Bonnie cried out, feeling a burning pain all over her body._

" _Bonnie!" Her grandmother's terrified scream was the last thing Bonnie heard._

 _Everything went black._

 **~X~**

 _It hurt._

 _Everything hurt._

 _She felt cold. She didn't know where she was or what had happened, all she knew was the pain._

 _Why did it hurt?_

 _In the distance, she heard her grandmother's voice, telling her to be strong._

 _Bonnie screamed for her Grams. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go home. She couldn't see anything, only darkness. She was even afraid to move. Everything hurt and she was all alone. Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Grams!" She called out for her grandmother in the darkness that surrounded her. "I'm scared."_ _There was so much pain and the darkness was pulling her into an abyss. She was terrified._

 _And that's when she saw it._

 _A beautiful white light that destroyed the darkness and pushed it away from her._

 _Bonnie moved her face away as the light nearly blinded her with its bright glow._

" _Don't be afraid…" A voice whispered._

 _Bonnie gasped and turned to face the source of that voice._

 _A strange white light emerged from nothing, beautiful blinding rays of magic that went straight towards Bonnie, like tentacles reaching out for her. Bonnie took a fearful step back._

" _Don't be afraid," a sweet and gentle voice said. "You are safe, Bonnie. You have nothing to fear."_

 _Bonnie stood completely still as the light grew closer. It grew and grew until it began to take the shape of a woman. Bonnie gasped, her green eyes opening wide with wonder._

 _The powerful rays emanating from the ghostly figure destroyed the darkness completely. The cold chilling her bones disappeared, the pain on her body disappeared as well. She was suddenly engulfed in warmth, so much warmth her skin tingled and her cheeks turned red. A feeling of peace washed over her. It felt so wonderful. Bonnie no longer felt afraid, she knew she was safe. "Who are you?"_

 _The first witch smiled and came to stand in front of her. "Someone who has been watching over you for a long time." She offered her hand to Bonnie. "Come with me, little one. I am going to take care of you."_

 _Bonnie didn't hesitate, she took the offered hand and allowed the first witch to take her away from there. "Are we going home?" she asked as she walked holding the woman's hand. She didn't know her but she felt safe with her._

" _In time," the first witch responded. "I must heal you, first."_

" _But I'm not hurt," Bonnie responded._

 _"You were in pain were you not?"_

 _Bonnie nodded. "Not anymore." She frowned, thinking that she heard Grams in the distance, pleading with her to be strong, and to come back to her. She looked over her shoulder but she only saw darkness. Was Grams out there, lost as well?_

" _Don't worry, little one. I'm here now," the first witch told her as she led her to a place filled with light, life, and beauty. A heavenly domain only a privileged few had been allowed into. "I'm going to take care of you," she promised._

 _Bonnie smiled, feeling safe._

 _ **~X~**_

Her body was assaulted by light tremors as the memory returned to her. She vaguely remembered dreaming about it a few months ago. Bonnie let out a whimper as she recalled the fear she had felt, the pain, and that awful darkness that had consumed her. All she had felt that day came back with the force of a hurricane, choking her.

"It's okay," the first witch placed her hand on top of Bonnie's, using her magic to help calm her. "You're okay. It's just a memory. You're safe, Bonnie."

It took a couple of minutes but Bonnie finally managed to get a hold of herself. "That's how we met," she said in a small voice. "It was you, you saved me."

"I did."

"I lost my memories after that," Bonnie said. "Mom told me…"Thinking of Abby hurt, not as much as it had a few months ago but there was a dull pain in her heart, one that she didn't know if it would ever go away fully. "After the attack, I woke up in the hospital and didn't remember doing magic. I never did magic again, not until I was in high school." She paused, wondering about something her mother had said. "According to mom, I sealed my own powers and modified my memories."

"I did," the first witch confessed. "I was the one who sealed your magic and erased your memories."

Bonnie gasped at the revelation. "What?"

"I did it to protect you," the first witch continued. "The wave of power you unleashed should have killed you but somehow, you found the strength to hold on. Your soul ended up caught between the living and the dead. I found you and sent you back."

"Why did you take my memories?"

"I had to do it," the first witch squeezed her fingers. "Sealing your magic was the only way to save you. I decided to take your memories to give you a chance to grow up without the burden of knowing that you had magic but being unable to use it. I didn't want to risk you tapping into your magic again and hurting yourself, so it was better if you never had those memories." There was a sad look on her face. "I always knew you were going to break the seal and get your magic back, but you did it sooner than even I anticipated."

"Ms. Cuddles," Bonnie whispered. She had told Klaus about the time Ms. Cuddles went missing and how the bear had found her way back to Bonnie. It was the only time that Bonnie could think of using magic as a child, now she knew there had been plenty of other times before that. "I used my magic to bring Ms. Cuddles back to me, didn't I?"

The first with nodded. "You managed to crack the seal, some of your magic slipped through because of it, and that's how you were able to use magic in high school too. The headaches, the nosebleeds, the exhaustion after doing certain spells, it was all a result of the seal still being partially in place, once it was fully broken you never had trouble using magic again."

Everything started to make sense.

"Why?" Bonnie asked her. "Why did you help me then?" she wondered. "Who are you? Do you have a name? Why do you care so much? Because I have the feeling that you have helped me before too." Something occurred to her then. "You told the Kindred not to come after me, right?" If it hadn't been Josephine, it had to have been the first witch, she felt sure.

"I might have sent a vision to their leader of what would happen should they decide to persecute you," the first witch responded.

"Why have you taken so munch interest in me?"

The first witch touched her cheek, there was so much tenderness in her touch, in her eyes, and in her voice. "You are the witch that I have been waiting for, Bonnie." She smiled. "The one who will help me fulfill a dream that started thousands of years ago. Together, we will build a better world."

 _I had a prophetic dream about you._

 _The witch who would change it all._

* * *

 **New Orleans**

A period of mourning had been declared in the city. The French Quarter was a mess after the battle and the different factions and their leaders were struggling to pick up the pieces. Because of how bloody the battle had been, there were many people missing, mostly werewolves who had been torn to pieces by the vampires but there were a handful of vampires unaccounted for and humans, there were many humans missing, more than they first anticipated. The streets were filled with posters, pictures, and phone numbers as family members struggled to find their loved ones.

Katie sighed as she posted another flyer on the wall. It made her sad. There were still so many people missing.

"Witch or human?"

Katie turned around and came face to face with Cary and Andrew. Their heads were wet from the light raining falling from the sky. She adjusted her umbrella and glanced back at the picture of the young woman. "Human," she informed them. "The witches have been accounted for."

"How many?" Cary asked curiously.

"Five," Katie muttered. Five witches had perished in the attack, fighting to protect the city. "Surprisingly none from the French Quarter coven." They had all been hiding and those that had joined the battle had done so after getting their magic back, like Katie.

"There are over thirty werewolves missing," Andrew murmured as his eyes canned the list of names. "It seems like every day a new name is added."

"Did your pack had any loses?" Katie asked both of them.

"Three," Andrew smiled weakly. "Compared to the rest of the clans, we got lucky I guess." He definitely felt lucky to be alive. "It's all hazy," he admitted. "One moment, I was in the Bayou then I shifted and woke up at the compound." He actually felt grateful that he didn't remember what he had done in his wolf form. He felt curious but he also didn't want to carry the guilt of having hurt innocent people. The evil witch had forced him to shift but still.

"We had four," Cary responded. "Three more were critically wounded but the hybrids healed them."

Both wolves turned to look back at the compound, where the Strix coven and the witches of the city were slowly but surely breaking Dahlia's magic. At least a dozen wolves and twice as many vampires had been set free already but some were still unconscious, waiting to be released.

"I haven't seen Jackson," Andrew whispered apprehensively. "Or Hayley for that matter." It was something that was making the Crescent wolves nervous.

"They're probably still cursed," Cary replied, feeling optimistic.

"And if not?" Andrew asked fearfully.

"We'll crossed that bridge when we get there," Cary muttered.

If both Alphas of the Crescent clan were dead, things were going to implode between the Crescents and the Mikaelson family, causing more tension between the factions. It was something no one wanted.

The bells of every church in the city began tolling at the same time.

Katie gasped, feeling a strange sensation invading her body.

"It's that a warning?" Andrew asked fearfully, he hoped the city wasn't under attack again.

"No," Katie whispered sadly. "It's the Regent." She looked up. A flash of lightning illuminated the sky and more rain began falling down hard. She didn't need the word to spread to know. The Regent of the nine covens of New Orleans was dead.

* * *

They walked outside the tent.

The scenery took Bonnie's breath away. They were on top of a mountain, she could see smaller mountains on either side of her and a rocky path that lead to a sparkling green lake. The sun shone brightly, puffy white clouds moved lazily against the blue sky and surrounding the tent was a meadow with a rainbow of flowers which filled the air with sweetness.

"Where are we?" Bonnie felt a cool breeze greet her cheeks and she closed her eyes taking in the crisp air mixed with the sweetness from the flowers around her. She felt happy and relaxed. Everything was so peaceful. "Are we on the other side?" she asked opening her eyes and staring at the woman beside her.

"This is my domain," the first witch explained. "A world of my creation. It's not on the living world and it's not on the other side but somewhere in between."

They both stood there contemplating the scenery.

"What do you know about me?" the first witch questioned after a handful of minutes in silence.

"That you are the mother of all witches, that the Bennett bloodline can be traced back to you, that you have protected me since I was a little girl, and you protected Charlotte too."

"My sweet Charlotte," the first witch murmured with a soft smile. "I spent a lot of time with her on the other side, I brought her here too."

"I know."

"She's a sweet girl, easy to love."

"Yes, she is." Bonnie smiled proudly.

"A bit lazy with her spell work but she will be a powerful witch one day."

"She will be," Bonnie agreed. Charlotte was a daughter to both of them.

There was another moment of silence.

"There is nothing about you in my grimoires, not even in my family's grimoires," Bonnie began. "Not even the elders of the coven know much about you, they have heard things but nothing truly specific or that has been passed down through the family line." She watched her curiously. "Are you going to tell me about yourself? Your name at least?"

"I have been given many names throughout the millenniums I have walked the earth," the first witch responded. "The name that has survived to this day and by which those who still worship me know me by, is Hekate."

Bonnie gasped. "The goddess of witchcraft." It seemed so obvious now. _Why hadn't she seen it before?_

"I'm not the Hekate from mythology," she added quickly. "Stories tend to distort and fabricate fascinating things." Amusement flickered across her eyes. "But I am a goddess, a true immortal who has existed for almost as long as the earth. I gave the gift of magic to the world. I selected a group of thirteen women, strong, intelligent, ambitious women whom I entrusted with some of my power. My daughter among them."

"Is that how magic came to be?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes." Hekate took a deep breath and conjured a rock, sitting calmly on top of it and staring at the lake below them. "I was arrogant, spirited. I believed I could create a utopia. I was going to lead civilization into a golden age, instead I created a weapon that changed the world." She sounded sad. "I never thought witches would go so far as to create new species, or find ways to cheat death, or destroy others with their magic." She paused. "Magic was supposed to be used to harvest crops, to heal the sick, to protect the weak, and defend the innocent. For a time, it was like I imagined but then the newer generations grew bolder, and hungry for more power. Magic began to be used to harm others, to take from them, to hurt and even to kill."

"Is that the dark time when you felt you needed to end it all?"

"Yes."

"But you didn't."

"I still saw good in others; my descendants definitely had a code of honor. Most of them at least, there was a rebellious one who managed to create an immortality spell on her own." she shared a smile with Bonnie. "I saw good in a lot of witches and I also saw the future." Her eyes bored into Bonnie's then. "I saw a witch who was going to lead a new generation, a woman powerful enough to stand up to anyone, someone who had the strength, the will, and who stood in perfect balance with the rest of the supernatural world."

Bonnie felt heat on her cheeks and she found herself looking away from the intensity of Hekate's gaze.

"You are that woman, Bonnie. You are the witch who will bring a new era not only to the witch world but to the supernatural world as a whole."

Bonnie felt nervous upon hearing those words. "How?" she wondered. The first witch sounded so sure, it was kind of scary.

"By doing exactly what you have been doing in New Orleans," Hekate responded. "Forging alliances, bringing peace and above all, guiding the younger generations into a different path."

Bonnie felt a lump form in her throat.

"There are others like you," Hekate continued. "Witches who don't know their lineage, who don't have a clue how to use their powers and those who do are easily misguided or pushed into the wrong direction." Her eyes bored into Bonnie's once more, transmitting with a single look all she felt, all she wanted. "You could help them, you and the Bennett coven can guide them, and teach them."

Bonnie let out a nervous breath. "Me?"

"You already stared with Davina and Charlotte," the first witch continued. "You have helped them, you have guided them, not only as an adoptive mother but as a friend and mentor. Davina would be a completely different girl from the one she is had she not met you. She would have eventually met a tragic end."

Bonnie felt her heart constrict upon hearing those words.

"So, would your cousin Sofia, and many of the other young Bennett witches you brought together." Hekate offered her an encouraging smile. "The Bennett coven was the first step Bonnie."

"You really think I can make a difference?"

"You are already making a difference," Hekate responded. "A thousand years ago, there weren't many witches as there are today. Witches tended to mate with other witches but with time that changed, and witches began procreating with humans and even werewolves," she explained. "There are many boys and girls, many people around the world with different levels of powers and abilities that could use someone to help them understand, to guide them, and offer them sanctuary even." She gave her a knowing look. "You know better than anyone what is like to learn on your own, to have no one to help you with your powers and you also know what difference it makes to have people like you, supporting you, watching your back, helping you."

Bonnie nodded. She thought back to the time when she lost Grams, when she was alone, confused, and learning on her own. She remembered Luka Martin and how fun it had been to meet another witch, and to learn from him. She thought of Lucy and her coven. She had learned so much from Aunt Vivian, and rest of her cousins. She couldn't imagine not having them with her now.

"You are meant for greatness, Bonnie Bennett." The first witch took her hand.

"You have seen me doing this," Bonnie realized. "Helping other witches…" she trailed off.

Hekate's lips twitched into a secretive smile. "Every step you have taken, every path you have walked has led to this moment."

"Why me?" Bonnie asked once more. "Surely there had been other witches, wiser, and stronger than me for this task."

"You are different, my dear girl." She squeezed her fingers. "You don't fight for more power, or glory, or to prove anything to others. You fight with your heart. You fight for love, for your family," she emphasized. "I have seen so many witches rise and fall, many whom I mistakenly believed could be the ones to fulfill my dream and who ended up being corrupted by their power, going down a dark path, and never finding the light. But not you."

Bonnie bit her lip. "I have been tempted by darkness," she confessed.

"But even when you find yourself at the edge, you pull back, instead of letting that darkness control you, you have found a way to control it."

"I guess," Bonnie muttered thinking of how easily she used expression now. It hadn't been like that at first. The magic had controlled her before but now it was Bonnie who was in full control.

Hekate tilted her head up and forced her to look into her eyes once more. "For every life there must be death, for every day there must be a night, for every sun a moon, for every vampire a werewolf, and for light to exist in this world, there must also be darkness."

"Balance," Bonnie realized. "That's how the balance is kept."

"Exactly," Hakate offered her a proud smile. "You have found the perfect balance, Bonnie Bennett. That is why you are the right person to do this."

* * *

 **The Compound**

Rebekah contemplated her reflection in the mirror, a sad look on her face as she stared at her black attire. It felt like she hadn't taken it off in days. Every day there was a funeral to attend. First, the funeral of the Bennett witches who had died after fighting bravely against Dahlia, it had been solemn and discreet with just the family and a couple of friends in attendance. Vincent, Ishmael, Cary, and Marcel had paid their respects during the service but the burial had been only for the immediate family. Then there had been Jackson's funeral. After all the wolves had been awoken from Dahlia's curse, Jackson was nowhere to be found. His remains had been hard to identify, they hadn't even been able to acquire all of them which had infuriated the Crescent wolves. Rebekah hadn't particularly want to go but Elijah insisted they paid their respects to the Alpha of the Crescent clan. Kol had ditched them and Finn had been irrelevant, so it had been up to Rebekah, Elijah, and Marcel to represent the family. Hayley had glared at them but hadn't kicked them out, not with Vincent and Father Kieran presenting a united front with the Mikaelson siblings. The peace between the factions had to be kept at all costs after all.

With a heavy heart, Rebekah turned away from the mirror. Today, all of New Orleans was going to pay their respects to Madame LaRue. She had died two days after the battle and her funeral was going to be one befitting a queen.

"Peak a boo!" Matt said, pulling the pillow away from his face and smiling charmingly at the little girl on their bed. She giggled merrily and clapped her hands.

Rebekah's heart felt warm and fuzzy as she watched them. The little girl Matt had found after the werewolf attack had become rather attached to him and by extension her. She hadn't said a word but she was smiling more these days. Elijah had tried to compel her but unfortunately, he had been unable to do so, which led the family to believe she was a witch. She hadn't shown signs of magic though. Matt was completely charmed by the sweet thing and so was Rebekah, although she worried about the things her young mind had witnessed already.

Rebekah had taken her picture and Belle and Josh had helped to distribute flyers all throughout the city. She wasn't the only one who's face adorned the streets of the Quarter. Many people had gone missing during the attacks, humans, wolves and vampires alike and sorting through the different body parts that had filled the streets was a difficult task. One that Elijah was handling with the Strix and a handful of volunteers. _Are your parents' bodies among them?_ She wondered as she contemplated the quiet and sweet child Matt had surprised her with when she returned to the Quarter. Nobody had called, nobody had come to claim her, they didn't even know her name or how old she was. Rebekah guessed she was around two maybe three years old. She was small and delicate and her silence make her heart ache. _Had she witnessed her parents' murder? how many other children had been left orphan because of Dahlia?_

Matt and Rebekah were taking care of her for the time being and the rest of the family had accepted her with open arms. Charlotte already adored the little girl and loved playing with her. She had started calling her, _Lilybeth_ which the rest of the family had adopted as well as Charlotte claimed that was her name although she didn't tell them how she knew just that Lilybeth had told her so. Having the little girl around had definitely lifted Charlotte's spirits, and Rebekah's too. _Don't get too attached,_ Rebekah told herself. _Her family will eventually come for her. She's not yours to keep._

"Is it time to go?" Matt stood up and fixed his tie.

"Yes."

 _Lily_ \- as Rebekah had decided to call her, raised her little arms and looked expectantly at Matt, who understood her silent message and picked her up in his arms. She was as light as a feather. He took Rebekah's hand in his and together the three of them made their way to the nursery where Joanna and Lenore where with the twins and Charlotte. They were going to babysit while the rest of the family attended Josephine's funeral.

Lily smiled at Rebekah and she smiled back in turn.

 _How can I not get attached?_ she thought as she traced the little one's cheek which caused her grin to widened. She was adorable.

 _Was it awful of her to wish that Lily had no family left?_

* * *

Lucy wiped the tears from her eyes and gently deposited Henrik inside his crib. She had just finished feeding him, Ingrid was already there, smiling at her. They were so sweet, so innocent, her eyes watered once more.

"Are you alright, darling?" Elijah came to stand behind her, placing his hands on her trembling shoulders. He had just finished getting ready for the funeral and had come looking for her. Lucy spent most of her days in the nursery now.

"It's not fair," Lucy whispered as she contemplated the twins. "They need their mother, they…" she choked back a sob. She felt surprised that she still had tears left inside her. She had cried for her cousins, during the service and the funeral but Bonnie's loss in particular was a blow that she would never recover from. "It's like losing Natalie all over again." Bonnie had become more than just her cousin, Lucy had started to see her as a sister and now she was gone and her heart was broken, not just for the immense loss their family was suffering but for the children in particular. Charlotte had lost her smile except when she was with Lily, Davina was constantly sad and worried, and the twins had no idea of what they had lost. _They will never know their mother,_ the thought was so horrifying, more tears spilled down her cheeks. "It hurts…"

Elijah wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Her back against his chest. "I know, sweetheart." He kissed the side of her neck tenderly. He could feel her pain, and the anger and hurt that trouble her heart was his to bear as well. He was trying his best to comfort her. The entire household was sad. It looked like the weather was grieving with them as well as it had not stopped raining since the night Bonnie went missing.

"And he hasn't even come to see them!" Lucy spun around in his arms, her grief momentarily replaced by anger. "It's been nearly a week, Elijah!"

Elijah grabbed her arm gently and led her way from the crib, so she wouldn't disturb the twins. "He's grieving, Lucy." As always, he came to his brother's defense.

"His children need him."

"I know." Elijah was giving his brother time.

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you know he broke Matt's neck again?"

Elijah nodded. He had heard about the incident from Rebekah.

That was the first thing Niklaus had done after returning to the compound. He had searched for Matt, informed him that Bonnie had not returned from the prison world after defeating Dahlia and snapped his neck so he could find her on the other side. Matt had no such luck. He had return hours later, a defeated look on his face. "The Bennetts on the other side don't know where she is. They can't sense her either."

Klaus had done it again the next day and once again, Matt had been unable to locate Bonnie on the other side. "It doesn't make any sense!" the hybrid had shouted before locking himself in his room. No one had seen him since then. The only ones who had dared to go inside were Rebekah and Elijah.

"Niklaus believes Bonnie is on the other side, somewhere trapped perhaps." Deep down they all had faith that Bonnie would return to them even if that hope was slowly dying with each passing day.

"So, does aunt Vivian but she's not acting like an emo." Despite her grief Aunt Vivian was keeping the Bennett coven together. She was the one everyone looked up to and had turned to since Bonnie's disappearance.

Elijah gave her a look.

"I'm sorry," Lucy muttered. "I know he's hurt and sad but I just wish he wouldn't turn his back on his children." For the past couple of days, it had been Lucy and Rebekah who had been taking care of the twins and Charlotte, and consoling Davina. The whole family was in a state of worry, shock, and grief.

"I'll talk to him," Elijah promised as he wrapped one arm around her waist. "Bonnie will find her way back," he whispered as Lucy rested her head against his chest. "If anyone can defy the odds, it's her."

"I hope so," Lucy whispered back. The Bennett coven had not given up, every day they tried different spells in order to contact Bonnie. Every day, there was a new hope, a new idea, a new form of magic to get their queen back. In the meantime, Lucy clung to her lover and to Aunt Vivian's words on the morning after the battle, after long hours of waiting for Bonnie to make her way back to them.

 _If Bonnie were dead, we would have felt it._

 _The Bennett coven was formed by her, she is the queen and if she had perished, the magic binding the coven together would have snapped. It hasn't. Bonnie is still alive._

Aunt Vivian believed so and Lucy had learned that their aunt was always right.

* * *

Nearly one week without her.

Klaus was losing it. He had used Matt, Angelica, and even some of the Bennett witches to try and locate her and nothing had worked. Bonnie had not returned from the prison world and no one knew why, not even the Bennett witches on the other side had a clue.

The bond was gone. He couldn't use it to find her.

 _What if she had ceased to exist along with the prison world?_

The thought sent him into a spiral of raging grief. It couldn't have ended like this. He refused to believe it. _She has to come back,_ he kept telling himself. Bonnie was a fighter and she wouldn't give up.

 _But what if she needed his help? What if she was hurt?_

 _She didn't complete the transition,_ a sinister part of his mind whispered as well.

His throat clogged with emotion, and his body shook uncontrollably. It had been too many days, if she hadn't drunk any human blood she was more than likely…

Klaus shut his eyes, just thinking about it made him sick. He was so sick with worry and fear that when he wasn't trying to find ways to contact her, he paced inside their room like a madman. He had barely seen his children-mostly at night when they slept peacefully and he didn't have to bump into anyone. He didn't want to see or talk to anyone unless it was a plan to get Bonnie back. Rebekah and Elijah had come inside a few times but they never stayed long. Through Elijah he had learned Jackson had been one of the victims of the attack and that the Crescent pack was pissed at their family as they had learned their aunt had been the one behind it all.

 _I doubt they will retaliate at the moment,_ Elijah had told him two days before, after the funeral of the Crescent Alpha. _The pack is split in two, some support Hayley as the new Alpha while others prefer Oliver. It works to our advantage_.

Klaus had not responded.

Elijah had simply placed his hand on his shoulder and given him a reassuring squeeze before disappearing from the room, knowing he wasn't in the mood to talk.

His sister had been more emotional.

 _You can't stay here locked up forever,_ she had scolded him after bring him a couple of blood bags. _Your children need you, Nik. Charlotte misses you and I'm sure the twins do too._

Klaus had felt guilty upon hearing her words, a guilt that had lingered and stabbed him in the heart constantly.

Now, as he stood looking out of the window, he wondered what kind of father he would be without Bonnie? He immediately chided himself for such unholy thought. He couldn't do this without her. He was going to fuck it up. He was going to ruin them in the same way his father had ruined him. _I need you sweetheart. I need you with me, with us._ His heart bled for Bonnie. He needed her like humans needed air. He couldn't live without her.

A small beating heart brought him out of his thoughts, making him grateful for pulling him out of the depressive scenarios he would no doubt begin to imagine.

 _Charlotte._

She was standing outside the door, nervous. He could feel her nervous energy through the closed door. Without thinking, he went to open the door.

Charlotte gasped. "Hi…" she had her hands behind her back and looked around nervously.

"Hi," Klaus answered back. He could hear Joanna and Lenore in the kitchen, making a snack for the little girl Matt had brought home and the twins were asleep in the room next door. It had probably made it easy for Charlotte to sneak up to see him as everyone else was at Josephine LaRue's funeral.

"Here," Charlotte said, handing him a sheet of paper.

"What is this?"

"A drawing to make you feel better," Charlotte told him.

Klaus's lips curled as he saw the stick figures. Despite her efforts, Charlotte's drawings had not improved at all. He felt touched that even though he had being ignoring her -unless one counted when he sneaked into her room late at night to tuck her again as she had a habit of kicking the covers-she still wanted to make him feel better.

"That's you and Mama and Henrik and Ingrid," she pointed to four of the six figures. "And that's me and peanuts."

"It's lovely," he whispered.

Charlotte's face instantly brightened.

Another wave of guilt washed over him. If Bonnie knew that he was ignoring his responsibilities to his children because he was drowning in grief she would no doubt get angry at him. _Being a father should come first, Klaus,_ he could almost picture her telling him. Bonnie would be disappointed in his behavior.

"I miss her too," he confessed in a trembling voice. "I'm sorry I haven't been there for you," he said in a sincere voice.

"It's okay," Charlotte muttered, an understanding look on her face. "You're sad and needed to be alone."

Klaus's face twisted as different emotions flickered across his face.

"When she comes back you can show her the drawing," Charlotte sounded so confident.

Klaus studied her face, wondering where she got her optimism from. "I will." He allowed his sadness to show on his face. "I hope I can show it to her one day."

"Tonight."

Klaus gave her a strange look. "Tonight?" his undead heart skipped a beat. "Why would you say that?"

"She's coming back tonight," Charlotte responded with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You have to go get her," she said suddenly.

"Where?"

"The same place where she left."

Klaus stared at her, searching her face to see if she was being serious-she was- he could tell.

"You should go now," Charlotte told him.

"Are you sure?"

"Very," Charlotte swore. "I promise she will be back tonight."

Klaus swallowed nervously and looked at the drawing once more before folding it and placing it inside the pocket of his jacket. He crouched down in front of the little girl and hugged her. "Thank you," he whispered and kissed the side of her face. He didn't know if she was right that Bonnie would return that night but he couldn't see why Charlotte would make something up, specially something as important as this.

Charlotte grinned and hugged him back. "You're welcome," she whispered back. There was a moment of hesitation, a nervous flutter, before she added. "Daddy."

His entire body shook as he heard the word and his arms tightened around her.

"You don't mind, do you?" Charlotte pulled away from him, a worried look on her face. "If I call you that?"

"Not at all, sweetheart." She had wormed her way into his heart without question and even if he had never acknowledged it out loud, she was his daughter, his and Bonnie's.

Charlotte beamed, her heart pounding loudly with happiness. It was what she had wanted to hear, what she had been desperate to call him for a long time and now, she could.

Klaus kissed her forehead and smiled down at her.

Charlotte smiled back. "You should go now," she murmured. "She's on her way back."

Klaus nodded and was about to speed out of there when he stopped and stared at her face once more. "How do you know this?" he asked curiously.

Charlotte grinned from ear to ear. "The first witch told me," she responded.

Klaus's eyes went wide. "Bonnie is with the first witch?"

"She was," Charlotte responded. "I was worried because mama wasn't coming back and I spoke to the first witch. I asked her to bring mama back," she explained. "She hears me, you know. When I'm sad or worried. She comes into my room from time to time too and sings me to sleep. She thinks I don't notice but I do. She's my mama too."

Klaus didn't know what to say.

"Go!" Charlotte urged him. "She'll be back at any moment now."

Klaus nodded, taking off at vampire speed.

Charlotte watched him disappear into a blur, a deliriously happy smile on her face.

* * *

"You won't be doing it alone," the first witch promised Bonnie. "I will guide you and help you in any way I can."

"How come you interfere in some things but not in others?" Bonnie wondered out loud.

"People should be free to choose the path they wish to walk, to live their lives as they see it fit." Hekate plucked a flower from the ground and inhaled its sweet scent. "I learned my lesson. Meddling too much always makes matters worst."

"But you found ways to get involved," Bonnie pointed out. "Not only helping me but helping Charlotte." Her eyes suddenly opened wide. "You were the woman!" she realized with a sharp gasp. "The one who left the list with the names of the members of Abby's coven."

"I was," Hekate admitted. "I hunted them down and destroyed them. What they did to those innocent children was horrific, I destroyed them just like I did with the coven that tried to sacrificed Charlotte and with the Ancestors." The only one she had spared had been Abby.

"You destroyed the Ancestors?"

"They had grown far too arrogant and came after you more than once," Hekate muttered defensively. "I also forced Celeste Dubois to make a witch's oath not to hurt you, in the end she broke said oath and met her end at Lucy's hand."

"It's like you're my guarding angel."

"I try not to get involved you know," Hekate crushed the flower in her hand, there was a gentle spark of power and when she opened her hand, the petals were gone and instead there was a small bird chirping happily. It flew away shortly after. "But sometimes when witches cross a line, I have no choice but to become involved. Not just because they come after my descendants- I have helped plenty of witches who do not share my blood after all- but because I see it as my duty, to help those who need it and restore order to the world."

"Thank you," Bonnie said with the uttermost sincerity. "For everything you have done for me, for all the times you helped me."

"You're welcome."

They both shared a smile.

"How will I find them?" Bonnie asked her suddenly. "Those witches around the world that need my help. I do want to help them in any way I can." She knew her coven would want to help too.

"It will come to you," Hekate replied cryptically. She stood up and came to stand in front of Bonnie. "Now, I shall give you a gift."

Bonnie frowned. "A gift?"

"Always stay true to yourself Bonnie," Hekate told her. "The road ahead is long. The mission you have won't be completed soon, it will take time, patience, hard work, and failure in order to achieve it. It's something that can't be done in a year or even in a century. You and your coven and your family have a long and complicated road but you will do it together."

"…I…"

Hekate placed her index finger over Bonnie's mouth and silenced her. "I saw you long before you were born, I met you and knew you were the one I had been searching for. I have watched over you and have seen the wonderful woman you have become."

Bonnie felt her heart skip a beat, a tingly sensation spreading all over her body as the first witch began to release her magic and surround her with it.

"May the light inside you burn as bright as the sun, may the darkness be tempered by your will, and your power burn with the eternal flame of the mother goddess." She took both of Bonnie's hands in hers. "I am the first, the beginning, the maiden, the mother, and the crone. I am the magic that flows through every corner of the world, the essence that every witch taps into in order to wield their power, and the justice that they meet in death. I have chosen you as my representative on earth, as the light that will guide the future generations into greatness and as the protector of magic and witches alike. My gift to you is life, Bonnie. Immortal life."

Bonnie gasped.

The first witch kissed Bonnie's forehead and there was an explosion of light all around them. A tremendous amount of power washed over Bonnie when the first witch's magic engulfed her completely. Bonnie closed her eyes feeling a strong pull lift her body into the air. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. She felt loved, protected, and cared for. Every fiber of her being came alive by the ancient power that slithered inside her.

The sky disappeared with the light as did the mountains and the flowers.

The last thing Bonnie saw was the first witch smiling at her. "This is just the beginning, little one."

"Will I see you again?"

"I will always be with you, Bonnie."

The necklace around her neck glowed as the magic surrounding her penetrated her skin, joining with the already existing power residing there. Her natural born magic, Expression, and now a small amount of the first witch's own magic all mixed into one.

Light and dark.

Life and death.

Bonnie and the first witch.

They were now one.

When Bonnie returned to New Orleans, she had been reborn into an immortal witch.

* * *

 _A/N: Klonnie reunion in the next chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed this one. As always, thank you for reading and reviewing._


	96. Chapter 96

**A/n:** _I'm so sorry to keep you guys waiting for this chapter. The end of the semester burned me out. I've never been this exhausted before and I'm so glad summer break is finally here. Thank you for all your amazing reviews and all the incredible support. I hope you enjoy this chapter._

* * *

Madame Josephine LaRue had a funeral befitting a queen. Witches from all the nine covens in the city, prominent citizens, and even a handful of vampires and werewolves paid their respects to the woman who had led the witches during the most turbulent years New Orleans had ever seen. Many people also came to meet the man who had taken her place as Regent, Vincent Griffith. He had been the acting Regent for a while but now that he had full control, a new era was to begin and everyone wanted to make his acquaintance. Alliances were an essential part for the leaders of the factions and for the prominent humans who called New Orleans home. Things had changed dramatically in the past couple of months, alliances had shifted and new ones had been forged; and while the factions governing the city were more or less at peace, there were always sparks that could ignite a fire at any given moment. The players were aware of it and actively made moves that would benefit themselves and their communities in the long run. There was one thing everyone could agree on however, they all wanted peace. New Orleans had seen too much blood and death in the past year and people were frankly, tired. They wanted changed, they wanted peace, and with the latest threat defeated and a new Regent taking charge, everyone had high hopes for a brighter and more stable future.

During the period of mourning everyone was in their best behavior and Josephine's funeral brought together all the leaders of the community-with the exception of the Crescent pack who was dealing with their own internal problems. Mayor de la Fontaine, the Correa Family, Ishmael and the Mikaelson Family were among the many important leaders inside St. Anne's church where father Kieran's touching sermon brought many to tears. Through it all, Vincent carried his grief with dignity. It was no secret that Josephine had been like a mother to him and her passing had undoubtedly left a hole in his heart. All eyes were on him and he knew it, which was why he kept his emotions heavily guarded. He had lost his mother, his mentor, his friend, and the only family he had in the world. The one thing that helped to ease his grief was the knowledge that Josephine had not suffered, she had died peacefully in her sleep.

Marcel sat a couple of rows behind the new Regent, hardly listening to Father Kieran. His eyes were trained on his adopted daughter and Kol who were sitting together in front of him, they were extremely close, _too close_ for his liking. They had arrived together, they were sitting together, and if he didn't know any better he could have sworn they were holding hands. _What the hell?_ He thought thinking that his eyes were surely deceiving him. _Since when were Davina and Kol so friendly?_

A small growl escaped his throat when he saw Davina rest her head on Kol's shoulder while the choir sang a hauntingly beautiful song. Thierry and Katie who were sitting next to him, glanced in his direction and so did Felix and Angelica who were sitting on his other side.

"What's wrong?" Thierry whispered.

"Nothing," Marcel mumbled.

Rebekah glanced over her shoulder and gave him a look that clearly said, _don't make a scene._ Marcel for his part stared into her eyes before tilting his head towards Davina and Kol, sitting to Rebekah's left. There was a clear question in his eyes, one Rebekah understood perfectly well. Years of knowing each other made it easy to communicate without any words.

"Not now," she muttered before staring ahead and giving all her attention to the choir once more.

Marcel frowned, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Once the mass was finally over-to Marcel it had felt like an eternity- everyone slowly started making their way out of the church. The burial was going to be a private event, with only Vincent a select group of witches (friends of Josephine) in attendance. Marcel and the Mikaelsons were some of the last people inside the church, all taking their turns to offer Vincent their condolences.

"Although we were on opposing sides, I respected her you know. She was an admirable woman."

"I know," Vincent murmured as he shook Marcel's hand.

"We're sorry for your loss," Kol told him. While he hadn't bothered to attend any of the other funerals in the past week, he had made the exception with Josephine. Not because he knew her personally but because Davina had wanted to come and show her respect to the former Regent. Plus, according to Elijah it always looked good on the family to present a united front.

"Thank-you for coming," Vincent said to them.

Davina smiled softly at him while Kol felt a prickle in the back of his neck. He didn't like the way Marcel was staring at them, it made him uncomfortable. His girlfriend seemed oblivious to the anger in Marcel's eyes but Kol began to fidget nervously. _Fuck! Marcel Knew_. He gave a look to Rebekah who confirmed his suspicions with a slight nod of her head.

"We're are here for whatever you need," Matt said as he shook Vincent's hand.

Vincent nodded, feeling grateful for their support. It was up to them to keep the peace intact. He knew that to make things work he and the Mikaelsons needed to be on the same side. After accepting their condolences, he asked the question that had been plaguing him in the past couple of days. "Any word from Bonnie?" The young witch was in many way the bridge between the vampires and the witches and an essential part for the future.

"No," Elijah replied sadly. Lucy who was gripping his hand tightly looked away, holding back a sob. Vincent could practically feel the pain radiating off her. He gave her a sympathetic look. He better than anyone could understand what she was going through. For everyone's sake he hoped the queen of the Bennett coven would return soon.

"If there is anything I can do…" Vincent offered. A person couldn't just disappeared into thin air, Bonnie had to be somewhere, they just needed to figure out where.

"You have been of great help to our family, Vincent." Elijah said to him. "A formidable ally really, and we appreciate it deeply."

"We need to be on the same side in order to maintain peace," Vincent murmured.

"Indeed."

"Our coven will find Bonnie," Lenore said in a confident voice. "We won't give up." Bonnie was alive, they knew it. The Bennett witches on the other side were on constant alert should she show up over there while the living Bennetts were searching the other prison worlds. One way or another they were going to find Bonnie or with any luck, she would find her way back to them. "If anyone can beat the odds is Bonnie."

Vincent nodded.

"Actually," Rebekah intervened while sharing a nervous look with Matt. "There is something you could help us with."

"We don't want to trouble you, it can wait," Matt said quickly.

Vincent gave them a curious look.

"Perhaps you can come for tea so we can discuss it," Rebekah suggested. "It's about the little girl Matt rescued after the wolf attack."

"No one has claim her?"

"No," Rebekah answered. Her heart constricted. _Did Lily even have any family left? Had the wolves killed them all?_

"We're pretty sure she's a witch," Matt informed him. "As the Regent you might be able to help us locate her family."

"Of course," Vincent agreed right away.

"Thank you." Rebekah squeezed Matt's hand. Vincent was the one person who could help them find more information about Lily and her family. He probably knew all the witch families in the city. Her stomach twisted painfully. _It was the right thing to do,_ she told herself as she and Matt left St. Anne's church with the rest of the family. But the thought of parting with Lily made her heart ache. She knew Matt felt the same way. The sweet darling girl had him wrapped around her little finger. She had won both of their hearts easily.

* * *

 **The compound**

Marcel managed to contain his anger until they arrived at the compound. He knew better than to make a scene with so many eyes and ears in the church. The front door had barely closed shut when he asked Kol and Davina, "want to tell me what the hell is going on with you two?" Marcel had a feeling what was going, it didn't take a genius to put two and two together but still, he wanted to hear it from them.

Davina froze, feeling momentarily stunned by the direct question from her adoptive father. Kol wasn't as surprised as she was, he knew Marcel had figure it out at the church and had been preparing for a confrontation the whole way back home. They had been rather sloppy in hiding their closeness for the past week and it was only a matter of time before someone else found out.

"What is the meaning of this?" Marcel asked them as he gestured to their joined hands.

Davina swallowed the lump in her throat, clinging to Kol's hand. The two shared a look. _It's now or never, darling_ , Kol's eyes seemed to say to her.

Matt watched the couple curiously, his eyes landing on their joined hands. "You're holding hands," he remarked. _Had they been doing it the whole time?_ This was the first time he actually noticed.

"Thank you, captain obvious," Kol did not take his eyes away from Marcel. He squeezed Davina's hand, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. They were a united front.

"I think we know exactly what it means," Elijah murmured while glancing at the couple's joined hands, he too had been keeping a close eye on them and had noticed their extreme closeness during the funeral of madame LaRue.

"Oh boy," Lucy whispered, knowing what was going as well. She pitied them because judging by the look on Marcel's face, this was about to turn ugly.

Davina lifted her chin and calmly stated, "Kol is my boyfriend." It was exhilarating to say the words out loud. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Even though Marcel knew it, _why else would they be holding hands and sit so closely during the service?_ It still felt like a punch to the stomach to hear those words. The idea of Davina dating was scary but Davina dating Kol was absolutely horrifying. "No. You are not," he hissed. "Break up right now."

Rebekah rolled her eyes upon hearing that. "Really, Marcel?"

"What are you twelve?" Lucy asked him.

"Wait…" Matt looked between Lucy and Rebekah. "Did you guys know?" he asked them.

"It didn't take a genius to figure out," Lucy responded. "No offense," she added quickly.

"I've known for some time," Rebekah muttered.

Marcel ignored all of them and focused all his anger on Kol. "You're too old for her," he told him.

Lucy snorted. "Elijah and Rebekah are too old for me and Matt," she told him. "You are too old for Cami or anyone you decide to date," she reminded him. "The age card is irrelevant when it comes to vampires."

Marcel glared at her. "Did I ask for your opinion?" he snapped.

"Marcellus," Elijah gave him a warning look.

"Lucy is right. Age is an absurd argument when it comes to vampires," Kol pointed out.

"You're a psychopath."

"Oh, because you are an adorable little angel who has never hurt anyone," Kol snapped at him.

"I know you," Marcel hissed. "I also know plenty of stories of the witches you have seduced and I'm not going to let you hurt Davina or use her-"

"This is different!" Kol interrupted him. "I also know plenty of sordid things you've done and I'm not throwing them in your face."

"I'm not the one dating a sixteen-year-old girl!"

"I'm almost seventeen!" Davina reminded him.

"You're not old enough to be dating!"

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard all day," Rebekah intervened. "Davina is old enough to date, Marcel."

"I personally think she's far too young," Elijah mumbled to himself.

Lucy elbowed him in the ribs. "Seriously," she gave him a look.

Elijah gave her an innocent look.

"Don't tell me you are all okay with this?" Marcel asked, staring at them as if they had all lost their mind.

"Why the bloody hell wouldn't we be?" Rebekah snapped. "They're not doing anything wrong." She pinned Marcel with a mean glare. "Stopped being the crazy over protective dad, Davina could be doing a lot worse than my brother."

"Hey!" Kol threw her a dirty look. "I personally think she won the lottery with me!"

"Of course, you do." Matt rolled his eyes. Kol's arrogance had no limits but even he could admit that there were other worst prospects around the corner. "Kol is better than Oliver though."

Kol and Marcel growled at the same time at the mention of the Crescent wolf, neither of them had liked seeing Davina dance with he wolf.

Lucy had to suppress a giggle at their reaction.

"I'm old enough to know what I want Marcel," Davina's voice was confident. She wasn't going to change her mind. "You can't forbid me from seeing Kol."

"Yes, I can."

"Marcel," Lucy and Rebekah glared at him.

"What could you possibly see in him?" Marcel questioned angrily.

"I'm handsome, irresistible, and wickedly charming," Kol declared with a proud grin.

"This isn't a joke Kol," Elijah reproached him.

"No, it isn't." Kol sobered up immediately. "This is our life, our decision, and you all need to respect it."

"If you think-" Marcel took a menacing step closer. Elijah quickly got in his way, ready to protect his younger brother. Not that Kol needed it, but still, it was his duty to look after his younger siblings.

"I think we should let Marcel and Davina talk alone," Matt suggested. Tempers were flaring and it was best if Marcel talked to Davina without the rest of the family interfering.

"I think that's an excellent idea," Elijah agreed with him. "While Marcel and Davina talk, I shall have a talk with Kol." He materialized next to his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder.

The younger Mikaelson actually gulped.

Rebekah and Lucy were ready to protest but Matt dragged them away, leaving Davina with her adoptive father. Kol gave her a reassuring look before following both couples out of the door; Elijah leading him to the study. He was not looking forward to their talk.

* * *

 **Fauline Cottage**

After Dahlia's demise Freya locked herself at the Fauline cottage. Despite Rebekah's and Finn's attempts to talk to her, Freya insisted on wanting to be alone. She needed time to think, to grieve, and come to terms with her new life. A life free of Dahlia at last. It was rather strange to think that she was free of her tormentor. It was what she had always wanted but her freedom had come with a heavy price.

After a week of being on her own and dealing with her conflicting emotions, she finally allowed Finn inside the cottage. He and Rebekah had been the only ones of her siblings that had tried to get in touch with her in the past week. Niklaus had apparently locked himself in his grief over Bonnie's disappearance, Elijah was busy with the factions, and Kol probably had more important things to deal with than seek his sister and ask how she was doing.

 _They don't really see you as their sister, they do not care about you._

 _Shut up._

Dahlia was gone but her voice continued to haunt Freya.

"How are you?" Finn asked as soon as he appeared inside the attic where Freya was still living.

Freya shrugged and moved towards the table where she was brewing tea. She hadn't exactly been in the mood to talk but Finn had looked like a lost puppy standing outside the gates of the cottage. He had come to see her every day and she finally caved. After all, Finn was the brother she was closest with, the one she could actually bring herself to talk with. Out of all her siblings, he would be the one to understand her, she knew.

 _Talking would do you some good Ms. Freya,_ Frank had kindly told her once or twice when he came to bring her food. The guardian of the Fauline Cottage had always been kind and nice to her.

"I'm alright," Freya lied.

Finn contemplated her sadly. He knew she was still grieving for their farther.

Freya filled two cups with tea. "I barely got time to spend with him," she murmured as she handed him a cup. "I thought we would have more time…" She looked down, almost ashamed for her weakness. "How foolish."

Finn took a sip of the tea, chamomile, just like the one mother is used to make for them to make them feel better. He almost said it out loud but thought better of it. Bringing their mother into the conversation was not going to help with Freya's desolate mood.

There was a long moment of silence.

Finn didn't know how to comfort his sister. He had always been closer to his mother than his father. He felt for his mother. Despite all her misgivings, Esther had loved them, in her own way but she had loved them and done her best. Mikael on the other hand; the only person his father had truly loved had been Freya.

"Are you glad he's gone?" Freya's voice cut through the silence.

Finn met her curious eyes.

She knew the conflict in her family, she knew her siblings had taken Niklaus's side against their father. She was the only one to grieve for Mikael, she was sure but she still hoped that Finn out of all of them would have some sympathy for their father. After all, he had seen their father at his best, hadn't he?

"I cannot deny that I feel relieved," Finn admitted quietly.

Freya was not surprised by the admission.

"I was always afraid of him." Finn took a seat on her small bed and drank more tea. It soothed him, and it also allowed him to open up about his conflicting feelings in regards to their father. _Our family is fucked up,_ Kol had said on more than one occasion. He was right. They were all a mess.

"He was good to us, Finn."

Finn gave her a look filled with pity. "Yes," he agreed. "When we were little, when…" _you were still with us and he could show his love freely,_ was left unsaid. "You only saw the good in him Freya. I…we…" he amended quickly. "We saw the anger, the arrogance, the cruelty." His hands shook slightly as the memories of a thousand years ago surfaced fully. "I was never good enough for him, none of us were really but as the first son, I was a terrible disappointment. One he never let me forget." He paused thinking back to his father's cruel words and hateful looks. "He expected many things from us and we could never measure up. Nothing we did was ever good enough for him." He licked his lips. "Niklaus likes to claim that he is the one who suffered the most at our father's hands but so did Elijah, Kol, and me. He hurt us too…" it was painful to admit.

"Did he beat you too?" Freya asked in a small voice, she was almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Yes."

The air left her lungs and her entire body shook by the revelation.

"Not as much as he did with Niklaus…" Finn clarified. "But he did beat us a couple of times. The only one he never hurt was Rebekah…" Mikael had always been more lenient with Rebekah. She had been his favorite growing up. "His words were just as painful as his blows," he murmured. "I heard him tell mother once, that he wished I had died of the plague instead of you."

Freya looked away, her heart constricting.

"Forgive me," Finn said quickly. "I don't say this to hurt you or change your mind about him, it's just…" He couldn't grieve for a man he had more or less grown up to hate.

"It's fine." Freya knew her father had done awful things. She had seen the destruction he left behind in more than one occasion. _Your father is nothing more than a soulless monster,_ Dahlia had told her with glee. _An abomination of nature, just like your brothers and sister._

Silenced descended over the room once more.

While Freya lost herself in her thoughts and drank her tea, Finn looked around the attic curiously. He hoped that his sister would move to a more suitable place. There was no need for her to stay at the cottage any longer. "What is that?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Freya followed his gaze, Finn was staring at the doll sitting in the corner of the room. She couldn't stop the smug smirk on her lips. "A doll," she responded simply.

Finn stared at the red-haired doll dressed in rags. There was something in the shape of the eyes and mouth, he shuddered. "A rather creepy doll," he murmured staring at the doll's neck, the head had clearly been detached and sewn back together with badly made stitches. "Is it your doll?" he asked. There was something intriguing about the strange figure. He let out a shocked gasped when he saw the doll blink. "Did you see that?" he pointed to the doll. "It blinked," he gasped.

"Don't be ridiculous." Freya muttered something and the doll disappeared from the corner, reappearing on the table right in front of her a second later. She picked it with both hands, nails sinking on the arms, and a rather hateful look on her face as she contemplated the small thing.

"Why do you have it?"

"This disgusting creature thought herself smart," Freya muttered in a hateful voice. "Powerful, untouchable," her nails dug deeper into the doll's arms until they began to draw blood.

"Freya," Finn stood up. "Is that a voodoo doll?" he asked feeling nervous about the blood coming out of the doll. It was real blood, he was sure. He could smell it.

"No," Freya laughed. "It belonged to one of the witches locked in here."

"Why do you have it?"

"Punishment."

Finn gave her a strange look. "Punishment? For what?"

"Don't worry about it," Freya told him. She placed the doll on the table and changed the subject quickly. "Have you had any news about Bonnie?"

"Nothing," Finn whispered, he looked rather sad. "Her aunt insists she's alive but no one has heard from her, not even on the other side."

"I wonder if she was teleported somewhere else," Freya murmured, deep in thought. "Or disintegrated with the prison world…" she added in a much quieter voice.

"Lucy is taking it really hard, everyone is actually but she is the one that shows it the most," Finn informed her. "She and Rebekah are looking after the children as Niklaus has locked himself in his room and refuses to come out and Elijah is dealing with all the factions and ensuring the peace."

"And you?" Freya wondered. "What role do you play brother?"

"None," was the happy response. "Elijah can deal with the politics and look after the kingdom."

"A kingdom Niklaus rules."

"Like always," Finn responded. He tilted his head to the side and studied her face carefully. "You won't seek revenge against him, will you?"

"Revenge?" Freya asked with a blank look.

"For pushing Mikael to his death," Finn said in a cautious voice. _Us Mikaelsons are always good at stabbing each other in the back,_ Kol had said once. He hoped for everyone's sake that Freya would not seek revenge on their brother.

Freya placed her nearly empty cup of tea on the table, next to her creepy doll and looked directly into Finn's eyes. "Revenge is not going to bring father back," she stated. She had thought about it, she was a Mikaelson after all, but in the end, she knew it was not worth it; not if she wanted to have any kind of relationship with her siblings. "I'm angry," she found herself admitting. "I'm sad. But I don't hate Niklaus nor do I seek to take revenge against him for killing father."

Finn felt relieved. "I'm truly sorry, Freya." He made his way towards her.

"You are not sorry father is dead," Freya responded.

"No," Finn was not going to lie to her. "But I am sorry you are hurting." He placed his own cup of tea on the table and contemplated her with a tender look. "He loved you more than he ever loved us, and while I do not share your heartbreak, I understand it and I'm here for whatever you need."

Freya looked away, trying desperately to control her emotions. _Don't cry,_ she told herself. _Crying is for the weak and you can't afford to be weak._

Finn wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his arms, embracing her warmly. "You're not alone, sister." He kissed the side of her head, keeping his arms around her trembling body.

Freya snuggled against him and closed her eyes, allowing herself to grieve openly.

* * *

Bonnie's eyes opened slowly. She was lying on the ground, staring at the dying rays of the sun across the sky. She blinked, her senses slowly coming awake, and aware of her surroundings. She could hear the rushing of water from a nearby creek and a very clear _ribbit_ from a frog or two. Anyone waking up in the late afternoon in the middle of the woods would have a moment of panic but Bonnie felt an odd sense of peace. She stared at the orange tint covering the sky and breathed in and out. She felt different. Something had changed within her. Bonnie pulled herself into a sitting position, staring at her hands and feeling like she had woken up from a century of slumber _._ She flexed her fingers and curled her toes. She was alive, she was breathing, and her heart was beating normally yet, something about her felt different.

 _My gift to you is life, Bonnie. Immortal life._

The first witch's voice echoed inside her mind. _Immortality,_ the one thing all witches wanted to have, had been given to her without a price. She felt happy. Not because she had sought out to become an immortal witch but because now she could share her immortality with the man she loved. She also had all the time in the world to fulfill the mission the mother of all witches had given to her. Hekate was for all intents and purposes a guardian angel, one who had seen greatness inside Bonnie long before she had even been born. Bonnie felt humbled by the confidence the first witch had in her and grateful for the gift she had been given. There was also a sense of purpose, a responsibility that now laid on her shoulders. _I won't disappoint you,_ Bonnie promised. She was going to do whatever she could to fulfill Hekate's dream. She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, inhaling the cool air and contemplating her past and her future in the solitude of the woods. The missing pieces of the puzzle had finally fallen into place. Everything made sense now. With the memories of her childhood, of the magic she had performed and of the attack upon her and her Grams, Bonnie finally recovered that missing part inside her. _How different things would have been if she had kept her magic growing up?_ She thought thinking back to her struggles when she re-discovered her powers. She would have been a very different girl, she would have certainly never let Damon or any other vampire or witch get the best of her, and she would have probably destroyed Klaus as soon as he came to town as well.

 _Things happen for a reason child,_ that's what her Grams would have said to her.

 _Yes, they do_. Bonnie would change nothing from her past because without it, she wouldn't be standing here today. Her life would have been completely different.

In the distance she could see the mansion, the lights were already on, and she could feel her coven inside. She was about to make her way towards them when a familiar tingling down her spine alerted her to the presence of a vampire coming towards her. Not just any vampire but a hybrid. Bonnie smiled knowing exactly who was coming for her.

"Bonnie."

His voice made her insides melt. Bonnie turned around, her face beaming. "Hi," she whispered, feeling extremely happy to see him. The look he gave her had butterflies taking flight in her stomach and heat spreading all the way to her toes. _Dear Lord,_ only Klaus could vaporize her clothes and make her all hot and bothered with a single look.

Klaus wasted no time to materialized in front of her, looking her up and down quickly-ensuring she was in fact there and not a figment of his imagination- before wrapping his arms around her, crushing her body to his in a tight hug.

 _Home,_ Bonnie thought as she hugged him back. She was home. She was safe. She was with the love of her life. She wasn't entirely sure how long it had been since the fight against Dahlia but some time had clearly passed. She hoped she had not been gone for too long.

"You're really here," Klaus pulled away slightly, his eyes searching her face. He touched her face, her arms, and kept a tight hold on her.

"You're not dreaming, I promise."

Klaus smiled and hooked one arm around her waist. The intense look he gave her had her heart pounding wildly. He lowered his head and Bonnie got on her tiptoes and met his mouth in a deep kiss. They needed to reassure themselves that this was real, that they were together again, and that everything was okay. Their bodies melted together, lips desperate, and hands roaming freely over each other's bodies. The only reason they were forced to pull apart was because she was out of breath after a couple of minutes of intense kissing.

Klaus rested his forehead against hers, keeping his hands on her hips "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Bonnie responded with a soft smile. "You're not going to believe where I've been, I saw-"

"The first witch."

Bonnie felt surprised that he knew of her encounter with the goddess of magic. "How do you know that?" she questioned curiously.

"Charlotte told me," Klaus answered with a small smirk. "She talks to the first witch apparently."

Bonnie wasn't surprised to hear that. "She's been like a guarding angel to me," she told Klaus. "And to Charlotte as well."

Klaus cradled her face with one of his hands. "I was worried," he confessed as he tenderly rubbed his thumb over her cheek. Her skin was warm and soft. "I didn't know where you were and the transition-"

"I'm okay," Bonnie assured him. "I didn't turn," she couldn't contain her happiness as she said it; she hadn't wanted to be a vampire in the first place.

Klaus frowned.

"I'm not going to be a vampire, Klaus."

"But you said you were in transition," he said. _Had time somehow stopped wherever she and the first witch had been?_

"I was, or I thought I was but the first witch made me immortal."

Klaus was definitely not expecting to hear that. "Truly?"

Bonnie nodded. "I'm an immortal witch now." Her voice was filled with excitement as she told him about her encounter with the mother of all witches. "It's her gift to me. She gave a mission too, told me that I'm to represent her on earth and protect magic and witches alike. Klaus, I have to help other witches, I have to guide them, and show them the ropes. She also gave me my memories back, when I was a child I had magic. I did tons of things and you know how I got nosebleeds and nearly died from exhausting myself when I was in high school? It was because my magic was sealed. She did it Klaus! The first witch took my memories and sealed my magic to protect me. You know when mom's evil coven came for me, I used my magic and protected Grams and ended up seeing the first witch, her name is Hekate and she had a vision of me, long before I was born and-"

"Sweetheart, you need to breathe," Klaus interrupted her.

Bonnie laughed. "I have so much to tell you." She placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Klaus kissed her back eagerly. "I missed you," he whispered against her lips. "I love you." Another kiss.

"I love you too," Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck, her tongue plunging into the depths of his mouth in an intimate dance. She moaned and he growled, using his vampire speed to push her deeper into the woods, until her back hit a tree. Bonnie gasped as he trailed hot open mouthed kisses down the side of her neck, his hands already palming her breast through her clothes.

Bonnie closed her eyes, moaning as he placed a kiss on her pulse point.

"Your scent..." Klaus growled against her neck. Her skin smelled like it had been bathed in magic and he got painfully hard as he tasted that ancient power on her flesh. He licked and sucked on her pulse point, and his fangs itched to come out and drink that precious blood. His hands began tugging her clothes, desperate to rip them apart.

"Wait…" Bonnie gasped. "Someone is coming." She pushed him away slightly.

Klaus lifted his head and gave her a strange a look. "I don't sense-" that's exactly when he felt the presence of a couple of witches nearing the woods.

"I told you, I can sense a vampire nearby."

A voice that sounded like Adriane's reached his ears. Klaus looked into Bonnie's eyes, he was taken back. His senses were unlike anything under the sun, so he was surprised that she was able to sense the witches before he did. Maybe because they were her coven?

Bonnie giggled, reading his thoughts with ease-despite the fact that they were no longer bonded. "I think I have some type of GPS for witches," she whispered while grabbing his face and kissing him again. Klaus bit her lower lip, pressing his hard body against her. Bonnie moaned and pulled him closer, needing to feel his skin against her. _Why the hell was he wearing so many clothes?_ She couldn't wait to rip them off him.

"We should go back inside, I hate going into the woods at night."

"Don't tell me your afraid?"

"I swear the woods are haunted."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"If there were any spirits haunting the woods, I would know," Adriane told them. "I'm clairvoyant remember?"

The voices grew louder, forcing the couple apart. Bonnie couldn't stop her giggles at the frustrated look on her lover's face. Klaus was ready to explode from all the desire he felt and he was tempted to throw her over his shoulder and disappear at vampire speed.

It was too late.

"Oh my god!" Sofia dropped her lamp and gasped when she, Adriane, and Beatrice stumbled upon the couple.

"Bonnie!"

Klaus kept his back to them, taking a moment to regain his senses, and allowing his eyes to return to normal before facing them. He was not happy that their moment had been interrupted.

Bonnie smiled at her cousins. "Hi!"

"You're back!"

Klaus moved out of the way before all three of them jumped to hug Bonnie.

* * *

 **The compound**

"Please, don't be angry," Davina said to Marcel after a long and painful silence.

"You have no idea who Kol really is," Marcel said in a much calmer voice. He had never been able to stay mad at her for long. "Or the things he has done, he's-"

"He's not the same person he was a hundred years ago Marcel, or a thousand years ago, either."

Marcel closed his eyes and shook his head. "Vampires don't change overnight, D." There was a frustrated look on his face as he contemplated her. "You're blinded, you don't-"

"I'm not asking for your permission to date Kol," Davina snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

"You're so young-"

"I'm not a child!" Davina interrupted. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "And you seriously can't lock me up in the attic and stop me from dating."

"But why can't you date a guy your age?" he asked in turn.

"Guys my age are stupid," Davina retorted quickly.

Despite the concern he felt, Marcel chuckled. "I can't argue with that." But boys her age would be easier to control and intimidate. Heck, he could even compel them to keep their hands to themselves.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Davina's lips. She walked closer to him, a pleading look on her face. "Please don't be angry with Kol or try to beat him up."

Marcel snorted at that. Kol was a thousand years older than he was, even if he wanted to beat the crap out of him, Kol would always have the advantage. Unless of course he caught him off guard or got Klaus to help him out. _Now there is an idea..._ he thought absently.

"Kol won't do anything to hurt me, not intentionally." Davina's voice was soft and she was begging him with her eyes to understand. "He's arrogant, and spoiled, and unpredictable sometimes but there is also another side to him, he's funny, and far more intelligent than people think, and caring too. I know he cares about me. This isn't a game to him or to me."

"You are really doing this, aren't you?"

"Yes." Davina had a stubborn look on her face.

"Davina-"

"We're not running away to get married in Vegas, Marcel. We like each other and we want to go to the movies or to spend an afternoon in the city or just hang out here at the house without people judging us or trying to break us apart. We don't want to hide anymore." There were a lot of things she wanted to do with Kol, in the open, without worrying about hiding her feelings from the family. The past week had been hard. She was sad and scared that Bonnie might not return, worried about the destruction Dahlia's attack had caused and the friction between the factions and how things would change now that Vincent was regent and that Oliver would more than likely take over the Crescent pack. Through it all, Kol had been there for her, easing her worries, and giving her all the support and affection she needed. "I know he's not the person you would wish for me but I want to be with him and I don't want to fight over this or feel like I have to chose between you and him."

"You are so stubborn," Marcel muttered.

"Why do you hate Kol?" Davina asked him.

"I don't hate him D." Marcel began pacing around the room, thinking back on his history with the Originals and in particular his history with Kol. "He and I never really saw eye to eye, you know. I think he was kind of jealous of me when I was younger and how close I was to Klaus and Elijah." Kol had definitely done his best to scare him as a child and always made a point to remind him he wasn't family. It hadn't helped that Klaus had once daggered Kol to protect Marcel. Kol had always resented him after that. "I can't believe Klaus is okay with the two of you…" he couldn't even say the word. "… _Dating_ …" he finally uttered. _Why couldn't Davina be with a boy her age? Preferably one he could easily chase away or compel to join the priesthood?_

"He wasn't happy when he found out either," Davina responded.

"He knows!"

"He figured it out."

"Of course, he did," Marcel muttered.

"Kol was afraid Klaus was going to dagger him but with Bonnie not returning from the prison world…" her voice broke, she was trying her best to stay positive. Bonnie would find a way to return, Bonnie always found a way. "We have hardly seen him since Dahlia's attack." She had wanted to go to him but hadn't dared. The past week had felt like she had been walking on eggshells.

Marcel nodded. It was typical Klaus. Whenever he was angry or hurt, he tended to push people away and go into seclusion. "I'm not okay with this."

"Marcel-"

Marcel raised his hand and gave her a stern look. "I don't like the idea of you dating, let alone a one-thousand-year-old crazy vamp like Kol but I know I can't forbid you from doing it. I mean, I could but you're not going to listen." He stared into her eyes. "I know that look on your face, I know you won't give him up, and I don't want to fight D." He walked towards her, keeping his eyes on her face as he spoke.

"I don't want to fight either."

"Please be careful," Marcel warned her. "Don't rush into anything, okay."

"I won't, I promise."

"If Kol hurts you in any way," he hissed menacingly. "I promise will find a way to dagger him and dump his body in the ocean for the next two hundred years or more."

Davina chuckled, it was the least she could expect. "I know this isn't easy for you but your support means a lot, Marcel."

Marcel wrapped an arm around her. "I might not approve of your choices, D but I will always support you," he told her as he pulled her closer. "I love you."

"I love you too." Davina threw her arms around him. "Thank you."

Marcel hugged her back and kissed her forehead. "Now, I need to have a serious talk with Kol," he said when they pulled apart.

"Marcel-"

"What kind of dad would I be if I didn't at least threaten him with bodily harm if he breaks your heart?" he questioned while giving her one of his most charming smiles.

Davina was not amused but found her lips twitching all the same.

"And just so you know, when you guys go on a date, I'm sending a chaperone."

"You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Come on," Davina whined as she followed him out of the room.

"I'm not taking any chances," Marcel muttered. "Kol better prove his worth or I'll kick his ass!"

* * *

 **Bennett Mansion**

Bonnie's reunion with her coven was bittersweet. She felt happy to see them but extremely sad that she had missed her cousins' funerals. "I'm so sorry, aunt Vivian." Were the first words out of Bonnie's mouth after sharing a hug with her great aunt. The pain in her aunt's eyes was heartbreaking.

"They knew the risks." Aunt Vivian gripped her hand tightly. "We all did when we decided to be part of the coven." Dying had always been a possibility for all of them.

Bonnie held back her tears. Cecily had been a newlywed when she first came to New Orleans, Tinisha had been so young and spirited and Kyra while quiet and aloof had always protected her and shown her loyalty without question and now they were gone for good. "I wish I had done something...I..." she felt guilty. They had died helping her against Dahlia.

"What is done cannot be undone," Aunt Vivian whispered painfully.

"I could try," Bonnie offered suddenly. "I could find a way...I..."

"You cannot go against nature, Bonnie." Vivian's eyes bored into hers. "No matter how powerful you are, you can't disrupt the order of things. They have been dead for too long now."

"But-"

"Cecily is adjusting," Adriane told her gently. "We spoke with her."

"You did?"

Adriane nodded. "The witches on the other side are helping her...helping all of them actually..." as much as she missed her sister it gave her comfort to know she wasn't alone. She was with their family. "They will be okay."

"Bennetts take care of their own," Beatrice murmured.

"They do," the others agreed.

"Where were you?" Lenore asked her while wiping her tears. _Happy tears,_ she had assured Bonnie. "We were all so worried, we couldn't locate you and the Bennetts on the other side had no idea where you were either."

"We knew you had to be okay," Diana told her. "Otherwise the magic keeping the coven together would have broken." At least until Ingrid came of age and reinstated the coven once more as the new queen.

"I was with the first witch," Bonnie told them. "I didn't know so much time had passed, it felt like a couple of hours to me."

Everyone was surprised.

"You saw the mother of all witches?"

"How?"

"What is she like?"

Everyone started asking questions at the same time, all curious to known about their legendary ancestor. They had heard whispers and rumors and knew that Charlotte had been with her for some time but no one had actually seen her or spoken directly with her.

"She's amazing," Bonnie responded. "Powerful, wise, and she wants us to play a role in the years to come, to help other witches with their magic and guide and protect them." She paused momentarily, her eyes moving over all the witches gather in the mansion's dinning room. "She made me an immortal witch," Bonnie revealed to them.

"Bonnie," Aunt Vivian whispered, looking at her with awe. "You have the first witch's blessing." That was unheard of. In all her years, no witch had ever had such favor with the goddess of magic. "It's extraordinary."

"I know," there was a small, shy smile on Bonnie's face. "There is a part of me that can't believe it."

"She saw something in you," Amine said quietly. She had recovered after the fight with Dahlia and was smiling brightly at Bonnie. "She has chosen you for a reason, child. you are truly a blessed witch."

"Tell us more," Adriane encouraged her.

"What else did you talk about?" Lenore questioned.

"What exactly happened in the prison world?" Beatrice asked.

"How do we begin this mission?" Lucrecia asked as well.

"Well," Bonnie cleared her throat. "It all started when we trapped Dahlia in the prison world. After I sent you back, I died. I mean, I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating and when I woke up, I realized Dahlia's magic was corrupting the prison world, it was only a matter of time before it destroyed it. I met up with Klaus and Ayana also recruited Esther and Mikael to help us. I used Dahlia's own magic against her and…." Her coven listened intently as Bonnie recounted every detail of her confrontation with Dahlia and how she had been transported out of the prison world by the first witch and the conversation that followed between them. She put them up to speed with everything.

Klaus lingered in the background, content to remain in the shadows as Bonnie talked with her coven and explained everything that had happened. While she did that, he sent a quick text to his siblings, letting them know that Bonnie was back and that she was okay.

* * *

 **The compound**

Kol felt like a little boy under Elijah's hard gaze.

"Are you going to say something or are you going to keep giving me the evil eye?" he finally asked.

Elijah tapped his fingers on the desk, a serious but pensive look on his face.

Kol arched an eyebrow, waiting for his brother to order him to stop seeing Davina. Elijah did no such thing however, he simply stared at him, leaning back against the leather chair and continuing to tap his fingers on the wood. Kol's nerves were on edge.

"In a thousand years, I don't believe I ever heard anyone woman call you her boyfriend," Elijah said at last. "The women you brought home ended up becoming your dinner, or breakfast," he added as an after thought. "And the witches you got involved with tended to have something you wanted or be useful in whatever struck your fancy at that moment."

"I don't need you to remind me of my past, Elijah. I have a perfect memory," Kol let out an exasperated sigh and looked out of the window.

"You care for her."

"Obviously." Kol met his eyes unflinchingly. "As cliché as this sounds…Davina is different." He looked down, an almost shy look on his face. "I find her fascinating." Davina could keep up with him in ways no other women had been able to. "This isn't a game for me Elijah." He knew that was the reason Marcel was so against his relationship with Davina. "I know you and everyone think that I don't take anything seriously but this isn't a fleeting fancy…it's real."

Elijah contemplated him with a small smirk.

"What's that look for?"

"I never thought I would see this day." Kol had always lived by his own rules, outside his family he had never truly formed any attachments, romantic or otherwise. Unlike himself, Kol had never opened his heart to anyone. And even though Elijah felt some concern, he felt happy for his brother. It had taken a thousand years but he had finally grown up.

"So, is this the part where you threaten me with bodily harm if I break Davina's heart?"

"I'll let Marcel handle the threats," Elijah told him. "Besides, he's not the only one who will come after you if you do wrong by Davina." He gave him a knowing look. Kol better than anyone knew that there were many people who cared about Davina and were going to come to her defense always. There was no need for him to remind his brother of what would happen if he were not to treat her right.

"I actually think I'm more scared of Bonnie than Marcel or Nik," Kol muttered with a nervous laugh.

Elijah chuckled. "I would be too." Bonnie was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant witches he had ever met, he would never want to be on her bad side. "I do trust that you will behave like a gentleman, Kol." While yes, age was irrelevant for creatures that had lived for a thousand years, Davina was still a young girl, one who probably had never had a serious relationship before and Elijah expected his brother to be on his best behavior.

"I don't need you to give me the talk Elijah."

"This isn't a joking matter."

"I know," Kol straightened in his seat. "Don't worry. I have no plans of screwing this up." For once in his life he had an amazing girl who actually wanted him for him and not because of his family or vampire nature and he definitely was not going to ruin it. He cared too much to screw this up.

"Good." Elijah's phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket, reading the text message he had just received from his brother.

"What is it?" Kol asked, seeing the relief on his face.

Elijah looked up, a genuine smile on his lips. "Bonnie is back."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. Niklaus did not give any details but they are coming home."

Both of them stood up, ready to give the family the good news.

* * *

 **The compound**

Everyone was waiting for them in the living room.

"Mama!" Charlotte was the first person to rush into her waiting arms. "I missed you," she said, hugging her tightly.

"I missed you too, sweetie." Bonnie kissed her cheek as they parted. "I'm sorry I've been gone for a whole week."

"It's okay, I knew you were coming back." Charlotte hugged her again.

Bonnie smiled knowingly.

"Bonnie!" Davina followed, crushing her into a big hug and telling her how much they had missed her.

"We're glad you're okay," Kol told her after he gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks."

Lucy was next, her eyes brimming with tears as she greeted her cousin warmly. "I'm so glad you are okay."

"Oh Lucy," Bonnie said feeling her cousins sadness as if it were her own.

"I was so worried."

"I'm sorry. If I had known it would be that long for you guys I would have tried to send a message, to let you know I was okay."

"Don't worry about it," Lucy wiped the tears from her face. "You're back, that's all that matters."

"We were all worried," Rebekah said as she hugged her next, followed closely by Matt.

"I looked for you on the other side a couple of times," he said as they pulled apart. "I couldn't find you but we all hoped you would find your way back to us."

Bonnie's eyes immediately landed on Klaus, knowing that he had something to do with Matt's trips to the other side.

"I just wanted to see if you were there with your family," the hybrid said in a defensive voice.

"I didn't realize I was gone for so long," Bonnie told them. "It felt like a couple of hours for me."

"Well, we're glad to have you back." Elijah gave her a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad to be back." Bonnie smiled at him.

"Where have you been exactly?" Marcel asked after he greeted her.

"With the first witch," Bonnie responded.

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Bonnie took a deep breath and happily filled them in on everything that happened after the prison world disintegrated and the first witch teleported her to her domain. She had recounted the story twice already for Klaus and her coven but she didn't mind sharing it again with the rest of her family.

"You are an actual immortal witch?" Kol questioned once she had finished. "For real?"

"I don't think the first witch would joke about that, Kol." Rebekah eyes glinted with happiness as she stared at her brother. Now, Nik wouldn't have to worry about losing Bonnie, she was going to be with them forever.

"Yes, that was her gift to me." Bonnie responded. Charlotte was sitting on her lap, leaning her head back against her chest and smiling as she listened to Bonnie talk about the first witch.

"That's so cool!" Matt exclaimed.

"I guess if anyone has to power to grant immortality with a snap of a finger is her," Lucy murmured.

Bonnie nodded in agreement.

"So, what happens now?" Rebekah asked her. "Are you going to travel the world and bring all those witches that need help to New Orleans?"

"I'm not sure." Bonnie thought back to her conversation with Hekate. "I think I'm going to start with the witches closest to me and go from there."

"You have all the time in the world now," Kol pointed out.

"Soon she will be the queen of all witches and not just the Bennett coven," Klaus declared.

"Your plans for world domination are coming into to fruition, Nik." Rebekah teased him.

"Don't give him any ideas," Marcel warned jokingly.

Everyone laughed.

"Maybe you could open like a school for witches," Davina suggested. "That would be a nice way to help them don't you think?"

"That's a brilliant idea!" Bonnie's eyes shone brightly as she thought over it. "It would be the perfect way to teach the witches how to control their powers and help them navigate the supernatural world."

"The Bennett coven could be the teachers," Lucy definitely approved of the suggestion.

"And Davina, the twins, Charlotte, and Lily could be your first students," Matt suggested with a smile.

"Lily?" Bonnie questioned.

"The little girl Matt rescued after the wolf attack," Klaus filled her in. "He and Rebekah are thinking of adopting her."

"Oh my god!" Bonnie's eyes turned to Rebekah. "That's wonderful!"

"Well, it's not official yet." Rebekah didn't want to get her hopes up. "We're looking for her family and if we find them..." she trailed off.

"You'll compel them to forget about her and raise her as your own," Kol finished for her.

"We will give her back," Matt said to him. "That would be the right thing to do." He and Rebekah both looked sad at the prospect though.

"You found her for a reason," Bonnie told the couple. "She's meant to be yours." She hadn't met Lily yet but somehow, Bonnie knew that little girl wasn't going to go anywhere.

Rebekah gasped. There was something in the way Bonnie said it, and in the look she was giving them. Her words were not a what if, but a statement, something inevitable. Rebekah wondered if she had acquired some extra powers after being with the first witch. "You really think so?" the hope in her voice was unmistakable.

"I do." Bonnie smiled at her friend. "You will have the family you always wanted Rebekah."

Rebekah nearly burst into tears. If Bonnie said it, if Bonnie believed it, so did she. She and Matt looked at each other lovingly. It felt like a new beginning for them.

"I want to go to your school," Charlotte said to her mother.

"There is a lot of planning to be done first," Bonnie told her. It was going to take time, patience, and lots of money too.

"My brothers and I will happily make a donation," Elijah told her as if reading her mind.

"I'll hold you on to that," Bonnie swore.

Everyone laughed.

"We will help you, Bonnie. In whatever way we can," Lucy promised.

"Thank you." Bonnie felt incredible grateful to have all of them by her side. Together they were going to do great things for the supernatural world, she was sure of it.

"I think Bonnie's return calls for a celebration," Marcel proposed.

"I'll get the champagne," Elijah offered.

"Actually," Bonnie placed Charlotte on the ground and stood up. "As happy as I'm to see all of you and to celebrate, I want to see the twins." Her babies had gone a whole week without her. She was almost afraid they might have forgotten her. "And you need to go to bed," she looked at Charlotte. "It's late." They would have plenty of time to talk about the future later and to have as many celebrations as they wished.

"We can still toast in your honor," Kol winked at her. He could definitely use some alcohol to relieve the tension that Elijah's talk and Marcel's threats had caused.

"Go ahead," Bonnie told them.

Charlotte said goodnight to her aunts and uncles and took her parents hands, happily following them up the stairs. It had been a long, sometimes sad, and tense day but it had definitely ended on a happy note for everyone.

* * *

The twins' eyes snapped open as soon as Bonnie peered at them. "Hi," she whispered as she pulled a cooing Ingrid into her arms. "I'm sorry I left you for so long." She kissed her forehead and cradled her gently in her arms. "I didn't mean to." She gave her another kiss. "I missed you so much." She stared at her daughter adoringly, enjoying how Ingrid curled her small hand around her pinky. No, her children had not forgotten her much to her relief.

"They missed you too." Klaus came to stand next to her. They had just put Charlotte to bed and had headed to see the twins who no doubt sensed their mother's return and greeted her with big smiles and happy faces. "Lucy and Rebekah have been taking care of them."

"And you?" Bonnie raised her face and looked into his eyes.

Klaus looked down at the floor. When he raised his head, Bonnie was still staring at him, a neutral look on her face. "I…" the guilt he felt was written all over his face.

"You locked yourself away," Bonnie murmured as she placed Ingrid back on the crib and picked Henry in her arms. "His sweetie," she whispered rubbing her cheek against his soft face and pressing a tender kiss on top of his head. Henrik cooed happily.

"I saw them at night, I…" _what could he say to defend himself?_ "I was going crazy without you."

"That's not an excuse Klaus," Bonnie was definitely not happy, although her face betrayed nothing. She smiled and whispered quietly to her son, kissing his nose and giggling when he tried to reach for a lock of her hair. "You can't do that, Klaus." She placed Henrik back on the crib. "You can't let your grief consume you. Not when our children depend on you to look after them."

"I'm sorry." He knew he had been a terrible father in the past week. "I just couldn't function without you."

Bonnie continued to stare at the twins, smiling when she saw Ingrid's little hand reaching out for her brother. "Well, you won't have to worry about losing me, ever again." She met Klaus's eyes and took his hand in hers. "You shouldn't have done that."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"I know you are," Bonnie squeezed his fingers reassuringly. "You are going to have to make it up to them and to me," she stated, a glinting look in her eyes. "Diaper duty for the next two weeks."

Klaus gave her a look. "Is that my queen's punishment?" he tilted his head and glanced at her lips. _Did she have any idea how badly he wanted to kiss her? How much he had missed her?_

 _Yes, she did._

"As a matter of fact," Bonnie said pulling away from him and walking towards the door that led to their bedroom. "That is part of your punishment, sir. Your queen is not pleased with you."

"Whatever could I do to make it up to her?" Klaus moved closer, his eyes flashing gold. "Apart from being on diaper duty, of course."

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest and pretended to think about what other punishment she could give him. The door to their bedroom swung open. She slid her gaze over his body, slowly looking at him from head to toe. When she finally met his eyes, the green of her eyes had grown darker, and her lips curled seductively. "I think you know exactly how to make it up to me," she whispered.

Klaus grinned and materialized in front of her. Their eyes met and held for a couple of seconds before he picked her up in his arms. Bonnie giggled as he carried her at vampire speed out of the nursery and into their bedroom.

The lights were off but the sage candles on the night stand and the dresser lit up at once, casting soft shadows around the large room. While her back connected with the soft mattress and Klaus caged her body beneath his-his hybrid eyes promising her all sorts of wicked things-Bonnie placed a quick locking spell on the door and another silencing charm just in case the sage candles weren't enough. She wasn't going to take any chances tonight. Klaus's lips came crashing down on hers, kissing her hard, and Bonnie responded in kind. _How long had it been since the last time they were together?_ She wondered. _Too long._ She had missed him, so much. Tonight was about finding each other again, rediscovering the physical part of their relationship, and forging their bond once more. The night was just for the two of them and this time there would be no interruptions.


	97. Chapter 97

Bonnie let out a content sigh as her body sank into the silky sheets of the bed. The burning sage candles had shadows dancing across the room while little tendrils of magic floated about-courtesy of the surging tension rolling over body. They were taking their time though. There was no rush in their caresses, no urgency in their kisses. Oh, they both wanted this more than anything but Klaus knew Bonnie well enough to know that she didn't want to rush it. This was their first time since the birth of the twins and she wanted to take things slow. Her body had changed because of the pregnancy and birth and she was still adjusting. She had more curves, her breasts were bigger, and far more sensitive than before, and there was a bit of insecurity left on her part too. _What if he didn't like those changes? What if he preferred the body of the teenage girl he had first bedded on prom night?_ Even though the flame of desire burned brightly, it was hard to let go completely.

"You're still too tense," Klaus whispered, his fingers tracing the valley between her breasts.

"Sorry…I just…" Bonnie shook her head. _Stop thinking,_ she told herself. _Let go._

"Why are you so nervous?"

"I don't know."

"You're beautiful," Klaus kissed her lightly, nibbling on her lower lip. "Desirable," he kissed her chin."Sexy," he whispered against her neck and licked her pulse point.

Bonnie giggled, feeling the temperature in her body increase tenfold. She had been really nervous after he had undressed her, her skin covered in goosebumps and her heart ramming hard against her chest. Klaus had noticed of course, and took his sweet time caressing her body, and slowly building the tension to the point that it was becoming unbearable. It was funny, she always assumed they knew each other so well because of the bond, but Klaus didn't need the bond to read her mood, to know her as he knew himself. And she found that she could read him as well. She didn't need the bond to know how much he wanted her, how much he had longed for this moment, and how hard he was trying to suppress the volcano of desire consuming him in order to ensure she was ready. He was being really sweet and understanding and she loved him even more for it. Bonnie smiled up at him, reaching with one hand to touch his cheek, fingers lightly tracing his stubble, and lips. "I love you," she murmured. "So much."

"I love you too." Klaus smiled down at her. "Now, stop thinking." His hands skimmed her sides, touching her ribs gently with his fingers before tracing the swell of her breasts tenderly. His hands were soft, his touch light as a feather as he grazed one of her nipples with his thumb. Bonnie squeezed her eyes shut and moaned. She was trembling all over.

Light touches

Sweet kisses

Moans and sighs of pleasures echoing around the room.

Bonnie floated in the sensations and emotions he evoked in her. When Klaus's mouth finally descended on her aching breasts, she cried out loudly before pushing him away.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No," Bonnie said with embarrassment. She was grateful she didn't suffer from engorged breasts or sore nipples. Even now that the bond was gone, she still felt like she had retained some of the twins' hybrid abilities, of course that couldn't prevent certain accidents. "I'm afraid my breasts are going to leak milk and that will be really embarrassing so don't…" she looked away. "I'm ruining this, aren't I?" _Why couldn't she just stop talking an enjoy the moment?_ They had done this countless of times before, she shouldn't be this nervous and uncertain. It's not like she was a virgin anymore.

"I don't mind."

Bonnie turned back to face him, a curious look on her face. "Really?" she asked him. "You wouldn't find it weird?"

"Would you find it weird that I feel rather jealous of our children from spending most of their time attached to your breasts?"

"I'm serious." Bonnie hit him playfully on the shoulder.

"So, am I."

Klaus laid down next to her.

Bonnie let out a nervous breath and contemplated the ceiling. "This is not how I thought our reunion would be like," she confessed in a whisper. "It's just…"

"Sex after pregnancy can be awkward, fumbling, and painful. It's okay if it's not going the way you expected."

"Are you quoting that from a book?" Bonnie turned to face him.

"I read it online, actually." Klaus grinned at her.

Bonnie laughed, her embarrassment completely forgotten by now.

"I'm just grateful you're not keeping me at arm's length," Klaus confessed in a low voice as he rolled his body in her direction and stared into her eyes.

"Well, I do find you irresistible." Bonnie mimicked his movements.

Klaus inched closer. "I can just hold you, if that's what you want." He didn't want her to feel pressured. "I don't want you to go through with this if you don't feel ready. I can wait." He linked their hands together. "I can wait as long as you need." He kissed her fingers.

Bonnie found her insides melting at his words. "I don't want to wait," she told him. She sat up and placed her hand on his arm. "Roll on your back," she ordered. Klaus did as he was told. "I want to kiss you and touch you, and I want you to kiss me and touch me too." She began skimming her fingers over his chest and down towards his stomach.

Klaus shivered, his excitement more than evident. "My body is yours to do as you please, love."

"Really?" Bonnie chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes moving up and down his naked body.

Klaus nodded, a sinful smirk on his lips.

"In that case," Bonnie lowered her head and kissed him lightly on the lips before slowly making her way down his chin, his neck- where she sucked lightly on his pulse point, before finally making her way down his chest and stomach.

Klaus groaned and closed his eyes, enjoying her slow seduction. When she licked one of his nipples and her hand slid between his legs, he fisted one hand on her hair, pulling her face up and bringing her mouth to his in a hungry kiss. Their tongues clashed together as her hand continued to tease him and set his body aflame. She allowed him to debouch her mouth for a couple of seconds before her magic pushed him back on the bed, arms pinned on either side of his head. Klaus arched an eyebrow, his blue eyes filled with surprise by the aggressive gesture, while a wave of arousal washed over him, making him hard as a rock.

"You said your body is mine to do as I please," Bonnie reminded him.

Klaus shivered as he felt her power grow around the room, engulfing him completely. He tried to break free but her magic did not budge, not even he used his hybrid strength. _Interesting,_ he mused as he met her playful green eyes. A year ago, he would have been angry, worried even that he was at the mercy of a powerful witch, now, he didn't even flinch. With Bonnie, he could allow himself to lose control. He trusted her completely and he certainly didn't mind being at her mercy, not when those eyes of her were full of wicked promises."Fuck!" he let out a loud curse when she took him into her mouth. Klaus squeezed his eyes shut, chanting her name like a prayer as Bonnie's mouth continued to torture him.

He definitely didn't mind when she was in control.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Elijah asked as he wrapped his arms around Lucy's waist. She was standing near the balcony of their room, draped in a long black robe, a serene look on her face.

"Happy," Lucy murmured, leaning back against his chest. "I was afraid I was going to lose Bonnie for good." But her cousin was back, Bonnie was safe and sound, and Lucy couldn't be happier. "I finally feel at peace." There was always some enemy to defeat but for the first time, she actually felt like she could breathe.

Elijah kissed her cheek and continued to hold her. Even through the closed windows and balcony, he could hear a jazz band playing below and the low murmurs of the people walking past their house. Life was slowly returning to normal in the French Quarter.

"Is it too much to hope that there won't be more battles or evil bad guys to fight?" Lucy spun around to face him. "Am I being naive for wishing it?"

"No," Elijah responded while tracing her cheek with his knuckles. Like her, he hoped they could finally live in peace.

Lucy leaned into his touch. "I could use a vacation."

"Tell me where you want to go and we will go."

"A nice beach somewhere, far away from all the factions, and any other supernatural that always demands your attention," she told him while wrapping her arms around his neck. "Where I can have you all to myself."

Elijah gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm not reproaching you."

"I know." He still felt bad though. He hadn't been spending as much time as he liked with her. "I will make it up to you," he promised. "With Bonnie back, Niklaus will come out of his depression and between the three of us we will handle the factions." They should also start involving Kol and Finn in the politics of the city; having more help would take some of the pressure off him.

"I think I'll get a red bikini," Lucy declared, her lips curling sinfully.

Elijah purred at the imagery she projected inside his mind. He licked his lips. "I know an island or two that would be to your liking." He began to mentally calculate what he would need to do in order to arrange everything and take off for a week. One week alone with her, no meetings, no interruptions, just the two of them. He groaned, the more he thought about it, the more he decided they both needed some real alone time.

Lucy laughed as she felt his emotions; _eagerness, determination, and lust_. It was quickly followed by a wave of _love_ that had her insides melting. She kissed him and Elijah happily reciprocated. She wanted to travel with him, she wanted to see the world through his eyes, and visit his favorite places. She wanted to take him to the places she had been as well, those little corners that were hidden gems throughout the United States and that had ultimately led her to cross paths with him. _We can do it,_ Lucy though as they fell on their bed, kissing desperately, and hands pushing clothes aside. They could have a life without having to worry about the next evil lurking around the corner, they could enjoy themselves without some impending doom hurting their family again.

As they lost themselves in each other's bodies, Lucy dreamed of their future.

* * *

Her body was covered in sweat, her hands gripped the sheets tightly, and she arched her back and cried out as he sank his fangs into her thigh. The room was spinning, the windows cracked, and the candles shot up high into the air, nearly burning the ceiling. The wave of pleasure that rolled over body knocked the air out of her lungs.

 _Am I dead?_

Bonnie wondered briefly as she saw shooting stars.

 _You can't die, silly._

Her body was burning and she was sinking into a welcoming abyss of pleasure.

Klaus groaned and took one, two, mouthfuls of her divine blood. The hot liquid burned down his throat, he could feel her essence, her power, her very soul. His entire being was warmed up from the inside out as Bonnie's witch blood mixed with his own. He took one last mouthful, moaning into her flesh as he swallowed her sweet elixir before licking the two puncture holes on her thigh close.

Bonnie was a trembling mess as she came down from her high. She couldn't feel her legs. _Jesus,_ she felt like she had been run over by truck. "Who turn the candles off?" she asked in a hoarse voice as she blinked her eyes opened and noticed that the room was covered in darkness.

"You did."

She shivered as she stared into his hybrid eyes, it was the only thing she could see in the darkness; they were burning for her. A single look from him was enough for the sparks of desire to be ignited once more.

Klaus contemplated her for a couple of seconds before biting his tongue with his fangs, blood filled his mouth and he lowered his face, capturing her lips in a bloody kiss. Bonnie moaned and grabbed both sides of his face, pulling his body on top of hers. As soon as their lips touched, some of his blood made its way into her mouth and down her throat. Bonnie gasped and pulled away, a shot of electricity running through her entire body as their bloods mingled. She licked her lips, enjoying the taste of his rich and unique blood inside her mouth. It was enough to create a new link between them. The bond pulsed with life once more and she closed her eyes, allowing herself the moment to enjoy the familiar sensations and emotions echoing inside her blood once more. She could feel him again; his presence familiar and comforting.

Klaus kissed her again, deeply, tongue stroking hers, and feeding her more of his hybrid blood. Bonnie kissed him back, tongue sucking greedily on every last bit of him. When they pulled apart, she was breathless, her body quaking with desire. She felt more than ready for more. She needed more of him really. "Klaus…" her voice pleaded, her hands rubbing over his arms and shoulders. "...Need you..."

"I know sweetheart, we're only getting started," he promised huskily, pushing her legs apart gently settling against her.

Bonnie moaned and squeezed his shoulders. "Yes..." she was ready, so ready for him, it hurt.

Bonnie wrapped her legs around his waist and shamelessly pushed herself against him. She felt the ghost of his smile against her neck, his stubble tickling her, before his mouth peppered her shoulder with kisses. Bonnie gave a strangled cry when he slid inside her.

At last, they were one.

* * *

 **The next morning**

The look on Matt's face as he contemplated Rebekah could only be described as pure love. She sat on a rocking chair, holding Lily in her arms. The little girl was trembling, fat tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. Rebekah held her tenderly, stroking her back and singing softly in her ear. Lily had night terrors sometimes and they both took turns comforting her. This morning, he and Rebekah had woken up to her anguished cries. She had sweat through her night clothes and nearly choked in her own tears as she fought whatever monster plagued her dreams. Matt personally believed Lily's nightmares were about the wolf attack on the Quarter. He hated to see her suffering and he hated even more that she still couldn't communicate with them and voice her fears. She was smiling and giggling more and she definitely trusted him and Rebekah, so he supposed they were doing things right. He and Rebekah both hoped that it was only a matter of time before she started speaking again.

Rebekah looked up as he walked towards them. "I got her to calm down."

"What where you singing to her?" Matt asked while handing her the pink sippy cup with milk he had prepared for Lily.

"A song Nik used to sing to me when I was afraid," Rebekah's nose twitched and she stared at the cup curiously.

"Klaus can sing?"

"On occasion," Rebekah replied a bit distracted by the cup. "There is something else in this milk." she gave him a questioning look.

"Yeah," Matt instantly brightened. "I ran into Bonnie in the kitchen and she added a drop of some potion, she said it will help to stop Lily's nightmares." He crouched down on the floor next to them and smiled at the little girl.

"She's brewing potions at this hour?" Rebekah expected Bonnie and Nik to stay in bed all day.

"Yeah," Matt made a face at Lily, causing her to smile at him.

Rebekah gave the sippy cup to Lily who snuggled against her and began drinking her milk without complain.

"We should ask Bonnie to brew us more of that potion and give it to her before going to bed," Matt suggested. His heart broke every time Lily woke up crying and terrified and he wanted to make it stop.

"Yes, we should," Rebekah agreed. She kissed Lily's forehead and looked into Matt's face. "Matt," she began nervously. "I'm not giving her back." She had made it up her mind and no one was going to stop her.

Matt's eyes widened slightly.

"If she had any family left, they would have come for her already. Or we would have heard that they're looking for her but there are countless posters all around the city and no one has called or showed up..." Rebekah glanced at Lily once more, it felt right to have her in her arms. She belonged there. "This is what I have always wanted and you want this as well, you love her already, I know you do."

"How can I not love her?" Matt said. Lily had stolen his heart from the moment he had found her. The thought of someone taking her, even if that person were her family made his heart bleed. He wanted to raise her, to help her talk again, and hear her giggles every morning. "You really want to do this? You really want to adopt her?" Because he wanted this, he wanted this with her.

"Yes."

"Me too."

Rebekah felt tears burning in her eyes, she laughed and threw one arm around him, keeping Lily close with the other. "Oh my love, I feel so happy."

"We can do this, Bekah." Matt held her tighter. "You are a wonderful mom to her already."

Rebekah choked back a happy sob and clung to both of them. Her little family. This was what she had always wanted and it was finally coming true.

* * *

Klaus woke up alone. There was a moment of panic before the bond tracked Bonnie to the kitchen. He got dressed and made his way there. The house was quiet, everyone was probably still sleeping but he could smell the herbs and hear something boiling in the stove.

Bonnie was chopping a couple of roots, a thick grimoire laid open on the kitchen island while behind her, a pot with water and other herbs simmered. "Morning," she greeted with a loving smile.

"Good morning," Klaus wrapped an arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. His scent clung to her like a second skin and he loved it. "What are you doing?"

"Contraceptive tea," Bonnie responded as she grabbed the chopped roots and moved towards the stove.

Klaus gave her a curious look.

Bonnie dropped the roots on the pot before lowering the fire. "I don't know if the twins were a one time wonder or if there is a chance that I can get pregnant again." She leaned on the counter next to the stove and stared into his face. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to take any chances. Not until the twins are at least ten."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "You want to have more children?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Maybe," she muttered. "Definitely not now." She eyed the grimoire where she had found the recipe, one that was supposed to be bulletproof. "There are a couple of spells but I have to cast them every time we have sex. The potion is better, I only have to drink it once a month." Her lips twitched when a sudden thought occurred to her. "Unless you want to go to the nearest drug store and buy a pack of condoms."

"Very funny."

Bonnie giggled and walked towards him, getting on her tiptoes before kissing him lightly on the lips.

Klaus pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. He couldn't get enough of her, not even after the intense night they had shared.

Bonnie pulled away from him- far too quickly for his liking, "I have to add a couple of more things," she told him before turning to the stove and adding more ingredients into the pot. For a couple of minutes they stood in silence, Bonnie working on her potion and Klaus watching her. She looked really cute when she furrowed her brows in concentration and murmured to herself as she followed the instruction on the grimoire. It was fascinating watching her work.

"I saw Finn earlier this morning," Bonnie commented in a casual tone. She had run into him shortly after she had run into Matt. "He's going to help Freya find an apartment to rent, he doesn't want her to keep living at the Fauline cottage, thinks it's way to creepy and sinister."

Klaus didn't say anything, he leaned back against the kitchen island and contemplated her silently, he knew she wanted to say more.

"You should invite Freya to dinner."

"You want her to come to dinner?"

"She's family." Bonnie held his gaze. "You should go to the Fauline cottage and ask her to come."

 _Why me?_ Klaus wanted to ask but he bit his tongue. "I don't think she wants to see me."

"Why not?"

"I killed father." And while that had brought him great joy, he knew Freya was grieving. Finn had confirmed it. Freya was sad because of Mikael's passing and while Finn didn't think she would retaliate, Klaus wasn't so sure. "I'm pretty sure she hates me."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"No."

Bonnie gave him a look. "Then how can you be sure she hates you?"

"Sweetheart-"

"She's your sister." Bonnie cut him off. "She came here for you and your siblings, you are her family. You should talk to her, spend time with her, get to know her." She moved closer. "You can't blame her for loving Mikael and you can't hate her for it, either."

"I don't hate her," Klaus whispered.

"And I'm sure she doesn't hate you either," Bonnie placed her hand on his arm. "She got her father back and lost him in a short amount of time, you can't fault her for being sad. She saw a different side to Mikael than you and your siblings but Freya is smart, her love for her father won't blind her to his cruelty." She caressed his arm and offered him a sweet reassuring smile. "I don't think she's a threat to us." If she were, she would have acted already and they both knew it. "Talk to her Klaus, get to know her, and allow her to know her family too."

"Alright," Klaus reluctantly agreed. "I'll go see her and invite her to dinner." He could never deny Bonnie anything but more than that, deep down he knew he couldn't avoid Freya forever.

Bonnie beamed.

Klaus was just about to kiss her again when a soft cry echoed through the baby monitor she had on the counter.

"Henrik," Bonnie recognized her sons's soft cries. "You are on diaper duty." she reminded Klaus with a smirk.

"How do you know he's not hungry?"

"Oh, he's hungry," Bonnie replied. "But I bet you he needs a diaper change too. Off you go," she shooed him out of the kitchen. "Once he's changed bring him down so I can feed him."

Klaus was just about to exit the kitchen when another cry was heard. "Of course," he muttered. Ingrid had woken up as well.

Bonnie's giggles followed him out of the kitchen. It was a good thing he had vampire speed and reflexes.

* * *

The whole family gathered for breakfast later that morning. Bonnie couldn't stop smiling as they all sat around the long table and began another day. It felt so good to wake up and know that there were no more dangerous witches lurking in the shadows ready to steal her children. For the first time in a very long time, the air was filled with peace and harmony. It almost felt like a dream.

"And Marcel ended up accepting our relationship, after threatening Kol obviously," Davina was telling her. "But he definitely came around." She looked radiant, the happiness she felt showed on her face. "I'm so happy Kol and I don't have to hide anymore."

"I'm happy for both of you," Bonnie said to her.

"Now Kol just needs to earn Marcel's trust and respect," Lucy added with a smile in Kol's direction.

"Marcel and I have never really gotten along," Kol muttered as he served himself some orange juice. "Don't expect us to be friends anytime soon." And definitely not when Marcel was probably plotting how to skin him alive behind his back.

"Well, for Davina's sake you better find a way to get along," Lucy said to him.

"What about Klaus?" Bonnie asked Davina. They both glanced at the hybrid who pretended not to hear what they were talking about.

"He's content to pretend nothing is going on," Kol answered instead of his girlfriend. He gave a wary glance in his brother's direction.

"I don't need to remind you that I have a dagger with your name on it," Klaus responded without looking at him. "You better follow Marcel's rules or accept the consequences." He filled Charlotte's plate with more fruit. "And just so you know, I will help him if you mess up."

"Figures," Kol mumbled. "You always took his side rather than mine."

"When are you going to stop with the dagger threats Nik?" Rebekah asked, stepping inside the dining room with Matt.

"You would think after a thousand years, he would come up with something more original," Kol grinned at his sister.

Elijah gave them both a warning look.

Bonnie stood up, her eyes immediately drawn to the toddler Matt carried in his arms. "Is that…"

"This is Lily," Rebekah introduced them with a smile.

"Lilybeth," Charlotte corrected with a wave towards her friend.

The little girl beamed and waved back.

"We're friends," Charlotte told her mother.

"So, I see." Bonnie smiled at the blonde girl with bright blue eyes. "Hi, Lilybeth."

Lily smiled shyly at her and snuggled closer to Matt. She was sweet and quiet and it was obvious that she trusted Matt.

"She really likes me," Matt grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Yes, she does." Bonnie touched the little girl's face and gasped- the images came to her without warning- she closed her eyes and stumbled back.

"What is it?" Rebekah looked worried.

"Sweetheart?" Klaus appeared next to Bonnie, gently steadying her.

"I'm fine," Bonnie opened her eyes and stared into Lily's blue orbs. They were watching her intently.

"You almost fainted," Kol told her.

"You saw something didn't you?" Davina glanced between Bonnie and Lily.

"Lilian Elizabeth Foxwell," Bonnie said in a calm voice.

Matt and Rebekah shared confused looks.

"That's her name," Bonnie glanced at the couple before focusing on the toddler once more. "She's three years old." She let out a shaky breath. The images had been quick but she had been able to make sense of them. "She's an only child. Her parents moved to New Orleans recently and she was with them when the wolves attacked and-" _tore them apart,_ she couldn't finish saying the words. _Poor child,_ Bonnie thought, her heart aching. The things she had witnessed had traumatized her, no wonder she had night terrors and refused to speak. "She saw it happened…she…" Bonnie swallowed hard.

"You poor thing," Rebekah moved closer to Matt and touched Lily's arm.

"Her mother was an only child and her father's mother is in a nursing home in Georgia."

Everyone gave Bonnie strange looks.

"How the hell do you know all that?" Lucy questioned her cousin.

"I saw it, I…" Bonnie shook her head. "I need to sit down."

Klaus gallantly pulled the chair for her and helped her take a seat. "Your hands are so cold," he caressed her shaky hands and stared into her face with concern.

"You were able to see inside her head," Elijah muttered.

"When I touched her I saw it," Bonnie glanced at the little girl, whose eyes were watching her intensely. "I think she projected those images to me, or I picked them up from her mind…I'm not sure." Her face softened. "Her mother called her, _Lilybeth._ "

"I told you her name was Lilybeth," Charlotte said to everyone.

"She has no family that can claim her," Rebekah's voice was neutral but her eyes were shinning with happiness. "She can stay with us, forever." She turned to Matt. "We will raise her as our own." They had already talked about it. They had been fearful at first, they didn't want to get too attached in case Lily's family did end up coming for her but now they knew that wouldn't be the case.

"How are you going to adopt her?" Davina wondered out loud. "Don't you need to call CPS or something?"

"CPS?" Rebekah gave her a blank look.

"Child protective services," Matt filled in for her. "And no, we're not involving them." He wasn't going to take the risk.

"I'll call Aya," Elijah offered. "I'm sure the Strix can help with the paperwork."

Rebekah nodded happily.

"She's a first-generation witch."

All eyes turned to Bonnie once more.

"Her mother and father didn't have magic, neither did her grandparents," Bonnie continued. "But she does."

"It's the reason I couldn't compel her," Elijah had tried and failed.

Bonnie nodded.

"You can help her," Matt told Bonnie with a happy smile. "You can guide her and show her how to use her magic."

"Yeah," Bonnie smiled back. She wondered if the first witch had protected Lily and put her in their path in the same way she had brought Charlotte into their lives. Or maybe it was fate, maybe she was destined to run into witches who needed her help.

"Looks like you are going to have to start building that school of yours sooner rather later," Klaus squeezed her shoulder.

"Absolutely," Bonnie couldn't wait to get started.

* * *

 **Later that morning**

"I'm so sorry," Bonnie said hugging Vincent. "Josephine was an incredible woman and I know how much you loved her."

"She was my only family," Vincent said once they pulled apart. "She had been sick for a long time. I knew it was coming but I was not ready." He took a seat on the sofa across Bonnie. He looked tired and sad.

"I heard she passed in her sleep."

"She did." It gave him comfort to know Josephine had not suffered.

"You must be busy, now that you are the Regent but I'm grateful you came."

"It's a responsibility that weights heavily on my shoulders," Vincent admitted in a quiet voice. "I'm glad you are back," he told her. "You are an essential part to maintaining the peace in this city, Bonnie."

"I doubt very much that the witches of New Orleans are thrilled to hear I'm back."

"The witches that held the most grudges and who conspired against you and your family are gone," Vincent reminded her. "And the fact that you gave the French Quarter coven their magic back has definitely earned you some points."

"It was the right thing to do. I should have done it sooner but..."

"The important thing is that you did." Vincent smiled at her. "We need to work together, you, me, the Mikaelsons and the rest of the factions. New Orleans has seen too much bloodshed, too much war, it's time for peace. We need it." He had met with the elders of the nine covens and they all echoed the same sentiment.

"I don't think we will have much problem with the human factions or the witches," Bonnie responded. "As for the vampires, there might be one or two who are too arrogant for their own good but I don't see them revolting and starting another war." Not as long Klaus and Elijah were around to keep intimidating them. "The werewolves however…"

"The Crescent pack is a concern to your family."

"And to you."

Vincent leaned back against the sofa and rubbed his chin with one hand, he had not shaved since Josephine's passing. He needed to do it soon before people started murmuring about his unkempt appearance. "Jackson was by all accounts a good Alpha," he began in a cautious voice. "I don't know much about his widow, Hayley, she's fairly new to the city, as for Oliver…" he gave Bonnie a look.

"Too impulsive and stubborn for his own good," Bonnie repeated the words Klaus had said to her when he filled her in on the latest developments regarding the wolves.

"I'm afraid so. There are also other wolf packs in the Bayou and after the attack in the Quarter, everyone feels wary of them."

"Klaus and his pack will keep the other wolves in line," Bonnie assured Vincent. "The wolves were drawn to the city because of my pregnancy and they have slowly integrated into the community. The other Alphas respect Klaus and his pack and won't cause any problems with the witches and the humans in the city. Like them, they want peace. We all do."

"I suppose we have to wait and see how the Crescents carry themselves and what they chose to do going forward."

"I doubt they would want to take over."

Vincent gave her a curious look. "How can you be so sure?"

"Would you really want to fight an army of wolves, witches, and vampires just so that you can take over a city?"

"The Crescents see themselves as the rightful rules of New Orleans."

"Because they ruled before Marcel and his vampires?" Bonnie stood up and walked towards the big window with perfect view of the gardens. A bit of frost covered the grounds and the trees. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Before the Crescents, before Marcel, before the Mikaelsons, witches ruled this city. Witches are the beginning," she turned back to face Vincent. "We were here long before the werewolves and the vampires. We are the keepers of nature, and the protectors of the supernatural world." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "The problem has always been that witches wanted to exterminate the other species and that resulted in bloody conflicts."

"But you don't want that."

"I want us to coexist and live in peace."

It was what Vincent wanted as well. "Easier said than done."

"Yes," Bonnie knew that she had a long journey ahead of her. "It will take time, centuries even before we can all learn to live in peace but we can do it. We already started."

Vincent nodded.

Bonnie sat back on the chair in front of Vincent and took a deep breath. Klaus had warned her to keep her immortality a secret, for now at least, he believed it was best not to alert people to her connection to the first witch or the gift she had been given but she needed Vincent's help. "I think that witches who have not had the support, the training, or enough knowledge of the supernatural word are easy prey for others, vampires mostly. I think that if they were educated better, if they received the necessary help needed with their magic, maybe they will make better choices and not lose their way. Maybe it's naïve of me to think so but-"

"I think you are on to something," Vincent interrupted her. "I definitely wouldn't be the witch I am today had I not met Josephine. Everything I am, everything I know about magic is because of her. She found me, took me, and cared for me like a real mother. Without her guidance I would be a different person."

"She wanted to prepare you for your role."

Vincent nodded.

"Can you imagine how many other witches are out there without anyone to help them with their magic?"

"It's hard to know for sure," Vincent conceded. "Old witch families certainly teach their offspring but there are plenty of first and second-generation witches who lack the history or the proper tools to help them harvest their power."

Bonnie nodded. "I want to help them." She stared into his eyes. "I have been entrusted by the first witch to do so."

Vincent's eyes went wide. "The First witch," he repeated in a startled voice. "How...you met her?" he asked in a shocked voice.

"Vincent what I'm about to tell you is something important and private but I trust you, and I'm going to need your help in order to achieve it."

Vincent nodded. "You have my word that whatever is said here, will remain between us."

Bonnie took a deep breath and began telling him about the mission the mother of all witches had given her.

* * *

 **Fauline cottage**

To say that Freya was surprised to find Klaus and Elijah standing outside the Fauline cottage was an understatement. Finn had just left and she wasn't sure if she wanted to face them on her own. She watched from the window and contemplated what to do. They patiently waited for her to allow them in, which she did after much debating.

"What do you want Niklaus?" Freya asked as soon as they were face to face.

"Good morning to you too, sister." Klaus smirked at her. "Do polish those manners before you offend our dear brother," he glanced at Elijah who gave an exasperated sigh and looked at the ceiling as if asking for patience.

Freya watched them warily, mixed emotions swirling inside her. She had not seen Niklaus since that night when he pushed her father to his death. "Why are you here?" she kept a neutral tone.

"I wanted to talk to you," Klaus muttered as he glanced around the attic room. "I heard Finn is helping you find a place to live," he began in a cheerful voice. "Hopefully, it will have better decorations than this dreadful attic." His eyes found the doll on her bed and he frowned. "You still play with dolls?"

Freya glared at him and Elijah gave him a warning look.

"I doubt you came to see me just to talk about my living arrangements."

Klaus's lips twitched at that. He stared into her face, noticing how tense her shoulders were, and the hard look on her face. Freya was not happy to see him, on the contrary, she was on edge. _Was she expecting an attack?_ "I haven't come here to kill you, relax."

"You can't kill me."

"Dahlia is gone, I doubt very much your immortality remains."

Freya tensed at that. It was something she had wondered as well, something she had not dared to test as of yet.

"I suppose we could always try and find out," Klaus took a menacing step closer.

Freya's magic surfaced immediately, hissing in warning.

"Niklaus, please stop antagonizing our sister," Elijah chided his brother. "We mean you no harm, Freya."

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"You could have fool me," Freya muttered under her breath.

Elijah smirked. "Please excuse our brother, he lacks proper manners. Always has, as a matter of fact."

Freya looked back and forth between both brothers. They were like day and night. Elijah was impeccably dressed in a dark navy suit and matching tie while Niklaus was wearing jeans and a black Henley under a leather black jacket. Elijah was of darker hair and eyes while Niklaus was blond and blue eyed. They were the exact opposites but as they stood in front of her, Freya could tell the complicity; the camaraderie between them. They were brothers, friends, and allies. The bond between them was definitely stronger than her bond with Finn, these were two men who were completely in sync with each other. Together they were a formidable duo. If she didn't have her magic, perhaps she would have been intimidated by their presence.

"We have come here to invite you to dinner," Niklaus cut to the chase.

Freya raised an eyebrow. "You want to take me out to dinner?"

"Actually, we were hoping you would join us for dinner at the compound, with the rest of the family," Elijah explained to her.

 _At their home, with the rest of their family,_ Freya didn't know what to say. She wanted to, oh how she wanted to spend an evening with all of them and see how they interacted together but at the same time, she found herself fearful. Not because she thought they would hurt her, but because it meant opening her heart to them, and that could end up badly.

"We want to celebrate Dahlia's defeat, Bonnie's return-"

Freya's eyes drifted to Niklaus. Finn had informed her of Bonnie's return so she wasn't surprised but she did notice how happy and relaxed her brother looked.

"We would also like to celebrate you of course."

"Me?" Freya gave Elijah an incredulous look. She had definitely not been expecting to hear that.

"It's not everyday one gets reunited with their lost sister." He gave her a warm smile and Freya had to force herself not to smile back. _It's a trap,_ that voice that refused to leave her warned her. "I see." She didn't like the way Elijah was looking at her, he was trying to get inside her head, and read her conflicting emotions. She had to turn away and avoid his eyes. She couldn't allow him or Niklaus to see the broken creature she was. "A family dinner," she murmured, her treacherous heart skipping a beat. A dangerous emotion swelled inside her chest, one that no matter how hard she tried to squash, it continued to flourish and warm her heart… _hope_ …

* * *

A nervous flutter invaded the pit of her stomach when she arrived at their door the next night. Freya took a deep breath and knocked softly.

The door was immediately opened.

"Freya," Elijah greeted her with a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek. "Please, come in."

Freya suppressed her nerves and stepped inside. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she felt a cold shiver sliding down her back. _Protective magic_. The wards inside the house were really strong. Bonnie's work no doubt. "Thank-you," she murmured as her brother helped her with her coat. She wore a red dress, bought on impulse earlier that day as she wandered outside the Fauline cottage for the first time in a week. The diamond earrings and bracelet had been a gift from Finn. He had been so supportive, Freya didn't know what she would do without him.

"Please," Elijah gestured for her to follow him into the parlor.

In the one thousand years she had been on this earth, she had never felt so nervous and out of her element. This was what she had always dreamed on, this was what she had always wanted, but nothing could truly prepare a recluse like her to deal with a family like the one her siblings had made for themselves. Freya hoped she did not make a fool of herself and ruin this.

Finn was the first person she saw.

"Sister," he hugged her and kissed her cheek tenderly. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." Freya smiled at him. With him, she felt comfortable. She knew as long as Finn was by her side she could do this.

Rebekah was next, greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek as well. "Isn't it wonderful!" she exclaimed. "The whole Mikaelson clan together at last. We have so much to celebrate."

It was easy to relax with Rebekah, she was genuine with her affections. With her, Freya didn't have to second guess herself or keep her guard up. She was different than the others and Freya felt glad for it.

"This is my boyfriend Matt," Rebekah introduced the human man next to her.

"It's nice to meet you." Matt shook Freya's hand, a pleasant smile on his lips.

"Likewise," Freya's eyes drifted towards the ring on his hand. She could feel the magic inside. He was Bonnie's friend, he had come from Mystic Falls with her and Rebekah or so Finn had informed her. Her sister was clearly in love, Freya noted. Her body and her lover's body were clearly in tune. They made a beautiful couple.

The witch that had helped her out Dahlia's prison came to stand next to Elijah. "Lucy," Freya remembered her well.

"Freya," Lucy gave a small nod in her direction. "Welcome."

Kol came down the stairs, holding the hand of a pretty dark-haired girl.

"Hello Kol," Freya greeted her younger brother.

"Hey," Kol said before introducing his girlfriend Davina-who blushed prettily at the use of the word. She was a beautiful girl, powerful too.

"You are the Harvest girl," Freya murmured. She had heard all sorts of gossip at the Fauline cottage but she had also learned a bit about Davina's history through Finn. He had no hesitation in sharing the bits and pieces he had witnessed and heard since returning to the land of the living.

"I am." Davina lifted her chin proudly and took her time to appraise Freya, curious dark eyes studied her face, while her spine tingled at the powerful aura coming from her.

"So, this is the long-lost sister," A dark skinned man with a contagious smile said as he, Klaus, and Bonnie joined them in the parlor. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, chérie." He happily introduced himself with a sexy smirk, "I'm Marcel Gerard."

"Freya," she meant to shake his hand but was surprised when he kissed her knuckles instead. His dark eyes were two exotic pools that drew her in.

He was easy on the eyes, Freya had to admit. There was a familiar dangerous glint in there as well, he was pleasant enough but his eyes were shrewd. She couldn't help but be reminded of her brother Niklaus. "You're the boy Niklaus adopted," she blurted out.

Marcel arched an eyebrow and glanced in Klaus's direction before pinning her with his dark gaze. "You are well informed."

"I made it my business to learn everything I could about my family," Freya retorted, not in the least bit intimidated by his sharp and calculating eyes. She held his gaze without problem, her back straight, and her head held high.

Marcel's smirk grew. "Underneath that cool mask of yours, there is fire," he noted with a chuckle. "What else do you know?"

"You're the former king of the city, the one who cursed the Crescents, and subjugated the witches," she recited calmly. "You're also Davina's adoptive father."

"I feel at a disadvantage," Marcel said as he appraised her from head to toe. "You know so much about me and I hardly know anything about you." He licked his lips. "We should remedy that."

The way he said it made it sound like he wanted to take her somewhere private where they could 'talk' and get to know each other better. Freya didn't know what to make of the man.

Finn frowned, not licking the way Marcel was staring at his sister. He took a protective step closer to her.

"Seriously, Marcel?" Kol snapped. "Wasn't it enough that you bedded Rebekah? Leave Freya alone, she's not interested."

Freya was taken back by the protectiveness she heard in Kol's voice and by the revelation of Rebekah's and Marcel's past. She glanced at Matt but he didn't seem uncomfortable by the mention that Marcel had been Rebekah's lover. He was clearly confident in himself and felt sure of Rebekah's feelings for him that it didn't bothered him having her ex lover present.

"I think Freya is old enough to decide if she wants me to leave her alone or not," Marcel snapped back. He sent an annoyed look in Kol's direction.

"How is Cami doing?" Kol question suddenly. "Cami, is his flavor of the year," he told Freya with a gleeful smirk. "I'm actually surprised he didn't bring her along."

"Kol," Davina and Rebekah said at the same time.

Marcel growled at the mention of Cami.

Klaus didn't bother to hide his chuckle while Bonnie walked closer to both vampires, more than ready to act should both of their tempers get the best of them. She didn't want their family dinner to be ruined.

"That's enough, Kol." Elijah ever the authoritative brother intervened before things escalated. Bonnie gave him a grateful look. "We are having a nice family dinner and I won't tolerate more of this childish behavior."

Kol knew he was pushing it but sometimes he couldn't help himself.

"Come on," Davina grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the dinning room.

"I'm actually surprised he listens to her," Klaus muttered as he watched them leave.

"Remind me again why you still haven't daggered that asshole?" Marcel asked him as he too followed the couple with his eyes. Kol could be a pain in the ass sometimes, Marcel knew better than to let his words get to him but he couldn't help it sometimes. Kol always found a way to irritate people.

"Don't tempt me."

"No one is going to dagger anyone," Bonnie said. "You all need to learn to behave." She turned to Freya with a friendly smile. "Would you like to meet the children?"

There was a startled look on Freya's face. "You want me to meet them?" she couldn't quite mask the surprise she felt. She hadn't expected Bonnie to allow her to meet the twins so soon.

Bonnie's smile was warm and inviting. "You're their aunt."

"Yes, of course." Freya caught Finn's smile as she followed Bonnie up the stairs. She could feel everyone's eyes on her back but she did not look back. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as Bonnie pushed the door to the nursery open and guided her inside. She saw the cribs first, then the two little girls sitting on the plush rug, playing with colored blocks.

"Hi," the oldest of the girls greeted her with a wave and a smile.

"This is Charlotte," Bonnie introduced. "And Lily."

The blonde toddler watched her with curious blue eyes but no sound came out of her mouth.

"She doesn't speak," Charlotte said to Freya. "But she will soon." She took Lily's hand and the two walked closer to her. "We're good friends and cousins."

Freya smiled at the charming little girl.

Charlotte tilted her head to the side, her green eyes seeing beyond the mask Freya had in place. "It's nice to meet you aunty Freya. Don't be sad, you have a big family now, like you always wanted."

Freya gasped, a shaken look on her face.

"Charlotte can read auras," Bonnie was quick to explain. "She's very intuitive-"

"I'm sorry," Charlotte added. "I din't mean to make you upset." She glanced worriedly at her mother.

"It's okay sweetie," Bonnie assured her.

"Don't be sorry," Freya recovered quickly from her shock and kneeled down on the carpet so they could be at an eye level. "To be able to read auras is an incredible gift," she said. "You are going to be an extraordinary witch one day."

Charlotte beamed.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Charlotte." She glanced at the other little girl. "Lily," she smiled. "I'm glad to meet you too."

Lily smiled shyly.

Freya stood up and moved her eyes over the cribs. "May I?" she turned to Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded and the two walked over to the crib on the left, where both twins were sleeping peacefully."It's easier to have them in one crib for now," she said in a low murmur. "They like being close to each other." They both peered down at the sleeping babies.

"They're beautiful," Freya whispered, her throat clogging with emotion. Her niece and her nephew. Her left hand shook and she unconsciously touched her flat stomach, a deep buried memory surfacing briefly.

 _A strong kick, a womb pulsing with life..._

 _Agonizing pain..._

 _Blood..._

 _A_ _lifeless little corpse..._

Bonnie shuddered as the images flashed across her mind. She didn't mean to pick on them, they just came to her, just like Lily's memories had filtered over her mind the day before. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. Freya had lost a child. She could feel the pain that still haunted her.

Freya pulled her hand away from her stomach and gave Bonnie a curious glance. "Are you alright?"

Bonnie watched her with sad eyes. _I'm so sorry,_ she wanted to say but she dint want Freya to get angry with her. "Yeah...I'm fine." She contemplated her children, a soft smile gracing her lips when she noticed they had linked their fingers together. "They like to do that a lot," she murmured.

"They have a strong bond," Freya's voice was soft, for the first time since arriving at the compound she was letting her guard down.

"Yes, they do." Bonnie hoped that bond would only grow stronger with age. "Hopefully, they won't start fighting and kicking each other like they did when I was carrying them."

"It's a wonderful feeling isn't it?" Freya looked away from the twins and stared into Bonnie's eye. "To feel a child move inside you."

Bonnie looked down, feeling embarrassed. She wanted to offer Freya words of comfort but she did not want to give away what she had seen.

"It's okay," Freya told her. "It happened a very long time ago."

Bonnie gasped and gave her an apologetic look. "I didn't mean to, the images just came to me-"

"I know," Freya's voice was surprisingly understanding. "I should have known better than to lower my guard around you." Powerful witches could pick up emotions and sometimes even see inside other people's heads without the need of touching them. She placed her hands on the crib and stared at the twins once more. "Dahlia killed my lover after we tried to escape," she confessed in a small voice. "In my grief I tried to kill myself, only to discover that I could not die." She paused and let out a shaky breath. "I was pregnant."

"Freya, you don't have to-"

"The baby died in my womb." She looked at Bonnie once more. "Because of Dahlia's spell, I was able to come back to life, he did not."

"I'm sorry," Bonnie said softly. "I'm so sorry."

"All I wanted was to escape Dahlia's control," Freya murmured. "I thought we would both die and be free of her...how stupid I was..." she trailed off, her shoulders shaking slightly but she did not shed a tear. She had shed enough tears to create an ocean already. But while she did not cry, the pain engraved in her heart was as excruciating as it had been that day, centuries ago.

For a long time after that, neither of them said anything.

Bonnie's fingers itched, she wanted to touch Freya's arm, to give her a hug even but she couldn't bring herself to do it, she didn't know how the other woman would react.

"You chose beautiful, strong names." Freya broke the silence at last. She kept her eyes on the babies. She didn't want to see the pity in Bonnie's eyes. "Ingrid and Henrik…" she murmured softly while staring at the adorable little boy with messy curls. His skin was a bit darker than his sister's and Freya would bet that he had inherited his mother's eyes and her power. "Like our youngest brother." The brother she had never met but who had been a catalyst in the events that had shaped the supernatural world for the past one thousand years. "I wish I had met him." She didn't know why in the world she was opening up to Bonnie of all people but she couldn't stop herself form doing so. _It was the kids,_ Freya told herself. Meeting them had softened her cold, broken heart.

"He was a sweet boy from what Klaus has told me."

"I bet he was."

"Thank you."

Freya's head snapped in Bonnie's direction. "What are you thanking me for?"

"You helped us," Bonnie remarked. "You warned us about Dahlia, you tried to protect Ingrid and for that I am grateful." She placed a tentative hand on Freya's shoulder. "I can't even begin to imagine all that you have suffered Freya. And I don't pity you, I admire you."

Freya was taken back.

"You are a survivor Freya, a warrior." Bonnie held her gaze, hoping that her words would get across. "Love, grief, fear, feeling those things does not make you weak."

"I should be the one thanking you," Freya looked down briefly, hating how touched she felt by Bonnie's words, and trying to ignore the light, the warmth she felt radiating from her skin. The hand on her arm should be annoying but instead it was soothing. "Because of you, I'm finally free of Dahlia. You did what I struggled for centuries to accomplish."

"I didn't do it alone," Bonnie said to her. "We all had a role to play."

"I suppose we did."

An understanding look passed between them.

"Freya," Bonnie began gently. "I really hope you spend more time with us."

"Seeing as I don't have to run from Dahlia any longer, I dare say you will see more of me."

"Good." Bonnie pulled her hand away.

"Although I doubt Niklaus will like that."

"You and Klaus are more alike than you think," Bonnie retorted. "Give them a chance Freya, get to know them, and don't be afraid of letting them see the real you, either." Freya opened her mouth but Bonnie didn't let her say anything. "They're messy and complicated and more often than not they enjoy getting on each other's nerves," she continued. "They can fight like crazy and even go as far as to hurt each other but in the end, they will protect one another and stand united no matter what. They are fiercely loyal and protective of those they love too."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because they are your family." Bonnie's smile was radiant. "You have been given another chance, don't waste it."

"They don't trust me," Freya muttered. "I don't even think they like me. They can pretend all they want but I can see beyond their polite masks."

"Rome wasn't built in a day," Bonnie responded. "Trust is something that takes time, specially given your family's complicated history. They're wary of you just like you are of them. Give it time."

They stayed with the children for a couple more minutes before making their way downstairs and joining the rest of the family for dinner. As she took a seat around the long table in the richly decorated dinning room, Bonnie's wise words echoed inside Freya's mind. This was her family, the siblings she had longed to meet, and as scary as it was, it would be worth it. With a nervous smile on her lips, Freya decided to take a chance.

* * *

 **A/N:** _So, there is one more chapter left of this story, maybe two if I decide to split the epilogue in two. This has been one heck of a ride and while some of you have expressed your desire for this story to never end, it's time. I have left a couple of things out in the open because I do have plenty of ideas for a sequel. However, after I wrap this story I want to focus on my other works for a while and finish a couple of my other stories before tackling the continuation of this fic. With that said, I have also considered writing a series of one shots set in this universe, so I can explore the other couples, the kids, the school, and the extended cast of characters that have appeared throughout this fic. So, I guess what I'm saying is that even when this story comes to end, I still have plenty of material for more, if you are interested. I'm deeply grateful for all your incredible support, I wouldn't have made it this far without it. It really means the world to me and I want you to know how much I appreciate every single one of you. Thank you so much. I hope from the bottom of my heart that you stick around and continue to enjoy my stories. Thank you._


	98. Chapter 98

**A couple of months later**

Kol smirked as a group of giggling girls gawked at him. He had parked his shiny red corvette outside the high school just as the students happily exited the building. It was a Friday afternoon, the last day of school before spring break. He leaned back against the car and crossed his arms over his chest, in a cool and relaxed pose that had the male students openly staring at him with envy and the girls blushing and sending flirty looks in his direction. Kol paid them no mind, the centuries of flirting and seducing women left and right were in the past. There was only one girl who consumed his thoughts now, the girl who was the source of his immense happiness too. He was completely devoted to Davina.

He felt his dead heart skip a beat as he saw her coming out of the building; her laughter reached his ears while the afternoon sunlight engulfed her in a halo of light. Davina's dark locks blew with the wind while her sweet cherub smile made his knees feel weak. She beamed and waved at him before saying goodbye to her school friends and rushing into his waiting arms. She practically threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, and seeking his mouth in a welcoming kiss. She tasted like strawberries; he pressed her closer and deepened the kiss, feeling delighted by the throaty moan that escaped her.

"Hi," Davina pulled away, blushing furiously.

"Hi," he gave her a peck on the lips. "How was your Chem test?"

"I definitely aced it!"

"Of course, you did! You had an excellent tutor," Kol gave her a cheeky grin.

Davina's cheeks turned red at the reminder of how he had helped her study for her test.

Kol chuckled at her embarrassment. She looked adorable when she blushed. He kissed her once more before asking, "want to get something to eat before heading home?"

"Yeah."

Kol took her heavy backpack and threw it in the backseat, before gallantly opening the passenger door for her.

"When are you going to let me drive?" Davina asked as she eyed the car and thought how cool it would be if she were to drive it to school. She could definitely convince Kol to hand her the keys.

"You don't even have your permit yet," Kol reminded her.

"I'm going during my school break," Davina told him. She had been studying for it and Marcel had promised to teach her how to drive once she got her permit.

"Well, until then…" Kol motioned for her to get in the car but Davina's eyes were diverted to a point behind his shoulder. "What?" as soon as the words left his lips, he felt it. The presence of a wolf nearby. He looked over his shoulder and growled when he saw the stinky werewolf approaching them. _Son of a bitch!_ Kol thought angrily. Oliver had a lot of nerve showing up at Davina's school. "What the bloody hell is he doing here?"

"I don't know," Davina eyed Oliver with suspicion, wondering why he was there. She hadn't spoken to him in over three months, not since she and Kol got together. She felt kind of bad for ditching him like that but it's not like Oliver had attempted to contact her either. There was too much drama going on with his pack after all.

"Hey," Oliver greeted her, keeping a good distance between them. He kept his hands on his pockets and ignored the nasty looks Kol was sending his way. "Can I talk to you?"

"No," Kol snapped angrily. "Don't even think of coming near her." He took a protective stance in front of Davina, staring menacingly at the wolf.

"Kol," Davina had to place her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from attacking. She didn't want them to get into a fight outside her school. A couple of the students glanced in their direction, sensing the tension surrounding the three of them.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Oliver sneered at Kol. "I just came to say goodbye," he gave his complete attention to Davina.

"Goodbye?" Davina was surprised to hear that. "You're leaving?" That was definitely something she had not been expecting.

"Can we just please talk in private please? I won't take long, I promise."

"Sure."

"Davina!" Now it was Kol's turn to grab her arm and stop her. He clearly didn't want her to speak with Oliver.

"Just give me five minutes," Davina said. Their eyes locked in a silent conversation, Kol reluctantly nodded and Davina kissed him on the cheek before following Oliver across the parking lot, until they stood beneath a cluster of trees. Kol watched them go, feeling the urge to punch the stupid wolf's ugly face. They were in perfect view of him and in excellent hearing distance as well which was the only reason he didn't give into his instincts.

"You're leaving?" Davina asked again. She crossed her arms over her chest and kept a good distance between them.

"Yeah, we leave this weekend."

"The whole pack?"

"Most of it," Oliver replied. "A small number have chosen to stay and follow Hayley." The disdain he felt towards Hayley showed on his face.

"Oh." Davina had heard the rumors of course, she knew Oliver and Hayley had been battling for control of the Crescent pack since Jackson's death. Things in the city were tense in regards to the wolves, especially since the attack on the Quarter. The wolves had been the ones to cause the most damage and with so many packs and Alphas around, the witches were wary that they would try to take control over the city. Klaus and Ishmael had calmed the waters since the clans in the Bayou and their Alphas had pledged their alliance to their pack, they had succeeded in keeping the peace. The Crescents were the only ones who were struggling to accept the new order of things. "Where will you go?" she asked him curiously.

"There are a couple of cities in Louisiana," Oliver responded with a shrug. "I considered Baton Rouge but it's too close and I heard the vampires have claimed it anyways."

 _The Strix,_ Davina had heard Elijah said that Aya had made Baton Rouge hers. It was a power play to ensure the wolves that had once been associated with the Navarro pack did not rise to power again. And a reminder that the Mikaelsons had eyes and ears everywhere as well.

"We're thinking Georgia, or even Montana," Oliver continued. "We want a city of our own, a place we don't have to share with anyone." He stared into her eyes, an unreadable expression on his face. "I'm not stupid," he told her. "We don't stand a chance against Klaus." If it were only Klaus and his siblings or heck even Klaus and his wolf pack, they would stay and fight for control but with Vincent taking over the witches and Bonnie fucking Bennett protecting the Originals, Oliver knew they would be toast if they decided to fight them.

"You don't have to fight him," Davina said gently. "There is a peace treaty, you could try and-"

"Jackson had no choice but to bow down to him, I won't." Oliver's face was proud, his eyes hard, and the fierceness and stubbornness in his voice left no room for argument. "The Crescents are royalty, we bow to no one, we will never submit to a fucking vampire."

"Klaus is a wolf too!" Davina responded in a defensive tone. "The other Alphas have already recognized him as their leader. "Fenri's pack has been around for ages, longer than any other wolf pack, even yours," she reminded him fiercely. "Klaus, Ishmael, and Cary are doing an amazing job-"

"You're really one of them, aren't you?" Oliver cut her off, a hint of sadness slipping through.

Davina was taken back by the look he was giving her, he seemed really disappointed and sad. "Oliver…"

"I really liked you," Oliver confessed in a much gentler voice. "You're pretty, smart, nice…" he offered her a small smile. "If things were different, if we weren't on opposing sides then maybe…" he left the sentence hang in the air. There was a longing look in Oliver's face as he stared at her. "Who knows what could have been…"

Davina shifted nervously, she felt uncomfortable under his gaze. "I'm sorry, Oliver." She felt bad for using him to make Kol jealous. "If I led you to believe we could be more than friends, if I-"

"It's fine." Deep down he had known there could never be anything between them. Davina was one of _them_. She would choose Marcel and the Mikalsons no matter what. "It was nice knowing you, talking to you, well texting with you anyway…" He could feel Kol's glare on his back and decided to push his luck by walking closer to her. "I think you deserve someone better than that idiot vampire," he heard Kol's angry growl but he didn't give a damn. "You're a great girl, Davina." And because he loved pissing vampires off, he hugged her, pulling her tight against his chest and hoping that his scent would stick to her skin, for a little while at least. That would piss Kol even more, he knew.

Davina felt surprised by the gesture but allowed him to hug her anyway.

"He doesn't deserve you," Oliver whisper against her ear. He kissed her cheek before pulling away completely. He gave her one last sad look before leaving.

Davina watched him go, an unreadable expression on her face.

Kol materialized next to her in seconds. "Bloody idiot," he muttered. Oliver was lucky he had controlled his murderous instincts. "I came really close to ripping his head off."

"There is no need to be jealous, you know."

"Of him?" Kol snorted. "Please."

Davina shook her head and took his hand. "Come on, I'm hungry."

They walked back towards Kol's car.

"At least we won't have to deal with that annoying pack anymore," Kol muttered as he opened the passenger door for her. "Good riddance."

"You think they will come back eventually?" Davina asked as she put her seatbelt on. She really hoped that Oliver wasn't planning on coming back and taking over in a few years' time.

Kol didn't even bothered with his seatbelt. He turned the ignition on, and sped out of the high school, heading towards the Quarter. "If they know what's good for them, they'll make their home far away from New Orleans and never come back."

* * *

 **The compound**

"Bonnie, this is amazing!" Caroline gushed as she and Stefan studied the plans for the magic school. They had arrived in the Quarter earlier that morning after months of traveling through Europe. "Your mama is going to be the best headmistress ever!" She told Henrik as she bounced him on her hip. Henrik smiled at her and babbled a response. "Yeah," Caroline grinned at him. She found his baby talk adorable and encouraged him to do more.

Bonnie who was holding Ingrid in her lap, smiled at the two of them. Caroline had not stopped gushing about the twins and how big they had gotten since the last time she saw them. She had also brought tons of toys and clothes for them. She was really good with them too, always offering to help change them or keep them entertained. It was lovely to see.

"You are going to be the headmistress of the first school of magic in the world!" Caroline exclaimed, turning to face Bonnie once more. "I'm so proud of you." Her eyes twinkled merrily. "You're like…wonder woman!"

Bonnie laughed at the comparison. "Hardly," she muttered. "But thank you. I feel really happy."

"You look it," Caroline commented. Bonnie had definitely found her place in the world.

"How big is the area?" Stefan inquired as he studied the blueprint.

"730 acres of land," Bonnie told them as she traced one hand over the blueprint of the school. "Graciously donated by the Mikaelson family." Ingrid imitated her movements and banged her hand on the table before reaching for the blueprint. Bonnie kissed her head and held her back.

"So, they're going to help you teach?" Caroline wondered.

"Not really, Elijah and Klaus are busy governing the city, Kol is starting a new business, and Finn wants to travel and do his own thing. So, it's only going to be Rebekah and Freya for now." Freya was going to be teaching while Rebekah would work at the office, alongside Bonnie.

"This looks like a castle," Caroline pointed out as she looked over Stefan's shoulder.

"It's a Renaissance style chateau and it will sit in the middle of a gorgeous forest." It had taken some time before she and her coven had finally decided on a design for the school. They had ended up voting over three different designs the architect had created for them.

"How far away is it?" Stefan asked her.

"It's a good distance from New Orleans but the area is perfect because it's secluded. We'll have plenty of classrooms, dormitories, potion labs, a great hall, a student lounge, two libraries, and even a swimming pool." Bonnie explained with excitement. "We'll also have two greenhouses."

"What for?" Caroline wondered.

"We want to teach the students how to grow their own herbs. We also want them to be in tune with nature, so they'll be spending plenty of time outside," Bonnie replied. "We will also have a tennis court, a lake, huge gardens, horses, and a couple of other buildings for the staff and the students who wish to live on the grounds."

"Wow," Stefan was definitely amazed.

"It makes me want to go back to school," Caroline murmured with a little envy in her voice. "I wish we had all that when we were in high school."

"We want the students to be comfortable," Bonnie said. "Many of them are coming from different parts of the world, leaving everything behind for the chance to study magic and we want them to feel at home. The school is going to have everything we need and more, as there is enough room to expand in future years." Bonnie beamed at them. "Construction is already under way and come next fall, the Bennett school of magic will officially be open." She and her coven were busy reviewing the dozens of applications they had received. Aunt Vivian and Adriane were also traveling all over, recruiting not only more witches to teach at the school but students as well. The coven had divided the tasks perfectly and everyone had an important role to play.

"How many students are you guys going to have?" Caroline asked, pulling her head away when Henrik grabbed a fistful of her hair. "Ouch," she muttered and made a face at him. "That's not nice," she said in a baby voice before pulling away from his grasp. Henrik laughed and tried to grab her hair again while Caroline did her best to avoid it.

"Right now, we have 193 students officially signed up," Bonnie informed them. "But we are still meeting with countless of parents and receiving applications from all over the world, we're predicting a group of at least 300 hundred kids between the ages of 7 and 16 come next fall." Word was spreading quickly, and even those witches who were already teaching their kids magic did not want to pass the opportunity to have them learn under the Bennett coven. Every day, they got a new application or a call from an excited parent wanting to enroll their child.

"How are you going to handle that?" Stefan asked intrigued.

"Well, I won't be doing it alone," Bonnie responded with a chuckle. She had an amazing group of people helping her and the First witch guiding her as well. "In addition to some of my cousins and Freya, we're hiring a good number of witch teachers. Aunt Vivian has already recruited four witches from powerful bloodlines, two of them are retired teachers so they have plenty of experience." Her eyes went to Stefan. "And we are definitely accepting donations from any supernatural who wants to make the world a better place and help the witch children of the world receive an excellent magical education." She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Caroline burst into a fit of giggles.

Stefan gave a half laugh and nodded. "I'll be happy to make a donation in the name of the Salvatore family."

"Great!"

Henrik gurgled and grabbed Caroline's hair again.

"Ouch!" The blonde vampire shrieked, surprised by the little boy's strength.

"Henrik!" Bonnie gave her son a stern look. "Don't pull aunty Caroline's hair."

Henrik ignored her and tugged harder. "Jesus Christ! He has a strong grip." Caroline tried to free herself from him.

"Henrik!" Bonnie stood up, placing Ingrid around her hip before walking towards Caroline. "Don't be naughty Henrik, let her go." She gently pried his chubby fingers away from Caroline's hair. Henrik protested and attempted to grab Caroline's golden locks once more.

"I got him," Stefan pulled Henrik from Caroline's arms before he could inflict more pain. "Hey buddy, pulling a girl's hair is not nice."

Caroline laughed and rubbed her head. "I didn't realize he was that strong." Her head actually hurt from all the hair pulling.

"He takes after his father," Bonnie murmured.

Henrik squirmed in Stefan's arms and reached out for Caroline, whining loudly when she denied him.

"Oh no, you don't," Caroline told him. "I think uncle Stefan can hold you for now." She was still rubbing her head and was honestly surprised he hadn't ripped a good chuck of her hair with the iron grip he had.

"He's a handful," Stefan noted as Henrik continued to squirm in his arms.

"You have no idea," Bonnie muttered.

"Ingrid is the quiet one," Caroline smiled at the little girl who was watching her brother quietly. She smiled and cooed but unlike her brother, she seemed like a sweet and content baby.

"Don't let her angelic face fool you," Bonnie said as she glanced at her daughter. Ingrid's fingers were playing with her necklace. She was always drawn to it, and liked touching or pulling at it, Bonnie thought it was because of the magic radiating from the pendant, her daughter no doubt felt it. "She can be really stubborn at times."

"She must get that from you," Caroline retorted with a playful grin.

Bonnie shrugged but her lips were twitching.

"Have they done any more magic recently?" Caroline asked curiously. Bonnie had told her some of the things her children had done in the past couple of months and she wanted to know more.

"Ingrid likes to make her toys fly all over the nursery and Henrik has gotten into the habit of flickering the lights on and off every time we put him to bed." Klaus was of course, delighted by the powerful displays of magic. In his eyes, their twins were without a doubt prodigious. He was constantly telling everybody all the amazing things they did.

"Can you imagine what they'll be able to do when they get older?" Stefan muttered.

"Things are definitely going to get interesting," Bonnie responded. The twins' magical abilities were definitely strong and their powers would only grow with time. She smiled down at Ingrid who had stopped trying to get her necklace and was babbling to her brother who responded in kind. He was still squirming in Stefan's arms.

They all laughed at the interesting exchange between both siblings.

"I wonder what they're saying," Caroline muttered watching them talk back and forth.

"Probably making fun of us," Stefan suggested.

"Dr. Mayfair says they have a language of their own," Bonnie said as she too watched the conversation between her children. She would give up anything to understand what they were saying to each other. "They do this a lot," she commented. Ingrid made motions with her hand and Henrik responded eagerly, babbling nonstop in a conversation all of their own.

After contemplating the twins silently, Bonnie turned to Caroline. "Have you heard from Elena?" she asked.

"Last I heard, she was at Whitmore."

"She wants to become a doctor," Stefan added.

"Yeah, that's what she told me too." Bonnie gave them a curious look. "Does she know about the two of you?"

Caroline and Stefan exchanged looks.

"We haven't told her yet," Caroline responded. "We're heading to Mystic Falls next, so we'll have the chance to talk to her in person." She bit her lip, a worried look on her face.

"You don't think she will be against the two of you dating?" Bonnie asked, sensing Caroline's hesitation.

"I don't know, I hope not." Caroline looked unsure.

Stefan placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "I keep telling her that she has nothing to worry about."

"She probably suspects something already," Bonnie said. "You guys did extend your trip and looking at your pictures…" she trailed off with a knowing look. She had known they were together long before Caroline had confided in her. Bonnie felt sure Elena probably suspected something as well. It was pretty obvious how close they had gotten.

Stefan and Caroline shared loving smiles. Going away to Europe had allowed them to get to know each more intimately, to talk and enjoy the simple pleasures of life, and without anyone judging them or any threats hanging over their heads, they had given in to the growing attraction and chemistry between them. So far, things were working out great between them.

"I'm sure Elena will be happy for you," Bonnie told them. "She's with Damon now, and I know she would want the two of you to be happy and if you found that happiness with each other, then I'm sure she will be thrilled for both of you."

Caroline's face brightened upon hearing Bonnie's words.

"I invited her to come," Bonnie admitted. "I wanted all of us to spend some time together. But she's busy with school."

"While I'm sure she's busy at Whitmore, I doubt very much she will return to this city," Caroline said to her. "Not as long as Kol is around."

"Kol, wouldn't hurt her."

"Are you sure about that?" Stefan arched and eyebrow. Kol had threatened Elena after all. It was no secret how much he hated her for killing him.

"If I ask him to leave her alone, he will," Bonnie responded with confidence. Kol was vindictive certainly, but Bonnie felt sure he wouldn't kill her friend if she were to ask him. Kol knew how much Bonnie cared about her friends.

Stefan didn't look so convinced but he didn't say anything else on the matter. Whether they liked it or not, Kol and Bonnie were family.

The silence that followed was interrupted by Ingrid fussing and rubbing her eyes. Henrik also started fussing, letting a big yawn and extending his little arms towards his mother.

"It's time for their nap," Bonnie said. As if on cue, Ingrid yawed and rested her head against her chest, eyes closing.

"Can I help you?" Caroline offered.

"Sure."

Caroline took Henrik from Stefan's arms and followed Bonnie out the room. Stefan watched them go, a smile on his face as he heard their happy chatter. Coming to New Orleans first had definitely been the best idea.

* * *

Freya hummed to herself as she stocked the fridge. She had just returned from the grocery store and was contemplating what to make for lunch. She had been at her new place for about two months now and she loved it. Her new apartment was definitely bigger than the attic room of the Fauline cottage, with perfect view of the Quarter, and a few blocks away from where her siblings lived. The large windows and the balcony allowed a lot of light to come into the place as well, which was exactly what she needed. After centuries of living in darkness, Freya felt more than ready to walk in the light.

A firm knock brought her out of her thoughts. She made her way towards the door, her magic sensing the familiar presence of her siblings standing outside. She opened the door and smiled at Rebekah who was bouncing a cheerful Lily on her hip, they were accompanied by Klaus and Charlotte who was carrying a small purple orchid in her arms. "Come in." She stepped aside and allowed them in.

"We brought lunch," Rebekah said after greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. "I hope you don't mind." They hadn't called to let her know they were on their way after all and she didn't want to impose.

"Not at all," Freya responded. "I was just about to make me a sandwich or something," she smiled nervously at them, still a little unused to having all of them in her life. It felt surreal at times but she couldn't be happier. Finn was a regular visitor, so was Rebekah, Elijah had come for tea a couple of times, and while Kol had only visited her twice so far, they had laughed a lot and chatted amicably. Nik was also making an effort to spend time with her and get to know her better, not to mention the family brunch every Sunday. It had been Elijah's idea. They were all pretty busy throughout the week, so Sunday brunch was the perfect time to catch up and spend quality family time. Freya loved every second of it.

"Good," Rebekah placed Lily on the ground and took the bags Nik was carrying, heading towards the kitchen so she could start serving them.

"I brought you something aunt Freya," Charlotte presented her with the orchid. "I grew it with my magic," she said proudly.

"Did you?" Freya took the orchid and smiled down at the little witch. "It's beautiful, thank you."

"You like it?"

"I love it." She took the orchid and placed it on a small side table, near the window, where the sun could bathe it every morning. Her eyes landed on Klaus. "And what did you bring me?" she asked, eyes darting towards the bottle in his hand.

"Wine," he responded with a dimpled grin before placing the bottle on the dining table.

Lily and Charlotte headed straight towards the opposite side of the room, where Freya kept about a dozen crystals on a small bookshelf. The girls loved playing with them, enjoying how they changed colors in their hands.

Freya crossed her arms over her chest, watching as Rebekah zipped around the kitchen, grabbing plates and serving them lunch. Rebekah was familiar with her apartment and often made herself at home. Freya didn't mind. She enjoyed their girly chats whenever her sister came by.

"She's turned into quite the little housewife," Klaus commented as he followed his sister's rapid movements.

"She looks radiant," Freya said with a smile. The happiness Rebekah felt was undeniable. "Motherhood suits her." She glanced at the sweet and quiet girl her sister had adopted. Lily was a little angel and Freya already adored her as she did with Charlotte and the twins.

"Indeed, it does."

Their eyes met and held. What had started awkwardly, with long and uncomfortable silences had slowly given away to a much relaxed and easy-going atmosphere. They had both realized that they had no need to rush things, they had all the time in the world to form a healthy sibling relationship.

"Bonnie told me you accepted to teach at the school."

"I have," Freya crossed her arms over her chest, hardly able to contain the excitement she felt at the prospect of working at Bonnie's magic school. "I think it's a great idea," she told her brother. "After the grueling interview I had with Vivian Bennett and the other elders of the Bennett coven, I think I will enjoy working there." She had definitely been able to keep up with the formidable elder witch and maybe she was being arrogant, but she felt like she had made an impression as well.

"Rumor has it you kept Vivian on her toes," Klaus's lips twitched into a smirk.

"It wasn't an easy feat, believe." Freya had meet all of the Bennett coven by now and she couldn't help but be fascinated by all of them. They were strong, capable, and utterly charming women. Some of them were definitely more intimidating than others but Freya found herself liking them. "I'm actually quite looking forward to working with her and Bonnie." She had over a year ahead of her to plan her lessons and do her best to become a good teacher for the kids that would attend the school.

"I'm sure you will do an excellent job."

"I think that's the nicest thing you have ever said to me," Freya remarked.

"Don't get used to it," Klaus retorted playfully.

Freya laughed softly. She didn't know if she and Niklaus were ever going to be as close as she and Finn were but they were making progress and if felt wonderful. For the first time in her life, she actually felt like she belonged.

"What's with that creepy doll?" Klaus asked, his eyes staring at the doll sitting on top of the bookshelf.

Freya sighed. She needed to keep that doll out of sight, particularly when her nieces were visiting.

"Her name is Alice," Charlotte muttered, looking up at the shelf with curious green eyes. "She's been a very naughty witch," she looked at her father before going back to playing with Lily. She used her magic and lifted a small yellow crystal into the air, it changed into a deep red color in midair before slowly floating towards Lily's outstretched hand. The little girl squealed with delight.

"Your turn," Charlotte said.

Lily stared at the crystal with determined blue eyes and lifted it into the air with her magic, it swirled and swirled in midair before flying straight into Charlotte's hand. The deep red color had become pink.

Charlotte laughed while Klaus and Freya clapped.

"Way to go, sweetheart." Klaus shared a smile with Lily and even winked at her before turning to his sister. "Alice?" he questioned with an arched eyebrow. "As if in the crazy witch from the loon cottage?"

"The one and only," Freya's eyes were hard as she stared at the doll. "Dahlia got to her and used her to trap me."

"And that's your revenge."

"I'm not one to forgive a slight easily." She met his eyes, sending a clear message with her gaze. _I have forgiven you because you are my brother but that kindness won't be extended to others._

"Of course, you won't." Understanding flickered across his eyes. "You're a Mikaelson. We do not forget and we do not forgive." _Except when it comes to family._ "You can't keep Alice as a doll forever," Klaus remarked after a minute or two of silence.

"I won't," Freya told him. "It's only temporary until I find a way to get rid of her for good." She already knew how, she was just waiting on the full moon to complete the ritual.

"Alright! Time to eat," Rebekah called from the kitchen. "Don't forget to wash your hands," she reminded the girls, both nodded dutifully and headed to the bathroom. Rebekah grinned at Freya and Nik. She liked seeing the two of them talk and laugh with each other. She was happy that Nik and Freya were slowly getting to know each other and growing closer. They had all more or less welcomed Freya into their family and she had accepted all of them warts and all. It was the most amazing thing ever. Rebekah had never been this happy. Finally, after centuries of heartbreak, betrayal, and torment they were a _real family_. She wouldn't change this for the world.

* * *

 **Weeks later**

"We're so late," Bonnie whispered as she and Klaus made their way inside the newly remodeled _Jardin Gris_. It was opening night and la crème de la crème of New Orleans society was invited to celebrate the newer and bigger magic shop.

Klaus chuckled, a wicked grin spreading over his face as he and Bonnie stepped inside the store. It was packed with people. Most of them were witches, but there were a handful of vampires as well as some werewolves (Klaus's pack members who had moonlight rings on them) and many prominent human citizens too. They were all moving curiously around the first and second floor of the store where countless magical items, potions, and other trinkets were on display. "It's not my fault you decided to seduce me on the way here." He easily spotted his siblings, already making their way towards him and Bonnie. Elijah gave him a reproachful look, they were really late. Klaus ignored him.

There was a scandalized look on Bonnie's face as she turned to face him. "I didn't. I merely held your hand and you decided to stop the car and attack me on the side of the road." It was entirely his fault they were late and she was going to make sure everyone knew it.

"You should consider yourself lucky that I didn't jump on you as soon as you walked down the stairs," Klaus purred, his hybrid eyes looking her up and down. "You should know by now that red is my favorite color."

Bonnie's stomach coiled with anticipation and excitement. He was giving her that look, the same look he had given her before stopping the car on the side of the road. She looked away, her hands clenching around the black clutch she was carrying. The red strapless dress she was wearing felt too tight on her. Her body trembled and she felt a dampness forming between her legs. _Get a grip Bonnie! You're in a public place for crying out loud!_

"And besides, I didn't hear you complain," Klaus continued with a smirk. "In fact, I seem to recall you begging for more." They would still be in the woods if he hadn't reminded her of the event they were supposed to be attending. Seeing all the people crammed together made him regret coming in the first place. "We should have stayed in the woods," he told her with a sexy grin. "We could have easily topped our record."

Bonnie flushed with embarrassment. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't deny that she had in fact, been begging him for more and that if given the opportunity she would find a way to sneak out of the venue and pick up where they left of less than an hour ago.

 _Now, that's an excellent idea,_ Klaus's thoughts invaded her mind. She did her best to ignore him.

"There you are!" Davina exclaimed happily as she spotted them. "Where have you been?" They were definitely the last ones to arrive. "Have you seen how many people came?" she couldn't contain her excitement. "This is great!"

Bonnie smiled at her enthusiasm; Davina was a very supportive girlfriend.

Kol approached them, his nose instantly twitching. "Bloody hell! The two of you are worse than bunnies," he muttered, making a face of disgust at the strong mixed scent reeking from them. "This is a family affair. Keep it PG please."

Klaus rolled his eyes while Bonnie felt the heat spread from her cheeks all the way down to her toes. _I should have gone home and showered,_ she thought.

Klaus's mental laugh echoed inside her mind. _Then we wouldn't have made it at all._

Bonnie pretend to be offended which garnered a chuckle from him.

"Finally!" Rebekah exclaimed as she and Matt approached them. "You left before we did, what took you so long?" She took notice of Bonnie's flushed face, the small hickey near her collarbone, and her brother's smug look and knew instantly why they were late. "Really?" she shook her head.

Klaus only grinned while Bonnie shifted nervously on her feet. _What excuse could she use?_ She wondered as she felt the inquisitive gazes of her family on her skin. She couldn't get enough of Klaus. One look, that was all it took for her to turn into a hormonal teenager. Plus, _it was the full moon!_ They should know by now how intense those were for them.

"You're parents now for Pete's sake. Show some decorum."

"I caught you and Matt in the kitchen the other day," Bonnie reminded her with a pointed look. "A minute or two later and you would have traumatized my daughter for life."

Rebekah's lips curled at the memory while Matt choked on his drink. Yep, they had nearly been caught by Charlotte. He definitely had nothing to say in their defense.

"Thought so," now it was Bonnie's turn to look smug.

"Which is why we're getting a place of our own soon," Rebekah retorted. "The compound is far too crowded now."

"You've been moving out for weeks now," Lucy murmured as she, Elijah, Finn, and Freya joined them. "Until I see all of your sixteen suitcases by the door, I won't believe it."

Klaus and Kol laughed at that and even Bonnie couldn't contain a giggle at the comment.

Rebekah stuck her tongue out in a playful manner. "Very Funny."

"What took you so long?" Lucy asked Bonnie and Klaus.

"I don't think you want them to answer that, darling." Elijah gave the couple a knowing look. They both smelled of sex and blood and judging by the stray leaf on Bonnie's hair, they had spent quite a lot of time in the woods. Finn smirked knowingly while Freya simply arched an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" Lucy caught on quickly.

Klaus grinned from ear to ear, resting a possessive hand around Bonnie's waist. "What can I say, she has me under her spell." He gave her a playful slap on the butt. "I'm a slave to her passions."

"Klaus!" Bonnie pushed him away, feeling embarrassed that everyone knew what they had been up to in the past couple of hours. In her defense it was all his fault and the effect the full moon had on his werewolf side. That was her story and she was sticking to it.

Kol made a face. "Urgh, you're making me sick," he pretended to want to vomit.

"Kol!" Davina jabbed him in the ribs.

"I'm joking love, relax."

"No one wants to know the details of your sex life, Klaus." Marcel muttered as he too joined the group alongside a beaming Lenore.

"Opening night has been a success!" She exclaimed happily and offered an opening to stir the conversation in a different direction, which earned her a grateful look from Bonnie.

"I think it's time for a toast," Lucy proposed. She moved closer to Elijah and motioned for a server to bring them champagne.

Bonnie tucked a strand of lose hair behind her ear, pulling the stray leaf out of her hair and throwing it away nervously. "A toast sounds wonderful." She could really use a drink right now. Klaus had already wrapped an arm around her waist again, running his thumb over the soft material of her dress. It was almost as if he were trying to make her clothes disappear with a subtle touch. Her throat felt dry as she took a sip of her champagne. When she caught his gaze again, she saw the implicit promise behind his tawny eyes. _Oh boy,_ she thought. _An hour tops,_ she realized before he dragged her out of there and into the woods once more. The dampness between her legs increased, Klaus placed her tightly against his side. _Why did sex on the full moon was so amazing?_

Marcel motioned for Thierry and Katie to join them. They were mingling with the other guests but headed their way quickly. This was an important moment for Katie, Lenore, and Kol as their hard work was being rewarded.

The old building had been renovated and expanded after Katie had formed a business partnership with Kol and Lenore. The original injected the capital and Lenore added a stock of new supplies to increase the sales and bring the once struggling magic shop into greatness once more. The _Jardin Gris_ was the oldest of all the magic shops in the city, and now that it had been remodeled and new items had been added, Katie hoped it would thrive once more. Lenore still had her shop in Algiers, which she planned to use as a base of operations since she was going to be in charge of distributing the magic supplies for the Bennett school. Katie was going to be managing the _Jardin Gris_ while Kol had his eyes on two other struggling shops in the city. He had an uncanny knowledge of magic and enough money to bail them out of their debt and help them increase their profit with new ideas and merchandise that other shops in the state did not carry. He felt proud of what he was accomplishing and hoped that his business endeavors would continue to be successful. He was doing his own thing and he loved every minute of it. Davina was going to study business management so that one day, they would have a business of their own.

"To Katie," Elijah raised his champagne glass towards her. "Lenore," he nodded in the witch's direction. "And Kol," he grinned at his brother. "Who together have formed an incredible and successful partnership."

"To Katie, Lenore, and Kol!"

Everyone toasted in the trio's honor.

Thierry and Katie shared a loving kiss afterwards. The young woman couldn't stop grinning.

Davina had a proud look on her face as she squeezed Kol's hand and kissed his cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, darling." He cupped her cheek and kissed her lips fully.

Marcel cleared his throat, an annoyed look on his face. "Not in front of me, please." He always gagged at the sight of them making out.

Davina pulled away, her cheeks red as apples. "Sorry."

"Stop being the overprotective dad Marcel," Rebekah chided him.

"Never!" was his quick response which caused everyone to laugh. Sometimes it was hard for him to accept how much Davina had grown in the past year.

After the toast, they broke into smaller groups. It didn't take long for Matt to realize there were two people missing. "Hey, where did Bonnie and Klaus go?" he wondered out loud.

Kol snorted. "You really have to ask?" although he was surprised at how quickly and discreetly they had left.

"Unbelievable," Rebekah muttered as she scanned her surroundings. There was no sign of the couple. They had sneaked off without anyone noticing. Inspired by her brother's naughty behavior, she grabbed Matt's hand and dragged him away. "We should go look for them," she murmured with a wink in Matt's direction. He laughed and nodded.

"Where are you guys going?" Davina's voice followed them.

"We have to call home and say goodnight to Lily," Rebekah lied as she looked back at the young witch.

Davina frowned. "But you already said goodnight." The kids had gone to bed at 8 p.m. sharp, right before they all left for the event. There was no response as Rebekah and Matt lost themselves in the crowd.

"You got to be kidding me," despite the insulted tone in Kol's voice, his lips were twitching. "Magic definitely stimulates people."

"It's the full moon," Elijah murmured.

"I'm thinking you and I should sneak off as well," Lucy whispered as she moved closer to him, a suggestive grin on her glossy lips.

Elijah gave her a heated look. "Don't tempt me." He wrapped a possessive arm around her waist.

Lucy giggled, wondering how far she could push his self-control.

Kol wiggled his eyebrows in Davina's direction, a suggestive grin on his face. "Want to-"

"Don't even think about it," Marcel warned him, placing a hand on his shoulder and successfully preventing him from disappearing with his adoptive daughter.

"Seriously?" Kol hissed. "Wasn't it enough that for our first couple of dates you got Charlotte to chaperone?" he complained, much to the amusement of the people around them.

"Charlotte definitely enjoyed going on dates with you," Finn murmured as he took a sip of his champagne.

Kol glared at him.

"She was the perfect candidate," Marcel grinned. To be fair, it had been Klaus's idea. He had originally asked Thierry to be the couple's shadow but his sire had a much brilliant suggestion. Kol could easily compel or ditch any vampire that chaperoned them, Charlotte however, was too precious and Kol knew it. And per Klaus and Marcel's instructions, she had stuck to the two of them like gum during their first few outings together. Marcel was no fool, he knew Davina was old enough to make her own decisions but he still liked to annoy Kol, and played the overprotective role of a father to a T.

There was an amused smile on Davina's face as she recalled the horrified look on Kol's face when he saw that Charlotte would be accompanying them on their first day. " _It's my special assignment!"_ she had told them with an adorable grin. Davina met Kol's eyes, her cheeks flushing as she remembered their heated make out sessions in the dates that had followed. She wondered what Marcel would say if he knew that they had bribed Charlotte with ice cream? Judging by the smirk on Kol's face, he was thinking the exact same thing. As much as Charlotte could annoy him sometimes, she definitely approved of their relationship and had been willing to turn a blind eye when it was convenient. Not that they had ever done anything inappropriate in front of her, but Kol had stolen a handful of kisses while the little girl had been distracted.

As the conversation continued around them and the rest of the family mingled with the other guests, Davina and Kol shared secret smiles. And if he managed to trap her in a secluded corner of the shop later that night, and kiss her senseless, she would definitely never tell. Least of all, Marcel.

* * *

 **A couple of years later**

Bonnie sighed and walked towards the balcony, a pensive look on her face as she contemplated the city. It was a beautiful summer afternoon. She had spent the majority of the morning reviewing the contracts for the three new teachers they would hire. Even though classes had ended about two weeks ago, they were already preparing for the new school year. _Another successful year gone,_ she thought with a proud grin. The Bennett school of magic was thriving, the students were happy, and a new more prepared generation of witches was slowly coming of age under her supervision. It was amazing.

Standing in the balcony of her home, dressed in an emerald gown with a daring neckline and gorgeous diamonds around her neck and ears, she definitely felt like the queen of the city. After a good number of battles, bloodshed, and death, New Orleans had finally found peace. The air was peaceful and the supernatural species and humans alike were living in harmony. It was the world they had created, the world her children were being raised in. She placed a hand on her stomach and smiled, thinking of the months and years to come.

Strong possessive arms wrapped around her waist, causing her to lean back against his chest. His familiar and comforting presence was always welcoming.

"You look stunning," Klaus whispered against the skin of her neck.

Bonnie shivered and smiled. "Are the kids ready?" she asked, her eyes on the dying rays of the sun bathing their city.

"Almost," he responded. "Charlotte decided to change her outfit."

"Again?" Bonnie questioned with an exasperated sigh.

"Again," Klaus repeated with a chuckle. "Henrik is refusing to wear a tie."

"Of course, he is."

"I already told him that he has to wear one tomorrow." Klaus was definitely putting his foot down the next day. Whether he liked it or not, Henrik would wear a suit and tie.

"Tomorrow," Bonnie repeated with a content sigh. "At last." They had been anticipating this moment for years and it had finally arrived.

"Indeed." Klaus nuzzled her neck, pulling her body closer to his chest. "It's too late to change your mind," he teased, although a hint of nervousness echoed through their bond. Despite the years of peace and prosperity, and absolutely happiness at her side, there was a small part of him that still feared losing her, that feared her rejection. It might seem silly to some, but old habits die hard.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Bonnie assured him. She had no intention of changing her mind. She wanted this, had wanted it for a long time, in fact. "Are you going to tell me where we're going for our honeymoon?"

"It's a surprise."

"That's not fair."

"You will love it."

Bonnie spun around in his arms so they could be face to face. "Can you give me a clue?" she begged, playing with his black tie. "Please," she batted her eyelashes at him.

Klaus grinned and placed his hands on her hips. "It's sunny and warm and I plan to keep you in bed all day every day." His eyes watched her intensely.

She laughed at his response before swallowing hard at the look he was giving her. _He means it,_ Bonnie noted. He absolutely meant every word. She placed her hands on his chest, moving them up and down over his suit jacket and grinning seductively. "You're not going to hear any complaints from me."

"Good." Klaus leaned down and cupped her cheek. "I can't believe the day has finally arrived." She would officially be his wife.

"Me either."

Bonnie hooked her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. "You have been so patient," she said lovingly. They had to postpone their wedding, not only because of the different battles they had to face, and the raising of their twins, but also because of the magic school. and the fact that Bonnie wanted to go to college. She couldn't be the headmistress of a respectable institution with just a high school degree under her belt. Hence the reason she had enrolled at Tulane and gotten her bachelor's degree. Klaus had been incredibly supportive of her, looking after their children while she attended classes, and always being there for her as she and her coven worked to teach the younger generation of witches under their care. Time flew and before they knew it, a year, then two, and three, and four had gone by. They had been unable to find the perfect time, _until now_. Everything had finally aligned into place. "I can't want to marry you," Bonnie whispered. "If it were up to me, I would marry you right now."

"My sister would never forgive us."

"I know." Rebekah had planned the wedding of Bonnie's dreams and after years of preparations she would never speak to them again if they to throw all that careful planning away just so they could be man and wife now; as tempting as it was. "We made it this far, we can wait another 24 hours."

"Do I really have to follow that absurd tradition of not seeing the bride on the wedding day?" Klaus asked her suddenly. Rebekah and Caroline both had been pestering him about it.

"That's a must."

"Sweetheart, you don't honestly believe that rubbish, do you?" He pulled her body closer, hand palming her butt.

Bonnie slapped his hands away playfully. "Don't get any ideas," she warned him. She was not going to arrive late to the rehearsal dinner. Not to mention that she could hear Ingrid and Henrik in the hallway, they would soon be bursting through that door, she knew. "It's tradition," Bonnie told him in her headmistress voice, the one she used to ensure her students behaved.

Klaus pouted. "Fuck tradition," he hissed, bring their bodies impossibly closer and leaning down so their faces were merely inches apart.

"After the rehearsal dinner you will come here and I will go to the Bennett mansion and we won't see each other again until I walk down the aisle tomorrow." Bonnie had no intention of letting him seduce her the night before the wedding.

"I don't like that."

"Don't give me that look." Bonnie was firm in her response, she was not going to change her mind, no matter how much he might tempt her. "We're going to sleep in separate houses tonight."

Klaus groaned.

"It will be worth it, I promise." Bonnie grabbed his face and brought his lips down for a steamy kiss. Just because they weren't going to sleep in the same bed tonight, didn't mean she couldn't kiss him.

Klaus kissed her back, his passion, his eagerness stirring her blood and almost making her cave when he began pushing her back inside the bedroom and towards the bed. He had been counting the days until their nuptials. Finally, after five long years of being engaged they were going to be man and wife and although he didn't believe in some silly superstition, for her, he was willing to follow the rules. But he was going to try and break them first, it was in his nature after all.

"Mom! Dad!" Charlotte's voice cut through their heated make out session. "We're going to be late!" she yelled from the hallway.

"They're kissing again," Henrik muttered as he opened the door and caught their parents in a heated embrace. "Why do you always do that?" he asked in a slight annoyed voice.

"Because they love each other," Ingrid replied in a sweet voice as she followed him into the room. "Isn't that right?" she asked her parents. She looked adorable in a pale blue dress and matching headband.

"Absolutely," Bonnie replied with a smile. "Look at you!" she exclaimed as she stared at both of them. "You look beautiful!" she winked at Ingrid. "Very handsome." She looked at Henrik, although a frown crossed her features when she saw his unruly hair and the lack of tie. "Where is your jacket?"

"It's too hot!" Henrik complained. "Dad said I didn't have to wear it."

"I said you didn't have to wear a tie," Klaus was quick to point out.

"He has to wear one tomorrow, no exceptions." Charlotte stepped inside the room. She had grown taller and far more beautiful in the past five years. Klaus felt an ache in his heart, she was growing too fast. "Aunt Bekah wants me to remind you that we're going to be late if you don't hurry up."

"Yeah, yeah," Klaus rolled his eyes.

Ingrid giggled at the face he was making and even Henrik let out a snort.

"Come on," Bonnie took Henrik's hand while Klaus's did the same with Ingrid. "We better hurry before she comes and gets us."

"You don't want to make aunty Bex mad," Ingrid murmured.

"I don't know love, I do enjoy riling her up." Klaus winked at her.

"Naughty daddy," Ingrid chided him.

"Playful daddy," Klaus retorted with a very suggestive look at Bonnie.

She laughed and shook her head, he was incorrigible. She and Henrik followed Charlotte out of the room.

"Are we going to take pictures?" Henrik asked.

"Of course, we are," Charlotte responded. "Aunt Bekah loves pictures."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, Henrik you do." Both of his parents said at the same time.

Henrik groaned. "I hate taking pictures," he mumbled.

"I love it!" Ingrid exclaimed cheerfully.

"We're taking a bunch of pictures tomorrow too," Charlotte reminded him, her lips curling knowingly. "Get ready because aunt Bekah has planned a photo session for the whole family."

Henrik groaned again while his sisters laughed at the suffering expression on his face.

Bonnie and Klaus laughed as well. They linked their fingers together as they walked down the stairs with their children. Everyone was already making their way out of the house, to the hotel were the rehearsal dinner was to take place. Tomorrow was a day of celebration, a day where they would officially be joined as man and wife. It was a moment they were both anticipating eagerly. As she walked with Klaus and their kids, Bonnie wondered if she should give them the good news that night or wait until after their wedding and honeymoon. Just thinking of their reaction had her lips curving into a beautiful smile. She couldn't wait to share the news with them, she had no doubt the kids would be thrilled. She eyed her son, remembering the wish he had made for his birthday. Her boy would definitely love to have a little brother to play with. She turned to Klaus then, a loving smile on her face as she met his playful eyes. Yes, she couldn't wait to tell him and see the joy on his face either. A wedding and another baby, life was absolutely wonderful.

* * *

 **A/N** : _There_ _is definitely going to be one more chapter. Thank you so much for all your amazing support. You guys are the best!_


	99. Chapter 99

The wedding of Bonnie Bennett and Klaus Mikaelson was the supernatural social event of the century. It looked as if all of New Orleans was in attendance. The grounds surrounding the Bennett mansion were filled with people, many of them were already seated and waiting for the ceremony to start. Human, witches, vampires, werewolves, and hybrids made the impressive list of over two hundred guests which not only included the newly elected mayor of New Orleans but a handful of other prominent members of society. Everybody wanted to bear witness to a moment that would go down in history.

As part of her maid of honor duties, Rebekah had to make sure everything was in order. So far, she was staying on top of things and everything was going smoothly. She was running a tight ship, always careful to check even the smallest of details so her brother and Bonnie could have a perfect wedding. Her sharp eyes scanned the arriving guest-all of which had to present their invitation at the entrance, nodding in approval at the efficient way Belle and Katie guided people to their seats. Her eyes locked with Tyler Lockwood for a brief second, he was accompanied by a blonde girl named Liv- a witch he had met a few months before- or so Bonnie had told them. He nodded in her direction before laughing at something his girlfriend said and taking a seat. Rebekah moved her gaze away from them and gave a few nods of approval to Aya-who looked stunning in a red dress- and the group of vampires from the Strix that had just arrived. All the seats were mostly filled by now, the ceremony was supposed to start in less than half an hour after all. Rebekah continued to smile and look around the grounds of the Bennett mansion. She wasn't looking for any party crashes, or checking on the guests, no she was looking for a tiny mop of dark hair. "There you are," she murmured as she zeroed in on the small boy by the creek, right at the edge of the property. Exactly where he wasn't supposed to be. Using her vampire speed, she zipped in that direction, cutting through the guests like a bolt of lightning. "Henrik Mikaelson, what do you think you are doing?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and giving her unruly nephew a stern look.

Henrik gasped and spun around, quickly hiding both hands behind his back. "Hi, aunt Bex." He gave her his most disarming smile, the one that always got him off trouble.

He was darn cute but she wasn't in the mood to fall under his spell. "Don't try that with me," Rebekah looked down at him. "I grew up surrounded by charming Mikaelson men, so you are wasting your time, darling." As cute as he was, she was not falling for his charms, not today.

Henrik frowned.

"The ceremony is about to start, what did I tell you kids to do?" Rebekah demanded with all the authority in the world.

"To wait in the guest bedroom," Henrik recited dutifully, his shoulders slumping. He hated waiting, he hated sitting down and doing nothing. He was constantly restless and being locked up in the guest bedroom with his sisters and cousin was not his idea of fun.

"And what did you do?"

"I was bored, aunt Bex!"

Rebekah shook her head. "Bored!" She exclaimed rather dramatically. "How can you be bored? Your parents are getting married!" Henrik opened his mouth in protest but she didn't let him say a word. "What do you have behind your back?" she asked quickly.

"Nothing." He gave her his most innocent smile.

"Henrik," Rebekah stared him down, knowing he was hiding something. "Show me what you have behind your back."

"You are not going to like it," the little boy responded, still refusing to obey her.

"Show me."

"But-"

"Show me, now."

Henrik pouted before saying. "Okay, but I warned you." He pulled his hands away from his back and showed her what he had been hiding in his hands.

Rebekah jumped back as a green slimy frog leaped into the air, nearly touching her pristine lilac dress. She managed to composed herself and suppressed a loud scream before glaring at her nephew.

"It's a green tree frog," Henrik responded excitedly. "Did you know that it's the state amphibian of Louisiana? I have been reading about them and-"

Her nephew's fascination with reptiles was something Rebekah could not comprehend. "I don't want to know," she told him, raising her hand and stopping him mid-sentence, otherwise he would continue to ramble about the animal. "I don't like reptiles."

"How can you not like them?" Henrik asked with something akin to horror. "They're amazing! I think-

"There slimy and ugly," Rebekah responded.

"Girls," Henrik mumbled with a roll of his eyes. They were all the same.

"Come on," Rebekah grabbed his hand and guided him back inside the house. "We need to get you cleaned up and ready for the ceremony." It was a good thing she had found him before he decided to take the frog with him and walk down the aisle with it. That would have been mortifying.

Henrik sighed. "Do I have to wear a tie?"

"Of course, you do." Rebekah gave him a look. "How many times have we been over this?" In fact, he should be wearing one right now but as always he had refused. He wasn't going to wear a tie until it was absolutely necessary.

"I look like a clown!"

"You are going to look dashing just like your father and uncles." Rebekah smiled down at him. "Remember you promised your mom that you were going to behave today and wear a tie."

"I guess," Henrik mumbled. He would rather play by the creek and chase frogs than attend a wedding ceremony, even if it was his parents' wedding. He loved them but he didn't know why everyone was making a big fuss about their marriage. In his eyes, they were already married, they didn't need a big ceremony to confirm it. His sisters of course, were loving every single moment of it; from the dress fittings, to the rehearsal dinner, to the photo sessions. _Girls,_ Henrik thought with an internal eye roll. He loved his sisters he did, but times like these, he really wished he had a brother to play with.

* * *

Bonnie contemplated her reflection in the mirror, an array of different emotions across her face. Her wedding day, at last. She let out a shaky breath, feeling nervous and exited as the hour drew near. Her hair had been pulled up in a bun while the one shoulder mermaid lace gown with a scoop back and a chapel length train perfectly accentuated her silhouette. She ran her hands over the bodice with its beautiful handmade embroidery and smiled. She had chosen something chic and elegant for her wedding and she couldn't be happier with the end result. She couldn't wait to see the look on Klaus's face when he finally saw her walking down the aisle. As she continued to move her hands over the bodice, feeling grateful that she hadn't gained too much weight yet, her eyes landed on the glittering diamond bracelet on her left wrist- a gift she had received earlier that morning. Aya, David, and a couple other vampires from the Strix had arrived earlier that day with a small package for her. Bonnie had memorized what the note said and cherished it deeply.

 _Grandma Amelia wore it on her wedding day, so did mom, and I._

 _I thought you would like to keep the tradition and wear it as well._ _It's yours now._

 _I wish you all the happiness in the world._

 _Love, Abby._

Bonnie felt a pang in her heart. Her relationship with her mother could only be described as strained. While she had meant her words that day when she discovered the truth about her mother's past, she and Abby had communicated a couple of times via email in the past five years. Bonnie had gotten into the habit of sending her pictures of the kids and the rest of the family and Abby often wrote about her life with the Strix. She was thriving, rising quickly in their ranks, and was now working with a group whose mission was to stop dark magic from spreading and causing harm to supernaturals and humans alike. Bonnie felt glad her mother had found her calling and was finally at peace. She didn't know if they would ever cross paths again, or if she was ready for Abby to have any kind of relationship with Charlotte and the twins, or if they could even have some kind of normal mother-daughter relationship. Neither of them was forcing the issue though. _You have all the time in the world,_ Klaus had told her. _You're both immortal._ _There is no need to rush it._ Bonnie knew that one day the twins were going to ask about their grandmothers, and she and Klaus would have the hard task of explaining their complicated family history. For now, they were both letting things run their course. She ran her fingers over the diamonds, feeling grateful for the gift her mother hand sent her.

"You look beautiful."

Bonnie smiled and met her father's eyes through the floor length the mirror. He looked very handsome in his tux. Rudy was the reason Bonnie and Abby were communicating. He had taken it upon himself to speak with both of them and encourage contact between them. While she and her mother were tentatively trying to stay in touch and slowly building a new kind of relationship, Bonnie and her father had grown closer in the past couple of years. The twins adored him and loved visiting him in Mystic Falls or having him come to New Orleans. He was definitely an amazing grandfather. "Thank you," Bonnie said. The smile on her face dropped however, when she saw the look on his face. "Dad, are you crying?"

"Of course not," Rudy was quick to deny it but he wiped the tears from his eyes. "It's my allergies." His voice was filled with emotion though. He gave her a long stare, his face betraying all the emotions he felt. "My baby is getting married," he let out in a trembling voice.

Bonnie spun around. "I can't believe it, either." It felt like it was just yesterday when she was in that hospital room where Klaus had first proposed to her. So much had happened since then; the past five years had been absolutely wonderful for their family. Their wedding was a continuation of that bliss.

"Are you happy?" Rudy asked, walking closer until he was just a few inches away from her.

"Very much," Bonnie responded honestly. "I've never been so happy." She had everything she could possibly want and more.

Rudy smiled and grabbed both her hands. "Good." That's all he had ever wanted for her. While he and Klaus were not friends by any means, they had learned to respect and tolerate each other and Rudy could not deny how much his grandchildren adored their father or how in love Bonnie was with him. He stared into her vibrant eyes and squeezed her fingers. "I'm so proud of the woman you have become," he murmured before kissing her forehead tenderly. "I love you sweetheart."

"I love you too." Bonnie felt her throat close with emotion. _Don't cry,_ she told herself but she couldn't help it. She felt very emotional. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. For a long time, they stayed like that, locked in a tender embrace, their emotions flowing freely.

There was a soft knock on the door and Lucy stepped inside the room. As soon as she saw Bonnie, tears formed in her eyes. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed and went to hug her cousin with enthusiasm. "You looked so beautiful!"

Rudy happily stepped aside and let them have a moment.

Joanna followed her daughter into the room, a beaming smile on her face. "Oh Bonnie," she murmured as she too, tried to contain her tears at the sight of Bonnie in her wedding dress.

"If you both start crying, I'm going to cry too," Bonnie warned them. She could already feel the sting in her eyes. She looked away and let out a shaky breath. _Keep it together, Bonnie._ Her cousin Cleo wouldn't forgive her if she ruined her makeup.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it." Lucy pulled away from her and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm so emotional lately."

Bonnie glanced at her cousin's bump, a knowing smirk on her lips.

Joanna placed her hand over her mouth, struggling to contain her tears. "They're happy tears, I promise."

"You look so pretty," Lucy added. "Like a princess."

"She's a queen, not a princess," Davina reminded her as she came into the room. She and Lucy were wearing similar Greek style dresses in a soft lilac color. Her eyes met Bonnie's before she rushed into her arms and gave her a bone crushing hug. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you."

"It was about damn time you guys got married," Davina told her as they broke apart.

Everyone laughed.

Davina took her cell phone out. "We need pictures." She began snapping pictures of Bonnie, Lucy, and Joanna.

"There is a professional photographer downstairs," Caroline muttered as she came into the room followed closely by Elena- both girls dressed in lilac dresses like Davina and Lucy. They had both helped Bonnie get ready along with Rebekah, Cleo, and Adriane before giving their friend a couple of minutes to herself. Caroline was constantly moving around the house, checking that everything was in order while Elena always stuck close to Bonnie's side. This was her first time in New Orleans in five years and while she would have loved nothing more than to avoid a certain Original vampire, she couldn't do that when both of them were part of the wedding party. Even though she knew she was under Bonnie's protection and that Kol wouldn't dare hurt her because of it, she still felt nervous and uneasy around him and wouldn't dream to be left alone in his presence. Almost as if sensing her nervousness, Bonnie looked into her eyes and smiled kindly. _You have nothing to fear Elena,_ Bonnie had reassured her over the phone, a few days before her arrival. _Kol has promised he won't hurt you_. Elena smiled back, feeling a calming sensation washing over her. She didn't know if Bonnie had done it on purpose of if it was something that came naturally, but she had a way of making people feel at ease. It must have been a trick she picked up to deal with the kids at her school. _Thank you,_ Elena mouthed.

"We have a photo session planned," Caroline informed them.

Rudy groaned at that. "Do we have to?" he glanced at Bonnie.

"Dad! You're starting to sound like Henrik," Bonnie reprimanded him."Of course, we have to. I want lots of pictures, to remember this day forever."

"The last photo session Rebekah planned took nearly three hours!"

Lucy and Davina giggled.

"Pictures are memories," Caroline reminded him. "And besides, this time we won't take that long. I promise."

"It wasn't that long," Bonnie told her father.

"It felt like it," Rudy liked Rebekah but she was quite obsessive about certain things. She had bombarded him with calls in the days leading to the wedding, wanting updates on his suit, and his speech, and even had him and Bonnie practice their walk down the aisle a couple of times. Rebekah could definitely lead an army into battle if she set her mind to it.

"Speaking of Rebekah, where is she?" Bonnie wondered. She was ready to walk down the aisle with her dad. She needed her bridesmaids with her. "And the kids?" she looked at Caroline who was sharing maid of honor duties with the blonde Original-something that Lucy had predicted would be a disaster but both girls had made an exceptional team and were surpassing everyone's expectations, much to Bonnie's relief.

"Rebekah went to find Henrik," Elena answered. "It seemed he sneaked out when no one was looking."

Bonnie groaned. "Damn it, Henrik. I told Klaus to keep a close eye on him."

Elena shrugged. It was no secret that Henrik Mikaelson loved getting into trouble. He had probably used magic to escape without anyone noticing him. It wouldn't be the first time he tried that trick.

"The girls?" Bonnie asked Davina, praying that Henrik hadn't roped his sisters and cousin into pranking the guests or exploring the woods surrounding the property.

"Waiting quietly in the next room," Davina responded with a smile. "Charlotte is keeping a close eye on them."

Bonnie visibly relaxed at that. Charlotte was the leader of the group and loved taking charge. She would ensure they all behaved.

"Where do you think he could be?" Rudy asked her. The last time he had babysat the twins, Henrik hid from him and it took him nearly two hours to find him and the only reason he did was because Charlotte located him with her magic before Rudy had a panic attack about losing his grandson in his own home. Klaus would have probably never let him spend time alone with the kids again.

"He decided that chasing frogs was more fun than waiting around with the other kids," Rebekah told them as she came inside the room. There was a bright smile on her face as she contemplated Bonnie.

"He's going to get his suit wet and dirty," Bonnie muttered.

"Don't worry, everything is under control now," Rebekah assured her. "Crisis has been averted, he's with Nik, and they are ready to make their way down." She looked at her watch. "We'll follow in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you," Bonnie said embracing the blonde vampire. "For everything."

"No need to thank me love," Rebekah kissed her cheek and smiled. "I got it all under control."

"That boy is going to give me a heart attack one of these days," Bonnie told them.

"Good thing you can't die," Lucy winked.

Everyone laughed.

* * *

"Can I go on your honeymoon?" Henrik asked while his father fixed his tie. He hated wearing that thing but he had promised his mom.

Kol laughed out loud upon hearing the question. Marcel sniggered while Elijah arched an eyebrow.

"No," Klaus gave his son an amused smile.

"Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be a honeymoon if kids were involved," Kol answered for his brother. "You would think you would be glad not to see your parents for two weeks. You get to be a hooligan."

"Don't put ideas in his head Kol," Elijah warned him.

"He's already a bad influence," Marcel muttered under his breath.

"I'm the fun uncle," Kol retorted with a proud smirk. "Isn't that right mate?" he winked at Henrik.

Henrik laughed and winked back before facing his father once more. "You don't have to take Ingrid and Charlotte. They can stay here." He gave his father a pleading look. "I'll behave, I promise."

Klaus arched an eyebrow and stared into his son's pleading yet, mischievous green eyes. "Is that so?"

Henrik nodded. "I'll be good I promise; you and mom won't even notice I'm there. We can swim with the sharks and have lots of fun-"

"We're taking you to Disneyland for your birthday, I'm sure that will more than enough fun."

"But dad, that's months away!"

"All the more reason it will be worth it," Klaus remarked finishing with Henrik's tie and buttoning his navy suit jacket. "There you are. Now you look presentable." He sighed when he saw his hair sticking out. "If only we could do anything about that hair of yours." He rubbed his hand over the messy dark curls and smiled.

"You could always shave his head," Charlotte poked her head inside the room. "I think he would look cute bald." She grinned at her little brother.

"NO!" Henrik was quick to yell. "I like my hair." He ran his fingers over the messy curls.

"You look like you have a bird's nest on your head," Charlotte pointed out.

Henrik glared at her.

"Don't you look beautiful, little lady." Marcel took her hand and spun her around.

"Thank you," Charlotte giggled before moving her eyes over the handsome men in the room. "You all look very handsome."

"There is no need to lie darling, we all know I am the most handsome man in the room."

Charlotte rolled her eyes at Kol. "You wish," she mumbled under her breath but there was small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She sighed at the picture they all made, no wonder all the girls at school had crushes on all of them. She found it absolutely disgusting when her classmates told her her father was hot. They were all insanely gorgeous and alluring, there was no doubt about it, but she found it weird how everyone seemed fascinated by her family.

"Naturally, the groom is the most handsome one in the room," Klaus declared with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Naturally," Charlotte was quick to agree with him. She walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "I'm very happy for you, both of you."

"Thank you, love."

Klaus took the time to contemplate her. Her dark blonde curls had been straightened and a crown of white and soft pink flowers adorned her hair. She had grown a lot in the past five years, she was taller, and far more beautiful than ever, and soon to be a teenager. He didn't think he was ready for what was ahead of them. There was a part of him that wanted her to remain a little girl forever. She was growing way too fast.

A soft musical giggle caught his attention and he looked over Charlotte's shoulder, just as Ingrid stepped into the room, followed closely by Lily. All three girls wore ivory dresses with lilac sashes and matching crowns of flowers on their heads. "Daddy," Ingrid happily ran into his waiting arms.

Klaus caught her and pulled her up, so they could be face to face. "Hello, princess."

Ingrid smiled, her blue eyes shining with excitement. "You look handsome, Daddy." She kissed his cheek and rubbed her nose against his. "The most handsome ever!" she declared before placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, darling." Klaus winked at her.

"I feel offended," Kol remarked, clutching his heart in a mock hurt gesture. "You clearly need glasses Ing."

"No, I don't," Ingrid was quick to remark.

"Don't I look handsome?" Kol asked her.

"Yes, but not as handsome as daddy," Ingrid responded cheerfully.

"I think you just shattered his ego," Marcel hi-fived a giggling Ingrid.

"I think you all look handsome," Lily responded softly. She was a sweet and quiet girl, who had a heart of gold and a happy disposition. Kol had joked more than once that she must have invisible wings for she never got angry or sought any trouble. Not unless the twins roped her into some prank. Henrik even had the audacity to blame her once for one of his pranks which ended up with a bowl of soup accidentally falling into Elijah's head, ruining his hair and suit. Needless to say, Rebekah had not been amused, Klaus and Kol had burst into laughter and no one had dared to punish the sweet girl who hadn't hesitated in taking the blame so her cousin wouldn't be grounded again. Bonnie however had punish Henrik-knowing that he was the guilty party-he went to bed without dessert that night for the stunt he pulled.

"And all of you look absolutely beautiful," Elijah said to the girls.

Ingrid blew him a kiss while Lily smiled sweetly.

There was a knock on the door before Matt stepped inside. He winked at his daughter who immediately went to his side and took his hand. "It's time," he said to Klaus.

"Right," Klaus felt a nervous flutter in his chest. _This it,_ he thought.

"You and Elijah will head down the aisle first," Matt reminded him. "Then the kids, the bridesmaids, and the bride and her father." His lips twitched.

"You've seen her."

"Of course, I have."

Klaus had not seen Bonnie since the night before when they parted ways after the rehearsal dinner. He hadn't slept at all, pacing like a mad man around his room and waiting for the sun to rise. It had been a slow agony, one that was finally coming to an end.

"She looks beautiful," Matt told him.

"She always does," was Klaus's sincere reply.

"Alright," Elijah grabbed everyone's attention. "Let's do this."

Matt ushered the kids out of the room as the two brothers made their way down the stairs and headed to the garden where the guest were already seated and the elders chosen to bless their union waited for the couple.

* * *

Father Kieran, Ishmael, Aunt Vivian, and Finn waited patiently at the altar which had a beautiful arch of white flowers. They were the elders chosen by the couple to bless their union. Klaus and Bonnie had chosen a unique ceremony with a mix of different traditions in order to be joined as man and wife. Directly in front of the altar were to rows of chairs where all the guests were already seated and on the far end of the property, a stage had been set with tables richly decorated and an open space that would serve as the dance floor. While all the guests waited for the ceremony to start, Bonnie's cousin Scarlett- who was a professional photographer-snapped picture after picture. A wolf from Klaus's pack had a camera with him, to record the entire ceremony as well.

Klaus walked down the aisle first, accompanied by Elijah-who was his best man. He smiled at the guests as he made his way to the altar. He shook hands with father Kieran and Ishmael, before kissing Aunt Vivian's cheek, and receiving a hug from his brother Finn. He was nervous but he did his best not to show it. His paranoid mind thought about all the horrible things that could happen as he waited for Bonnie to make her way down the aisle. It was absurd to think that she would change her mind or that anything bad would happen to interrupt their wedding but he couldn't help it, he was very nervous.

"Relax," Elijah murmured as he saw him fidget. He placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Everything is going to be fine."

"They're taking too long," Klaus whispered as he used his enhanced vision to see if he could spot Bonnie making her way out of the house.

Elijah suppressed a chuckle at his brother's impatience. "We haven't been here too long, it's perfectly fine Niklaus."

The bridal procession started with the children.

Klaus let out a breath of relief when he saw Ingrid and Henrik making their way down the aisle. Ingrid was all smiles, she was clearly enjoying herself as she dangled the small white basket in one hand while using her magic to lift the white rose petals into the air with the other hand. Henrik had a rather serious look on his face as he carried the small velvet pillow with the rings. It looked like he was in deep concentration.

Lily and Charlotte came next, also carrying baskets filled with petals and cheerfully throwing them down the aisle. Rebekah and Matt followed them, then Kol and Davina, Marcel and Elena, Stefan and Caroline, and finally, Cary and Lucy.

Bonnie took Klaus's breath away as she walked down the aisle in the arm of her father. She looked stunning in her white mermaid dress which deliciously accentuated her curves. He licked his lips as he drank the sight of her like a starved man, his eyes lingering on her curves before meeting her gorgeous green eyes and smiling with all the love and adoration he felt. Bonnie smiled back and held his heated gaze.

Rudy kissed her cheek before nodding in Klaus's direction and taking a seat.

"You look absolutely beautiful," Klaus said as he took Bonnie's hand in his, he wanted to kiss those luscious lips and had to hold himself back from doing so. He wanted their first kiss of the day to be as man and wife.

Bonnie smiled, easily reading his thoughts. "You looked pretty good, yourself." She squeezed his hand. Their bond transmitting all the nervousness they both felt. They shared another smile before standing in front of the elders. Both with their heads held high and their hearts pounding loudly in their ears.

"We are gathered here today to join these two souls in holy matrimony," Father Kieran began in a firm voice. He took his time to speak about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of the commitment they were making. Bonnie and Klaus listened attentively to every single one of his words and nodded in agreement.

After Father Kieran's short sermon, Ishmael stepped forward. "Do you come to be joined as man and wife willingly?" he asked them in a serious tone.

"We do," Klaus and Bonnie responded at the same time.

"Do you promise to love, respect, and support each other from this day until your last day?" Aunt Vivian asked them.

"We do."

"The look into each other's eyes and say the words that will bind you as one," Finn said to them.

Bonnie and Klaus turned to each other, staring deeply into one another's eyes as they said the words they had previously memorized.

"Earth."

"Fire."

"Water."

"Air."

"Let these elements bind us as one," Klaus and Bonnie repeated in unison. "One heart, one soul, one flesh, from this moment forward we will walk together as one, in life and in death."

Lucy handed aunt Vivian the small ceremonial dagger which she took in her hands, blessing the blade before handing it to Bonnie. Bonnie's finger trembled as she took the knife and made a small cut on her left palm, a trail of blood oozing freely. She handed the blade to Klaus who did the exact same thing on his hand. They joined their bleeding hands together and Vivian placed her own hand on top of theirs, muttering an ancient incantation in Latin.

"As a witch elder, I bless thee."

"As a wolf elder, I too bless this union," Ishmael said as he placed his hand on top of Vivian's.

Finn also placed his hand on top of theirs. "As a vampire elder, I bless this union as well." He smiled at both of them.

Father Kieran made the sign of the cross before placing his hand on tops of theirs. "May god bless you."

There was a spark, a burst of heat that spread from their joined hands all the way to their heads and toes, washing them with warmth while an invisible linked formed between them. The bond hummed in approval as the magic bound them together.

"The rings," Finn said to his nephew.

Henrik quickly walked towards the altar and handed his uncle the pillow with the two silver wedding bands.

Klaus took one of the rings and smiled at Bonnie. "With this ring I promise to love you, to honor you, and cherish you until the end of my days," he swore as he stared into her shinning green eyes. "My wife."

Bonnie cleared her throat, feeling overcome with emotion. She took the ring from the pillow, smiling at her son as she did so and placed it on his finger. "With this ring I promise to love you, to honor you, and cherish you until the ends of my days." Her voice trembled slightly but she managed to contain her tears. "My husband."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Father Kieran presented the couple with a booming smile. "Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson."

The entire garden erupted with loud cheers from all their friends and family. There were a couple of whistles and plenty of claps for the both of them.

"You may kiss the bride," Father Kieran told Klaus.

Klaus didn't need to be told twice, he hooked an arm around Bonnie's waist and pulled her body against his. Bonnie giggled against his lips before being completely swept off her feet by the passionate kiss he gave her. It was without a doubt one of the happiest moments of their lives.

* * *

After the ceremony and the heartfelt speeches made by Rudy, Klaus, and Elijah, the guests mingled together around the grounds of the Bennett mansion. Bonnie and Klaus had chosen the place, not only for its convenient location to the Quarter but also the gorgeous grounds that were big enough to fit all their guests. Rain had been expected for that day but the Bennett witches made sure that the day was clear of clouds and that the temperature was perfect to be outside. Aunt Vivian herself made sure that a cool breeze swept the grounds from time to time, keeping the heat away.

"You know," Lenore commented. "This wouldn't have been possible a decade ago." Her eyes found witches and vampires talking amicably, wolves sharing jokes with vampires and witches alike, and humans happily interacting with all of them. New Orleans had been at war for so long, she couldn't help but feel so much joy at how happy and relaxed everyone looked.

Vincent, who was sitting next to her, nodded in agreement. "In the past couple of years we have made great process." Thanks in part to the Bennett school of magic that had allowed the witches of the city and the Mikaelson family and their allies to forge a more cordial and friendly relationship. The wolves had also made a great effort to integrate themselves in the community and with the more troublesome members of the Crescent pack gone, peace between the vampires and their mortal enemies had been reached with success. Vincent stood up. "Would you like to dance?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Lenore took his offered hand and followed him to the dance floor where Felix and Angelica, Sofia and Andrew, and Elena and Tyler were already dancing. Aunt Vivian and Ishmael also joined the many dancing couples and so did Katie and Thierry.

A few feet away from them, Rebekah was proudly showing her wedding band to a group of friends and acquaintances. "We got married in Italy last summer." Even though her one-year anniversary had just recently passed, she couldn't stop talking about her nuptials. "I planned my own wedding of course," she continued with a proud grin. Few people if any, could claim to be the bride and the wedding planner at once but she had done with incredible success.

"That's either the greatest thing I've ever heard or the craziest," one guest commented.

"She fired three wedding planners," Freya recalled while sipping some of her champagne. Her eyes were glinting with amusement as she stared at her sister.

"Three that we know off," Cary added with a chuckled.

"Bridezilla," Jesse coughed playfully.

"They got everything wrong!" Rebekah defended herself and glared at them. "It's not my fault they could not share my vision. And anyway, I did an excellent job with my wedding and if you look around, I gave Nik and Bonnie the wedding of their dreams as well." Everything was going according to plan and she felt absolutely proud of all she had accomplished. "Everyone will remember this wedding for centuries to come," she promised.

"I personally think you did an amazing job," Belle smiled at her. "You are totally going to plan our wedding." She glanced at her boyfriend.

Riley nearly choked on his drink.

Everyone laughed at his reaction. He hadn't asked Belle to marry him yet, but she was already taking the initiative it seemed.

"I'm glad you picked Italy to get married," Jesse took pity on his friend and changed the subject. "I had never been there before and I loved it." After the wedding he and Alexa had toured the Italian country side before spending a weekend in Paris. His eyes drifted to the gorgeous girl in the emerald dress. She felt his gaze on her skin and turned to look at him over her shoulder, a smile forming on her pink lips. He licked his lips, anticipating how he was going to rip that dress off her and remembering the heated moments they had shared in Europe. Yeah, it had been one heck of a trip.

Rebekah grinned. "It's one of my favorite cities, along with Paris of course." She smiled at her husband who had his arm wrapped around her waist. "It was a lovely and intimate ceremony," she recalled with adoring eyes. "Just for family and friends."

"I assume our invitation got lost in the mail," Caroline said with a slight edge to her voice. She and Stefan had been walking back to their table when she caught snippets of Rebekah's conversation and decided to butt in.

Rebekah turned around and smiled sweetly at the approaching couple. "Yes, it was quite dreadful wasn't it?" she pretended to be sorry. "I'm sure you got the pictures though."

"Funny, how those did not get lost," Caroline muttered to Stefan who knew better than to get involved. He placed his hands inside the pockets of his pants and shrugged.

"Shouldn't you be besties considering you're both the maids of honor?" Marcel who had overheard their conversation came to stand with the group, a teasing smile on his lips. His date, Cami was talking to her uncle a few feet away. She glanced at the group with curiosity-it was no secret how much Caroline and Rebekah liked to argue with each other-before turning back to her uncle.

"Caroline and I have learned to tolerate each other," Rebekah murmured while giving him an annoyed look. For Bonnie, because they both loved her dearly.

"Barely," was the whisper the other blonde gave her.

Marcel laughed, highly entertained with them, while Stefan and Matt shared knowing looks. They both silently agreed to stay out of the discussion for now.

"And Lucy and I were going to share the maid of honor duties," Rebekah made sure everyone knew that Caroline had not been the first choice. But then Lucy had gotten pregnant and was constantly throwing up and feeling drained, so Rebekah had reluctantly agreed to share said duties with Caroline. Because Bonnie didn't want to hurt the other girl's feelings and Rebekah had already a lot on her plate being the wedding planner. Bonnie had too much of a good heart, if it had been up to Rebekah she would have banned the annoying vampire from the wedding altogether. "We're Bonnie's _sisters_ and we planned the most gorgeous wedding-"

Caroline scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Please, half of all of this came from me." She had been the one to stay on top of things, giving Bonnie the wedding of her dreams. Rebekah just liked to take credit.

"You?" Rebekah was indignant. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"You barely did anything!"

"I have been planning this wedding for five years!" Rebekah shouted. The other guests quickly walked away, not wanting to get caught in the cross fire.

"I think we should dance," Riley took Belle's hand and the two used their vamp speed to head to the dance floor. They also didn't want to be there in case things escalated quickly.

"Rebekah," Freya looked nervously at their surroundings, many people had turned and stared at them, watching the scene carefully. Image was everything, and their family prided themselves on always presenting a united front against everyone. A fight breaking out between two of the bridesmaids would not look good.

"Your ideas were over the top!" Caroline fired back. "It was like you were planning a second wedding and not the one Bonnie actually wanted, had I not been there-"

Rebekah growled. "Shut up."

Caroline opened her mouth but closed it almost immediately. Her eyes went wide when she realized she had been compelled.

"Bekah," Matt touched her shoulder.

Rebekah schooled her features and placed a false sweet smile on her lips but her eyes were hard. There was a clear warning there. The people that were watching them turned back to their business, knowing better than to anger an Original.

Caroline looked like she had more to say but Rebekah's compulsion was still in place. She settled for a mean glare instead. Stefan grabbed her arm. "I think we should dance," he escorted Caroline to the dance floor.

"Something tells me you are not going to get invited to their wedding," Marcel noted as he watch the couple head to the dance floor. It was amusing to watch the two of them get on each other's nerves. He almost pity Bonnie having to deal with the two of them on a daily basis, or at least until Caroline and Stefan left New Orleans. He had definitely questioned the witch's sanity after it was announced the two vampires would be working together.

"As if I wanted to go," Rebekah snapped. "And besides, he hasn't asked her yet and I doubt very much he will." She crossed her arms over her chest, growling silently. "Bitch."

"Bekah," Matt gave her a look. _How long had Rebekah and Caroline known each other? How many family gatherings, parties, or social events had they attended?_ He secretly thought their animosity was something they did purposely. They both seemed to thrive in riling each other up and seeing who could best the other.

"He's probably still pinning after Elena and she's still obsessed with Damon," Rebekah was quick to retort. "He settled for second best, it's obvious."

"They've been together for five years," Matt reminded his wife.

"And as soon as Elena shows any interest, he'll drop her like a fly," Rebekah was fully convinced of it. "It's only a matter of time, really."

Matt shook his head and decided to change the subject. Caroline and Rebekah had a very interesting and competitive love/hate relationship and he had learned by now to just let it go. There were times when he thought their antagonistic relationship was something they both enjoyed and so they found every chance to purposely get on each other's nerves. "How about we dance?" he asked her.

"Of course," Rebekah happily took his offered hand.

The two made their way to the dance floor where all the couples were swaying to a slow song, and the incident was soon forgotten.

* * *

While everyone enjoyed the wedding reception, Lucy found herself inside the mansion, with her knees on the floor and her face in the toilet.

"Darling, is everything alright?" Elijah knocked on the door, the bond echoing with all the concern he felt for her.

Lucy groaned and flushed the toilet before slowly pulling herself to her feet. She rinsed her mouth and ensured her dress and hair were not covered it vomit before opening the door. There was a grimace on her face as she met Elijah's concerned eyes. "I hate this."

Elijah's worried eyes softened and he didn't waste any time in pulling her close to his chest. He held her with infinite tenderness, as if she were made of porcelain.

"I can't stomach anything, not even water!" Lucy shrieked, her eyes already filling with tears. "I feel tired and nauseous all the time. I hate it! Why the hell did I agree to put myself through this?" she asked pulling momentarily away from him.

Elijah rubbed her back and whispered sweet nothings in her ear, he knew that letting her vent was the best way to make her feel better.

"How many more months do I have left?"

"A little over five months," Elijah responded.

Lucy groaned and buried her face against his chest. His cologne which she always loved and found sexy had bile rising in her throat. Lucy pushed him away and lowered herself on the floor once more. Elijah pulled her hair out of her face and rubbed her back as she continued to vomit.

Fifteen minutes later, she laid down on the bed. "I hate this," she muttered again. "I'm never doing this again," she decided.

Elijah tried to suppress a small smirk. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit better," Lucy kept her eyes closed, hands rubbing her small bump. She felt glad that Rebekah and Caroline were sharing the maid of honor duties. As much as Lucy loved Bonnie like a sister, this pregnancy had drained her, physically and emotionally; she was a mess and she felt glad she didn't have the pressure of being the maid of honor. "I swear this baby is trying to kill me." She didn't understand why she was so sick. According to Dr. Mayfair, her mom, and cousins, it was all normal. _It's going to get better in your second trimester,_ her mom insisted but she had been proven wrong because Lucy was already in her second trimester and she still felt sick as a dog. "I don't think Bonnie had morning sickness this bad, and she was carrying two!" she complained.

Elijah suppressed a smile. "Every pregnancy is different."

"Why the hell did you talked me into this?"

Elijah arched an eyebrow. "I believe it was you who brought it up." He gave her a knowing look, remembering that night about two years ago when she had suddenly blurted out, _I want a baby._ While seeing Niklaus with his children had sparked a certain desire in Elijah for a family of his own, he hadn't brought it up, knowing that as a vampire, he couldn't get Lucy pregnant. It was better not to dwell over something that was impossible but after she expressed her desire to become a mother, they had endless discussions about the subject. They had even sought different magic rituals and tried to conceive that way. Eventually, when even Bonnie's magic failed to grant them their wish, they had sought a sperm donor with similar physical characteristics to Elijah. Lucy had gotten pregnant soon after and now the two of them and the rest of the family were preparing to welcome the little one into the world.

"I shouldn't be complaining," Lucy realized after a moment of silence. "This is what I wanted." The maternal bug had hit her bad. She knew she wanted to be a mother, she just hadn't expected her pregnancy to be so difficult.

"You have every right to complain, my love." Elijah sat on the bed next to her and placed his hand on her small bump. It was wonderful miracle. He felt nervous and excited about becoming a father. He never thought it would be possible but here they were, just a couple of months shy of becoming parents for the first time. Listening to that beautiful _thump, thump_ , every day was joyous. He couldn't wait to meet their child, because despite the fact that his seed had not been the one to take root inside her, this was _their baby_ and he loved _her_ dearly. Humans and their advances in technology had made it possible for them to have a family and Elijah was beyond thrilled. "I hope she looks like you," he murmured as he rubbed his hand gently over her growing bump.

Seeing the look of adoration in his face had Lucy's heart melting. "I was hoping for a boy," she said with a small hint of disappointment. "There are too many girls in the family already."

"You are only saying that because you wanted to contradict Vivian," Elijah remarked.

Lucy laughed, he knew her too well. "The Bennett bloodline needs more witches," she imitated Aunt Vivian's voice and rolled her eyes. "There is a whole new generation of Bennett witches." She thought of Charlotte, Ingrid, and Octavia's twin girls, and their little sister who had been born two years prior, as well as the baby Sofia had given birth to just recently. A little witch girl who also happened to carry the werewolf gene as her father was Andrew Paxton, the youngest of the Alphas living in New Orleans. The Bennett coven was growing and thriving and in a few months, there was going to be another witch girl to continue their bloodline.

"You know she will never be satisfied until there are more Bennett women populating the earth."

Lucy laughed. "I wanted Henrik to have someone to play with," she murmured. Her nephew had been excited at the prospect of having a little cousin to play with but the excitement had burst completely when they found out Lucy was carrying a girl. "I feel sorry for the little guy." _The poor boy,_ Lucy thought. He was surrounded by girls. While Henrik had plenty of male friends- mostly the wolf kids residing in the Quarter- he was desperate for a baby brother or cousin to play with.

"Perhaps it's time for Niklaus and Bonnie to give him a little brother to play with," Elijah commented.

"With our luck, Bonnie would probably have another girl," Lucy muttered.

Elijah chuckled.

"I can't wait to have her in my arms," Lucy said as she continued to touch her stomach.

"Me either."

They both shared a loving smile.

"I love you," Lucy murmured while tracing his face with her hand. "So much." She never thought she would found love when she first came to New Orleans, let alone with an Original vampire but here she was, living a beautiful and fulfilling life.

"And I love you," Elijah whispered before his lips touched hers.

Neither of them had ever been this happy.

* * *

Bonnie laughed as Klaus twirled her around the dance floor. She had lost count of how many songs she had danced throughout the afternoon. After their first romantic first dance as a man and wife, she had been twirled around the dance floor by her father, Marcel, Elijah, Kol, Finn, Cary, Matt, Tyler, Jesse, Riley, and Stefan. Until finally, Klaus claimed her for another dance. Her heart soared with happiness and she felt like she was floating in the clouds. This was without a doubt one of the happiest days of her life.

"I feel so happy," she murmured while resting he head on his shoulder. A slow song began playing and they moved in harmony amid the countless other couples on the dance floor. "I was starting to think this day would never come."

"It finally did." Klaus moved his hand up and down her back in a possessive gesture. "I'm the luckiest man in the world." The past five years had been blissful but today seemed like a long-awaited dream had been reached.

Bonnie raised her head and kissed him on the lips. _Her husband,_ how wonderful it felt. Klaus happily deepened the kiss, pulling her even tighter against his chest. She was breathless when they finally pulled apart.

"Why don't we ditch our guests and head for our honeymoon now?" he suggested in a husky whisper. They had already spent a good amount of time shaking hands, greeting and talking to the endless parade of guest wanting to congratulate them. He was ready to take her away and keep her all to himself.

"I…" Whatever she thought of responding was lost when Klaus pressed her closer to his body and began nibbling on her earlobe. He _never_ played fair. "Klaus…" Bonnie closed her eyes, shivering when he began placing kisses on her neck.

"I want to rip that dress off you," Klaus whispered against her ear before claiming her mouth again in another passionate kiss. He couldn't get enough of her. The thirst he always felt for her could never be sated. Bonnie moaned and closed her eyes as he bombarded her mind with some very wicked images of all the things he wanted to do to her. She wanted to, oh how she wanted to just disappear with him. Her body shuddered as the intense desire they both felt echoed through their blood. Her hands curled on the back on his neck, body tightly pressed against him. _Why not?_ Bonnie thought as they continued kissing with reckless abandon. They were probably giving their guests quite a show but she didn't care. Klaus consumed all her thoughts. She could put a cloaking spell on them and they could sneak out of the mansion and-

"Mom!" A rather angry voice reached their ears. "Henrik ruined my dress!"

Bonnie and Klaus pulled apart, startled by the commotion caused by their twins. They both turned to see a furious looking Ingrid running towards them; a panicked Henrik hot on her heels.

Bonnie sighed, blinking back the lust slithering all over her body while Klaus gave their children a reproachful look.

"I didn't do anything!" Henrik told them.

"Yes, you did!" Ingrid's cheeks were red and her eyes were filled with tears. "Look!" she showed her parents the skirt of her ivory dress which was covered in mud.

"Oh honey," Bonnie crouched down to inspect the damage.

"He ruined my dress!" Ingrid cried.

Bonnie sighed and turned to her son. "Henrik, why did you-"

"It was an accident."

"Was not!"

"It was!"

"No, it wasn't!"

"Alright, stop shouting," Klaus ordered the both of them. Many heads had turned in their direction. Aunt Vivian looked displeased by the scene they were causing while Kol who had been dancing with Davina was laughing loudly. He was clearly enjoying the show. One look from his brother sobered him up though. "Hand it over," Klaus said extending his hand and giving his son a stern look.

Henrik glared at Ingrid.

"Hand it over and apologize to your sister."

"It was her fault," Henrik protested.

"No, it wasn't!" Ingrid insisted.

"I'm not going to ask you again Henrik," Klaus told him.

Henrik let out a frustrated growl and pulled the slingshot from his pocket, he reluctantly handed it to his father. "I was playing with my friends, I meant to hit Jack but Ingrid got in the way. I didn't mean to hit her." He looked down at his shoes, hands balled into fists.

"You should burn that thing," Ingrid said while looking at the slingshot Klaus held in his hand. Her magic flared and Klaus hissed when he felt his hand grow hot. There was also a strong gust of wind all around the garden and dark clouds began to appear in the sky. A woman's hat flew off with the wind and a couple of the guests pointed at the threatening clouds forming above them. A couple of the Bennett women turned their heads in Ingrid's direction, sensing that the change in the weather had to do with her.

"Ingrid," Bonnie placed her hand on Ingrid's shoulder. "You need to calm down sweetheart."

Klaus stared into his daughter's angry blue eyes, seeing the way her body trembled and how hard she was breathing. He glanced at Bonnie, worried what their guests were about to witness. He didn't want people knowing the things his daughter could do, not yet.

"Just take a deep breath baby," Bonnie whispered as she rubbed her thumb over Ingrid's shoulder. "Deep breath," she instructed. She used her own magic to gently tame the angry surge of power flowing inside her daughter's tiny body. The last time Ingrid lost her temper, dead birds fell from the sky, and the time before that, a lighting bolt struck a tree in their backward. There had also been that that time when she had started a fire in her room. "Deep breath," Bonnie continued to use her magic and gently calm Ingrid's incredible burst of magic. "There you go."

Ingrid closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. The clouds disappeared and the strong magic surging in the air vanished. "I'm okay," she murmured. She opened her bright blue eyes, blinking rapidly for a couple of seconds and letting out a shaky breath. She smiled weakly at her parents. "Nothing bad happened this time," she acknowledged. "I'm getting the hang of it."

"Yes, you are." Bonnie kissed her cheek and smiled warmly.

"Well done, love."

Ingrid smiled at her father before glaring at her twin.

"I'm sorry," Henrik's voice was filled with sincerity this time. "I didn't mean to hit you, I swear."

Ingrid wasn't particularly happy but accepted his apology nonetheless. "It's okay," she murmured.

"Come on," Bonnie took her hand in hers. "We'll go clean this up and it will be as good as new."

Ingrid nodded.

Klaus and Henrik watched them go.

"You are not going to burn my slingshot are you dad?" Henrik looked up into his father's eyes. "I made it myself and look," he dug into his pockets and pulled a bunch of small mud balls. "I used my magic to make these, isn't it cool?"

Klaus's lips twitched. "Were you winning?"

"Yeah," Henrik's eyes instantly brightened. "Those wolf boys have nothing on my hybrid aim." He chewed on his bottom lip and looked around before adding in a sheepish voice. "I kinda used my magic too."

"Kind of?" Klaus arched and eyebrow. "You know that's considered cheating, don't you?"

Henrik shrugged. "I was winning!"

Klaus chuckled. "I will give it back with one condition," he decided.

Henrik nodded eagerly.

"No more games for the rest of the afternoon-"

"But Dad-"

"If your mother catches you throwing mud balls at anyone, she'll confiscate it. Do you want that?"

"No."

"Keep it in your pocket then," Klaus instructed as he handed the slingshot back.

"Fine," Henrik muttered in a defeated tone. It was better than losing his weapon all together.

Klaus placed one hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up mate, this is a party."

"Are you going to make me dance with Ingrid?" That was the reason his sister had been looking for him, Henrik felt sure. Aunt Vivian had made them practice in the days leading up to the wedding. _Every gentleman and refined lady needs to know a good waltz,_ she had told them. Ingrid and Charlotte had loved every second of it, Henrik not so much.

"I think Charlotte has her eye on you, actually." Klaus saw his eldest daughter coming towards them, knowing exactly what she wanted.

Henrik made a face. He tried to run away but Klaus's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"There you are!" Charlotte was breathless and her face was red as she came to stand in front of them. She had been dancing with her uncles before finally finding her father and brother. "I have yet to dance with the two of you." She looked between them, trying to decide who she should dance with first.

"He's all yours." Klaus pushed Henrik forward.

"I don't-" Henrik didn't get a chance to finish, Charlotte took his hand and dragged him into the dance floor. Klaus chuckled at the sour look on his face.

"How treacherous of you, Niklaus."

Klaus turned to Finn, his eyes shinning with mischief. "It'll keep him out of trouble."

"For now," Finn muttered.

"For now," Klaus agreed. Henrik always found ways to get into trouble. He was a Mikaelson after all.

* * *

"See?" Bonnie said after washing the mud off Ingrid's dress and drying it. "As good as new."

Ingrid inspected her dress, there was no sign of mud at all on the skirt. "Thank you," she threw her arms around her mother. "I thought it was ruined."

"You're welcome sweetie," Bonnie kissed the top of her head before pulling apart, a soft smile gracing her lips as she contemplated her daughter. There were times when she still couldn't believe how much her children had grown.

Ingrid's brows furrowed in confusion and she stared at her mother with a strange kind of intensity.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked her.

"You have a baby in your tummy," Ingrid said simply.

Bonnie's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. "How…you…I...how do you know that?" she sputtered.

"Mama, I'm a witch. I know these things."

Bonnie laughed at the seriousness in which Ingrid answered her question.

"I knew with aunt Lu, too."

"Yes, you did." Ingrid's powers were amazing, sometimes Bonnie found herself fascinated. _How could she not be powerful?_ Aunt Vivian had questioned once. _She has been born to be a queen just like you._ It was a destiny, a responsibility that Bonnie would make sure Ingrid did not have for many more years to come. Bonnie took both of Ingrid hands in hers and stared into her eyes. "You have to keep it a secret for now, okay."

"Why?"

"I want to wait after the wedding and the honeymoon to let the rest of the family know."

"Are you going to tell daddy?"

"Yes, he will be the first know."

"No, he's not. I am." Ingrid gave her a dimpled grin.

"Well, the first after you."

"It's our little secret," Ingrid promised and hugged her mother.

"It is." Bonnie hugged her back.

"I hope it's a girl," Ingrid said once they pulled apart. "I want a little sister." Her face scrunched up in deep concentration and a displeased look crossed her face.

"What?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Urgh," Ingrid made a face. "I think it's a boy. Yuck."

"Really?"

Ingrid nodded. She stared at her mother's belly before looking into her eyes once more. "Once he's born can you have a girl, please?"

Bonnie's face was priceless. "I..." she didn't know how to respond so she settled with a simple, "we'll see." She touched her stomach and wondered what Klaus and Henrik would say if she indeed had a baby boy. _Henrik is going to be over the moon,_ she thought dreamily. _He had always wanted a little brother to play with._ Her witch senses were not able to tell the sex of the baby yet, but Ingrid seemed confident that it was a boy. She had accurately predicted Sofia's pregnancy and Lucy's too, and now Bonnie's own, so she was probably right about this too.

While the two made their way back towards the party, Bonnie continued to think about the child growing inside her. Ingrid took off running after Lily and Octavia's twins. Bonnie watched her go, a smile on her face. One which only grew when she spotted Henrik dancing with Charlotte. _Let's hope that keeps him out of trouble,_ she thought as she began to make her way towards the party. A prick on the back of her neck and a cold sensation tingling down her spine stopped her in her tracks. She spun around, sensing a vampire watching her. There were plenty of vampires in attendance but somehow, she knew this was not one of the guests at her wedding. Bonnie's eyes suddenly went wide.

There, underneath a magnolia tree, leaning casually against the trunk was none other than Damon Salvatore, dressed in black jeans and a black leather jacket. Sunglasses covered his eyes but Bonnie knew he was staring directly at her. He had that cool and carefree posture she had seen countless of times before in Mystic Falls. In a blink of an eye, he was standing in front of her.

"Damon," Bonnie couldn't quite mask the surprise in her voice. She had not expected him to come to her wedding. In the past five years, she had rarely heard from him, as he kept a low profile and unless Stefan made a comment or two about his brother's whereabouts, Bonnie had no news of him.

"Hello witchy," Damon replied, his all too familiar smirk in place. He took his sunglasses off and looked her up and down.

"I didn't think you would come," Bonnie admitted. After his breakup with Elena, Damon had left Mystic Falls and never looked back.

"Guess my invitation got lost in the mail," Damon muttered. His voice sounded casual but something flashed across his eyes, he seemed almost upset. Bonnie opened her mouth but he cut her off. "Rumors of your nuptials spread all the way to South America."

"I bet," Bonnie murmured. Rumors about their family always spread like wildfire.

Damon contemplated her with keen interest. There was an intensity in his blue eyes and Bonnie didn't know what to make of it. "You look beautiful," he said when he finally met her eyes once more.

"Thanks."

For a long time neither of them said anything else. They both took the time to contemplate each other in silence. He looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him. It seemed traveling had suited him.

"You seem different," she found herself saying. "More at ease with yourself, I don't know…" she couldn't quite put her finger on it but it seemed like a heavy weigh had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I'm happy," Damon admitted. "I didn't think I could be without E-" he stopped abruptly, his eyes looking past Bonnie's shoulder and easily spotting the girl he had once considered the love of his life. She was dancing with that werewolf guy that was related to Klaus. She seemed happy. Watching her from afar did not make him long to have her in his arms anymore, nor did he feel in any way jealous. His heart no longer ached for her. The truth was, breaking up had been easier than they both expected.

"Is everything okay, between the two of you I mean…" Bonnie trailed off, unsure if he would want to talk about it. Elena hadn't given her any details. _It was for the best,_ she had said when the three friends got together to spend some girl time. Elena had been sad, Elena had cried a lot, but she had eventually moved on and it looked like Damon had done the same. _He probably did something,_ Caroline confided in Bonnie. _I bet this was all his fault. He broke Elena's heart._ Bonnie didn't think the breakup had been Damon's fault but she kept those thoughts to herself. Whatever happened, it was between the two of them.

"No hard feelings," Damon replied and turned back to stare at her face once more. "It's all good. We are two mature adults who went their separate ways." He smirked at her.

"What happened?" Bonnie couldn't stop her curiosity. Elena had refused to discuss the details of their break up and even though Caroline and Bonnie had tried, she had never said a single word about it, just that it wasn't mean to be.

Something flickered across Damon's eyes, a raw kind of emotion that startled her. Damon looked sad, regretful, and there was another emotion as well, one she couldn't quite figure out; it was disconcerting. "I fell in love with the wrong girl," he whispered more to himself.

Bonnie heard him perfectly and frowned. "What do you mea-"

"I hope you are happy," Damon interrupted her.

"I am," Bonnie was beaming. She was glowing really.

"Good." Damon took a step closer. "I just wanted to congratulate you."

"You can stay," Bonnie was quick to offer. "Stefan and-"

"Nah," Damon glanced at the bunch of people in the garden and shook his head. "I have a plane to catch," he told her. "I want to keep traveling. And don't worry, I'll be sending post cards to my baby brother so he doesn't worry." He rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to see you." He met her eyes-there was that look again- before he leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Klaus is one lucky mother fucker," he whispered against her ear. Then, he was gone.

Bonnie blinked, surprised by the quickness of his movements. She looked around the garden and tried to find him among the trees. There was no sign of him. Damon Salvatore had disappeared as quickly as he had showed up. _Weird,_ Bonnie thought. But she felt happy for him. She was glad he wasn't pinning after Elena or reverting into his old habits as-far as she knew.

For a long time Bonnie stood there, contemplating the trees and half expecting to see Damon again. He didn't return of course. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her against a hard chest. Bonnie smiled and leaned back against him, enjoying the feel of his arms around her body. "I see Henrik dancing with Charlotte."

"I might have volunteered him to keep him out of trouble."

Bonnie laughed. "I think he's enjoying himself." Henrik would never admit it out loud but he had paid attention and was expertly twirling Charlotte around the dance floor. Not too far away from them, Ingrid, Lily, and Octavia's twins had formed a circle and were holding hands as they jumped up and down with each beat of the music, their giggles echoing around the forest.

"Enchanting fairies they are," Klaus noted with an amused smile.

"Yes."

"Let's get out of here," Klaus murmured against her ear. Bonnie shivered as she felt his hot breath against her skin. "Let's start our honeymoon now," he kissed the side of her neck, his hands resting possessively on her hips.

"The children…" Bonnie said, closing her eyes and moaning silently at the feel of his hot tongue sucking on her pulse point.

"I already talked to Rebekah and Joanna."

"What about the cake and-"

"Let's go," Klaus's voice was almost pleading. "I need to touch you." One of his hands moved dangerously close to the side of her breast.

Bonnie shivered. _God,_ the things he could do to her with his voice alone. "Okay," she agreed, feeling overwhelmed by the desire pulsing through their bond. "But we need to say goodbye to the kids first."

"I'll get them."

Bonnie laughed at how quickly he disappeared in search of their children. Within a couple of minutes, he came back with all three of them in tow.

"You guys are leaving now?" Charlotte asked them. "What about the cake?"

"I'm sure you are going to enjoy it," Klaus hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Remember you are in charge while we're away."

Charlotte beamed at that. "Don't worry dad, I'll take care of them."

Klaus caressed her cheek tenderly. "I know you will." She was such a responsible girl.

"Behave," Bonnie told the twins as she hugged and kissed them both. "Listen to your aunts and your sister." she glanced at Charlotte. "I'm going to call everyday, okay." she kissed them again.

"Don't worry mom, I'm in charge." Charlotte grinned with pride and hugged her mother. "Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, sweetie." Bonnie felt tears burning in her eyes. "You're so grown up," she whispered.

"Are you crying?" Henrik gave his mother a strange look.

"I know silly mom," Bonnie wiped the tears from her face. She was hormonal and cried easily these days, they didn't know of course, saved for Ingrid who was smiling at her. "I'm just going to miss you, that's all."

"You can take me with you," Henrik offered.

"Kids are not allowed in a honeymoon," Ingrid told her bother.

"Says who?"

"Aunty Bex."

Bonnie laughed.

Klaus hugged and kissed each of the twins. "We'll see each other in two weeks," he promised.

"We're going to miss you," Ingrid kissed his cheek.

"We'll miss you too." Klaus hugged and kissed them one more time before he picked Bonnie in his arms. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Bye!" she waved and blew kisses at their kids before he took off at hybrid speed.

Charlotte and Henrik waved at them while Ingrid blew kisses. They watched their parents disappeared into the sunset.

"I guess I have to tell everyone they decided to start their honeymoon earlier huh," Charlotte bit her lip.

"Yeah," Henrik muttered.

"Or we can keep it a secret," Ingrid offered. "I love secrets!" There was a mischievous glint in her eyes as she thought of the secret she shared with her mother.

Charlotte pondered her words. "I guess they can figure it out," she decided. "Come on," she took both of their hands and the three siblings returned to the party without informing anyone of their parents' whereabouts.

By the time rest of the family and the other guests realized the bride and groom were gone, Klaus and Bonnie were already making their way across the Atlantic.

* * *

 **Thailand**

 **The next day**

Sunlight streamed through the open balcony doors, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the birds chirping were the first thing she became aware of as she opened her eyes. She could see the blue of the ocean from where she was, the sun gliding across the water made it shine like gold. A strong possessive arm was thrown across her waist, a warm naked body tightly pressed against her back. Bonnie smiled, remembering the events of the past forty-eight hours.

"Good morning Mrs. Mikaelson," Klaus whispered in her ear.

"Good morning Mr. Mikaelson," Bonnie shifted in his arms and turned to face him, her smile growing as she stared into his devilish handsome face. For a couple of minutes, they laid like that, silently staring at one another. She cupped his cheek and lost herself in his eyes, as blue as the water outside. A memory came to her then, of a different morning; waking up with confusion in a strange bed, and seduction that had followed.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked her.

"The morning after prom," Bonnie responded. It seemed like a lifetime ago but that moment had changed it all, it had been the beginning of everything.

"This is a nicer way to wake up isn't it?"

Bonnie's lips twitched. "Yes, it is." She pressed her body closer, shivering with delight, and feeling her nipples harden against his naked chest. "This is the perfect way to wake up." Their faces were almost touching and she nipped at his lower lip playfully.

Klaus groaned and pulled her naked body against his before kissing her fully on the lips. _Yes, this was the perfect way to wake up._ He rolled on top of her, careful not to crush her under his weight. He had absolutely no intention of letting her out of bed. Now that he had her all to himself, he planned to take full advantage of it. For the next two weeks, there were no schools to run, cities to govern, or children to take care of. It was just the two of them.

Bonnie had to break the kiss, lips swollen, and breathing ragged. She stared into his lust filled hybrid eyes and shivered. The heat coiling inside her belly already spreading all the way to her toes.

"I can't get enough of you," Klaus whispered against her neck. He peppered her neck and shoulder with hot kisses while his hands cupped her breasts, thumbs grazing her hard nipples.

Bonnie moaned and arched her back. When she felt one of his hands moving over her stomach and lower still, she decided to tell him the good news. She couldn't keep quiet anymore. "I have to tell you something," she pushed his hands away from her breasts.

Klaus raised his head and stared into her eyes, the bond letting him know how important it was for her. "What is it?" he asked. "Are you worried about the kids? I texted Rebekah earlier-"

"No," Bonnie smiled and reached up to touch the side of his face. "I know they are fine." She trusted Rebekah and Matt and the rest of the family to look after their children while they were on their honeymoon. She stared into his eyes, a happy smile gracing her lips. "I'm pregnant," she told him without preamble.

Klaus froze momentarily, his eyes moving immediately to her still flat stomach. "You…" a look of realization dawned on him. "That's why you didn't drink any champagne last night!" he recalled right away. He had found it odd when he saw her touch the glass to her lips during the toast but she had not drunk a single drop. "Or during the rehearsal dinner, you chose water instead."

"Yeah…" Bonnie laughed. "I didn't think you noticed."

"I did." Klaus cradled her face with one hand. "The full moon," he knew immediately when they had conceived. He felt absolutely sure of it. "It was during the full moon, wasn't it?"

Bonnie nodded. Her face was hot as images of that night surfaced. It had been intense, like all the other full moons before. Except this time, they had gotten frisky in the Bayou, spending the whole night outside. "I wanted to wait after the wedding to tell you," she said. "Although Ingrid knows already, she figured it out."

"Of course, she did." Klaus didn't feel surprised by that. He lowered his head until their foreheads were almost touching. "Another child," he whispered against her lips.

"Another child," Bonnie repeated. "Are you happy?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He kissed her lips tenderly, while his hand caressed her stomach gently. "I love you."

"And I love you," Bonnie murmured against his lips.

"Thank you, Bonnie."

"Why are you thanking me for?"

"Because you have given me everything I have ever wanted," Klaus responded, the raw honesty in his voice was reflected on his eyes and face. They both shared a hopeful and happy look before their lips fused together once more. Their kiss was soft, lazy even. They had kissed like this a thousand times before, letting the love and happiness echoing through their bond guide their movements. They kissed and touched and lost themselves in each sensation, rolling around in the big bed with white sheets, their bodies moving in harmony and their hearts beating as one. Together they had found what they had been missing their whole lives. Together they had built a family, a future, a home. Together they had found the love they had been denied. Together they were truly and blissfully happy.

* * *

 **A/N:** _All I can say is, thank you. To everyone who has followed, favored, and reviewed this story particularly, those of you who have been reviewing since the very beginning…thank you so much. Your support has been absolutely incredible. I never thought this story would be liked by so many people. I'm honestly amazed by all of you. Thank you._


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